Arcadia Quest Diorama, Part 4

Now that the diorama has been premiered at Gencon, and Cool Mini Or Not has photos of the finished table up on the Arcadia Quest Facebook page, I can show off my process for the final construction of the moon and backdrop.

The Moon

Cool Mini wanted the diorama o have a backdrop with a moon and fiber optic stars behind the action. The moon also needed the Arcadia Quest logo emblazoned across it.

The backdrop stands just over four feet tall, and screws into the base of the diorama. In this shot, you can see the outline of where the moon will be, about two feet in diameter.

 

 

To construct the moon, I began with layers of insulation foam, stacked and sanded into a semicircle. The craters were burned in with a heat gun, and then I smoothed over everything with wood filler putty.

 

 

The wood filler creates a unique texture, and to enhance the rough surface of the moon, I coated everything with wood glue and a little sand.

 

 

Cracks running from the craters were cut into the surface, and then I sprayed everything with black primer.

 

 

After the primer, a dusting of grey sprays I began painting the moon with a series of drybrushes and washes using a variety of blues, greys, and black ink. The logo, printed and mounted on foam core, was bent around the curve of the moon. 

 

 

The logo was separated into two layers– the background elements and the text. The background was secured to the moon and the edges painted to match the surface.

 

 

The text was mounted over top, to create a tiered logo.

 

 

The backdrop was sprayed with blues and purples, and speckled with a star field. The fiber optic lights were positioned, linked to the lighting in the Alchemy District, and then the moon was attached.

 

 

I'll be updating the terrain gallery with images of the full, finished diorama later this week.

'Til next time!