How to Make a World War 2 Diorama - Part 6a Making Building Rubble

In the previous part of this tutorial I showed you how to make mud for your diorama. In this part I will give you some tips and hints on how to make some realistic looking building rubble. If you are doing a city scene this will come in handy if some of the buildings and structures have been destroyed or damaged.

The picture above shows our World War 2 Diorama with a destroyed building on the right. this is pretty easy to do. The actual walls of the building are a pre made kit. What I am going to telll you about is the various destroyed pieces around it.

There are two things I used to make this building rubble. First I used pieces of cork to make pieces of destroyed building walls and second I used thin pieces of balsa wood to make the beams and planks.

It really is as simple as that. Get yourself a cork and using a pair of pliers tear it into small pieces. You can paint these pieces and glue them into place. But before you glue them you should move them around to find nice configurations. For the beams I simply used thin sheets of balsa wood that I cut into strips then painted brown. If you don't have any balsa wood you can improvise something and depending on the scale of your diorama you can even use toothpicks or shavings from bigger pieces of wood. This is a destroyed building so you can use all kinds of random little pieces. Wire can also be used to make rebar sticking out of the cork concrete pieces.

Cork Tutorial: I have an in-depth tutorial with video that shows you exactly how to use cork in your diorama to make building rubble.

Let's continue on to Part 7 of this WW2 Diorama tutorial

RESOURCES

World War and Military Diorama Kits:

How to Build Dioramas (Book) - Learn everything you need to know about making your dioramas look real! This fantastic revised edition will show you how with new projects, new photos, and expert tips. Includes painting, weathering, and detailing tips for figures, aircraft, vehicles, and more! 290+ photos with color throughout; 41 illus.; softcover

MiniArt 1/35 Poland 1944 Diorama Base w/ 5 figures - This is the 1/35 Scale Poland 1944 Diorama w/ Figures / from the MiniArt Dioramas Series. / Suitable for Ages 14 to Adult. / / FEATURES: Unassembled diomara kit / Parts attached to a part tree / 1/35 scale / Intricate building detail of a ruined building on a diorama base / / INCLUDES: One Poland 1944 diorama / Five figures / Instruction sheet / / REQUIRES: Paint (see below) / Plastic glue (TESR1601) / Hobby knife (HCAR0100) / Paint brush (ABSR0550) / / SPECS: Length: 9.76"" (248mm) / Width: 7.48"" (190mm)

1/35 Budapest '45 Diorama Base SU-76 Tank (5 Fig) MNA36007 -

MiniArt 1/35 Infantry in the City Diorama Base with Figure Set (5 Figures)

Ruined House- Removable Floor Diorama

Scene-A-Rama Kits

Scene-A-Rama Basic Diorama Kit - Use this kit to create a flat, landscaped surface for your project. It includes everything you need to make plains, prairies, grasslands, farmlands, woods and meadows.

Scene-A-Rama Bushes, Foliage & Grasses Kit - Use this kit to create short and tall grasses, weeds, bushes, shrubs, hedges, ivy, flowering plants and roads and paths.