My new river is finished

I finally finished the river, and I put the diorama back up in my room. For those of you who don't know I spent 16 days in the hospital with unexplained fevers, so I have had no work done on any diorama for most of the month. Before I got sick, I layed out the new water, I like the product, Magic Water, but it is not as easy to work with as the ads make it out to use. I do like the end results, but it will take a lot more of this product to finish the final river in the full sized diorama, but I am going to do it as the results are the best I have found.

I took some photos of the mini Indian dio, first two are left and right from about the center of the dio to show the muddy river.
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I also took some photos of some of my macaques, here are two males, one in an agressive pose and a female, all of which are looking at the crocodile that is coming out of his burrow along the banks of the river.
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And finally here are a few of the new plants that I am making, two different types of tropical palms, and a bush using Selkirk Scenery.
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Looks terrific, Phil. Thanks for posting these; I look forward to seeing more photos of your excellent work!

The river water is fantastic Phil!! I love it! I've bought some Magic Water I think, for my HO scale models. I'm sure that it's called Magic Water, your water looks amazing, so I'm looking forward to doing mine.

[Quote = "HKHollinstone"] The river water is fantastic Phil! I love it! I've bought some Magic Water I think, for my HO scale models. I'm sure that it's called Magic Water, your water looks amazing, so I'm looking forward to doing mine. [/ Quote]

HK, I love the finished look of Magic Water, and I am going to use it on my full sized diorama, but there are several things about it I don't like. First, it did not cover the area that the directions said it would, my foam board is 1/4 thick, and it took the whole box of Magic Water to do the river, my full sized river is at least 3x bigger so the cost is high, it will cost me over $90 to make the full sized river. The second thing is the product was not as easy to use as the people who recommended it to me or the website directions. Those are minor problems, I am still going to use it, because it is the best looking water feature I have made to date, but I just thought you should know before you use it.

The only advice I can give is to cover the water feature for at least 24 hours after you pour so there are no dust or impurities that stick to the water. I also colored the water by following directions, which say to paint the bottom of the river whatever color you want, and by coloring the water itself. I used acrylic paint, and the color I chose (after lots and lots of trials with very small amounts of products) was toffee. I wanted a muddy river, for clear rivers I would lay sand and rock over a earth toned bottom and leave it clear, that is what I did with the African rock pool, but that is Easy Water, not Magic Water.

I am so sorry to hear about the fever!I hope it is not related to the transplant.It may be the body's way to say there is something alien inside you...
The diorama is amazing.The river looks very realistic as it rushes by the rocks.Did you sculpt the croc?

Thanks for the advice and info Phil.

[Quote = "Wild Heart"] I am so sorry to hear about the fever! I hope it is not related to the transplant.It may be the body's way to say there is something alien inside you ...
The diorama is amazing.The river looks very realistic as it rushes by the rocks.Did you sculpt the croc? [/ Quote]

The fevers are related to the transplant, but not rejection, which they ruled out very quickly with both blood tests and a biopsy of the organs. I will probably never find the cause, as all tests came up negative for a reason to have such high fevers. The good news is it has been a week since my last fever and I feel great.

As far as the croc, I didn't sculpt it, but I did cast it. I used a simple two part silicon to make a mold, then I cast and painted the croc. I also made 2 hippo heads to look like they were in the water as well, they are just as practice, although eventually I will do an African river diorama and I'll need a herd of hippos to go in the river. If I get some time I'll get a picture of the hippos on the river just to show them off.

Philter4, your river looks amazing !

What are your rocks made of ? I contemplated making mine out of papiermache with a solid support but didn't think that it would be strong enough. I also though of Apoxy sculpt but it's very expensive and would require a lot.

I've spent the last week mapping, drawing and writing out my diorama and I am just itching to get started !

Phil,
Your diorama is great, fantastic. Thank You for showing it. Water looks very real. And I love the idea with monkeys observing crocodile. I'm sure the big Indian diorama will be superb.

[Quote = "Rio"] Philter4, your river looks amazing!

What are your rocks made of? I contemplated making mine out of papier mache with a solid support but did not think that it would be strong enough. I also though of Apoxy sculpt but it's very expensive and would require a lot.

