Some works in progress photos below. I made another Berber house–this time a two story but it’s not quite finished. I’m also working on thee simple generic Arab style houses. Here is a varied lot of pictures taken of these projects. I should have pictures of the finished version of all three buildings posted in a couple of days.
1. Cutting Blue Styrene. I have half of my garage rafters taken up with chunks of this stuff. I asked my wife for a foam cutter for my birthday last year (I know–pathetic). I cut it into 5mm slices to use as construction materials. It is great for etching in bricks. You need a very sharp blade to cut your doors and windows. A small file works also to smooth out any bad cuts and to smooth away the sharp cut edges.
2. Berber House. This didn’t quite come out right. It might look better completed with details that will draw your attention away from the bricks. Etching bricks is time consuming and I believed I rushed this one and made the brick pattern too regular and some of the bricks too large. The effect of smearing colored Spackle (ready made nail-hole plaster and tan paint) into the cracks of the brick is still a neat effect.
3. Arab Houses. These were an experiment in blue foam as well. Very simple construction for now but later I want to start making more complex Arab style structures with stairwells, decks, arches, domes, walls, balconies, etc. I painted each foam building with a mix of PVA glue and Burnt Sienna to make the overall structure harder and less prone to picking up gashes and nicks.
Mon Legionnaire 