Set building for dolls (mini tutorial)

 I decided to make this into an ongoing (well at least until i finish this set) mini set making tutorial.  For those of you who attended any of my set making workshops this is old stuff.

(pic 1) I start out with basic white foamboard, I cut it into the major set parts, floor, walls, door then i hot glue all these sections together. Once I’m done with the walls and floor i begin to cut out smaller strips for detailing, supports, door trim, access panels. I then glue all these smaller parts onto the base walls. 

(pic 2) I wanted to cover all the beams and panels with various sized rivets to give the set a nice cartoonish industrial look so i cast a bunch of different sized hemispheres in urethane resin. To give the rivets a nice metallic sheen right out of the mold I mixed grey tint into my resin and i dusted my silicone mold with silver mica powder before i poured my casts.

(pic 3) I then glued each rivet into place.

(pic 4) I airbrushed the set with various shades of warm and cool grey then on top of this with a paintbrush i stippled on various shades of silver and rust colors to make the set look worn and “lived in”

(pic 5) Steve looking “happy” to be on his new set,…. (well as happy as it got for Steve on that particular day) 

 Note: this is a “quick and dirty” method to set building. This is a great way to build a set for a quick photoshoot, If you intend on making a set that’s going to used often and roughly the base would Ideally need to be built of plywood, the details built up in various layers of wood and plastic then the whole thing either primed and painted, or if you need something highly textured, coated in a thin layer of epoxy paste and sculpted/finished.  The difference being my set took a few hours to make and it cost me about $6 the other method would cost at LEAST 10x as much and take at least 3-4 days to a week to finish.

 I hope the above makes some sort of sense,.. anyway,… for those interested I’ll continue this with a how-to about the room furnishings soon as i finish all of them.