Hi All

When I completed my Tatooine Display for the my 1/6 Sandtroopers I decided I wanted to make a dio for my Hottoys gear I picked up of the net.

The only problem I had was what to make and my 8 yr daughter suggested that I make a jungle ruin dio since I already just did a desert dio.

So with the idea of the jungle dio firmly planted into the old noggin I started to get reference material of the net for old jungle ruins and especially for large tree roots/trunks.

Once I got the reference material I wanted I started work on the dio, the dio once completed was painted and weathered using Vallejo and GW paints and pastel chalks.

RECIPE

1: Indiana Jones - The clothing, shoes, hands and bag are from Hottoys and the holster, belts are from Sideshow. The whip was made using a whip handle from Sideshow's Indy and leather coil strips and model boat string.

The Indy Head sculpt and fedora I got from Snyder-man over at Sideshow Freaks Forums. The body used for Indy is from ACI and is the slim muscle body from Kaustic Platik.

2: Base - The base was made from blue marine foam and was carved out to the desired shape. The walls are also made from blue marine foam and once glued in place and let to dry I scribed the stone layout and once that was done I used a small piece of sandstone and pushed that into the foam to give it that natural stone look.

The wall reliefs again are made from marine foam and I drew a pattern on the foam using a pencil and then using a soldering iron went over the pencil outline to give it that chiseled out look.

The larger trunk and roots were made using left over marine foam and cut to shape and glued in place. Once they dried I then used aluminum foil and wrapped several layers together and then crunched that up and glued that onto the foam.

The smaller roots were made using aluminum foil and again ripped the foil into different lengths and then twisted them until I got the desired look.

Once the smaller roots were done I glue them in place and again let them dry. When everything was dried I then covered the all roots and trunk using a mixer of plaster of paris and wood glue and applied the mix until I was happy with the look.

The moss on the walls and floor were done by painting the areas with a watered down mix of Dark Green paint and green pastel chalks and and applying the mix over the walls.

Once the mix dried I then used ground up lichen moss and dabbed the dried areas using PVA glue and then sprinkled the lichen moss over the glue.

The dirt is a mix of dirt from the back yard and garden potty mix, I used a potty mix that had broken pieces of bark and roots etc so it would look more like a rain forest floor.

The smaller shrubs are from a company called Army Painter and the come on a thin clear sheet and all you do is pull them off and place them where you want has they have a sticky base but I use a small amount of superglue as well to adhere them to a dio.

The larger bushes and vines I picked up from the local pet shop, these are plastic plants and have been given a wash of dark green to give them a bit more of a realistic look. The two snakes I had in my bits box and I just repainted them.

Ron