Topic: Materials for Dioramas: Finding crates, parts and miscellaneous stuff...

[Darth More]

On this topic we'd like to show you which materials we use for our projects and where to find them.


You can also see what I found on AliExpress by clicking here.

List of Contents:

Page 1:
-Fantastic Plants and Where to Find Them... - Reply #1
-- Which materials do I use? - Artificial Plants with examples - Re-post from my Diorama topic

- More plants: Endor & Felucia - Reply #5 & Reply #7

- NiubNiub's Universe: Frank Diorio shows you which plants he uses in his Diorama Workshop - Reply #10

- JDeck shares some candy barrels and why you want to check your local dollar stores, too! - Reply #14
--Resources for random parts & accessories such as crates, boxes, generators, antennas, machines etc.


Page 2:
- Lipstick containers make some nice lanterns or furniture, too! - Reply #19 (continued on Page 3, Reply #30)

- My long hunt for Candy Fizz' Trio Soda Cans in Germany - Reply #23



Page 3:
- Lipstick Containers arrive from China - Reply #30

- Don shares how he makes crates from bottle lids - Reply #33

- How to turn trash into custom gold - Reply #35
-- shampoo bottles can provide some nice furniture for your dios!
-- lighting up your Mos Eisley Cantina tables

- Surpise Dice - way too much plastic foil, but useful parts for 3 bucks! - Reply #40


Page 4:
- JDeck shares his new stenzil for making leaves & foilage for forest or swamp dioramas  in seconds - Reply #46

- What you can find out in the woods to make cheap, but most realistic dioramas - Reply #50

- Dollar Store finds #2 & Backdrops for your action figures - Reply #52

- Painting figures with fibre-tip pens? - Reply #55



Page 5:
- Pigments by vallejo - Reply #62 & how I use them for my Utapau diormas - Reply #62

- How-to: A recipe for 1/18 scale Palm Trees - Reply #68


Page 6:
- Source for palm tree leaves and more miniature soda cans to use as barrels and to give your vehicles some cargo - Reply #75

- How perfectly those candy barrels actually fit onto the Imperial Combat Assault Tank! - Reply #83

Endor: Making rafts & boats for your Ewoks - Reply #85 & Reply #87

- DIY superstores, building supplies stores and why they're home for all creative maniacs out there -  Reply #88


Page 7:
- Dollar Store report #3 - Reply#91


- 3D printed parts, crates and accessories by Legacy Arts - Reply #92

- JDeck discovers amazing aquaristic parts for your flooring, framework and fences - Reply #97

- JDeck finds scaled grating - Reply #102


Page 8:
- Uncle Milton's Xcavation Crates: Some great goods to load your Imperial Hovertanks with and why you should get them while supplies last! - Reply #106

- Uncle Milton: Cancelled Wave 2 for Xcavation Crates & Skeletons that never reached the market - Reply #116


Page 9:
- JDeck shows you why you'll probably buy Bubble Gum just for the packaging... - Reply #120

- JDeck paints Uncle Milton's Xcavation Crates - Reply #122

- JDeck loads his Imperial Combat Assault Tank with his painted & weathered crates - Reply #129


Page 10:
- Tamer got the orange spray-paint you're looking for to paint prime those crates on Reply #139

- Primer, brushes and sculpting clay: Here's what I found at FantasyWelt plus a general guide of acrylic paints and primers - Reply #145


Page 11:
- JDeck got even more inspiration by watching some Warhammer videos on YouTube - Reply #152

- JDeck show you why you don't want to throw away your empty spray bottles ever again and why your wife will probably hate you for that - Reply #156


Page 12:
- JDeck found some metal paint that will make your beskar armor and silver droids look so much better - Reply #165

- JDeck goes hunting for gold: Your golden droids will like that AK INTERACTIVE TRUE METAL GOLD! Reply #172






"These ARE the plants you're looking for!"

So let's talk about artificial plants! Why? Because I think it's worth it! You might have noticed that it can be quite hard to find suitable material like (artificial) plants for your dioramas. That's why I would like to talk about this here!

