Building a miniature diorama from scratch out of a plastic cup and some junk

[@almericussaxon8023]

Bit late to the party, but I quite liked the frost/snow dusted effect from the 'accident' More proof that there is no such thing as junk.

[@susanperna4722]

Nice work. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Glad you liked it!

[@JAY61ish]

I liked the white"disaster" it looked like a frosty desert morning of doom...

[@SteamGeezerUK]

It's a good effect to be sure, just not what I wanted :-)

[@JAY61ish]

@@SteamGeezerUK You do realise now.. that you have to recreate it .. Maybe a frosty morning on the ranges.. ha ha oh the memories...

[@t.j.lemaster8653]

Awesome build my friend !... in the future it would be cool if you made a video about "modeling on a budget" because I would love to see how you make your pigment and some of your other DIY modeling materials

[@ricks5756]

wouldn't it have been easier to paint the dirt before gluing everything down ?

[@SteamGeezerUK]

You could do it that way, but this way allows everything to be blended together as one surface.

[@edition_sixscalediecastmod6084]

Looks fantastic !

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Thanks :-)

[@shericemitchell6230]

Hi there, I'm not sure if you answered this already and I didn't see it in your supplies list...so if you've answered, I apologize. Anyway, what kind of glue are you using and where from? It seems you use very little.

[@SteamGeezerUK]

I actually use methyl ethyl ketone, an industrial solvent. However, it's extremely nasty stuff and I really wouldn't recommend it unless you have very good ventilation and PPE. The next best thing I find is Tamiya Extra Thin Quick Setting - does a similar job and much safer to use :-)

[@oldbaldfatman2766]

Jan. 10, 2020---Great idea and thanks for the idea. Brother drinks a lot of 2 liter soda pop and looking at using one of them, maybe adding some styrene strips to make it look more like a Quonset hut.

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Sounds like a plan, Let us know how it turns out.

[@chillsample]

awesome build

[@TomJones0065]

TOTALLY AWESOME... WELP IM A NEW SUB NOW>> LOVE YOUR WORK>. INSPIRING YOU ARE!!! THANKS SO MUCH FOR HELPING ME CLEAR MY MIND!! And Gave me a BUNCH of new ideas for my HO railroad!! THANKS BUNCHIES!! It Kinda Looked like IT SNOWED THOUGH!!

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Thanks, I appreciate it :-)

[@markbrandon5408]

Awesome. Some great techniques!!

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Thanks :-)

[@robbyrne6626]

Great build, geez. Definitely looks great with the pigments. Don't know if it's relevant but I had a similar problem using the "standard" acrylic paints. My daughter's an artist and I used some of her stuff. It looked fine until I put varnish over it. It didn't go white, mind you, but it did have a horrible, greyish mottled look. Anyway keep the builds coming - Mrs B even likes the Steam Geezer stuff!

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Thanks, I appreciate it. Good to know it's not just me that has had problems with this stuff :-)

[@Decadent36]

Admittedly I was not liking the direction it was heading but when you added the pigment and showed the final iteration it suddenly all came together and I loved it. Quite a creative use for a hodgepodge of leftovers! Also your personality and humor shine throughout each video making them that much more enjoyable to watch. :)

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Thanks, I appreciate it :-)

[@Skippy_op4]

Where are you from

[@100mmtubeofjustice7]

very cool little item, looks like an older abandoned advanced support base.

[@johnfoggo9800]

I like how I always pick up something new from your Videos. I do have a chuckle when watching your videos - so true to many modellers; "I've had this jar for 15 years...", "I saved this from ..." (I have a set of files I bought when I was 11, I'm now 63!)

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Never throw anything away, that's my motto :-) Thanks for watching.

