Props Temporary vs. Permanent Dioramas

I prefer the idea of something that can be stored flat. Right now, I just affix scrapbook paper to my actual walls with poster tack as a means for a quick backdrop. But, in the future, I want to make magnetic walls and floors out of foamboard to be rooms for my dolls.

 

I don't have my doll yet (MSD) as she's coming this month, but I've already started setting up a permanent diorama for her. I like the idea of having it up all the time so I can just take pictures whenever I'm in the mood without having to worry about setting things up. But I'm also fortunate enough to have a work room where everything is kept so I mean, that helps immensely.

 

I really like permament Dioramas I have two bigger ones and several smaller Diorama set up in my both rooms (bedroom / livingroom).

The two big ones are an Aquarium and a Witch Corner, they can be seen here:





As you can see the Aquarium is almost display-only since it's under an big acrylic box, but the Witch Corner is for photos/playing around.


I have partial Diorama for photos, like two big Circus Tents which are just awfully big to have them set up all the times or a haunted Hallway which also needs lots of space and is only used for certain photoshootings.

 

I truly think an elaborately set up diorama would be a beautiful addition to a doll collector's house. Sadly I don't have a diorama set up yet, but I do think a permanent one would be the best! Hard to take down? Yes.. but guests would love it if you ever had them over.

 

I have half my room made into different dioramas. I also have a temporary flat pack set for my steampunk guys
The Pub

Pub seating area

The living room

The traveling Steampunk room

Good luck! It is so much fun.

 

I need one that would collapse to flat but I love the idea of my dolls having their own space so I want a permanent one. I'm actually in the planning stages of a two story loft space for MSDs.

 

I prefer it to be temporary (when you have pets like me, tiny things are always found out of place around the house), but I do want a roombox for my pukipuki cause she is tiny so it wont take that much space and she is also my favorite so she deserves hahaha

 

I don't actually use dioramas at the moment (only fabric backdrops), but when I get some time and money to dedicate to making some I'm most definitely going to be going the collapsible route since I live in a studio apartment. I've been researching different ways to do it, and trying to figure out how everything's going to work on a 1/3 scale.

I really love the whole idea of maximizing small spaces (a tiny house is my ultimate dream home), and just figuring out how to creatively make a small collapsible set into something really cool and dynamic for photos.

 

Me too! This week I even had a dream were there was this kind of reality show were competitors had to make the best house out of this tiny spaces, and there would be families assigned to them so they had to actually make all those people wishes fit in those small spaces (they could make extra rooms, but each extra space would reduce points from the total score). It was such a fun dream!

 

Mine is temporary; I really don't have room for a permanent one or anywhere I can hide it from my cat. That being said, my girls go into dark storage when not actively being played with, so I am not sure a permanent one makes mega sense for my style either.

 

I have a semi-diorama and I have a dollhouse shelf for my tinies. The MSD shelf has a few seating areas, my BJD's all shanging out in casual poses or standing. Used to have a chair up on it too but I took it down. I'd love to have more ways to convert it to other things.

 

I have enough SD sized furniture to outfit several doll houses, but limited space, so I just pull it out of it's boxes when I am in the mood to take pictures. I hope one day to make an Egyptian throne room diorama for my 70cm Iplehouse Kamau. He so rocks the ancient Egyptian look!

 

Same for me. I have a trifold and scrapbook paper for my backgrounds at the moment because of space issues and an overly grabby toddler, but the moment those aren't issues, I want a permanent one. I was thinking that one of those cube storage shelves could work for my tinies and then I'd adjust some book shelves for the bigger ones so i can have multiple rooms fir them. :3

 

This is a great topic I love making roomboxes, although I admit they are difficult to store.
I've got one is that is a 1/4 size room. It's made to look like a parlor or livingroom. I can gets lots of different uses out of it by using different furniture. It's usually made up to be a shabby chic sitting area. But I'll put a Christmas tree in there for Christmas and just leave it out on display for guests see.
Alternatively, I have been experimenting with collapsible rooms or just stand alone walls that you prop up against your own human sized wall. Great for quick photo shoots.

