Hi All,

In order to organize the article a bit and make it hopefully less boring while leaving enough room for any Q & A I've decided to break the article in 2 parts. All Q & A are most welcome in either end of the 2 parts.

Here the 2nd. Part.

Getting Down & Dirty: Groundwork Part II

5. Where to Start?

No pun intended but groundwork literally begins from ground up, which means we start with the base. Having selected a base, be it a picture frame or a piece of plywood we build upwards. To illustrate this I will be walking you through a 1/72nd diorama. Do keep in mind this stage is preferably done only after the earlier steps mentioned in Part I (i.e. research, planning, fitting, etc.)

(i) Attaching a piece of styrofoam to the base. The thickness will vary with whether I wish to have a lake or a hill. It is also possible to work with the styrofoam unattached to the base but I’ve found that this may cause cracks in the groundwork whenever the styrofoam is moved as it is flexible.
(ii) This would then be followed by building up the ground with styrofoam for hills and hollowing it or building it the surrounding further for depressions, ponds, rivers. It is generally not advisable to build up terrain solely on plaster alone. For one if its thick it will take a while to dry and secondly, plaster is heavy if laid on too thick.
Photo # 16


(iii) Leave the base to-date to dry over night. This is then followed by plaster (see Photo #17). As discussed in the above section on Plaster tinting the plaster is done and water is added to get a consistency of ‘just about to melt ice-cream’. On this occasion plaster work on this small dio took me about 30 minutes including adding the stones.
It sometimes helps the plaster to adhere better to the base if bandage gauze dipped thoroughly in a slightly diluted PVA solution is applied over the styrofoam. This layer is allowed to dry over 24 hours before application of the plaster.
Photo # 17


(iv) At this point before the plaster dries you may wish to add in some shapes or indentations such as tire ruts or footprints or erosion marks. Stones and other small features can also be added at this stage saving the need for gluing.
(v) Lastly soil/sand will be added once the plaster is allowed to dry thoroughly. Soil/sand is added progressively in thin layers with the underlying layer allowed to dry partially. Adding too thick a layer will result in some soil/sand not being glued.
A PVA:water mix of 50:50 applied either with a brush or an atomizer should suffice.
Photo # 18


(vi) You can wash and highlight the groundwork before the addition of vegetation and buildings or after but I normally do it after the latter 2 are in and before the addition of the models. It helps me to blend in everything to the groundwork.
(vii) This will then upon allowing the uppermost layer to dry at least 24 hours by the vegetation, buildings and models last. At this juncture superglue works best as long as it has no direct contact with the styrofoam base.

6. Additional Terrain Considerations

Deserts

Desert dios challenge the modeler especially at 1/35 and even more so at 1/72 to reproduce a relatively featureless groundwork with limited contrast. While for most of us the image of a desert is one of endless sand dunes, the fact is that deserts can be rocky as those found in Libya and Iran as well as muddy as recent photos of Iraq and Kuwait show. However, care should be given to ensure that any wash applied to give the groundwork contrast is not over done. The needs of bringing out the contrast of the groundwork must be balanced against the relatively lower contrasts of desert ground as opposed to temperate ground conditions.

The fine nature of the sand however is a challenge to recreate. Real sand is generally a bit too coarse with only fine clay sifted from soil, talcum powder, quarry dust and fine salt offering the few possibilities of representing desert sand. Although the last one, salt will be somewhat difficult to tint given it water soluble nature.

Character can be given to your groundwork by including erosion channels, slight mounds and the addition of stones/rocks and low, desert scrub. As in most groundwork a layer of tinted plaster was added over a shaped styrofoam base which was then followed by the addition of stones, fine clay and wheel ruts while the plaster was semi dry. Desert scrub was added last inserted into holes made when the plaster was semi-wet. At this juncture boot prints can also be added if your including figures in your dio. While we may think of a desert as bone dry it nevertheless has erosion channels created over a long period of time and some may even be remnants of old river beds. Of course, a wadi is altogether different and here the modeler gets to include palms and low vegetation as well. Vegetation in the desert with the exception of palms grow to very low heights and have taken a very long time to grow unlike their temperate and tropical cousins. Variety unlike jungles is also very limited. As such go easy on their height, density and variety.
Photo # 19


