Iron Giant 1/50 Scale Diorama Build!

This week's modelmaking build is a quick and dirty exercise in assembling a diorama out of almost exclusively off-the-shelf parts. Norm pairs a 12-inch tall Iron Giant collectible with O-scale model railroad scenic decor, which at 1/48 scale is exactly in line with the figure's height. The combination of small trees, a readymade wood shed, 3d printed deer, and tiny spotlights helps give the Iron Giant a towering presence appropriate to the beloved character!
Iron Giant Mondo Mecha: mondoshop.com/...
Dimmable Mini Spotlight (Pack of 6): amzn.to/2NE3XwM
Super 77 Spray glue: amzn.to/37RFX0B
Supermoss green moss: amzn.to/2O2tZKm
Crushed nut shells: amzn.to/2MuFDgM
CA glue with kicker: amzn.to/3bnVMNv
Disclaimer: Tested may earn an affiliate commission when you buy through the links here.
Shot by Gunther Kirsch and edited by Norman Chan
Music by Jinglepunks
Join this channel to support Tested and get access to perks:
/ @tested
Tested Ts, stickers, mugs and more: teespring.com/...
Subscribe for more videos (and click the bell for notifications): www.youtube.com...
Twitter: / testedcom
Facebook: / testedcom
Instagram: / testedcom
Discord: / discord
Amazon Storefront: www.amazon.com/...
Savage Industries T-shirts: cottonbureau.c...
Tested is:
Adam Savage / donttrythis
Norman Chan / nchan
Joey Fameli www.joeyfameli.com
Gunther Kirsch guntherkirsch.com
Ryan Kiser / ryan.kiser
Jen Schachter www.jenschachte...
Kishore Hari / sciencequiche
Sean Charlesworth / cworthdynamics
Jeremy Williams / jerware
Kayte Sabicer / kaytesabicer
Bill Doran / chinbeard
Ariel Waldman / arielwaldman
Darrell Maloney / brokennerd
Kristen Lomasney / krystynlo
Intro bumper by Abe Dieckman
Set design by Danica Johnson / saysdanica
Set build by Asa Hillis www.asahillis.com
Thanks for watching!

[@starofthesea2185]

Iron giant is definitely a childhood favorite. Thank you for bringing it to life.

[@NorthoftheBorder]

I didn't realize how badly I needed an Iron Giant in my life. Thanks for adding to my growing list of 'to dos'!

[@happilyeverartful]

This is one of my favorite childhood movies! This diorama makes me so freaking happy!

[@graefx]

The minute the spotlights came on the whole thing just pops. Looks amazing

[@Verlisify]

The simplicity of this is amazing

[@beyond1957]

You have created a piece of magic and that is quite something.

[@gwynn1104]

Norm this is just so good. Looks awesome and is attainable for people starting out with off the shelf bits.

[@ScottHebert604]

"BOOM! DOTS CONNECTING" haha that's a good line. Nice work Norm!

[@RMJ1984]

HIs name is Adam Savage Jr.

[@MrHarryGray]

Seeing norm in his natural habitat is lovely !

[@nicolasflorio2442]

As a life long model railroader, I’m always excited to see the hobby’s pre-fab products put to cross-hobby use! Model railroad manufacturers have some of the most realistic diorama products out there. It’s really worth exploring. You’ll be blown away by how much the hobby has to offer other model diorama makers. Great video! Thanks for this!

[@toshibavoodoo]

Awesome!!

[@o2bsam]

That base is niiiice!

[@arni7810]

Absolutely amazing!!!!!!

[@feliperagonha]

Very beautiful, norm. Great idea.

[@MadJustin7]

Great job Norm, looks great man.

[@DenisRyan]

The book it's based on, The Iron Man, is written by an Irish writer, and an extract from the book was in my English textbook as a young kid in school in Ireland. We'll worth reading. It's quite short.

[@ShaolinDioramas]

It looks great!!!