 

My vote is for an incredibly sturdy-built collapsible diorama. It's the best of both worlds. Instead of a foam-core base, use wood. I also like the idea of using slide-in, changeable walls and floors using wood, tile, and real wallpaper.

 

As I live in a world of gigantic 70 cm men, I have figured out to have something like an exchangeable diorama. I got an old wallpaper preparation table, which is foldable and can be stored away (in case we should ever need the space). Onto this, I will put two different dioramas, which are exchangeable - a cosy one and a cool one. Both highly detailed, and I am now in the process of collecting items for these. I also love highly detailed dioramas.

For my glass cabinet displays, I am turning my doll stands into mini dioramas, which will be put in front of a background. That should also look quite nice.

 

I wouldn't call anything we have set up a diorama necessarily, but almost all of our dolls are out on a rotating basis in a cabinet-based display. (Think more window display than roombox.) We like changing that out on a regular basis, so the format works better than a "permanent" diorama, but it's not exactly temporary. Extra furniture/etc we just store either in the cabinet or in the basement.

 

Very nice!

 

I would love a permanent diorama, because then you just need a camera when you want pictures. But... Then it's one more room to dust/clean.That plus my lack of space means collapsible is my only option.

I have these really awesome aluminum rails I canibalized from a piece of furniture that are perfect for sliding foam core "walls" into place behind "baseboards".
That said though I'm completely over cheap card board and foam core. They don't hold up for very long and just warp like crazy if you get them just a tiny bit too wet with glue or paint. So I'm looking for sturdier but still lighter than wood replacements.

 

I'm working on building a collapsible room box for my 1/4 scale girl. I have a bunch of Nendoroid and Pose Skeleton sets that work well with my 1/12 girl, and they all fold down or come apart in flat pieces for convenient storage.

I think a permanent diorama or room box would be a gigantic dust trap, though. Unless you can find a way to cover it/protect it (I have some Nendoroids set up in a Detolf with a room set; if I could find a large enough cabinet to set up a 1/4 scene similarly, I'd consider it, but that seems highly unlikely).

I've been browsing a lot of DIY diorama sets and it seems like the collapsible method or slotted wall method is pretty popular. In particular, the slotted walls have papering/decoration on both sides, so you can flip them around and have a two different rooms in one set of pieces. That seems terribly convenient, and appealing, especially since it makes the most of what is a rather large set piece.

 

I'm still doing my holiday cleaning but I'd have an easy take apart area. I like the change in seasons and monthly holidays, so having a take apart area makes it easier for me to have a theme than just having to rearrange a small dollie sized room every time.

 

I love building dioramas too much, so I'd better start making collapsible ones instead of the permanent ones that starting to take up a lot of space The permanent ones are mostly bedrooms, so I do use them a lot for displaying the dolls and building their personality.

 

It's my dream to make a small tavern for my tinies And YoSDs. They all relate to each other in some way And they need a adventurer's place to relax.

@SteamWitch I am constantly blown away by your dioramas and seeing them is a huge motivator for me!

I may do a DoA project diary thread. Currently I am planning the layout and collecting supplies. A great supply I've used in past projects is that corregated plastic (think political yard signs). It's super lightweight, tough, doesn't warp and hot glue works amazing on it.

 

someday i would really love to make a custom cabinet for my resin dolls that includes a permanent diorama with display lights! my partner and i recently moved into a more permanent house after years of constantly moving around, so the idea of having a stable place for everything instead of constantly shifting is really appealing.

for right now though i’m planning on making a shelf on a billy bookcase into a semi permanent diorama once i get the glass door for it! (the cats like to knock things off of shelves so for right now everybody is in a cabinet with a child lock)

 

I would love to have a full doll house and set maybe a full room for photography but that is a dream.
For now I just have a flat ouija board I can use as a backdrop, or fleece blankets tacked to the wall. I am currently injured so I cant even go outside for photoshoots. But I can dream.

 

The nice thing about tinies is you can fit a room box/diorama in a shelf! I'm planning out two room boxes. One to fit in an ikea deltof shelf and another to fit in a lanturn.
I prefer permanent ones, mostly because I tend to be a lazy photographer. I don't want to have to set it up each time.

