hgei guys how can i simulate the flames from an exposion or the dust that flyes away when a big gun bullet hits the ground

Okay Vlady - you've hit on one of the hardest things to emulate in a diorama. Air / dust is just tough... there are only a few ways to do it.

For Bullets hitting ground and kicking up dust:

Pull a few strands of cotton, pull them into shape, and then hit them with hairspray. Once they are dry, glue them into place, and come back with an airbrush to color the threads along with the surrounding grounds. Then come back with a lighter tint and highlight the "dust" pillar.

Rising Smoke/ Flame:

Similar in methodology, but on a larger scale, and certainly HARDER to do convincingly.... This requires a heavier pull of the cotton ( I use sheets of surgical cotton roles). I begin by soaking this in a black stain overnight. I prefer to use a combination of black and medium green (which gives you a strange charcoal green grey / not dead black). Let the cotton soack overnight, and then take it our and let it dry naturally... may take several days. Once this is completely dry, begin by TWISTING a larger "chord" of cotton, and then pull away fraying strands around the edges. This will give you a "whispy" look. Once it looks right, hit it with hairspray, and repeat the steps above, using a light grey color airbrushed on the fringed areas.

If you MUST show flame, there is only one way I know to do this ... shreded strips of celophane plastic placed INSIDE of the unit, and then blown with a small rotary motor. I've only done this once, and it was for a tank scene. I was able to cut long strips of thin Orange and Amber Yellow celophane. I placed them inside the tank, with a small battery operated fan in the bottom of the tank which made a slight breeze, thereby flickering the "flames". I further obscurred this behind the aformentioned "rising smoke". I was not pleased with the effect of the flames, but the customer was happy, so what can I say? "Fire" is VERY hard to do.

Again - this is very difficult... I find I have to do several trials with cotton to get a passible effect. Do several at once so you can experiment.

Good Luck

I've never actually seen any dios using those techniques. Do you have any we could see, Keith? I really like the sounds of the first technique.

Nic

ACtually, I didnn't bother to photograph the "flaming tank"... but I think this might make a good Digital Diamond article... what do ya think? I'll use photos instead of drawings.

Sounds good to me, Keith. I would like to see an article on both the smoke and puffs from bullets hitting the dirt.

Nic

Thanks for the tips Keith! I´m thinking about a chopper/signal smoke diorama and these tips sound useful...when I get to it, I´ll also post here how it goes. Signal smoke is probably easier because of its unnatural colour...

Toni

Hi,

Here is a the website of Sam Garcia.

http://miniaturesbygarcia.50megs.com/page56.html
http://miniaturesbygarcia.50megs.com/page39.html

Personaly, I would never do a fire scene, I heve never seen a good modeld fire before, I don't think it is possible

k. thz a lot. i had an idea for a dio but i don't think i will buil it ay more. i will try something easiera for start

Vlady,
I've seen the most spectacular water, ice, snow ... but NEVER I saw a diorama with fire that looked even the least bit convincing. But you never know... this is Armorama ?!

Ahmen to that Jan. It certainly is a challenge to do the wild thing with this.

I however do not feel up to it to do it right now. Got to gather a bit more experience first

I would love to see somebody do it !

Quite true.. Although the dio Roadkill mentioned looks good, it still isn't convincing enough (for me, at least). I would rather do the smoke effects in Photoshop... perhaps it could be considered cheating, but I think that could be far more realistic.

Mario M.

I think I can say it now...I think the fire in those two dios look awful and ruin the otherwise beautiful setting and excellent models. I have a feeling that convincing smoke can be achieved but flames...I wouldn´t bother even trying.

Today I´m gonna search for right kind of cotton and start experimenting with it...

Toni

I think the flame thrower looks pretty good. Seems to capture the essence of the flames without looking hokey.

I'm not a expert in making models but the flames and smoke on those pics look good to me, the only other way it could be done is to take a digital picture of the dio and then use a photo program (Adobe Photoshop or Paintshop Pro) to insert the flame and smoke into the picture, the only draw back is if you wanted to enter a model contest....... to me every attempt to create something only leads to learning on how to make it better the next time.

Yep, that was what I was thinking... Photoshop does miracles, but it could be considered cheating. Personaly, I like digital effects and think this is the best way for modeling smoke and flames...

Mario M.

I second the first statement...... nothing "natural" about those flames......

thz guys and i think the flames are pretty good too