tiking

Did some work on the roof. I glued sand paper to the sides and the top of the form to represent Stucco. At the top edges I used wall paste and then used the tip of paint brush to stipple the paste which in returned produced the Stucco effect.At on of the roof corners I chipped out pieces to represent broken concrete, maybe during a mortar attack or just simply worn out concrete. Either way, it looked the part. Then I painted everything with a concrete paint. Then, I used a sponged to dab a yellow paint. Then I went over everything with black wash to give it a worn aged look. Again, sorry for the bad pics:

The over all look so far:

So far so good. More sand and pigments.

More wash and painting done on the walls. Added the tarmac roads, represented by using fine sand grain sand paper. Made holes for the drainage covers and Manholes. These are from Miniart. I then proceeded to paint the holes using a black color to give it depth. Then it was just a matter of fitting the covers over the holes. Making the holes were easy as the base is white form. Made cracks and small potholes which were easy. The cheap one. Added graffiti on the wall. Then I added real dust, real dirt, and earth pigments( from MIG) and mixed everything to blend it all in. on the roads. [

This is an interesting technique which seems to be easy to master. I've done a little more work. More wash and painting done on the walls and painted one side a yellowish color..

The roll-down doors are made ​​of styrene. The I-beams is the one that I have on both sides of the doors to support it. The thick bar is the one I have at the bottom of the gate. Hope I was clear on that? Hard to explain in a good way. The whole idea is to get an overall look that will look believable.

Here I have painted the pink form with a concrete color that I had mixed at a paint store. I must say that the colors did much to the outlook of the facade. It made the foam look like concrete. After the concrete paint was dried I went over the form with a black wash which amazingly brought out the details and made the concrete even more believable. My not look like from your point of view. But I am happy eith the look.

Hello everyone. It's been a long time and a new year. Thought you might like to see what I have been up to. Although this is a military theme, the example shown here can be used to do any civilian scene. I wanted to put a building together from scratch and wanted to test out using materials I have never used before. But I understand this method has been used many times before and still in use today. So nothing new here. I have already come a long way with this diorama but thought it might be helpful to those who would like to give this method a try. So here goes: I do hope the pics I put will tell the story much clearer than me typing lots of fancy words. This is no way comparable to any of the dioramas here on Track-link that I have seen. So I hope this build would not be a boring log. But it is a build that I have enjoyed doing so far, because of the method and materials are new to me. This time I am working on a 1/35 diorama which I am going to call; 'Close Contact' . Focus is going to be on figures( not that good. Still a beginner) and a pickup truck on the street in Iraq. As you may see, I have already started and well underway but there is much left to do. So join me for those who are interested in this type of constructive subject matters . I decided to use pink form for the entire building facade . This is my first time working with pink form materials to build up a scene and I must say that I am pretty impressed with myself. I think it looks good but you can decide for yourselves. I used a x-to knife and a ruler and made careful incisions into the foam and then took a pencil and scribed it to make the bricks more defined, which I might add, am quite satisfied with the results. Pictures say a thousand words. You be the judge : The pictures are as it is. So forgive me for the quality. My camera phone lens is broken:

Thanks.

Thanks everyone for the uplifting words. Appreciate the support.

Thank you gent. It was my pleasure George53. Btw it is true about the differences but poverty none the less. Thank you all for being so under about the subject matter. Glad you all like the dio. Now to continue with my next dio.

Thanks Vaughn.

So true Mark. That is why i am dedicating this dio to them.

