First Diorama

[Zippi]

Thinking of building my first Diorama on a low budget.  All I'm looking to build is a speed shop front or something similar.  Where do I need to look for wall decals or cheap shop kits?  A link to a site would be nice fellows.

[Tcoat]

Wall decals can be just printed paper from pics on the internet and then coated with clear to firm them up.

Need to define "cheap" for shop kits. I have searched many times and they are all rather costly in my opinion. Expect to pay at least $30 for most. The Fujimi sets are probably your best bang for the buck and have some really cool stuff.

Invest in a good selection of rod, tube, angles, sheets and such to scratch build your own equipment such as shelves, tire racks, etc. Model railroad shops usually have really good selections of Evergreen styrene in just about any shape you would desire. 

 

[EngineerBob]

Not exactly a "diorama" but I used internet images printed on standard computer paper to create a backdrop in my display case. The method works especially well for scale posters, calendars, signs, window backgrounds, etc.

 

[Tcoat]

29 minutes ago, EngineerBob said:

Not exactly a "diorama" but I used internet images printed on standard computer paper to create a backdrop in my display case. The method works especially well for scale posters, calendars, signs, window backgrounds, etc.

 

That is incredibly effective!

[EngineerBob]

On 12/7/2022 at 11:37 AM, Tcoat said:

That is incredibly effective!

Thanks. It was very easy (and cheap). Everything except the wood beams was printed from images found using Google Image Search. Some very basic enlarging and cropping was done with MS Photo or Paint. Pics were spray glued to foam core board.

[redscampi]

Wow, sign me up! I'm all about easy and cheap.

[Tcoat]

51 minutes ago, EngineerBob said:

Thanks. It was very easy (and cheap). Everything except the wood beams was printed from images found using Google Image Search. Some very basic enlarging and cropping was done with MS Photo or Paint. Pics were spray glued to foam core board.

I have used printed pictures for posters, signs, and even water to good effect but the thought of using them as a whole shelf backdrop never even crossed my mind. 

Just clear coated picture of the ocean. Even the "wave" texture is an optical illusion. 

 

[Zippi]

Thanks for all the info fellows.

[Bills72sj]

Good luck on your diorama. Mine went WAY over budget but it turned out pretty nice. View the details and see what could work for you.

My walls are foam board covered in white brick paper from Hobby Lobby.

The floor is layers of a tall narrow poster with checkerboard paper under clear.

It includes a layer of sheet metal so that I could install magnets in the bottom of tipsy items.

I just recently got some figures for it.

WIP link: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/151082-4-bay-day-2-hobby-garage/

Finished link: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/154551-grand-opening-of-the-american-restomod-workshop/

 

 

[EngineerBob]

18 hours ago, Tcoat said:

I have used printed pictures for posters, signs, and even water to good effect but the thought of using them as a whole shelf backdrop never even crossed my mind. 

Just clear coated picture of the ocean. Even the "wave" texture is an optical illusion. 

 

Perfect. So simple and effective!

[Zippi]

On 12/8/2022 at 11:52 PM, Bills72sj said:

Good luck on your diorama. Mine went WAY over budget but it turned out pretty nice. View the details and see what could work for you.

My walls are foam board covered in white brick paper from Hobby Lobby.

The floor is layers of a tall narrow poster with checkerboard paper under clear.

It includes a layer of sheet metal so that I could install magnets in the bottom of tipsy items.

I just recently got some figures for it.

WIP link: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/151082-4-bay-day-2-hobby-garage/

Finished link: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/154551-grand-opening-of-the-american-restomod-workshop/

 

 

Nice looking.  Thanks for the ideas.