Fell Diorama at the UHH!

I wasn't able to go to the Utterly Horses Hullabaloo at Newmarket this week as it was just too far for me to travel, but Kelly was and took these photos of her new dio with the newly released 'Night Heather and Moonlit Dale' large SM scale resins in situ. The backdrop suits it perfectly and I'm insanely pleased by how well the base blends into it. She kindly allowed me to share these photos and put them on my website too, as well as displaying some of my business cards next to the diorama. :D

 

I definitely need to snag myself a copy of the mare - she'd make a fantastic Highland!

If you want a copy for yourself, they are available -here-

Diorama Commission

I've been very busy this month working on my first diorama commission!



 

I was asked by the fantastic sculpting artist Kelly Sealey of Kellys-Studio to make a diorama to show off her latest AR set; a large SM scale Fell mare and foal. She drew me a rough diagram of what she wanted, and after a lot of discussion on the subject, I began in earnest.



The dry stone wall was perhaps the most important part of the whole base so I had to get it right. I pored over photographs of Cumbrian walls and spent ages consulting local dry stone walling sites so I could get the construction and geology accurate. It was very tricky to accomplish and there's definitely an art to it that I don't think I've got, lol!
I toyed with the idea of making stones from plaster or carving out blue foam but in the end I decided that you really couldn't beat the real thing so I gathered up some suitable stones, gave them a thorough scrub and got to work.

(Terrible phone photos approaching!)



Obviously the colour was completely wrong so once it was fully assembled, I repainted it entirely to fit in with the local Cumbrian stone. For any future bases involving walls, I plan to cast them in resin to save on the weight.



The base was then landscaped with a coat of plaster, which the wall was soon firmly embedded into. I also added an old and wind-battered looking tree, made from a suitable looking twig I had in my stash. The fencepost was a bit of balsa dowel.



Once it was completely dry, the whole thing was given a coat of paint...



...before the grass and foliage was added.









The view from the back.







I couldn't resist taking a couple of shots with ponies present, although I do wish I'd have had a spare Collecta Dartmoor as this one was a body and not really very photogenic, although it was the right size for the base.





So yeah, that's what I've been working on! It was a lot of fun to make and Kelly was absolutely brilliant to deal with. Hopefully I should have it all packed up and in the post tomorrow, ready to meet the public at the Utterly Horses Hullabaloo at the end of the month!

If anyone happened to be interested in commissioning a diorama, just throw me an email at Elrenia_Greenleaf@hotmail.com and we'll have a chat. :) I really enjoy a challenge so feel free to be as detailed or vague as you like!

Dioramas!

Now that I've finished college and have some time on my hands, I've been giving some serious thought to what I want to do with my life. I haven't quite managed to come up with much of an answer yet but one thing I really would like to do is make dioramas and bases to sell.

I'll be putting one in the post tomorrow and I've just been commissioned for another this evening by someone else so fingers crossed this is going to be a successful business for me!

This is the one I've sold - a little SM scale cross country ditch with a hole for an acrylic rod and some muddy puddles at the bottom.







A little over-keen here I think, lol.

 

Shot from the right angle it doubles as just an ordinary base for photo shows.



This one was really just an experiment to see how the water worked so I didn't bother finishing off the sides properly. I may be tempted to sell it though so I'd obviously tart it up a bit for the buyer.









My favourite, and definitely not for sale - (although I'd happily take on commissions for something similar!) a Stablemate scale desert oasis complete with palm trees!

Apologies for the less than professional photos; I thought I had a good desert backdrop but it appears to have gone walkabout, hence the rather incongruous use of an Australian scenic calendar which is far too short for the palm trees. XD











So yeah, I'm having great fun! XD

I'm probably going to make up a batch of small individual bases - probably coaster sized - and see how popular they are. Any suggestions for future ones would be greatly appreciated - I love trying out new techniques and things!