Since this was to be a slum or kind of derelict subject matter, I decided to use a wood stump as the base of the diorama. The ground work was done on a white foam board (never did like this brand but it was the easiest to come by at the time. Low funds, in short). The frame work of the shanty was an ordinary cardboard used by artist. Nothing special about it. As I mention, cheap was the main theme for me not spending too much on materials. The corrugated zinc individual pieces were done using foil sheets and a tool that gives it the corrugated design. Again, I will use anything possible to keep cost down. But I found another material. I Used aluminum platter, that bakers use to put cakes or food on. I found some cheaper ones at a cheap store for very little money. I cut out everything around it and use the bottom which was perfect. After the individual sheets were made they were glued directly onto a cross frame made from balsa, after it was painted. At the back of the shanty, I used scale wood painted first in diluted white paint and gone over in a much diluted green color. Then I went over it with a medium size brush to give it that worn look. Prior to painting the sheets I poked small holes and deformed them in various forms to give them that really old neglected and battered look. I painted most of the corrugated sheets a different color as this is done in most slum areas; at least in some of my reference pictures. I used random colors, such as orange, green, oxide Red, yellow, purple and white. Now, for some of you, this might come as a shock to you but I still use spray cans. Yes, I know. I am stuck in time. I will buy one but have been scared off by the amount of painting you have to do between each paint job. But I will buy one for its flexibility. And of source it is cheaper in the long run. For the rusty look I used a mixture of Mig’s rust, real dirt and black pigments. The drainage ditch just outside the shanty was simply done by carving out pieces and adding miscellaneous scrap. I added everything from crumpled up paper to plastic(cellophane). The ground is mainly done using real dirt and Mig’s pigments. I also used some no-name brand pigments such as black, grey and amber. The doors on both sides of the shanty were made from Balsa and aged by simply painting them with a diluted black paint. I then hung a red piece of cloth at the front entrance of the doorway, as usually seen in these shanties. The pair of shoes on the ground just in the doorway was taken from the same Meng figure set. I sawed off the feet and hand drilled holes in them and painted them using Citadel Leather color. BTW, these Citadel brands are very good. If you have not tried them, give them a try. The tires on top of the shanty are used to help hold the corrugated sheets down so they won’t blow away after a storm or strong wind. In most cases they do not help very much. But the effect on the shanty gives the model authenticity. The tires are 1/24 tires taken from another kit. I just used a grinder and removed the threads. The vegetation is nothing more than finely selected moss and small plant branches I got from outside. If picked and placed right it does look the part. The figures are from Meng. The pots, pans and cutlery accessories as well as the broken down bicycle are from Diopark. I must say, that Diopark as some really nice kits. If you have not bought anything from them, then wait no longer. You will not regret. In the cooking area, I used balsa wood, broken up in small pieces to represent fire wood; weathered with black and grey pigments to give the impression that it has been used. The pot sitting on the top of the stones has been scorch due to it being used many times over. The car seat or truck is a resin replacement seat used for the Italeri HEMTT kit. The old bench was scratch built using balsa and stained the same way using the dilute black paint method. The vespa at the front of the shanty is a 1/32 (could not find a 1/32 at the time) scale die-cast model which I modified by adding brake cables and damaged the seat to give the worn look. The modeled was then painted in different colors, red, blue, white and rusted up to create the used worn effect that would fit the scene. Added a resin box painted with a light sand color from Humbrol and weathered using pigments. All-in-all it has been a wonderful learning experience and something to honor those less fortunate human beings around the world living in such poor conditions. We are all human beings. Let’s be kind to one another. BTW, if you type in Slum in Google's search window, you will see many different types from around the world. Peace.

Thanks Dennis.

Kind words my friend. I do appreciate the comments. Thank you. Jim, thank you kindly for your comment has well.

Thanks for your comments gents. I am almost done with this. Will post updated pics shortly.

I am not at all offended Johnny. No worries. Just wondered what you would call the pics if you had a different meaning to the term 'Slum', that's all. Thanks. Thanks Mark and everyone else.

Well, what would you call this. Your description is pretty much a nicer way to put it :

Thanks for the comments and tips.

Appreciate your comments.

Working on this for a while. I have been looking at many pics of Slum areas from around the world and thought it would be 'different' to model something using this subject matter as an inspiration. I have not seen many or should I say, this subject matter, modelled before. As always, I try to be different and not follow a certain trend. So here is what I have modelled so far. The corrugated zinc, were done using foil paper and a mechanism that makes the corrugated design. I bought from some store. I do not remember but you can get a similar one from Panduro. I am cheap, so I will use anything possible. But I found another material. Use aluminum platter that bakers use to put cakes or food on. I found some cheaper ones at a cheap store for very little money. I cut out everything around it and use the bottom which was perfect. Thanks for looking. BTW, if you type in Slum in Google's search window, you will see many different types from around the world. It is a shame, all governments do not put in the efforts to change this. With all the money they put into their military and such. Apologies for the bad photos. My camera got smashed a couple of times and the plastic has lots of scratches which leaves a shadowy cloud at the bottom of the camera. So it is hard to adjust.

Hahaha!!! Good one.

Thanks guys for the support. You knoiw what they say. We are our worst critic. Perfection has always been a goal. I have dismantled many models, believe me; not easy when we all want the perfect model.

Thanks for looking guys.