Some of my creations....

[KWSTAS]

Hello everybody
First I want to make clear that I 'm not just a paper modeler, but I
use any means necessary to achieve a scale realism to my models.
Sometimes I use more paper, sometimes styrene and wood.
I like small scales that allow a lot of detail in a small space.
Words without images are worthless, so let's get to the point...

( I 'm not sure if I should post it under the "dioramas" or "architectural models")
For the warehouse of my N scale diorama "End of the line" I used printed
sheets from the "Scalescenes" company, i.e. "aged brown brick" and "aged
corrugated iron" for the roof on foam board as inner structure. For the front
I added a layer of cork with openings for the windows and doors. This was
done as a second attempt 'cause I did not like the first result.
The windows are "Tichy" -plastic stuff- and the door and signs are from "Scalescenes" again from their free model "low relief warehouse",
with the handle made of a tiny piece of wood. More weathering was achieved
with several layers of oil colors mainly, enamels and acrylics both in washes
and normal painting. For the concrete I use mainly cork with wall putty.
My photographic ability really sucks :mad: .

For more details feel free to visit my blog. Comments and questions more than welcome.

[richkat]

VERY WELL DONE SIR!!!....Rich

[Phil]

That weathering looks authentic. I could learn a thing or two from you. Love the end of the line diorama.

[whulsey]

Wow, that's really grungy looking...and that's a good thing!

[KWSTAS]

Thanks a lot for your comments. Weathering is done mostly with oils.
I love paint rusty stuff and creating abandoned scenes.
Next is a "wooden" hut that was made out of 1.5mm thick carton for the
inner structure and boards made of prestained canson paper. Windows
again from "Tichy".

[eatcrow2]

Excellent work!! Very realistic weathering, and great photos showing it..

[rockpaperscissor]

Terrific job on your weathering and testuring - extreme realism in a tiny scale. Your "End of the Line" diorama is very dramatic, evoking a sad, melancholy emotion. Beautiful work.

[SCEtoAUX]

Very realistic looking run down buildings. I have seen actual buildings that look just like those. The corrugated roofing are especially good.:)

[Wyvern]

Awesome work!

Wyvern

[elliott]

Great work in a small scale. Love the diorama.

[mauther]

Great work! Thanks for sharing your technique!

Greetings from Brazil!

Mauther

[Pgtaylorart]

Wow! I'm really impressed with your work. Your weathering on the wood and metal is incredible.

George

[KWSTAS]

Thanks everyone for your time and comments.
The "End of the line" dio got me a gold prize in our
last annual IPMS convention here in Greece in its
category that is "civilian diorama any scale".

Some photos now from a diorama that came to a stop
and I don't know when I will be in the mood to finish it.
Post apocalyptic dio at 1/500 scale with paper and
cardboard as the main building material. Some weathering
as the streaking was made through photoshop before printing
due to the very small scale and the rest with acrylic washes.
I have to airbrush some mat varnish to kill the shine of the
printed paper.Feel free to ask any questions.

[Art Deco]

Really nice work! The textures and weathering are especially impressive!

[dje]

Awesome, weathering is just perfect. Really like your technique on mixing materials.
I'm looking forward some model like yours in 1/25 or 1/33 ; Would be perfect for diorama.

[KWSTAS]

I 'm working lately on some scratchbuild Viking houses from 9th
to 10th century period. I got the idea from an 1/87 paper kit but
I think that this one needs alot of work to look more like a dio and
less like a toy. I did some research in my books and over the net and
started designing these small houses at N scale ( 1/160 ) . 1.5 mm
cardboard for the walls ( that way I avoid distortion from paints and
glue ) and wall putty over it for mud walls.
This was sanded smooth afterwards and painted with a very light grey
- molac 1196 light grey - to prepare it for the upcoming weathering.
Pin wash with raw umber oil color and oils and acrylics for more stains.
White color oil was used to create more variety and tones.The planks
are from paper - see some posts above the way I paint and use it -
and from the thinner planks I could find from the ship building section. They
were glued over black enamel painted wall so I could achieve shadows
between the planks. The stone wall is printed along with some planked
sections. I try to avoid the last one and use real planking wherever I can.

