How to Make a Medieval Times House Diorama
Model making is a hobby enjoyed by people of all ages around the world. Creating a model of a medieval house can combine the creativity of modeling with the knowledge of history, teaching modeler and viewer both about life in that era. The house itself can tell only part of the story about how the homeowner may have lived. To get a broader view, it helps to place the house within a natural environment. By creating a diorama, the modeler can do so, presenting a small look into the life and times of the medieval homeowner.
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Things You'll Need
- 15 mm resin medieval home model
- 2 scale model dogs
- 3 scale model chickens
- 1 scale model cow
- 3 peasant family miniatures
- Hobby knife
- Plastic cement
- Acrylic paints
- Paintbrush
- Clear-coat
- Medium-density fiberboard
- Saw
- Sandpaper
- Brown spray paint
- White glue
- Rubbing alcohol
- Water
- Chemical dropper
- Cardboard
- Graphite pencil
- Ground foam
- Model railroad dirt
- Scale model pine trees
Instructions
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1
Assemble a resin medieval-styled home, a peasant home makes for a great diorama, with simplistic additions. You can purchase medieval home models from shops dealing in wargaming miniatures. To make it easier to find materials, build your diorama in 15 mm scale, as many wargames covering the period are played at that scale. Allow the glue to dry completely.
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2
Paint the resin model using acrylic paints. Resin models can be painted like all plastic models. Begin with a dark base coat, either brown or black to emphasize the shadows of the details in the model. Once that's dried, apply your primary model colors. Homes of the period were mostly wood and thatch, so natural browns should be your colors of choice. Apply the paint in light layers, using multiple layers to create a full coat. Allow the paint to dry between coats, and when complete, spray a layer of clear-coat to protect the model from the elements.
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3
Paint the miniatures of the family and the animals. Spray completed miniatures with clear coat.
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4
Prepare your diorama baseboard. Cut the MDF board to a manageable 1-by-1-foot size, sanding the edges smooth. Spray paint the board a brown base coat and allow it to dry.
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5
Glue the painted house onto a piece of cardboard about 1 inch larger than the house; use a pencil to create a path from the door of the house to the edge of the cardboard. Place the cardboard onto the MDF board and draw a circle around it with a graphite pencil; mark the place where the path meets the MDF board. Place the cardboard base slightly to the rear of the board, leaving 2 to 3 inches behind the house to build depth for your backdrop. Remove the house with the cardboard base.
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6
Create a path from the circle to the edge of the MDF board. Sprinkle a generous layer of the railroad dirt onto the path. Fill a chemical dropper with diluted white glue (1 part glue, 1 part alcohol, 4 parts water), and wet down the layer of dirt. The diluted glue should glue the dirt particles to each other and onto the board. Create a few other bare dirt patches on the board and add the dirt.
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7
Glue the house to the MDF board with full-strength white glue. Continue the dirt path up to the model's door. Sprinkle the rest of the board with the ground foam for grassy areas, including the house's surroundings, and then glue the foam into place using the dropper with the diluted glue. Allow the terrain to dry overnight. Spray the surface of the terrain with clear-coat.
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8
Place the trees onto the board, filling the rear of the board and in patches on the sides. Place the painted animal and family members in front of the house acting naturally. Use the dropper and diluted glue to glue terrain on the miniature's bases.
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Paint a backdrop with a horizon for a backdrop, gluing it to the rear of the board. Place a glass case over the completed diorama for exhibition.
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Tips & Warnings
Paint only in a well-ventilated area.
Build up the terrain by adding more objects of interest that are period appropriate.