 

I am in love with your steampunk dioramas. Where did you acquire all the little booze!?!

 

I have a couch, fainting couch, leather armchair, Victorian velvet and wood chair. Found a beautiful green jewelry chest, picture frames, glass vases, clock, candle holder, and two chandelier I need to wire and paint. All SD sized. I just put them out for now as my closet was about to explode. It'my fondest hope to get it all in its own cabinet. Yeah....

 

I mostly just set up temporary 'rooms' in various places in the house, usually on the window end of my dining room table, just using furniture without any actual background 'walls', like here....



to get this...



Sometimes I'll use the base of my china cabinet. Like here....



to get this....



Or I use forced perspective to just use my real room as the doll background, like here in my kitchen...



to get this....



Saves having to store full size doll rooms.

 

Oh wow! Those look amazing! I especially love what you did with the forced perspective! That's really clever!

 

So creative! Still waiting to pay off my layaway on my first bjd but i am planning a theme/room box but i never considered forced perspective to make it so i dont need to buy a million props from the get go

 

All my dioramas are permanent I tried making a collapsible one but failed miserably T_T But as all my dolls will be Yosd and Under it's not too bad as they dont take up too much space, they fit on top of my triple wardrobe when I'm not working on or taking pictures with them.

I did have the idea to make some extra walls out of foamboard or the like so I can decorate the backsides of my room boxes so I can have different rooms/ scenes which will be semi collapsible ^-^

 

Oh wow! That's so clever! And the results are beautiful

I have a roombox for my littlefee currently buuuut the cats keep getting into it and knocking the accessories around.

SO
I'm in the very loose very beginning planning stages of a bigger roombox for them - A greenhouse, specifically, with a hinged side or roof so I can close it and protect them from the cats while still getting to enjoy them in their own tiny space and maybe puts some lights in.



But true to impatient fashion I'm already making things for the interior that I haven't built yet...

 

Is that a fountain? So gooddd

 

It is! I made it out of sculpey and aluminum foil

And eventually, with luck, it will have some sort of fake water XD But I gotta do a bit of research to decide which method I want to use to tackle it. And I need to build the box to have a wall to affix it to....... I really got ahead of myself with that lol.

 

Ohhhh I have a pipe dream of making a 1/3 scale one-room cabin, permanent display, made with semi-realistic means... a dark and naturalistic Witch's home, both eclectic and rugged, generations of self-made wool and wood and cast iron... but presentable and a homey shelter nonetheless... yeah, maybe some day. After I get up the effort to make my dolls some clothes, first. And finish about 4 faceups. You know how it is.

I love this thread:
/threads/foldable-room-box-for-dollsbe-paprika
It's my go-to when thinking about a foldable roombox. I think the groove and slot system is so creative, plus that means that the walls are reversible and swappable. I was wondering if strong magnets at the corners would add any stability to the walls... also something I want to look into.

 

You could try making the water out of hot glue. I've made a foutain that way before. I did a line of glue from the spout to the bottom and turned the piece all around as it dried. I don't have it anymore, but it looked okay. Not the best, but it was easy and cheap.

I've got a semi diorama with an 18 inch doll couch and a jewelry box turned dresser that sits on top of my tv cabinet. Eventually I want to make more furniture and move it to a better location. My first thought about making a collapsible room box was using hinges and making it fold up like a game board, but I don't think it would be stable enough to stand. I think I'll wind up making a permanent one that has walls that can be switched out so it can be different rooms.

 

I went with clear silicone sealant like for bathrooms! Spread it on a bit of plastic wrap around a flexible support base, flatten it out with a plastic fork, and leave it to dry. Peels off the plastic wrap backing and sticks nicely on its own to the spout without any additional glue. Not crystal clear but its not bad, and the sealant was a pretty large bottle for only 4 bucks.

 

It looks awesome! Like it's actually moving. I didn't know they made such a thing. I might have to try some out myself.

