I’m working on a WWII dio and am building a bombed out building.

I finely got started on this and am using Italeri’s 3:35 scale brick wall set.
Here are some pictures of what I have so far but it is still far from finished.







I will be adding broken bricks to the wall as well.

I’m looking for opinions on how to finish it.
I went it to look burnt so after painting the walls I’m thinking of giving it a dark wash on the inside but I don’t know how dark to make it.

I also don’t know what to do about the joints.
Should I make them a greyish color or just keep them the color of the bricks?

Also I need ideas for the floor.
I’m assuming most Europan houses hade wood floors at the time correct?
In that case most of it would be burnt away but I don’t know how to make that look right.

Also any other ideas would be appreciated.

Oh and by the way I’m going to be having a group of panzer grenadiers in the building as an america squad storms it.

Thanks.

Here is what I would do, you of course are free to do as you wish.

1. add at least one more section of bricks to each wall. I havent seen too many buildings or walls that are only one brick deep.

2. The morter should be a light grey color. This can be accomplished with pigments, washes, painting, and even a product from pollyscale called dust.

3. Skip the floor. Considering how much is left of this structure, all that would be visable is rubble - piles and piles of rubble.


HTH

Hi!
When I work on brick walls, I begin with painting the bricks in the colours I want - brick red, different shades of grey etc. Once dry, I use a combination of filler and water (in Denmark its called Poly Filla - do you have that in the US? You probably do ). It has to be very thin because you brush it on the bricks. The filler will fill out the spaces between the bricks and leave the bricks with a very thin finish. And you dont have to paint it afterwards. Try it out...it works for me.

Anyway, building houses, brick walls etc. is almost a dio in it self. You could use wallpaper for the inside, posters on the outside, a nice wooden floor. The ideas are endless.

Hope this was helpful. Good luck with it

Simon

Thanks guys.

I agree that it probably should have a 2nd layer of brick but I would have to get a 2nd kit and I really don’t want to do that.

I’ll need a few somewhat open spots inside for the Germans but I’ll take your advice with the rubble.

Simon I don’t know if we have Poly Filla over here but I do have testors contour putty.
The stuffs white and can be watered down. I imagine if I add some paint to the mix I could make it gray.
I’ll try it and see if it works.

I like what you've done with the infamous Tamiya brick set, nice creativity.

One question - consideration I have is "what is it". What kinds of building is it? Is it an urban building with a courthyard? I don't see a cohesive building. You can add a gate (or remanents) and or a short wall to illustrate the idea of different exterior elements.

In a diorama I always ask myself - "how" or "what" is this and how did it get here? Did the figures leave footprints, did the AFV leave tire tracks, did the roof cave in and how?

When youve got a finished product, spray glue soot around it on on it. Also if this is a country house, or was one, you should put some vines on it

Well for the rubble, just go out and buy some plaster of paris, pour it in a mold of some sort ,then just break it. breack it up into proportionaly realistic peices for your model and paint them, then you can sprinkle just whatever you want pretty much over it. The cuilding looks like it's in the city to so why not furnish it with a small amount of furiture, I overtunred dresser used for cover is a very nice touch!

Well Scott its Italeri’s and really not that creative. I used the picture on the front of the box and spent a few days trying to figure out how to build it.

But I do have a bit of a story for it. The building is or at least was a small house on a corner in a small town probably somewhere in France.
The buildings been bombed and burnt.

A group of panzer grenadiers nearby had there halftrack disabled and have gathered there supplies and fortified the building to hold out for reenforcements. (The halftrack was going to be of to one side of the dio but as been removed from the plans for multiple reasons.)

In the dio an American infantry squad will also advancing on the building.

I’m thinking of having a small wooden table inside that was broken in half and burnt. I think I’ll have it that the Germans set the broken end on a pile of ruble to support it.

I also want to have an MG42 in there. Im thinking of having it set up in front of the window opening but I don’t know yet. Any advice on that would be appreciated.

For the rubble I’m thinking of using some scrap wood to make a mold the width of the bricks and mark there height on it. I’m thinking I can make a very long brick out of plaster and brake it up.
Can plaster be colored by mixing paint in with it or would that screw it up?

Also I just thought of something. I’m ripping apart a trailer right now and I should be able to use the scrap drywall to smash up as filler.

Jacob,
Sounds good, you've thought through a lot of the basics. Nice.

As long as there is a destination/goal for a "look" then I'm 'ok' with it. The ideas on technique and finishing had already been addressed and I only wanted to share what I go through when planning a project.

You have it, now just work through it.