Sorry to bother everyone but I'm having some trouble with my diorama and would like to see if you guys could be of any help. Basically my scene is a bombed out French city with several buildings and armor and figures placed throughout (all 1:32) Ok, the first problem I'm having is with the floors. I looked at DD #7 which is great help but when i went to create the floor, it came out crooked and looking warped and twisted with no flat surface for a good floor. I spaced each beam 4 cm apart with cross braces every 4 cm lengthwise and hotglued it all together. Any additional tips for my next attempt are welcome. My second question is about windows and doors. How should I go about creating a realistic look for each? I cut out the holes in the foamcore but should I just leave them empty or use balsa to create a window frame and door? Any suggestions/tips are appreciated. Finally, my third question is a big one especially for my scene. Since it's a ruined city, it's important the buildings look worn and destroyed. I'm using 3/16" foamcore to build the basic walls of each builiding and want to make them look like destroyed. How should I do this? Cut out a random pattern? I have used cardboard before to create a similar effect by just tearing it in the pattern I want but I can't really do that with the foamcore. Any help is appreciated. Again thank you so much for the tips and helping out the newbie, sorry to become a burden.

I would put the balsa in around the frames. Makes it look a lot better I think.

Well, since I wrote DD#7, guess I better chip in!

First - I have never used the hot glue gun before, so it is possible that it contracts in ways that glue doesn't, causing the warping. I'll bet if you try glue, or at least put something like a book (bible?) on the set while it dries, it won't warp out... and hey - warpage might not be so bad in a bombed building anyway, right?

As for window... I use a lot of "hobby sticks"... thin little matchstick size wood strips (with no match on the end, of course!) that I glue into sections of windows... but my FAVORITE tool for windows is to use GRANDT LINE or DPMS plastic windows (neither are in 1:35 scale but what the heck - they "look" right!). Just break up little corner chunks and glue them in place... most all of my dioramas online here at Armorama use these windows... the same goes for the windows featured in my diorama kits on my website. They are cheap and one window can be broken into several peices - more than enought to do 2-3 windows very realisitically.

Finally, for holes in walls of your buildings... I just let nature take it's course.. I just start cutting with the exacto knife and see what turns out... if it feels right to you - it is probably the right look for anyone.

And don't forget to add some ceiling rafters to your bombed out buildings... can use the same or similar technique discussed in DD#7 !

I'd like to chime in here and say don't forget the rubble. When a building collapses, it makes huge piles of rubble. This rubble contains bricks, lumber, glass, and anything else that used to be in the building. Mounds of rubble will complete a diorama.

Patrick

I have to echo what Keith said earlier. I used the DD technique in Cold Stare and I use white glue to hold it all together - I did load it up with some extra weight on top to hold it in place.

For 1/32 I would go with Keith and all on the window treatments, balsa trim or AM stuff.

I would go with your idea of random cutting on the edge to mimic ruined buildings from reference photos. You can always touch up the edges with some wall spackle to add texture for mortar or brick. Try to envision how a wall of whatever structure you choose to duplicate would fall. A brick wall will crumble differently than a wooden frame building. Take that into consideration. Also exploding walls will be different than crumbling from other reasons.