In summary:
•Go easy on the dark washes
•Try to add stones, erosion channels or desert vegetation whenever possible
•Ensure that the material used to represent fine desert sand is compatible in scale

Grasslands

Groundwork involving grasslands are by comparison is relatively easier to reproduce. There are many good commercial products (i.e. Heki, Busch) out there which offer variety. Having done the basic groundwork grass can be added in 2 manners. The grass can be basically applied as clumps into either drill holes after the groundwork has set or holes made before with a toothpick while the plaster is still wet. The other method is to stick it to ground once the ground has set. This will involve the use of glue and PVA glue is generally not suitable other than for short, static grass. Its longer drying times do not allow taller grass to remain erect. Polystrene glue is good alternative as mentioned in the above sections being quick drying and flexible.

The growth habit of most grasses is that they are usually found in a group although some taller varieties do grow as individual clumps. When modeling individual clumps some trimming is advisable to avoid a flat top appearance but rather a pyramid-like appearance is preferred (Photo #20). Alternatively is to depress the grass clump with your thumb or finger after the glue has set to give a more open appearance. Also when dealing with individual clumps never put just a few strands (should be more 6-8 strands as a very rough guide) as it will look very odd all alone.
Photo # 20


Another point to remember as with all vegetation is that being alive and growing it’s never a single color. At any one time there are leaves dying and new shoots appearing. Highlighting the tips and outside with varying the shades of green to yellowish-brown respectively will go far to give your grasses life. For thicker groups of grasses painting the innermost centre of the group darker green will provide it depth.

In summary:
•Grasses look better in larger clumps although individual taller species can stand alone
•Trim or depress individual clumps to give it a pyramid-like appearance
•Highlights and shadows give depth and life to grasses

Forests

Visually a more interesting groundwork versus deserts or grasslands, forests can be over rocky terrain as well as flat ones. Unlike deserts where the ground makes or breaks the success of the groundwork, here the trees are the focus of attention. A reference to the area of operations where the model is supposed to operate in will help in determining the type of trees to be recreated. Trees can be broadly divided as far as dioramas go into either those having needle like leaves (i.e. pines) or those with broad leaves (i.e. oak, maple).

Fortunately as in grasslands both commercial and scratchbuilt options are readily available. As most of these have been covered capably already in many articles elsewhere I will only be looking at some of the additional pointers. Apart from verifying the trees found in the area where the model is supposed to be found, the next consideration is scale. Scale in this instance refers to the scale of the tree versus your model and the scale of the various parts of the tree to itself. The first is easy enough to determine by placing the tree and its leaves against the model. The second involves observation and while it may the following may seem obvious it bears some reiterating:

(i)Tree trunks are always larger than their branches.
(ii)Tree trunks need not be uniformly thick throughout unlike palms and some specific tree species. In fact trunks should be tapered accordingly with the tip having the smallest diameter.
(iii)The shape of the tree canopy is important as an odd shape canopy will make the tree unrealistic. This usually happens when we use plant roots and invert it upside down. As most plants have roots growing in a shape of an inverted cone once placed upside down (i.e. flat top appearance) the roots will have to be trimmed to give it a more tree like canopy.

Another feature of forests as far as groundwork is concerned is litter on the forest floor. While no where rivaling that of jungles there is nevertheless a fair bit of litter consisting of dried (brown to grey) and drying (yellowish to brown) leaves and twigs. Adding an occasional fallen or rotting tree trunk will also enhance forest groundwork as well. A half uprooted tree seen in Photo #21 with its exposed root will help add realism to your forest groundwork.
Photo # 21


In summary:
•Confirm the trees types (evergreens vs. broad-leaf trees) for the scene being depicted.
•Ensure proper tree configuration
•Add ground litter

Jungles

Jungle groundwork can involve several elements including water, plants and topography to give the impression of a wet and lush environment. As in forests the plants take center stage be it a plain elephant grass field interspersed with low shrubs or a full blown insect infested, swamp ridden jungle. The key to a jungle groundwork is to ensure variety (unless it just open grassland) and density. While the jungle is anything but solid green the presence of flowers are minimal and usually smaller than their temperate forest cousins.

