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

[Tamer]

Nice!

[Starchaser]

Hey Philipp,
I've been A.W.O.L. for a while. These last several resources were great options, thanks for sharing all these great tools.

[Darth More]

Tamer: Thanks, have you ordered from AliExpress, yet? If so how was your experience with them?

Starchaser: Wow, your return hit like an Imperial Orbital Bombardment! It's so good to read your name on here, again! I'm glad you find my resources useful. I provided some links on the AliExpress thread.

Here's a direct link to the page where I found the latest accessories:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32744545365.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.4ca84c4dT8QDtp


I'm always happy if questions are asked. And I'll try to help as good as I can.

[Tamer]

I haven't yet, but I think I am getting ready too.

[FialaFernbrugg]

I really like your latest parts that you have shared.
They fit perfectly into a Jabbas palace, sail barge or Tatooine diorama.
Thanks for sharing.

[JDeck]

   I was able to get some Disney Parks Droid Factory Mystery Crates, empty for less than $5 each. I just wanted the crates, forget the droid. So they came in today, and I wanted to see if I can paint it without having to mask it. The translucent panels do pop out, making painting easier, however the printing they did on it is really thick and should be sanded off before painting. I might paint one or two solid, and see how it looks. You could put a light inside to give the blue walls that illuminated forcefield whatever look.
The bottoms have holes and pegs, so they can lock in side by side, and they can be stacked. The blue smaller  panel with the droid silhouettes says "Mystery Droid" in Aurebesh.  Pretty cool little crates.

[Starchaser]

Cool...thanks for the tips. I ordered a couple and they should arrive Monday!

[Tamer]

Nice, was eBay the platform you ordered from?

Time to get this on the front pages.

[JDeck]

Nice, was eBay the platform you ordered from?

Time to get this on the front pages.

Yes I got them from ebay, he wasn't a power seller or anything he just had 7 and I bought 4 and I don't see them anymore.  But if you're interested I'd just keep checking every once in a while. Right now people want double retail value for the crates and droids. Retail is $14.99. So I think I got a good deal at $5 for the crates.

Cool...thanks for the tips. I ordered a couple and they should arrive Monday!

You probably got the last of what that guy had, I bought from. They're decent for their size, I got some crates from hole in the ground coming too. Hopefully I'll have a decent Imperial supply depot soon.

[JDeck]

  So I'm working on a Scarif Diorama, and I was doing some research on the different plants or flora found in the Maldives, specifically  Laamu Atoll, where Scarif was filmed. There are two predominant plants; coconut palms and Sceavola Taccada also known as Beach Naupaka, also beach cabbage/lettuce, found all over the Pacific and caribbean. So my challenge was to find an artificial version in scale with 3.75. I actually found something.
Yzzsjc 6pcs Aquarium Plants Fish Tank Decorations Medium Size Artificial Aquatic Plants Green Waterscape Fish Hides Tree Set Plastic Christmas Plant for Household and Office Aquarium Decorations https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09F6DQSGW/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_EMHNSST2HX3FJ6PCBSF7?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I just cut the branches off the main tree, and spray painted them, a darker green. The beach Naupaka is a mangrove type of tree, so I can stack these branches to make a bush.  It looks perfectly fine without permanently attaching them and It fits in great with my modular system. I got 2 packs, it also comes with several grass tufts, which are always good to have. I would love to find this type of artificial plant in bulk, but all I found was boxwood mats, which I bought and works fine but not as great.  So yeah that's my plant-geography lesson for today.

[JDeck]

So for the Beach Naupaka, I also bought this boxwood mat. SLSON Aquarium Decorations Grass Artificial Plastic Lawn 9 inches Square Landscape Green Plants for Saltwater Freshwater Tropical Fish Tank Decoration,with 8 Pcs Suction Cups https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C5Z4B5C/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_T8GWYKJWM2TCH17TZV67?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

It works okay. I pulled the pieces off the mat and put a half dozen or so through a scewer to make a bush, then painted dark green. Like the other type I'll call "fish tree", they can be stacked into a larger bush. The leaves are  heart-shaped, as opposed to the longer leaves of the fish tree. I left patches of the plant parts still attached to the mat, that I cut into squares for ground cover.

[Tamer]

Man, love how you are actually researching the vegetation from the actual film location and then matching it up that way. Just great attention to detail here.

Thanks for sharing where to get it and how to use it. It looks great.

Off to share on the front pages.

[JDeck]

Man, love how you are actually researching the vegetation from the actual film location and then matching it up that way. Just great attention to detail here.

Thanks for sharing where to get it and how to use it. It looks great.

Off to share on the front pages.

Thank you! I just kept seeing the same plants in different scarif scenes and was curious what it is. Evidently that's the only thing that grows in that poor soil, other than coconut, and it's everywhere. It's almost as bad as Kudzu is here.

[Starchaser]

I'm impressed JDeck. That is looking really outstanding. I think the boxwood mat is working out.

[Tamer]

I asked JDeck if he could get me a link to a product you could use to make some bigger cages after we all started talking in Starchaser's custom thread when he share one of the new Jurassic World Cages.

Now these look like they would work great!

https://amzn.to/3xlxEr4



Thank you JDeck for sending me the link.