Topic: Phatty's Diorama

[Phatty]

The title is boring, because I'm not entirely sure which direction I'm heading with it just yet.  I've painted up 2 pieces in a flat black, and they're going to be made into the ISY Command Post: The checkpoint before the Shipyard Factory!  Post thoughts, suggestions, tips, etc!

[JTrooper]

Are you going to the Endor, Hoth, Ryloff, or Degobah

[Phatty]

I'm just not sure yet.  I'm thinking of developing a storyline with a new world that suits my purposes...

[DocOutlands]

You need a Hoth Gun Turret set in there, too.  Just for intimidation factor. 

[Phatty]

Hmmmm....not a bad idea either.  This portion is kinda on the back burner while I work on my contest entry for the military ground vehicle, but I'm still working ideas over in my head...

[Reconsgt]

I have 3 or 4 of those Dagobah sets and what I was thinking of doing was to spay the base with adhesive, and crumble dried moss over it, similar to what I did with the endor dio, then add paint to the hut, black then a few shades of brown dry brushed on, over that add some detals of spanish moss of something similr to replicate vines or bark,   I am unsure of what theme you will be going for but you can adapt the techniques to other mediums.

[hangarbay94]

Phatty, I did this to my sets...



If yours are going to be imperial, I'd possibly make the rocks a greyish. I used a stone effect spray to create a rock effect.

[Phatty]

I started with a flat black, and for the "Imperial Hoth Base," I think I'm going to use a grey as a weathering color on it, as if it were a black rock, weathered and dulled.  I'll add some brown and green flecks in the Dagobah playset to the ground to give it a natural look, and probably go with a deep reddish brown for the tree trunk, almost a mahogany.  These are just thoughts for now, we'll see how it looks when I start to flesh it out.

[Phatty]

I done went and spent too much money at Hobby Lobby...

Picked up some clear drying adhesive for landscapes, some rock, and some grass.  So far, I've applied some rock to part of my diorama.  It's all still very rough, but here are some in progress works...

[Clonehead]

Nice, you bought some ballast and scenic cement! I sometimes balance out the course rock with the finer stuff that they sell. some fine sand might work for this also.  The fun comes for me when I paint the rock a dark tone and then come back and drybrush over it in a lighter tone or two. Lots of times, I will apply the grass and the rock at the same time and soak it all with the scenic cement. It looks rough when the cement is wet but when it dries it looks cool as hell.

[Phatty]

I'm thinking of doing that as well.  The only fine ballast they had there was brown though, and I think it'll clash a bit with the dark, stark theme I'm going for.  The coarse ballast covers up the "snow" look to the base, so now it looks more like carved rock, which is where I'm going with it.

I also bought some fine grass effect, some green and brown enamels to go with the Dagobah set.  I was going to get some of that fake water, too, but it only came in large quantities and I don't need that much!

I just have to remember to stick to ONE project, and that's my contest entry.  I want to do it all NOW!

[hangarbay94]

This is lookng very nice Pat...I like what ou are doing and am keen to see more.

I've just gone a bought another Hoth set to do a custom on but I'll wait till you've done yours before deciding what to do with it.

[Luke Sprywalker]

OOOOHHH, Looking good Phatty. I like that you are putting the extra effort into it. Do just as Clint has described with the paint techniques.

[Phatty]

Here are the latest updates to my dio.  I'm not happy with the gravel formation I have going on, so I'm going to add another thin, sparse layer of larger rock to it to even it out more

[Reconsgt]

Try adding some colored sand into it, it will fill the gaps and add some contrast. It's looking good so far.