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Building the Harem - North African Architecture - Exotic Locations

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Dr Mathias:
I'm embarking upon what will surely be a long project, inspired almost in full by the Phipps' wonderful terrain thread, found here:

Pulp Alley Buildings by the Phipps'

I plan to create a large number of buildings, including a substantial market and accoutrements. My hope is that they will be 'generic' enough to fit in Zanzibar, Khartoum, or Arabia as required. I started with a largish fortified building, which I used in my Round 9 LPL harem exterior scene.

I began with a drawing to work out dimensions and built a basic form out of Gatorfoam, which is like foamcore but far more tough, and correspondingly more expensive. I used this material because it is durable, and I wanted to have decorative crenelations atop the walls so that it had a relatively imposing appearance. I measured out the walls and cut the major forms on a bandsaw. The crenelations and arches were cut using a coping saw and a jeweler's saw. It wasn't as time consuming as I expected, it took about two hours from pencil to having all the components cut and ready to glue. It certainly pays to have access to the right tools for the job at hand.





Windows have been masked off with blue painter's tape. After reading the Phipps' thread it sounded like the texture can get thick, and I knew I wanted the windows to look inset and flush. I also wanted some exposed brick, so I used a few pieces of brickwork from one of the Keebler small brick molds (they're like Hirst Arts molds). I also added some trim, buttressing, etc. You might be able to spot where I imbedded two magnets in the corner walls- I'm thinking ahead there and I hope to make some walls that will attach and be held in place magnetically.





The next step was to paint on Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler. Use the regular stuff, not 'MAX' which I found too gritty for this purpose. It may show up on a new tree project at some point. Use a ratty brush, and 'dabbing' is better than 'brushing'. I really like this material for texturing. Mix a little water into the top layer to thin it a bit. Thanks for the info Phipps!



I wanted my building to look more detailed than the usual 'foamcore box look' that middle eastern buildings often have (according to one poster here on LAF). I looked for some three dimensional decorative elements in the scrapbooking section of Michael's, a US based hobby store. The shapes looked vaguely Islamic to my untrained eye... I bought two packs which was one too many since I intended to recast them using an Insta-Mold press mold. It is a resuable substance that you heat in water, making it malleable. You press it around the form you want to copy- it sets quickly and produces good results. After making several molds I created a bunch of castings using Sculpey. The Sculpey is pretty soft and easily deformed- you can put it the freezer for a couple minutes to facilitate ease of removal.









After making the castings (about 45 minutes), I baked them for fifteen minutes at 275 degrees F, per the instructions on the box.
The next stage of the building texture process was to coat it with thinned wood glue. I glued the decorative elements on at this point.



After the glue has dried, paint the building with thinned white water based paint. I used an indoor flat latex.



The next step is staining. I dabbed/brushed on a layer of MinWax Wood Stain, 'Golden Oak'.  I let this dry overnight (that might have been an issue- I didn't get a dramatic paint separation/mottled look like you see in the Phipps thread. I'm not quite sure why, I'll have to do some experimentation).



After the staining step, paint the entire building with the thinned white water base paint. It should create a wonderful layered texture. It's a lot of work, but I think the results are worth it.

I made the windows by printing out some Islamic screens I sized in Photoshop. I mounted the sheet to a piece of matboard, the material used in framing images on paper behind glass. I painted the edge of the matboard to match the screens.



I removed the tape and glued in the windows, and used a little piece of heavy paper slit down the center for a curtain. I airbrushed the soft gradient in this case.







I need to rework the trapdoor on the roof and redo the front door (I want it to look bronze) but it's pretty much done. I'm quite happy with it- particularly because I started it and submitted it into the LPL within 4 days. I plan to create a second building to go with this one, and walls so that I can form a compound around a central court. The main reason (the only reason, actually) is because I have three peacocks that need a home :)

I hope this is helpful, feel free to ask questions! A HUGE thanks to d phipps, who pioneered this texturing technique and was very kind in answering my questions.

Blackwolf:
You make it sound so simple,top notch!

Andym:
Excellent result! You make it sound way too simple doing the crenelations! o_o o_o :-*

Can't wait to what comes next!!

Furt:
A great build - thanks for the tutorial.  :)

Any chance we can have those screens to use in Photoshop file? I'd love some for Indostan.

Hammers:
Effing brill! Since it is a complete tutorial, I'd like  to move this to How to... if thats alright.

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