The roofs were made from scrap paper ( from a wedding invitation :cool: ).
Over that I sprinkled Hecki grass and Woodland Scenics fine turf and sprayed
it with Vallejo grey primer to prepare the surface for the paints. Several paints
applied over with washes and filters from oils, enamels and acrylics, trying
to achieve a different tint on each one to show the different seasons that the
houses were built.

Enough chit-chat, time for some pict. Mind that they are half the way
and it's a W.I.P. As usual my photo ability is bellow average and macro
is a killer for the small scales. As always c. & c. are more than welcome.

http://s6.postimg.org/5td46564t/Roofs.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/5td46564t/) http://s6.postimg.org/grodobuq5/building_01.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/grodobuq5/) http://s6.postimg.org/7z7f0n9l9/building_02.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/7z7f0n9l9/) http://s6.postimg.org/51ag6y1xp/building_02_03.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/51ag6y1xp/)

http://s6.postimg.org/68odz5s25/building_03.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/68odz5s25/) http://s6.postimg.org/xpnea643x/building_03_B.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/xpnea643x/)

http://s6.postimg.org/4apqghpot/continue.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/4apqghpot/)

[Art Deco]

Those look great! The manual planking looks so realistic. And again, beautiful work on the textures and weathering!

[elliott]

Echo what Art Deco said......and I love your pencil sharpener!

[KWSTAS]

Thanks. The structure #3 with the stone walls is almost done.
I 've added some details, corrected the shades of colors on spots
and all I have to do is shoot it with winsor acrylic matt varnish
to kill the shining of the white glue. More when I have some photos.

[southwestforests]

Weathered wood finish for that hut came out nicely. That's something I need to practice more at: can do it decently with paint on styrene, not so good yet with paper.

[KWSTAS]

I believe that it's easier to do it with paper than with styrene.
You have to work just like you would with real wood planks:
Stain the planks - here the paper - with heavily diluted acrylic
paint of black, brown, dark green etc , and mixes of them - the
more the better - and slice it to create the planks. The random
position with each other will give you that variety of weathered
wood. Pin washes, and filters on some spots will do the rest.
Check the post #5 at the 1st page about the random staining.
Give it a try, I 'm testing new techniques all the time. :)

[Pgtaylorart]

I believe that it's easier to do it with paper than with styrene.
You have to work just like you would with real wood planks:
Stain the planks - here the paper - with heavily diluted acrylic
paint of black, brown, dark green etc , and mixes of them - the
more the better - and slice it to create the planks. The random
position with each other will give you that variety of weathered
wood. Pin washes, and filters on some spots will do the rest.
Check the post #5 at the 1st page about the random staining.
Give it a try, I 'm testing new techniques all the time. :)

I completely agree. Paper can look much more realistic than painted styrene. Your "wood" board on board weathered siding looks amazing. Great technique. I like how you paint random tones of the wood colors on the paper then slice and mix them up. Very effective.

[kcorbin]

I 'm working lately on some scratchbuild Viking houses from 9th
to 10th century period.
......
......
Enough chit-chat, time for some pict. Mind that they are half the way
and it's a W.I.P. As usual my photo ability is bellow average and macro
is a killer for the small scales. As always c. & c. are more than welcome.


With the higher resolution digital cameras using the macro feature causes lots of issues when photographing scale model miniatures. It messes up the depth of field focus and also enlarges and emphasizes any tiny flaws that would not normally be noticeable when viewing the pieces in a natural in person viewing. Macro for photographing a bee drinking nectar from a flower...good. Macro for general photography of small scale models...bad.

So here is what I do, I leave the camera on the high definition setting that is adjusted for the lighting conditions you are shooting in. Then I step back away from the model until the image is in focus. Afterwards I use a photo editing program to crop out anything beyond the area I want to see in the photo. Then resize the high def image to a lower resolution so that it can be posted in the forum. It is a little more work but you will get great photos with good depth of field and no over exaggerated details.