By far the single most common vegetation types associated with jungles are palms. The addition of palms, coconut and others palm types are always good as they conjure up the image of a tropical scene as well as creepers and lianas. The main challenge when all the vegetation is in place would be to maintain enough differences in shades of green, brown and yellow between the different plant varieties to ensure that the whole jungle doesn’t come out looking a monotone green. Also ensure that there’s relatively heavy ground litter.
Photo # 22


Minimize bare ground whenever possible unless it’s a road, an eroded hill slope or a cultivated area as the jungle has a way of reclaiming any bare ground over time. Lastly scale is important and even more so than trying to ensure accuracy in simulating tropical plants accurately.
Photo # 23


Tropical rivers, streams and ponds unlike those associated with temperate forests are generally khaki to brown in color due to soil sediments. Rarely are they ever clear except in undisturbed jungles and even at that they take on a faint grayish brown tint. Tinting your water making material be it resins or lacquers appropriately is important.


In summary:
•Variety and density important
•Ensure enough shades of green, brown and yellows to provide contrasts to vegetation.
•Minimize bare ground
•Water bodies are generally muddy

Swamps

Occasionally the modeler may wish to model his work in a swamp setting. Swamps are not confined to tropical climate as there are temperate ones as well more commonly known as bogs.

Here the modeler is dealing with 3 elements; water, soil and vegetation. While the water bodies portrayed need not be large streams or lakes, a certain amount of water will have to be present to create the wet feel of the swamp. However the presence of vegetation can also be used to provide the wet, swamp mood as in Photo #22. Here mangrove plants with their stilt roots can be used to convey the impression of a swamp. These were made from heavily pruned hedges as such twigs have more branching. The twigs were inverted and additional branches added to make the top canopy. Unfortunately being my 2nd. dio the scales are a bit large for 1/35.
Photo # 24


There are many water making materials commercially available for making both stagnant and running water. Choice of color for the water is important as swamp water by virtue of its relatively stagnant to slow moving nature is usually dark (anywhere from dark khaki to raw umber). Although clear water swamps do exist these are rare. The water tint should be one to give the effect of a foul smelling, insect infested environment. Bogs especially organic ones occasionally have tea colored water which is actually acidic.

In addition to the mangrove trees mentioned earlier, cattails and vines are good vegetation to have in a swamp dio. The key to vegetation choice is that whatever grows in a swamp will have to tolerate high watertables. Pastel powders, plaster or good old soil can be used to create mud. A final touch of satin will help bring out the wet mucky feel of the mud. Make sure you get some of this mud on your model as well. A figure inserted upto his knees in this stuff will definitely leave no doubt in a viewer’s mind that this is a swamp dio.

In summary:
•Water bodies should have a dark colored tint
•Choice of vegetation important
•Mud, mud and more mud

Highlands/Mountains
As in deserts here the ground itself dominates with the added dimension of terrain/elevation. Terrain should be built up using styrofoam or any similar material before applying plaster or celluclay. Its always good to check the scale when using natural rocks and stones by placing them against your model before sticking it on your diorama. Small rocks can be added but it is best to avoid using a single large rock unless the scale is large (i.e. 1/16th) or the rock itself has enough fine texture and cracks to provide contrasts. Bits of vegetation can always be added in between the rocks and medium sized trees as well.

For large exposed bedrocks, a combination of dark washes followed by several progressive highlights will be required. Highlighting here will be more extensive than say highlighting an AFV as we are not only showing the texture of the rock face but to simulate mineral color as well. Shades of grey, pink, and black are some colors that can be used for highlights depending on the basecolor. Lastly addition of brown and green highlights can be used to simulate soil splash and moss growth respectively.

In summary:
•Check the scale against your model when using natural rock and stones
•Adding sparsely some low vegetation enhances the pure stone groundwork
•Washes and Highlights are a necessity especially highlights

Groundwork at smaller scales

In this next diorama the above procedures were used as well with only one difference. The scale is now 1/72 nd. Here size and scale become more critical. The dio was planned as stand alone individual pieces as well as part of a larger story and thus added additional considerations as well. Personally I don’t fancy what I call ‘jigsaw’ dioramas as having several separate pieces coming together is challenging not only in making sure of continuity in the story line but the models and groundwork as well. At any rate this was my first go at it and it was done in collaboration with Argrillion.

