It's been a bit Gents and Ladies, but I did get some basic layout and wall construction done:
Been getting a little work done on the wall section for the cemetery using Laszlo Adoba's "Building Dioramas 1,2 &3". These are great book and well worth the investment. They are not expensive by any means. Kuddos to Laszlo!
Here's a quick pictorial of how I got to where I am now with the stucco wall. I am using 1" thick construction foam board commonly used to insulate the exterior of your average basement wall. It's an easy process and the example took me less than an hour, so here goes......
All the materials needed which can be acquired from your local hardware store.
Using thinned drywall patching compound and a basic brush I applied a semi-thick layer directly onto the foam.
Next I used Spackle in a common kitchen sifter and coated the entire work area making sure to cover all the "blue" that might show through.
Here's a photo of the sample section after I used a hair dryer to speed up the drying process. Some of the Spackle will fall off, but not much. After the Spackle had been dried I misted the work area with a water bottle mister to cement the top layer (sifted) to the work piece. Then use the hair dryer once again to dry completely.
Priming the surface is a tricky process so you need to take a few precautions to avoid "burning or melting" the foam sheet. Lacquer based primers will melt or burn the foam really quick, so a light coat is recommended, then build up a second layer if you feel it's necessary. If you rush this process the primer will leach through the Spackle and come in contact with the foam and destroy all you have done up to this point. I taped off any areas that were not treated to avoid a major mess.
And finally we have a finished section ready for painting. I would suggest using an air brush for your first coat and then brush on subsequent coats. The Spackle will suck up most of the first coat, so be prepared to make a few passes before the color is satisfactory.
As you can see from this example it's not a difficult process, so why spend money buying kits of plastic buildings when you can make you own. The possibilities are endless and only depending on your imagination, and of course, realism is a factor, too.
I know I've been pushing the edge of the envelope by posting non-figure pics, so I'll hold off till this big beast is finalized. This is a figure forum, btw, and many apologies to anyone who may now appreciate the process.
Thx for watchin and the finale to follow soon, I hope. Cheers, Ski.