 

So I've been looking into this exact thing for more than a month now, and boy, am I lucky. My partner is into tabletop rpg and action figure minis, and the diorama scene for those communities is ENORMOUS.
Collapsible, changeable dioramas are really popular, and they use (and I'm gonna use) MAGNETS!

Basically, you make the base/floor and put magnets on the side, and then each wall has magnets as well, and thus leaves options for removable interior walls to change the room as you see fit! That way, you can basically have one physical room, but each side of the walls can be different for internal/external shots, hallways, etc. Then, when you're done playing, you just pop everything off the magnets and can stack all your walls and put your props in their boxes or however you store them.
This is going to be my strategy so that I can make a one room(technically) dollhouse, but be able to decorate it as as many rooms as I need!
I'm thinking of starting a project journal on here about it, but I suggest, big time, that anyone Building a room box look into diorama DIYs from other hobbies on YouTube!

 

Thanks IndigoFrogs for this. such a good idea and I will do research
I am planning on buying a theatre kit that is 1:12th scale as I like tinies and will use it for photo shoots. I will swap out the background scene drops for what I need. Magnets will really help with this to secure them on the back wall. I may put a roombox underneath as a dressingroom/bedroom for a doll but not 100% on that yet.
It will be permanent and I don't have that much space but I have always wanted a small theatre so i will make the space to display it.

 

I love permanent ones. But collecting smaller dolls does help. It would be very limiting to build a diorama for an SD or even an MSD as even a small room would take up so much space. It also depends on the room - things that are very related to the character and their story or fit well with the human sized room are good in permanent but ones that will only be used once, weird and wacky things and things that really stand out from the surrounding room are something that seem better as a one off. There's also the issue of cost - it's much more expensive to build a room that will last and has sturdy walls and looks okay from the outside so if it's just for a few pictures it's wasteful to spend all the extra money & time on it just for a little photo shoot.

 

For the last few years, I've lived in a small, one bdrm apt so there wasn't enough space to have a permanent setting for my SG girl. It was always have to be temporary backdrops, or draping fabric on photo boxes to make impromptu chairs.

Now, however, I've recently moved to a 2 bdrm, and turned the second room into my sewing studio for work. AND! I finally have the space for a real BJD setting. I'm currently working on a curio bookshelf, with hand done books and bottles of weirdness... I have all the plans for the shelf, and just need to gather materials

 

Oooooo.. hand done books and bottles of wierdness? Post pictures!!!

 

Thank you so much! This is exactly the tip I needed! I have been working on trying to make an interchangeable, storable diorama setup. I have been using pictures I printed from Unsplash and then lamimated. Right now I am just taping them to whatever box is within arms reach. But I want to make some sort of frame that I can attach the scenery panels to. I was thinking velcro but magnets make so much more sense! I never thought to reach out to my ttrpg friends for ideas so thank you for the heads up!

 

I'm gonna attempt a new series of dioramas but I'm keeping it simple.
I'm doing the myfroggystuff approach and using trifolds to make my houses since I can fold them up then.

 

I've been obsessed with room boxes lately!! I love all the ideas here in this thread already. The perspective shots are genius, and I LOVE that fountain, how beautiful! For my Iple Kid I am using an MDF roombox I bought on Etsy (made with the tab and slot method), but it's 1/6 size, which she is juuuust about too big for, but— it works. I have been working on a wooden one for my not-here-yet MSDs, since they are definitely too big for 1/6 rooms. I used baltic birch plywood for the walls, currently working on attaching metal fixtures to make it able to be disassembled and stored in the closet since I don't have much space and I also put my dolls away in their boxes when I'm not playing with them. Not sure how it will turn out but I will post if i have any success!

 

Permanent dioramas all the way! They don't necessarily have to be huge (like actual rooms for dolls), but anything, even a little bit of background and a few objects liven up the doll and look very good. Which I suppose is kinda ironic, because I'm an absolute minimalist when it comes to anything else in life, decor related too.

 

Awesome stuff in here! I'm going to make a temporary spot for my 55cm dolls. I have limited space, and she's a big girl. I may do something more permanent for some tinies, but I have no idea yet what it's going to be. Going to look around here for more ideas