Planning groundwork at 1/72 is far more challenging as apart from the ensuring the scale of the materials versus the models, the distance between different groundwork components are ‘much shorter’ while dimensions ‘much larger’ as opposed to 1/35. For example what was a tiny bump in the ground at 1/35 becomes a small hill at 1/72. Thus doing a complex terrain dio requires careful consideration of both size and distance. In this dio, the stream bed was taken as the lowest point with the road at an intermediate height and the plateau where a pillbox will be placed as the highest point. The styrofoam had to be built up with these points in mind (see photo #16). The plaster is mixed as in the above procedure with a greater emphasis on fine sand in view of the scale.

Erosion channels as well as track indentations were added along with a shell crater when the plaster was about to dry (Photo #18). This was followed by vegetation after leaving the plaster to dry over night. The evergreen “pine” trees were made from dried sedge flowers (a grass found commonly in wet areas) coated with the spice, Dill which was crushed and attached using PVA glue. The trunks were bulked up using AB epoxy putty. Small rounded stones were added to the stream bed with very fine beach sand but as you can see even these tiny pebbles and fine sand appear a bit off-scale (see photo #23).
Photo # 25


The stonework culvert was done using AB epoxy putty. Water was a combo of clear, acrylic-based glue used for cementing glass and given a layer of clear wood varnish to increase the shine. Incidentally the acrylic-based glue could be tinted with water-based paints as well and if not diluted too much with paint, did not self-level. This made it highly useful for recreating a ripple/wave effect.

As can be seen from the overall pic with both pieces joined in photo #24, it was difficult to disguise the joint seam especially on the road. It goes back to my earlier point that joining dio pieces require a lot of ingenuity and patience, both of which was in short supply in this case being my first attempt at jigsaw dio and 1/72 at that. Despite my reservations, I believe an urban setting would lend itself better to the jigsaw dioramas.
Photo # 26


The other major consideration I found out doing 1/72 groundwork was that it required a lot more exaggerated highlighting and shadows than would be required for 1/35. This is because at 1/72 it is harder to bring out the contrast in such fine sized material. In fact I had to paint the groundwork with 4 shades of brown even before putting in the highlights and shadows just to make sure the ground didn’t appear bland or flat. This extent of painting would normally be unnecessary at 1/35 where several simple washes and highlights would have sufficed.


7. Conclusion

I believe it’s worth reiterating that there’s always more than one way to go about groundwork and I hope that I have managed to cover some of them here. Getting in good groundwork in takes a lot of patience and most dio-makers spend as much if not more time on groundwork depending on its size then they do on their models.

Happy Dio-Making and hope to see more dios from all of you.

Beachbum,

This is an EXCELLENT article. Should be published in a magazine.

Thanks.

Yep!, definitely magazine material. I got engrossed even though I was busy with work. You're another fast builder too I see. I haven't touched my dio since the last time we met. Hate to disappoint Loo. Work schedule has become madness because of the approaching CNY.

I concur with TargetJ that you should get your article published.

Richard.

Much obliged Jeremy and Richard (blushing down to my underpants).

Actually this article would have had more impact if I managed to get my planned 2 co-authors on board. It was an article planned for Armorama and it was to include 2 very good dio builders (my sneaky idea was to use these 2 guys names to make me the novice dio-builder look reaaaaal good. :D ). Unfortunately these 2 guys were tied up with their own activities.

At any rate please feel free to add-on Richard as your valuable experience would be most appreciated by readers here.

now all we need is the artic scene , beach, water, ..... and you would have mastered all the world's terrain.... ;)

excellent article C.K. , a nice follow-up from the previous workshop...btw you cover desert,jungle & swamp terrain..what about winter scene ? from your experience is it harder to replicate ? :blink: :blink:

ps. what happen to my female avatar ??? :huh:

We should publish a book called [Beachbum Dio].

How about calling it

'Beachbum's Dio-graphy - Confessions of a Cicak Modeler'

excellent, suggest to pin this up.......

Now that has a nice ring to that Jason especially the Confessions part. :)

Seriously though thanks gentlemen but it would be great if you can add on your experiences as well. I will pin up both parts today.

