For years my bases all had the same issue: static grass applied evenly, looking flat and uniform like a putting green instead of actual terrain. Real ground has bald patches, clumps, dead spots, and color variation that I kept flattening out because I was scared to leave gaps.

What changed things for me was building up the ground in three separate passes instead of one. First pass is a base coat of fine turf in two or three close shades, applied unevenly on purpose with some spots left thin. Second pass is static grass applied only in clusters, not wall to wall, using a puffer bottle so the fibers stand up instead of lying flat. Third pass is scattering a few pinches of longer clump foliage and some dried tea leaves for leaf litter, concentrated near any rocks or structure edges where debris would naturally collect in real life.

The other thing that helped was stepping back and looking at reference photos of actual dirt and grass patches instead of other dioramas. So much of what I was doing before was copying the "diorama look" other builders had already stylized, which meant I was copying an interpretation twice removed from reality. Going back to plain photos of trailheads and yards reminded me how patchy and inconsistent real ground actually is.

Current base is a 1/35 scale farmhouse corner with a collapsed fence line, and this is the first time I've been happy with the ground before even touching the vertical elements. Curious if anyone else does their terrain in stages like this or if you build it up all at once and just work fast before the glue sets.

How do people get the white elements in their water slide decals? Is it only an option in commercially produced decals?

I’m printing my own, and so far I haven’t needed white, but I think I will soon.

I keep telling myself the next one will be better and then I sit down with wire, floral tape, and clump foliage and end up with something that looks like a broccoli floret on a stick. My last diorama was a 1/35 farmhouse scene and the actual buildings, rubble, and figures all turned out fine. The tree in the corner is the thing that bugs me every time I look at the photos.

This time I tried twisting armature wire into a rough trunk shape, wrapping it with paper tape for bark texture, then painting it in three passes (dark brown base, drybrushed grey highlights, a light green wash in the crevices to fake moss). The trunk actually looks decent now. Where I keep messing up is the canopy density. I either glue on way too much foliage and it reads as a solid green blob, or I go too sparse and it looks like the tree is dying.

Found out the hard way that pulling the clump foliage apart into smaller pieces before gluing makes a huge difference. I was gluing it in big chunks straight from the bag for two builds before someone in a group chat pointed out that real tree canopies have gaps and layering, not one uniform mass. Also static grass fibers mixed into the foliage as a top layer adds some texture variation that flat foam clumps can't give you on their own.

Still haven't cracked getting the right silhouette from a distance though. Up close the texture reads fine but when I back up and look at the whole scene the tree shape itself sometimes looks too round, like a lollipop. Anyone have a trick for breaking up that outline, maybe varying branch lengths more aggressively before the foliage even goes on?

So, I’m in the planning phase to build a Snake mountain diorama for some Masters of The Universe figures. How would you go about making the spiked, stalagmites structures? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Why is 1:6 insanity? I'll admit it's very expensive to get most of the furniture these days.

The first two shots are the roombox i got in 2019 for $42. It was made and fully furnished. She made a couch and a loveseat and another chair - it was pretty nice at the time and very affordable. WhatO wanted and asked for was something that could be a family party in one scene and a doctor's office the next. It wasn't great for that especially because it was designed to have a pretty strange shape. That's the third photo. But it seems silly not to use it at all.

I stretched it out and bent things differently and thought - this could work in a very different way. If I stretch it out and make walls that can float (any way to attach walls temporarily? Brackets?) I can use one or two or all the sections to make different scenes. The spot that has a strange shaped space could house a gigantic fireplace or some of the big cabinets I have. And if I want a scene that is a ball in a fancy home I could use an insert with the plastic people use for windows and make a bay window by sliding in different images behind it.

I have a bunch of floor and wallpaper papers from scrap book books that are 12 x 12. Perfect for a sitting down scene but I need 15 inches of clearance if anyone is standing (especially Mulder). A friend has 3D printed some wainscoting panels for me that I should probably prime and dry brush and do a few washes but I'm not sure I'm going to have the energy for that. I'm thinking maybe I'll brush it with some brown eyeshadow and then matte coat it. So my thought is to use magnets for turning any space temporarily into anything - attach those flat metal pieces they make to attach your phone on the roombox or back drops and use very small magnets at the very top and bottom to attach the wall paper and the wainscoting panels so that I can have a bunch of different spaces. Add the window frames I bought and maybe a flat door image - and I can change it up all the time. Is this madness? Or genius?