During my time as exchange student in Michigan my host mother took me to Hobby Lobby a couple times. I can only remember this store as source of artificial plants. Most of them were not suitable for model building though, but more for decoration purposes. The second disadvantage was that Hobby Lobby or similar craft stores are not located in every city in the U.S. - for all of you living in the U.S. you might have better sources for model building supplies (like dollar stores maybe?).
Just let me know in the comments!
I also went to a model train store that didn't have much and was quite expesnive. Here in Germany it is pretty much the same thing:
Craft stores and model building stores have become pretty rare. But if you find one here it's likely that you also find some good stuff for your projects!

I've been "collecting" artificial plants for almost a decade by now and gained some experience on this topic. I would like to share my latest experience with you guys so that all of you can profit from it regardless where you live!
In November 2016 I found a good source for artificial plants online!
There are many stores on eBay that actually sell artificial plants in all scales! After ordering some items from two of these stores I can almost say for sure that they all belong to one and the same seller or company! The two stores I made experiece with are sfcdirect and schmuckshop88 (which is focused only on the German/European market). So in any case I recommend to you to go with sfcdirect because they send worldwide and are cheapest. 
All in all I am pretty contented with the plants I got from them. Here is why:

Advantages:
- you can get many for cheap
- most of them are shipped for free or just a low shipping cost (BUT: They do not combine shipping!)

Disadvantages:
- the items are sent from China and take about 3 weeks to Germany (and probably to the USA, too)
- as already mentioned above they do not combine shipping costs
- the communication with one of their several assistants of their customer service is a little difficult sometimes...
- they smell! I highly recommend you to wash them when you receive them!
- Most importantly: Colors vary! The plants sometimes come in a different color than shown on the pictures. You might have to repaint them. Which leads to my last disadvantage:
- Artificial plants (most of them in general) are pretty shiny/glossy. You might have to paint them in a matt color or just a clear varnish

My advice: Compare prices! I got the feeling they try to deceive the customer by selling the same item for different prices. Sort all items on eBay with the tool "show lowest price + shipping first"!!

Here is the link to the Chinese seller on eBay! Just type in "model tree" or "model diorama":

sfcdirect:
http://stores.ebay.com/SfcDirect/_i.html?_dmd=2&_nkw=model+scenery&_sop=2&rt=nc

uptogethertek:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_odkw=diorama&epid=16007290133&_ssn=uptogethertek&hash=item2370f2e6a4%3Ag%3ALTcAAOSwubFaceAV&item=152218822308&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313.TR10.TRC0.A0.H1.Xmodel+scenery.TRS0&_nkw=model+scenery&_sacat=0


Intentionally I do not post the direct links to their auctions/offers because they all end after 30 days. Just check out their eBay store.
I know they have a lot of crazy stuff and over 66.000 items, but if you just look for the target words mentioned above you will soon find what you are looking for!


So these are the first three items I got from schmuckshop88: By now sfcdirect sells all items sold by schmuckshop88. Seems they have reacted to my orders...It's not my intention to advertise for them here, but it's a source all of us can profit from!


I put all the plants in plastic bags and labeled each one of them with source, price and where I got them. I will post another topic about this later on...


I would have never expected to even find bamboo in this scale! I was very surprised when I found this and at this point I was sure I just had to share this with you! That's why I post the bamboo first here...so as you can see the tallest one is about 5.25"/14cm high, while the smallest one measures about 3"/8cm. You can buy a mixed set of 100 for about 8,59€/~$8.93.



I also really like these plants because you can use them for many environments like Endor or Kashyyyk. You can get 50 for $4.69+$0.52* - so about $0.10* per piece.



These palm trees are sold as "Cyad trees". The color varies a little bit from the description. You can get 10 for 3,49€/~$3.63* + free shipping! So $0.36* per piece. There are other offers, too. The cheapest I could find is 50 of them for 10,75€/~$11.18* ($0.22* per piece). If you need so many of them visit gudongtoy:
http://www.ebay.de/sch/gudongtoy/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=



They are about 2"/4,5cm tall. Keep in mind that these measures include the tip of the plants.


