Im currently working on a roughly 20"x20" diorama that will have a bridge going over a little stream/river. The bridge will be leading to a stone block toll tower/house, which I’m still thinking on how I’d like to build. I have two main ideas, my favorite one first:
1: cut a piece of wood the size/shape of my tower, and then coat it in either joint compound or sculptamold. Carve out the lines with hobby knife, then paint, wash, etc.
2: cast a bunch of sculptamold bricks, and build that bad boy brick by brick. Then paint, wash, etc.
I like number 1 as it seems to make more sense to me regarding time usage, and just general ease of obtaining those materials (it helps to be a carpenter!). Can you guys think of any issues with that, or anything to be aware of ahead of time?
I’d also be inclined to go for option 1. It’s simpler, easier to control, and doesn’t involve faffing about with moulds (something I always have difficulty with). However, I’m also a woodworker, so maybe we just think alike[:)]
Hi Bill, the scale is 1/56 as I will be using tabletop game models as guards and traveling peasants. So there will likely be 8-10 characters, the tower, and a bridge as the main attractions as it were. The tower itself I will be making about 2 1/2 inches tall, and about half as wide, so pretty small.
Ill be an older structure - I’m going to model it as being a century or two old.
Those were exactly my thoughts as well! I don’t mind molds, but along with all of the reasons you stated above, I would need to buy more stuff, while just using wood/compound would cost me nothing but time.
Method one is probably your best bet, as method two is better at very large scales (like 1/24 or larger)
If using wood, I’d used a nice stiff basswood of soft mushy balsa.
No, as an option, there is “foamcore” a posterboard material with two sheets of high-gloss paper over an extruded foam core. This material is used for presentation boards and matting. It’s inexpensive, and has the benefit of being very light, and easy to cut.
Another option is to find hgih density foam sheets. These have an advantage of being super light, and can be carved upon directly to get stone patterns. It can be sut with sharp knikes or a hot wire cutter.
And further to what Gams said- its always a good idea to build a model of your diorama to get everything positioned, make decisions about what’s in and what’s out, and point of view set.
I would go for No.1. Moulds will be a PIA in this scale. As Pawel suggests, you can also use styrofoam. I used this for a building in a diorama many years ago and it has stood the test of time.
This is awesome - thank you all for the suggestions. I have thought about using high density foam, and I still may do so, but I think I will start off by testing the wood and joint compound option (option1) after reading through everyone’s replies, simply because I have way more than enough of both on hand. I have some old Doug fir that has been well acclimated to where I will be, and I’m thinking if I paint the wood first as well, it will help prevent cracking/warping, etc.
I’ll test it out and see what happens - worst comes to worse, all I wasted was some time[:D]
Im videotaping the entire diorama build, and I’ll put it up here for you guys when I’m done to let you know the results…!