I'm doing my first ever diorama, I've got it set up and i've carved all the styrofoam but i have no idea what to do next. I have all my ground cover and trees purchased, i just dont know what to do, glue it on? Please tell me how to attach all the stuff, if it's a glue/water mixture I would appreciate if you told me it!
Thanks in advance!
John

Hi John,
It would be easier to answer your question if you told us firstly, a)the scene you are trying to portray and b)which type of products you wish to use as groundcover.
Cheers,
Shay

I'm not really building a fully-flegded diorama but just a base to place one of my shermans on. All I've bought for ground cover is just woodland scenics static grass, shrubs etc.I just dont really know how to attach it all
Regards
John

Hi John,
Have you given the styrofoam base a coating of spackle yet?I haven't worked with static grass before, but if you need help with the rest PM mate.
cheers,Shay

Hi John.

If you have carved your base, what to do next depends on the level of complexity/realism you want to achieve.

The easiest would probably be to paint the styro base with some earth colors and then add vegetation. But if you want to leave some area free of grass, what it will show is brown styro. Maybe it's not what you want.

Many people use cat litter to portray the rough ground. Basically you lay down glue, sprinkle the cat litter, once dry you can paint it with earth tones. After you can glue grass and vegetations where you want.

To glue Woodland scenics (WS) static grass I use WS scenic cement. Maybe i'm a total fish because that stuff looks just like diluted white glue, but it works great. I put drops of scenic cements (SC) on my base, then I sprinkle static grass. Depending on the amount of grass you want on the ground you can remove the grass that hasn't set with SC, or drop more SC on the top to glue it down. If you don't put too much SC on the grass the final result will be great. (I got pictures of static grass glued with scenic cement in my photos)

For the trees, the only advice I'm thinking about is to drill a hole at the bottom of the trunk and glue a toothpick in. It's easier and more durable to dig the toothpick in the styro than just gluing the flat bottom of the trunck on the top of your base. Especially if it's a big tree.

Hope it helps. If you don't understand things don't be shy, I learned my english at public school after all

Philippe

John,
Pretty easy my friend. As was stated,
When you do paint it, make sure it is a water based paint. Enamels, or spray paint will melt the styrofoam. Pick a good ground color that you like, ie... brown. Paint the styrofoam, let dry. Apply a 50-50 mixture of water and white glue or the Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement. For dirt/mud, I use Sanded Tile Grout found at Lowes, Home Depot or other such hardware stores. It comes in a variety of colors and has a very scale look to it. I mix it 50-50 with water and white glue, and apply over a 50-50 coat of water/ glue. I like to ensure it isn't going to fall off. I add this over the glue mixture and let set for about 10-15 minutes to gain some body to it. Then, press the tank tracks into it and let them set for a few minutes too. Usually 5 minutes is good. Remove the tanbk. If the grout breaks free, smallamounts can be mixed up to patch those areas when all is dry. The static grass can be added at this point too, or you can wait until all is dry, add another spray of cement/glue and then sprinkle on the greass. For trees, since it is a styrofoam base, you can punch a hole and insert the tree into the hole with a small amount of glue. Small tree roots work great for tress and such. Their small size looks very convincing for the scale. I might suggest finding Shepard Paines book, "Building Diorama's" which is a great tool for the first time builder getting started. It's been in print for decades, and is an excellent book to have. Good luck andhope this helps somewhat. "Q"

Exactly red4.We can use anamel paint but you need to apply a layer of plaster on styrofoam right?


craftusiast

Doesn't have to be plaster per say, just something to keep the ....whats the word I'm looking for????? Solvents away from the styrofoam. Hope that helps. "Q"