The Terrace
by Kolkman Kreations

Diorama Competition
Jason Wu Event IV - Pittsburgh September 2007

Scroll a few pictures down to see how the diorama was made
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My Story Card

The Terrace
West London

The Baroness lounges in the Terrace penthouse suite located in West London.  A recent new comer to the
London club scene she is anxiously waiting for the masked ball at Francisco's Club Royal a
winner of the London Bar & Club Association 2007.

Although the penthouse was luxury defined, she was getting quite bored while Vanessa was taking her s
sweet time getting dressed.   Making a grand entrance with Francisco at his new Club Royal and
being seen with the owner of the hottest night club in town was even better than being on the A-list.

Cisco was busy assisting Vanessa with her zipper while thoroughly enjoying the view
(of her lower back) and thinking about the very pleasant evening ahead with his two favorite women.
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How it was made
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After Pat Henry's photography course at a the first Pittsburgh convention, I purchased these inexpensive lamps at Home Depot.
Only $20 each, they clip on or sit in the heavy base.   The lamps are limited to 60 watt bulbs, I replace them with daylight coil bulbs to get the whitest lighting.
I also have two overheads lights in my sewing room with each with two florescent tubes in each unit - they just hang from ceiling
and plug in by extension cord to a power bar.  Again from Home Depot about $30
My blank page. ..
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Okay just this once you get a few pics of my messy work area - it's 8x10'
I used to display my dolls in the cabinet but now it's diorama accessories.  The dolls are mostly naked in a drawer.

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This was my set up for my latest 16-17" doll outfits.  
Even though the FR bed is small it works quite well
as a background
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This is my floor. I used peel and stick floor tiles from Home Depot - inexpensive and light weight for travel.
I stuck them onto the 24 x 24" foam core board. For the balcony I used a different floor tile.  I scored the back so
it would fold over to fit in my suitcase.

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View of the floor showing the change in tiles for the back room which is a balcony.
Note the Velcro stickies - these are different from regular Velcro.  You cut them and stick on both surfaces
and they "snap" into place.
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Here is the package I purchased at Michael's for about $16.  Still have lots of it left
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 A closeup of the Velcro strip that I cut to the thickness of the walls.  Each wall had the same size piece at the
bottom to match up to the floor placement.
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The walls are all foam core board. I reduced the height to 18" again so it would fit in my suitcase.
  The window was pain staking.  I drew out the the exact
squares with pencil.  I used a very thin and sharp X-acto knife from Michael's.  It's about $10 with spare blades.
I use a metal ruler with cork backing (these are used for drafting) and it holds your ruler in place.
I cut each line of each square individually over and over again until it went through the bottom.
Then I turned it over and went over the lines that didn't go through.
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I don't know if you can see it but to keep the fireplace wall in place I partially cut out the thickness
of the wall into the side wall below.   The balcony wall is a cut up FR box from their furniture packaging
and glued it in place on either side of the balcony.
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The fireplace wall.

As in the window I cut out I did the same for the 2 french doors.  First I cut out the door height
and then used the cut out for the door - drew out the squares in pencil and then cut them out
as I did for the window wall.
I did a trial set first so this was my second set.

While I was making my diorama the official convention invitation arrived so it was the perfect Royal
chimney accent.  I used a glue stick to put it in place. The silver crown picks up the light nicely.
I was original going to use a piece of the peel and stick flooring.
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My walls are in a bit damaged from the return trip but here is a close up of the french doors.
I may add thin strips of balsa wood to make real window trims and door frames.
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I cut up my favorite poster (2nd hand store find that I took out of the pictures frame)
It didn't quite fit the size but I didn't want to go smaller.  I attached it with a glue stick
and cut a hole in the back for my lighting cord.  This is now snapped into place on the floor.
You can see where the Velcro sits.  I then added thin balsa wood strips to hide the space where the
floor meets wall. 
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This is my home made lamp.  The base is a 2nd hand store find and I use it as a lamp - it was originally
a candle light
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Floor meets wall - with the balsa wood strip.  They can easily be painted and are cut with a scissors.
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My fireplace backing.  It's just a cardboard box cut out and glued, and painted black.  I cut the hole in the
top so the light wood show to light up the wood but my light wasn't bright enough.
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A close up of the back.  I score the back so I can bend the sides forward.
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Another closeup of my fireplace wall connection.
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The fireplace during setup.  The wall snaps in place. I sit the cardboard backing in behind the wall.
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I used a white tile from Home Depot for the base on the floor and just lay it in place.

The mantel is 2 pieces of wood glued together the lower one shorter to give the effect of a real mantel.

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The front of the fireplace I used the fancy tile trims in the flooring section from Home Depot.
I cut out the size of the front that I wanted out of foam core board cutting the opening out at the same time.
I used a hot glue gun for the tiles.   The surface around the opening is the peel and stick tiles, they are easy to
cut with an X-acto knife.
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I made sure the bottom of this piece would lay flat on the ground and stay free standing.
I did not glue all these pieces together as I was worried about shipping damage.
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I used stick stuff from Michael's to keep the fireplace from to the wall and then again on top to
keep the mantel in place.
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I stuff the corners of the balcony with lightweight plants.
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I made the wood grate out of flexible copper wire.
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Branch cut from my Himalayan Birch Tree
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Final result
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Curtain - I screwed little hooks into the window wall.
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I used a round rod purchased at Michael's.  I made the curtains.  The rod fit perfectly into the hooks.
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I used tape at the back of the French doors to hold them in place like a hinge.
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A view of the top to show the the balcony
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I purchased this bar from a friend for $2.  The backing had cardboard pictures of liquor bottles which I
removed.  I want to have an elegant looking bar.
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So I cut cardboard and taped my leather look fabric to it. 
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Then I inserted the pieces behind
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My beautiful 2nd hand store vase - which I filled with a floral arrangement.
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I like only using the FR bottom cushion as it gives the chaise more room.  I sewed the cushion cover
from the same fabric I used in the liquor cabinet.
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I made the cushion - copying the FR style of pillows with the diagonal top stitching.
I made the ottoman table using real black leather - just a little bit stiff to work with.
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The completed room.  I made the masks too.
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The filled bar. 
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I put a foam core board so no one would see mess behind.
At the convention I had little flood lights but they were battery operated and died pretty quickly.

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Here is a close up of the lights.
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I added a few little details just like a real home
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