BMP -2 In Aleppo - Buildings construction

[Steven]

Hello all
I am working on a diorama with a SAA BMP - 2 In outskirts of A,leppo scale is 1/35 period is not set but will likely be in the later stages of the Civil War. Discussion regarding the layout can be found Here, but in short there will be a lower building in the foreground - partly in ruins and a large apartment/ storefront complex in the background, also partly destroyed.
BMP: will be parked and crew talking to troops on the ground, believing the area to be cleared - not so....

[ATTACH]343603[/ATTACH]
Materails will be a mix of foam and plaster - working in foam is a first for me.

Lower Building:
Is going to be a grocery store/Bodega with large opening blinded by rolling shutters - the roof will be collapsed so not much of the interior will be seen
I have begun work on the lower building, for ease of construction, I have not glued the parts together yet , also I am planning to have the facade rendered using - hmmm- plaster of Paris I guess - any better alternatives? with parts of the brickwork showing
The Window is thought to be a display window or a smaller opening to serve patrons.
[ATTACH]343604[/ATTACH]

I had to redo the sidewalk a few times but I fairly content with this:
[ATTACH]343605[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]343606[/ATTACH]

[spanner570]

Steven, regarding your question about alternative rendering, when I did my burned out Abrams tank diorama on here in May, I found the foam board/ polystyrene on its own was fine for the render. I just dug some bits out here and there.

I then painted the exposed blockwork a slightly different colour to the render. Keep in mind these buildings were usually 99% concrete blocks and pillars, then rendered.

I hope the above link will be of some help to you.

Whatever method you adopt, just have fun when you create trashed and damaged buildings. I do!

Ron

[Steven]

Ron - you are quite right they do have a rendered finish on their own - I am going to play around with some trial pieces, both rendered and without to see what works best for me - thanks for the input mate :thumb2:

[spanner570]

Glad to help.
Just a couple of quick pointers which you might know already.....
Be careful what glue you use. Some will melt the foam board. I use UHU POR, it's specially for foam board and any polystyrene.
Before you apply any sort of 'Render', prime the board with watered down P.V.A. and let it dry.

Cheers.
Ron

[Steven]

Thanks for the tips :-)

[Steven]

trial - wall rendered - I am pretty happy with this first attempt - I am just playing around atm :smiling:

[spanner570]

Trial? Playing around? That looks excellent Steven!........:thumb2:
Who needs to add any extra stuck on render?

Ron

[minitnkr]

A great "trial". Very well done. PaulE

[Guest]

All good fun:smiling4:.

[Steven]

thanks guys:smiling:

[Steven]

Rendering the left building is having a sanding and the right is not sanded [ATTACH]321993[/ATTACH]

[spanner570]

Is that polyfilla or similar I see applied?......:surprised:

[JR]

Steven.
Ron is quite right in his thoughts on the board.
I use a plaster board adhesive for the skim over the foam ( only because I had a tub left over ). Looking at yours its seems perfect what ever you have used. The finer the mix the easier to sand, poly filler, plaster , they are all pretty much the same.
Looking fwd to more photos.
John.

[Steven]

Is that polyfilla or similar I see applied?......:surprised:

It is :smiling4:

Steven.
Ron is quite right in his thoughts on the board.
I use a plaster board adhesive for the skim over the foam ( only because I had a tub left over ). Looking at yours its seems perfect what ever you have used. The finer the mix the easier to sand, poly filler, plaster , they are all pretty much the same.
Looking fwd to more photos.
John.

You are so right, I chose Pollyfilla for the fine grain it has thinking it would yield a nice finish and it is not shabby I guess

[Steven]

Whilest working on the facade of the building i have been playing around with the collapsed roof it is aboutn1.5 cm in thickness and i use 0.1 og mm wire and have a hard time getting thw right sizing for the rebar i spotted some at a construction site meant for flooring and they were about the size of my inedex finger