Kirkbean 2015 - After the Flood

[skypurr]

Another diorama from Kirkbean was After the Flood - a Noahs ark scene.  The overall size of this was 8 feet x 12 feet.  I wanted to have the ark on a mountain and the animals leaving in pairs and spreading out over the landscape, with the sea creatures following the tide as the water recedes.

As there was a lot of area to cover I decided to use natural stones in various sizes and sand plus Playmobil rocks and foliage.

The mountain was made from layers of wood, filled in with paper then covered in expanding foam filler - this is quite hard to control and a nightmare to paint but I think it turned out OK.

Thanks to Tim's wonderful animobil site I was able to identify animals I needed to buy - some of which were more expensive than I thought they would be! 
I think I managed to include all species if not all colours of them.
When we had put the creatures out we realised that we had forgotted to count them so were unable to answer when anyone asked how many there were, however I counted them in and found there were 282 - 141 different pairs.

Here is an overall view ...



And some views of the mountain ...









and from the top ...







A path led down from the ark but some animals preferred to leave the path and take different routes down the mountainside ...







I'll add more photos in a new post...

[skypurr]

From the base of the mountain, the animals spread out over the landscape ...











The view from one side of the diorama ...



and the other ...



and from the front ...



a few close ups ...

the otters ...



beavers ...



monkeys, squirrels and birds made good use of the trees ...





skunks ...



rhinos ...



lynx, marmots and mice  ...



two owls decided to rest in the hollow top of a tree stump ...



A waterfall and pool made a good resting place for some creatures ...



while an island just off the coast came in useful too ...



the crocodiles were pleased to have reached the water ...

[skypurr]

Finally the sea creatures following the tide ...











Skypurr Jnr. (my son William) helped to put the animals on the display in the areas I couldn't reach and it was he who added the small monkeys hanging on to the whales' fins 



That's it for the ark.  Did you find all the animals? 

I'll sort out and post the photos soon from the other two dioramas using my Playmobil;  Summer Holiday which was my older son James' idea and Fantasy Land a fantastic diorama which was done entirely by William.

[tahra]

We'll have to call it early quantum state phenomenon. Only way to fit 5000 species of mammal on the same boat.

But it makes for a beautiful dio, that's for sure

The base is amazing - I mean the sand, painted areas, "mountain"... All gorgeous.

Thanks for sharing!

(that must be quite a LOT or work every year)

[Birdie]

    

This may very well be your most beautiful diorama to date!     
It's absolutely gorgeous!! So much to see, such a pretty landscape, such impressive pictures...

Must have been a bit sad to take it all down, it deserves a more permanent location I think 

I've seen brilliant dio's before, but the way you make several for one event that you also host, that is beyond great 

[Tiermann]

It looks fantastic Elaine! There are quite a few animals I couldn't come up with two of for a diorama like this.

[Rhalius]

Very beautifull, you did such a wonderfull job on that landscape with the rocks, the sand, the water and everything. 

[sunflower]

So gorgeous. That mountain is worth every sweatdrop.

[Hadoque]

Looks great,  nicely done!
Not so long ago, belgian collector/diorama-builder "Brubil" used the very same topic for a big diorama that was on dipslay in Zirndorf.
Were you inspired by his work?

[skypurr]

Thank you all for your comments 

I must admit that it didn't take as long to set up as I had thought it would, however it took quite a while to dismantle with having to sort out the stones!

Must have been a bit sad to take it all down, it deserves a more permanent location I think 

It is always sad to take the displays down, we now open for 4 days so at least they are in place for a little while, it would be great to leave them longer but that is just not possible.

So gorgeous. That mountain is worth every sweatdrop.

Actually I had planned the mountain for some time and my husband said he would be build me a base out of wood, and I had said originally that I would cover it with paper layers.  However due to lack of space at home that didn't happen, so once we were at the hall he started to build some sort of base but DIY is not his thing and the result was very wobbly and looked nothing like the mountain I had in mind!  Two days before the event thinking that it wouldn't be ready in time, I grabbed some wood, strong tape and brown paper and in 30 minutes had constructed a base ready to cover with expanding filler!  It wasn't as high as I had hoped for but it worked well.  The lower part with the path is actually what I used a few years ago to connect Hogwarts Castle with Hogsmeade!   
If I had to do it again I would use spray paint as it is very hard to paint with a brush.

Not so long ago, belgian collector/diorama-builder "Brubil" used the very same topic for a big diorama that was on dipslay in Zirndorf.
Were you inspired by his work?

I have had a Noahs Ark display in mind for a number of years now but other ideas always came to the fore.
I have seen Brubils's display - I think it was larger and in some ways it inspired me, but his sea area runs alongside the display whereas I wanted it to look as if the water was receding and the sea creatures following that.

Elaine