Thanks for all the great comments we've received on this diorama. I've gotten several email requests on how I did some of the effects on this Egyptian diorama. Rather that answer each one, I thought I'd show some of the techniques to followers of this thread-of course, as I've said, Zach and his collection and incredible photo skills dialed this up to 11.
Ebay and Amazon can provide a wealth of to scale accessories with early Egyptian motifs that we used in the diorama. Here's a sample
A trip to my local Home Depot supplies much of the construction materials I needed. Pink insulation foam is my go-to building medium. Its very light, easy to cut, scribe and paint and using foam glue provides a solid structure and base.
I laid out the 3' x 5' base using the pink insulation, and then used string to layout the water course, avenues, etc which I was constantly adjusting. I always use black auto primer as first coat on my buildings-remember to use light coats, as it can score the foam if laid on too heavy -paper was used to cover the great K&C temple facade, which I later dry brushed with the same colors I used for the 2 temples to get a closer match to the sand colors I used
Every DIY store with paint departments will mix you up with samples of any color at very reasonable prices. I also mix in a sand additive when doing desert scenes and buildings, as it gives a very realistic texture. IN this case, I used this basecoat color, followed by a second lighter color, and then dry brushed with a cream color, that highlights the sand additive. For the base, I used variations of different sand colors to add interest<
I detailed the interiors using Early Egyptian images I got off the internet, and then lite them with battery operated strings of white and orange lights I got on Amazon. I only detailed enough that can be seen through the doors with the roofs on, hence the raw space. The light switches are attached to the rear of each wall for easy access. The raised relief are refrigerator magnets I got on Ebay and then converted
Zach and I are writing an article for Toy Soldier magazine on how we planned and built this diorama, as well as the Carrier Bunker Hill dio on the John Jenkins forum site. Thanks for all the great comments-this was a fun project for us both.
