Not bad, just rusty




Through a window

Over the past few days I’ve got a bunch of things underway, including a sign for a laundromat, brickwork and finishing the windows.


This is the sign in its unfinished state – the completed piece I shall show soon. I cut styrene at 45 degree angles to make the box, using smaller angled styrene for the inset to hold the clear sheet and sign itself.


I molded a whole bunch of brickwork sections from a mold I got at Diorama Debris. They can be tricky to get right, the secret of which is the mixture of the plaster. The general rule of thumb is to mix one part water to two parts plaster – but it is a finer art than that, truth be told. I coloured the plaster with powders and pigments when mixing. I’ll enhance later with the airbrush, but it’s better done this way than just painting white plaster. This is because if any part chips away you won’t be left with exposed plaster under your lovely paint job. On this test piece (with little colouring, hence how pale – and I suffered with bubbles here, too) I tested how the mold would handle being cut with the Dremel. It turns out to be a piece of cake with a tapering diamond bit. The finished piece will have coloured mortar also.


I also finished the windows, apart from a few gaps. They are working miniature sach windows, unfortunately finished using styrene as, unless you cut it, wood strip just doesn’t go down to the size necessary. So I’ll have to carefully paint these later. I’m pleased with the result and I will post a tutorial later on how to make them – the secret of which is in a jig!

by Craig on January 22, 2017