need help on some buildings

Well you're being pretty vague. The buildings all depend upon what kind of scene your actually doing. For example it depends what country it's taking place in, what time(early WWII or late WWII), and the location(city, countryside, farm.) If you can give more info about the WWII scene your doing, I can give you more help with specific building ideas. 

the buildings i that i was shooting for  a french style building  in the town of carentan, um i believe the town is located in farm land around normandy. and  its during 1941-43.

and yes i am attempting to recreate the scene from the movie.

Are you gonna scratch the buildings or are you looking for kits? If you want to see some kits, Miniart has a pretty good selection of cheap buildings......http://www.miniart-models.com/ Although not all can be used for a city-scape in France.

well i actually already have a cafe kit from them. but i would like to creat a couple of other structers  such as a shed, part of a building and a street.

for the shed and building, i was wonderin what i should use for it, and whats the best method of creating such a thing.

for the streets i was wonderring how i can make my own cobelstone streets. i saw and article w a modeler used split dried peas but idk if im up to that.

I can't really help you with the buildings, you may have better luck asking in the diorama section of the forums.

As for the cobblestone streets, I also saw that article about split peas(but let's face it, that's a ridiculous amount of work.) I know of another technique someone used for cobblestones, here's the link: http://worldwartwozone.com/forums/model-making-tips-help-zone/13828-a-technique-creating-cobbled-streets.html Hope it helps.

oh cool, thanks alot! ill be sure to post pics of when im finished!!!

Mac27bran wrote:

the buildings i that i was shooting for  a french style building  in the town of carentan, um i believe the town is located in farm land around normandy. and  its during 1941-43. and yes i am attempting to recreate the scene from the movie.

Ok that's alot of different projects right there Buddy. take one project at a time. Once you begin steps on one you may begin steps on the next and projects can overlap, but you need to slow down and look at one thing at a time 1st(or it's tuff to get help)and things get confusing. Usually a modeler needing help help will ask about a certain type of structure in one post, another for the next, and yet another to discuss cobblestone streets or such.   First, what 'movie'? then, what building? Do you have a reference photo of it, you can copy(or better yet post so we know what you are attempting)?Google is your friend here(a great start)   Unless you have your mind made up to scratchbuild(or don't have the cash) I'd break into this by buying some premade dio models as suggested, just to reduce the number of projects within your project(at least to begin) Look at all the great stuff from Verlinden, Custom Dioramics,MK35, and others as well as Mini-art. Alot are not expensive.I read that article on the split peas as cobbles too, and the effect was really cool, but seems like you could get bogged down with a feature like that for a while, Verlinden sells lots of different cobble sheets for about $14.

Anyways, everone has a different approach, some scratchbuild everything (EVERYTHING)others like me turn to it when they can't buy what's in mind. In any case, start by collecting reference for each thing you are building, and figure out what are the specific questions regarding each specific model you wanna create.

Mac ... depending on the size of the building/ walls that you're making ... Search for Camo Junkie's "Gun for Hire" and my 1/35 Navy SEAL. We both scratched small wall sections using the same basic technique, just using different materials.

Also search around in the dios forum, etc, and read through some of the threads. A lot of those have buildings/ walls made for the builds.

 *edit*

As far as to scratch or not-to-scratch ... Weeeelllllllll .... Yes, some people scratch everything while others scratch out of neccessity ... But, there are also those that scratch b/c we prefer to. True while you might be adding more "projects" into your build, all it takes is simple planning. Get a good idea as to what you want to do and take it one step at a time. IMO, I scratch b/c I learn more about the subject when I build on my own, that, and buying one AM kit after another gets the wife hot ... and not the kind I like.

The best piece of advice I can give you is this ... why not start out scratching!?! Instead of playing around w/ a $20 resin piece, why not experiment w/ a $3 piece of styrene or styrofoam? I've gotten great results from great AM resin pieces ... but I've also been asked where did I buy that wall section from when it was just a 30-min scratch-build from a block of styro. It's up to you though ... Bottom line ... either way, just take your time and do your homework prior to starting.

A good plan is always perfect until you cross the LD ... but cross w/o a plan and you'll be immediately shot in the face.

HTHs.

Ditto to what the others have told you... Mt preference is to scratchbuild just about everything, but there's also a few details that I get from commercial sorces as well... The old Italeri Diorama Accesory Sets are handy to have around as masters for casting your own stuff using plaster and clay molds.  Overall building walls and such?  I use styrofoam, basswood (never balsa, it warps too easily when you apply any water-based stuff to it like plaster, sheetrock mud, paint), and oftentimes cast entire wall sections in molds and then saw them to shape.  You can make the mold boxes out of styrene "For Sale"-type signs... Hydrocal (look in the model RR section for it) is about the best plaster for casting walls and such, it's a lot harder than Plaster of paris. 

Basswood and styrene strips also make for great moldings around windows, door, roof fascias, and round styrene (usually I use sprue) for drain pipes and downspouts..  The Model Railroad section of your LHS will provide a number of details for some structures, like HO wrought-iron fences that make great balcony railings for that little two-story in Italy... The internet and a printer will provide you with a never-ending supply of signage, as well as wallpaper and floor tile patterns..

The limit is your imagination and your ability to "see miniature" in everyday stuff lying around...  Keep your eyes open for materials everywhere you go... Also, when you get into buildings, look around on the 'net for period pictures of the buildings in the geographical area you wish to model... 

What I would do - Research

I would see if you could go the local library or shop around (if you got the cash) and get access to some books on how to scratchbuild and make your own scenery and dioramas.  I have a book called The Encyclopedia of Modelmaking Techniques for example that shows how to make buildings, streets, entire scenes for model railroading, tips for plastic models, figures etc etc.

The other thing you need to do, is to find pictures on what you want to model.  Might want to do some internet searches for pictures of Carentan from that period of time.

Go to the library to see if they have any of the old encyclopedic series such as the Time-Life WW 2 series and check the photos of the campaign that you want to model.  A lot of them had color photos.  Go to a used bookstore and see if they have any of the old Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War 2 series books which originally cost $1 or 2.

ive already got a french cafe from Miniart, so im kind of basing the dio around that. if anyone has seen the episode Carentan  from band of brothers. that is what im basing most of my rescources off of. plus the internet but im not geting accurate pictures from any website i go to. right now my main focus is the streets. im kind of getting from everyone ive talked to that foam is a good choice and i really want to try it out. i just turned 16 so i dont have a job YET, cause of school and sports so i have insuffiecient funds. so i dont have that much cash to my name.

the cheapest and neatest way is a way i will take. thanks for the help guys.

i apreciate it.

and i got the building scratch built with styrene. im not worried abut that. but knowing some tips on plaster ones would be nice later on.

well, what kind of tips on plaster buildings? hans (and maybe others..not sure) gave you some tips already on plaster buildings. do you have something specific in mind? i too build my dio building from styrene then covered it with spackling compound. total cost...styrene=$10 and spackling compound=$2-$5!! total cost for my building=$12-$15 bucks!!! very cheap.

oh well like how would i put it on and keep it from falling off the walls and stuff.