As mentioned above I highly recommend to you to wash them with water and soap before using them for your dioramas! They ship from Shenzhen, Guangdong or Hongkong where the air pollution is really bad. When I took the plants off the bowl I could even see particles of fine dust in the water which had turned grey .



You can get different kinds of these "carpets" to use them seperately or to fill big areas on your diorama! They are arranged in 9x9 so you get 81 pieces for $4.99+$0.52 for shipping - so about $0.07 per piece. Again, please compare prices carefully before purchasing them!
They start from $2.74:
http://stores.ebay.de/SfcDirect/_i.html?_dmd=2&_nkw=81pc&_sop=2&rt=nc

Here is a selection of three types I bought. I will use them for Endor and Kashyyyk dioramas.















You can get a mixed set of 100 of this kind for $9.20+free shipping! You can also order a bag of 100 pieces in one color, which is cheaper. Since I don't need a hundred of one color I paid a little more to have 20 of each. I will use them for dioramas of Felucia, Kashyyyk and Ryloth.
They are actually smaller than I expected, thanks to the long tip! They measurure about:
1.25"/3,5cm - or: 0.75"/2,5cm without the tip. Just wanted to let you know. I don't think this is a diadvantage. The actal plant is just smaller than told in the description.



Here are two kinds of plants I would like to tell you more about:

The one on the left is sold as "Lotus leaf". 50 of them are sold as cheap as $3.89+$0.52 for shipping. BUT: They are actually much lighter than pictured on eBay. I wanted to use them for an upcoming Endor diorama inspired by the new Star Wars Battlefront videogame...so will have to paint them darker. I think they look like the leafes of a water lily, too.

The one on the right looks like a bunch of leafes from a banana palm tree. They measure about  1.25"/3,5cm. They're sold as "50 Traveller's model tree" for $4.74+$0.52 for shipping.




These plants look also very obscure and therefore interesting and perfect for recreating the fascinating worlds of George Lucas' Star Wars!


This one sells as "50 Model Heart Leaf" for $4.49+$0.52 International Shipping - so $0.10 a piece.


These here are alomost my favorite ones for Endor. They sell in two sizes (see picutre's center and right). They sell as "50pcs-Model-Grasses-Train-Railway-Wargame-Scenery-Landscape-HO-Scale-4-5cm" for $4.61+$0.52 for Worldwide Shipping.





How to turn Palm Tress into Fern...


What I also found on sfcdirect are Palm Trees in many different scales. Here is a selection of them:

"20pcs Coconut Palm Tree Scale 1/150" sell for $3.99+free shipping. Height: ~3"/10cm


"20pcs Coconut Palm Tree" sell for $2.77(offer)+$1.25 for Worldwide shipping. Height: ~4.5"/12cm


"14 Multi Scale Model Coconut Palm Tree" sell as cheap as $4.35+$0.52 for Worldwide shipping. Height: from ~2"/3,5cm to ~7"/18cm




Of course you can use them as they are for your environments. What about a diorama of Scarif along with an AT-ACT model kit from Revell?

Check out this one built and excellently weathered by FialaFernbrugg:

http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=1625.210



So when I told Christoph about these palm trees and how much I was looking for fern in 3 3/4" scale he came up with the idea of using just the biggest ones by taking them apart.
And I have to admit I am really contended with the result:



By the way this is also a hint at an upcoming project...stay tuned for some action on Endor!


So these are just a few examples of artificial plants you can all buy at the moment on eBay from sfcdirect.
The nice thing about STAR WARS and its diversity of worlds is that you can just use your full imagination! You can utilize all the artificial plants for your dioramas in several scales and to recreate the fantastic environments of STAR WARS! Some are more, some are less useful. It's up to you and what you would like to create in which scale! I think the secret to make your diorama look authentic and natural is to use many different plants. There is a structure but no regular order. Just mix them all together!
I hope I could help and give you some inspiration for upcoming or already existing projects. I wish you a lot of fun and joy for our beloved hobby!
Best regards from Germany!

