I am starting on a civilian diorama, it is a scene of a solo climber who is defying gravity once more to get a kick in his live.

I am inspired by my father in law who was a fanatic climber until last year when he had a heart attack and he is not able to enjoy the sport anymore.



I had collected some very nice looking tree bark a few weeks ago end they have a very nice structure so now I am going to make a Latex mold and cast it in dental plaster so that I can paint it like a rock feature.

The problem I am facing with is that I can't decide which piece I am going to use, so I need your advise.

The plan is to make it a diorama that can be hanged on a wall



Here are 3 possible lay-outs to use and I have put the leg parts of the figure I am going to use in the spot I wanted to place the climber.

A)



B)



or C)



I fancy option B myself because the ''rock'' is so slick and narrow it gives the feeling of danger and anticipation (my sentiment).

The figure would be a mix of Airfix and Tamiya figures (Dessert rats - 25 pounder crew) and a Hornet head.

What do ye think? Am I going nuts??

I like no. 3 myself.....looks all..rocky....#:-)

Roadkill

Being an avid climber myself, I love the idea.. Hope to see more pics as you progress... Just remeber to try and keep the "climbers" center of gravity* close to the wall and over his feet... It keeps the weight off the arms and on the big muscles of the legs..I personally like the "B" idea myself..

Dave

Dave,

tnx for the tip

Do you know of any good site where I can find some good pictures of harnesses and gear that solo climbers use.

My father in law used to climb solo whitout any safety line, I was thinking on doing that, but maybe that is not visually appealing enough??


Oh another question: i am not a figure sculpter so I am truying to do some figure kitbasching but I am not to ceen on cutting to much en resculpting.

The legs of the fig I use is from the Airfix Dessert rats Multipose set end it has socks.
The few pictures that I have seen of rockclimbers al seem to wear no socks and of those tiny shoes wit a anti slip bottom.

How wrong am I if I would decide not to remove the socks and adjust the shoes??

You are right Phantom_Major,

But I am planning to make my rock a brownisch - redisch color.

But still, what would be a better background? Simply white?

Hoi Ronny,

Great idea. I would go for option A. I can understand that you want to express the feeling of danger and excitement, but if you place the climber on top of the rock, I think that you can add the feeling that the climber almost has conquered the elements.
Just my 2 cents.
Greetz

Hey ronny check out this site... Not a lot of solo/free climbing pics but worth a look
http://www.outdoor-foto.at/

A far as gear, a standard harness for the caulk bag and maybe a cam to clip onto for a rest stop Also, check out http://www.mec.ca/Main/home.jsp for some pictures of gear...

Ronny, personally I think you should be thrown off the site for having the gall to build a civie scene!. Just kidding.

I love the idea.
I like option C, because we already know that the "wall" is tall, and more precisely portrays the climbers struggle. The other options seem to place a dot on huge field. Too much for the viewer to look at.
A cool idea would be to place a small tree outgrowth on the wall somewhere. Will help to add color and more size perspective. Like the pic below:



Here's a great site loaded with info: Rock Climbing.com

I personally like C since a lot of rock climbers climb big cliffs, not tall and skinny ones

Sand the model to an extent that the socks is in level with the legs.

A good background will be a view of the Grand Canyon. Also, if you can place the dio without the frame, put it in a window facing an open area/field to stimulate a distant and high looking dio.

I like A or B, B shows the climber a bit more.

As a non-climber the extra rock shows off the task at hand. It gave me a sensation of impossing wall ahead.

I would go for A... it really adds size to the dio.... it shows the impressive size of a cliff...

Ron,
You know I like to put things bluntly. No offence.
Exhibits A and B look like a piece of bark trying to look like a model rock, exhibit C looks like a model rock. A nice model rock; even !
I like the idea of adding something of vegetation. You may even have a very thin waterfall trickling down next to him.
This will be an excellent little dio.
Don't leave any space between any of the body parts and the cliff. He should be GLUED against it. You may want to cut of his feet and alter them before glueingthem back on, so they have the exact position you want them to be.
My 2 BEF...

Jan

I would vote for option 3 and the background I would paint the same as the rockface. From a distance it looks like a photo or painting, when the person gets close....KA-BOOM 3-D, and what a truely marvelous gift. I made an old Army ambulance for my father a retired Army doctor.

Roadkill,

I'm a rock climber myself, and I have been walking around with the idee myself. So naturaly I love what you are doing. I'd go for option C. It focussus the attention on the climber and the bark is more convincing.
Make the route a bit botanical (put in vegetation) like in the photo kencelot posted, that's really nice. Unfortunately I can't give you any advise on the how to's, because I'm quite new to this game. I'm still plundering your website for info on the how to's. Which is by the way a treasure mine for me.
I tried out the barbed wire methode and it works like a charm. Mind you I tried it for 1/72, and it looks beautifull.

Regards, Hut

Tnx fellows for your advises, much apreciated

I have made a update that you can find here

To Hut

Welkom op de site, je zal snel merken dat hier alleen maar vriendelijke mensen zijn met een schat aan informatie en tips, maak er gretig gebruik van.
Bedankt dat je mijn site hebt bezocht en ik ben blij dat je er iets aan had
Als klimmer wou ik je zeker vragen om eens in de figuren sectie te kijken naar mijn klimmer en je eventuele opmerkingen aan mij door te spelen.

Have fun #:-)

As for references for harnesses and shoes there are loads of online sources.

five.ten makes shoes http://www.fiveten.com/

and loads makeharnesses and gear

REI carries lots of gear too
http://www.rei.com/

as for harnesses it couldn't be easier
a wide waist belt, leg loops and sone thin webbing connecting them.
sort of like the skeleton of a pair of shorts.

chalk bag equally easy..

have fun

Mike