Putting together the box that houses the airship for the dirama was easy, because I didn’t put it together! True to form, I repurposed an old dresser drawer and painted it. If you do a project like this for yourself, take care to choose a drawer that is a good quality one with strong corners and made of solid wood instead of particle board or laminate.
I apologize that for this step, I don’t have a lot of photos, but I’ll describe the process. I painted the outside of the drawer with black latex paint (just to avoid the fumes of enamel), then I made a wash using a 50/50 blend of white glue and water tinted with some metallic copper acrylic paint. I brushed that wash onto the black and then used a rubber woodgrain rocker to create an exaggerated metallic woodgrain.
Detail of drawer
Different view
Inside, I lined the drawer with scrap light blue paper and added cut paper clouds in white and gray scrap paper, stilted to look dimensional.
Paper clouds in 3D
I also made a “pole” that would stick out from the middle of the background so the airship attaches there and appears to “float”. Then I needed to make the ground under the airship, so I cut pieces of scrap paper again in colors that look like farmland from a height.
“Farmland” cut from scrap paper
The scrap was then spraymounted to a piece of dark green matte board as a backer and also to provide enough strength to be mounted on an angle. This piece was then put into the diarama and looks as it should to simulate an aerial view.
Mounted “farmland”
With the pieces all in place, we have a nice steampunk airship diarama! This could have a hinged plexiglass cover attached to protect the piece, but still allow the airship to be removed for closer inspection (I designed it to come out of the display).
Finished piece
This piece is for sale here on the site in the Showcase Gallery. You know you want it!
Next, I’ll show a new project that will have all you steampunk hunters drooling…stay tuned!
. This project is one that I wanted to approach a little differently. I still wanted to do an airship, but one that was the same style as those in my Airship Kits, but a little larger, more detailed and in a whimsical format that could have a place on a tabletop or a wall. What better way to accomplish that than in a diarama. You remember these from school, but you probably built yours in a cardboard box or an old shoebox. This airship diarama is built in an old dresser drawer that I put a base on and painted just for the occasion!
Really, you say? I don’t believe it! Well, it’s true…read on to see more!
