Building materials

When you guys make your terrain (mainly buildings) what do you use?

Im am going to start on my first attempt at the city of mordheim. Does anyone have any tips?

I believe the most common materials are

1. Foam core from a hobby/office supply store
2. Sheets of insulation like you get at a hardware store
3. Balsa wood
4. Containers for things like oatmeal.

You can also use things like plaster of paris or dental plaster, personally I prefer dental plaster, if you have some molds you want to cast. Merlin's Magic is a plaster that has proved useful for me. For basic starter buildings though I'd say go with foam core. You can also use found items like oatmeal containers and what not to make buildings out of. Check out youtube, there's a bunch of videos on how to use the basic supplies to make buildings.

You could build the buildings from for an example cardboard and glue on bricks of polysterene. Or you could use casting moulds, like the ones sold here: http://hirstarts.com/molds/moldsgoth.html .

I'd do the Foamcore/Balsa/Cereal box method to start off. Most of my stuff is made doing that but I do use some Hirst Arts as well, but they're spendy and time-consuming.

I use mostly foamcore and balsa for my stuff. I have been using thin card for paving stones etc.

I have been using artists texture or gesso to get a rough plaster texture on the outside of buildings.

You can see some of my stuff in the modelling section of this site.

Balsa wood , styrofoam, wood glue, and lots, and lots AND LOTS of "cereal packet cardboard" (actually, I bought several sheets at a paper store).

I usually add some resin add-ons for the final details.

Hope that helps.

Corrugated cardboard and thick cards with acrylic putty are good replacements for foam core and balsa. It's little harder to work with but it's much cheaper.

I too sub cardboard for foam board. I also prefer to use wooden coffee stir sticks instead of balsa wood. The only reason for this is cost. Cardboard is essentially free and coffee stir sticks are negligibly expensive, especially if you buy in bulk.

The biggest drawback with cardboard that you don't really have with foam board is disguising any exposed edges. For complete structures this isn't really an issue, but for ruins you will have to cover the exposed edges of any ruined walls. Masking tape works okay, but it can sometimes be more effort than it's worth. A line of hot glue works fine and is quicker. Really all you're looking to do is fill the edge to hide the corrugation.

For my buildings, I paint the exterior and interior walls with thinned down PVA (white) glue (usually 1 part glue to 2 parts water which is a little thicker than some folks prefer) and sprinkle on fine grain play sand (a few bucks at the hardware store will net you more than you'll ever use). This adds a nice texture and a lot of rigidity, especially when you give the walls a second coat of glue after the first glue/sand layer has dried.

Like other folks have said, foam board/balsa is easier, but more expensive. If you're willing to put an extra half hour or so of your time into a building, you can drop the cost down to fractions of a dollar per terrain piece.

I like coating my foam board in air drying clay so you can carve bricks of pealing plaster