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

[Tamer]

Thanks for the links. Perfect for the AF Genre in general.

[Starchaser]

I love those crates, guys. I just got my first set of the black ones from Amazon over the weekend!

[Tamer]

I love those crates, guys. I just got my first set of the black ones from Amazon over the weekend!

Can you send me that amazon link or post it here? Hey, I actually found it! This first link comes with some other neat AF sized stuff.

https://amzn.to/3ovVHkT

And then this one with just the crates (3 choices of color):

https://amzn.to/3Asv57d

[Darth More]

Going back to Endor

If you were looking for a way to make trees and trunks for your Endor diorma, Toys Are The Way has got another brilliant tutorial for you.

You can also find sources for artificial plants right at the beginning of this discussion.

Star Wars The Vintage Collection Endor Trees | Diorama & Tutorial

double-click for full screen view


Have a great and creative weekend everyone!

[Tamer]

Seems like a great way to make em.

[JDeck]

Pretty similar to how I make my trees. Except I use  ground up paper mache instead of grout. Good idea.

I found a good glue for styrofoam. It's fabri-tac it melts the foam a little, so you end up bonding the pieces chemically. Similar to how styrene cement works. You add the glue to one piece, put the two pieces together. Then kind of shimmy them to spread the glue, then put it in place and hold for a few seconds. I've been using hot glue, but this seems to work better, there's no large unsightly bead. Beacon Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive, 4-Ounce (FT4D),1123-34 https://a.co/d/9bTtd6j

[Darth More]

That's brilliant, JD! I wouldn't have guessed that this glue primarily for fabric is multi-purpose for foam, too! Isn't it crazy, that I dreamed of carpets that looked like Mustafar last night? My sleep wasn't the best, I didn't even have the high ground, but man did those lava carpets look realistic. I'd probably take it as business idea and make 3 dimensional silicone mats. I started building a house in 1/24 scale using crafting glue with solvents. So the entire base of foam melted away. Therefore I decided to use it for a future Mustafar display for Vader and Kenobi maybe even with LEDs in their lightsabers and lighted lava.

I see so many items on Amazon USA that are temporarily unavailable. The market in the U.S. must be gigantic. If I'd be American I'd probably go to Lowe's or support my local crafting stores if there were any around. Thanks for sharing your latest gem!

[Darth More]

Speaking of fabric & carpets, I always look for suitable profiles/designs for floors when I'm at my favorite discount store Action here in Germany. It's a blessing from the Netherlands and they sell place mats for 99 cents. I'm going to use the silver-ish ones for one of Padme's rooms on Coruscant or Naboo. And the black one would make a nice floor in Vader's fortress or a banquet on Cato Neimoidia.

[Tamer]

Neat.

[JDeck]

Yeah i could see that as flooring. You could modge podge and gloss coat it.

I discovered recently they make acrylic spray paint. Which is advantageous for painting foam. I always thought it was the aerosol propellant melted foam. Normally you have to hand paint an acrylic sealant in order to spray over foam, but this you just spray directly on bare foam . I tried it out and no ill effects. I just bought the black, but I could make some cool effects using spray paint in different colors.

[Darth More]

Nice spray-paint, JDeck! You could probably paint even thin plastic with it.

On my way through Colorado and New Mexico I discovered these milk containers for my daily coffee. So me and my buddies collected a few. They immediately reminded me of those classic trash cans from the 1950s moving forward. Didn't know this shape before because similar containers are even smaller here in Europe and soon prohibited due to environmental protection.
I'm going to use them for a future diorama in 1/24 scale. They might go well for Star Wars as well if combined and modified with your imagination.

[Tamer]

It will be interesting to see what you get into with these. They do look very similar to the old galvanised trash cans.

[Darth More]

Yes, I'm stoked to get back to the workbench this Fall and Winter, again!

Yesterday after work I helped one of my neighbors assemble his new furniture.
It was secured with 1 and 2 mm MDF wood, which is perfect for round shapes of buildings for example!
The bright color of it almost looks like sand, which is a great solution if you want to avoid sand on your Tatooine diorama! I also got some free cardboard for future builds.
Sometimes useful stuff can be found for free and be saved from the dumpster! 



To me the bright and fine plywood looks like a sand pattern. Perfect for dioramas if you don't want sand on your builds!

[Tamer]

It would make for a great hallway corridor too. Lots of potential here.

[Darth More]

Yes, that's a good point Shawn! The pattern does look like the marble floor in the palace of Theed on Naboo. Hadn't thought about it although it's on my to-do list.



Source: https://www.behance.net/gallery/15120911/Miniatures-Star-Wars-Ep-1-2-ILM?locale=es_ES

Source: https://www.behance.net/gallery/15120911/Miniatures-Star-Wars-Ep-1-2-ILM?locale=es_ES

I found this page via google images and can absolutely recommend to check out this Making of Theed! ILM do some truly magic work on model building!