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Elves getting a fancy new home!

Thanks Tom and Shas'.

As part of this project I wanted a light at the rear, and for that (and other projects) I bought Green Stuff World's conductive paint:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Conductive-Paint-15ml-Acrylic-Conductive-Paint-with-Silver-GSW/283596319532?hash=item4207a86b2c:g:0CwAAOSwEohdZkvU
It allows you to create electrical connections without soldering (that can y'know, melt/burn models).
Seems to work, see below.

I also picked up some superglue a while ago, and I've only just got around to using it (previous took longer to use up than expected).
Works like superglue, nothing special...
Except, I got 50g of glue for less than most 3-15g superglues. Half of this stuff can go off without me using it, and it'll still be cheaper.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Everbuild-HV50-EBD-Industrial-Superglue-Viscosity/dp/B0012RGKJK/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2VOV5OOYRFOJO&keywords=everbuild+hv50-ebd+grade+hv+50grm+industrial+superglue+high&qid=1573771044&sprefix=hv+50%2Caps%2C138&sr=8-3
Sometimes it's worth looking about for alternatives.
They also have thinner and thicker versions of this.

And this is what I did with the conductive paint:

I used magnets for the battery contacts, but it's not quite strong enough to hold it in place so I'll have to fashion a clip of some kind to hold it firm.
The top and front will be enclosed and hidden by foliage.

Sneak peek of a tree in progress, more on that later but I wanted to play with this paint.

 Dr H wrote:

Blancmange?

Elves... the diorama looks a good start.

That's exciting, the conductive paint, interesting to see what comes next!

This is a really neat idea, I’m sure your skills will more than pull it off. Got to admit it’s a very tempting project for my own bookcase.

Dr H wrote:...I used magnets for the battery contacts, but it's not quite strong enough to hold it in place so I'll have to fashion a clip of some kind to hold it firm...

I have found a battery that does stick, so no clip required.
Tip for the day, find a battery that is more magnetic for this purpose.

Thanks Red'. If you want to use Blancmange, you can. Or at least the mould for one...

inmygravenimage wrote:That's exciting, the conductive paint, interesting to see what comes next!

Yeah, the paint holds many useful possibilities for running electrics without visible wires. Something I've wished existed for quite a while, and it turns out it does (I could have searched earlier for such a thing, but had no immediate call to do so).

Thanks Theo'. It's not too much more difficult than any normal terrain build. The world, and your bookcase, needs more of these.

I said there was a sneak peek at the tree-in-progress above. Here's where this half of the diorama has gone.


I've started planning out the other half now, and how it fits together with this half.

What an awesome idea for a book case! You always have something new and interesting going on. Looking forward to seeing how this one turns out too.

+1. I'm loving this idea, tempted to try something similar for our club's painting contest.

Looking snazzy!

Thanks York'. I like to keep myself entertained with a variety of things.

Thanks CK. Go ahead, I stole the idea off the internet; just look for "bookcase diorama" and you'll get the same inspiration that I started with.

Thanks aku'.

Progress.

Of note to you all, especially those considering their own, you have to build these things in two halves, and paint them, before joining it all together.
That means you have to have a join somewhere. Plan ahead to how you will hide it.

I've now built up the other side and the ground (leaving space for the first half to slot into)
Blank wall space will be taken up with dark paint or foliage, hopefully showing this one path through an overgrown forest to the light at the back, as I envision.


The start of the foliage is next up...

Trees are looking great, you make it look easy Doc.

Verrry interesting...

Substantial. I hadn't appreciated the scale of it till now.

Thanks CK. Go ahead, I stole the idea off the internet; just look for "bookcase diorama" and you'll get the same inspiration that I started with.

I think I'll do just that. Thanks for the tip, and excellent progress so far!

Thanks Tom. It's just careful planning before committing, and much of this kind of work is easily corrected.

Thannnk you Gits'.

