how would you create stone buildings?

[dampfpanzerwagon]

Hi again all,

thanks for your responses. I appreciate the feedback. I've just noticed that the link I posted in the OP isn't working, which is probably why no one has commented on it as a technique.

So here is a version of the link that actually works. check it out:

http://www.craft-products.com/dolls-house-building-guide.asp

whilst I totally agree that carving is a great technique for large, 'one-off' models, Bromley Craft Products make stencils that allow you to create facades of quickly and with minimum fuss. considering I want to make a board that is quite cluttered, and I want to make it quickly, they seem like a good idea. I wondered if you guys had any opinions on the stencils. has anyone used them before?

the make them at 1:48 scale which is a bit bigger than I might want, but not impossible to work with. there is a rough stone stencil (http://www.craft-products.com/rst-rough-stone-stencil) and a stone block stencil that might make convincing flag stones (http://www.craft-products.com/blk-stone-block-stencil).

obviously, there are gaps that are supposed to look like mortar, which aren't perfect, but I think with the right paint job they could work. What do you guys think?

I've seen these stencils before but have never used them - I would question their use in 28mm or 1/56th scale. I think they would be too big.

As I've said - not sure.

Good luck.

Tony

[tin shed gamer]

Your looking at this project from the wrong angle.
All the methods mentioned have there pro's. And con's.Non of which will fit your project until you've physically planed the buildings as each method will stumble at some point wether it's on large flat areas or when executing external or internal angles.
The dry stone walls you've indicated you want to reproduce,are time consuming there's no short cut as they are an organic structure not an industrial construct.(no dressed or machine worked stone) so stencils won't work on large open areas as you'll need to us a commercial stencil more than once and that'll show instantly as your preprogrammed to see patterns.So you you'll have to cut your own stencils with more than twice the surface area of the largest intended wall, in order for you to be able to move the stencil around to centre different areas of the stencil on each surface which will reduces the risk of the repetition being noticed.
With wall joints there comes the issue of how to visually hide the joints as dry stone is 'woven' together (for want of a better phrase) and a butted joint will stick out like a sore thumb.
As for the larger areas of wall you'll need to vary the depth of section with in the wall in order to avoid it looking like stone cladding.
When I construct prehistoric stone work for displays its scale that decides the method, for arguments sake 20-28 MM. plaster scribed 'brick work' or individual bricks,20-10mm scribed brick in foam,small scale plaster with colour washes suggesting brick work.
Larger than 28mm foam bricks ,or individual bricks rendered with plaster.

But to get the best help from the good people here,you really do need to post some pictures of the plans/ideas your wanting to construct.
Mark.

[dampfpanzerwagon]

Your looking at this project from the wrong angle.
All the methods mentioned have there pro's. And con's.Non of which will fit your project until you've physically planed the buildings as each method will stumble at some point wether it's on large flat areas or when executing external or internal angles.
The dry stone walls you've indicated you want to reproduce,are time consuming there's no short cut as they are an organic structure not an industrial construct.(no dressed or machine worked stone) so stencils won't work on large open areas as you'll need to us a commercial stencil more than once and that'll show instantly as your preprogrammed to see patterns.So you you'll have to cut your own stencils with more than twice the surface area of the largest intended wall, in order for you to be able to move the stencil around to centre different areas of the stencil on each surface which will reduces the risk of the repetition being noticed.
With wall joints there comes the issue of how to visually hide the joints as dry stone is 'woven' together (for want of a better phrase) and a butted joint will stick out like a sore thumb.
As for the larger areas of wall you'll need to vary the depth of section with in the wall in order to avoid it looking like stone cladding.
When I construct prehistoric stone work for displays its scale that decides the method, for arguments sake 20-28 MM. plaster scribed 'brick work' or individual bricks,20-10mm scribed brick in foam,small scale plaster with colour washes suggesting brick work.
Larger than 28mm foam bricks ,or individual bricks rendered with plaster.

But to get the best help from the good people here,you really do need to post some pictures of the plans/ideas your wanting to construct.
Mark.

I agree.

Tony

[Connectamabob]

Yeah, the idea of using a stencil for undressed stone makes me think of texture tiling in video games. Looks good when you're standing right up next to a thing, but when seen from a distance, the the illusion dies a quick and ugly death.

It's not just the grid repetition that gives it away. Natural irregularity has fractal scalabilty: step back from the pattern, and you see meta-patterns of irregularity. Wheres simulated "randomness" using one-note methods tends to dither into an unnaturally homogeneous field when you step back. The sequence my be non-repeating, but the distribution averages out much too evenly.

For brickwork though the stencils looks brilliant.

The method Neldoreth posted, and variations thereof, do not seem that time consuming to me. You're basically just drawing a grid with a ruler, then going over the whole thing with a texture stamp. It could get a lot more time consuming depending on the masonry pattern and how rough you wanted the stonework to be, but at the simple end like what Neldoreth shows, seems like it wouldn't be hardly more time consuming than the stencil stuff.