Hey folks, I'm back with my second diorama!
I apologize in advance if anyone is disappointed in there not being any WIP pics, but honestly I kinda just got up and went for it. I may have some in my phone, so I will try to find them and post them as a reply to this, but I am not gonna worry about it. Moving on to the main event!
The dimensions are as follows:
Width: 14 inches
Depth: 11 inches
Height: 16.5 inches
Theme: Purple Butterfly
Character: Ayane (DOA)
Cost: Approx. $100 (maybe a bit less)
You all have seen the custom figure of Ayane (from DOA) that I posted awhile back, but if not that thread can be found here and the flickr album here. That aside, I decided that my next diorama would be her's, but I was just not sure what to do. On one hand, her theme is pretty straight forward: purple and butterflies. On the other, I had no clue where to even start with that.
Then I was killing some time at the local craft store when I saw it: a laser cut wooden butterfly. The best part? It cost $4. Win! Ultimately I bought 3 of them (I sat on one on accident, doing to it much the same as would have happened if it were a real butterfly
). My brain started rolling from there.
Within a day or so I found myself thinking something along the lines of a more traditional action/adventure video game, where you're wandering around a level when suddenly you step on a specific spot and it lights up and a spot on the wall lights up. Yeah, sure, DOA is a fighting game, but frankly I thought this worked well for a sorta "in-between scenes and fights" sorta thing.
In Kasumi's dio I used LEDs and handmade lanterns for the lighting. This time around I used side glow fiber optic filament (really just solid yet flexible plastic tubing) to do the lighting. I went with violet LEDs for the lighting, but it just didn't have the ooomph to get through the 20+ inches of filament. Even using one at each end didn't do enough. I ran this by a friend and I asked what should the second color be that I use, figuring that a different color (with a more robust wavelength) would do the trick. He suggested red, as it still fit the theme. So I ran with it, and I loved it the moment I tested it out.
I was smart this time and used insulation foam (the pink stuff at home depot) for the base and the back wall. I used lessons I learned from Oiler's Workshop (seriously check him out for great lessons on how to use that stuff!), Kasumi's dio, and everything else that was bouncing through my head to glue the base foam to some wood (red oak that was originally going to be Kasumi's base), throw some plaster onto it with the first butterfly, carve up the back wall, mount the floating butterfly, and paint it all up. The floating butterfly btw, was meant to be the wall part of this, and it floating was just a happy accident. All I really wanted was for Ayane to be standing there, and if viewed from the front it would look like she has giant butterfly wings.
The result is pretty dang close to what I wanted for essentially winging it the whole way.
Now for the photos (check for any notes as there may be a few). I do apologize for any blurriness, my space is quite difficult and I personally hate my camera.
This one just looks cool to me
In the dark. I like how the light bleeds through her bow.
This is maybe the most interesting shot I have, which I stumbled upon by accident. For those of you not familiar with the DOA series, the long and short is that Kasumi broke tradition, became a runaway, and Ayane was sent after her to kill her. Prior to this, Kasumi was being raised to rule, was the face of their clan/village/family. Ayane was raised to support that part of the clan in the darkness. TL:DR Kasumi would have worked in the light so to speak, while Ayane works in darkness. So when I stumbled on this shot, I thought it was VERY appropriate: Turn out the lights, and Kasumi is seen, all the while an ominous shadow is close by. Fits their relationship quite well.
Anyway, I am happy to answer questions on any of it! Hope you all enjoy!
I apologize in advance if anyone is disappointed in there not being any WIP pics, but honestly I kinda just got up and went for it. I may have some in my phone, so I will try to find them and post them as a reply to this, but I am not gonna worry about it. Moving on to the main event!
The dimensions are as follows:
Width: 14 inches
Depth: 11 inches
Height: 16.5 inches
Theme: Purple Butterfly
Character: Ayane (DOA)
Cost: Approx. $100 (maybe a bit less)
You all have seen the custom figure of Ayane (from DOA) that I posted awhile back, but if not that thread can be found here and the flickr album here. That aside, I decided that my next diorama would be her's, but I was just not sure what to do. On one hand, her theme is pretty straight forward: purple and butterflies. On the other, I had no clue where to even start with that.
Then I was killing some time at the local craft store when I saw it: a laser cut wooden butterfly. The best part? It cost $4. Win! Ultimately I bought 3 of them (I sat on one on accident, doing to it much the same as would have happened if it were a real butterfly
). My brain started rolling from there.Within a day or so I found myself thinking something along the lines of a more traditional action/adventure video game, where you're wandering around a level when suddenly you step on a specific spot and it lights up and a spot on the wall lights up. Yeah, sure, DOA is a fighting game, but frankly I thought this worked well for a sorta "in-between scenes and fights" sorta thing.
In Kasumi's dio I used LEDs and handmade lanterns for the lighting. This time around I used side glow fiber optic filament (really just solid yet flexible plastic tubing) to do the lighting. I went with violet LEDs for the lighting, but it just didn't have the ooomph to get through the 20+ inches of filament. Even using one at each end didn't do enough. I ran this by a friend and I asked what should the second color be that I use, figuring that a different color (with a more robust wavelength) would do the trick. He suggested red, as it still fit the theme. So I ran with it, and I loved it the moment I tested it out.
I was smart this time and used insulation foam (the pink stuff at home depot) for the base and the back wall. I used lessons I learned from Oiler's Workshop (seriously check him out for great lessons on how to use that stuff!), Kasumi's dio, and everything else that was bouncing through my head to glue the base foam to some wood (red oak that was originally going to be Kasumi's base), throw some plaster onto it with the first butterfly, carve up the back wall, mount the floating butterfly, and paint it all up. The floating butterfly btw, was meant to be the wall part of this, and it floating was just a happy accident. All I really wanted was for Ayane to be standing there, and if viewed from the front it would look like she has giant butterfly wings.
The result is pretty dang close to what I wanted for essentially winging it the whole way.
Now for the photos (check for any notes as there may be a few). I do apologize for any blurriness, my space is quite difficult and I personally hate my camera.
This one just looks cool to me
In the dark. I like how the light bleeds through her bow.
This is maybe the most interesting shot I have, which I stumbled upon by accident. For those of you not familiar with the DOA series, the long and short is that Kasumi broke tradition, became a runaway, and Ayane was sent after her to kill her. Prior to this, Kasumi was being raised to rule, was the face of their clan/village/family. Ayane was raised to support that part of the clan in the darkness. TL:DR Kasumi would have worked in the light so to speak, while Ayane works in darkness. So when I stumbled on this shot, I thought it was VERY appropriate: Turn out the lights, and Kasumi is seen, all the while an ominous shadow is close by. Fits their relationship quite well.
Anyway, I am happy to answer questions on any of it! Hope you all enjoy!
