Shows how to create realistic miniature roads, mountains, valleys, grass, trees, waterfalls, rivers, and shores and given advice on lighting, weathering, and seasonal detail.

Creating a diorama offers modellers a chance to display their figures and vehicles in a realistic setting, often providing a 'snapshot' of a moment in history. This book provides step-by-step instructions on how to plan, design and build a diorama and is suitable for new and more experienced modellers. With over 270 colour photographs, it considers all scales from 1/87 (H0) to 1/32 and their implications for the diorama builder. The importance of research to ensure historical accuracy is emphasized. Advice is given on the creation of dioramas in different scales and sizes. It demonstrates the techniques required to achieve effective results for landscapes, terrain and vegetation. Finally, examples are included from the Napoleonic Wars, American Civil War, World War I and World War II.

Building an effective diorama involves a variety of modeling skills as well as imagination, research, and planning. This book shows you how to plan and compose a diorama; select the proper base; create wedgie dioramas that highlight figures; paint and position figures; use an airbrush; and cast your own resin parts.--From back cover.

Ben's story takes place in 1977 and is told in words. Rose's story in 1927 is told entirely in pictures. Ever since his mother died, Ben feels lost. At home with her father, Rose feels alone. When Ben finds a mysterious clue hidden in his mother's room, both children risk everything to find what's missing.

This invaluable and well-illustrated book describes landscape modelling from a new perspective. It explains in detail how to design and construct a model railway in a convincing and pleasing landscape. The author has always considered that model railway dioramas are an art form and this book is brimming with advice and tips that will allow the modeller to create true-to-life landscapes. Important aspects of all stages of construction are covered, including the building of satisfactory baseboards, topography and ground cover, modelling lakes and waterfalls, and making realistic trees. The author argues that a good model railway is one that is placed in an accurate and realistic landscape which, after all, was there first, and he contends that scenic modelling is not just a means to fill up the gaps in between track work; rather it is essential in creating the perfect backdrop, enabling model locomotives and rolling stock to be displayed convincingly. A remarkable book and describes landscape modelling from a new perspective. Essential reading for all serious railway modellers. Brimming with advice and tips that allows the modeller to create true-to-life landscapes. Superbly illustrated with 230 colour photographs. John de Frayssinet is a professional railway modeller and has written extensively for model railway magazines.

The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death offers readers an extraordinary glimpse into the mind of a master criminal investigator. Frances Glessner Lee, a wealthy grandmother, founded the Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard in 1936 and was later appointed captain in the New Hampshire police. In the 1940s and 1950s she built dollhouse crime scenes based on real cases in order to train detectives to assess visual evidence. Still used in forensic training today, the eighteen Nutshell dioramas, on a scale of 1:12, display an astounding level of detail: pencils write, window shades move, whistles blow, and clues to the crimes are revealed to those who study the scenes carefully. Corinne May Botz's lush color photographs lure viewers into every crevice of Frances Lee's models and breathe life into these deadly miniatures, which present the dark side of domestic life, unveiling tales of prostitution, alcoholism, and adultery. The accompanying line drawings, specially prepared for this volume, highlight the noteworthy forensic evidence in each case. Botz's introductory essay, which draws on archival research and interviews with Lee's family and police colleagues, presents a captivating portrait of Lee.