[kcorbin]

You can impress fine wood grain pattern into thin wood, paper or styrene with a wire brush. The trick is to lay the bristles almost parallel to the paper surface at just a slight angle. That way it does not tear the paper, instead it leaves track marks from dragging the wires at a low angle. But also another factor for making faux wood grain marks on wood and paper is dragging with the grain rather than across the grain. You will need to experiment with the amount of pressure and the size of the wire until you achieve something you like.

Stir sticks tend to be made from fairly hard wood so they don't achieve embossed grain as easily as basswood or cedar will. For timber framing in scale I always head for the tight grain red cedar. The image below shows cedar textured and modeled for the wall timbers at 1:12 scale but it also works for smaller scales if you get a hold of the really fine grain pieces. I find the best tight grain, old growth cedar, at Home Depot being sold as cedar railing spindles. You can saw one of those 1-1/4" square by 3 foot long pieces into a good sized stack of miniature lumber for under $2.00.
The floor boards in this image were made from thin, old growth Sitka spruce from Alaska. That is not something you can find at the lumber yard. I get it as offcuts from a sawmill that specializes in wood for luthiers. That other object on the floor is a soap stone sink I carved to be used in this project. I wanted a natural stone edge on the front of it.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xuXHKlPfvtk/S16EkImSDiI/AAAAAAAABJI/2YGjG1tsKBA/s400/layers.jpg

[KWSTAS]

Very fine results but i 'm afraid I can't use this way
for a scale that small. I feel that they will be overdone
and grotesque. I usually make grain - mainly on styrene
- with a heavy grit sandpaper, dragged across the
surface of the "plank".
I 'll try your photo technique with my cheapo pocket camera. :cool:

[kcorbin]

I would certainly hope that I would never suggest techniques that create the appearance of being overdone and grotesque. That being said the results are dependent on the skill of the modeler which I have no control over. My thumb is shown in the photo for a scale reference as to how finely detailed the 3D wood grain can be achieved on a small scale card model. The paper is coated, the underlying core paper is darker than the surface coating. You scratch through the coating to reveal the look of old, aged timber. I dragged my knife tip to scratch through the surface on this sample. The faux wood on this project is coated brown card overlayed onto a structure of ivory colored card. You can see that at the doorway where I had not yet colored the edge of the ivory paper to match the brown of the wood. Forgive the glitter, this was going to be used in a Tudor Christmas Village display of paper models at a miniature show, it is an in progress image. The building is my own design and it is available as a pre-cut kit. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-629C3sjIcGg/VQT5Im5qBwI/AAAAAAAAFhE/z9Y3S_HfBcY/w625-h805-no/wood%2Bgrain.jpg

[KWSTAS]

No worries my friend. I want to exchange tips and knowledge with
everyone who is willing to share and learn. I was referring to N
scale and small size timbers. See ya.

[kcorbin]

N scale is 1:148, this building is 1:144. So no problem with this technique on N scale.

[kcorbin]

1:144 model by my friend Nell Corkin, she does have a blog where she shows some techniques. As you can see the building has a lot of fine detail including realistic looking wood. Nell used to be a miniature model maker for the movies.
https://cache.nebula.phx3.secureserver.net/obj/MDAyNEUxMUZBQUZCMzEzMzY2NTY6MDljZjMzZjkwM2RhY2VhZG NlYzEzN2UzNThiNDJkYjQ=
https://cache.nebula.phx3.secureserver.net/obj/MDAyNEUxMUZBQUZCMzEzMzY2NTY6NzgxODg1NWQ4ZjNlNTczNj NmMDUwMmU1Y2QzMDM5MDk=

[KWSTAS]

I 'm at the 1/160 side of N scale :). Anyway, these are very fine models
with alot of realism and dedication in detailing. Thanks for sharing.

[kcorbin]

Oh, the other N scale, now I see the issue!

