Diorama Rules

Making Dioramas
The Tawhiti Museum uses many models in its displays – from ‘life-size’ figures, the size of real people
– right down to tiny figures about 20mm tall - with several other sizes in between these two.
Why are different sizes used?

To answer this, look at the Turuturu Mokai Pa model. The figures and buildings are very small. If we
had used life-size figures and buildings the model would be enormous, bigger than the museum in
fact –covering several hectares! So to make a model that can easily fit into a room of the museum
we choose a scale that we can reduce the actual size by and build the model to that scale – in the
case of the Turuturu Mokai Pa model the scale is 1 to 90 (written as 1:90) – that means the model
is one ninetieth of real size – or to put it another way, if you multiply anything on the model by 90,
you will know how big the original is. A human figure on the model is 20mm – if you multiply that
by 90 you get 1800mm - the height of a full size person. So as the modeler builds the model, by
measuring anything from life (or otherwise knowing its size) and dividing by 90 he knows how big to
model that item – this means the model is an accurate scale model of the original – there is no
‘guess work’.
How do we choose which scale to make a model?

There are three main considerations:
1) How much room do we have available for the display? Clearly the finished model needs to fit
into the available space in the museum, so by selecting an appropriate scale we can determine
the actual size of the model. The Pa model already mentioned is just such a case – we have the
whole pa model in 1:90 scale, then next to that is a cross section of part of the pa in 1:32 scale,
allowing more detail of the defences to be shown – rather like magnifying or enlarging detail.
2) The purpose of the display – what is it trying to show or demonstrate? The purpose of the
display needs to be clearly identified right from the start when planning the display. For example,
if the purpose of the display is to show how early Maori dressed, then there’s no point in modelling
the whole pa – a life size figure would be better to show details of clothing, weapons, facial
features etc. However if the purpose is to show how a pa was defended and how the buildings
were laid out etc, then it requires a smaller scale which allows a much bigger area of land to be
modelled.
3) What scale are the molds we have for making figures for the display?
If figures are an important part of the display, then having the correct molds is important, because
we don’t want to make new molds for every display we build – a lot of time and cost goes into
making new patterns and molds, so it’s easier to make use of existing molds. The main sizes of
figure molds we have in stock are:
1:90
1:64
1:43
1:32
1:24
1:1
(lifesize)
1:12
Perspective
Just to complicate matters, some of the models in the museum have used more than one scale – in
fact if you look at the diorama of Kimble Bent entering Ohangai Pa on horseback, there are four
scales of figures – 1:12 at the front, reducing to 1:32 in the rear. (Can you identify the four separate
scale figures in that diorama?)
Why mix scales? The answer is really very simple - to help create the illusion of distance. By
modelling figures smaller as they get further back in the diorama, it looks as though they are getting
further away from you, the viewer. If all the figures were in the same scale it would still work to
some degree, but by making them increasingly smaller, it accentuates the depth or distance. This
technique is called forced perspective – the modeler is forcing the effect of distance. An added
advantage of this technique is that it allows more area, or a greater field of view, in the rear of the
diorama.
If you look at drawings or paintings you will see the same effect – objects further away are drawn
or painted smaller than those in the foreground. You probably already use this technique in your
own drawings without really thinking about it – if not, try it – it makes your drawing look more ‘real’.
There are books about ‘perspective’ drawing – and almost all art technique books have a chapter
about creating perspective in your work.
However one limitation of this technique is that it’s not possible to use forced perspective in a model
that you can walk around. It would look very strange if you viewed the display from the ‘rear’ and
the figures were small in the foreground, getting bigger further away – the far figures would look
very odd – like giants! So forced perspective is restricted to displays which have a single frontal
viewpoint.
Look at the long diorama with 800 Maori figures walking into Taranaki – mostly in 1:32 scale, but
there is one small area where another scale is used to create the illusion of distance. Can you find
that spot?
Another area of the museum which uses forced perspective dioramas is out in the ‘barn’. Opposite
the stables there are several models featuring colonial children working at various tasks. Check out
the children off to school on horseback. How many scales in that small diorama? Look at the diorama
with a woman milking a cow, with her three children beside her – note the buildings modelled in
forced perspective behind her. See how they have been made with the wall and roof lines converging
– getting closer together and smaller as they get further away. That’s very different from how you
would normally make a model building. The pigsty model too has forced perspective, with the house
and cabbage trees in the distance so much smaller than the foreground subject – a leap from 1:12
scale to 1:90 scale.
Follow up work
Now that you have studied how we design and assemble our models here at the Tawhiti Museum,
perhaps you can use some of these ideas to build your own models, scenes and dioramas. Remember
the idea comes first – what story you want to tell – then plan how best to illustrate that story. What
characters are needed, how will they interact, how will the setting help tell the story, and of course
– scale – what scale will I use. Should I use forced perspective?
Many of the materials you will need for your model can be found around your neighbourhood
– moss, lichen, sand, gravel, small branches, seed heads etc. You may already have some figures
you can use, or you may want to model your own using ‘plastecine’ or ‘fimo’. Cardboard is a great
modeling material – especially if you have access to a hot glue gun. ‘Plaster of Paris’ too is a cheap
and versatile material. Bits of wood, metal, plastic and old broken models often have wonderful new
uses in your work. Do some finishing painting and there you have it – your own little slice of history
recreated in model form!

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Making Dioramas

Why are different sizes used?

How do we choose which scale to make a model?

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