The dead brush scene arrived

The new scene that you have already seen pics of has arrived. I put it out on the diorama, and took some pictures, with some of the acacia bushes around it and my mother and calf rhino. I am not sure how the final version will be, but it will be in the place it is now.

Here are the photos I took.
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The scene is perfect, and I can't be happier, I hope to have the African diorama done, with all of the animals and plants this summer, then I will begin to landscape the India diorama, which should go much faster because I am getting the plants and animals now, rather then as I think of new ideas.

It looks fabulous Phil!

Wow Phil, can i have it back? I'm starting to get a little jelaous here, the Schleich animals are starting to look a little different as well, mmmmmmmh, i guess you made work what i couldn't my hats off to you, and it is a great start.

I just noticed that is not even a Schleich Rhino, not that it looks any lesser, but i usually i hold Schleich to a higher standar than most other companies, since their figures at least have no gloss, but you are doing buddy, and that is not even a figure of Ana, and it looks perfect.

Thanks for the compliments, the rhino is is actually the CollectA white rhino and calf, and the red dust on it helps, I didn't put the red dust on purpose, when I sand a wood called red heart it covers everything, and it looks so good on the animals that I left it. I even tried to reproduce the effect artificially, but the sanding dust is better then what I did. I clean it off of animals that don't do mud baths, but the warthogs, rhinos, elephants and some others I leave it and the effect is really lifelike.

You know Phil, i thought about this before, i had planned in some of the exhibits add mud and dirt to some of the animals especially the big ungulates, you know that in 1:12 with the detail, wow, that would be something, some time back, i tried it with a Brazilian Tapir i had received, but i had to clean it right away, and cursed myself for this, i couldn't stand the thought of damaging the figure, remember my figures are like Anas, Kato clay sculted and the paint can be damaged as well as some of the very small limbs like toes, ears, claws etc, that is one of the minor downsizes of the highly detailed scultures, very fragile and easy to damage.

I did not try with anything but brand name figures, they are plastic and can be cleaned. I am like you, I would be afraid to damage the sculpted animals. I tried to collect the dust and sprinkle it on the backs of the animals, but it just clumped and did not look natural, where as the dust just settling after I sand the wood looked great. In the future if I need an animal with the red earth I will let the sander do the sander and nature do the work.

I just got done taking a few new pics, I put down some grass at the edge of the dead brush scene. I still need to do the back side, which will be done as soon as some of the new bushes are here, I want to put some of them in the grass flats and I need them here (Danny has already got the approval for the 3 I am getting, so I think not too long from now they should arrive) so I can leave the correct space in the grass to put them. I am not going to put any more grass in the front, I don't want to obscure the scene in any way so the front side is done.

Here are the photos
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The new part of the diorama looks really great Phil!
But try not to make the grassy parts in too straight lines, that looks un-natural.
And maybe you should cut some of the grass-polls a little bit shorter or so IMHO.
Anyway, another great addition to your diorama as i said!

I will take a better photo, the streight line is the edge of the diorama, if you look while in front of it, the mountain is also cut off in a streight line along the same line that the grass is. The front edge of the grass is not in a streight line, it has finger like projections into the main display. Also on the back side it will be the same, coming across to the front side of the rockwork, and have several bushes growing in the grass flats. After the next set of photos you will see the affect better. What you see in these is my lack of skill as a photographer

Ok Phil, haha.
Well, i have to see other pics first then before i judge again...
But the end of the diorama doesn't mean that everything has to look like "cut-off" there IMHO.

[Quote = "WILLYBACOMAN"] Ok Phil, haha.
Well, i have to see other pics first then before i judge again ...
But the end of the diorama does not mean that everything has to look like "cut-off" there IMHO. : Lol: [/ quote]

Willy, the model when finished will be in a corner, that is why I chose the "L" shape, and it will be against a wall on several sides, so I have to have streight edges on this model at least. If I could get a painted skyline, or a big savanna photo that I could print in 3 foot long sections I could add a lot of depth to the diorama.

Ok then Phil.
Yes, a nice background would look very nice indeed! :)

Hi Phil,
The diorama is looking better everyday, i think that with the addition of the new items it will it a lot of more depth, the biggest thing here that i see, is that it is unfinished, if you could somehow erase the background of the picture and take out all the other parts of the diorama that are not complete, and just focus on that little area that you have put together, it looks phenomenal in my opinion, as you get more landscape pieces, and place more Elephant grass it will start coming together even more.
When this African diorama is finished, it will be a museum piece, nothing less, you will still need to replace all the toy figures with Ana's custom scultures, since the plastic animals will eventually start looking out of place, once the last plastic is gone, and all is left is Anna's scultures and the Pro Landscape together with your design of the diorama layout, excellent rockwork and realistic elephant grass you will need to invest in a background, i have tried several sources for this, and in the future it will be a big investment for me.

Maybe when you get back to Florida we can find a painter together, maybe even our new member Marina who seems to be an artist as well can help with this, there is company in your neck of the woods, in Cal, when i visited San Diego i planned on visiting their shop and never did, since it was in Los Angeles, they create custom scale backgrounds, professional looks for movie scenes, layouts and everything else, when i told them about my specifications (remember my model is 1:12 and i wanted a European city background) their price was more that i could afford for something like that, and i had a budget of around 2000 to 3000 dollars for that, but their samples were out of this world, i can't even describe it to you, but so you get my meaning, let's say a little area of your diorama ends with an Accasia tree and grass flats against the wall, they would then finished the tree in the same design in the wall and the grass flats, they would continue the scene for you, inmersion buddy that was the word i believe.

