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Are you feeling nostalgic about the good ol’ days?
Would you like to relive firsthand some of those awesome sceneries that were once a part of our lives back in the day?
Well, you can catch a glimpse of all that by visiting a museum or creating your own diorama with a model of whatever structure, scene, or experience you’re feeling nostalgic about.
Needless to say that not everyone creates dioramas because of nostalgia.
There are those who create dioramas to showcase something that interests them – be it a fictional scene, craft project, a base for a model, or just as a hobby.
And, of course, there are those who make dioramas to sell.
Whatever your purpose is, below are all the steps you need to follow to make your first diorama.
Step one: planning the diorama
Choose a subject:
The first thing you want to do is to decide on what the subject of your diorama will be. As we’ve earlier established, a diorama could be a model representation of historical times, events, sceneries, fictions, and lots more.
So, what is yours about? I’m sure you know already!
Research the subject
Now that you have in mind what your diorama subject will be, the next line of action is to conduct research on the subject. The essence of this research is so that your diorama can be as lifelike as possible.
For example, if you’ve chosen a diorama depicting a railroad in the 1960s, you want to research the physical sizes and scales of the trains in those days. The most popular sizes are HO, N Scale, and OO gauge (UK). You also want to research the corresponding NMRA standards for the trains, as well as the time and place.
Item checklist
Depending on the concept you’re embracing for your diorama, you may need items like paints, glue, boxes, construction paper, modeling clay, furniture, plastic, miniature figures (more on how you can get miniature figures for cheap at the end of this post).
Since you know what you’re working on, I believe you know the items you need to get started.
Don’t forget to add containers to the list of items you’ll need. Since dioramas are a 3-D representation of the real event, you want to make them as lifelike as possible. And to do this, you’ll need physical bodies with an open-faced front that allows viewers to look into the scenes.
Diagrammatic representation of your diorama
This is where the bulk of the work begins. Before you commence construction, you need to draw out a sketch of what your ideal diorama will look like. This sketch will feature all the items, backdrops, background, and composition of your diorama.
For example, let’s say your diorama concept is “A train leaving its station in the 1970s.” Your sketch would feature things like background buildings for freight and passengers, commercial activities happening around the station, stationed trains, moving trains covered in soot, and so much more.
Building the actual diorama
Start with the background
Let’s say you’re using a cereal box container as your diorama scene. You can start adding life to this container by painting appropriate areas in the colors of the actual event/item you’re trying to model. In addition, you also want to add layers of details and images to create depth in your scene.
As far as the layers of details go, you could consider painting the scenes in different colors, or printing an image and gluing it on. Or you could create a collage out of magazine cutouts to use as your diorama background.
Alternatively, you can print a whole diorama background plan from sites like Modelbuildings.org. With these sites, construction is fun and easy, and it also saves you the cost and stress of painting.
Add lifelike items
Start by placing smaller items in front of larger ones to add a real-life feel into your diorama. Afterward, space the items out to make each one visually appealing. But be sure every item is in the right place before gluing everything together.
Set up the miniatures
Complete your scene with the addition of miniature figurines, furniture, or building models. Make sure that these items are to scale with the rest of the scene! Or, print and cut out simple photos of figures or furniture and place them throughout the scene.
When it comes to setting up the miniatures figures in a diorama, the conventional idea is to use plastic kits. But thanks to the advent of technology, one can now construct a whole miniature railway town scene for less than the cost of a couple of plastic kits using simple building model houses printed from sites like Modelbuildings.org!
Assemble and glue everything
After carefully inspecting the entire diorama scene, ask yourself: is it all good to go?
If you’re satisfied with the arrangement, then you can start assembling and gluing everything together.
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This content is sponsored by Uday Tank.
Photo: Shutterstock