Arcadia Quest Diorama, Part 3

Welcome to part three of the assembly journal for the Arcadia Quest diorama that I'm building for Cool Mini or Not! Last time I discussed the construction of the University clock tower. Here's a shot of it with the Hammer fortress in the background. Both have been primed and sprayed with an undercoat color, and are ready for painting. On the right, you can see the buildings for the Alchemist District. This post will be a little short because I didn't take many photos of the work in progress.

 

Part 3: The Alchemist District

The houses and shops all started as foam core shells, visible on the right. The shells were then detailed with all manner of windows, wood framing and stone foundations. Doors and windows were added as well.

 

 

The shingles were cut from strips of thick bristol board. The red roofs are made from Spanish-tile textured styrene sheets. The stonework was made in the same way as the surfacing for the University clock tower. The doors and windows are a combination of scratch-built and resin cast elements. Since the buildings will have lights inside, some of the windows have cut outs, which I'll address further down.

 

Each building plugs into the table and sits snugly on the angle of the street. (For information on how I made the street, check out last week's terrain tutorial: Flagstone Streets.)

 

I use strip LEDs to light the buildings. Each is wired together in a series, and they all run off the same power source (a 9v power adapter). The lights are attached to foam blocks to elevate them to the level of the windows.

 

Each window cutout is covered with a sheet of colored film and a textured sheet of acrylic to diffuse the light.

 

With everything glued in place and the lights turned on, the buildings cast a colorful glow from within!

 

 

That's about all I can show of the table until Cool Mini Or Not it debuts it at their next convention. All of the painting and construction is finished, but because this is a diorama, and not just terrain, there will be plenty of models adorning it.

 

Back to my painting table...

'Til next time!