Props 1/3 SD Roombox Project

► Part 1 (here)
► Part 2
► Part 3
► Part 4 - Finished room!
► Part 5 - Wall decorations

Welp, as I desperately try to set a photostory in action, I kinda realized that I'll need a good set to make this particular plot work well. ; w ; I got a lot of inspiration from GenkiGirl's roombox project, but I did tweak the design and materials a bit here and there. Dunno if anyone else is interested in outrageously large dioramas, but I know I am. = w =

This is a work-in-progess shot from a few days ago, with an Iplehouse 58cm nYID girl and a Volks couch for scale comparison!


(She looked so much smaller in this photo lol. c: )

The floor itself is 1/2 birch plywood, 48 x 36 inches--so big that it didn't fit in the car trunk when my dad and I went to buy it--and the "boards" are just wooden stakes sawed in half lengthwise with a band saw and then trimmed at the ends. My dad used a router to cut "slots" where we're going to put the three walls, which are 1/4 birch plywood and 31"/79cm tall.



The stakes just loooved to warp like crazy after gluing, so my dad employed a gallon-water-bottle brigade to hold it down. Then I used DAP plastic wood to fill any cracks and a hand plane to even things out a little once it dried. It probably worked even better than regular wood filler and had a very fine finish, but the fumes were pretty bad and required a lot of ventilation, in winter weather no less. Let's just say it got real cold where we were working.



Aaaand then we used a belt sander with extra coarse grit to smooth it all down!



I added a first coat of semigloss polyacrylic varnish the other day, and after that I'll be starting work on the walls. Plain white matte paint is what I envisioned for this austere, nondescript Room which floats through parallel dimensions... but if anyone has any better suggestions, fire away. :'D As for the decor, here's a quick shot of some of the junk I'll be putting inside, plus our lovely heroine Mercy and a human-scale hardwood floor. (Also, the room in the actual photostory acts like a time capsule for lots of different alternate Earths, so hopefully the anachronistic props aren't as painful. Not pictured: some other furniture, lots more plants, a laptop, typewriter and bento boxes.)



Thank you so much for looking!! I'd love to hear your comments or feedback, or your own experiences with BJD dioramas. I'm having a load of fun working on this project, and I recommend it to anyone who's willing to sacrifice enough space for it. xD I plan on an update at the end of the week with progress on the walls and finishing the floor. Hope to see you again. :3

Maybe check out Part 2? :'D

 

@Fashiondollie, thank you for your suggestions, they're really great. I actually was wondering if I should put in a window or something... now I'm tempted to add a door. :'3 And now that you mention it, if I find a lot of fabrics I could probably make any carpeting interchangeable hehe.

@Memogard and @Boussole, best of luck with your own projects! (1/3 BJD houses are sooo amazing! I don't think I have enough space tho lol.) The wooden furniture pieces I have (such as the desk and chair in the last pic) are actually all from Chinese BJD shops, and they come in disassembled pieces to put together. Walls themselves will probably be removable but hinged, so I can store the room away more easily.

 

@Amet, yes, it basically occupies the floor space of a small room. o w o;; (And the walls should be tall enough to fit my 70cm guys too!! x3) Thank you so much for your support. I hope it'll look good in the end. :')

 

@Fashiondollie, those are some really super neat roomboxes! I love how you framed them as well, perfect for display. Plus the decor is so detailed and perfect for the size. > w < What scale are these rooms in, if you don't mind me asking? ^^

 

Thank you for all for your help and support! It's really appreciated~ \\(> u < \\

For a quick update, I've applied the first coats of the semi-gloss varnish to the floor, sanding with fine-grit sandpaper between layers.


I'm using Minwax Polycrylic, which is a water-based protective finish. Apparently polyurethanes and oil-based finishes are NOT recommended because they can get sticky with doll shoes. o v o;; Just something to look out for.

Now I'm probably just gonna add a coat or two more, and I think the floor will be done! As for the walls, I purchased Liquitex matte acrylic spray paint in an off-white "parchment" color, to give the room a warmer look than regular white would. Kinda funny, when I purchased the spray paint the cashier had to ask my age and full date of birth... I think the legal age to buy spray paints is 18+ and maybe I looked too young, haha. ; w ;

Since the spray paints were on sale, I also purchased some darker gray so I could work on this little SD-size metal table I found at a local furniture store. It will probably be a lamp table or end table or something in the room~


Did the second coat at night, and my camera kind made the gray look more brownish? :'3 But once it dries I will be dry-brushing some silver acrylic onto the table for a kind of aged wrought iron look. Hopefully that goes okay.

Well, thank you again for looking! I am always super happy to see your comments, and also thanks for the likes!! I will update once I make a little more progress. See ya~

Edit: New updates!

 

@Memogard, thank you! I'm glad you think so. :'D

Most of the furniture was purchased, as were some of the smaller items. (Only thing I crafted in the props photo shown here was the Starbucks cup = w = ) My desk set is from eBay, and you can find a folding chair and stool on Tata's Paradise. They are wooden and come in parts to be assembled, but shipping can be a little rough. Only problem I had was the chair to the desk breaking, but I just used wood glue and a clamp (which prevents warping) to fix it up.

