UMS "Agram" : DIY Paper Vegetation < Articles < Hobby

DIY Paper Vegetation

Dalibor Čavić, 7th November 2021

In this article, I will briefly describe the process of making paper vegetation on the example of ferns like the one I used on my Star Wars diorama.

You won't need anything extra to make ferns (and other similar, broadleaf creatures). Most, if not all, you probably already have at home in your hobby accessories. So, pliers, tweezers, crepe tape, a scalpel, wire and your wife’s favorite nail clippers (which you’ll take when she’s not home). You need, of course, paints and brushes.

I separated the wire into separate strands, and cut the crepe tape (20 mm wide) to a length twice as long of the planned leaf length. Then I applied up to about half of the crepe tape (on the sticky side personal. In the next step, I folded the ribbon in half so that the wire remained roughly in the middle (10mm from the edges). With my wife’s favorite nail clippers, I cut out the shape of a fern leaf, and then I cut the leaves with a scalpel from the face to the edge on each side.

When I was done with shaping of the leaves, I painted them green. I continued painting brighter shades of green so that each subsequent layer covered a slightly smaller area. The result was a leaf that is lighter at the edges and darker towards the middle. Between each coat of paint I left the paint to dry. Sometimes the paint filled in those notches I made with a scalpel so I had to separate them again with my fingers or a scalpel. But that is part of the process. Reverse procedure (painting and cutting) I rejected because if we cut a painted sheet, the cuts would be the color of crepe tape (pale yellow) and it would not be good, or so it seemed to me. In the last stage of making the leaves I stained with earth pigments which gave me a little on realism.

When I was done, I shaped a "bush" of ferns by joining several leaves together. Three leaves are illustrated, but they will look much better if you make a "bush" from a slightly larger number of leaves (9, 11, etc.).

I made this palm tree in the similar manner.

Finally, a close-up of my Star Wars diorama...

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	Drugo predavanje u ovoj seriji je počelo u 18:00 i trajalo je otprilike 45 minuta u kojem nas je naš dežurni inženjer strojarstva Marko Paunović upoznao sa osnovama parnih strojeva.

	

	

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	Izrada makete je rezervirana za članove Agram Lego Sekcije. Ukoliko se želite uključiti u sljedeće projekte, javite se za više informacija na ums.agram@gmail.com .

	

	
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Marko Paunović, 24th April 2025

March to Hren28 week 4

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	Our team is preparing to perform at the Turnip28 tournament called H.R.E.N.28 in Slovenia in July. Ana, Mario, Domagoj, Seb and Antoni assemble their armies and paint, and we follow them on their way!

	  

	MARIO: „My next step was working on Proboscis, I wanted to add some texture to it so I sculpted his fur from brown stuff, along with a textured mass of mud on his back. I wanted to achieve the effect of overgrown plants and mushrooms on the skin. I also finished the existing trunks and added another pair.“

	  

	SEB: „Over the past week I have continued work on the conversion of the cannon Snail Knight.

	  

	I added Liquid Green Stuff (from GSW) to the metal parts (the paperclip) and then sponged it on to get a rust plus algae effect so that the overall impression was: they just came out of the water.

	  

	Today I added textures to the base.

	  

	And to end this part of the army building, before my trip to England/Scotland, here's a close-up of the snails pulling the cart. The rest will follow at the end of May, as far as I'm concerned!

	  
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	Naša ekipa se sprema za nastup na Turnip28 turniru pod nazivom H.R.E.N.28 u Sloveniji u srpnju. Ana, Mario, Domagoj, Seb i Antoni slažu svoje vojske i farbaju, a mi ih pratimo na njihovom putu! 

	  

	MARIO: „Moj sljedeći korak je bio rad na Proboscisu, želio sam mu dodati teksture pa sam mu kipario krzno od brown stuffa, zajedno sa teksturnom masom blata na leđima. Želim postići efekt obraslog bilja i gljiva na koži. Ujedno sam doradio postojeće surle i dodao još jedan par.

	  

	SEB: „U proteklom tjednu nastavio sam rad na konverziji topovskog Snail Knighta.

	  

	Na metalne dijelove (spajalicu) sam dodao Liquid Green Stuff (od GSW-a) i onda ga stipplao spužvicom da dobijem efekt hrđe plus algi kako bi cjelokupni dojam bio: upravo su izašli iz vode.

	  

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Mario Grgurev, 24th April 2025

AGRAM LEGO SECTION - Orient Express

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Mario Grgurev, 18th April 2025

March to Hren28 week 2-3

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	Our team is preparing to perform at the Turnip28 tournament called H.R.E.N.28 in Slovenia in July. Ana, Mario, Domagoj, Seb and Antoni assemble their armies and paint, and we follow them on their way!

