Need some help on diaoramas and buildings

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Karagin
01/02/13 05:03 PM
72.178.85.122

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Okay I am wondering what tips and ideas many of you have used to get decent dioramas and buildings for BT miniatures and other modeling efforts.

Any things at all would welcome and helpful.
Karagin

Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
Kret
08/20/13 02:48 PM
89.77.240.187

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Hi,

extruded polystyrene would be a good way to start, it is very lightweight, cheap and easy to cut into desired shape. I buy it in Poland, Europe in construction/ DIY stores. I use 50mm thick panes (I figured this would be equivalent to one level - two stacked will cover most Mechs) that are of size of a decent table. You can make buildings out of it too.

Anything from Mein Panzer/Micro Armour will work well too. Also, there are many papercraft buildings on the market that can be scaled down/up to 1/300 scale. Fujimi was running a series of Japanese castles in plastic, each in different scale. I believe Inuyama castle was in 1/300, would probably look good as some local administration center on Kurita-controlled world.

I am currently finishing "sandbox", a desert world diorama with hexes (sadly I am not yet able to post links). Next one will probably be some terraformed world, I loved the one the guys from Germany did (no idea when or where exactly though).

Are You going for hex diorama, or non-hex diorama?
How modular would You like it to be?

Best regards

Kret (Krzysztof)


Edited by Kret (08/20/13 02:49 PM)
Nic JansmaAdministrator
08/20/13 02:50 PM
68.43.36.90

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I'm currently experimenting with hex-based modular buildings using a 3D printer. They're stackable and paintable. I'll share some of the results soon.

Not everyone has a 3D printer yet, but they're getting cheaper, and there are third-party printing services out there if you want to experiment.
-- NicJ
Karagin
08/20/13 10:25 PM
72.178.85.122

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Right now I am trying to figure how to build things, have tons of ideas for the BT scale as well as the 3.75in scale action figures...just want to get some tips and how tos and such.
Karagin

Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
cbtgod
08/21/13 08:38 AM
108.33.107.35

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hmmmmm this isnt a 1 answer deal here. some mechs are bigger than others. nics idea reminds me of old school geo-hex. as far as making a buliding etc. i use styrofoam. you have issues with this spray paint melts it. it can take some trail and error. ive been making my own terrain for over 27 yrs and its always good old smelly styrofoam. train stores are great for some premade buildings. you would be looking for world war 1-2 type stuff. again you should act bring a mech to size this up. as kret pointed out mirco armor scale stuff is great also.
craft stores will have goofy odd ball sizes and shapes of foam. also will have it in big sheets that are pretty thin and easy to deal with. i act goto a rent to own place in my area and ask them to save a few bags of foam. they call i go. give them $10 bucks i leave. you will have to just do it to get your groove. i will tell you some things you do need to do.
YOU never use any glue but ulmers craft glue. any and all other will melt it and make a mess. i water my glue down so i can use a crappy paint brush to apply. use tooth picks to hold your joints together. you act should leave these in to give it a firmer frame. you can only paint this stuff if you prime your foam. coat the foam with waterd down craft glue. it should be thin but not to thin and not too thick. coat the foam 2-3x. let it dry. if you dont coat this 100%. you will have a nice mess.
yes its a toad, if you didnt know that you dont know anything about cbt
cbtgod
08/21/13 09:00 AM
108.33.107.35

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after this has dried you can spray it with any type or paint or primer. BUT you need to do a fade prime not a close up one. put your victim i mean foam. on some thing you can walk around. then start to spray above it a good 18-20 inchs let the primer just fall on it. after all you dont want a huge pile of this crap, any way you have to paint on it? depends on you primer but it norm takes about 30-45 mins to be safe.now you can paint on it. you have a sealer, and now a primer layer. now what you paint should stick to your primer. you can use almost any type of paint but TESTORS who ever made that stuff should be shot. i act use hobby paints from a craft store cheap and easy. i use games workshops paints for mechs.
you will need a x-acto knife set. some crappy paint brushes of diff sizes. some mixing bowls for glue. a hot foam cutter. tooth picks. you also didnt state if you going non-hex or hexed based games? if you doing non it dsnt really matter. you should base your terrain on something. i act use foam. not foam board just thin foam. after a few coats of glue it will get pretty sturdy. dont use cardboard it will warp and look ghetto. if you plan to go the hexed route. easy way is take your CBT maps to kinkos or some other place with a plotter. copy cut bam done.
putting the hexes on the base for your building if needed is really a pain in the **** so what i did was cut the map to shape the base of the building so it can be pulled off and on when needed. you can do this with the back of all cbt maps they are blank and just white.
yes its a toad, if you didnt know that you dont know anything about cbt
cbtgod
08/21/13 09:25 AM
108.33.107.35

