There are a lot of different ways to do buildings and of course it depends on what type of buildings you are making. And this is a medieval village so we want that stone and stucco kind of look. Something along the lines of the 17th century. Think a tudor building. This tutorial shows you how to achieve this look. And how to get a nice granite block look for fortress type buildings.

There are a couple of different textures that we want to have on these buildings. One of them is the smooth stucco like look and the other is a more stone-like look. To achieve this we use two different materials. First we use actual home improvement type Grout. And secondly we use an arts and crafts product called celluclay.

The grout gives us a nice smooth look and the celluclay gives us the stone look.

The picture below shows a building being grouted. Here are some tips and tricks when it comes to applying the grout:

The Grout comes out thick and rough. Apply a coat to the surfaces of the building. Apply this coat by brushing in one direction such as left to right and right to left (sideways) then let it sit for 15 - 20 minutes. Then brush it again with a damp brush this time in the opposite direction like up and down. This will smooth the grout and give it a smooth and realistic look. The grout will take about 40 minutes to fully dry.

Windows: Be sure to cut out any windows or doors before grouting (as you can see in the picture) This way you can grout the inside ledges.

Note: If you brush too much grout will come off and it is tricky to fill in the spots.

You can achieve a stone texture with grout rather than the Celluclay - To do this you apply the group thicker and blotch it in places instead of brushing.

 

An important thing to think about here is what the different surfaces of your buildings are. Are the walls smooth? Is there a chimney along the side of the building and will that have a different texture.

his picture shows you the stonework and how rough that texture is. This is a chimney and a blacksmith forge.

This picture gives you a good look at the stucco like texture on the building wall This is going to be fantastic.

Remember to experiment with the materials and the textures. You can really get a lot of different looks. And this is only the base coating of the buildings. There is a lot more stuff we need to do like add the beams and the other little details.

Making the Stonework for the Fortress and other Granite Built Structures

The Big Fortresses and other structures didnt use this stucco work. They used big Granite Blocks. (Although sometimes they covered these blocks with a stucco like material). We can easily get this granite block look by using celluclay on the buildings.

Apply the celluclay in a thick coat and then score it with some kind of a tool like a ruler:

First do all your horizontal lines with the edge of a ruler then vary your vertical lines with some kind of a tool.

This will give you that terrific granite block look.

And here is the granite stone work building. Ready to dry and then be painted.

Okay, The next part of the tutorial is ready. I show you how to make the roofs. And we make three different kinds including red clay shingle roofs.

Check out my book on how to make fantasy and medieval dioramas. I put all my best techniques and tricks in this book!

How to make Fantasy and Medieval Dioramas

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