hi guys, i've practically finished this base for my sherman and i am quite happy with it, just thought i'd ask what can be done to it to make it look abit better?




thanks
stan

Hi Stan,

Personally, I would get that grass to stand up so it doesn't look like straw thrown down (paint the grass) and color the gravel in several shades. Then a good transition from the grass to the road would be added. You've got the concept, just need to tie it all together (tie in your flanks). See what the guys have to say. Hope that helps a bit.


Cheers, Ski.

thanks for the help, i would but i don't know how to, this is only my second attempt a diorama
stan

Break up the regular flat surface with the odd rock and add some variations in tones to both the gravel and grass. where you have the taller plants the grass would be greener (as you have done) as it would retain more water in those locations but the green would become gradually lighter as you move away from the tall plants. You also need to bare in mind that usually flowering plants indicates richer soils which are darker, so basically add variation to the colours.

Static will make it stand up and while you can buy tools to do this you could just rub a balloon against your clothing, and then use the generated static to make the grass stand up.

hi stanley
I agree with steven, the grass looks like piled straw, and the color, is a little monotonous,try paint the grass in different colors to simulate the real effect,
eg.sapless,vital,dead,etc. and the "green grass"'s position is too regular,a unbalanced look should be better
maybe it's good to add some "earth" on the road, the sandy one doesn't look natural.
good work since it's ur second dio
Cheers
Eric

It's great to see you working on dioramas in addition to building tanks Stan. In addition to the suggestions already provided I have a thought on the road. Often roads like this have grass growing down the center in both regular and irregular patches. I grows basically in a line directly down the center of the road where the wheels of carts and vehicles don't come in contact with the road surface.

Also following the suggestions on the grass, once you get some or all of the grass to stand up and are happy with it you can just mix up some green to your liking and gently airbrush it around the tall plants and let it gradually fad in strength as you move away from them as Darren was talking about.

Some odd rocks and maybe some dry patches in the grass would certainly help make it look natural like the gents previously mentioned as well.

Fix the grass so that it stands up. The path is too monotone. You can liven it u up with some oils and washes. I would also add some debri, such as sticks or larger rocks.

thanks for all the help guys, i'll have a go now and see what i can do.
stan

Please forgive my ignorance but once you have made the static grass stand up what stops it going flat again?

Hi Remearmr,

When I do grass I usually glue it to the base (white glue) vertical and once the glue dries you can touch up with a small comb to get most of the strands to stand straight up. Airbrushing can lay it back down, so I use a "soft" wide or narrow brush and paint what needs touch up. I most often paint the grass before hand if need be. Glad you asked, the guys may have other methods, but it works for me.

Cheers, Ski.

P.S. If you use "Heki Grass", the problem is solved, for the most part.



Some of the grass is visible in the left corner (Heki Grass) and the tall shutes are commercial grass painted before hand and glued in place. Sorry there isn't a better close-up photo.