SUNFLOWERS

Sunflowers for the scene

Plants are what gives a diorama scale and a season. Sunflowers suit summer scenes: a field, the fence of a country cottage, the edge of a farm track, or a counterweight to the vehicle that otherwise dominates the scene. The tall stems also hide a less successful spot on the base and lead the viewer's eye where you want it. The parts are laser-cut, so they have a thin, clean outline that would be hard to get by cutting with scissors.

Assembly

The individual parts are taken out of the sheet, shaped and joined into a plant; the order and the number of parts per flower are given in the manufacturer instructions. Bend the leaves slightly before gluing so that they do not lie in one plane; a flat leaf looks like paper, a bent one like a plant. Dose the glue drop by drop with the tip of a toothpick, because on such a thin material any excess would show. Before you plant the flowers for good, lay them out dry and look at the scene from the height of the viewer's eye.

• laser-cut sunflowers for a diorama
• a thin, clean outline of the parts
• assembly according to the manufacturer instructions
• bend the leaves slightly before gluing
• plant the flowers in irregular groups

Placing and painting

Plant them in irregular groups and at slightly different heights, because a regular spacing gives away that it is a model. Real sunflowers turn their heads after the sun, so the flowers face one way; if you keep to that in the diorama, the scene gains at once. Choose the shades to suit the rest of the scene and apply the paint in thin coats, so that the thin material does not warp.

Terms of supply

The diorama base, glue, paints and other scenic accessories are not part of the delivery, unless stated otherwise.