A Diorama for Jessica


Trucklover

Trucklover

BNSF SD70MAC's
Hi guys,

Im in the process of building a small diorama for my girlfriend, Jessica, that i am going to hang on her wall when im finished with it. She has been asking me to build a pink house for her for quite some time, and in finally got around to starting it. She liked the Walthers "Aunt Lucy's House" kit, so i ordered it. I also got a Great West Models small 2-Car Garage to go with the house. I ordered a bunch of Woodland Scenics Figures, and im going with a theme of Backyard Birthday. Im thinking i might do the backyard in the front of the module, with the street along the backside. I also got a Basketball set that im going to put in the driveway in front of garage. She also picked out a Cadillac Escalade and and a Dodge Charger to go with the pink house.

I agreed to build this little diorama under one condition, that i could include some construction on the diorama as well. She wasnt thrilled about it to say the least, but i found something to model on the left side of the board that would kinda go with the theme. Its a Faller Pre-Fab House Under Construction. Ill set up the scene with a crane lifting a pre-fab wall into place on the house, and i think it will look pretty dang cool. Lots of figures and trees will litter the diorama and help bring it to life. To top it all off, ill wire up a small power supply to power the 4 streetlights and light inside the pink house.

Here are some pics of the start. These pics were taken before i thought about doing the backyard of the pink house in the front of the board.... But this shows the basic intentions of the diorama.

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Notice the blue trim on the pink house for the window frames and the doors. For some reason, Walthers had the parts molded with the "glass" and the frame in the same piece. This makes it nearly impossible to paint to match the house. I told Jessica about it, and even showed a wall section to her, and she wasnt thrilled with it, but she said it was okay. i even tried to mask and paint an extra window part that had come with the kit, but it didnt come out good at all, and i just didnt want to risk ruining the rest of the windows, so i chose to leave them blue. Yeah it doesnt match, but i also dont think it looks too terribly bad

Will post some more progress when some more work has been completed
 
I think I have the same shade of pink set aside for my "daughter's" house. She loves pink. Mine will have white trim.

Cool diorama.
 
ICG/SOU said:
I think I have the same shade of pink set aside for my "daughter's" house. She loves pink. Mine will have white trim.

Cool diorama.
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Thanks Trey :D

I used American Accents "Sweet Pea" for the pink color. Its a nice soft pink. I also used good ol' cheapo Walmart White for the trim. The blue was what came with the kit and the parts that i could not change, i dont think it looks too bad lol
 
That house looks pretty neat. As for those windows I imagine they probably would be a real pain in the butt to try and mask so they could be pink or white. I know the one I bought the windows and glass came as one piece.
 
DirtyD79 said:
That house looks pretty neat. As for those windows I imagine they probably would be a real pain in the butt to try and mask so they could be pink or white. I know the one I bought the windows and glass came as one piece.
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Thanks :D

Yeah i tried masking a spare window that came with the kit, just wasnt working and it didnt come out well at all, so i decided not to gamble and try to do them all, and instead just left them blue. It really sucks that the molded them in one casting, doesnt make it easy for us who like to paint our models rather then leave them the ugly molded plastic colors lol
 
Josh, have you checked out the new 4th quarter Model Railroad Hobbyist? There's an article on making windows from photos that might suit this.
 
Looks like it'll be a neat little scene! I like the backyard party with construction site, makes me nostalgic for the good ol' days of 2007 before the housing crash. That big blue crane looks a little big for a residential area though.
 
It all makes sense now. That's why you haven't been around on the forums as much...the girlfriend, huh? Either way I'm just messing with you...Nice work so far.
 
smiley said:
Looks like it'll be a neat little scene! I like the backyard party with construction site, makes me nostalgic for the good ol' days of 2007 before the housing crash. That big blue crane looks a little big for a residential area though.
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Thanks!! I think its going to come out looking pretty cool, i just hope she will like it too LOL.

The crane is actually a small crane compared to what i was going to put in there LOL. I dont think its too big for the small diorama, a crane of its size would be used to lift wall segments like the ones in the Faller Kit.


