Hi guys, I am at a standstill on working on the figures and models for awhile so i have redirected my attention to the buildings for the dio. Here are pics of the first buildings foundation/cellar. I havent started painting yet or finished the ground work yet so keep this in mind. Again like the Brave Souls dio this will show a viewable angle into the buildings. This building as shown in the pics has a stone foundation and atop this will be a log building with thatched roof. Here are the pics. Please all comments and criticisms are welcome. Let me hear from you Kevin

hey kevin, lookin very nice so far. i love how much detail and realism you put into ur buildings. that door knob looks totally real! i might have to say that those stones used for the outside might be a little large. i think it wouldve been a real feat to get those in place by hand. but im sure that when the rest of the building is put on top it'll look just fine. just my 2 cents. so far, lookin great! keep up the wonderful work.

Hi Kevin

I like those doors ! They came out great. The only thing that I see is what Justin has already said. Those rocks in the fondation do look pretty big. That could just be the pictures. Anyway, great job so far. I look forward to seeing the completed diorama.

HarryD.

Kev absolutely nice work there .The doors look splendid (can i order a set of 3 with their frames for my next dio ?) and the basement rock wallis very very nice. Building my one stonewalls and having seen thousands, here in Greece this technique was used all the time . Large solid stones on the lower parts of the buildings and a tad smaller on the more heigh points.At that height that u have the stones two workers carry them easily to be used on the wall(but i see u didnt need a helping hand on that !!! u did alone)
Door detailing looks excellent and so do the basement stairs,
Very good work , i am looking forward to see next steps my friend
BRAVO

Costas

looking very very good Kevin. i will take and order too on those doors :-) I also like the visual change in level which is always good to see in a dio.

Hi Kevin,
It looks great. Congrats. The doors are excellent, especially I like the door knob..

Great job Kevin, all looks very good, how did you lay the brick work? Would love to see a photo of the whole base (to get an idea of where you are going). I hope your little mishap works out soon, would like to see the figs. Anything I can help with? Would be happy to check whats in my "stock" to see if we can get you going on the figs. I have many Dragon sets on the shelf.

Thanks for the comments guys The stones do look huge in these pics but not so big when viewed as a whole. Also the door was very simple. the door handle and knob is a straight pin with the plastic knob on the end. Paul the brick work is the tamiya set of bricks. I will see about getting a overall pic on here too. Since I posted this thread I finished the timbers and will be posting more pics soon. Again thanks for the comments guys. Cheers Kevin

Kevin:

Looking good as always. I agree with Costas, I think the stones look appropriate for a foundation. Could you explain the method you used to make the wall? Are they small stones from outside?

Keith

Great Job so far Kevin. Excellent work. The door is probably my favorite, such realism. The stairs going down into the basement is awesome too.. Keep up the good work, and hurry and post more pics.
Mary

Thanks again for the comments. Keith, the wall is foam board. The rocks are talus from woodland scenics. It is very light weight and easy to break rocks apart to make them fit. After I glued them to the foam board and let dry I rubbed plaster (the kind for fixing holes) into the rocks and spread it over the foam board on the inside. After this it was time for the toothbrush. I kept dipping it in water and scrubbing the plaster right off until it was just between the stones. All in all a very easy task. Cheers Kevin

Your methods are nice and easy Kev . thanks for sharing. Keep working and updating

Costas

Party Time
You found a good use for those Tamiya brick sets. Those and the sandbags are two sets that EVERYONE has and is hard pressed to find a good use for -

My view of the stone wall is a bit different, the size of the rocks is nice, very authentic, very well executed.
What I see as a challenge (maybe) is the thickness of the wall. The part that is catching my eye is the area around the door. This may be a moot point depending on how much a viewer will get to see a cross section of the rock wall. As with the size, it could just be the photos. Pretty small nit pick.

As with the others - great doors.

Again thanks for the comments everyone I realized that the close up pic's kinda show the rocks a little big so here is a overall pic of it so far

The vehicle positions are going to be changed as I have done a lot of brainstorming on this tonight. I am going to try to finally incorporate the verlinden cart that was to be used on the Brave Souls dio. Also there will be another building right next to the intersection. There will also be many, many marching soldiers as this dio's setting is the march to Kursk. With the help of Costas (major goose), Paul (nato 308) and Engin (graywolf). I will have plenty of figures. Again all comments and criticism are welcome. Cheers Kevin

Hello Again Kevin:

Thanks for the explanation on how you constructed that foundation. I will have to look for that talus at the local model RR store as I have not noticed it before. The overall picture is looking good.

Keith

Thanks Keith. That talus is defintely worth checking out, I find mine in the hobbylobby it comes in diffferent colors too and is ultralight weight. Its also what I used for the fence I didnt use on the brave souls dio if you remember the threads about that. Cheers Kevin