Order for building a diorama


N

nvrr49

Member
Or at least some suggestions. I have the base built, and an getting ready to plant the building and do the scenery. So my question is what order should I install everything? The first pictures shows how I was planning on laying out the buildings for the hog farm. although I have made some changes, and added track and a bridge now.

Farm Platt.jpg
The second picture is of the base as it sits now. Should I install the buildings, track and hog pens before the grass, mud and stream bed.
Plot 2.jpg
I was thinking of doing the stream bed and track, then install buildings, pens, and last, the grass, dirt and roads.

Yeah scenery is not my thing!
 
nvrr49 said:
The second picture is of the base as it sits now. Should I install the buildings, track and hog pens before the grass, mud and stream bed.

I was thinking of doing the stream bed and track, then install buildings, pens, and last, the grass, dirt and roads.

Yeah scenery is not my thing!
Click to expand...

You can do the stream bed and track first as you plan. Its a little difficult spreading ground cover evenly around structures and under fences. Mask off the areas where the buildings will sit and do the ground cover (grass & dirt), roads etc first. Then put the buildings in place. You can always add a little extra ground cover around the building foundations once they are in place. I would install fences or pens last (but before installing nearby trees).
 
This is what I would do:

Lay track,
Ballast track,
Lay in the stream and paint it letting the paint completely dry,
Mark out your building spots and mask those areas off,
Mark out roads, walking tracks etc
Place dirt, etc on roads and walking tracks
Put down your base ground cover, grass weeds, etc,
Finish stream with clear, liquitex medium gloss or water finish,
Place Buildings, fences etc
Put in trees, bushes, undergrowth, and so forth.

When putting down your base ground cover, build up the areas where your buildings will sit using foam or anything. That way you can lay the grass etc right up to the "sides of your structures" without getting it all over them. When you place your structures, they should fit nicely and save you having to build up the ground cover around them. You could also do your "longer grasses" around the structures at that time as well.
 
If you have planned on a paved road or street, elevate it to create a grade like you would track. It doesn't have to be very high, just enough to make it look like it was put in by man. If you are planning on a gravel or dirt road, then you wouldn't need to do that.

I like the order Wombat suggested. It's a good way to keep things organized.

Photoman475
 
I'm no expert on any of this, but streams and rivers always seem to be something that often gets done unrealistically, i.e the 'water' looks too clear. Depth will have a great bearing on this, see if you can find some examples of how others have achieved the right look.
 
Photoman raises a good point regards "raising your paved roads a little, I like that myself.

Water is probably the hardest thing to get to look right. I'm not saying that it is hard per se, just the hardest or most challenging part of doing your scenery. I use Liquitex Medium Gloss for my water, although there are numerous products that can be used. Each product has its own pro's and con's though. While Liquitex seems to give a fairly good impression of depth, it does take 24 hours to dry and needs to be built up with numerous layers. The more layers (within reason) the deeper the look.

With that being said, the appearance of depth can be aided by the colors that you choose. Basically, a light color will give the appearance of shallow water while a darker color will give the appearance of depth. Therefore, the colors you choose for your river/stream bed should go from light to dark. Light along the banks to darker for the middle of the river/stream.
 
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