In this part of the tutorial we start making the diorama

The first thing we need to do is sort out the planets so we understand the various sizes. Line them up like this from largest to smallest: Sun, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury, Pluto.

And label them so you can recognize them later. Just go ahead and write on them with a marker. We are going to paint over it.

 

Next we are going to pre-build the diorama before gluing or painting anything. This way we can get everything lined up and looking good first. You don't want to start gluing it together to realize it doesn't look right! So, let's line it all up first.

Cut your piece of base foam in half lengthwise. If you are improvising something you want a base that is about six inches wide and totals a length of about 36 inches. And if you can get something thick that would be great. Two inches thick is nice so you can glue in the wooden dowels that hold up the planets.

 

Now test fit the planets without gluing anything. Break or cut the dowels. Do this one at a time starting with the sun. I cut a dowel about six inches in length. Insert it two inches into the largest foam ball (Sun) then insert it about an inch deep into the base. This puts the bottom of the sun at about three inches above the base of the diorama. That's a good spot and a good look. The sun is the largest one in the back. The one my hand is currently placing is Jupiter.

 

Move them around and rearrange them so the whole diorama is pleasing to the eye.

Okay, I have them lined up and they look good. Let's start doing some of the glue work.

From left to right: Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

Now glue the wooden dowels into the planets. Do not glue anything into the base. We want to handle and paint the planets before gluing them in.

You can use just about any type of craft glue including Elmers, White glue, PVA Glue or beacon 3 in 1 glue. I used a hot glue gun. If you use a hot glue gun be sure to let the glue cool just a little before inserting the dowel into the foam ball. Very hot glue can melt the foam.

Once you have glue all ten of the solar system objects to a dowel we can go ahead and paint them!!

Let's continue on and paint the planets - This is definitely a whole lot of fun!