JoeDios.com Forums - View Single Post - Creating a Diorama, step-by-step

Time to add the ground texture.

I walk into a hobby store this morning and go up to a guy and say - "I need some gravel texture for a diorama I'm making". He hands me a large $9 bag of "woodland scenics gravel ballast". Now, there's a procedure for applying this stuff.... You're supposed to just dump it on your ground, then spray it with a water/soap mixture, then use an eye dropper to gently apply "scenic cement", which soaks through the layers of fine rocks and hardens.

Now, I figured that instead of doing that, I'm going to lay down a thick helping of tacky all-purpose glue on my coarse styrofoam panel (floor), sprinkle this gravel on and then coat it with a clear-coat spray paint.

I'm happy to report that my method worked fine. The gravel doesn't come off, so I'm not going to see it around my house on the floor everywhere ;-) I'm sure that if you apply it the "proper" way, you can mold it much better, and apply it to a surface that has bumps etc. Anywho, here's a shot after the application...

Edit Note: Make sure that you cover 100% of the surface with the glue in this method... I used a brush to smooth out the glue. When sprinkling on the gravel, don't do too much, just enough to cover the surface... use your fingers to push the gravel down into the styrofoam and glue. If you see glue coming up through the gravel, just sprinkle a little more on that area, and press it down again. I tried this on a few sample styrofoam pieces first just to get the right procedure.

Here's a close-up shot of Snake Eyes on the new terrain. Looks slick.

You can't see in the photos above, but I used a chisel to carve the building outline down a bit on the styrofoam - that way, when I add the building to the styrofoam floor, the building will sit a little lower, and thus give the appearance of the gravel mixing right into the bricks. Take a look at the following picture to see what I'm talking about ;-)

So there you have it.

Next up is the roof. I also picked up some foilage to add around the building.

Thanks for all your comments!

Cheers! ~ Paul.

01-26-2008, 10:52 PM	#12
fifthconspiracy Smack-Talking Ninja Offline --> Posts: 581 --> Join Date: Jan 2008	Adding the Substrate Time to add the ground texture. I walk into a hobby store this morning and go up to a guy and say - "I need some gravel texture for a diorama I'm making". He hands me a large $9 bag of "woodland scenics gravel ballast". Now, there's a procedure for applying this stuff.... You're supposed to just dump it on your ground, then spray it with a water/soap mixture, then use an eye dropper to gently apply "scenic cement", which soaks through the layers of fine rocks and hardens. Now, I figured that instead of doing that, I'm going to lay down a thick helping of tacky all-purpose glue on my coarse styrofoam panel (floor), sprinkle this gravel on and then coat it with a clear-coat spray paint. I'm happy to report that my method worked fine. The gravel doesn't come off, so I'm not going to see it around my house on the floor everywhere ;-) I'm sure that if you apply it the "proper" way, you can mold it much better, and apply it to a surface that has bumps etc. Anywho, here's a shot after the application... Edit Note: Make sure that you cover 100% of the surface with the glue in this method... I used a brush to smooth out the glue. When sprinkling on the gravel, don't do too much, just enough to cover the surface... use your fingers to push the gravel down into the styrofoam and glue. If you see glue coming up through the gravel, just sprinkle a little more on that area, and press it down again. I tried this on a few sample styrofoam pieces first just to get the right procedure. Here's a close-up shot of Snake Eyes on the new terrain. Looks slick. You can't see in the photos above, but I used a chisel to carve the building outline down a bit on the styrofoam - that way, when I add the building to the styrofoam floor, the building will sit a little lower, and thus give the appearance of the gravel mixing right into the bricks. Take a look at the following picture to see what I'm talking about ;-) So there you have it. Next up is the roof. I also picked up some foilage to add around the building. Thanks for all your comments! Cheers! ~ Paul.