Author Topic: JDeck's dioramas and displays.  (Read 137325 times)

Offline JDeck

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Re: JDeck's dioramas and displays.
« Reply #495 on: September 05, 2019, 06:51:24 AM »
You had me at Bobb Ross. Off to share the update. Nice way to fix that too!
Thank you Tamer. Evidently, the clay is still drying, and shrinking and further deepened the cracks. Worry not! I just filled the cracks with  spackle, just like a cracked wall. So, that'll end up shrinking, and I'll have to do it again. I'll keep it under observation for a few days.  I figured I'd document my failures along with my successes. It's not a failure if you learn, I guess.
 
« Last Edit: September 05, 2019, 08:18:54 PM by JDeck »

Offline Starchaser

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Re: JDeck's dioramas and displays.
« Reply #496 on: September 05, 2019, 12:14:35 PM »
Wow JDeck, its looking just like my garage floor:) Actually I really like how you are adapting the challenges to make the floor look genuinely concrete-like. Its shaping up really well, I look forward to the final product.

Offline JDeck

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Re: JDeck's dioramas and displays.
« Reply #497 on: September 05, 2019, 07:22:54 PM »
Wow JDeck, its looking just like my garage floor:) Actually I really like how you are adapting the challenges to make the floor look genuinely concrete-like. Its shaping up really well, I look forward to the final product.

Thank you Starchaser. It's evolving slightly since the thicker areas of clay have finally shrunk down. See, the foam board base was slightly warped from being in my hot toolshed, so I wanted some thicker areas to correct it, so things don't fall off. Well, that created a different problem. In hindsight I'd do it again, the overall effect is pretty gnarly, I like it.  Like I said, I'll keep it under observation for a few days. The rest is just placing the equipment and figures.
« Last Edit: September 05, 2019, 08:02:13 PM by JDeck »

Offline Tamer

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Re: JDeck's dioramas and displays.
« Reply #498 on: September 06, 2019, 02:26:19 AM »
Looks like the perfect floor to me. I like how you are handling the problems that pop up and not letting it get you down at all. Off to share.

Offline RC-1136

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Re: JDeck's dioramas and displays.
« Reply #499 on: September 06, 2019, 06:40:57 AM »
Is that an insulation foam base? That stuff is super cheap and easy to work with! You can get a 5'x5'x'5 for like 8 dollars here in the U.S. from Home Depot or Lowes.
Star Wars Fan. Action Figure Customizer/collector. Favorite Star Wars Time Period: The Clone Wars.

Offline JDeck

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Re: JDeck's dioramas and displays.
« Reply #500 on: September 06, 2019, 07:07:58 AM »
Is that an insulation foam base? That stuff is super cheap and easy to work with! You can get a 5'x5'x'5 for like 8 dollars here in the U.S. from Home Depot or Lowes.
Oh yeah, I'm very familiar with foam board. I use it for all of my bases. I just don't like sculpting it. I don't like the grit, or the texture. It chips, and peels, it doesn't look natural to me. In order to get the effects I'm looking for I use some kind of medium to add a more natural texture. Usually it's thin coats of spackle, or plaster. I tried clay this time, with mixed results. Actually I think it looks cool.
  *Edit* like the Jabba's Palace Dio, I built, it was all bluefoam, coated with several layers of spackle. One thing it blends all of the seams. Second, it gives it a stucco or concrete finish. Also watercolors react well with plaster, and spackle, the watercolors give it a really deep layered look, almost like a woodstain.  The first time I tried it was on my WW2/Star Wars bunker. I'm not sure where I got the idea.
« Last Edit: September 06, 2019, 10:49:48 AM by JDeck »

Offline Darth More

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Re: JDeck's dioramas and displays.
« Reply #501 on: September 06, 2019, 12:11:12 PM »
I had the same thought as Clanleaderyautja. Why didn't you use foam this time? Using clay is definitely not the cheapest solution, BUT it does look amazing! I had the same shrinking issues with my "Swamps of Kashyyyk" diorama/Swamp Speeder Display.
So did you use wood as base plate or is it actually foam? Your diorama of Jabba's Palace looks incredibly good, too! Excellent work all the way through and working with the modeling clay was an interesting experience for sure.
Thanks for sharing!

Add: I think you did a great job adding the spackle to the surface to make it even. Looks very good, indeed! Is it called ModPodge or what's its name?

« Last Edit: September 06, 2019, 12:18:20 PM by Darth More »

Offline JDeck

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Re: JDeck's dioramas and displays.
« Reply #502 on: September 06, 2019, 01:06:35 PM »
I had the same thought as Clanleaderyautja. Why didn't you use foam this time? Using clay is definitely not the cheapest solution, BUT it does look amazing! I had the same shrinking issues with my "Swamps of Kashyyyk" diorama/Swamp Speeder Display.
So did you use wood as base plate or is it actually foam? Your diorama of Jabba's Palace looks incredibly good, too! Excellent work all the way through and working with the modeling clay was an interesting experience for sure.
Thanks for sharing!

Add: I think you did a great job adding the spackle to the surface to make it even. Looks very good, indeed! Is it called ModPodge or what's its name?

