Hey guys,

I'm going to post all of my ideas and questions about this diorama here.

This is a rough picture of what I would like this diorama to look like.


So, I'm obviously looking to have the two massive trees of valinor in the background, behind the three main houses of the Noldor. Starting from left to right: Finarfin, Feanor and Fingolfin.

Here is my main issue....I stink at basing and doing landscape stuff

So, I want to open it up to you guys. Here are some pictures taken from google of what I am perhaps looking for in the landscape of this diorama.
https://www.google.com/search?q=trees+o ... x5QXDHJwlM:

https://www.google.com/search?q=trees+o ... qauC0PEgIM:

Let's start w/ the "ground" of the landscape.
- Since there are no real rock formations, nor would there be imo in this area around the trees, I think I will first base the entire landscape using very fine sand.

-Then I was thinking of using a brown of some sorts to spray paint or drybrush over the glued down sand. Then I would highlight up using lighter browns and whites. ***For a greener and brighter look, would you guys recommend any other drybrushing recipe mixes?***

-The Flock. I will be using a lot of green, and I would also like to use silvers and golden flock for the landscape, b/c of the trees obviously. Any products/companies you guys would recommend to get this flock?


I'll start w/ these points and questions for now. This is my main area of concern I want to tackle first.

After the points provided, if you guys would have any other ideas or ways of going about this project. Please tell!

Thanks!

Brilliant idea for a diorama! Really curious to see how this turns out.
The ideas sounds good and close to the book so far.

Using very fine sand sounds like a good idea, but I would personally have every piece of ground covered in grass (different colours and lengths, of course though). To me, that sounds more realistic next to the Trees. Only exception might be a white sand path, or a road paved with large stones.
The colours you describe sound good. I think it will be largely unimportant if it's all covered anyway.
Alternatively, it may be a nice idea to use teddy bear fur: https://elladan-shop.de/epages/b0930d3e ... elaende%5D

As for flock, ideas also sound good again. Maybe, instead of using gold or silver flock, you could also drybrush the grass a little after gluing it down. I would recommend to experiment a little on smaller pieces to achieve the effect you like.

Making the trees will be the most challenging, I think. You could try something along these lines: https://hdrskirmisher.wordpress.com/201 ... ondorians/
(but with the tree tops on there, of course).
You could use Woodland Scenics tree armatures as branches, and then glue leaves on there. For leaves, I can strongly recommend these punches: http://www.greenstuffworld.com/de/suche ... it_search=
Grab a green piece of paper, quickly paint it with watered down greenish paints, let it dry, punch out leaves and repeat. Creates beautiful and realistic leaves!

Good luck and keep us up to date!

Thanks!

For the landscape, I think I'll stick w/ painting it instead of using a fur, mainly b/c I want to use the same techniques that I used on the landscape as the individual bases.

I found this guy on yt, I see his channel being a great help as well.
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheTerrainTutor/videos