Kay that's a negative on your new avatar as well as I can't see it. Might need to hit the refresh button a couple more times. As for snow dios, they're relatively easy to do. The best commercial product I've seen thus far are microballoons. Being a cheapo I just use baking soda. Super fine salt is a pretty good alternative as well but you can't use PVA glue to stick salt though. Hairspray will have to be used instead.

In most cases snow dios are not as portable as regular dios given that the "snow" is not stuck down totally.

Think the superfine salt beachbum referred to is called vaccum salt in the supermarkets.

Much obliged Jeremy for the info. Salt has a slightly better shine to it then baking soda. Just to clarify baking soda is not baking powder or flour.

Additional Note

As an afterthought I included 2 more photos under the Jungle section of Part II. They are Photos # 22 and # 23 so the previous photos following these have been re-numbered accordingly. Sorry for the changes.

ahhhh sifu C.K. may i ask what materials did you use for your "Camel bones" aka "Cicak man" maybe future workshop teach us how to make wilderbeest or antelope skeletons.... ;)

Oh No...Kay don't tell me you have been influenced by those unsavory characters including the Commander-in-Chief and the Secretary of our society as well. That's why I believe the level of biology taught in schools is sadly lacking when one can't differentiate a mammalian bone from a reptile one. :rolleyes: :lol:

Seriously though, they were made from a cheapo AB epoxy putty called Bondite easily available at most hardware stores. Useful stuff for sculpting. I'm not sifu-lah, just a student as can be seen from my various "admirers" of my camel bones insisting its a cicak. Actually at some angle they do look like cicak bone. :lol:

beachbum
- everytime i saw your article.. make me want to make my own dio... but again... time is not my friend :((

anyway.. what about desert? need to add these to the "how to list" as well... if got desert then can have another cicak bones as well.. :D

kuman

Oh no...Kuman not you as well. You've joined those biology/anatomy challenged people. :( :D

Actually building a simple base is faster than building a model. Start small. Check out some of those done by Thomas (Masterqq). Small and effective. The 1/72 base I did took me 30 minutes to do the ground minus the drying time, trees and wash/drybrushing. If I included those as well minus time for paint/plaster to dry I would say 4-5 hours tops.

Even Simple bases and we are not even talking about full blown dios can give your model a whole new look.

Beachbum, you make things sounds easy... Unfortunately we are not skilled in that area

:D Yes David I did make it sound easy coz if for a person doing a very simple base, its just that simple.

When I first started about 4 years back, never having done a single dio or vignette it did seem tough despite doing some reading. It was tough to some extent coz:

1. Most of the materials mentioned in the books were not available locally.
2. Ordering online meant costs and as if the models themselves weren't already expensive as it is.
3. I have never seen how its done up close and personal.
4. Looking at all the beautiful dios in the books made me too ambitious.

That's why I've simplified it because

1. I have tried to mention things to do and not to do (Part I).
2. Use locally available materials almost exclusively (Part I & II)
3. For those who have attended the Workshop they have seen it up close and personal how easily it can be done.
4. I have also mentioned somewhere in my article to start small.

Ask any body who has done dios/vignettes and they will tell you the same thing as any modeler doing just models. Its not so much the skills but its about practice coz practice makes anything easier.

To sum it up you just need:

1. Interest
2. Interest gets you to Practice
3. Practice allows you to make more Mistakes
4. Mistakes gives you Experience
5. Experience Makes Everything Easy and it really is that Easy. :)

After all dios is about Recreating Real Life in Miniature which is also what modelling is about when you think about it. So folks do give it a go and once you step into the Dark Side....

CK, friendly pointer: you've got two step 4's in your summary. ;)

Thanks Sifu... In fact I'm working on another one right now, a USMC FAV, This one I will use your grass technique.. I will post some photo soon... :D

This is what happens to people who don't eat their carrots and paint anything smaller than 1/35. I'm blaming Arg for dragging me back to 1/72.

Surgeon General Warning:
Don't try this at home Kids, its done by almost blind idiots.

Thanks for the headsup Jason.

Hello guys, it's my first post here. =D
Well beachbum, I have a question. I'm going to build a terrain (or dio) piece for a tabletop wargame (Warhammer 40k) using your methods. But will it stand the wear and tear of it? Since models are going to be sometimes dragged across the terrain.

crescence,
welcome to the forum.
In case our friendly neighbourhood beachbum goes out on his walkabout this week, I thought I might give you my opinion on this.