[KWSTAS]

These are the awards for my dio at Karditsa Scale model Show ( Greece 13-15 May 2016 ).
Next stop IPMS at October of that year with a couple of dios more, that I 'm still working.
Main materials for the structures: Cardboard, paper, cork. You can find more info about the
construction at my blog.

http://s6.postimg.org/xj1mswjv1/KSMS_15_5_2016_02.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/xj1mswjv1/)

http://s6.postimg.org/j3ob7qw7h/Factory_09.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/j3ob7qw7h/) http://s6.postimg.org/lwhirrwjx/Factory_18.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/lwhirrwjx/) http://s6.postimg.org/48zptkmml/Factory_30.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/48zptkmml/)

[KWSTAS]

A small dio that I made as a base for one of my boxcars.
It got a silver at masterclass at the last Greece Nationals
I.P.M.S. contest. Cheers.

https://s6.postimg.org/bolpn0bnx/Small_warehouse_dio_01.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/bolpn0bnx/) https://s6.postimg.org/dht7p2m8d/Small_warehouse_dio_02.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/dht7p2m8d/) https://s6.postimg.org/4o2b7yz9p/Small_warehouse_dio_03.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/4o2b7yz9p/) https://s6.postimg.org/rqsu750r1/Small_warehouse_dio_09.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/rqsu750r1/)

https://s6.postimg.org/gfq6irtvx/Small_warehouse_dio_10.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/gfq6irtvx/) https://s6.postimg.org/lsf0wwhsd/Small_warehouse_dio_12.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/lsf0wwhsd/) https://s6.postimg.org/9rtkw6adp/Small_warehouse_dio_13.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/9rtkw6adp/)

[KWSTAS]

And a P.A. diorama that gave me a gold at masterclass civilian dios,
best at P.A. category and a gold from Star Club ( figure modelers ).
I have to take some more pictures of that :).

As always, the main materials are cardboard in various thicknesses,
cork, wood and wall putty and some items from styrene and wire.

https://s6.postimg.org/hhvrnknbl/Surviving_the_Nuclear_Wasteland_03.jpg

https://s6.postimg.org/p8z0vpqq5/N_scale_destroyed_bridge_W.I.P._01.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/p8z0vpqq5/) https://s6.postimg.org/msx7hv8nh/N_scale_destroyed_bridge_W.I.P._02.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/msx7hv8nh/) https://s6.postimg.org/niov6wkjx/N_scale_destroyed_bridge_W.I.P._07.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/niov6wkjx/) https://s6.postimg.org/h69px2hhp/N_scale_destroyed_bridge_W.I.P._11.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/h69px2hhp/) https://s6.postimg.org/kee7a43rh/N_scale_destroyed_bridge_W.I.P._13.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/kee7a43rh/)

https://s6.postimg.org/tngdk8cnh/N_scale_destroyed_bridge_W.I.P._17.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/tngdk8cnh/) https://s6.postimg.org/ebxp6y3yl/N_scale_destroyed_bridge_W.I.P._24.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/ebxp6y3yl/) https://s6.postimg.org/xxv1fthql/N_scale_destroyed_bridge_W.I.P._27.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/xxv1fthql/) https://s6.postimg.org/drrjgxm31/N_scale_destroyed_bridge_W.I.P._31.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/drrjgxm31/) https://s6.postimg.org/6ptluqih9/P1050027.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/6ptluqih9/)

[KWSTAS]

Oh, the other N scale, now I see the issue!

No need for sarcasm. As I said before - - ->

Very fine results but i 'm afraid I can't use this way
for a scale that small. I feel that they will be overdone
and grotesque.

[gotham]

KWSTAS - your work is stunning.

[Don Boose]

These are exceptionally realistic dioramas. The models are superb, and the weathering is extraordinary.

Don

[Vermin_King]

Very beautiful work. Don's correct

[KWSTAS]

Thanks for your comments and your time fellas.

[elliott]

Awesome work. No wonder you took gold and silver, as you should have.