Castle Diorama - Lizard enclousre

[killwater]

Hello
I am a complete newbie in diorama world and I am trying to build a diorama castle to serve as a lizard enclousre. Current progress:

It is made with grout over expanding foam.
Unfortunately I have been defeated by painting the rock. I tried the wash and drybrushing techniques on the topmost level with appaling results:

What I would like is to have charcoal rocks with tint of dark red and blue around the ridges. Any tips how to progress would be highly appreciated.




Thank you

Best regards
Michal

[Gern]

I take it that this is roughly what you've already tried Michal:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=painting+scenic+rocks&&view=detail&mid=D85D6D051FF7AB680E8CD85D6D051FF7AB680E8C&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dpainting%2Bscenic%2Brocks%26FORM%3DHDRSC3

It obviously works extremely well for lighter colours - could you try using dark grey, dark brown and black for your three washes? Mind you, I suspect you've used some more durable stuff than plaster to make the rocks. Maybe the material is not absorbing the colours the same way that plaster does?

[Mini Me]

Cool video Dave.......gave me a few ideas and I wasn't even looking for a paint tutorial!! Thanks for posting that. :thumb2:

[rtfoe]

I'm guessing you dry brushed the rocks while the undercoat of paint was still wet which blended the color in. With all that contours to the surface it would be ideal for dry brushed highlights. You can add some green ochure to the undersides and speckle with pale blue green on the upper rock surfaces for lichen growth. You can still dry brush the edges with thicken red and blue paint for your charcoal rick effect. Used the side of the paint brush for this procedure against the edges.

Cheers,
Richard

[killwater]

The base is black grout so it can take little but sharp claws. It will have to be sealed with watered down clear PVA glue. I there was no undercoat - I used black grout in case the paint would be scratched off in places.
I will try again then with three washes technique and tomorrow I will try to drybrush the edges with red and blue paint. I think it will best to use the bridge support as test subject as it is easily accesible and has small area for repainting if needed.

The theme is a castle in the desert probably with a small fantasy theme. The concept is shown below + a full height tower in the corner. I would prefer more slender towers but I need a set height and area for basking. Size is roughly 900x600x600mm.

[Gern]

That's more exiting than my house! Can I move in when it's finished?

[adt70hk]

Very cool!!!

[rtfoe]

Thats high lizard living...lucky fella.

Cheers,
Richard

[killwater]

I did the washes yesterday. Unfortunately it did not work out well. I will paint it black and retry the drybruch technique. It might be that there isn't engough detail to actually work with these techniques.

[rtfoe]

I did the washes yesterday. Unfortunately it did not work out well. I will paint it black and retry the drybruch technique. It might be that there isn't engough detail to actually work with these techniques.
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If your base is already black, any dark wash will not be seen. What I see is that there are some very light colors in the recessed areas in the rock texture so if you are intending to dry brush a similar light shade then it's going to blend and you won't see any results.

Just in case you might not know let me explain...a wash is basically to darken or add shadows to engraved surfaces or corners and crevices. Dry brushing is the opposite and catches the raised areas of the surface. Anything in between is the base color thus creating a forced contrast and that brings out the detail.

Actually now looking at your rock, you've got the dry brushing in reverse with the black on the raised surface and the sand tone probably the grouting color in the tiny recessed spots.

Working with dark colors at the beginning requires very opaque colors over it to make any difference. A wash would take many layers before seeing any results.

Cheers,
Richard

[killwater]

I took your advice and used white and bright red. Unfortunately I have tilted to much in the other direction. Not easy to get the right color balance but it is definitely a step in the right direction. I put a black wash on it to see if I can get it a bit less pronounced - might be once it dries. I think the next step is less reds with a bit of black added and swapping the white with light grey. Also I have to strip the old layers with rotary tool as it started to be glossy.
Withuot a wash (actually it loosk a bit better on a photo than in real life):

With a wash:

[rtfoe]

I'm beginning to see it taking shape. Most important is that you are happy with the results.

Cheers,
Richard

[Mini Me]

I think you are getting there Mike Keep 'er going. :thumb2: Rick H.

[killwater]

After many trails on small scale I decided to make another atempt this time on the whole set of rocks. I think the probelm with getting good looking paint job is lack of detail on big flat surfaces and lack of small rocks (I need it to be relatively easy to clean). How far from acceptable would you guys consider it?
I settled on charcoal instead of black. I might try to give it a black wash tomorrow to get the recesses darker. I would also want to add some black around the lava moat (the white bits on first level) as burnt rock - should I use couple of layers of washes?
With built in lighting:


With additional light at low level to show the highlighted edges:



It does not look too good in a close up:

Unless if someone would have some tips how to make it better (as I am out of ideas) I think I will move to the next step - casting stone blocks and setting up the lava river.

[rtfoe]

Have you tried painting the individual rocks in different shades of the same color but mixed in with other colors to vary the the one color look it has now. I wouldn't recommend a wash in such a large scale but to paint in the recessed areas and underneath the rocks with darker colors.


Even with real stones I painted in the darker and lighter highlights and varied the shades. Try it with your rocks.

Cheers,
Richard