I’m looking for some Cheap 1/35 scale buildings for a ww2 diorama does anybody know any that are? I’d make my own but they wouldn’t look good (i’ve tried).
Thanks in advance.
Have you tried MiniArt?
They have some nice model with a good price/quality ratio.
I saw those none of them were intact which kinda bothers me, and are they good quality?
Fairly good quality for the price. They need some “cutting and sanding”, though.
This is the only one I built so far:
Their good in detail but do require some work, You have to cut out alot ofthe parts,
here’s one i did.
Before
After
The best way to get better is to keep on trying. You have to fail to succeed, that’s what learning is all about. Get some good references together, make some drawings and try making the building again. There is nothing like the feeling of making your own model…no one will have one like it anywhere.
I’d go with the mini art buildings, you can get them with street bases or stand alone so you can have pre made dios or use them in your own custom ones.
The problem is there vacuform, so you have to cut EVERYTHING out with an exacto, takes time and patience. It also takes alot of sanding, filing, and puttying. I find it good to reinforce the backs of all of the pieces im trying to connect to give a base to put putty on, like where two sides of a building meet.
All of the work, though, is definatly worth it, the details are stupendous and the majority of the kits come with a free set of dragon figures.
Cheap 1/35th scale buildings will look like cheap buildings unless you do a lot of work on them after you get them… So why bother with buying them in the first place? Build 'em up from the ground yerself… Buildings are just as much part of the story as the main object in the diorama is… You can build the greatest kits, so well done that they should fire up and drive off, paint figures that you’d think would talk, and do foliage that you’d swear was really growing there, but then slap a cheap-azz barn on it from an “Old MacDonald’s Playset” and ruin the whole thing that quick…
Ditto what VB says… Building structures is the same as building plastic kits… Structure kits are nice, and really look good, but then again, you spend an awful lot of money on something that actually quite easy to build, if you actually take the time and look at how they’re put together… It’s best to build some molds for plaster walls and rock walls, grab some basswood strips and planks for roof beams and decking, some balsa for floor joists and roof gables, all kinds of materials are there for the taking… Look into some Model Railroading structures. Those guys have been using the tried & true techniques for about 80 years and have done all the hard work for you already, as to what’ll work and what won’t… All you have to do is scale them up…
Like I said, it’s not hard… It’s slower for sure, but not hard… If instant gratification is your bag, then it’s probably not for you… But when you finally nail that last shingle in place, the glue’s set up on that pile of rubble, the busted windows looing like glass… Man, it’s all yours and no one else has that building on THEIR diorama…
VB is one helluva structure scratch-builder, as well as guys like Bodge, Senojrn, Nick Nasta, CJ, many others as well, and oh, what the hell… ME![:D] Anyway, all you gotta do is ask any of us for help and ideas and we’ll do whatever we can to help ya through it… Right guys? Uh, Right guys? Guys?
One word…
And if you make most of your own stuff, you’ll have enough money saved to buy one…They’re not THAT expensive and once you get one, you’ll wonder how you lived without it for so long…
wow hans…if by cj u mean me…i dont know what to say. u dont know what that means to me! i…sniff…sniff…think im gonna cry! [BH]. no really, if thats me im speechless…thank you for such an amazing compliment! [bow] to u as well! and u are spot on with all that you said in regards to cheap buildings and well painted figures and vehicles! as well as making it your own by making your own building! btw, i also have a cheapy dremil and havent used it nearly as much as i should but i do own one!! i use it alot on resin! again…thanks! [:)]
Thanks for the vote of confidence HVH. I am happy to try and help out with advice. For the record, I don’t have a dremel tool (I do have access to a very nice mini-mill at work though!). I do all my filing, sawing and drilling by hand…sometimes a little boring (no pun intended) but you can do it on the extreme cheap, if you have the patience.
Check out some of the preshaped basswood from places like Mid-west. It will make things a lot easier for building structures.
Hans, thanks for the compliment! I really appreciate it!
Falschimjager, Hans is right…constructing a 1/35 scale building is cheap and not hard at all. With a few dollars worth of basswood or balsa, drywall (plaster) compound, a few tid-bits from your spares box and a little research from the comfort of your computer chair, you can build whatever building you want!
I recommend Shepherd Paine’s book “How to Build Dioramas” 1st or 2nd edition–there is a chapter in that book dedicated to how-to build buildings. Or you can ask around or search the FSM forum for other members’ techniques. I’ll tell you how I do it, if you want…otherwise I won’t bore you.
the problem with the vacuform buildings, if you havent done any yet hans, the ones by mini art, is alot of them are ‘ruined’ buildings, with shattered bare brick and such, things that you cant just use a dremel to smooth out, beleive me I had my dremel when I did my first one, it ddnt help as much as you would think
i kind of like the looks of the stuff coming from dioramas plus.i think he is heading in the right direction when it comes to affordable buildings and building materials and accessories.you may want to check his stuff out.
Haven’t done any vac-formed buildings, just aircraft…
Meant what I said, Gents… Y’all are fine “homebuilders” and “homewreckers”…
thanks hans…same 2 u! [:D]
I guess it just depends on what you want to spend your time on. Some who will spend three weeks detailing a Panzer wouldn’t want to spend three hours making a structure. Our kits offer very simple construction (usually just 3 or 4 main pieces you have to glue together), laser cut wood windows, doors & shattered glass, and full color, easy to understand painting and aging instructions. You can have them basically glued together & ready to paint in about 15 minutes. They range from $15 to $45.
It took me about a week to do the master patterns for this kit. The kit costs about $40.00. Look at it this way. You’re getting my labor for about a dollar an hour. Like I said, it just depends what you like to spend your time on. Cheers!
Randy Pepprock
i think that as builders of models and wanting to be able to set our models in a realistic situation or environment should have an honest opinion of whose product is the better.i cant say best because its only what the builder makes of it.lets get three prominent dio builders to build the most closely similar kit.brands should be from verlinden,custom dioramics etc…i’ve read some reviews and i think their biased.
I didn’t think that we were supposed to use this site to “sell” stuff … But then again I could be wrong. Me personally, and no offense, but I come here to find out information on modeling. Not to find out who can do what for me at what price.
With that said … I’m working on a cheap building for my Mog dio, and have just mocked everything up. I paid $2.50 for a sheet of styrofoam at HL … more than enough for this dio plus another one … or two. I used Elmer’s white glue from my kit. I’ll be plastering it was wall spackle, from the garage, and finishing it with paints, etc I already have. I figure I’m getting away with building the whole thing from top to bottom for about $10 bucks. No bad! Ehhh…
But, the more suprising thing is this … b/c I’m scratching my own building, I’m having to do more research to find out answers to accuracy questions, etc. I’m learning more about the culture in which the building is set, more about the people, etc. Thus far, this has been a nice experience and a nice personal addition to the modeling process.
Sorry if it was inappropriate. The mods can delete it if it was out of line. Just trying to share a little information about the manufacturing process. I probably won’t bother next time if it is a problem. Cheers.
Randy Pepprock