Thanks Graven'. Ah yes, I hadn't included a scale shot (one below). Dimensions are 80 x 120 x 197mm (was aiming for 200, but had to straighten things). That's the outside of the wood structure though, with 6mm mdf you soon lose space the manoeuvre inside.

Thanks CK. Good luck, look forward to it.

Lots of small progress amongst the larger changes.
The foliage added so far is for the "sculpted tree" and will be more stone-coloured (or whatever colour the structure ends up).
Railings added and some tidying up and gap filling about the place.


I may add some paint at this stage to get an idea of where they may be problems before adding the rest of the foliage.
We are getting there...

I had seen those pictures of the bookshelf diorama online, looked like a fun project. I also thought a more natural setting would look great, even in the WIP stage it looks incredible.

I'm eager to see the final result!

Liking the progress, will follow this a bit more before I start on one - it's a nice way of preventing mistakes

Thanks T'bear. And welcome to the LoER.

Thanks CK. That is the way to progress.

And now with a layer of paint, no major issues spotted, and the rest of the foliage on this may be at the painting stage.
Some of that foliage will need snipping back as it holds the two halves apart. I just have to try and find where they are clashing.


The grey is just primer at the mo' (except the foliage which has had a few layers of grey to cover the green, which is covering the multicoloured foam). I hope to match the stonework to the "stone" foliage.
The green is just the foam soaked in PVA and green acrylic,
And the brown is just cheap brown poster paint.

Will probably start with the stone...

and I can start building present #2... should get planning on that...

Looks promising! Will you be able to clip the foliage and still have it look good once open?

Well that looks seriously cool. Nice work.

Thanks CK. It won't be opened once I've finished so I don't need to worry about things being seen.
This is designed to only be seen from the front, so a lot of what is at the back is low detail. It's just to give the impression that the forest continues deeper, and is also why the figures are at the front, facing forward.

You could create one with a hinge at the back to be opened, but you would need more detail further back that will only be seen if it is ever opened more than once.
You may also want to hide the light/battery/switch more carefully for when it's open.
And you'll want to make the trees, in this example, smaller. With thinner branches (you'll notice mine are all thick and just end with a bunch of foliage) and keep the canopy of the left and right separate from each other so that they can look more realistic when open. My trees just look odd when it's open like this, but once closed you don't see the sins.

Thanks 'boss.

I have done a bit of painting, but none worth showing yet.

I have also started project #2.
Based on the robo-dinos of Horizon zero dawn.

Just the framework to start with. This will get bulked out quite a bit with gubbins and armour.

I'm using a few of the bots from HZDawn and some art and a skeleton of a Deinonychus for inspiration.
The bots in the game are really heavily detailed, with hundreds of bits, and would take months to create a scale model of one, so I decided to create my own where I don't have to worry about being "correct" about any details and can therefore be done quickly.

I'm away for a drink or two over the weekend, so no updates until next week.

Sprue armature is most impressive. Enjoy the booze!

Thanks Graven'. Internal organs successfully punished.

Back to work.

I think it's just the figures to do now on the diorama.
And here's some angles to show what you don't see, and therefore how much more work you would have to do if this was to open.
Notice the difference in details between that which is at the front compared to that at the back, not to mention the painting.


And the armature progresses with the robo-dino.


Time is feeling very short, and I've got 2 more things to get done before Christmas...

Wow... brilliant!

Thanks Gits', and handy as I've just finished painting the miniatures... so, update...

I also painted a grey line in the black doorways, next to the frame on one side, to give it some 3D-ness.


This should be the last wip of this project. It's just a bit of a tidy up, glue it together (add a lid to the battery/switch compartment), and sand / paint / varnish? the outside to make that neat.

Time to add junk to the internals of the dino... and probably build a head...

Nicely done.

Wow. Just wow.

Stunning. The depth in it is fantastic.

Lovely work.

That is shaping up so beautifully!