Downtown Diorama Part 02 (materials and tools)

Materials & Tools


I listed below the basic materials and tools for this project as well as the corresponding applications of each items for better understanding. These materials and tools pertain also to all my previous projects just in case you are wondering how I made those. This post may bored you but keep on reading, there are tips & tricks you might want to know.

Materials and application:
   
1.Very sturdy cardboard 2mm. thick, more than 2 mm thickness for this scale 1:64 will be way out of proportion as this one is already out a bit

·         Used basically as a backing material for all the building structure like walls, floors, sidewalk, other hardscapes.

·         Advantage - works well with air drying clay than styrene sheets and does not bend due to shrinkage of the clay when it dried. Air drying clay firmly adheres with cardboard and easy to cut.

·         Disadvantage – cannot be sanded or polished, becomes spongy and soft if absorbed a lot of water, jagged edges may appear if not cut accurately.
2. PVA Glue (white Glue)
·          For bonding large components

·          Hardens and reinforces the dried clay when mixed together with small amount of water.

·         Adhesive for landscape materials like grinded foam and earth soil.

·         Good enough for bonding porous surfaces.

·         Not very good for bonding small, thin and smooth parts.

3.CA glue (super glue)      

·          For bonding small parts and accessories

·         quick bonding for small, thin and tricky parts

·         Disadvantage – a few seconds of working time, Fumes is hazardous to health, very high chance to be mistaken for an eye drop, bonds your thumb and index finger instantly without noticing it :D

·         dangerous and should be kept away from reach of children at all times

·         I really refrain from using this as much as possible

4.   Styrene plastic sheets 1mm thick

·         Used for detailing of accessories like window frames and sills, door frames, doors, AC mounting brackets, facade frames and moldings and other small stuffs

·         Very good material for building flat facade like walls/ floors/ sidewalk / other hardscapes

·         Advantage – has smooth surface and easy to cut, sanded and curved

·         Disadvantage – Paint does not stick on very well but with a few coats it will be ok.

·          Small and thin parts become brittle overtime.

5.Air dry clay

·         Mostly for texturing different surfaces.

·         Good material for simulating bricks, rocks, cement walls, asphalts, pavements, tarmacs, different kinds of wall finish and so on.

·         This is only good to apply for small areas as it dries quickly and have to work with it by patching and finishing one area after another, usually 10x10 cm of surface for each patch I think, before it completely dried and unworkable.

·         it is only appropriate for replicating old, uneven, irregular and weathered surfaces and if you are making a flat/plains surface, you must go with styrene sheet instead.

6.       Set of Acrylic paints in tubes or hobby paints

·         Easy to clean and safe to use even inside the room, has a matte finish which brings painted material looked more natural.

·         Obviously not good for shiny objects.

7.        electrical wires

·         I use this for trees armature

·         Cables wires

·         Small pipes

8.       empty bottles of different size

·         Mixing containers for paints and other liquid.

9.       Toothpick or cocktail holder

·         I use this whenever I need round material for columns, balusters, posts and others

·         After every meal  :D

Tools of The Trade

1.       Cutter or Hobby Knife

·         For cutting stuffs I guess?

·         The rectangular shape of the cutter is easy to hold and this is why I prefer this over hobby knife or exacto knife.

2.       Straight edge or ruler

·         preferably made of steel – used as a guide for cutting the parts

·         In my experience as a modeler, I already had countless hand injuries in this hobby, one of the things I avoid using arevthe plastic rulers and you should too, it is dangerous, plastic are very soft and the cutter jumps and cross easily on the edge and slices the finger.

·         Be careful with this tool

3.       Improvised sculpting tool

·         an old paint brush converted into sculpting tool, I removed the brush hair and file the tip to the desired size and shape.

4.       Packing tape or any cylindrical object

·         Round profile to flatten the clay

5. Marking pen 

6. Cutting mat

7. Paint brush

8. Sand paper

Well I guess, that pretty much covered all the use of the tools of the trade and im just gonna update this post from time to time whenever I find new tools and material along the way which were never mentioned above.

Honestly, I am getting bored of this cheap materials that ive been using for many years that is why im planning to move up a little and wanted to try store-bought-materials, I will see if those can really help improve the quality of my diorama.

I will start posting pictures of the actual WIP of the structures on my next post! See you all there!