part 1/4

Waligórski, was my fathers favorite author for as long as I remember.

Common occurrence during family gatherings, no matter the topic, would be my dad exclaiming "There's a poem about that!" and enthusiastically reciting one of Waligórskis poems after hastily looking it up on his phone to everyone rolling theirs eyes out.

So with my dads 60th birthday coming up, anniversary both large and even, I decided to prepper a special gift for him and the subject of it was clear.

I came up with the idea to make a diorama of a titular Island from one of Waligórskis poems. A poem that's important to my dad, very special to me and also must've mean a lot to Waligórskis family, since a quote from it is engraved on his tombstone in Wrocław.

Since Waligórski isn't very well known outside Poland, as a side project, I also translated the poem, to the best of my ability, to provide the context for anyone not speaking the language.

I started making the diorama by cutting out two pieces of XPS foam. They were stacked, glued together and carved with a knife to create a natural elevation.

To create the night sky background and to enclose the diorama, to better physically protect the landscape, I cut out two rectangular pieces of beaverboard. It's much easier to cut and sand than real wood but still strong and stiff.

Edges of the board were filled with putty and sanded smooth, to hide the grain.

Two angle bars were modelled and 3D printed, to hold the boards together.

The technology used was definitely an overkill for this purpose, but I found out I couldn't use pieces of the beaverboard, since the wood screws split the board when screwed in from the side.

3D printed objects have very similar layers that can easily be split, but I planned ahead and positioned the layers at 45° angle to both screw holes, making the connection plenty strong.

The angle bars, in addition to the screws, were glued to the bottom board, to create an even stronger connection.

Slits were cut into the foam, to accommodate the angle bars.

Special legs were modeled and 3D printed, to lift the diorama from the table.

It prevents the scratching to the surface on which the diorama stands on and helps to pick it up.

The feet were screwed in place.

A slot for a battery pack was milled out by hand. I made sure that there was enough space around it to grab it, in case it needs to be replaced. It also helps with replacing the batteries.

Sides of the foam were filled with a plaster - PVA glue putty. I picked up this technique from Boylei Hobby Times videos after binge watching his Wild Imaginary West series of builds.

The putty sets really hard and isn't as brittle as pure plaster, due to the glue. It's very durable, but also very difficult to sand after setting.

Waxed baking paper was put between the putty and the background board, so it's still removable after.

All the landmarks and details, were marked out on the ground, to make sure everything will fit and populate the available space nicely.

The top of the landscape was covered with the plaster - glue putty, with sand added as a filler and texture enhancer.

This batch of putty set really quick on me, I suspect due to the volume of the mixture or improper ingredient ratios.

I was able to cover the entire landscape though, and sculpt some more scenery in the ground, like the stream bed or flat place for the palm tree.

After the surface putty dried, I added some boulders to the top of the landscape, to simulate a stream source and some larger pebbles to the stream bed.

I also added two wooden beams, that will hold the dock. They were made out of balsa wood, which is very soft and therefore easy to cut, shape and texture.

Some wire channels were milled out, to acommode all the electronics.

Bottom screws holding the angle bars were filled with putty, since the bottom board is also glued to the bars and can't be disconnected either way.

A multi stage hole was drilled to the background board, to accommodate the 5mm LED that will simulate the lonely morning star.

Final trough hole was Ø3 mm, since that's the smallest drill I had on hand. I wish it'd be smaller though. I feel it'd simulate a star on the night sky better.

With the landscape complete, I coated the diorama in black spray primer, to help the paint adhere better to the surface.

The color I used as a base was a very light gray paint I had left over after doing the Argent Cell replica, many years ago.

I didn't know, that it was a water based acrylic paint and it would come back to haunt me in the near future.

I painted the sand surrounding the island with a very light coat of light brown wash, which is a very diluted paint that sips in all the crevasses, leaving the high spots unpainted, giving a nice shade effect. When it dried, I dry-brushed yellow on top, trying to create areas with shades varying in intensity.

I also planned the Island to be covered in soil and some plant life so I covered almost the entire island in a rust colored wash, letting the lighter color shine trough in the high spots.

I also made sure to still leave a ring of sand, just above the water surface.

Next, I repeated this step with a dark brown wash, limiting myself to even smaller area in the center of the elevation, creating a nice transition effect between the soil of the island and the sand of the shore and ocean floor.

Last step in painting the ground details was to base coat the boulders and the stream rocks in dark gray and dry-brushing them, first with light gray and then with pure white.

I also painted the wooden beams dark brown, and dry-brushed a lighter brown, accenting the wooden texture.

With the ground completely painted, I could start working on the dock. I measured the appropriate place where the dock would meet the ground and cut out two balsa beams that would be the support of the dock.

I had to keep in mind the future water level, so the dock wouldn't be submerged.

Then, I've cut out a square from the balsa sheet, that was supposed to become planks of the deck. Unfortunately, I forgot to align the square with the grain and I caught my mistake too late, after the large piece was separated from the stock.

I've ended up with planks that have wood grain running across them, rather then along them, but at this scale, this creates an interesting, milled surface texture to the planks, so I wasn't too hung up on that mistake.

I assembled the deck using CA glue, making sure that the boars wouldn't be too evenly aligned, giving it a natural, hand build appearance and some more character.

The wooden grain running in the wrong direction, made the deck weaker though. To reinforce it, i added two halves of a bamboo skewer, which, unlike the balsa, is very durable material, and coated the underside of the dock liberally with CA glue, creating a hard surface.

With the the deck done, I could attached it to the ground and paint it with the same scheme, I painted the supporting beams.

To stay faithful to the poem I was basing the diorama on, I had to add a single palm tree to the Island and I decided to 3D print it.

As a model, I chose Palm Tree Pack by Daktah March on Thingiverse.

I had to scale it to appropriate size which was more difficult than one realizes, since palm trees come in a wide range of sizes, depending on the species.

In the end, I scaled it so it would visually look nice in relation to the islands size.

After priming, I painted the trunk with brown and dry-brushed two layers of lighter and lighter shades, finishing with light tan brown at the very edges of the details.

The leaves were printed and painted flat. I base coated them in dark green to later pick out the details with a combination of edge highlighting and dry-brushing the surface with light green.

With the leaves painted, I placed them in warm water that was around 80°C, let them soften for few minutes and bend them in hands, being delicate to not damage the paint on the surface.

I've run some test pieces first, to make sure that the paint layer wouldn't crack during the bending but I was afraid that I could still rub it off.

I suspect that doing the bending right after the painting gave me an advantage, since the acrylic paint achieves it's full hardness and brittleness after few days or even weeks.

After bending, I let the leaves cool off completely and glued them in place.

With the palm tree done, i could attach it to the ground. To make the connection stronger, I drilled two holes in the bottom of the trunk and glued in two short sections of bamboo skewers.

I also had to drill matching holes in the ground which turned out to be extremely difficult.

The plaster - glue putty was very hard in itself, but the addition of sand made it a literal rock composite.

I finally managed to pierce trough it with a carbide mill in my hand grinder, but sparks were flying everywhere and I chipped the mill in several places.

I really should've plan ahead and put the skewers in place before. This putty should be considered unworkable and be put in place in it's final place and form.

With the tree in place, the diorama was coming along nicely.

I had a good ground to put all of the miniatures and details in place and create something I would be really proud of.