Hi fellas,

I'm about to start my very first diorama. I think that's the proper term? Maybe vignette is.

I have a base that I've painted black and a Panther Ausf. A that I've built previously. I want to keep this very very simple for my first go, so I plan to use plaster of Paris for the ground work and field grass. I want this to look like the Panther is in a tall field of grass. I think I have the basic of the field grass down, but my question is the ground work.

Once I spread the plaster around, should I use some very very small gravel in the ground work? Also.. I don't feel that I have a good brown paint to replicate dirt. I have NATO brown, red brown, buff, khaki. Which one would be best?

Or.. I have a handful of enamel washes that are the AK dirt and dust deposites. Could I spray one or two of those instead?

Any help would be great. Thanks

Plaster of Paris is good. You could mix in a good blob of cheap brown acrylic paint when mixing so the plaster takes a brownish tint. That way if something cracks or breaks off, it's still brown. Once the plaster is dry, give it a good coat of primer. I like to use flat black, as it automatically gives all the recesses a shadow. As to which colour is best..tjaaa what colour is dirt? It's seldom uniform in colour, so start with a dark colour, and give the highlights a lighter shade. Remember mud on the tracks, roadwheels, and under the sponsons. Also residual bits of grass the same places.
Using real dirt is also a good idea. Dry it and grind it into different sizes. Pastels/pigments are good too.
Looking forward to seeing your work.
Hope that helps,
John

John,

Thank for the reply sir! I wished I would have read the part about mixing in brown with the plaster, before I started! Haha

Great idea on using darker and lighter brown. I don't know why I didn't think of that.. Because I've watched several videos of a fella doing that with his ground work.

Well I've done this, to me it looks like a decent start. Once it's painted I can start laying the grass and I think it'll really come together.



Thoughts?

Looking good. The gravel is a great idea, perfect scale stones straight from the garden path. Good thing you put the track prints in, I forgot to mention that.

John

Thank you, John.

Here we are after a few coats of paint. Black primer, red brown and an earth color I found stashed.

This was so simple. I don't know why I was so nervous to try it.



Now I'll let this dry awhile and see how the grass will look.

Thanks for the help, John!

Looks good.

Fine work so far! Making bases is really not that hard. Remember to pick out the stones with different drab colours. It'll help them stand out in the uniform sea of grass. I made a couple of pictorials for dioramas on here a while back:

simple base

All about dat Base


John

Very impressive thus far. You did right by keeping it simple first time out. Any plans for a figure/figures?

Thank you fellas! I appreciate the info and kind word.

John, thanks for those links. I'll check them out.

Armorsmith, it almost seems like it needs some figures. I'll look through the stash and see if I can find some that'll fit this.

I'm having a hard time with the tall grass. I used white glue and put the patch of tall grass down on the ground work with something to support it from falling over. A couple hours later... The grass easily fell off. What am I doing wrong?

For tall grass I usually use hemp rope, like the kind you find at a construction site. To anchor it I drill small holes fairly close together but not evenly spaced. Then I unravel the rope and cut it to the desired length. Put a dab of whit glue in the hole and while pinching or twisting the bottom of the cut rope jam it into the hole. Once all my grass is planted I go back and spread it around to make sure it's not too twisted. Once dry I pick out the loose strands and air brush it different shades of green, etc. Good luck.

Thank you sir! Looks like I need to break the drill out. To do a tall grass field.. I'll have A LOT of holes to drill. Haha

This looks excellent so far! Really makes me want to give building bases a second chance myself

Thank you Cristian! You definitely should give it another go.

Looks really good from here Dustin, Ruck On!


Cheers, Ski.

Thank you very much, Steven!

Dustin,

The base is coming along great. I really like the earth tones on the ground and I can't wait to see the grass get planted.

Robert

Thank you Rob! I'll get to that grass soon.

I'm a little late to the party but a good technique for tall grass is if you can first put down 4-6mm static grass then you can use it like a pin cushion, it will hold the tall grass up while the glue dries.

John, how do you get the 4-6mm static grass to "stand up"?

Has to be done with an applicator, powerful ones are pricey but on you tube there are cheaper ones you can make. I have a tutorial that should be done in a couple weeks for the "1947" diorama that's on here in the diorama section, I've been too busy to finish it at the moment.

Yeah, I second that like on the earth tones. Came out really well Dustin.

You can also use Woodland Scenic grass which is very fine and doesn't require drilling. You cut a length, dip the end in white clue and apply where you like. You can see some of the results in the thread for my build, "On the beach, many years later". Regardless of the method, it will take some time! Just ask the master, Jerry Rutman who put about a gazillion figures and vehicles in tall grass!

Tat, thank you sir!

Patrick, I do have the same looking grass as what you have in your dio, which is very nice btw. But when I cut to length and dipped the end in white glue and stuck it to the base. Once dry.. It still fell over like it never adhered at all. Any guesses?

Dustin,, your Panther and the base are looking really good so far! I'm not certain, but your problem with the grass not sticking could be just that the glue wouldn't adhere to a painted surface. Another option when using plaster as you did, is to have most(if not all) of your grass, trees, etc ready for "planting" at the time you put the plaster down. While the plaster is still damp, stick the grass/trees/rocks etc into the base. OR, using a toothpick or similar object, poke all the holes you think you'll need, and then let it dry. If you need more holes later on, then drill. Looking forward to how your dio turns out!