A couple of points more and hopefully i did not make this post to long:

(in reference to Willy's observations) you might have plans for this already, but i will mention it anyways.
when you finish some of the grass flats (elephant grass) step on some, make them look weird, this will bring the element of a real savanna where big mammals might be crushing down the landscape into play.

Point number two. As you get additional landscape pieces, think about including a small accasia, one like the second tree i sent to you, or even a couple of thorn bushes with foliage on it, in the middle of a grassy area, and sorround the whole thing with grass, not a whole scene, but just one item, it will create different visual angles in the savanna.

Another thing is terrain, i have not talked to much about this with you, and gone into detail, because i know this is not the permanent location for the diorama, and all you are doing now is placing things together and getting a feel of how things look together, but eventually you will want to create some different levels in your terrain, The African Savanna for the most part is pretty flat, but you still need a couple very small elevations and things of this nature, it brings the realism to higher point, especially think about this in Asia.

And the last thing that i would think about is adding in the future (not sure if this is in your plans) but would be incredible, especially after seeing the river scenes you are planning on having in Asia, a riverbank, where you could bring species like Hippos, sacred ibis, and a few animals drinking water, it could be at an edge of the diorama, not sure, but it would be a great addition.
And what about a termite mount, that would be great as well, anyways just a few thoughts.

Danny, the new plants are going to look great, I love the shea tree, and even though I have a palm on the diorama now, I don't really like it and was going to remove it, but when I saw the mini scene with the palm and dead brush, the whole was better then any single piece and I really like it. Again I can't wait to get the things here and get some photos, it is starting to look like you said, a museum piece.

I have already decided that eventually all of the animals will have to be replaced by custom sculptures. As you say, the toy brands just aren't up to the standards of the sculptures so I will replace them a group at a time, first the zebra herd, then the toy brand antelope, until everything if redone. Sorry Ana, but I may have you busy for a very long time

I also hope we can get together before I move home. I have plans to go on a dive trip as soon as I get clearence from my Drs to fly and dive. I sent you an email earlier this month about getting together at that time, and I would love to meet other model makers and figure collectors while I am there. When the time comes to be close and I know what I can and can't do we will firm up plans.

I will answer your suggestions in order, some I have thought of, others are new and I didn't think of them.

First I did think of having elephants walking through the grass and leaving a trail behind, but what I think I want to do is have a tree, something like the shea or a bigger acacia tree in the grass flats. Under it, in the shade, will be a group of laying down white rhinos, and the grass under it will be crushed down by them. I will try some version of that when the finishing touches are being done, if I don't like it the grass will stand back up with an old hair bursh.

I have plans already to put small bushes in the grass flats, I have a few of the selkirk ones there now, and I want a few more. That is why I ordered the box of the custom foliage and branches, to make my own very small bushes. I also thought of maybe a group of plants sort of like an isolated hamlet in the middle, it wont be too big, maybe three plants, but it will give the effect of the scrub forest spreading out as time goes on.

There is a rise in the back corner, that area is about 3 inches higher then the rest of the diorama, but it is a small area. I can easily sculpt a mound or uneven ground and put it under the green mat, which conforms to whatever is under it. I also considered a slope, maybe from the right edge of the extension to the point where the two pieces meet, I will consider the options and decide, I can always remove any mound I put up if it looks bad. If you read my vision for Asia, the forest where the banyon is going is taller then the rest of the ground, and gently slopes down to the rivers edge, and the isolated area where the bamboo is going will be at least 4 inches higher then the mud bank.

As far as a river area, I always wanted a hippo and croc scene, I just can't with the space I have now. When I get home permanently and have more space I will do one that is much bigger, at least 1/3rd if not 1/2 again bigger then it is now. As it stands it is just under 12 square feet, and when I return home it will be at least 18 sq ft for the new one. At that point, the left side, where the rock pool is now will be a river bank, like in the nature shows, where the crocs are waiting for animals to come to drink, and eventually try to cross on their migration. it will be a steep, red earth slope, with the river bank and small part of the diorama being that edge. In the river will be a few hippos and at least one croc. When I started I had never made water and wasn't sure if I could do it well enough, but now I have confidence that I can recreate any landscaping look I want to do. I could start over now, but it would take me so long to redue everything that I decided to wait, I would not want to start now, get 3/4th the way done and move home only to start over a third time. The best thing at this point is to finish it without the river crossing and when I get home and have a stand made it will be the first thing I sculpt, the left edge and bank to the river crossing.

I also already have plans to put termite mounds in the open area of the extension. I have 4 different poses of aardvark, and I was thinking of them in feeding scene, with them ripping open one of the mounds. When I get around to replacing one of more of them I can even do a much better pose, where one has it's head in the mound, and a feeding pose with the tongue sticking out. The possibilities are endless.

Here are a few more photos, I planted part of the back side, and hid edge of the dead brush scene. Willy, you can see the grass towards the main model are not in a streight line. As I get more smaller plants I will plant the back better, but I don't want to hide the scene from the front so there will be nothing else in front of it.

here are the pics.
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I like those bushes very much Phil! :)