Diorama noob

You have a lot more to work with than you may have thought! I did my first dio with a DML King Tiger, I put it in a dirt field with a "Minen", sign(which I scratchbuilt out of balsa wood pieces from an old glider kit) in front of it, posed the turret hatches open as if it was abandoned, and had two Fallschrimjagers next to it. The groundwork is simple to do, all I did was put down a bunch of sqaudron white putty, spread it out, then mark the ground with the plastic tracks I had leftover after adding Fruil ones. When it dried it covered it with rattle can flat coat to act as and adhesive for the dirt (Valley Springs seems to have the perfect dirt for weathering, dios, you get the picture) Then I put the dirt on. Then I RANDOMLY superglued some rocks down. After that I went in my backyard and found some thin sticks with small leaf like seed buds on them to pose as dead bushes, then I guess I got lucky when I pulled up the perfect weed to use as dead grass. Turns out the weeds roots were perfect size and color for dead grass. So, I scattered some weed roots by driling small holes and inserting the roots after dabbing them with superglue. And wallah, a dio!

You're both using very expensive products for groundwork. Celluclay, essentially instant papier mache, is avaiable by the pound at your LHS or craft store. Add some white glue and brown acrylic, drill some holes in the base and you have the ground ready for accents and vegetation. Use scrap styrofoam to build up higher ground and cover this with a thin layer of Celluclay.

Um, Dirt and weeds from my backyard happen to be free

I agree with ajlaflechem, celluclay works great for ground work. Thats what I use every time.

sounds good guys, ill give it a shot

The other things you can do are to get a sheet of blue or pink closed-cell insulation sheet from Home Lowes Depot and use that as the base for your groundwork. It can be stacked, carved, etc. to give you virtually free elevation changes. You then cover it with the celluclay and/or plaster of paris plus a coat of really cheap brown paint from the Lome Howes Depot, and finally some sifted dirt/sand/gravel from your back yard. All in cost is under $10 for the first one, and virtually free for the second one, as a single sheet of foam will do numerous dioramii. This is an old Model Railroading strategy.

If you're a real stickler for realism and scale matching, using the dirt from your backyard can other things can be a pain in the butt...Try to use the celluclay, I used it and boy, it works like a charm. White putty is expensive and you might not want to use it all just for ground work, styrofoam is perfect for ground elevations, so give it a whirl. Woodland scenics is great for static grasses and field grasses (longer grass) you sure can use twigs for dead tree stumps, and if you have any kind of shrubbery that's dying, give it new lfe, well the roots of it new life as they make a great tree! It's up to you bro, I'm just a stickler for getting the sizes right, could be why I pay too much money LOL

lol i know the feeling there.

No problems if you use white glue/water mix,my dios and vigs are all backyard dirt and pebbles,a few sands from Micheals glued straight to the base. Groundcovers dry overnight and they`re hard as rock!

ag918 has the right idea with the styro panels. They are easy to cut with handsaw or razor and sculpt well with a rasp. I then cover with plain old spackle compound which is cheap and rather lightweight in a skim coating. I use sawdust from a tablesaw and spread it on a newspaper, hit it with green spray paint. You won't get all of the sawdust covered but that's a good thing because what isn't covered mixes in with the green to give some spots of dead grass. The foreground of this 1/87 scale diorama is the result of this: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stryper50/detail?.dir=730e&.dnm=b665.jpg&.src=ph

QUOTE: Originally posted by Tigertankman Um, Dirt and weeds from my backyard happen to be free

No offense but I think using squadron putty for groundwork is ridiculous. The stuff is expensive and it has a really fine grain which is why it is meant for filling gaps and not as coarse as for groundwork. But if it works for you...

QUOTE: Um, Dirt and weeds from my backyard happen to be free

QUOTE: ...The groundwork is simple to do, all I did was put down a bunch of sqaudron white putty,...

Yeah but Sculpey and Squadron putty are ounce for ounce much more expensive than celuclay. So any savings you made by using dirt and stuff from your backyard are quickly eaten up by something that is considerably more expensive and better served by using it for its original intended use.

Unbraided and frayed cisal rope can be used for winter dead tall grass. Cheap clay cat litter makes great rocks and fine rubble.

You can "kick" your celuclay by mixing in some plaster of paris. This also gives some interesting texture and makes for a nice solid base. The thinner you make your celuclay layer, the less problems you will have with it (peeling up or cracking) and the faster you can work. Too thick and the top will dry faster than the under layer. This will make it peel up and away.

Celuclay comes in two colors, grey and white. While the white is more expensive than the grey, it has its advantages in doing winter scene dios with snow.

Score your base or ground surface before applying your celuclay so thit it has some bite. The mixing in of white glue with it will add to the adhesive quality and again result in less headaches later. I wait a bit before puttng in track marks, foot prints or other impresions. If too wet, the clay will reform and "swell" back into its form a bit. If you let it set up a bit first and while its still maleable then make your impresisons, the detail holds alot better. This comes in handy when making puddles in tracks or depressions.

Good luck and I hope we get to see some pics of your finished project. Or at least some in progress pics as you work on it.

i should have some new ones taken tommorow sometime.

why dont you try and use plaster of paris it cheap and easy to use

haven't found any around here yet