Hey guys, planning on doing another diorama that has to do with cement walls, or concrete. I dont really know what to use to build sometin that looks and feels like a cement wall. I was thinkin i should use real cement for that but im open for other suggestions, thanks
-ERAD
Plaster of Paris or Drywall sheets with the paper removed. Real cement is too coarse in 1/35 scale and will look like scale cement.
Im sorry im not familiar with the first one and do you mean a real wall for the second? sheetrock?
-ERAD
If you are talking about poured cement,maybe try bass wood,sanded rough, then put a coat of PVA(Elmers ect.) and then fine sand.Paint and weather. It really works well for me.I go out to the driveway or road and find sand or dirt that has been driven on for awhile and sift it through a screen and come up with the perfect fine stuff you can imagine.And it’s free!!![party]
Plaster of Paris is dry plaster. Mix it with water and it can be poured into a form, just like concrete. It sets up in minutes and is rock hard in a few hours. It can be sanded, scribed, painted, etc. It can be found at craft and art supply stores. It usually comes in a paper milk-carton looking package.
Yes, by drywall, I mean sheetrock. Cut it to the size you need and peel the paper off one side. Works great.
I would not recommend the above bass wood and sand technique. The sand would be out of scale for 1/35 concrete. Would probably work for asphalt though.
Same as Gino I use Plaster! sometimes even joint compound[;)] its mixed already so you can use it right from the can and its cheap. You can find it everywhere HomeDepo, Home hardware etc.
You might even add some wire net inside the stuff before it is cured to imitate the modern concrete building walls. Its really easy to do and looks great after! You can breake part of the wall after the plaster cure and some pieces will still hang on the wires just like real broken concrete wall[:D]
the only thing - plaster diorama walls will be rather heavy[;)]
Good luck!
Andy
Thanks everyone, if I might need sometin else ill ask, thanks again!
-ERAD
Well, Arty I heartily dissagree.If you find the type of sand that I mentioned and sift it as I mentioned it is quite good for scale.It does work well for asphalt without all the sifting.JMHO.[:D]
try sandex paint over plywood
this stuff gives a scale concrete texture
In building some concrete walls in 1/87 (HO) I used some modeling clay from a toy store. It cuts and shapes well (better in a cool environ) and can be painted (Floquil aged concrete is a good choice unless you want that “just poured” look) Just a slight impression on the side that is showing with a piece of sandpaper (coarseness determined by the scale you are modeling) gives a concrete finish look and you can even add lines for where the forms were just by making flat impressions at intervals. Much versatility to this clay.
Last year I bought my kid a playset for christmas, it had some rubber molds to make bricks in all sorts of shapes and formats. The important thing though is that it also contained a couple of bags with colored powder, you just had to mix it with water and pour it in the molds, a couple of minutes later you have the perfect bricks.
They sell the powder separately and in different colors, Red, Yellow and Gray, the gray stuff looks just like real concreate.
a question right up my alley. the thing with real cement is that it’s not very strong without “agg” or sand or rock so they put that stuff in to make it stronger ,to get the right consistancey for modelling is to use the finest sand you can buy like play sand or special purpose sand that will let the mix dry in a smoother or tighter pattern for smaller projects.and don’t use rock! i’ve driven concrete for 5 yrs now and i just used this mix for a helo landing pad turned out great heavy but great.i hope i helped and enjoy.