- Philipp


* All prices are in the current EUR/USD exchange rate (1€=$1.04). Prices and currencies vary. They should just give you an idea of prices in general. Some items may be cheaper or more expensive in your countries. By the way you should come and visit Europe! The Euro is still quite cheap!



Here are some examples of plants from local craft stores:

This one was quite expensive (7,99€/~$8.30*). I found this at a German chain for gifts and decoration supplies called "Nanu-Nana". I took it apart and already used some parts on my "Swamp Speeder Display" - seen on Page 1.


You often find mixed bags. Here is an example of a bunch I got for 3,95€/~$4.11* at my city's biggest decoration store! These bunches contain 60 pieces which makes 7 cents per piece. And they got a MASSIVE selection of diffeterent plants. I check them every few weeks for new/seasonal stuff.





I collected these plants and sorted them after planet/theme. These are meant to be used on Endor dioramas.


I found this one for about $2 in a home good & decoration store:




Aquarium plants: Can be found cheap on eBay, too!



Another source is...IKEA! They also sell artificial plants mostly for decoration purposes of course. This one costs 4,99€/~$5.20*(Germany). This is also quite much for a single piece, but it might pay off if you need trees in scale 1/18 on your dioramas...


* All prices are in the current EUR/USD exchange rate (1€=$1.04). Prices and currencies vary. They should just give you an idea of prices in general. Some items may be cheaper or more expensive in your countries. By the way you should come and visit Europe! The Euro is still quite cheap!


And of course all plants and diorama pieces of proffesional companies for model building like Games Workshop, Army Painter, BUSCH, Noch etc.








And here are some examples of what I made with them so far:


Kashyyyk:














Endor:









You can check out my dioramas by following the hyperlink below:

http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=10155.0



Best regards from Germany!


- Philipp

[JDeck]

Awesome Guide! I like the Palm tree fern conversion. I may have to do that with my Endor dio when I redo it. Speaking of which, what would you recommend for conifer branches in 1/18 scale? The preserved sea grass i used i think is too small and delicate for that scale.  I thought of using artificial cedar garland, but i haven't really tried it.

(Edit) I see you will be using the aquarium plants for conifer branches. That looks like it would work great.

[Jaeger45]

The ferns in particular are a great idea!  If I haven't mentioned it already, I love your picture frame dioramas.

[Tamer]

I remember seeing this before. Great stuff.

[talonreap]

What an amazing resource, Philipp! Thanks so much for putting this all together!
I'll definitely take advantage of some of those ebay sellers when I find time to work on some Scarif/Endor/Kashyyyk set ups.

[Darth More]

@all: Thank you for your feedback guys!

@JDeck: I actually had to do some research on google images Usind artificial cedar garland for conifer branches sound like a good idea! I also have some artificial plants from a local craft store which I haven't posted on here, yet. You probably mean these parts here, which are also from a local craft store here in Germany:



These are actually not aquarium plants. But I will add some more pictures of aquarium plants which I bought a lot of over the last 5 months...

My suggestion to you for sources:

1) Look online and in craft stores for suitable plants of Endor. Stores like Dollar Tree might not have what you're looking for, but there might be some specialized craft stores in your area.

2) This leads to my second hot tip: hemple know A TON about artificial plants! He actually uses the best artificial plants I've ever seen! If you write him a PM you will definitely find what you're looking for although it might be a little more expensive than these plants I bought from Asia.

3) Depending on where you live you might find some useful stuff out in the woods! If you live close to the Redwoods you might even see some Ewoks tolling around, too!
Coconut fiber is also suitable for Endor in particular. And here're a couple links to two nice Endor dioramas shared on YouTube:

This here might've been shared on here already and is one of my favorite Endor dioramas:

I subscribed to Nihilus 911000 on YT - he does awesome stuff - the plants he used for his dio look very similar to those I'm going to show you.

