I'm needing some help with a diorama I hope to make fairly soon. I was wondering if anyone could show me how or link me to a place that shows you hot to make some trenches , hills, craters, etc. I'm a complete noob at the hobby and I'm trying to get a good headstart. Can anyone reccomend any good brands for rocks and trees and stuff as well? Thanks for looking!

Floral foam or construction insulating styrofoam are good options for making understructures for trenches etc.. They can be carved to shape with a knife. Floral foam should be coated with carpenter glue, let set. Add the terrain covering of your choice, like celluclay or epoxy putty. You can make rocks by taking a lump of epoxy putty and texturing it with real rocks. Model RR shops sell latex molds for making plaster castings of rocks. For your other scenic items check out the Armand Bayardi line of diorama accessories.

Me again - first area is to go to the "Features/Diorama" section and take a quick look. LOTS of good stuff.

As far as 'build' up on a base. Start with a good solid base sealed well against moisture. A good stain and poly to avoid warping is good.
Then build up using DIY insulation. It comes in 4x8 sheets of various thicknesses (usually pink). If you want a recycle method go with packing material from computers. Cut and 'hot glue' or elemers glue this down to a basic shape.
Then get yourself some Cellucla (very similar to paper mache) from Michaels/AC Moores/Walmart craft section and add a good layer of that on top of the foam.
If you are going for a rocky area push rocks (pebbles or clean kitty litter) into the wet Celluclay.

Let it dry, and then paint it a nice dark under coat. Work your way up to a lighter top coat.

Grass can be done with static grass (Woodland scenics, maybe Walmart) trimmed twine (Lowes). Sprinkeld over a coat of white glue(elemers) and water mixture (about 50/50 a nice spreadable layer).

Again let dry and paint.

Ask more questions as you go - lots of guys (and girls [Mary]) are really helpfull.

Don't forget to add white glue to the celluclay mixture because as it dries, it will curl up around the edges. I like to add just a little liquid dish detergent also to allow the celluclay to soak up water easier.

Patrick

Alright, so I first get some foam for the base, carve out the trenches if I want some, make hills and stuff out of DIY insulation and Celluclay, place rocks and other objects into the wet Celluclay. How exactly do I make the insulation hills and stuff? Thanks for all the help!

Yep, that's how I'd do it. Don't forget to give the trench some "walls". They were often made out of wood. And sandbags were put in front of the trench pretty often for extra cover.

I don't know what "insulation" means so can't help you with that

Instead of Celluclay, I've been using DAP water putty for my base groundwork. Just another option out there. It covers nicely and dries pretty fast. Then I use the Celluclay to build up in some areas, or to just give a little different texture to the basic shape.

I'm by no means much more than a newbie at this, too, but my only advice would be, "Give it a try and see if it works. If it doesn't, then try something else."

Hi there,
For one of my dio's I wanted a mortar crater in some fern scrubs. To do this I used some polystyrene (the type your new stereo comes in) and removed the shape I required and added a little more depth than needed. Next I put a layer of plaster over it (alot of people call it spackle I think). The nobbly bumpy texture of the polystyrene shows through the plaster giving a nice rough effect. I then painted it earth coloured and added the foliage, these waseasy to push in to the styrene through the thin layer of plaster.
I'll see if I can get a photo later.
Regrds
Robbo

The foam and the DIY insolation are more or less the same thing. You carve the desired shape of the terrain with a modelling knife and cover it with watever putty or clay or a mixture of PVA glue and plaster you desire to use.
I, personally use ordinary plaster when I reconstruct flatter terrain. It sets very fast and You can imprint tracks and footsteps on it while it is not completely set.
Try to use as much self-made products for the dio, that's the way to progress in the field. I've seen too many off-the-shelf dios that look sterile and unrealistic.
Start with something small, like a vignette, the big stuff comes with practice.

P.S.
Note that polystyrene and insolation materials are easily destroyed by solvent-based paints and many types of glues, so they have to be properly coated if you are going to use such materials.

All good ideas, especially Robbo's. You can get some good shapes from appliance packing. When you get your shapes, either with foam or wadded up paper, etc., try a product from Woodland Scenics called Plaster Cloth (an 8" X 5 yards roll costs about 8 or 9 bucks). Or check drug stores and medical supply stores for plaster bandage (same thing, but maybe cheaper). Just cut it, dip it in water and drape it over shapes, contours, etc. You can apply ground cover while it's still wet, or paint it after drying.

Art

P.S-The stock number for the plaster cloth is C1203-comes in a white roll with yellow stripes and black lettering. Probably best found in the model railroad section.

Art

Thanks for all the help guys! Can I use anything to form hills and cover it with Celluclay or plaster? Stuff like rocks?

It would be much easier and lighter if you used a roughly-made outlook of the terrain with foam and covered that with celluclay or plaster.

Is celluclay more like paper mache or actualy clay? Can you shape it? I don't really understand how insulation would hold up the weight of it. Wouldn't the insulation just compress?

i found, that on my very first diorama, it was 1/72 and i was 14 when i did it.. that if you use computer packaging or ploystyren that if you put drops of superglue on it, it dissolves and leaves a crater, only problem is, is that you cant really control the ecact size or depth of the crater.. but maybe with some practise you might be able to, i dunno :-)

Hi I use Florists foam....but after I have carved it I soak it with PVA /water mix 50/50 (Elmars in the USA) and leave overnight...this hardens it .....you can then cursh it. fror track rund etc as you wish...best advice....get some (its only cents) and try it....easy....but soak it ....after its dry (over night,,,,shape it then mix plaster or cheep wall filler (DIY store) with water and PVA and just paint that on....

Easy and VERY cheep....it also will be sealed so thinners will do no harm

AJ

Sweet, I'm gonna have to try out all these methods! Thanks for all the help guys! Can anyone show some pics of carved styrofoam or some Celluclay or any of the methods shown in here? My first diorama should be up her in a couple of weeks and it will be called "Watching The Line". Very basic, but should look pretty cool. Thanks again for the help!