Cheap Rubble mounds for Derelict Buildings

[Beano Boy]

I guess the average person into War Gaming knows how to make, derelict buildings and bomb craters and much much more besides. However this is aimed at the novice beginner in the hobby who might well see the high price of things he or she likes rather off putting. So I thought I`d show you the basics of doing it on the cheap with Kitchen Foil,and Plaster Of Paris. Although very cheap, You will need a lump Hammer & a Road Drill if you get the mix wrong. So Don`t



Tear off a good section of foil,and then make two or three pieces out of it. Small Oblong shapes are good to start with.There is no need to measure out ,just go by your own eye . Mine were ruffly 6"X 4" and just lightly crimpled up into a loose ball. Loose Guys, not Tight! Unroll carefully then make into the hollow shapes needed to take the Plaster of Paris. Just think Easter Egg Half Shells and shape them.



Place them upside down on somewhere flat and apply a light flat hand pressure just so the edges are level. This will,or should stop the wet plaster running over and off the sides when casting up. Turn them the right side up. Now you are ready for the Mixing Up.



For mine I mixed up 6 heaped Dinner Size Spoon full`s of Plaster Of Paris with 8 Dinner Spoonfulls of cold water in a Yoget tub for each of my Foil Egg`s! Now you don`t want to be messing around levelling spoonfuls of this stuff,that makes cloads of dust,and that is not good to breath in or say get it all over your work area,mine was near the sink in the kitchen. So heaped up spoonfulls is safer and much more tidy. Yes at times even Beano Boy must do Tidy! I prefure to mix using a coffee type stick & pour straight away one mould at a time. The Plaster of Paris-Powder must be added carefully to the Water one heaped up spoonful at a time,and not the Water to the Plaster. This if done will cause instint lumpiness which will set up hard in seconds. Plaster to Water every time,if it seems stiff add more water,and stir up but don`t go made and create tons of bubbles. Quick Easy & Wet the Mix must be like the Yogurt creamy and must be able to flow out easy like into the moulds when the Pot is tipped.



Remember this ,work quick but safely because this stuff goes off HARD very Quick! Don`t worry there`s tons of time to do these little things. A warning now,Do Not Rinse the Remains of this Plaster in your Sink,just put it still in the Pot in the Waste Bin. Rinsing this Stuff in the Sink could go hard in your pipes making this excersize very costly indeed. So Guys Please Do Not Do IT. Thank You.



After each of my moulds were cast up,I used a large cheap paint brush,and just lightly stuck it into the plaster and worked it in an up and down manner all over the cast up mould,and lightly this agitation forced any bubbles away from what would be the top of the casting when it is taken out of the mould. It`s a little thing,a Tip that can avoid perhaps much Finer Castings from being ruined by air bubbles.



Now it is possible to make Shell Holes & Fox Holes and lots of stuff too using this type of tried & tested system using Plaster of Paris.
It is simply trail & error formulating your own unique pieces that you wish to make.

Plaster of Paris is still being used by Master Masons even today.



My castings went hard in 8 minutes after pouring.I timed it. However I left them 4 hours to go really hard,then started to carefully peel of the Foil. Well it will come away in pieces so into the bin with these bits & pieces.

(This stuff will go hard as rock,but don`t cut corner, and use builders Plaster which will not.)



I`ve added a bit of shade to the picture above so as to give you the viewer a better idea of what this system can achieve very quickly and very cheap,and the greatest plus is each casting will be different from the others. Massed produced mounds just needing painting a dark brown or black and dry brushed lightly with white paint. You Guys know how to paint,but that is how I will do mine. Then I `ll stick on a few loose broken Cardboard Roof Tiles & Bricks and pieces of damaged burnt wood.

Then this complete little job will be Done & Dusted.
But without any Mess for my Mrs B to have to clear up. BB

[Emperor]

I saw this trick once...Great job Beano Boy...

[Susofrick]

Very nice! And cheap!

[Kekso]

I like this idea... thanks Paul

[Peter]

I agree with the others!

[Beano Boy]

I forgot to add this system is Brilliant at producing Rock Faces for railways cut into and through say the Rock Mountains.



These are brushes that I use both in the process after the plaster has been cast,and for the painting too.

These are the very cheap brushes that I use for this type of work and it is easy to buy them by the dozen at the 99p or Pound Land Shops. However before you use them give them a good wash and tip the water outside. By doing this washing you get rid of the loose bristles of these cheap brushes. This avoids getting all this hairy stuff in your paint pot or all over your hard work. This could be the case,because Silly Me did it,but one learns by mistakes and in my case I like to pass the warnings on.



The very cheap Acrylic Paint in large tubes I use it neat for an undercoat on this type of work,it dries really quick and skins over nice and waterproff,and once painted & dry you can Stipple ,( DAB UP AND DOWN! ), more paint onto your work to create more of an effect for when it comes time for dry brushing. Remember a small dot of paint goes a long way when dry brushing correctly,so don`t squeeze out to much paint that will be wasted. I will dry brush white paint onto my pieces before sticking other stuff onto them that have been already painted before hand. The size bricks I will make by cutting paper card into strips and each cut edge is given a thin coat of PVA Glue to avoid them splitting in two.



Although in the above picture the wagons are pig iron loads,the created brick size pieces were in fact made as already described,and were painted black ,chopped up,edges painted and stuck on and dry brushed. My bricks will be made using this system. This is the cheapest way to do brick rubble.So what if its messy on your hands,it`s all part of the fun. Don`t completely cover the bases with stuff because then it would have been pointless making those fine castings in the first place.
The choice of dry brushing colours is always up to the artist in question.



The Roof Tiles can be made simply from strip`s of cardboard the flat edges removed then painted a dark brown almost black colour then once dry chopped up into whole or broken pieces the edges panted like before. When dried and stuck on they will be dry brushed with a small mix of brown & Orange paint.



All the Roofing Tiles for my version of Hougoumont were all made the same way as described,but they were laid in strip`s,and of course some were dry brushed in white creating the Grey Tiles. Years ago I did make the burnt out remains of this place, but did not keep it,and it was never recorded so no pictures I`m afraid.

By they way guys thanks for the nice comments. BB

[Ochoin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stGUE_DA0RA

[Ochoin]

We bought a 'smart TV' which is a TV connected to the Net. I now watch the huge number of gaming, figure & hobby tip videos posted on You tube in comfort.

Check it out.

donald

[Beano Boy]

Yip! I finally got round to apply a dark Wash on these,and I am well pleased with the way they look. I am now making other stuff to finish these off. BB