I have begun work on a vignette/small diorama which will feature a larger piece of exposed and eroded rock from the Black Hills (Rocky Raccoon will not be present, however!) The overall height is about 4 inches/11 cm from the base. The exposed part will be the focus and have a small waterfall. I know what I want to do here. The sides and back are essentially cut-aways into the side of the rock formation and in my image of the real lilfe site, would not be seen. In the foreground will be a small stream and its bank.
I'm wondering if I should continue the striations I wil have on the front around the side and back or would that look too much like a single piece of rock jutting out of the ground? Would the water coming from the back negate this effect? Would I be better to paint the sides black or solid gray?

Hallo,
Is your plan to do something like this?



I build this simply build on a styrofoam base and the sides are covered with this kind of thin wood for airplane modelling. (sorry, don't have any english word for it). I left it the natural wood colour.

Your vignette risks to be overall to dark if you paint the sides so dark. A neutral colour would be better i think.

Hope it helps

Claude

I would "box" the sides and or back with a nice veneer and stain it. To me this is more effective visually. I'm afraid thaat if you modeled the whole "rock" that it would look as is if it were jutting out of the ground, making it look odd and confusing for the viewer. Just my opinion...

Claude, that's definitely in the neighborhood. The base is oval so the wood might not be as easy as it was with yours. One of ny mentors from the club suggested black or gray. I'm leaning toward maybe gray primer.
Thanks Paul and Claude for the input.