Radiator Springs Diorama Playset part 1

Well, it took some doing but Radiator Springs is up and running in the Swenson house.

I had to use an 8ft x 4ft board..(under $20) for the base. Now I have a window seat at the head of the project and was able to place the mountains on that.

I made the Cadillac Mountain range out of a cardboard box ( an empty twelve pack box), paper towel tubes, crafting wire mesh, paper mache (flour and water recipe) and plaster of paris.For Table top rock I used a foam wreath form and foam floral forms for base covered in paper mache. I get a lot of the supplies from the dollar store! The foam board is key for most of the building and the road. The dollar store carries black and white board...perfect!

We can start at Fillmore's Taste-In.

The sign

Organic fuel stand. Basically, craft sticks various sizes(dollar store and Wal-mart) The little cans are made from foam hair rollers(dollar store) and the connectors from glow necklaces (dollar store)

Beaded curtain entry. In the movie the fuel is inside but my son wants the cars to be able to go inside.

I added a little garden plot. The foam sheets I used are textured(Target). I just planted the sheet brown and added little green foam sheet plants. The trees were hard! I don't know that I'd do them the same. I took branches from my yard and glued decorative moss(dollar store) to them. It took a lot of gluing and a mess!I add some decorative river rocks to the area.

Next we have Sarge's Surplus

If you have a can big enough, that would work. I however, did not, so I cut the front/back shapes from foam board. I then took 3 wooden dowels and fixed one to the top and one each to the lower corners to connect the front and back. I then covered the structure with brown packing paper(dollar store) the packing paper is bendable enough to make the nice curve and thicker that regular paper. I just used my hot glue gun and some twine  ( The most important tool for this entire project is the hot glue gun) the put the lines on the paper and front and back pieces

Next, I used Mod Podge to stick aluminum foil over the surface. The Mod Podge is a nice material to seal everything.

Over view

For some signs, I printed out words, others are just hand painted.

Doc Hudson's Clinic