Building a world...
After nearing completion of the speeder, I immediately started contemplating an environment in which to place it: a diorama. In my mind, I had two general options: either something mechanized and industrial, or something very natural and bucolic. There has always been something that has really appealed to me about mixing sci-fi elements with nature. My inspirations were undoubtedly the Star Wars universe considering the environs of Tatooine, Hoth, Dagobah, Endor, etc. But I've also been increasingly inspired by some of the amazing artwork of Simon Stalenhag (previously mentioned) and Jakub Rozalski.
I love the contrast that these paintings achieve between the hyper-industrial, advanced technology and an older, almost pastoral lifestyle. This is what I want to achieve with my speeder diorama. I want to see this thing flying across a a grassy field, maybe in Ireland or Scotland. To that end, I embarked on building a slice of a little green-field world this weekend.
First step - cutting a piece of 1/8" masonite to 16" X 24" dimensions upon which to layer 3/4" foam to build some topography.
Then, it was off to a nearby creek where I scavenged some rocks, which I hammered into some smaller pieces. From these pieces I started to construct a low stone wall.
Next up, I got a swatch of fake fur from a local fabric store from which I hope to make some long grass.
(My wife came down to my shop at this point and saw this on the workbench and asked me if I killed something in the back yard. I told her yes, the neighbors' cat. She walked away non-amused.)
The fake fur was then died green using a 10:1 dilution of forest green acyrlic paint in water, allowed to dry, and then brushed out using my dog's brush. The final result was then put on the foam adjacent to the small portion of stone wall constructed to see if looked OK enough to continue on.
Satisfied for now, I decided to to carry on. I glued the grass down permanently to one corner, trimmed the edges a bit and combed it once again.
Then it was back to the rock wall which is what I'm still working on now, with a long way to go.
And this seems to be a perfect moment to talk about glue - as I fought like crazy to figure out how to glue rocks to styrofoam, rocks to rocks and fabric to styrofoam. So here is your public service announcement. Using super glue on foam will melt it like Alien acid blood going through the hull of the Sulaco. And it will give off poison gas that will kill you, again - just like Alien acid blood.
I know you know this already. But I didn't. Now I do.
So - here were the glues I used:
Fake fur fabric to styrofoam: 3M 77 adhesive spray. Spray both surfaces, wait 30 seconds. Stick on. Amazing.
Stone to styrofoam: Clear Gorilla glue gel. Takes about an hour to set up initially - but doesn't melt the foam and creates a strong bond.
Stone to stone: Gorilla Super Glue. Super fast, super easy.
Next up - More Stone, More Grass.