Introduction

Adoba Diorama in the brain child of László Adóba, a Hungarian artist, creator and model builder who publishes books centering on scratch building objects to place into dioramas. At the present, László has published two books on the subject of Building Dioramas. These books are presented in an easy to follow step by step format. All books by Adoba Diorama are available through their website (click here).

Building Dioramas – Accessories is the second book from Adoba Dioramas as part of a series of books created to show a step by step process on building accessories for use in dioramas. László Adóba, the author and creator of the Building Dioramas Series, has a straightforward approach to showing the steps to creating a number of objects all while using readily available materials, many found around your home.

Building Dioramas – Accessories is a hard spine, soft cover book printed on high quality paper. The print is crisp and the hundreds of photographs are clear and of high resolution. This book is laid out over five chapters and is as follows:

Table of Contents

• Forward
• Chapter 1 – Furniture
• Chapter 2 – Miscellaneous Objects
• Chapter 3 – Bathroom Equipment
• Chapter 4 – Food and Tableware
• Chapter 5 – Objects made from iron

Review

Laszlo walks us through several chapters showing us how to make several different objects predominantly in 1/35th scale, but it is not just the objects that are covered here; it’s the techniques. Each of the techniques that are shown in Building Dioramas – Accessories are only limited to what we see the author construct, your imagination is limitless. Chapter 1 shows us a step by step building of basic household furniture and not only from traditional building and finishing materials but from pretty much items we all have within our houses on any given day. Various cardboards, packages left over from other products and glue are all the materials that may be needed sometimes to make some extraordinary creations.

Moving from the various tables and chairs offered up under Chapter 1 we see more step by step action in Chapter 2 with Miscellaneous Objects. Here the author branches out on the traditional furniture and gives his approach to Pianos, bookcases, radiators and much more. His simple approach to construction is unbelievably easy to follow. The pictures within this book tell the story by themselves. Every step on building, Laszlo has photographed and what he accomplishes is shown right there, accompanied with the supported text. It really cannot get any easier than that.

Chapter 3 brings SBS scratch model making into the bathroom. Here all of the items we see every day in the bathroom. Again, simple materials, styrene, cardboard, XPS (Extruded Polystyrene) and plasticine all come together one step at a time until we have all of the objects needed to create bathroom type fixtures.

Chapter 4 is a short segment in this book but gives us the techniques to create foods and tableware. Again we see all the steps laid out in words and color. The smallest things often make a diorama or vignette. The adding of everyday items such as food, plates and utensils for eating can bring life to any scene.

Finally, Chapter 5 brings the reader into the world of making objects from iron. The items and techniques shown in this chapter are found everywhere in the world; from gates to fencing, signage and various ornamental objects. Incredibly we are able to learn the layout and application of materials to create some items that would typically be cast from sculpts or made with photo etch parts but with some styrene flat stock, wire and glue. As with this entire book, the steps are all right here, straightforward and easy to follow.

Conclusion

I was fortunate not too long ago to review Adoba Dioramas’ book; Making Stone Objects. I was fascinated at the author’s approach to making all of these different objects with only some XPS, cardboard, glue and paints. Building Dioramas – Accessories by László Adóba is an extraordinary extension of his first book on dioramas. Having the techniques to be able to sit down and create what you want, when you want is one of the most useful tools in the modelling world today! These books, specifically Building Dioramas – Accessories give the reader these techniques. The easy to follow, step by step processes will give you the knowhow and confidence to begin using that imagination we all have and start creating object we wish to place in our dioramas and vignettes without all the endless time searching the internet for scale aftermarket parts not to mention being able to use the common everyday materials we have at home today to create these pieces is just going to be a savings for anyone.

After reading Adoba Dioramas’ Building Dioramas – Accessories I can only say that I recommend this book to anyone; novice to expert. If you ever wanted to learn how to create filler pieces to help enhance you dioramas or broaden your scope of building various object in general, then Building Dioramas – Accessories is a great place to start. This book is a fun read and will have you looking for some cardboard and glue before you get halfway through it!!

Highly Recommended