[@doncarlton4858]

As a modeler of O Scale trains, I'm delighted to see Norm build this diorama! Perhaps I can have the Iron Giant peeking through the trees on my layout! 😁

[@pmsteamrailroading]

Note from a long time model railroader. Warning: that moss you started with will most likely turn brown. Woodland scenics sells the “scenery manual” which would show how to best use their products. You would have achieved better results with less work following their lead. Also I would recommend starting with the Dow Corning pink foam for your base. It is a much better product for what you are trying to do. Hope this helps.

[@jerryjohnsonii4181]

Very Cool !!!!!!!!!!!

[@terryandrews97]

Brings back so many childhood memories ❤️ loved this movie.

[@KillerTacos54]

Awesome build Norm!

[@ducomaritiem7160]

Nice diorama, Norm.

[@Poverty_Welder]

Wow i need that in my life.

[@BKMakes]

That turned out fantastically! Nice work Norm :)

[@zoinomiko]

it's so cute!!!

[@goofgaaf]

Hi! Where are the Velociraptors videos gone? I cant finde them :(

[@goofgaaf]

But why?

[@shoukosvision5847]

Yes iron giant I love iron giant that’s so cool

[@DanLantzFilmmaker]

Model behavior is Clearly my favorite section of Tested.... Great Job Norm!

[@MrJNGM]

Ngl this make me want to watch iron giant again Wonderful work

[@Bail.e_y]

Ok I like this channel but now I love it

[@guillermotrevino2265]

Great job norm it looks great!

[@ZERO-po1vu]

Damn norm youre awesome

[@cosmicrider5898]

"How tall is he? " me: "idk probably 50ft" "Google says 50ft" _"I am google...."_

[@googiegress7459]

A little while ago I was making a joke about how Scotty didn't need Kirk to run the Enterprise, he just needed a certain amount of weight in a certain spot on the bridge for balance. I guessed about 170 lb but decided to look it up on a Star Trek wiki just in case, because I think it would be funnier if I were right: and I had it on the nose! During the Backstreet Boys Reunion Tour you gotta find joy in the small pleasures.

[@andrealugas1255]

He is 100ft

[@toshibavoodoo]

Awesome

[@oKnASty10]

I love these model making and diorama videos!

[@ramrod126]

"we're just going to use these trees straight out of the package"...Boulder Creek Railroad would like to know your location.

[@jedavisLV426]

Can anyone tell me what happened to the velociraptor costume build? I can’t find those videos anywhere

[@ryanvertein7020]

Very nice. Love the lighting. I think a dog barking up at the trees would have been a good addition.

[@TMWriting]

What the hell happened to the velociraptor one day builds?

[@truesaviour1987]

all the vids connected to animax have gone

[@CCHAWC717]

Allegedly even the paid subscriber only discord is not getting answers about it. I imagine paid subscribers have now lost paid access to member only Animax videos, so that's a double FU for not being acknowledged still.

[@lookylookhere71]

I'm glad I got a chance to watch all of them😊

[@wolfe1970]

Ive followed tested for many many years, and feel pretty let down they just pulled them and we dont even get a explanation, even a sorry we had to pull them, all those years supporting the channel this is like a kick in the teeth.

[@CooperMusicPage]

Don’t care about the iron giant, I came for the velociraptor chat lol

[@CCHAWC717]

Day 2 of wanting to know where the Velociraptor videos have gone, 39 comments in my comment alone still left unanswered on Adams last video. I'm happy for new content but you could at least acknowledge us "Hey, we're working on a statement. Thanks."

[@thethomas3623]

wow you left 39 comments......whew.....its ok, they are just videos.......

[@CCHAWC717]

@@thethomas3623 I didn't leave 39 comments. My comment thread has 39 other commentors. And that's just my thread, there are loads more comments about it. In large part because some people have paid money to see the extra content, see stuff early, and now arguably one of the biggest projects Adam has done in a while has been stripped away.

[@thethomas3623]

@@CCHAWC717 I'm sure they pulled it as a bait and switch just to get more revenue.....

[@xenoborg007]

Watching him try to stick down those trees rather than pin them into the foam was both hilarious and painful to watch as was the rest of it. Using some hard foam to cover instead of filler / not even bothering to quickly paint said foam green / putting down the greenery before the trees or shed or lighting or cables. Granted it looks good in a completely dark room where you can't see the issues it has.