For wargamming dioramas, you need a bit of care in ensuring that any base prepared has a good amount of binding medium, be it white glue or resin base primers to withstand the impact of movement over it as nrmally, dioramas do not do well with impact. Netiher does scaled paintwork.
Alternatively, you can also give your finished base a good coat of white glue as they dry transparent. After that a few thick coats of either matt coat or gloss coat will be useful depending on the effect you want. This will help prepare the base well for you to drag models over without wrecking the paintwork.

A Very Warm Welcome aboard SMM and the Diorama section Cresence.

First off, if you have the time the rest of the gang here would be happy to know a bit more about you if you can spare the time to write a wee bit about yourself here:
New Member's Introduction

Just to add a bit to what my co-moderator and President of SFTPMS, the scale modelling society that runs this forum has said. Dios for wargammers as you mentioned need to stand a certain degree of wear and tear. Depending on the scale they generally are less detailed than those dios for static displays. For example, grass in a static dio would likely be either static grass (used a lot by railroad enthusiasts) or even hemp or coconut fibres. But in a wargammer dio a piece of green felt or cloth would represent grass. Thus a lower level of detail.

So the answer to your query, is Yes, dios with careful selection of materials and a lower expectation of detail will stand up to wear and tear. Planning is critical. Place your most durable material where there will be the most traffic. This would mean using materials like plaster, cloth or felt, cork, styrofoam, etc. in areas where traffic will be heaviest.

Details need not be sacrificed all together. Put more detail in areas where traffic is unlikely or less, i.e. roadsides, valleys, etc.

Planning is critical coz you will likely need to split the terrain to several pieces for transport as well. Which also means a stiff base is equally important. Plywood would be better than just plain styrofoam. Weight is another consideration so chose lightweight materials for the groundwork.

Here's a good link for dio making mainly for wargammers.
Groundwork for wargammers
Scenery articles

A quickie and cheap way to make a lot of vegetation.
Making trees

Thanks for the welcome and the tips guys. Plaster is suitable for making terrain? Isn't plaster brittle?

Basically here in Malaysia you will come across 2 types of Plaster. Both are used for patching cracks in walls. The first one is sold mainly in boxes, the most popular brand being Polyfilla. The second is actually white colored premixed cement. Both function the same except the 2nd is stronger.

If you check out Page 1 of this thread you will see how both can be used and more details. Basically the brittleness depends on the water (more water more brittle) added and the addition of sand (strenghtens the mix). More details are on Page 1 of Part I of this 2-part article under "Materials" found by clicking on the link below:
Part I

I've conducted a workshop last year on its use during one of the Society's workshop and if there's enough interest we could organize another one this year.

Ah.. When you said plaster, what came into my mind first was plaster of paris. Alright, that cleared things up. Oh yeah, btw, about the ground foam in the making trees link you posted, what foam is that and where can I get those foam? And one last thing, my mom is kinda like a florist, so I have lots of floral foam around. Can I use these instead to substitute styrofoam?

The styrofoam most of us use it similar to the white stuff you find used as packing material for TVs, DVD players, refrigerators, etc. You can usually get sheets of different thickness in most major stationery stores (i.e. Popular) and art supply shops (i.e. Art Friend, The Gardens). You can also get them Free around electrical appliance shops but they usually come in funny shapes. Good for making buildings though.

Styrofoam comes in 2 forms one which is a less compressed version which are sold in most stationery stores. You can tell by the larger size of the beads and its lighter. The other is more compressed. You can see pics of the compressed version on Page 1 of this thread. The compressed one is preferable although its generally comes in thinner sheets (1cm. or so). Normally I use both. The thicker one if I wish to create hills and such and the thinner one over it as its more firm for holding plaster. As mentioned in Part I of this Article, its stuck with PVA glue and best stuck over a non-flexible board (i.e. plywood).

I've seen the florist foam used in one dio before but I normally would not recommend it as it crumbles too easily. You can use it for grass and bushes though by crushing it over your groundwork after applying PVA glue. Do check out Part I of this Article.