Normandy House Building Tutorial #1

Good day and good week everyone!!!!

Last weekend I started making a new Normandy house for my ever-lasting Normandy Project (perhaps I should rename it this way), but while I was planning it I thought to use it for a tutorial post in my blog!
I have taken photos for each step of the building-making process, so as to make it as clear as possible for anyone interested in making his own buildings!
I reckon that it is an easy process - but believe me, I have ruined many buildings up until now, and yet I have plenty more to learn! If you face any problems while making them please feel free to contact me! I do commissions!! :-)

So, time for me to start:

1st Step - Materials needed:
The first and most important material you will need would be good old coffee!!!A nice cup of good blended coffee (especially if you work late at night as my self does)!

2nd Step - Other materials needed:
* A ball point pen
* A steel ruler
* X Acto knives
* Sheets of foamcore cards. I usually use 0.5cm sheets, for durability reasons. This width, tends not to warp when you apply materials on it (plaster, colours).
* 0.5cm Card (windows and doors casings)
* PVA Glue
* UHU Stick glue
* Pins
* Vallejo's White Pumice
* A big Flat brush
* Acrylic colours. I personally use Crafter's Acrylics. They come in many colours and they apply really well on the house's surfaces.
* Cotton buds!! Yes, yes, cotton buds. I personally use them for the chimneys - you know the three spikey things... :-)
* Balsa wood. I use 2mm sheets, for my second's storey floor.
* Plastic doors and windows. I personally use Wills materials - OO Scale. In this tutorial I will use Wills SS86 Doors and windows kit
* Plastic floor tiles.I get them from a local manufacturer here in Athens. They come in 30x30cm pieces, 3mm height and they get cut very well and hold their shape, without warping!I believe you can find sth similar in your local store, wherever you are!

I believe that this is what you will need in general. In case I forgot about sth, I will mention afterwards.
Now, we are ready to move to the third step!

3rd Step - Placing the templates and cutting
Use UHU stick glue to glue the house templates. After the cutting, take off the paper templates from the foamcore.


I have made some templates for my buildings, which I usually use on the foamcore sheets, so as to be able to save time and patience credits, while cutting!



4th Step - Cutting the templates

5th Step - Cutting the Doors and Windows cases
I use a sharp X Acto blade and a steel ruler, so as to cut the doors and windows cases (gaps). Be very careful while doing this! You either may lose a foamcore sheet or a finger. What suits you best! ;-)
After doing that, remove the paper templates, and let the foamcore sheets ''free''!!

6th Step - Gluing the wall components
After cutting the walls, use PVA glue and pins to attach the wall compontents together.
Simply apply some PVA on the places you want to be glued and after that stick the pins to the side of the walls for better stability. Before applying the pins, remove the pins heads!

7th Step - Making the second floor preparation
In this photo (I apologize for the blur photo - it was taken late at night), I am showing 4.2cm height foamcore pieces that I used in order to be able to make a second floor in my building.The second floor will be made from balsa wood (2mm sheet). The exact height of the foamcore pieces (4.2cm) might vary, but I used a kneeling firing figure for reference. When you want to put figures in the buildings, you will want to be visible behing the windows slits! I know it seems generic, but the building is made primarily for wargame reasons. When I improve myself I'll try a different approach on this aspect of building making! So please be tolerant! :-)

8th Step - Making the Doors and Windows casemates
In this photo sequence, I am showing you what I used for the doors and windows casemates. It is 0.5cm card. The dimensions may vary to taste, but what I did was:
Doors: W:2.5cm H:0.3cm
Windows: W:1.5cm H:0.3cm

9th Step: Applying the White Pumice
In this photo sequence I am showing the application of Vallejo's White pumice ''plaster'' on the buildings' walls. It can be applied very easily, with a simple flat brush.
After the application you need to let it dry overnight. After that paint can be applied.

This is the end of the first part. I apologize for not finishing the tutorial today, but I had to get some sleep!!!I hope you understand.... :-)
In the next post I will show you the painting parts of the tutorial, so stay tuned!

Hope it helped you a bit!

T.