First posting to this forum.

I'm planning a diorama with a 120mm scale mortar and a figure. The mortar needs to be slightly recessed. I've never built a diorama before so I'm unsure what to use for the 'ground'. I'm guessing plaster of paris but this seems a bit messy. The terrain will be desert so it will be fairly flat with some rocks and maybe a few scrub plants.

Also, it may be sacrilege, but I'm short on shelf space so I would like the base to be a plastic display case like the ones I use to store my finished armor. Would this be feasible? I'd hate to have the 'ground' crack away from the base.

Thanks,
Paul

Hello Paul, wlecome to the world of dioramas. While I am no expert, I have had good success using a mix of Celluclay and Durhams Water Putty (available at Home Depot) mixed with water, white glue and cheap acrylic paint to get the color ground you want. Also, for bases I have used pre-made plaque types bought at Michaels and Hobby Lobby as well as made my own usinf plywood and quarter round. I drill holes into the base and then stain and brush a couple coats of Polyurethane to seal the wood. I can't comment on how well a plastic base will work, but I am not sure what kind of "grip" your groundwork will have on that surface. Check out the pictures in my gallery as I have a series from my last diorama.

Keith

Welcome Paul!

and Ditto on the Durhamns I use if for everything from desert to plowed fields and for wall construction. ( Basic wall construction; Hunter or Hunted ) It works just like plaster, but dries stronger.

For Sand I spread out the wet Durham and then I take dry Durhams and place it in a 35MM film container. I punch a bunch of hole in the lid and use it like a saltshaker to sprinkle the dry Durham over the base... as it dries it makes a great sandy effect.



I am not sure about the plastic… its surface is so slick that there is little for your ground martial to hold too. One option would be to use a hobby knife and score, gouge and/or cut lines and gashes into the plastic. This would give the ground material something to grip to… and it is covered so no one will ever know your propensity to Plastic Abuse.

Another thought would be to take that left over plastic sprue from the model... chop it into irregular size and glue it to your plastic base - I would give it a couple of washes with liquid glue of M.E.K. After it dries simple spread your ground material over the top and cover the plastic pieces

Good Luck

John
www.johnneill.com

Ola Paul

You have got great tips so far. I have a couple of minor things to add to what`s already been said. What I usually do is this: I built up every leveling with styrofoam. Styrofoam can be glued with White glue. Then when everything is cured I take ordinary wallspackle that you buy at the DIY shop (Really cheap and you get a huge amount (big tube)) I Put the Wallspackle in a bowl or a cup and put some Acrylic sand colors in it and I mix that till everything got the sand/ground color. Then I start applying this over the Surface (the styrofoam).
While it is Still wet I use to sprinkle some birdcage sand over it. This for two reasons. 1. This saves you a step in making your groundbase as you don`t need to add much more sand after with diluted white glue and such. 2. Now you can lay a piece of kitchenplastic on it to make your Tire tracks without having your plaster being ripped off when you tear off your Kitchenfoil after making tiretracks
The acrylic paint in the mix also prevents that when by accident a small part suddenly chips off the color will be the same as the rest and not that you see the white spackle.
As with securing it to the plastic base... I think scoring the plastic would do the trick but you could experiment with that first before you make the dio itself

Howdy Paul. Those are all good tips! I would only add that a little kitty litter sprinkled on while your plaster or durham's putty is half wet, and pressed in will look like small rocks/gravel etc if you want that look. And for a large scale figure you might even be able to get away with real sand from your backyard, in 1/35 in looks a bit too coarse.

Thanks for all the tips. I'll be back later for some layout advice.

Paul

Whatever you do, make sure the color of the rocks match the ground cover. As this is a desert diorama, the rocks and sand all have a common source and would therefore be the same color.

Check out "WoodlandScenics.com", I have used more hydrocal than any other product and I love it. They also carry rock molds and assorted gravels and talus.
Murphy

I've used plastic display cases before and have had good luck with a mix of white glue and water, and then sprinkling on your ground cover. Since your dio is only going to have small pieces on it, you can place the figure and mortar directly onto the glue/water mix to secure them to the base before you add the ground cover.

Art

Wow, great tips here! I may as well add my two cents: first off for the plastic base, I would just take a piece of real coasrs sandpaper and rough up all of the surface to the plastic. Much quicker than trying to score the base, and safer too! Less chance of slicing that finger!
I use pretty much anything and everything for ground work. Sifted topsoil, cat littler, sand ballast, whatever I can find. The spackle idea sounds neat, I've heard that when it dries, it's still somewhat rubbery? I've heard of using tiling grout to use as ground work, it comes in a ton of earthtones too. Anyone use it to do ground work?
As for the actual bases, I'm using insulation board (dense styrofoam) now for my bases, quite light and it cuts great. I'm fortunate to have a table saw and a chop saw to custom cut my bases. And since my place is a dust magnet, I have to custom build my own cases too to keep them and my cars dust free. It eats the space, but with the cases, at least I can stack them a bit on the shelves.

Oh yeah, Pink, rigid insulation board. Cutable, sandable, shapeable in layers. Takes Hydrocal and Durhams very well and doesn't make a big mess when you cut it. If I can recommend the best reference to dio building it has to be Model Railroading Magazine. I picked one up when I was doing 1/35th exclusively and was so impressed, I now do N-Scale too! It has actually helped my armor modelling tons!
HTH Cuhail