[@andrewszigeti2174]

I'm probably late to the show, but what happened with your matte varnish is called frosting. Not 100% sure what causes it, but high humidity seems to be a big factor. What's happened is that the varnish has set into a very rough texture instead of a smooth coat, causing it to appear white. (Yes, I know matte varnish is always rough to some extent, that's why it's matte instead of gloss. Frosting is that roughness turned up past 11.) The cure is a coat of gloss varnish over the top, to fill in that rough texture. Then wait for a less humid day for the matte varnish. (It's also a useful tool at times, I've waited for high humidity days to vanish winter-themed projects just to get that frosting effect...)

[@udorechner6846]

That's a awesome Diorama. Looks great. Very well done. I like that.

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Thanks, I appreciate it.

[@eddiegremlin]

Fascinating what you can do with a few bits and pieces. More info please on making pigments... future video?

[@SteamGeezerUK]

I actually did a short video a while back on making pigments, you can find it here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKe0pZh3aLabl9k

[@47606odin]

i had exactly the same problem with matt varnish from umbral. never did work out what it reacted to

[@strikeeaglemodels1588]

Cool diorama mate! 🍻👍

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Thanks, I appreciate it.

[@darrenwixon5897]

Well, it just goes to show that some people really can polish a turd, well done, I, however, will just have to keep on trying!!! Practice makes perfect.

[@SteamGeezerUK]

It certainly does. Thanks for watching :-)

[@danielbritton8588]

I do the same thing. I have done a water cooled Browning 30 cal. machine gun, A 1/12 scale 20 mm deck gun, twin 50 cal. P.T. boat machine gun position at 1/6 scale & a 1/72 scale aircraft catapult. All destroyed by a toppled tree into the room. But, the love & fun memories were during the builds, not having the static display. Nice creation. thanks for sharing.

[@robertschildt306]

Very impressive ! Would like to see more

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Thanks, I appreciate it.

[@jeepingib5135]

Love the videos man keep them coming

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Thanks, I'm working on it. I try to get a video up every week, but life gets in the way sometimes. I've just started working on a series of commissions for a project I'm very excited to be part of, so stay tuned for that :-)

[@wwkdiecastmore5647]

Great looking miniature diorama!...Bill

[@herpahezen]

The "frosting" can be normal with certain clear varnishes. Just mist some alcohol on it and it should disappear.

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Good tip, I'll try that, thanks :-)

[@ImperialKneazle]

Nicely done - did you enter your piece in the comp - and where did you come?

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Thanks. I did enter and I didn't win, unfortunately, but the winning entries were amazing, and the winner was a masterclass in scratchbuilding.

[@vicparratt7523]

What I love about your channel is we never know what you're going to come up with next. That trick with the dried herbs for the bush was brilliant. Keep up the good work and all the best Vic.

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Thanks, I appreciate it :-)

[@ruse0131]

Could it be from the isopropal alcohol?

[@alifahd6593]

Hi As for the (frosting effect you got), well I think if you are using the recipe you made in (Mixing up a batch of scenery glue for an upcoming project) video, then the reason is obvious, the IPA will separate the binder from the mat medium and that is the solids you have in the bottom of the liquid after the tow days, so the two days period is not enough for that, the next time you make a batch try mix the alcohol wit water 1st, then add the matte medium, and let it settle for 8-10 days. I had the same problem before, and that was the remedy. Thanks for all of your good videos, very informative and inspiring.

[@SteamGeezerUK]

I'll give that a go next time, cheers.

[@desmondellis657]

Wow, shows what you can do with just some old stuff lying around! Great vids, keep them coming! (Still think you need to put some rock music for background, but hey, it’s all good)

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Thanks, I appreciate it. As for the music, whatever I put on, someone won't like it so I'll just stick with what I like... :-)

[@philRminiatures]

Creative and very impressive, the work on the base is just awesome!!

[@vitorcarvalho7832]

That's a good inspiration. :-)

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Thanks :-)

[@alanmoffat4454]

THE CLIP PART COULD BE FRONT END OF JEEP OR LANDROVER.

