Diorama of 7 Years War Figures

MATERIALS ~ Figures, a large base or plinth, Miliput, Terracota, Flocking Gels, Gel knives, Tree Flock, Ground Flock, Glue, Paints and Brushes.

IDEAS ~ As a good Diorama conveys a story, and, like in a film, it sets the scene for the observer to imagine what is coming next you must plan carefully.
I had a base with a square stuck in the middle and a hole in that. It was from a toy car box and I could see the possibilites of making use of it. But I had to cover over the square. This gave me the idea for placing a tree in the hole and then covering the terrain with a material. As I had a lot of unused Terracota which dries in the air without having to cook it I decided this would work for the basic terrain. I first stuck in the tree, which was from a bunch of grapes, and used Milliput to base it and cover the protruding square and then covered the area with Terracota. I decided it was a top of a hill.

DEFINING THE TERRAIN ~ From the picture on the left you can see the foundations laid and the silly looking grape stork which at the moment does not resemble a tree. It was time to define the terrain and paint those rocks. What rocks? See pic on right.

PAINTING THE ROCKS ~ left; A second lighter coat is applied with dry brushing, noticeable on the lefthand rock not a thick layer of paint. Then a second even lighter coat, seen on the nearest rock in the photo, but with minimal paint which is practically drying on the brush as you flick it accross the outer or jagged edges of the rock. This defines the 3D effect and makes it look real. Right a close up.

PLACING THE FIGURES ~ I placed the figures using Blu-tac to secure them in several combinations before I was satisfied. I wanted depth as well as symmetry and to draw the eye from the centre to the sides. It is important to be able to view the scene from different angles.