Hi everybody,
I've being doing vehicles and figures for a while lately to do a dio of a North African scene.I had always had in mind the Miniart kit.From my one experience with their buildings I don't like them.I'm using leftover pieces,like door and windows.This is a blainted copy of their kit.It's from styro,balsa wood and foamcore.Decorative trim is stir sticks.I use Bank pins to hold the pieces together while drying.I think they can be bought at fabric stores.

Tom .

Alright Tom! Thanks for posting the steps - ought to be good to watch!! Keep giving us updates!

Cheers
Nick

That is looking really good!.....will follow with great interest.

Cheers,
Joe

That's a damn good copy.

Well done; always liked this set from Miniart and I think you've nailed it.

Good start into an interesting project!

What stuff are you going to use to cover the walls?? Don't forget, the walls are not pre-fabricated concrete, so little irregularities would be in order IMHO.

Good luck!

Romain

An update on my progress so far.
Was having a very hard time trying to carve out the steps on one piece of foam so I ended up cutting small rectangles of styro and gluing them together.Added some texture to the foamcore walls.Simple blobs of PolyFilla and spread with dipping my finger into water.Used a cheap kids ,fairly stiff paint brush to dab it and give a suttle stipple look.
A quick coat of white paint.
I've done more work on the windows and doors and will post tomorrow.

Tom
http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k567/parrot20/north2002_

Bravo Tom, I like your texture on those walls a bunch!!!

That outer wall is huge....maybe you could attach a wooden frame supporting some plants (vines f.ex.) o.s.....just a thought!!

And don't forget to give the steps a few dents as well!! Think about the material they are made of...!!

Cheers

Romain

I like how this building is coming along. Nice work, Tom!

I will be following this for sure.

Cheers,
James

Hi Tom,

Your building is looking great! I like your stacked stair-step technique — lends to realism.

—mike

Hi guys,
This is turning out to be a large project.
Added the glass to the windows. Starting on the rest of the buildings. I've become obsessed with this.Picked some printable flooring and wallpaper for the interior.
Romain,I plan to add all that and maybe some lanterns when the build is done.Patiece !

Tom

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Hi Tom,

this is coming around quite nicely indeed!!!

Well done Sir!!!

Just be careful not to make it too coarse! Hold a figure close to the area, and you will notice that we are quickly talking about meters here!

Cheers

Romain

Thanks Romain,
It's coming along.
Can you repost ,I think it was your first,the building you were doing with a friend.I can't find it anywhere here and your photos don't have anything on it.You may want to update your profile?I remember the cobblestone being carved in the foam and I would like to look at it again.
Thanks,

Tom

Hello Tom,
The building that you've done looks great. I sit in the audience and I look forward to the next picture.
Good luck!


Paweł

Thanks Paweł,
I'm glad your interested. I started on the rest today.
Posts coming soon.

Tom

Hi Tom,

did you mean this one??

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/176603#1482432

Cheers

Romain

Wow, Tom, that's a very good building.Copy or not, you did well and it looks great

Very good job!

Claude

Thanks Claude.
Yes Romain,that's it.
Were the stones painstakenly carved in or did you guys find an easier method?
Thanks.

Tom

Hi Tom,

glad I found the right one!

No, no easy method, but with Selitron/Depron o.s. it is simply scribing with a pencil ..and not really tough going!

Single stones are "pushed in" to create a less "modern" surface!

If you want to have an even more irregular surface, you can roll a stone lightly over the whole surface...and then scribe it!

Try it you'll like it!!

Cheers

Romain

Hi all,
Working all the time on this.
The final section seems to be more time consuming than the rest.I decided I'm not going to bother with the fancy top on it.Just more trim on all structures.

Tom

Hi Tom,

you have been busy, haven't you!!

If you allow me I'd advise against the grey colour for the stones/natural bricks or whatever!

This colour fits the Ardennes with its slate, but not NA!

The "NA palette" is not so different from the (south)Afghanistan one, so you could have a look at Nick's colours.
NA can be a tad whiter when the walls are covered, and a tad creamier for being sand stone, when local materials are concerned, but dark grey or even light grey (blueish), no!

NA houses would not sport parquet flooring (at least none I was ever in). Wooden floors maybe, but then only planks, not inlay!
And of course carpets!!!!!!!

Cheers

Romain

Short update.
I would say the actual building is pretty much done.
Lots of painting and weathering left to do.Cut the base for it.Work on the interior later.I can't find Selitron/Depron anywhere Romain.All sites for it are in Germany and it's not worth my while to order from there.The insulation foam I'm using is not good for scribing.It would take hours of work to do it.Bricks are one thing,but cobblestone no.I think I'll breakdown and order from maybe Miniart.

Tom

Hi Tom,

great colour! Capital choice!!

Hope Monty is enjoying his tea!

Cheers

Romain

This is really architecture. Very nice built and great sbs. Congrats and thanks Tom.

Thanks Engin,
I hope it's not boring anyone.
Been working on the street. What I came up with was to use PolyFilla fast drying stipple. Apply it in a fairly thick layer and wait for it to start hardening. Then using a knife made the stones. Still a time consuming task. Applied a coat of watered-down white glue and let it dry overnight.
Next I sanded the surface a bit. Then a wash of black. After that a wash of a dark sand. At the end I started to sponge it with other shades. Still waiting for it to dry. Forgot to say the white photo is the bottom of the base. If you don't paint both sides of any foam it will warp.

Tom

Hi Tom - nope, it's not boring me!! I'm always interested in techniques I haven't tried before! I've been doing most of my posting during lunch time, so I haven't been able to browse or post as much as I might like -

It's looking good in any event! Getting all the colors "right" is almost as hard for me as the build itself!!! Romain's points have been very helpful for me too - essentially similar to what your dealing with - lighter not darker!!! It's tough! The wet paint looks really dark and while wet, the lights look too bright - I soldiered on with the light and it turned out better than I could have imagined!

As for your build, it's just that your build - so, I'll have to wait like everyone else to see what you do. Keep posting!

Cheers
Nick