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things you need to look into check on this book series which is prob free by now called "how to make terrian" by games workshop. been out so long its got to be free by now. has alot of noob ideas and direction. YOU will never get the terrian to be exact cbt based sizes ever. although you can get it close the minis just have an odd size. you will mess up untill you get your groove. i diff had no idea years ago how to do this. get into a forum that is all about terrain building. alot of 40k guys like myself make whole cities of terrain. your terrain will get beat on and prob broke. just pick up whats left and smash whats left over their head. you can go as complex or as easy on this as you want from making molds to use with plasters, to using liquid glass to make rivers etc. start out simple and work you way up. you will need these things also a cold foam cutter to cut i blv they call it a foam saw?
a fan or vent area. foam gives off not soo happy fumes when cut. for your diorama for a base id suggest a house tile of some sort cheap sturdy and can be painted on easy. to make battle damage etc on your buildings i use a hot pin, nail any thing you can use to make the shape you want. you have to just fiddle around with this untill you fig out your own way and look you like. you can do this before or after you paint its up to you.making craters is done the same way but you would obv use some thing more round and larger etc. if you plan to make a huge building like a hanger etc but want it to look like a nuke it hit it. dont layer it in glue. i use white primer on white foam etc.
yes its a toad, if you didnt know that you dont know anything about cbt
cbtgod
08/21/13 09:46 AM
108.33.107.35

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then its just trail and error the closer you are the worst it will be on the foam. when done then you can layer it and prime as normal. you can also just use a lighter. again you just have to fiddle with this. too make trees is pretty easy i use the tree kits from my train store. you can make these to almost any scale with some cutting and practice. look at other gaming sites for poss terrain. look at other gaming lines for paints and or poss terrian. goto your local toy store you will be shocked what you may find to tear apart for terrain parts. i find all kinds of goodies for 40k and cbt in stupid toys. when i was heavy into heavy gear we used to use gi-joe weapons for mods to our gears. prob the best thing i ever made was a solaris 7 arena. was around 5 feet by 5 feet. 5 levels. working elevators. working lights. working doors. was made out of all plastech stuff. intire thing was modular. took over 6 months to make. dam im old. well thats all i got for now. rember that stuff gives off fumes when burned so again keep a fan going. l8rs DABOSS
yes its a toad, if you didnt know that you dont know anything about cbt
Kret
08/21/13 06:45 PM
89.77.240.187

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The melting of styrofoam can be to Your advantage, too. Just spray lightly the entire surface and it will melt, giving a more uneven and "earth-looking" surface.

I then prime the foam with acrylic Vallejo primer and only after it dries (preferably 2-3 layers) I use a regular spray can.
Karagin
08/22/13 06:24 AM
72.178.85.122

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Thank for the tips!
Karagin

Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
Kret
08/26/13 04:28 AM
81.210.12.50

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cbtgod - or anyone - have You ever tried to make dioramas with hexes closer to 4 inch wide rather than regular ones, so the scale could be represented properly?

Any luck with that?
cbtgod
08/28/13 10:52 AM
108.33.107.35

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no.....but you can take the map and have the hexes blown up and printed on a plotter. i did this for my starfleet battles space maps to make them fit my minis for that game. any print place like kinkos etc can do this after all its just an image after they scan it. so they can pretty much do anything to it although image cropping can be an issue. i was able to take the starfleet map and get it to 4 feet by like 4-5feet. so we would just lay a few of them together to play on 16x12 area. worked nice tbh no stupid card board counters etc. l8rs DABOSS
yes its a toad, if you didnt know that you dont know anything about cbt
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