@Jaeger45: Thank you so much, mate! Yes, FialaFernbrugg had this great idea when we talked about the plants I had found on eBay and how I could find fern in 1/18. The palm trees work perfectly - I just need to put some more effort into the paint apps to make them look more realistic.

@Tamer: Yes, you're right! Remember back then I didn't really know where to put this topic, but now I found this thread here - I hope it fits better, now - what do you think? - I'll also talk about some other materials on this topic down the road. I thought it would be nice to share it on here and make a little summary of what I made with the plants so far.

@talonreap: Thank you for the nice words, mate! I can really recommend these to you and will post the three sources I can recommend most to you here:

Again, comparing prices pays off! Sort by "price: lowest first". Just look for "artificial model tree", "railway model scene" or "artificial plants" on eBay and you'll find these sellers quickly:

Most of them send from Shenzhen, China.

http://stores.ebay.com/SfcDirect/_i.html?_dmd=2&_nkw=model+scenery&_sop=2&rt=nc

https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_odkw=diorama&epid=16007290133&_ssn=uptogethertek&hash=item2370f2e6a4%3Ag%3ALTcAAOSwubFaceAV&item=152218822308&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313.TR10.TRC0.A0.H1.Xmodel+scenery.TRS0&_nkw=model+scenery&_sacat=0


Best regards

- Philipp

[FialaFernbrugg]

wow
So much detailed information about plants.
Thank you so much for sharing all the information.
I hope I can use some of these plants in a project some day.

Keep up the great work.

[Darth More]

@FialaFernbrugg: I'm glad you like them, mate! You got a couple of each of them and it would be awesome to see how you include them in your projects!



Here're some more:



Aquarium Plants:

During the second half of 2017 I found some plants on eBay which look nice and suitable to use on a diorama of Felucia or Ryloth:







I have to include this, again:

These plants smell - some of them really bad! There's no way I would use those for a fish tank!
But they look really great in water! With the right lighting they look just amazing! But who knows if and to which extend they contain components that are toxic to organisms.




I really like the bright colors, different shapes and am looking forward to finally make my first diorama of Felucia!




Some are made of soft silicone and hard plastic parts...



...others are poured in solid plastaline:




They were all well packed - most of them were shipped for FREE!



These here are made of very soft silicone - in water they would look bright & beautiful, but if you use them out of water you'll need glue to make them to make them stand up.



These here were most of expensive of them all and I wouldn't have bought them if they didn't fit well for the diorama I'm going to build. They also shipped from China via a seller that only sells in Europe, but I'm sure they also got a store for each continent just using a different nickname...



I'll add prices for each number here.


I'll use these here to make palm tress for Scarif. That's gonna be fun!





And here are the sources on eBay where I found them:

lucky.warm - best prices, I was most contended with this one. Just look for aquarium plants in his store and list all items from lowest to highest price. Comparing prices pays off!

https://www.ebay.com/sch/lucky.warm/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=


onfineshop: - ships from HongKong, China

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_sop=15&_nkw=aquarium&rt=nc


Various sellers: There are just too many to list them all. And I wouldn't be surprised if they actually all belong together...

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=plant&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xartificial+plant.TRS0&_nkw=artificial+plant&_sacat=0_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xartificial+plant.TRS0&_nkw=artificial+plant&_sacat=0

Shipping for most of them is FREE and takes 8-30 days at least to Germany.


Have a great weekend everyone!



- Philipp

[FialaFernbrugg]

Looks like you found the perfect material for a Felucia diorama.
Thank you for sharing.

[Tamer]

Great resource. Let me go share some of this.

[Darth More]

If you want to make your plastic plants look more realistic and less glossy, Frank from DioramaWorkshop.com has the solution for you!
Go check out one of seven of his latest videos with brilliant ideas and tips for your dioramas:

Please, also check out his YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/dioramaworkshop



And here is the direct link to the Diorama Workshop on Imperial Shipyards:

http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?board=124.0


Big thanks to Frank for sharing his creativity with us. I’m very excited to see how his next Mega Diorama if Scarif will turn out! I wish I could go to Celebration Chicago. If you can, make sure to contribute your part to this awesome project!