[@hexacool79]

What happened to the raptor costume build? Why all related videos have been removed?

[@MonkeyspankO]

Love the iron giant. Still have the book from when I was a kid

[@MrPockets24]

That's wicked I wish I could see more of this I don't know why but I really love this

[@rodrigorocharsr3721]

It turned out really cool!

[@2H80vids]

The diorama looks pretty good Norm and, as you hoped, it's given the big guy some perspective, scale even. In the process though, you've managed to hide most of the giant. Surely, the "scenery" should enhance the main character, rather than disguising him away at the back?

[@RickDangerousNL]

The 2 'tiny' spotlights, when placed like this in the scene look like enormous floodlights. If you compare them to the door you'll see what I mean. The tiny light of the street light is totally drowned out by them. I like the scene, I'm just wondering if that lighting situation can't be solved differently.

[@devttyUSB0]

Hide the floodlights behind the house / behind foliage. Was thinking the same. Wait... to be clear, i really like the piece though. Simple and really capturing.

[@medibbs]

I love Iron Giant this makes me want to watch the movie again

[@LaserGadgets]

We need more Norm with Dioramas! Im an addict since sunken cities! I would have started with some dust though...that gray ground looks kinda wrong.

[@UnderdogSMO]

fantastic build

[@ElementsofImagination]

Awesome Work Norm! Looks fantastic

[@zephyro76]

wow i love this film

[@nerdingforfunprops4487]

Only thing that let's it down is the "tiny" spotlights. They'd be best hidden behind some foliage.

[@silentepsilon888]

he could have built a box under the whole diorama and placed those huge spotlights inside and underneath the whole scene. Then let the light shine up through 'the ground', hidden by some bushes in front of or around the 'light holes'. Maybe angle the sides of the 'basement box' and decorate the sloped sides with bushes and a walkway with stairs, leading to the fence with a gate to make it look like the whole scene is sitting on top of a small hill. Of course, this all takes time to do, but these huge lights in the front yard were disappointing, especially after elaborating so long about the pole light being off scale and too tall to fit into the scene.

[@MeleeTiger]

Could also have done something like a model helicopter supported by wire with one on it as a spotlight. He does make a good point though, that the actual source of the light would be something "off camera" like car headlights. As such the actual lights being visible doesn't super matter.

[@Theexplorographer]

Yep, immediately what I thought as well.

[@Vickie-Bligh]

Nicely done.

[@MeleeTiger]

"1/50 scale is really close to 1/48 scale!" ... *looks at the shack* You do remember, that the Iron Giant held a a car in one hand right? Which would be longer than that shack to scale, especially since it was like, a 58 or 59 Cadillac or so... His foot would be nearly as large as the shack itself if they were both to the same scale, about half as big while with the scale you used it's about 1/4 as big. That's literally just from memory, though I did look it up on google for stills from that scene to double check. I don't like being "that" guy who chimes in with "um actually", but it just stood out to me right away as someone who grew up with the film.

[@sjmaguirepdx]

Ahh I just posted the same observation - I think Norm misread. I think the giant is closer to 150 feet tall.

[@kevinwilson3398]

Just a fyi a 53 cadillac is just over 17 ft long so i would guess the iron giant would be 90 to a 100ft tall ... If you look at the iron giant holding the caddy its about the length of his forearm .. But great job on the diorama

[@ModelSceneryExpert]

Amazing! We love seeing makers make :) Glad you were able to use and enjoy our products, as well. We've always liked watching your builds. We'll look forward to more!

[@noobninja8684]

Love the video hope to see more of these.

[@Psysium]

The Iron Giant was the first DVD I ever owned. The diorama turned out great, Norm! Those beauty shots were super, man. :D

[@Arachnoid_of_the_underverse]

Looks an excellent diorama ,it would add good effect if the giants slightly parted and closed the tree branches with his hands at intervals.

[@reeft]

This is so cool. Great work, Norm!

