The Streets

I only recently used pink... well, more of a purple... foam to make "brick" walls, and I really liked the way it turned out after painting.

Frustrating, isn't it, when our early efforts look better than our later attempts.

I find "carving brick walls" out of foam to be almost addictive.

"Addictive".. well that makes one of us! Hahaha. In all seriousness though. It is quite fun, watching a crappy foam turn into a wall.

I wanted to give AMMO the sneak peak that i have not shared with Men With Dolls forum yet.
I'm feeling alright about how this is turning out. The colour isn't exactly what I wanted. However after seeing the wall in the picture I felt good about it.

I like the white weathering on the right side, like the mortar is dissolving and staining the bricks.

I think it looks good!

I've been wondering how to make brick or stone walls, is there a tutorial somewhere online?

I once had a site bookmarked, that told how to make room boxes, but apparently that site is now
no longer available.

I got burnout on the hobby a few years ago, now that I'm back I'm finding that a lot of sites I had
bookmarked are no longer around.

It's hard to do photostories when you don't have the background for it.

RealSarahdactyl, you mentioned unfinished furniture. Do you perhaps sell them on Etsy?

Daryl

I really think the trick is to NOT make your bricks too regular as they would be if newly laid. 
In your version it's the little imperfections (cracks, chips, vanadium stains etc.) that you have deliberately studied and incorporated that make the whole thing far more convincing.

Thank you SCU_HQ!

TNshooter, I actually did a little tutorial on the Men With Dolls forum. I could repost it here for you if you like? Basically I just decided on 0.5 by 1.25 inches and scored my lines with a sharp blade. Like a utility style blade. Then I deepened the scores with a sharpend kebab type stick. Then it's a case of layering the paint. You want to get a mixed grey in there to get the mortar. This time I let it dry a little, worked the score lines with the stick again. Then added paint by sponging it on, and brushing it. Then did black and white washes with diluted paint. I just use cheap craft acrylic from Walmart because I go through so much.
As for furniture, I have a post here with some stuff. That is actually what I'm building the wooden room box for. For the stuff my Mum and I make. We eventually want to get stuff on Etsy, but I am happy to do stuff if people ask ob the forums. 
LeStryge, exactly, unless you want that painted clean look. I wanted to create a little scene that I can muck up with leaves and rubbish, to display gangsters or soldiers or just urban dolls.

Love the pavement and curbs Sarah! very clever!

Thanks Dal! I just kind of winged it, I had a chunk of thicker foam ans decided to carve the edges after making the lines, then I rubbed it with a sanding block. That I think my father was not using..

Wow! Great job! You have talent!

Very nicely done Sarah , but that wall is just crying out for some Graffiti , I think it would look even better , just a thought . Great work regardless , and a nice back ground for stories .

Thanks guys!

Chip, I wanted to do a bit of graffiti but I think I'll need to stick to road signs and posters. I was trying to think of how I'd mirror the spray effect without an airbrush and I'm at a loss.

Posters and road signs will definitely add interest and not so permanent , probably the way to go , and I hadn`t thought of it so well done , the only way I can think you would get that effect is with a modellers airbrush as you have suggested . I hope you come up with some signs and posters for it , you could do many different periods using different posters , as brick walls don`t change much over the years . Great stuff so far .

I've found some coll soviet era stuff that could double as, either soviet era, or S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game universe. 

I think its a case of getting the right paper for the task. I'll probably keep it bare after I finish gluing and assembling it. I plan to add moss and some plant.

Yes, a few weeds always manage to struggle through the cracks, and moss/mould where the water runs down would certainly add to the realism.

Ask Blondeactionman what paper he used for posters , as he has printed quite a few for the ammo arms ect .

I think later this evening I'll be mossing and weeding the diorama, if I can get to craft shop in time.

RealSarahdactyl wrote:

I think later this evening I'll be mossing and weeding the diorama, if I can get to craft shop in time.

In this case, "weeding" means adding weeds, not pulling them out!

Amazing...

Will you be using coloured lichen or something else?

SCU_HQ, well I've added some moss! No weeds yet!
Thanks Inntruderr61!
Lestryge, I used what is called Green Grass by Artminds. It is in the miniatures section of Michaels.

This is by no means finished, I plan to add to it, but it is just collecting bits and experimenting. I might hold.off on posters until I'm m confident in my application of them to the walls. I think walking around urban areas and taking some research photos might help me..

looks better and better . Well done .

The moss is looking good! Although it seems that to "moss" the entire wall will be an extremely time-consuming and tedious project.

As for posters or flyers, I would think very carefully about adding anything like that permanently to the wall. As a bare, weathered wall, it can be used in a variety of scenes from a variety of eras, "antique" to "modern," outdoor or semi-abandoned or industrial indoor. Once posters are permanently affixed, the structure becomes less versatile for time and place. Considering the amount of effort you are putting in to this, you may want it to remain versatile.

Perhaps experiment with non-permanent methods of attaching posters. An adhesive called museum wax was recommended to me on another forum:
https://www.amazon.com/Quakehold-44111-13-Ounce-Museum-Wax/dp/B000FJQQHC/

The wax is mostly non-permanent, although I have had it remove the paint of painted paper surfaces. Nothing too difficult to touch up. It works well for short- and medium-term mounting of miniature posters, although there can be an issue with the corners curling.

Thanks Chip!

Dave! Thanks for that tip on the wax! I have some cool poster ideas for my S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe,  ut I didn't want to risk permanently "Chernobyl-izing" this diorama.