[@SteamGeezerUK]

It's certainly a similar shape, although in this case it's actually part of a hinge :-)

[@Tesserae]

Very creative re-use of materials. Being from Canada, I would have adapted the "disaster" into a snowy scene rather than covering it up with paint. Some evenly spaced ribs on the shelter would have added to the shelter's autheticity.

[@fredwest5396]

I am disturbed by your long left thumb nail.

[@gigaChad4570]

You have to make sure that everything has had a chance to, not just dry, but properly cure before you give it your final top coat. Good rule of thumb, if it still smells chemically, it hasn't cured. This may take a day or two, sometimes longer.

[@erajoj]

The shot glass volume is 4 cl (40 cm³). Yes, I'm a nerd.

[@aquajew3000]

40ml. 1ml=1cm3

[@BoxxArt]

I have now changed to dremel click discs, if you have not tried them please do, a bit pricey but the benifits outweigh the cons. I will never go back to the normal ones again. Best place is ebay to buy. They take a fair bit of abuse where the discs you have there would have broken. Anyway you have a new subscriber 👍

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Thanks, I appreciate it. I have hundreds of these cut off wheels, and as long as one is careful and use correct safety equipment, they're safe enough to use.

[@MrBluemarine007]

Nice one great diorama... Could you tell me how you make your own pigments please?... All the best Nick PS keep up the good work...☺

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Basically you grind cheap oil pastels. I made a short video on it a while ago... kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKe0pZh3aLabl9k

[@PrzemyslawSadula]

Artists do not do mistakes but a little happy things happen. Bob Ross

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Bob is a legend :-)

[@ronschlorff7089]

Interesting, but seems like all the "ground work" should have been done and finished before adding building and all the other random bits in the yard. That's what I would have done anyway! Good job on the herb tree, and I suppose you threw the excess herbs in your pasta sauce, eh? :D

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Well, everyone has their own way of doing things. I do it this way so I can blend the buildings etc into the terrain. It's the way I learned to do it when I was a kid, reading tutorials in magazines :-) As for the herbs, that pot is purely for modelling purposes - way cheaper than buying "proper" ground coverings. Thanks for watching.

[@ronschlorff7089]

@@SteamGeezerUK yes, good job regardless of approach. Fun related story: while I was rooting around in my garage last year I came across a box of plastic plates, cups, etc, all stuff you'd take in a basket to the park for nice lunch on the grass. I made a space ship from them, looks pretty good actually, crew quarters, Equipment bays, big radiation shields, a big cup for the fusion reactor section, advanced propulsion nacelles (a chip and dip bowl), shot glass for the main drive nozzle, and some 12 ping pong balls for tanks (got have round or spherical bits on a space ship right?). Well, I painted it all white, black accents and dark gray for the propulsion bits. And I have dubbed it the "Starship Pic-Nic". LOL. :D Nice to take a break from kit builds for a change.

[@grahamparr4710]

Fascinated by your long thumb nail!

[@charlieandrews2873]

maybe a left handed guitar player, my right ones the same

[@PiperStart]

Has probably thrown away the nail-cutters.

[@ronschlorff7089]

uses for tearing and removing shrink wrap on model kit boxes, my guess!

[@SteamGeezerUK]

It's a bit long in the video, I admit. It's been cut since, but I've always kept that one longer than the others. It's just handy for picking at things :-)

[@BoxxArt]

Yeah i spotted it too, hopefully it was taken down a bit with a belt sander.

[@MH-ei8vu]

Always enjoy watching your videos, do you have any tips for someone wanting to get into building dioramas?