I've spent the last week mapping, drawing and writing out my diorama and I am just itching to get started! [/ Quote]

Rio, the rocks are made from molds by Woodland Scenics, I use about 12 different molds, and I sometimes don't fill them the whole way to give lots of different looks to the rocks, but you can still see I have doubles here and there. The casting is done with another Woodland Scenics product called Hydocast, it is like plaster, but only half the weight when dry, and sets up and can be removed from the mold within and hour. It is available through many internet model train sites, my favorite is Michigan Toy Soldier here in the US, but you are out of the countryand there are several places that sell model train supplies and you should be able to find it. I love the product, it is so easy to use, mix the powder with water, pour it into the mold and wait an hour, remove and paint. That is all it takes.

Thanks everyone for the nice words, I will post more pics as I take them, and as soon as I start the big Indian dio, I'll get lots of photos.

Good to hear from you again Phil .

Interresting river, I like the idea because rivers and waterholes are so boring when they are "blue lagoon" style.

Could you include in your "false water" some dead trunks or leaves ?

[Quote = "Kikimalou"] Good to hear from you again Phil: D.

Interresting river, I like the idea because rivers and waterholes are so boring when they are 'blue lagoon' style.

Could you include in your "false water" some dead leaves or trunks? [/ Quote]

Thanks Kiki, I'm glad to be back as well, although the last couple of days in the hospital I had my laptop so I could send email and check the sites, but I was limited in the amount of time I could spend on the site as at the hospital I kept getting kicked off when a lot of people tried to log on at the same time.

As far as dead leaves and trunks are concerned, on the full sized diorama there will be a lot more detail in the river, I have some lillies and lotus, both with flowers, that I have made, there is also a semi fallen tree, Danny's sculptor has already finished the tree, it will be as if at some point the tree fell over, but didn't die, and then began to grow up toward the sun again. The finished tree will hang over the river, I am going to put it on the mini dio as soon as it arrives, just to get some pictures, so as soon as it is here you will see what it will look like. My thoughts are to have a troop of langurs, I have already made arrangements to have 5 more made (I have a pr from Bandai grooming eachother now) and they are going to be on the horizontal part of the tree trunk. I have also made several vines to put on the tree, but after seeing the first photos of the finished tree I may rethink that part as the tree has a great crown with a lot of foliage.

I also have wild Asian water buffalo being sculpted, like the croc that I made, that are only partially visible. Because the river is going to be fairly shallow, I have the buffalo laying on it's side, with about a third of the body and legs hidden under the water. I got the idea from the Marx Diktari Jungle water buffalo, they are only showing the head and shoulders of the animals, the rest being hidden in the water. My buffalo will be more exposed, so you can see more of the animal, but the idea will be the same.

Can't wait to see all that new stuff !

I'm sorry I don't understand what you are doing with BANDAï about the langurs ?

About the water buffalos, it's an excellent idea of course. I really like the Marx models and it would be great to see some 1/20 real waterbufflos like that indeed.

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[Quote = "Kikimalou"] all that Can not wait to see new stuff!

I'm sorry I do not understand what you are doing with Bandai about the langurs?

About the water, buffalo, it's an excellent idea of course. I really like the Marx models and it would be great to see some 1 / 20 real waterbufflos like that indeed.

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That is the pr that I have that gave me the idea. My water buffalo will be wild water buffalo, IMO they are much nicer animal, bigger and bulkier as well as much larger horns. The horns were the main factor when I decided to have these guys sculpted. Wild water buffalo horns are much longer, but also thinner, they just look more majestic and impressive to me.

You did an awesome job on the river dio Phil. It looks absolutely amazing. The trees look amazing as well. The leaves turned out really great. Thanks for sharing. Glad you are feeling better.

First I want to thank everyone for your kind words, the dio was really fun to make, I especially like doing the plants, I just buy the leaves and the rest I sculpt and paint. I try to take a picture of a real plant and mimic the colors, with some leaves being yellow or dead and dying, some falling off, which doesn't show up too well in the photos I have taken, but when I get to the sago palms there are several fronds that are about to fall off and completely dead. The plants are my favorites right now.

