New project!

My friends, it's time to start a new model. And this one is going to be VERY different, yet somehow similar to what we've already done before. In simplest terms, it's going to be another styrofoam building, but... 

This time I'm making just one wall. Full of interesting textures and details. It's not going into a diorama, but a picture frame. I want to try having fun with all these amazing effects in a small area. But most importantly, focus on improving old and trying out new techniques. 

I mentioned during the water mill, and I'll talk about it more in the video, how it's often hard to find a good workflow and choose the right techniques when you're painting 1-2 buildings a year. On top of that, styrofoam has that sponge-like fuzzy quality which somewhat degrades the overall look of the finished piece, and it makes painting rather interesting. Basically, every paint gets immediately soaked into the foam, which is great for smooth blending, but not so great for fine painting. 

With this project, I'm simply going to replicate what I see in the photograph and try to recreate it as accurately as possible. Variety in real life isn't just about painting each brick in a different tone - as you see in the reference image, there's black, grimy mortar on the left side, crumbling bricks on the right, orange bricks next to the circular vent, etc. 

There's no denying that I was heavily inspired by the works of Emmanuel Nouaillier (@wallsfromthepast on Instagram) who's been pioneering these 3D paintings for many years. I noticed that some other modelers are doing these from time to time, but it's not a very common "genre" of modelling. 

I've been actually playing with this idea for roughly a year. I said several times in the past that creating a standalone miniature building just for the sake of that building alone, not the diorama around it, was a very appealing idea for me. But then I ran into problems with storage space for my finished models, and suddenly, hanging these pieces on the wall didn't sound so outrageous at all! 

Also, from all the reference images I've uploaded here for you, it's quite clear that I'm fascinated by old, decaying buildings. Unfortunately, they don't often fit historical dioramas. This way, there's complete freedom on what one might want to recreate. For example, I have a pretty large album of saved images on Pinterest, and also some buildings from my local area that would look really nice in miniature. 

As you can imagine, my stoke levels for this project were so high that I already did some experiments on the side while finishing the watermill diorama. My main pet peeve was the fuzzy texture of styrofoam, so I was trying to figure out a way to seal it, make it stronger, and possibly find a way to add finer textures to it. 

This depends heavily on the type of foam you have, and sadly mine doesn't have a specific name. I just buy it in my local store that's right in my village, and I just have to ask for "Styrodur". But I could ask the cashier if they can find a more "scientific" name for this specific foam on their computer. The point is, that this foam doesn't react with Tamiya putty. I have to dilute it with alcohol instead of Lacquer Thinner, otherwise, it'll completely disintegrate. It needs 2-3 layers of diluted putty to create a nice, sealed surface, and then it's actually possible to stipple and sand some subtle texture on top of it. It's also possible to scribe very fine cracks or even letters into these sealed bricks. The putty + alcohol mixture temporarily softens the foam and it's possible to imprint various effects, and this will come in handy once I start creating those board-formed concrete blocks.

Anyway, this is already getting very long, so the only other thing I want to say is that so far, this seems like a new alley of modelling that I'd like to walk down from time to time. I hope you'll like this project because I'd love to do more in the future. There's so much to explore with various types of old buildings. Be it wooden barns, warehouses made completely from corrugated metal, old shops with peeling, rotten stucco and boarded-up windows... the possibilities are endless!