Projects on the go..

Yes, thank you, it was a huge help...besides christmas is coming up and all my neighbors buy wreathes..hope they dont miss a couple twigs

Hi guys,
Thanks for the compliments !The fine tress that you see on the first dio and then following with the vignette are actually come from this wreath that the next door neighbour had hanging up on her front door,apparently she thought it was for decorative use when infact it was meant for hanging up on a tree to feed birds.After having alot of birds pooping on her front door step,she thought i might be able to do something with it!The flowers on the dio were also made from cutting off the ends of the fine trees.Glued the flowers where i wanted them,then painted with various colours.
Here's the wreath followed by a close:


The large tree on the dio was made from a root of a plant i found in the garden.Simply zapped it in the microwave to kill any bugs,sprayed the roots with glue and sprinkled dried herbs over it.Since the pic was taken i have airbrushed the tree with light mistings of various green colours.
As for the ground work,i made  a mixture of fine sand/plaster/water and white glue mixed thoroughly and added to the base.Left aside for a day or two, i drybrushed the base with Tamiya buff.
I tend not to use real sand as it looks too out of proportion,generally your LHS will have fine sand amongst the Railroad section.
Hope this has helped you out somehow Ian!Good luck with your dio progress
Cheers,Shay

Wow, i love it as well, plus a unique and powerful idea on the second one.  Theres just the right amount of vegetation, it looks wild, but not overgrown, and the dust and dirt look extremely realistic.  I was just wondering how you did the trees and the dirt on the first one, as ive just started a diorama in a similar setting.

I like your groundwork. Your grass and bushes look very real. Good job.

Glen