A couple of questions.

What is the scale? That matters as to several pieces vs. lots of pieces.

Location, era, newness of structure in it's time,

Sounds interesting for you.

Bill

Tim's Corner

I like number 1 as it seems to make more sense to me regarding time usage, and just general ease of obtaining those materials (it helps to be a carpenter!).

I'd also be inclined to go for option 1.  It's simpler, easier to control, and doesn't involve faffing about with moulds (something I always have difficulty with).  However, I'm also a woodworker, so maybe we just think alike

GMorrison

A couple of questions.

What is the scale? That matters as to several pieces vs. lots of pieces.

Location, era, newness of structure in it's time,

 

Sounds interesting for you.

 

Bill

 

Hi Bill, the scale is 1/56 as I will be using tabletop game models as guards and traveling peasants. So there will likely be 8-10 characters, the tower, and a bridge as the main attractions as it were. The tower itself I will be making about 2 1/2 inches tall, and about half as wide, so pretty small.

Ill be an older structure - I'm going to model it as being a century or two old.

Thanks!

Hutch6390

 

 

Tim's Corner

I like number 1 as it seems to make more sense to me regarding time usage, and just general ease of obtaining those materials (it helps to be a carpenter!).

 

 

I'd also be inclined to go for option 1.  It's simpler, easier to control, and doesn't involve faffing about with moulds (something I always have difficulty with).  However, I'm also a woodworker, so maybe we just think alike

 

Hutch6390

 

 

Tim's Corner

I like number 1 as it seems to make more sense to me regarding time usage, and just general ease of obtaining those materials (it helps to be a carpenter!).

 

 

I'd also be inclined to go for option 1.  It's simpler, easier to control, and doesn't involve faffing about with moulds (something I always have difficulty with).  However, I'm also a woodworker, so maybe we just think alike

 

Those were exactly my thoughts as well! I don't mind molds, but along with all of the reasons you stated above, I would need to buy more stuff, while just using wood/compound would cost me nothing but time.

Thanks!

Hutch6390

 

 

Tim's Corner

I like number 1 as it seems to make more sense to me regarding time usage, and just general ease of obtaining those materials (it helps to be a carpenter!).

 

 

I'd also be inclined to go for option 1.  It's simpler, easier to control, and doesn't involve faffing about with moulds (something I always have difficulty with).  However, I'm also a woodworker, so maybe we just think alike

 

Method one is probably your best bet, as method two is better at very large scales (like 1/24 or larger)

If using wood, I'd used a nice stiff basswood of soft mushy balsa.

No, as an option, there is "foamcore" a posterboard material with two sheets of high-gloss paper over an extruded foam core.  This material is used for presentation boards and matting.  It's inexpensive, and has the benefit of being very light, and easy to cut.

Another option is to find hgih density foam sheets.  These have an advantage of being super light, and can be carved upon directly to get stone patterns.  It can be sut with sharp knikes or a hot wire cutter.

So, many options out there.

Hello!

I'd say go with your method one, just take a piece of styrofoam instead of wood. Wood can be mean sometimes - warping, cracking and stuff.

I already made my tower this way, if you'd like to check it out I described it here:

http://www.vietnam.net.pl/M55mod3en.htm

Hope it helps - good luck with your projects and have a nice day

Paweł

You might try a quick, cheap, and dirty mock-up of both and see which one works best for you before starting in earnest on the real thing. 

And further to what Gams said- its always a good idea to build a model of your diorama to get everything positioned, make decisions about what's in and what's out, and point of view set.

Bill

I would go for No.1. Moulds will be a PIA in this scale. As Pawel suggests, you can also use styrofoam. I used this for a building in a diorama many years ago and it has stood the test of time.

This is awesome - thank you all for the suggestions. I have thought about using high density foam, and I still may do so, but I think I will start off by testing the wood and joint compound option (option1) after reading through everyone's replies, simply because I have way more than enough of both on hand. I have some old Doug fir that has been well acclimated to where I will be, and I'm thinking if I paint the wood first as well, it will help prevent cracking/warping, etc. 

I'll test it out and see what happens - worst comes to worse, all I wasted was some time

Im videotaping the entire diorama build, and I'll put it up here for you guys when I'm done to let you know the results...!

Good luck TC, looking forward to seeing your dio.

Cheers

Ferg