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Simple - have a go. I've seen amazing dioramas made from nothing but paper and card. Everything in this dio is basically scraps from other projects. You can make pigments and such from cheap pastels, the ground cover is cat litter, the picture frames were two for £1. You can get trees and bushes etc by picking them up in woods and so on. It doesn't have to be expensive. If you'd like to try and make dioramas, then I fully encourage you to do so. It doesn't matter if they turn out badly at first - we all have to learn, no-one if born knowing how to do this stuff, so jump in and try it. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

[@ThundercatDarklion]

Looks like a future EPA superfund cleanup site with the green goo leaking out of the oil drums. =^.^=

[@Kojak0]

Dude, you know what I came to think about when I saw those printer debris stuff? You could have made a futuristic junkyards, with bits and pieces (and the plastic cup of course the centerpiece) from old spaceships and robots and such things. Me being me, my immediate thought was the junkyard planet from Mass Effect...

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Oh, you could go mad with all this stuff, but the purpose of the diorama was for a competition to build something using a plastic cup. I might well do more in the future on a larger scale. Thanks for watching.

[@joannecarroll5504]

New subscriber today, love your work - making something out of 'nothing' always gives me the warm & fuzzies, way more than working with expensive new materials. A photo frame is a great idea for a base too, although I'd be a bit reluctant to work on glass as I carry the clumsy gene.

[@poboypowder7567]

How much money can you make off of diorama making

[@SteamGeezerUK]

No idea, I've never sold one. There always seems to be plenty on ebay though - probably the best place to get an idea.

[@JTD19881369]

You know.... The whitening didnt look horrible.. it kinda looked like a frost.. i used to live in Eastern Oregon which was a bit like a desert scrub land.. and frost wasnt actually uncommon.. it looked good.. I mean it didnt look how you Envisioned but that was a pretty good happy accident

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Absolutely. I could have left it and it would be OK :-) Thanks for watching.

[@ironreed2654]

I wonder if some of your challenge is coming from using 3 different paints, made with different mediums. Thanks for the Q-tip Idea, I needed some narrow gauge pipe for 40k Terrain.

[@MissGroves]

Just what I needed for my little spitfire, thanks badger

[@creatrixcorvusarts876]

THe fogging....you could’ve said that it’s on purpose, and the scene is set in the first frost of the nuclear winter......

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Yes, I could have, but hey, you have to show the rough with the smooth, right? :-)

[@johnleivers7834]

music please

[@eternalmiasma5586]

The different lengths of your thumb nails destroys me and everything I’ve ever held dear

[@SteamGeezerUK]

You're welcome :-)

[@Starfishscalemodeling]

Glad to see how much fun you had and the outcome is really great! For everyone who wants to be a part of the competition and win awesome prizes just join the "Damage & Destruction modelling group" on Facebook ;)

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Absolutely - it's one of my favourite groups. Always lots on inspiration and imagination on display.

[@Starfishscalemodeling]

@@SteamGeezerUK Nice to hear that since I'm the founder of that group :D

[@gazio2288]

Awesome video, would love to see you do a crashed ww1 plane

[@SteamGeezerUK]

I did one a while ago, but it was a bit of a hatchet job based on a broken model my son had. There's no video of it but there are some photos on my Facebook page. I might do another one at some point and do it properly.

[@rickymorgan4829]

Nice Work Dude. However i have to mention that the music in ur Video is awful.

[@u.h.forum.]

I’ll quit now

[@SteamGeezerUK]

No, don't do that. It doesn't matter how good or bad we are at something, there'll always be someone better. When I see stuff people have made that is way beyond what I can do, I see it as an inspiration to try and improve. Besides, as long as one is having fun making things, it really doesn't matter how it compares to anyone else. Thanks for watching :-)

[@u.h.forum.]

SteamGeezer and Son Independent Traders thanks for the words

[@TheSugus38]

First

[@SteamGeezerUK]

OK, this made me laugh more than it should :-)

[@joannecarroll5504]

New subscriber today, love your work - making something out of 'nothing' always gives me the warm & fuzzies, way more than working with expensive new materials. A photo frame is a great idea for a base too, although I'd be a bit reluctant to work on glass as I carry the clumsy gene.

[@SteamGeezerUK]

Thanks, I appreciate it :-)