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Ok, for those who are interested, I have come across an interesting way to make buildings 'on the cheap'


First of all, I grabbed some 'recycled' computer component padding(it also comes with TV's etc-these just seem the best size atm!)

Due to it being recycled C/board, it has a fairly rough texture. We'll get to that later..
As for paint-this is the best stuff I have tried so far.

And as far as mileage goes, the cans last for an age. Reatials @ about $8.50 Aus, and you get it from a DULUX outlet. Great texture and consistency.
Now we 'Base-coat' the C/board.

Once you have covered all of the C/board(check for missed bits-need daylight!) You can then apply some dry-brushing. I use a large brush and 'Codex Grey"


Once this is done, you will see a 'concrete' effect on the C/board, due to the rich texture.



It really is that easy... Here is what they look like on a field with a few 'Urban War' Building bitz.





Well, I hope this was help to somebody out there. As an added bonus, the buildings weigh less than 1 KG-alltogether!!! And stack inside each other for easy storage.
Finally, the BEST thing is-you are making something out of recycled materiel, so you have done the right thing by the planet as well..............

As an afterthought, I should add-embellish away! I have recently started painting 'graffiti' on the sides(to scale).

Very nice!

I'd add graffitti, decals, signs and such but they certainly do the job.

I like the walkway. It looks very natural on your buildings.

Very nice. I think that small details like doors and markings would make them look a bit more "complete" though.

Yeah. You could easily apply pegasus building kit stuff
for detailing.

Excellent tips Ladz. Will look into posting updated pics this weekend.

THX for all the feedback too!

Outstanding job!

I did this at one point with the same kind of materials, but I never thought to actually paint, detail, and complete it. Nice job there.

CK

Gah. You're making me want to buy electronics.

Yep, this is an oldie but a goodie. If you want to make them look even better, you can use simple things like doorways* or slap on some disposable bits like emblems and extruding machinery to represent air filters and stuff like that.

[*] = cut up and file down the borders of sprues to form the door frame, then cut a piece of cardboard to fit the frame and act as the door itself, use something like the datapad from a Space Marine Auspex to act as the keypad.

look very good. I'm going to have to get some of those and do it myself one of these days. Cheap and effective.

If you bought some of that Imperial City terrain, you can
cut the Imperial Eagle doors off the Sanctum Imperialis
kit and use them to represent doorways, too.

The pegasus terrain sprues also have some hatches and doors.

Frankly I vote against doors and such. Signs saying 'Air Recirc' or 'TerraForm Station 23' make it clear these are big machines that can't entered. Doors raise questions like where are the windows, what are these buildings and such. Plus the high detail door won't match the low detail walls.

Simple and effective

Genius.

I also love your wok stand bunker thingy.

I once made a nuclear reactor cooling tower out of a deck tidy. You know the type that consists of about 5 cylinders of various heights. I don't have any pictures but you can figure it out easily enough.

Sorry Kilkrazy but not all of us are up on household terms from the UK... What exactly is a deck tidy? As you said it represented a cooling tower, I am interested... Thanks.

Sorry, fat finger syndrome. It should have been desk tidy. For putting pens in.

They are usually hard polystyrene and are easy to mod and paint. Check an office supply catalogue for a variety of shapes and colours.

Organizers we call em. Mostly for pens.

Wow, all very good feed-back. Have done another batch, but need to wait for daylight to bring them up a little more 'visibly'

.@Killkrazy-good Idea, I have one of those at work I may snaffle.......