I was just trying something new, and thought to document it. Maybe someone will use it, or improve on it. I use the spackle technique on pretty much all my dios, it's time consuming (even more than what I'm currently doing). I think modgepodge is a clear coat, spackle is what you use to fill nail holes or cracks in drywall. It's thicker than plaster, it doesn't run, and it sands easily.  Someone gave me the clay several years ago, to make dioramas with, or something, and I figured I'd see what happens. I have so much crap, it's ridiculous. I have sculpting plaster, which feels like ground up toilet paper, but that would make cool stones, maybe, lol. I have a different type of sculpting plaster, that has the texture of cat litter, that makes cool Rocky ground.

I knew it would crack, but not to that extent. I wanted it to crack slightly, but not like that. Basically, the spackle isn't getting rid of the cracks, it's just making the cracks smaller, and more in scale with the rest of the diorama. However, my only disappoinment is that it's concrete. It's the most realistic concrete diorama floor I've made, but not what I was initially going for. Ohhh wells. I still like it. I'll probably do this technique in the future for distressed concrete. It beats layering spackle and sanding all week.
« Last Edit: September 06, 2019, 02:24:43 PM by JDeck »

Offline JDeck

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Re: JDeck's dioramas and displays.
« Reply #503 on: September 06, 2019, 01:58:46 PM »
Looks like the perfect floor to me. I like how you are handling the problems that pop up and not letting it get you down at all. Off to share.
Thank you Tamer. This is why I enjoy experimenting, I may want it to result one way, but in this case I think I stumbled upon something cool, that I couldn't have imagined. Initially I was just going to scrape off, all the dried up clay, and try for plan B, but I figured I could resurrect it, make it into something else.  It's been 3 days, and no more signs of shrinking. It's painted, and ready to go.
« Last Edit: September 06, 2019, 02:11:05 PM by JDeck »

Offline Tamer

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Re: JDeck's dioramas and displays.
« Reply #504 on: September 07, 2019, 04:10:07 AM »
Glad it finally stopped shrinking on you. Now you can get on with your life. I remember mudding my drywall in my basement and putting it on way too thick and then having to sand forever. I will never do drywall (at least mudding and sanding) ever again so help the maker above!

Offline JDeck

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Re: JDeck's dioramas and displays.
« Reply #505 on: September 07, 2019, 06:39:29 AM »
Glad it finally stopped shrinking on you. Now you can get on with your life. I remember mudding my drywall in my basement and putting it on way too thick and then having to sand forever. I will never do drywall (at least mudding and sanding) ever again so help the maker above!

Lol. Reminds me of, the early years of the Recession, I had the idea to move to Texas, to do construction, after hurricane Ike. I ended up doing; drywall, tiling, roofing, concrete, demolition, even worked on a horse farm . Of course I wasn't really that good at any of it, but I settled with landscaping, I was good at that. So, now when it comes to construction or landscaping, I'll keep it in small scale dioramas. Lol.
« Last Edit: September 07, 2019, 07:33:06 AM by JDeck »

Offline Tamer

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Re: JDeck's dioramas and displays.
« Reply #506 on: September 08, 2019, 05:14:07 AM »
Word!

Offline JDeck

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Re: JDeck's dioramas and displays.
« Reply #507 on: September 08, 2019, 10:19:42 AM »
I'd say my Stormtrooper squad display is finished.
 
    The Stormtroopers are defending an Imperial supply depot on the moon of Galgrebaa, one of the largest ports in the Galaxy, located between two major trade routes. Galgrebaa is of great strategic importance to the Empire, as it's used as a hub to distribute weapons, fuel and supplies throughout the Galaxy.  The Empire's vast supply depots, draws attention from Rebel cell groups, pirates and gangsters.


     For over a thousand years, Galgrebaa had been an independent monarchy, with a free market for manufacturing and interplanetary trade. With it's enormous stone fortifications, Galgrebaa had never been officially conquered. Years before the Clone Wars the administrators working under the king, collaborated with the Trade Federation, sending the king into exile. The Trade Federation, in order to ensure their monopoly while  inflating prices, seized, and suspended manufacturing, and mining, sending the moon into a massive trade deficit, and high unemployment.
      With the end of the Clone Wars and the dismantling of the Trade Federation, the large vacuum of power was filled by, pirates, gangs, and even Rebel cell groups looking to flee the Empire. This in turn caught the attention of the Empire. The Empire sent a Garrison, to protect the citizens, then they realized what strategic significance the moon had. Factories went back into production, the mining guild began mining the host gas giant, for Tibanna, putting people back to work.  Overall the Galgrebian citizens approved of the Empire's presence, since an Empire was not much different from the Monarchy they had been used to.
« Last Edit: September 08, 2019, 04:39:06 PM by JDeck »

Offline hemble

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Re: JDeck's dioramas and displays.
« Reply #508 on: September 08, 2019, 02:34:49 PM »
Yep the floor looks awesome JD and it really brings the figures and equipment together and gives it awesome realism.

Ron

Offline JDeck

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Re: JDeck's dioramas and displays.
« Reply #509 on: September 08, 2019, 03:11:18 PM »
Yep the floor looks awesome JD and it really brings the figures and equipment together and gives it awesome realism.

Ron
Thank you! I ended up sticking with my original layout, I was pretty pleased with it. The only drawback is the figure stands. Maybe I can find acrylic rods, the size of the foot holes, drill into the floor, set the rods with super glue, and attach the figures, without permanently mounting them.

Pretty much everything is loose, except for the crates, skid platform and barrels.
« Last Edit: September 08, 2019, 03:52:23 PM by JDeck »