Introducing Georassic Park

[Georassic]

I'm a newbie to the forum, but a few friendlies expressed interest in my diorama entry, which is part of a larger, permanent diorama I built. I started it more than a year ago, around the time I started collecting dinos, and months before I discovered this blog/forum. I have a home office in a finished basement, so the window is below ground-level, and it looks out into a window well... essentially a hole with wooden sides and gravel. So I began converting it to an open-air diorama. Here is an early version; the window is about belt-high.

[Georassic]

That photo was before much of the foliage and rockscape were finished. The paint on the walls was splashed on in a brief afternoon, using leftover paint from past house projects. It wasn't meant to be even remotely realistic, just better than bare wood. For the overall project, I've had to use weather-resistant materials, like astroturf for grass, various forms of glass and clear acrylic for water, and aquarium plants for foliage. Here's a present-day  aerial view, peering into the window well:

[Georassic]

And here's a shot facing "south." This was the diorama (or "exhibit," as I call it) as it stood on the day I shot my diorama contest entry. You can see the Carnotaurus and ceratopsians from my entry downstream, below the watering hole:

[Gwangi]

Very cool, I really like the pterosaur flying over the water. Really gets me in the mood to attempt my own diorama.

[Georassic]

Thanks, Gwangi (and for the Photobucket tip too). Here's a better shot of the Pterosaur. He's actually mistaken a Dakosaurus tail for a fish, and bitten off more than he can chew:
Notice my "scale man" standing on the rock behind the Papo Allosaurus, and the Carnegie Allo hitting the Papo Pachy behind him. In the upper right, above the Cerato, you can see part of a Nigersaurus.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

I think that is an amazing setup and I am totally jealous of you having such an awesome space to display your dinosaurs. Congratulations on it and I hope you keep adding to it and improving and enjoying it. What a wonderful idea.

[Spinosaurus Aegyptiacus]

Looks amazing, Georassic!

[Jetoar]

Wonderful and amazing Diorama, congratulations .

[fleshanthos]

That's so inspired! I wasn't crazy for the beads making water in the contest, but now that I see it's an OUTDOOR diorama - man I'm speechless. Gotta give you real credit for that!

I'm concerned that it will weather and look dingy rather fast being exposed to sunlight and the elements. Maybe you would want to seal some kind of outdoor light fixture over it with a weak flourescent so that you don't melt your models...

[Gwangi]

The Allosaurus attacking the pachy is really cool too. There is just so much going on! Great job!

[Georassic]

Thanks for all the kind words, folks.

Fleshanthos, your comment about weathering has some validity... I do have to police it regularly, removing dead leaves that blow in, grooming the landscape, and washing the water, literally. I'll spray a little cleaner onto the glass, then hose it with a gentle mist to flush the dirt down. But that kind of work is relaxing for me. I open the window, remove the screen, and just lean out. It's my Zen garden. 

I am always trying new materials, though. The glass water is just a couple months old. I'd previously used blue and white aquarium rock. But it didn't really give a watery appearance, and once it got dirty, it stayed dingy.

RE melting dinos... The dinosaurs in the photos are about a third of my collection, and I swap them out every couple months. And the window well is four feet deep, so it is fairly sheltered from most prevailing weather. During the summer, when it does get some direct sunlight, I did notice a couple of the theropods seemed to "lose their balance" over time. Easily returned to their natural positions with a little blowdryer heat, as y'all have taught me. 


I'm just thrilled to have some like-minded dino-fans to share this with. Thanks folks!

[Gwangi]

Thanks for the close up pictures. That pachy really does have an "oh crap!" look on his face.

[A.Garcia]

This is an impressive arrangement, and I still like the glass water as seen in the diorama, as well as the paint pattern on the walls. I wonder if using mirrors would create interesting effects, either as still water or on the shorter side walls. How did you create the tall conifer, nearest the window? I've thought about disassembling floral decor to make plants, but haven't done so yet.

[Georassic]

Thanks A.Garcia. That's an interesting idea about the mirrors. Maybe install a small one on the wall where each branch of the stream meets the wall, provide an illusion of depth and distance? I may experiment with that, so thanks for the suggestion!

A benefit of using the crushed glass/acrylic is that I can put animals "in" the water, vs "walking on water." Another nice effect of the glass "water" is the way it reflects sunlight...from certain angles it looks more realistic, and the sun reflecting off the window makes some nice lighting and contrast at certain times of day.
The tall conifer near the window is a model railroad tree...molded plastic trunk and branches with lichen "foliage." I have a couple of them in the exhibit, but they're expensive, about US$20 apiece. Most of the remaining trees also are from a model train store, made of wire and lichen. They're less expensive, and hold up surprisingly well in the weather. Also, they're easily mounted in the wall, while the molded plastic trees can be installed only on level ground.

I could buy a lot of dinosaurs with the money I've spent on fake trees. 

[Georassic]

If anyone is in the market, I just posted some dinos for trade in the DTB Classifieds...
cheers

[Georassic]

Here are a few shots from my latest "exhibit." I call this one "18 and Under" for its scale...
If you look carefully, there are 11 animals in the opening aerial shot.
http://s813.photobucket.com/user/amanwhosees/media/pursuitscaresovis_

[Everything_Dinosaur]

Looks really good, love the details.

[Georassic]

Looks really good, love the details.

Thanks E_D! And BTW, I enjoy your dinosaur model reviews. Those, and DTB's reviews, are huge influencers on this new collector's purchase choices.

[Georassic]

Here are a few shots from my latest exhibit, whose common thread is scale, 1:55.
This first shot was through my office window, thus the fogginess of the image:
Edited to remove contest diorama - Admin 

[Gwangi]

Great pictures and it's great to see my former Ankylosaurus go off to a good home. He's more well traveled than I am, he came to me from another forum member when I first started collecting.