What makes a good "ground" in a shoebox diorama?

Question

What makes a good ground (as in the thing outside which you stand on) for a shoebox diorama?

Is paper mache good? (Able to create terrain details hills craters etc.) or is there something else?

I am making a shoebox diorama for a school project. I have selected a scene from a book called "All Quiet on the Western Front". I have all of the models required, but can anyone give me some helpful tips about the terrain that they are in?

The scene takes place several miles behind German lines in 1916, so it shouldn't be particularly bloody or chopped up; in fact, they're just lining up for their meal. Looking for a kind of grassy scene maybe with a few trees etc....

But what should I use for the ground itself?

Answer 1

Clay. You can mold it to suit, paint it as needed, etc.

Answer 2

There are loads of things you could use for ground that small. All the things mentioned are possibilities.

One easy way would be to create some scrunched-aluminum foil or scrunched-and-taped newspaper shapes, then "papier mache" over them. Instead of using strips though, I'd probably use some (maybe just one) of those blue clothlike "shop towels" that come on a roll (at automotive depts or stores),
Once saturated with thinned white glue (like Elmer's GlueAll), they *drape* really nicely. so you could quite easily create hills and furrows, etc., and they also dry plenty hard for something like this. (Using larger sheets rather than strips makes the job go MUCH faster too.)

Once you have your basic ground shape, you can simulate grass on it with paint (pounce it on, thickly), or by gluing on artificial grass (from hobby store) or even herbs, or simulate rocky areas by gluing on tiny grit or sawdust/etc., or you could use paper clay (Celluclay is cheap and usually kind of rough textured), or a polymer clay (texture it by pouncing with wadded aluminum foil, etc.), or even wet tissues kind of bunched around then dried.

Trees can get a little more complicated, but there are some lessons for making miniature trees on this page of my site, along with more ideas about scenery, if you want to check it out:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/houses_structures_gingerbread.htm
(... click on SCENERY, LANDSCAPING, TREES, ETC.,..)


Or you could google something like:

how to make miniature trees

how to make scenery


P.S. If you're going to make the entire scene *inside* the shoebox, you might still want to put something stiff in the bottom of the shoebox or under it to keep any parts of the ground, etc., from cracking or getting dinged.
If you're making the ground outside the shoe box, you can put the whole scene on a piece of cardboard, illustration board, plywood, etc., so it will be well supported and protected while carrying, etc.

HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 3

Try cat litter (clean of course)

Answer 4

You can use shredded coconut. Use food coloring to die it green.