"Sculpting buildings" Topic

Big hi to everyone, as I'm new here. :)

I've started sculpting a 28mm building – I initially layered the putty for the brick & tiles etc onto thin cardboard. Although with hindsight I'm not sure this was good practice…

I was wondering what other building sculptors used as a base materials to start their building details on?

Thanks

Foamboard, balsa wood, mounting board, plasticard, MDF.

You can also used textured plastic sheeting (railroad hobbyists use it a lot.) I used a stone texture to make molds of walls for mt 3-D terrain projects…

Professional model builders use acrylic to make the structure, and then overlay with mat board. That gives them a nice, rigid structure.

Yea, if using putty, you'll want something that isn't weakened by the wet/damp putty. Acrylic, styrene, foam board, and other materials would be much better.

Paper buildings made out of cardstock and cardboard work well too.

I use thin corrugated food packaging card with the shinny surface outer to make my buildings. Using PVA I glue DAS modelling clay onto this. I roll it out over the surface to about a 1mm or so depth before scribing the surface detail.

Being corrugated the card is very stable and easily strong enough.

Really depends if it's a one off or for reproduction.

Giving away trade secrets, I have simply rolled out plasticene and scribed on brick texture. Make an rtv mould and cast in plaster. Attack with a wire brush/tools. Once you have the mould, they are very cheap. A liquid latex mould is cheaper still, brush on latex with tissue placed between several layers. Make sure you rub detergent into the bristles before and after to make clean up easy.

Thanks to all the suggestions & ideas – much appreciated indeed.
Need to look up some of the options, techniques, materials & mould ideas.

The acrylic & platicard sheets definitely sound appealing.

Also the plasticine mould idea is cool, never thought of that.

LEGO allows you to build a super solid model with correct angles. Everything else is decoration.