Paper Mache Planet Update!

Finally! I have succeeded in determining a way to paint my planet. This is the first batch of paint — it will need at least two if not three coats of acrylic paint – and there is some pieces of continent in the southern hemisphere and three islands in the northern hemisphere that have yet to be painted.

I’m using dark blue for ocean. A turquoise for rivers and lakes (big enough to see from space obviously). Dark green for forest. A basil-like green for grasslands. Dark yellow for desert. Brown for mountains and hills (not sure how to specify between the two yet), and bits of red for hot spots such as volcanoes. I have overlapped areas as well since forests, deserts, and grasslands can appear in mountain ranges and hills. You can see this most prominently on the Vera continent in the second picture below, where the forests overlap the mountain range that cuts the continent in half. I thought about adding texture to the mountain ranges and hills, but I’ve yet to determine a method that would work for what I have in mind.

For the most part, this is just a proto-type to give me a sense of scale and help me determine ways to improve this idea for future planet projects. It’s useful also to just have a globe I can touch when it comes to writing about the world itself. Without further ado, here is the pictures. I’ll be sure to do an update when I’m finished with the piece!

Note: All of these pictures focus heavily on the Northern hemisphere since that hemisphere is nearly finished (the islands in the third picture are not fully painted yet.) When I finish the southern hemisphere, I’ll do an update with those pictures.

By Aibird

Open the door, step inside. Here you find a forest, teeming with animals and birds, which sweeps up the sides of snow-capped mountains. Here in the small pocket of beauty, one finds the essence of my soul. A writer at heart, I delve deep into the finer details of humanity's spirit, and seek to share with others what gems I uncover. I find life exciting and full of interesting surprises, and despite the great pain that often confronts me, I persevere with the joy in my heart still bubbling, and the light of my soul still aflame. There is a time and a place to introspect one's self, but often enough it is best to not look back in regret, but leap forward in the present toward the achievement of one's deepest dreams. I am a wanderer. An explorer. One place cannot contain me for long, but to my friends and family, I remain loyal, for love is not bound by time nor place. Once cultivated and nourished continuously, it binds people together on a journey through the unknown reaches of life.

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3 comments

Perfectly round, Earth-y (I would hope so), rivers big enough to see from space–I likes it! Love the way you captured the clouds over the ocean–my favorite part, beautiful! 😀

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Aibird says:

September 29, 2013 at 11:41 pm

Thank you greatly! It was quite fun to make.

To be honest, our planet isn’t perfectly round (more of an oblate spheroid with a bulge at the equator), but I really had nothing to use as a base that was that shape. It was either sphere or flattened oval, and the sphere is closer to the shape than a flattened oval.

I think when I try this project again, I may use clay to cover the Styrofoam base instead of paper mache. Easier to paint (clay is more porous) and the self-hardening clay will work nicely for this. I also may do a series of planets from my SF stories. Maybe some moons too. We’ll see!

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