- Philipp

[Tamer]

Frank is just full of great dio knowledge. Let me go share this video too.

I can't wait to see what he gets into at Celebration this month.

[FialaFernbrugg]

That is a very helpful video.
Thank you very much for sharing.

[Darth More]

Tamer: Absolutely! Thanks for sharing his video! Frank is always so positive and I really enjoy listening to his videos.


FialaFernbrugg: Any time bud!

[Darth More]

Miscellaneous stuff and where you can find it...


So the current diorama project of JDeck inspired me to share this.
Special thanks go to JD for sharing his work. Check out his current work in progress here:

http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=9462.465


I was going to add to this topic anyway after my holiday. I spent a few days at the beach and had some ice cream with my family - and I kept the packaging to make some cargo containers by giving them a repaint.

Here are a few tips of where to find random parts for your dioramas. If you have any resources to share, please let us know!
My girlfriend thinks I collect trash. So if you’re coping with the same accuses,  that's something you should take into consideration here.
But the take-home message of this post is:

You can find a lot of awesome stuff FOR FREE!




Dollar Stores

Have you ever bought stuff just for the packaging..?






You wouldn't believe how long I've been looking for CLEAR straws here in Germany...I use them to display hovering vehicles. Even better than that but also more expesive are clear acrylic rods:




Currently even old Star Wars figures show up at dollar stores here in Germany - they sell for 6,00€ 5,50€.







Candy Shops and assortments in Super Markets:


JDeck shared the brilliant idea to make gas tanks out of those mini soda cans. It's not lipstick, but I remember seeing those cans in my childhood back in the 90's. And this is the cheapest offer I could find: So take yourself to the Candy Shop de de...dede 50 Cent that only makes 23 cents per can!!

They're called "Soda Can Fizzy Candy by Kidsmania Candy":


https://www.zurchers.com/products/soda-can-fizzy-candy-6ct


They also have a case of 72 cans for 22 ct/piece:


https://www.zurchers.com/products/soda-can-fizzy-candy-12ct?_pos=1&_sid=7e63fd9f7&_ss=r


Source: ZURCHERS
URL: https://www.zurchers.com/products/soda-can-fizzy-candy-12ct?_pos=1&_sid=7e63fd9f7&_ss=r

Source: ZURCHERS
URL: https://www.zurchers.com/products/soda-can-fizzy-candy-6ct



They also have this candy here in a little wider cans called "Bubble Crush" by Kidsmania Candy:



Source: ZURCHERS
URL: https://www.zurchers.com/products/bubble-crush-gum-nuggets-12ct?_pos=1&_sid=f1298db4d&_ss=r


Soruce: Candy Warehouse
URL: https://www.candywarehouse.com/bubble-crush-bubble-gum-nuggets-soda-cans-4-packs-12-piece-box/









Walmart and Hardware Stores:


So JD, this is the cloest I could get compared to your awesome tiny boxes from Walmart!
I suppose those mini storage boxes don't sell well here in Germany because people consider them unpractical or just buy bigger boxes or zipper bags.






Those storage boxes are also useful & cheap:





Thank the maker for those "magic erasers"!





Trash and other useful Stuff for free:



The ice cream we shared was delicious - aaand I wanted to keep the packaging to make some cargo containers or generators out of them. Styrofoam can be found in all kinds of shapes so keep your eyes open in the dumpsters!



I came to this conclusion: You get most ideas right in the moment when you find stuff by chance/randomly. Because there's so much stuff out there you would've never guessed exsisted unless you see it.
And I also think looking for this random stuff gives you an idea what to look for. If that makes sense. I mean JDeck taught me to see stuff differently when I walk through the hardware store. If you got the time, you can look at different stuff in different departments (even at construction stores) and think about what you could possibly make out of it!
Pretty creative stuff going on. BIG THUMBS UP for JD! Thanks for making me aware of those mini candy soda cans!

Big thanks also go to The Spectre who provides us with all the latest finds of good stuff from Michael's and such!

http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=7112.1050


- Philipp