Hi All,
I have started on the dio for Batman and after a very long disussion with my 8yr old daughter I have decided to make a alley way dio instead of a roof top one. I was all for the rooftop dio but my daughter insisted that Batman wouldn't fight that many bad guys up there so who am I to argue with a child (to be honest I did and I lost
).
Pic - 1
The main structure is made done using marine foam, once I got the size I wanted I started marking out the bricks with a pencil and ruler. The brick size is 12mm high x 30mm long, once the bricks were marked out I then used a flat head tweezers and scribed along the pencil lines.
When scribing the lines I wasn't to concerned with the foam chipping away as it adds that little extra realism especially when painted. Once the bricks were all scribed I then used a broken piece of old brick that I got from a work site near work and very softly pushed that into the bricks.
Next I did the alley way floor and same as the bricks just marked where I wanted the cement slabs to go with a pencil and ruler and then used the flat head tweezers again to scribe over the pencil marks. I also added cracks and chipped areas using the pencil and then using a model knife to make the chips a little more rugged.
The steps leading up to the back door is just some left over foam cut to size and glue inplace. Once the step had dried I used a small broken piece of cement which I also picked up from the same work site as the brick and with that again softly pushed that into the floor and step.
The door is made from some left over foam core which has had a small section cut out which is the small sliding security window, the frame work around the door is thin plasticard cut to size and glued inplace. Once I cut out the security window section I then used thin plasticard to cover the edges so it won't look like foam but a steel door.
The pallet is just from some left over balsa wood and that is 5" x 5" square and the I used pin heads to simulate nails. The escape ladder is made entirely from plasticard using this strips and tubes and cutting small pieces off to simulate the bolts that go into the brick work.
Pic - 2
Is to show the scale of the dio when Batman is on it.
Just a side note I have had a few emails from people asking me why I used a piece of sandstone on my Indy dio. As I said to them when you are making a dio no matter what it is try and use as many natural items as you can as it gives your dio a more natural look.
So don't be afraid to use real dirt from the garden or potty mix or in the case of this new dio a broken piece of brick and cement to simulate the above mentioned material and above all guys/gals have fun as thats what it is all abaout.
Ron
