I'm going to go over the steps I use for making a simple building- mainly used for backdrops and or Dio shots.

Here's a look at some of the main supplies used.
Supplies include but are not limited to-
Foam board
Hot glue/glue gun
Spray glue
Figure bubble package (for the front door)
Paper pattern (brick in this case)
Knife
Metal ruler
Pencil
Textured paints.
Additional supplies included plastic sheet styrene and styrene bits.



I begin by measuring out the walls of the building. This particular one is 12"H X 20" X 10"D



Then cutting them with the metal edge.



Wall samples


For this building I wanted a commercial size garage door, so I used the nearest vehicle to make sure of the proper size



Then cut the opening. I used a nearby figure to get the basic doorway size


Then cut



Here is a look at all the walls and floor



I used hot glue to hold the walls and floor together









I used a spare section of foam board for the roof. I found adding the floor and roof really make the Dio more stable. Without them I've had the front wall warp.



Now I spray the surface with glue and add the print pattern (this is not printer paper, this pattern was purchased from a craft store. It is slightly thicker paper and the glue does not bleed through). You have a few seconds to move the paper around before it is stuck in place.





I then take the knife and cut out the doors





I used some spare styrene for the door trim







And the same for the garage



The garage door itself is made from styrene (foam board could be used as well.



Test fit


I used textured paint for the door to make it look like hammered metal


I printed out signs for the building and covered them with packing tape- this will keep them from fading over time



The images are cut and glued in place. The garage door is also hot glued in place

I used the plastic bubble from a figure package for the front door- painted black in the inside.
Print out signs were added



I used concrete textured paint for the sidewalk (cut out of foam board).







That's all!
Now you can add other bits to bring it to life more, but for my needs this works.

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Wicked cool and Wiki-fied for future reference, and it will be referenced...a lot. http://wiki.joecustoms.com/wiki/Building_Facade

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Wow small world! I live, literally down the street from Circus Liquor (famous for being the place where Cher got mugged in "Clueless"). That clown is outlined in neon and for a time the neon for the body was out so all that lit up was the Circus Liquor and his disembodied head.

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man, John -- you make this look so effortless!

i really enjoy these process shots that you do -- i hope you continue the practice!!

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Wow, had that been a blue background, and that a turned around can of Super77 spray, and I would swear the book I wanted published had a twin! Nearly everything there looks like my ironing board in front of me now. Except I use a clear set of triangles instead of metal angle.

Awesome John on the sharing and getting it Wiki'ed.

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Yes, I will be referencing this quite a bit now. Excellent tutorial John!

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Where's the paper from? I want some.

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I'm glad to hear people got something out of this. All in all this really is a simple Dio (took about 3-4 hours to do). This was my 6th of 6 buildings I was working on.

Eric, glad to hear I'm going in the right direction then. =)
Chris, that is a really weird coincidence, eh? I Googled liquor store signs and that was the most interesting.


MM, here's the link to where I got the paper . ..

http://www.paperwishes.com/products/7220054000

Thanks, all.

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Great Tutorial, thankyou. I enjoyed this and the final product came out great. I need to add a ladder like that to my alley dio. It's a really nice realistic touch and I apologize but I am stealing it for future use. lol.

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