How to Make a Hurricane Diorama
Making dioramas can be a lot of fun, and it is a great way to get started making models. Whether you are creating your diorama for a school project or you just really like hurricanes, you can make a hurricane diorama that is relatively simple to build. Although you will need a variety of supplies to make a cool hurricane diorama, the supplies are fairly inexpensive.
Things You'll Need
- Cardboard box
- Box cutter
- Measuring tape
- Navy blue construction or craft paper
- Gray and white colored pencils
- Masking tape
- Craft glue
- Brown polymer clay
- Green felt
- Scissors
- Fish tank sand
- Spray fixative
- Synthetic landscape brush
Instructions
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Find a box for your diorama. For a hurricane diorama, you want a box at least 20 inches in height, width, and depth. Cut the top flaps off the box with a box cutter and turn the box on its side with the opening facing you. Use the box cutter to cut the top wall off the box for better visibility. Take measurements for the background of the diorama. Measure the height and width of the back and sides of the box. The paper background will need to be long and tall enough to cover the inside of the box. If your box is too big for a construction paper background, use rolled craft paper.
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Draw the background for the diorama using white and grey colored pencils on dark blue paper to simulate the swirling clouds of a hurricane. To give your hurricane correct perspective, it needs to look the front of the hurricane is closer to the viewer. Draw an oval horizontal to the base of the diorama. Color cloudy swirls around the oval that are thick at the top of the oval and gradually thinner toward the bottom, to make it look like the hurricane recedes into the distance. Don't forget to leave a small oval in the center to represent the eye of the hurricane. Attach the background to the back and sides of the box with tape.
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Create landscape elements that simulate the fierce winds of a hurricane. For example, imagine winds blowing from the left side of the box, and design your landscape pieces to bend to the right. Use your dark brown polymer clay to roll three finger-width tubes that gradually narrow toward the top. Shape the tubes into a sharp curve, and bake them in the oven according to manufacturer instructions. Cut narrow, almond-shaped palm tree leaves out of a sheet of green felt. Glue a cluster of felt leaves to the narrow end of each polymer tree trunk so that the leaves extend sideways in the same direction as the curve in the clay trunk.
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Use paper and tape to create hills and dunes for the landscape armature. Wad pieces of paper for hills and cover the paper with tape for a solid surface the same width as the bottom of the diorama box. Glue the wind-bent palm trees to the landscape armature. Pour fish tank sand over the landscape armature and around the glued palm tree trunks. Secure the sand by spraying it with aerosol spray fixative. Glue clumps of synthetic grass or brush in spots around the sandy landscape. Attach the armature to the bottom of the box with tape or glue.
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References
- Photo Credit hurricane clouds, background image by JoLin from Fotolia.com
