Collaborative Diorama

[PHPaul]

My youngest daughter, who has more artistic talent in her pinkie finger than I'll ever have, wants to do a diorama in a terrarium setting.  The center piece will be the ruins of a small castle.

She chose this picture from the web as the model.  She's never worked with plaster so I volunteered to build the basic form for her, while demonstrating a few techniques.

I printed out the picture which, conveniently, was scaled to nearly the exact size of the space available in the diorama, took some measurements and built a form to pour the front wall.

Removing the casting from the form caused breaks in some of the thinner areas, but that's a "feature, not a bug" as it's supposed to be a crumbling ruin anyway, right?  I carved the left side and did a dark wash on it to demonstrate the technique and then poured, carved and erected the other walls.

And here's the "finished" project as far as I'm going to take it.  She will finished weathering, detailing, adding rubble and vegetation and blending it into the rest of the diorama.

I'll try to remember to post a picture when she finishes it.  Given her skills in every other art/craft she enjoys, I expect it will be fabulous.  Of course there's a small chance I could be prejudiced...

Edited January 1, 2024 by PHPaul

[PHPaul]

Started on the weathering.

[TarheelRick]

On 1/1/2024 at 4:31 PM, PHPaul said:

Of course there's a small chance I could be prejudiced...

If you weren't I would wonder what kind of Dad you would be. Looks to be an interesting build. I saw a terrarium diorama at a show a few years back with 1/25 scale vehicles in it, pretty intricate work.

[Jonathan]

Very cool

 

[PHPaul]

 

[PHPaul]

[PHPaul]

[charlie8575]

Her work is excellent. As is your casting.

Charlie Larkin

[Dann Tier]

Boy this is super cool!