Kiki, I missed the question about the langurs, what I am doing with the Bandai langurs are just using them as the template for the troop. They are the correct scale, 1:22 and I like the pose and color. Ana will eventually sculpt the whole troop, there will be some grooming each other, a pr play fighting, a mother caring for her baby and some feeding. My total troop will be 7, if not more.

There is another idea that I am starting today, I have sculpted a beak and partial head of a hornbill, and what I am going to do is make the slit in the bark of a tree and put the male on the trunk, with the female inside her nest with just her beak sticking out of the nest slit. For those of you who don't know how hornbills breed, the male seals the female into a hole in the tree by cementing the hole up with her inside the nest. He leaves a verticle slit in the wall, through which he brings her everything she needs until the eggs hatch, then for a period of time he feeds the mother and young through the hole. At some point, I'm not exactly sure how long into the juv's growth, he tears down the wall and all of them can come out of the nest. At that point both parents continue to feed the young until they fledge and leave the nest. Very interesting breeding stratagy, and the female is totally reliant on the male once the hole is sealed up.

Anyway, keep the comments coming, especially if you have ideas or see problems, I want to work out the problems or changes before I start on the full sized Indian dio so there are no major changes once I started. I had to make so many costly changes in Africa, it only cost me money and time, but I could have saved so much of both if I had planned ahead like I am doing with the Indian dio.

The Hornbill sounds great Phil. Can't wait to see it.

I finally finished with the new products and it is time to start on the full size Indian diorama. I will use almost everything on the mini dio on the new one, but some things won't transfer, for instance the river is set, not only can I not move it but the new river will be at least 3 times as big. Also the raised river bank is too small to transfer over, and supported only by wadded up old newspaper, the new one will be not only much bigger, but supported by PVC and foam so it is very solid. The green mat, which I pieced together for this one is glued to the foam board and unless I cut up the board (which I don't want to do because I can now make a new mini diorama) I can't remove it either, but all of the plants, grass, and rocks are not attached and will be used in the full sized dio.

Here is a panaramic view of the dio as it looks now, I will start moving pieces over as soon as I get the basic landscaping done on the full sized one.
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The basic plant will be the same, but in reverse, the raised river bank will be on the right instead of the left and the big banyon tree along with several other fig type (Danny has a strangler fig for me now) trees will be on a slightly raised forested area on the rear right. I will also have a big kapok tree made that will go along the river bank, that is where I will have a breeding colony of storks with their nests in the canopy.

I have several other ideas, which I will share as the time comes, but this build should be much quicker then Africa because I am having animals and trees made now rather then as I think of them like I did with all of my earlier dioramas. I hope to have Africa done, with the exception of some finishing touches like different birds and eventually I want to change over animals like the Schleich blue gnu with white tailed gnu done by my favorite sculptor Ana, by the end of summer. I have a new space so I can put the foam board for India up without building a table, so that is why I will start landscaping as soon as I return from my family trip in July.

I can't wait to see the big diorama, it's going to be amazing. The stork colony in the Kapok tree will look fantastic. I love your idea about the hornbills too.

So the rehearsal is finisihed now.

I just can't wait to see the bigger "drama", with a lot of luxurious plants, birds....

The Project is really taking shape now, Phil. Keep up the great work!!!

Wow look at all those details !

And this is just the mini ?!

Can't wait to see the bigger one

I agree. The mini dio looks amazing and I can't wait to see the big one either.

Well, as i aspected, the diorama looks fantastic Phil!
And i understand now, that you will make 2 Indian diorama's, a smaller and a bigger one...
Can't wait to see more of course!
Anyway, this one looks awesome!

But this tread was about the water, and as i already said in one of your other treads, it looks really awesome and realistic!
There are even little waves in the water, which makes it even more realistic, even when they appeared by accident maybe, but that is the luck of the sculptor...
Great job Phil.

But it makes me sad to hear that you were in the hospital again with infections, and i hope you will recover good from them, as your body has to fight so many things at the moment...
Be strong man!