Modelling Water Part 2: Planning

This week in the modelling water video course, we are looking at planning your diorama or layout, what to think about and how water will fit in to it.

Water is probably not the main player in your scene but it is a strong supporting actor and both the plan and the diorama landscape need to give it sufficient space.

Major Design Elements

Your major design elements will be those items that you want to show in your diorama, the track and buildings for example. These need to be planned in first to ensure that they fit. Water is a secondary consideration in most cases. I will fit a box car or model on each of my dioramas but water will take centre stage.

Landscape and Scenery

Those design elements do not just sit on their own but are part of a wider landscape which needs to be thought through. How does the land fall away and rise? Water will always fall to the lowest point it can but man can artificially alter the landscape.

Level of Detail

What kind of a modeller are you? Do you like insane photo-realistic detail blown up to 100% on your computer screen or are you happy with “good enough” as coined by Allen McClelland of the V&O. This will impact how much detail you want to add to your diorama and the length of time it takes you to finish.

The Plan

This quick plan is relatively simple and is only a rough guide to what I will actually build. Each scale will be slightly different to show off the different techniques.