	  

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	After that, I started adding additional shading and the first highlights on the uniform.“

	  

	  

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	MARIO: "My army/cult is based on elephants/birds and it's called March of the Proboscis. The story behind the cult is that the main elephant eats everything it comes across and the rest of the army follows and camps behind it and vultures on the remains of its victims. I started with elephant conversions.

	  

	... and then I continued to convert the other figures. In fact, the army will be made up of an elephant (Probiscis) with a figure lying in a deckchair stretched between two trees on the elephant's back. Next to him there will be 6 x brutes (men-at-arms), then 3 x Bastards (knights on horses) and 12 x Fodder (Austrian Napoleonics) whose heads and torsos I will change..."

	  

	SEB: "My cult, called Knights of Shellwood, as you can probably gather, will be based on shells, but also snails. There will be a lot of conversions, more or less swapping heads on Napoleonic warriors, with shells instead of heads.

	  

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	ANA: „Nastavak na unitu Foddera od prošlog tjedna. Basecoatala sam cipele i šešire u crno i neke detalje u crveno te ih powashala smeđim washem.

	  

	Nakon toga sam se bacila na dodatan shading i prve highlighte na uniformi.“

	  

	  

	ANTONI: „Vojsku (kult) za Turnip28 sam nazvao Feast of Charybdis. Cijela vojska je bazirana na rakovima. I sastojat će se od 1 Toffa, 2 Toadiesa, topa i jedinice na „konjima“ od tri komada te 12 napoleonskih britanskih vojnika koji će tvoriti gunline.

	  

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	MARIO: „Moja vojska/kult je bazirana na slonovima/pticama i zove se March of the Proboscis. Priča iza kulta je da glavni slon ždere sve na što naleti, a ostatak vojske ga prati i kampira iza njega te se lešinari na ostacima njegovih žrtava. Krenuo sam s konverzijama slona.

	  

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	Vojska će se sastojati od Toffa (vođa), 2 snail knighta, 4 cheffa i 1 jedinice Brutesa od 6 komada. Danas sam počeo rad na drugom snail knightu koji će zapravo biti top.“

	  

	 
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Marko Paunović, 17th April 2025

CSSR 1986 Diorama part 7

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	In this series of articles, we will follow my work on a new diorama, another in the 1986 series. This time, we take you behind the Iron Curtain to Czechoslovakia. 

	  

	Next are the final details, which are not necessarily connected to each other, nor were they done in the chronological order in which these articles are published. They simply were not connected to the rest of the story in the articles, so they all deserve their own mish-mash article. First, preparing the substation for painting by spraying the interior black. So that it will be dark inside through the openings in the doors and windows. Once the substation is fixed to the base, this will be impossible to do.

	  

	From the clear plastic that I also used to make the fence, I cut out the shape of the window for the substation.

	  

	In the box with the bits I also found a barrel in good scale so I assembled that too.

	  

	Finally, there was corrosion on the door. First, I thinned the holes in the gate panels using a drill.

	  

	Then I added hinges to the door and gate. I made them out of paper clips.

	  

	I also added a lamp above the entrance to the substation. Given the thin rod it hangs from, I drilled a hole in the substation wall and pinned the lamp that way.

	  

	This concludes the work on this diorama. Now it's time for painting and vegetation.

	  
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	U ovoj seriji članaka pratit ćemo moj rad na novoj diorami, još jednoj u nizu serijala 1986. Ovoga puta, vodimo vas iza željezne zavjese u Čehoslovačku.

	  

	Na redu su završni detalji, koji nisu nužno povezani jedni sa drugima, niti su odrađeni u vremenskom slijedu kako izlaze ovi članci. Jednostavno, nisu bili povezani sa ostatkom priče po člancima pa su svi skupa zaslužili svoj miš-maš članak. Prvo, priprema trafostanice za bojanje na način da je unutrašnjost posprejana u crno. Tako da kroz otvore na vratima i prozorima unutra bude mrak. Jednom kad se fiksira trafostanica na bazu, to će biti nemoguće napraviti.

	  

	Od prozirne plastike od koje sam napravio i ogradu, izrezao sam oblik prozora za trafostanicu.

	  

	U kutiji sa bitsima našao sam i bačvu u dobrom mjerilu pa sam i nju sastavio.

	  

	Za kraj je ostala korozija na vratima. Prvo sam rupe u pločama na kapiji stanjio koristeći bušilicu.

	  

	Onda sam dodao i šarke na vrata i kapiju. Njih sam napravio od spajalice.

	  

	Dodao sam i lampu iznad ulaza u trafostanicu. S obzirom na tanku šipku o kojoj visi, izbušio sam rupu u zidu trafostanice te na taj način pinirao lampu.

	  

	Time završava rad na ovoj diorami. Sad je na redu bojanje i vegetacija.

	  
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Marko Paunović, 10th April 2025

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