Building a 1/35 Afghan village house for nothing!

[spanner570]

Hi all, It's encouraging to see there are a lot more people thinking about or indeed having a go at dioramas on here than 2yrs. ago, so I thought I would share this build with you all and hope it might give some help and incentive to the 'Dio.' movement, especially as we have some desert dios. in the offing soon

I have never built anything to do with Afghanistan or that part of the world, so a quick look at google images gave me a rough idea what a typical dwelling looks like. From then on I just imagined things and let the ideas flow.

The build:

As some of you will know, I never buy anything for my dioramas but scrounge stuff from the garden, kitchen, the garage or shed.

The base is a 13" X 15" scrap piece of 1/2" chipboard.The main house structure consists of two old polystyrene plant trays, (I hit on this when I wanted summat for a bunker for my 'Omaha Beach' G.B. model) I cut one in half, turned it upside down and placed it on top of the complete tray. This gave me an instant roof! (I needed the extra bit on top 'cos one on it's own wasn't high enough.

I cut out some window and door openings with a junior hacksaw blade then stuck it all together and to the base with my usual floor adhesive. I also at this stage spread some left over adhesive on the walls for a bit of varied texture. The two 'garden walls' are made from strip polystyrene.

Once the basic structure was done, I rooted out some old yellowy emulsion paint from the shed and gave the whole thing a first coating.

After that dried I painted the building and walls with well watered down P.V.A. and collecting sweepings from the garage floor and the drive, I literally threw this mixture at the model, then tapped the base to remove the residue.

This gave me a nice texture for the next bit of weathering...

I mixed some brown shed paint with my P.V.A. solution and painted downward streaks on the walls of the house and then threw more stuff at this. This gave a nice dark brown blotchy effect to the walls. I left the painting to dry and turned my attention to a bit of detail.

I wanted a rickity lean-to at the side of the house, so I found some dead twigs of the right scale from the garden and constructed it with these using 'Uhu' glue.

For the corrugated roof I used aluminium baking foil layed over cocktail sticks and scoured with the back of my modelling knife to give the corrugations, then fixed it to the frame work of the lean-to.

The window frames, shutters and door I made from some scrap balsa, then painted with a brown wash.

That's it for now, next I will turn my attention to the 'Garden' and the road.

I hope you approve of progress so far and perhaps gained some tips on ways to be a cheapskate builder!

The pictures show the initial construction and the progress so far.

Thanks for taking the time to look.

Cheers,

Ron

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[tiking]

This is perfect. I am going to ave this for future refernces. Fantastic!!!!

[spanner570]

This is perfect. I am going to ave this for future refernces. Fantastic!!!!

Thank you Charles for the kind words. When I look at your amazing builds I am honoured you think my effort worthy of keeping for future ref.

I have lots of fresh ideas and adjustments to put into this yet, but the basics are there.

Thank you for looking,

Ron

[Guest]

Very innovative use of what the modern art establishment now calls "found" materials, what everyone else calls scraps or junk! This shows that junk can be turned into art

[geegad]

Hello's I'm new to the dio game a bit scared when it comes to scratch built houses with getting the scale right I work in 1/35 if you could give me any tips on keeping it all in scale that would be gratefully received.because looking at what you've just built you know what your onabout the building looks top

Geegad

[spanner570]

Thanks for the positive comments boys, I appreciate them.

Andrew, don't let my missus hear you calling her plant trays junk!! ( she doesn't know they're missing yet either)

Geegad, my maxim is ! "If it looks right, it is right." By that I mean it's all in the eye, if it's too big or too small it will stand out.

This Afghan dwelling is the first house I've ever attempted, scratch built or otherwise, so I can't be of much use to you really.

If it helps, I put a 1/35 figure by the wall and marked the right height and width for the door, keeping in mind the slightly smaller build of Afghans than Westerners. The windows, as with most of my stuff, I just guessed the proportions. Again they tend to be a lot smaller than what we are accustomed to in the U.K. These sort of things have to be considered where scale is concerned but not to the 'Nth' degree mind!

Try this, using a figure as a yard stick, add a third his height for a ceiling and his head added on for a door way. Much else I can't think of, but I am sure there are others on here who can elaborate on my rather minimal knowledge.

From my point of view it truly is a matter of looking and having that feeling if it's right or wrong. And of course not being worried about jumping in and having a go and learning from your mistakes!

Always keep a sense of humour and laugh at yourself when you make an arse of part of the dio., but equally, laugh when it goes right and you think "Now that looks well."

No amount of books or D.V.D.s come close to hands on. "Those that do, remember!"

Finally, remove 'scared' from your thinking and replace with "Go for it!"

Cheers,

Ron

[geegad]

cheers for the tips and your right everybody has got to learn and make mistakes that's why there is a eraser on the end of a pencil.look forward to seeing your finished dio and thanks again for the tips

geegad

[stona]

Bloody hell Ron,I thought the last few images were your reference photos! That's some great stuff and for next to nothing as well,we all love a good deal.

Cheers

Steve

[yak face]

Ron, I love it!, as a fellow poundshop raider i appreciate the lateral thinking thats gone into this brilliant piece ( translation: in't it brill when yer get summat for nowt!!!) I think Miniart have just put a contract out on you LOL!!! cheers tony

[Guest]

Nice one Ron, i love it, must give it a go sometime.

John

[John]

Great work Ron really like it, just goes to show modelling can be as cheap or expensive as you make it

[Guest]

Top marks Ron this looks the dogs mate very realistic indeed...... my pregnant wife thinks so too.

scott

[Guest]

Beutifuly done Ron. Well done.

Andy

[spanner570]

Thanks boys (and Carrie!) for the really nice comments. I gives me one hell of a buzz to read them.

I must confess to really enjoying building this diorama. I suspect it's 'cos I've not had a go at a building before, so it's all exciting and brand new.

The ideas and things are flying into my nut......This is what I like about dioramas, you start with a bit of an idea and it justs blossoms as it grows.

I think Scott ( noble) had much the same happen with his latest superb diorama, with the inclusion of the little lad fishing at the river bank.

Anyway thanks again,

Ron

[Gern]

Yet another fabulous piece of improvisation Ron!

Gern

PS What do you folks reckon this lad could produce if ever he spent some money?! :lol