You can also find a lot of SD-sized, mini "for human" items on eBay from Chinese sellers. There's an alarm clock, Macbook laptop, and whiskey bottle lighter on eBay that work great as props. Many American Girl props are usable too, (I bought an "AG" candlestick telephone from eBay.) There are loads of cabochons/charms on Etsy such as macarons that look good with dolls, and other things in local craft and dollar stores (like the little plants in the pictures). A lot of times when buying online it helps to find the measurements of potential items, take a ruler and check the sizing against your dolls.
Here's a handy scale calculator to help you gauge proper sizes too~ http://www.printmini.com/calc.html (They even have a "Super Dollfie scale" along with true 1/3 scale.)

I wish you the best of luck with your own roombox! Decor is super important, right next to the construction. ^^ If there's anything else you're curious about or something in particular you want to find, let me know and I'll see if I can help~

 

Thank you, @Teleri! I think with a lot of work any medium could look really great~ (I absolutely adore seeing how cool foamboard weapons and props can turn out.) If you're interested in sharing, I'd love to see what you've made. ^w^

 

@Teleri -- wow, what a cute room! I love the wallpaper, what a nice choice! And your props are perfect as well. > w < The lamp and mugs are probably my favorites. c: I'm even more excited to keep working!! The end product is definitely worth it. :'D

@Ipledreamer -- thank you very much!! I love the Avengers movies, and it would be really cool to see a diorama for the BJD versions. I wanna see that fireplace omg~ And for keeping up the walls, it can kinda depend on the room structure itself. I've got three wooden panels which slide into these slots in the room itself, so strap hinges or something like corner brackets should do to hold 'em up. Maybe lighter material can be propped up like those life-sized cardboard cutouts? xD

…Oh, and I have progress pics of the finished walls and floor, but never got the chance to put them in my computer. ; w ; Hopefully tomorrow!!

 

Okayy!! Got a lot of work done over the weekend~ The walls are now spray-painted in a lovely warm off-white color. (There's a base of Krylon "Modern White" with Liquitex "Parchment" on top... since I realized I didn't have enough of the latter, and couldn't find any more. ;~; )

And the floor now has a fourth coat of varnish, shown below on the third. We temporarily put in the walls to see how it would look, just need to craft some supports for the two corners so that they don't collapse or topple over. o w o;;

Quick preview of the potential end product:

(Not shown: my dad in the background, holding up the walls. He looked like a Titan in comparison.)

<< With couch. :3

As for that little table, I had spray painted it with a dark gray and then I drybrushed it with acrylic gold paint. Gave it a nice aged brass look! At least I hope it looks something like that. xD



This will be a lamp table or something? Maybe I should try to make a drape or tablecloth, but I'm rather bad at sewing~ ^^;

But anyway, that's what I've got so far. Just waiting on the floor to dry and then we've gotta figure out how to get those walls to stay. In the meantime... I might go look for some fabric to use as rugs. :'D

 

@Memogard -- The whole room is 48" / 122cm in length, 31" / 79cm wide and 36" / 91cm tall. ^^

 

@Teleri -- Wow, that's a really great idea! Comes out quite nicely. ^^ (We're actually planning a second, maybe larger room in the future, and I definitely want wallpaper, plus carpeting for it.) I just noticed how you have little pictures on the walls too. So cute!

 

The finished product.

Here it is! It's pretty much done at the moment, construction-wise. I'm gonna need to decorate a bit more but at least it's up and standing~

This is my tallest guy, at 72cm, and he stands pretty well inside the room. You can see one of the brackets my dad made to hold the walls together. I can take them off easily and pull the walls down separately for storage.



Here's a closer shot of the desk along with my girl Mercy (Iplehouse nYID Mari). Plus a tea set and the repainted table in the background.



Other shots:

(You can see the full photos here on my Flickr~)

Our next planned room (if it ever happens) will probably be a palace/royal historical setting, with rugs and wallpaper and a more intricate design. The Room in my stories is purposefully austere, so this is really all I needed. xD But I'll definitely post again with whatever updates~
And please do let me know what you think, there's always room for improvements and tweaking. (Did I just make a bad pun...?) But yeah, here it is. One step closer to starting that photostory. (Even though two of my other main characters are currently missing, haha.)

Thanks for looking, and for your kind comments and support! I really appreciate it!!

 

Thank you both for your kind words! > u < I have taken your advice, @Memogard, and bought little picture frames to customize and put on the walls.


These frames were on clearance at the local craft store! The colors weren't really what I wanted though, (pastel colored like top right in the 1st photo) so I colored them either plain white, or black with drybrushed gold for an antiqued metal look.

I also fiddled around in Photoshop to print out photos that fit the frames!



Hanging some of them up:

(Empty frames may or may not be a plot point in the story...? = w =)

The little silverware set came from the same craft store, great scale for 1/3 dolls. I totally want to buy more frames and random knickknacks to stick inside my diorama lol. I'll be reporting back if I find anything else~

 

@MiiY, thanks for your kind words! It actually lacks windows specifically for the photostories, but my dad has offered multiple times to make an interchangeable back panel with a window frame in it. (That's the right word!) If we ever get around to making a second room or other panels, it'll definitely have windows, maybe even a door. =D If you design your own diorama, I'm sure you'll have lots of fun. Just look to see if there's enough space, this thing is huge. xD