what materials must i use to best create an iraqi building?

wood, plaster, moddelling clay, etc?

thanks in advance

Hi Chris.
Is not easy respond this question, depens of your skills all material is suitble for make a house from carboard to clay. I think that first we can see what dessing what you reproduce and afthr try the material: a rural area construction, a city house, a factory, barracks, etc... every construction have is texture . I´m now making a Irak house and I do it with plastic.
please, can you will be more specific and we can help you a photo of desired building can be of great help.
best whises
CArlos

HI chris!

Im in the "drawing" stages of a house for your campaign at the moment. I will be making mine out of plaster. IMHO, dried plaster best resembles the texture of the cement the houses in Iraq are commonly made of. This is my first attempt at a house out of plaster, so I can not speak from experience on this one. I have cast plaster before, and its not much more differant in principle then casting with RTV and resin. However, if you want to try it, here is my plan...........

Supplies needed:
1) plaster (obviously)
2) a metal cookie sheet
3) lego for making a mold box
4) A hot glue gun and hot glue sticks
5) assorted spatulas, picks, tools.

The plan:

1) scale down the dimensions of the house using a scale calculator.
2) roughly, build a mold box out of Lego on the cookie sheet. Figure out where there will be windows, doors, etc, and make a box out of Lego in the appropriate positions.
3) once all 4 walls and the roof are layed out in lego on the cookie sheet, hot glue the lego to the cookie sheet.
4) mix plaster and water making it fairly watery so the plaster will dry flat on the side that is "up"
5) fill molds with plaster
6) allow to dry, then demold
7) assemble plaster walls and roof using construction adhesive such as "liquid nails".
8) prime and paint.

Anyway, thats my plan if you want to give it a shot. I dont forsee any problems in building the house in this manner. You could get creative if you like and make differant designs. It doesnt have to be 4 walls. It could be 6 or 8 or two differant floors, etc, etc, its all up to you and your referances and imagination. Have fun!

Gary

howzit gary...
i thought i'd just buy ready built buildings...
but using plaster is so much easier!

although there is an easier way...
i'm using the way that caomao777 used to create his one building

the one where he uses plastic card to make a mould, then pours the plaster into it.after it dries he takes it out and adds the details.

i've done one wall so far and man is it easy...
i'll have some pics up soon

gary, your way is also quite easy..i tried it and the one thing i dont like or find complicated, is the demolding...the plaster sometimes cracks or breaks.or maybe it's just me being to rough and anxious?

but please post some pics of your building..i would like to see what mine is supposed to look like.

Haha! I dont know what its supposed to look like LOL Hell, I havent even done mine yet! But thats the plan I was going to try. CaoMao really does some nice work doesnt he??? I think he gives Miloslav competition. LOL Albeit freindly competition. My idea is similar to Caomao's idea. Only instead of using plastic, Im using lego to make the mold. you could use plastic if you like. The only reason I use Lego is because its easy, and cheaper then buying plastic every time I need a mold box.

Gary

PS - if youre going to make walls, say brick walls or cinder block walls, man, you gotta try using drywall (aka sheetrock). Man, that is the easiest way to make a wall i have done so far!

true.....making the mold out of lego is cheaper.
but with plastic card, you can make the pieces you want to your exact size and thickness.because you cant go and cut up the lego to make it fit your measurements.
maybe you can, but it might be a bit hard.

and when it comes to making bricks or cinder lock walls....all you need to do is use a scriber and engrave the pattern you want.


or when you pour the mold, you put thin strips of plastic card at the bottom, so that when you take it out it comes out with a pattern...this is only an idea, haven't put it to the test.not sure how well it will work.

Well, you can move the lego into any position you want. it doesnt have to be interlocked as you are going to hot glue it down to the sheet anyway. As far as textire goes, baking sheets have tecture to them. BUt I think the texture of the plaster is more realistic by itself. One thing I just thought of though is with lego, your limited to making a mold of squared structures. So it wouldnt be pracitcal for something with curves in it. The house I will be making is a block house anyway which is squared off, so it wont be an issue for me. I'll have to do some work on it tonight and let you know how it works. Catch ya later!

Gary

i've got my walls and roof made....but what colour are the buildings and side walks in iraq?
(tamiya colours preferably)

Chris I would take Carlos up on his offer of help, take a look at his gallery
http://photos.kitmaker.net/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=2902

Pick a photo of a building off the internet and get his advice how to build it.