UMS "Agram" : Framed diorama – part 1 – making the inner frame < Articles < Hobby

Framed diorama – part 1 – making the inner frame

Marko Paunović, 23th May 2023

During the weekend, May 20-21, 2023, we held a new diorama-making weekend workshop called Vignette in a frame. Over the course of two days, the participants created a stage display of the haustor/entrance according to their own choice from about 10 offered designs, some historical and some fantasy / SF themes. The subject of the workshop was the creation of a diorama with elements of stone, wood, metal, concrete/plaster. In a frame with internal dimensions of 10 x 15 cm, they placed a representation of the entrance to a building. In the next few articles, we will show the steps in creating three designs (historical, sci-fi and fantasy themed).

In the first article, we will describe the common process for all the vignettes in the framework. Creation of the inner frame in which we will later create our vignettes. The inner frame can be removed from the outer frame for easier work and to prevent the outer, decorative one from getting dirty during production. First you need to remove the metal pins that hold the bottom/back of the frame.

Then, from the 4-5mm thick balsa, we cut "slats" with a width equal to the depth of your frame. In our case, it was 25mm.

Next, we cut the "slats" to fit inside the frame on the inside. The idea is that the inner balsa frame fits snugly inside the decorative frame and does not fall out if it is turned upside down. For this, it is best to glue the "slats" inside the frame with superglue, but be careful not to accidentally glue the balsa to the decorative frame.

When you are satisfied that your inner frame is sturdy, glue the back of the decorative frame to it. We used PVA glue - so that it fills any irregularities in the cuts. Let it dry well.

After drying, your "tub" is ready for removal and further work on vignettes.

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	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.

	  

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	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.

	  

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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.

	  

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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.

	  

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	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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	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.

	  

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	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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