Hello guys,

I have a few questions for my first dio/vignette....

First what is the difference between a dio and a vignette ?

Second, I'd like to have a sand base or something that looks like sand...
What would you suggest me do to achieve this ? Take real sand ? and fix it with a mix of white glue and water then fix the sand with hairspray ?

if not what else could I do ?

thanks !

The difference between a diorama and a vignette... THere isn't really a difference, and there's no set way of saying if something is a dio or vignette. Dios usually contain figures and a vehicle, and tell a story. Vignettes are usually scenic pieces just to display figures or a vehicle on.

As for the sand, your method sounds like it would work, if you got the amounts of water and glue right. You could also paint glue onto an area, then sift sand over it and seal with hairspray. Good luck with whatever your doing!

If you are using real sand, make sure it's VERY fine, almost dust, as it won't look to scale if you can see the grains with the naked eye. Alternately you could use powdered pastel chalks, or (my personal favourite) blends of various curry powders!

Hello David,

Would not curry smells a lot ? :-)

And what do you do when you use curry ? You paint white glue on the surface then put your curry mix on it then seal with hairspray ?

I would go with the sand, preferably the kind you buy in a bag (not found outside) because then it comes in smaller grains that pass much better for 1/35th

Then, by mixing white glue, water, detergent (to break up water bonds and prevent beading) and a little drop of brown paint (unless its a pacific island scene) add putting this all in an old windex spray bottle

I would then lay down a layer of the glue mix, apply your sand, then using the bottle spray over top of the sand. The mixture seeps down and forms a hard shell.

Be sure to use just a thin layer of sand, or else you will end up with non stuck sand above and under your fixed sand.



note on the right side, all the cracked peices under the hedgehog. When i did this, i only put white glue over top, and my sand was too thick so only the top half of the sand was glued, when disturbed, it cracked as you see there.

Finally, after all is done with your base, then place any figures, vehicles, tall grass etc., then lay down one final thin layer of sand and glue

Also, as the glue is halfway done drying, it is easy to make footprints/tracks

As for your question as to the differences between a diorama and a vignette, use a dictionary, you will find out there is a difference, depending on your interpertation of the definitions.

One is the overall picture representing a continuous flowing scene, the continuous flowing scene would contain several smaller scenes to present the entire story to the viewer. The other a brief discription, or smaller scene.

As for the sand, the finer it is the more in scale it will be. You can get really fine sand in the old fashion egg timers. Make you ground work using what ever you normally make you ground work with. thin down white glue, I prefer tacky glue, it's tackier, with water, brush on ground work, and sprinkle with sand. Let dry, turn over, collect loose sand and reuse. (I'm very cheap) You may need to do the glue sand routine a few times.

Yeah, that's one down side. But what you can do is start collecting early. Pick out different shades of curry powder and put it in bottles that you can leave open on a window sill or something for a few days. That'll kill most of the smell. Sealing the dio with hairspray also helps.




I don't use glue, just hair spray. Spray the surface, then sprinkle the powder on generously. Spray again, sprinkle again. Do this as much as you need to (3 layers should do) and seal with spray.

Of course, you don't need something as fine as curry powder unless you're doing a beach or desert scene. You can also use coffee, tea leaves and other stuff to create groundwork,depending on the environment you want.