Hi Guys I'm trying a little experiment by using cheap plastic aquarium plants for jungle growth behind a Japanese type 97 I'm currently building. I just "planted " the jungle today in the base and would like to know what you think I plan on painting the plants various greens and a few highlights of yellow etc. I included a picture with the 97 so you could get a feel for scale.

I too saw some plastic plants at the pet store last week and deemed
them too unrealistic and out of scale... but seeing them in your dio
with the tank i'm reconsidering!! i think the placement and blend is great.
I think it will take a good paintjob to bring it off, so post some pics of the
results..A couple of tips- a large, broad, plant leaf tends to have a waxy
coating on it, so a little shine wouldn't be out of order on those leaves.
If the roadway is dry, vehicle traffic will raise dust that will coat the plants
until its washed off by the rain..Good luck painting and i like the paintjob
on the tank.. airbrush or hand?

Thanks Kancali, The paint job is by brush. I plan on making the roadbed dry so some pastel dust on the leave will help blend eveything I hope

I was skeptical about using those plants in a dio I had in mind, but now you have made me switch over. It looks good, I mean really good!

~Chip :-)

I would say the selection of those plants works well. Not all aquarium plants would be as suitable.

They look really well have you painted them if not a would like to know the outcome here is another example of aquarium plant in my unfinished dio.

Hey waterboy. When seen with the tank they do look quite well. But not all leaves were big. Looking at PFC`s dio.... adding some of these smaller plants at the front or inbetween them might make the whole scene more realistic.
Nice work on the Type97. Love the camo. Should look nice when finished. A wash or two and some filters will tone down the bright colours and blend them nicely!

pfc. Is that a dio of a VC tunnel? Looks way cool.

Uniformity is your 'enemy' with plastic plants. Uniform color and shape.
I have seen some poorly planned plastic plant experiments - Yours is good. The size and scale are nice and the Japanese theme really helps it 'work'.
I would (as you are) vary the shades of the leaves. Remember the bottoms of the leaves are usually darker than the top. Don't forget that the leave stems and veins are darker too.
I would experiment with 'ripping' some edges too. Something to vary the shape of a few leaves.
One last thing - try to hide all the 'seams' where the leaves come together in a very fabricated way. If you can't hide them then soften them with some white glue that you touch up and paint.

Thanks for all the tips guys I think I will try to find some smaller plants to flll out the bottom of the jungle. Scott, ripping some of the leaves to vary the shape makes sense too Lots of work ahead of me, but I'm really looking forward to it. I really enjoy the groundwork part of a dio.

Hi waterboy,
great idea and will look great when they are de-plasticised. With a bit of painting they should look really nice.
Cheers
Peter

you arrenged a good jungle foliage with those plastic plants.They can look great when painted and weathered....the japanese tank is also good painted .congrats

when it comes to jungle dio's,aquarium plants are the best thing since sliced bread.most of my dio's are nam subjects and until i saw one ,years ago,from verlinden ,that mentioned these were used i had never considerd them.since then it's made life much easier.don't over paint them and use dulcote.top fin is the best company name to buy for realism and 1/35 scale.

Having spent time with the Army in the jungles (both primary and secondary) of Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand I can confirm that some of those leaves on particular plants are bloody HUGE and would easily be able to wrap around a guys head entirely. So when I saw the photos of the diorama above with the relative sizes of the crew and the 'leaves' it definately is plausible and 'realistic'.

Great work on the diorama and use of aquarium plants.

Where is the diorama based? Hopefully it is about Japans greatest ever wartime campaign success, the taking of Malaya and the Crown in Britains Asia jewel. . . the 'impregnable' Singapore.

I am working on two "Battle of Malaya" and Singapore 1942 dioramas - one involving the Tamiya Type 97 and the infamous Australian ambush of 12+ of these at Bakri-Muar Road in January 1942.

They look really good, i am gonna head down to the local aquarium and but myself some for my nam dios, cheers!

It is of course a nice idea just an advise combine plastic plants with natural ones this allow you to get better results see photo on my gallery (I do not know if it is a good result)
M.G.