Tuesday 19 August 2014

Diorama Commission

I've been very busy this month working on my first diorama commission!

Large SM Scale Diorama

 Large SM Scale Diorama

I was asked by the fantastic sculpting artist Kelly Sealey of Kellys-Studio to make a diorama to show off her latest AR set; a large SM scale Fell mare and foal. She drew me a rough diagram of what she wanted, and after a lot of discussion on the subject, I began in earnest.

Fell Diorama WIP

The dry stone wall was perhaps the most important part of the whole base so I had to get it right. I pored over photographs of Cumbrian walls and spent ages consulting local dry stone walling sites so I could get the construction and geology accurate. It was very tricky to accomplish and there's definitely an art to it that I don't think I've got, lol!
I toyed with the idea of making stones from plaster or carving out blue foam but in the end I decided that you really couldn't beat the real thing so I gathered up some suitable stones, gave them a thorough scrub and got to work.

(Terrible phone photos approaching!)

Fell Diorama WIP

Obviously the colour was completely wrong so once it was fully assembled, I repainted it entirely to fit in with the local Cumbrian stone. For any future bases involving walls, I plan to cast them in resin to save on the weight.

Fell Diorama WIP

The base was then landscaped with a coat of plaster, which the wall was soon firmly embedded into. I also added an old and wind-battered looking tree, made from a suitable looking twig I had in my stash. The fencepost was a bit of balsa dowel.

Fell Diorama WIP

Once it was completely dry, the whole thing was given a coat of paint...

Fell Diorama WIP

...before the grass and foliage was added.

Fell Diorama WIP

Large SM Scale Diorama

Large SM Scale Diorama

Large SM Scale Diorama

The view from the back.

Large SM Scale Diorama

Large SM Scale Diorama

Large SM Scale Diorama

I couldn't resist taking a couple of shots with ponies present, although I do wish I'd have had a spare Collecta Dartmoor as this one was a body and not really very photogenic, although it was the right size for the base.

Large SM Scale Diorama

Large SM Scale Diorama

So yeah, that's what I've been working on! It was a lot of fun to make and Kelly was absolutely brilliant to deal with. Hopefully I should have it all packed up and in the post tomorrow, ready to meet the public at the Utterly Horses Hullabaloo at the end of the month!

If anyone happened to be interested in commissioning a diorama, just throw me an email at Elrenia_Greenleaf@hotmail.com and we'll have a chat. :) I really enjoy a challenge so feel free to be as detailed or vague as you like!

8 comments:

  1. Fantastic work! The paint job on the rocks is unbelievable- they look completely real, and it's really hard to get that "randomly natural" look with paint! The whole diorama is just gorgeous. It will showcase Kelly's new resins beautifully.

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    1. Thanks! I had a bit of practice on that front, as I had to paint a few life sized plaster rocks for taxidermy bases last year! It all comes down to paint I think - too many people just go 'rocks are grey' and don't bother with any variations in colour or washes to bring out the texture.

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  2. Love it!!!

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  3. Totally amazing! You've done a great job with it! :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I almost wish I could keep it, haha!

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  4. (Your blog just ate my comment- is it alive? *g*)

    This is fantastic! I love the wet soil and all the foliage.

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  5. Hello! do you happen to do commissions for 1/6 scale nature dioramas? I'm looking for a 1/6 scale winter diorama.

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