New Office Diorama... (1 Viewer)

[mikemiller1955]

here's another pretty delicate one...

it's called "Natural Sweet Green"...it is so very delicate in scale...

it makes a really nice shrub or tree...

the bouquet they give on this one is enormous...much bigger than the others...

I love the scale of this for miniature soldier modeling...

by the way...I'm using a John Jenkins Design Snow Shoes figure for scale...

but it is also a little difficult to work with...

 

[mikemiller1955]

this is "Caspia Natural"...

it seems like a very commercial product but I don't see it used very much...

I say it's commercial because it's usually the only thing they have in my Hobby Lobby or Michaels...

I personally like it...it's easy to work with and kind of unusual looking...

they give you a very large bouquet of this stuff when you buy it...

it makes a good shrub...but I have never tried it as a tree...

I'm gonna go have dinner and I'll post some more in a bit...

 

[mikemiller1955]

this is "Green Oregano"...

it makes a nice shrub...and yes...it is oregano and smell like it should be in your lasagna...

 

[mikemiller1955]

this is "Heavy Metal Panicum"...it makes a nice shrub...

 

[mikemiller1955]

this is "Mini Myrtle"...it's not the greatest scale...the leaves are so big it reminds me of a banana plant...

I used it in a couple of dioramas and some people asked me what it was...so I'm including it...

it comes in a variety of colors...

 

[mikemiller1955]

this is "Redwood"...it reminds me of a Meditteranian Palm leaf...

I have never used it before...I just found it last week and tried a bouquet of it...

I think it would replicate a palm leaf pretty good for my Crusader/Saracens dios and for my Life of Jesus...I guess a WWII Pacific theater of war dio would suit it...

it does come in different colors and is kind of "waxy"...but I like it and will get some use out of it...

I think it would make a good roof thatch for an Arabic dwelling...

if I was ever going to attempt making plam trees...I would use this...

 

[mikemiller1955]

here are a few more...I hope the picture is clear enough for you to see the names of them...

I think I use Sugar Bush...Sesame Bloom...Sweet Annie...Broom Bloom...Caspia and German Statice (which I forgot to order) the most...

well...this should give you a good idea what the foliage looks like and give you some applications you can use to enhance your dioramas...and where you can buy some...you will recognize a lot of these in my diorama when it's finished...

here's a tree I made with Sugar Bush...

finally...I purchase mine from a company called Woodcreek Drieds Inc...the lady I speak to is named Jody...she has told me before on the phone that a lot of miniature modelers buy her foliage...their phone number is 1-800-664-1630...

here is a link to their dried foliage page...

Happy Modeling...

 

[mikemiller1955]

I got some foliage done on my river tonight...

 

[The Lt.]

Looking good Sir Michael{bravo}}{bravo}}{bravo}}

 

[Mitch]

Mike...

very nice.
Mitch

 

[mikemiller1955]

thanks Joe...thanks Mitch...

I got all of my river foliage done over the weekend...it turned out pretty good...I got some nice detail from the variety of small foliage I'm using...I painted some small mulch chips from my flower bed to match my bridge...I think I will finish detailing the inside of the river bed tonight with rocks and wood...glue the bridge in place...do all the ground work around the river/bridge and sporadically place the wood chips and rocks around the diorama table...hopefully pour some Magic Water tonight before I go to sleep...but probably tomorrow...I'm having trouble getting motivated...^&grin...

 

[debrito]

Foliage looks great...looking forward with interest to see it completed

 

[thebritfarmer]

Coming together nicely Michael. Looks like you are becoming a bit of a botanist also. I do think the Basil Redwood would make some nice trees for the Durbar series. May have to look into that.

Cheers
Scott

 

[GICOP]

Great job Michael....as usual:salute:::salute:::salute:: looking forward to seeing the diorama once the water has been added

Cheers

Martyn

 

[mikemiller1955]

ty Rod...Martyn...Scott...

I'm gonna try and pour the river tonight...I'm going out of town Friday to visit my sister in Dallas and won't be back til Sunday night....so it will give it a lot of time to dry...

I'm kind of scared to pour it...

as I built the table myself and am not sure how level it really is...hahaha...

if it's really unlevel...of course all the water will go to the lowest point and make a mess by overflowing the bank of the river in that spot...

never claimed to be a carpenter...hahaha...

but the table is sturdy...so I would like to pour it tonight and watch it closely in case I have to "shim up" a leg til it settles or gels...

 

[GICOP]

ty Rod...Martyn...Scott...

I'm gonna try and pour the river tonight...I'm going out of town Friday to visit my sister in Dallas and won't be back til Sunday night....so it will give it a lot of time to dry...

I'm kind of scared to pour it...

as I built the table myself and am not sure how level it really is...hahaha...

if it's really unlevel...of course all the water will go to the lowest point and make a mess by overflowing the bank of the river in that spot...

never claimed to be a carpenter...hahaha...

but the table is sturdy...so I would like to pour it tonight and watch it closely in case I have to "shim up" a leg til it settles or gels...

That sounds like a good idea Michael {bravo}}

Cheers

Martyn

 

[Denver]

Mike
You pour your wall molds with Hydrocal.
How well does it work for you ?
Have you ever used the Dental Stone product ?
Thanks
Denver

 

[mikemiller1955]

Mike
You pour your wall molds with Hydrocal.
How well does it work for you ?
Have you ever used the Dental Stone product ?
Thanks
Denver

Denver...I have never used the "Dental Stone"...I was lucky to find the Hydrocal in my area...the stuff is cheap...but shipping is BRUTAL...

the main thing I wanted was strength...here's a link to Hirst Art's Casting Page...he gives a lot of useful material concerning strength, weight, expansion and availabilty...

DO NOT USE PLASTER OF PARIS...it chips...

I got a coat of water in my river tonight...I used "Magic Water"...it used a lot more than I thought...I guess the river is wider than I thought...

anyway...here's some pics...that's it for now...

 

[mikemiller1955]

sorry...here are the pictures...

note: the dark dirt spots in front of the bridge steps on both side is not Magic Water...it is a fresh coat of dirt with glue in it...

 

[GICOP]

sorry...here are the pictures...

note: the dark dirt spots in front of the bridge steps on both side is not Magic Water...it is a fresh coat of dirt with glue in it...

Looking good Michael:salute::

Cheers

Martyn