[@WoodysReptiles]

love it

[@jklew9486]

Car in the driveway lightning him up 🧠

[@danielclement2832]

Gorgeous and instructive video. Such effective use of lighting to achieve size, just like the scene in the movie. :)

[@darinhudson9112]

As the others here I also have issues with those spot lights. So here's a what-if. What if those trees mark the edge of a used car lot which is having a sale.. Turn the 'lot' area into cement.. one of the spot lights turns into a to-scale sky sweeping spot light, maybe 3d print some pieces to make it look closer.. Hide any others. The shed turns into the lots office. Put some banners and cars in the lot..

[@cagrgokalp3303]

Very nice dj sönmez 👏👏👏

[@bookon999]

I'd have gone with with XPS and and Sculptamold to build up the base.

[@cryspbytes1037]

Ryan Magee from SuperMega approves of this I’m sure of it

[@theseus8408]

That’s immediately what I thought

[@MrChief101]

Came out great. Hmmm maybe disguise the gigantic lights behind a "town billboard"?

[@smaakjeks]

Where are the velociraptor vids???

[@gu5k7y]

What happened to the dinosaur-costume-building videos?

[@vitor-ui2tg]

Dam soo good

[@tomdalzell3674]

Where did all the foam videos go?!

[@hbb7931]

In the bin

[@burakyesiloglu5218]

I would also love to see a diorama with the iron giant eating a car

[@kert987654]

To bad the spotlights were not Hogarth holding a flashlight.

[@bearschmidt3180]

The song is SANDSTORM BY DARUDE

[@harithfitri5842]

Hi from Malaysia 👋

[@Welder-y5x]

agreed, we want the Rubber Raptor back where is it, explain yourself Adam, your followers need to know.

[@dannyb20vtec28]

Bad ass

[@SoaringExperience]

Search for Luke Towan and make a Coorperation. Luke, Adam and you

[@nicknevco215]

The Ozone died a little for this

[@Sp1k3Sp13g3l_]

nice, i'm building a wooden steampunk robot musicbox kit from Rokr called orpheus am601. because Adam inspired me to buid stuff.

[@jamesbarisitz4794]

Every woodshed has random searchlights aimed skyward scattered around.

[@arni7810]

Awesome!!! So I did find the O scale house, but can find the big trees and the lamp . Can you add the links??ty

[@seraphikimercury4921]

So I wondered how everything in mythbusters would have been different if you had a smart phone like phones are nowadays?

[@paulherman5822]

Just wondering: wouldn't cork have made a better base than the foam?

[@acathosh]

I love it. A bit menacing though. Gives off a bit of horror vibes

[@professionallyclueless2395]

I think according to Hogarth the giant is “a hundred feet high”

[@arni7810]

Hi.i don't see the links for the trees and the house and lamp. Ty

[@neipamocal]

This is cool and all but what happened to the raptor costume build

[@sjmaguirepdx]

Nice build - That little street light is a perfect addition. Only comment - I think the internet lied to you. There's no way the giant is only 50 feet tall. There's a scene of him holding a car in his hand. Cars are typically about 16-18 feet long. Granted its an old car in the movie so its probably closer to 18-19 feet. Lets say it's 20 feet to make the math easier. That means the giant would be 2 and a half cars at 50 feet. He's way bigger than that. My guess is Norm misread and he's actually 150 feet tall. That makes more sense. If you look at the Mondo exclusive version he comes with the car. It's not even close to the scale of the little shed Norm used. mondoshop.com/collections/collectibles/products/iron-giant-mondo-mecha-figure-exclusive

[@Bamx333]

So cool! Can you do a diorama of Lindblum city from Final Fantasy 9!!?

[@markmason13]

Is the Iron Giant animated movie based off the Iron Man book by Ted Hughes? I have never seen the movie.

[@fupipupi]

where is the raptor video

[@woollobster3177]

Hey 👋😄👋😄

[@TheFujac]

i read the book numerous times as a child.....was quite disappointed in the movie....they americanised it far too much and ruined it by taking away the continent sized alien and replacing it with the army... this diorama is pretty damn sweet though

[@thesteamenginelover1974]

DeAn :)

[@geopioneergsxr5357]

The deer ruin the realism of the scene. They are too shiny and fake looking.

[@jwec9867]

Maybe it's raining in the scene?

[@deadaccount6135]

" loom over trees. " Nope. Check your local 53ft semi trailer Norm before you spout numbers lol.