Walmart is going to cash in on fishtank stones - sales !!!!
I figure about ........... at least 50% of the structures will be stone and the rest plaster block/stone.
Tedious, slow, aggravating, ........... but in 6 years I should be done, l.o.l.
Cheyenne

Overview of church and monastery, [ yes it's growing !!! ].

Having spent the weekend struggling with a miniart building and one of my own plaster buildings I'm in awe of the results you achieve.

woooow very impressive work man.
can't wait to see what it will be when you finished with it

Thanks for the kind words Pat, I've just retired so I have alot of time now on my hands and I love sitting in my modeling room creating things.
95% of this stuff is just plaster, fishtank stones and foamboard.
I'm not to good at explaining things but now that I'm retired I really should do step by step things, because it's not really that hard to come up with constructing your own buildings.
Thanks again Pat - Cheyenne

Hi Glenn,
How are you?

You made good progress here, it's going to be huge (the biggest you made?)
But with all the stones, it's going to be heavy also.

Cheers
Claude

A couple of questions Glenn: what type of glue do you use or recommend for plaster to foam board, stones to board and cork to plaster ?

Hi Claude, yes this will be the largest. It will also be the heaviest !!!!!
As long as it weighs less than me the floors should hold it l.o.l.
This retirement thing is great, the wife works, the kids are in school, and I get to model all day and make dinner for everyone !!!!
Tonight's shrimp, flounder, andouille stuffed shells with a little sun dried tomatos and Basil creme sauce.

Pat, I use regular orange tube Testors glue to fix the fishtank stones to the foamboard.
Cork, balsa, basswood and the plaster stone blocks, I use a good wood glue. I also use the wood glue on other ceramic, plaster etc. builds.
Both glues are forgiving and give a decent amount of wiggle time.
The wood glue sets up faster [ plenty of desicision time though ] and when dry the plaster will break before the join will. Balsa and basswood also will splinter and break before the join does.
Pat you should try this, any q's p.m. me.
The fancy shapes are rubber moulds I found in a craft store, simply coat with Vasoline [ release agent ] fill with spackle or plaster and pop out when dry.
The stone blocks were made with some small sectioned trays I found at work. Same method, coat with Vasoline and then fill with spackle, I can make a couple of hundred different sized blocks in one pour.
Research is also important it's good to have some thing in mind when building, but it's your house and doors, windows, balconeys, stairways etc. are yours to determine.

Cheyenne

Hey

That is looking like 1 huge monastery! Looks great so far. I can't wait to see more!

Grtz

wow nice work!

how did you made the tiles?

fantastic, keep posting your progress please..
and you must have lots of space to put your work

Matteo thanks, the tiles are precut wood squares found at a craft store. I used plaster as grout between the tiles. I stained them with wood stain just to give it some color while working on the piece because everything was white. All that white, [ stone blocks, grout, foamboard, tiles ] except for the fishtank stones was making me snow blind and it made it visually funky to work on.

Merty thanks, don't really have alot of room but hopefully I'll be moving to new digs with a garage and a basement.

Cheyenne

Your are indeed multi talented

Must say I am a bit envious with all the work I got to do at the moment would be great to just sit around and model all day !

Great update, the stone faces are really nice. Once a coat of paint goes down and the different medias are unified a bit it will really shine.

Did I miss an update - the corner looks like it has a beam in it as if you're covering it up? What's the plan there?

To be honest Glenn, the size of your planned projects just completely overcome my own imagination! Such amount of work in perspective!
I really like the work on the stones! this is going to look like the real thing i reckon



leave me a plate! It's about time I reconsider my French cliché about American food!!

Scott, yes that's the door frame. Without it everyone thought the entrance was the p.e. wicket gates.
I think I'm going to try and keep the stones color. I'm going to try and wash a coat of thinned spackle between the stones and then matte clear them.

Lars, Jean, thanks. Jean, that is Louisiana Cajun inspired food !!!!! Except for the flounder that comes out of the bay at the end of my street. So basically it is French, l.o.l. Back in the mid seventies I was married to a Dukes of Hazzard type Ellie Mae type gal and lived in Louisiana for a spell.
My mom taught me to cook at an eary age, convinced that no woman I would ever marry would be able to cook as good as her ............. she was right.
Ahhh,............. but there is method to my madness, I get to sip a glass of wine or two while cooking.
Hey like Dean Martin said, " People that don't drink ".........." When they get up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day "
And,................... " You're not drunk if you're laying on the floor and don't have to hold on to anything "

Sorry , too much coffee this morning - Cheyenne

Hi Glenn,

Glad to see you enjoying your retirement lol, lol. The building is coming along really well and growing in size

As always, excellent stuff.

Cheers

Al

mmmm....Cajun....even better!!