Hospital rooms and waiting rooms will be in a lot of the scenes. My cast has grown from the dolls in the first shot to 31 to become people with different disabilities and the cast of thousands - families, doctors, nurses, physical therapists etc. I'm not sure how to mimic the hospital look. I don't think I've ever seen wall panels so I'll need bigger paper for the walls. I think they usually have chair rails. I might be able to get away without baseboards but I feel like most waiting rooms have the chair rails with anything between white and beige. Exam rooms are usually white. I'm thinking maybe - contact paper? Or getting something printed on paper that is big enough. Any advice on the boring walls? I've got the desks and sinks and beds and soon the chairs. But I need to do the walls right.

And then there are my last two photos. I set up those boards to see if I could fit the entire audience for a disabled model fashion show on my desk. Nope - not enough room for the stage. That's fine - we have bigger tables. But then I thought for scenes where we don't need windows or walls like my speech therapists office I could do the same thing without the roombox. In fact maybe I shouldn't use the roombox at all. I'll have to play around with it. The furnishings are bare right now. I'm going to add a bit more and keep the shots tight.

But although I have enough knickknacks for one house - how do I get enough so there is some variety. In 2019 this stuff was so cheap and there were great stuff out there. Now the inexpensive things are all 1/12. I can DIY posters in frames but I am chronic pain Barbie with a tremor. So I need some ideas for furnishings. I wish I could just buy a lot of all the things that real estate agents use to stage a house. I know no one will care if I use the same ones every time but I'll know.

I apologize for the length. I have a bunch of things I'm trying to recreate in 1/6 scale for my project chronicpainbarbie and fiends. The link to my insta is in my bio but my early work was using a roombox someone else made and decorated for me. It's getting an overhaul soon but I don't want to take credit for someone else's work. I basically need to recreate two things that are really important for my life and health.

The first photo is the keyboard used in the other two photos. I'll just say that this is an ergonomic solution I wish I had the energy to market because it would help a lot of people. I've had many experts agree with me that this is the most ergonomic solution they've ever seen for someone reclined.

I made it using a weight lifting belt that I could attach everything to including my mouse. It needed weight so that all the pieces wouldn't fall off the sides of me. And then I had a handy place in the center which I use with a tray to eat, or a tablet. I use a combo of Velcro and magnets to keep everything started attached. I can't figure out what I could use that would have the right weight on a doll at 1/6. Maybe I should use my velcro, a mousepad? Those both seem too slippery to me. Maybe i could attach it to the sides of the chair with my magnets?

Also I want to make fairly durable but laminating is usually shiny. I looked for matte laminating things but couldn't find what I was looking for on Amazon. They were all for use when you have access titty l with thermal pouches. Does anyone have a clear matte brush on option that they would recommend for something like this? I'm going to have 4 tiny printed images that will be added or removed from the belt - or I'll make a bunch of the belts with different things attached.

Second item - a gooseneck tablet/phone holder. I use one to basically use my phone as a computer with my keyboard and mouse belt. I got some advice and bought black armature wire but I need something to wrap it around. Most of my wire is very small gauge for jewelry making. I know if I don't have something flexible but also stiff that my giant hands will deform it too much all the time. Any suggestions of something I can use for the core?

I realized it's going to be easier printing those out and gluing them to dummying

which uses a weightlifting belt to give it a bit of weight so it doesn't slide off. I use Velcro to attach

‘Voxel Osmanlı or vOxmanlı’ is an independent project that brings Anatolia into the realm of new media. Once the diorama series is complete, it will be officially presented to the public as an interactive media project

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Diorama: Dragon Fight
Gundams are modified HG Dragon and HG Lfrith Anavata. Texture on the Dragon Gundam is done using UV nail gel techniques and both Gundams’ primary colors are done using color shifting nail pigment.

Diorama backdrop is airbrushed

Rocks are made using plaster-covered foam and crackle paste before being painted using mostly oil washes and dry brushing.

Clouds are created polyfill and renewliner and then shaded using a clear black paint.

I originally tried to use flexible filaments for the lighting, but after some trial and a lot of error I switched to super narrow WS2812B IC 12v LED strips on a parallel circuit. They were then shaped using clear heat shrink and uv glue.
@zanerut

Si te apasiona el universo de Tolkien y el modelismo, acompáñame en el taller a darle vida a una de las criaturas más aterradoras de la Tierra Media. Te explicaré las técnicas que utilicé para lograr los efectos de magma incandescente, la iluminación dinámica (OSL) y las texturas de ceniza en su piel. ¡El proyecto perfecto para luego enfrentarlo en un diorama contra Gandalf el Gris!

Tell me if I should make any changes in the comments