Dsquared_sleeperMSP said:
It all makes sense now. That's why you haven't been around on the forums as much...the girlfriend, huh? Either way I'm just messing with you...Nice work so far.
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LOL well yes, she is one of the reasons. But I also have 2 jobs now which have kept me very busy in the past few weeks lol


Ive made some progress on this little diorama. Ive not got the house under construction built, and the crane lifting the wall segment in place. Ive also layed out the road along the back side, painted the bottom and sides of the diorama white (As Jessica requested me to do). Ive also layed out the driveway, and the basketball court, dug holes for 4 trees, and made the 4 trees. Ive poured the sidewalk and curb on the road along the back as well. This is where im at right now. Ill see if i can get some pictures posted up tonight or tomorrow night :D
 
Trucklover said:
The crane is actually a small crane compared to what i was going to put in there LOL. I dont think its too big for the small diorama, a crane of its size would be used to lift wall segments like the ones in the Faller Kit.
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Is it just me or has the crane size:building size ratio been getting bigger? Maybe it's from the increasing use of prefab... Sometimes I see tower cranes being used for 4-story buildings around here.
 
smiley said:
Is it just me or has the crane size:building size ratio been getting bigger? Maybe it's from the increasing use of prefab... Sometimes I see tower cranes being used for 4-story buildings around here.
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I havnt really noticed an increase in size. They seem to be pretty much the same as far back as i can remember lol. I have noticed that more and more tower cranes are being used, but anything over 4-5 stories typically needs a crane like that, especially if its long and wide.
 
Okay so its been quite a while since i did an update. Ive been extremely busy with my second job. Worked 12-1/2 hours today :eek: but at least the paychecks will be good :D and we all know what that means, more trains!! And well more gifts for my girlfriend LOL

So i got the Faller House Under Construction in. I was a little disappointing, it didnt come with any construction details like i was hoping. They were littered all over the picture, and for the price, i thought for sure they would come with the kit, but no dice. The kit did come with a scenery piece though, and it did make it pretty easy to model the house in the kit. It also came with some super sticky stickers that went to the segment walls, some only the backs, some both sides. The only thing i painted in the kit was the rigging/hoist brace's, i painted them to resemble steel.

I also got the road poured. Dont be confused, i went with my original idea, and the pictures below are showing the back of the diorama. This will be the side that is against the wall. I did this to highlight and make the backyard of the pink house stand out. The sidewalk was poured, as was the curb along the curved section of road. Plastruct Sidewalk/Curb sections are layed out. The driveway for the house under construction was also layed out. The curb painted red, the sidewalk painted concrete. Some illegal parking is taking place in the pictures lol.

The driveway for the garage was also layed out. Ill weather it to make it look not so black. The slab for the basketball court was poured, and the slots for the 4 trees have been dug into the foam. The first working street light behind the pink house has been drilled and installed.

I think that about wraps up the latest progress on the diorama, so here are some pictures for everyone to view. Sorry about the bad pics, i was in a rush. My eyes are getting heavier by the second! Good thing im just about done lol

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I have another update to post. I have been working for a bit after i get off work at night, and well this is where im at now.

I have weathered the street, added in the sidewalk and driveway for the house under construction and finished placing the 3 street lights. I also added the grass in between the curb and the sidewalk. Painted "patches" on the street to show where they have already dug and completed the work for the new house. I also opened a hole in the street and placed a pipe in there to show the sewer line being worked on. A large stack of rusty pipes was glued down next to the barriers, and some cones glued in place to show the construction area. A Mini-Excavator sits next to the hole. Construction Workers will fill the scene when things get closer to completion with the diorama. A UPS truck sits outside the little pink house delivering the little boys birthday present from a family member overseas. 4 Trees have been added temporarily, new trees are on order, as well as a Noch tree with a Tree House. The figures and details in the backyard will be added in when the Construction Workers are placed. Below are some pics of the recent work

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More to come soon, so stay tuned. In the meantime, questions, comments, suggestions always welcome
 
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lookin' good so far Josh.
I love that pipe in the ground, I just did the same thing myself.
 
Looks good josh, but as a construction guy I must point out the track part of your excavator is backwards, the blade would be facing the hole in the ground. It's also a little small for waterline repair, would take a lot of scoops to make that big hole :)
 
Yeah, I think you need the full size Norscot Caterpillar excavator/trackhoe for that one. How high up off the ground will this be mounted?

You seem to be doing an awful lot of work on the section that's going to be up against the wall... ?
 
Josh, the street details and curb lawns really add a lot to the scene. I agree the excavator is a little small but it'll do for a diorama. One thing you're going to need for sure is a flagger, or you'll have some head on collisions at the K-rail section. :)
 
well you model looks excelent, but i do have a suggestion

alot of the time near contruction zones and places where work trucks meet the highway, there is mud or dirt on the road. have you cosidered possible putting some kind of brown streaks in the road, pretty much just to reprodue the muddy tire tracks from equipment like dump trucks and crew pickups.
 
It's looking great.
How is the girfriend reacting to it though?
She asked for a pink house and got a construction site that happens to have a pink house. LOL.
In the future consider modular, where she has the option of separating the house from the rest of the scene :D
 
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