The Diorama Post

A few people have asked me about my dioramas so I thought I would post about them.

A lot of my dioramas I learned off MyFroggyStuff and all of them are designed for the 1/6 scale fashion dolls. I haven't made any yet for my bjds although my Yo-SDs and Tinies have been able to use some of these dioramas although the props are a tad too small for them. At the end of this post I do include a trick for bjds that I sometimes use.

This first one is a very super simple set up that I use. I buy a tri-fold cardboard and I cut it into two sections, one I use for the floor and the taller section I use for the walls. I tend to use scrapbook paper for both floor and wall and sometimes I will mix different scrapbook papers like I have done with the walls to give it a panel look. I am also going to be trying this with paddle pop sticks cut to size and painted.The same can be done with the floor, use paddle pop sticks cut to size and varnish/paint. I would probably recommend a wood, maybe plywood or balsa wood to stick the paddle pop sticks on. You can try it using a sturdy cardboard or several glued together. But I would imagine you would need something stronger if you're going to be painting it.

In a lot of cases, you don't actually see the entire set up in photos so I tend to not worry if I run out of paper as I have done on the edges here.

In action. I added some props and furniture and a doll. For the floor here, I have used a square piece of carpet that I got from my local hardware store. I also bought a square size vinyl tile for outdoor scenes (as you will see a bit later).

The next set up is my corner room diorama. This is made out of poster board, folded into four with one slit cut on one fold to allow the floor to overlap. One poster board makes both wall and floors. You can see the in depth tutorial at MyFroggyStuff here. It's probably better if you can see how to make it. It's kind of hard to explain.

In action. A sweet little reading nook in the heart of the city.

I also covered the other side of my city apartment corner room. This side I can use for an outside scene. The floor is the vinyl tile I mentioned earlier or you can use scrapbook paper that looks like grass.

This could be anywhere but gives the illusion of being outdoors.

This next part I've posted about before. You don't need any flooring for this but you can use whatever is on hand. I also found a place mat with a wood texture on it that works well as flooring for dolls.

All you need is some pages from an old interior magazine (which I have plenty of) and a folder. This method is similar to using the photo backdrops you can get from various places including Tiny Frock Shop. I call it a cheats method but it works if you're in a hurry and want something quick and simple.

This how the set up looks. Because this doll can't stand on her own, I have her leaning against the pot plant. However, when it came to taking a photo, I really didn't like the perspective. So I changed it a little.

This only works if you're using a tripod I found. I had to hold her in one hand to place her where I wanted. I also added the plants to make the image look a little more 3D.

The result. She kind of has the illusion of maybe being under a covered area in a park looking out at the park.

Another set up using the same method. You don't really see the whole image so it doesn't really matter that it doesn't cover a large area. You just need to position your doll in a place that will look most effective. I also added a cushion I made to give it a bit more of a 3D feel.

The result. It looks like she is in her home looking out another window perhaps.

The final method I usually reserve for bjds and the bigger ones at that. It requires a good photo editing program as well as knowledge on photo manipulation. It's also a very time consuming but a lot of fun if you like photo manipulation like I do.

*Always check the TOS for stocks.

These are the photos I used. From left to right:
Forest by Fallen-Cherubim
Piller Shelter by  Feainne-stock
Crown by ShawneeDawn
Ivy by Black-B-o-x
Model - Impldoll Christopher by Me
Hair Brushes by AliceFaux
Crow by Dollieflesh-stock

The end result. I only wish I actually had that crown for real for my girl. What I did find is that dolls are harder to use in photo manipulations than human models, in my experience anyway. If you're curious, I do have more photo manipulations on my deviantART site.

So far, that's been my experimentation with dioramas so far. I plan to actually make a more permanent structure for my bjds to use out of plywood at some stage. The only problem is, I want something that can be easily changed for different scenes...