Topic: Tankster's Customs Dio Tutorial

[Tankster]

 I see alot of killer stuff on here already thats outstanding and i think it was Hemble Creations a few years back that inspired me to make this simple tutorial
I just wanted to show how common household items can make a fun dio and be cost effective
First up is the general supplies
1.cardboard any is fine
2.gutter guard $4.99 a roll at your local hardware store
3.2 butter dishes/bowls (disposable)
4.Scissors
5.hot glue and sticks
6.two things of School Glue
7.two cups of sand and two cups of Kitty Litter (the clay stuff no fragrence stuff)
and Imagination

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Next we need to cut your CardBoard to give us a Good Base to build off of

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Use both even sides of the Box we are going to Glue them together using The Hot Glue

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Now we are going to make the Wall cut down one of the remaining short sides of your Box

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the folds in the Box give you corner pieces

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Hot Glue the "Wall" in place making sure its pretty even and Square

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Next is the Gutter Guard or "Fence" Trim off a PIECE that fits the gap evenly leaving an extra bit so you can glue it to the Wall

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Trim the Fence up to look torn or wore out

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Glue it in to place on the back side with the HOT GLUE "be careful and DONT BURN YOURSELF"

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Glue it in to place on the back side with the HOT GLUE "be careful and DONT BURN YOURSELF"

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Next is the Messy part make sure you have some plastic down or a trash bag works

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Mix the glue with water Fill the water to a little less than half and mix one and 1/2 Glue containers
next add the sand and Kitty Litter mixing it well so it becomes like a paste

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next is the other messy part time to add the GOOP make sure you get an even coverage on the front and back

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using a fodder piece i added tank treads by pressing in the wet goop sand till it gives an impression

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now you can add anything else you want to the dio for effect a tire Uneploded bomb and a 55gal container

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ok so the second part to the first Dio "Lets add paint!!!!"

first i said i needed to beef up the wall and add detail well i just cut some odd shaped pieces of cardboard from a thinner piece of cardboard then Hotglued them in place

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next is the the base coat paint i used black putting the paint in a disposable container and adding a little water to thin it up
Walmart sells this acrylic paint for .94 and its great for these kind of projects

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ok so i was lookng at the wall on the dio and was no happy with the idea i see Cardboard so i took this one step further
i picked up some wall Compound from Wally World for like 2.49 and went to town adding the spackle to the wall smoothing it out and i also cut two holes in it before i started

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after i got an even coverage and smoothed it out i wanted the Wall to have texture so i took a paintbrush and just stippled it lightly to pull a little of the spackle out do this over the entire wal piece front and back

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ok so when a hole gets blown into concrete what do you see??? Rebar right its the metal that makes wall durable
so taking some wire i have (welding wire) or you can use a paper clip i trim some small pieces off and placed them into the coragated part of the cardboard when the spackle dries it will hold these in place

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see now when this dries it will look more like a Wall thats seen some damage


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now i do recomend you do this step before you add the ground and paint
i will post the finished re-painting of the wall in this thread so stay tuned



Update!!!! paint is done
first off after the spackle dried i painted it all Black again you have to do a pretty good Job to get all the white covered up after the balck is on and is dry i made a grey mixing black and white acrylic and i found a bigger brush which i will recommend for thsi next step
you have to drybrush the Grey usinga piece of cardboard wipe the brush till its not saturated then you can go back and brush the Wall very lightly you will start to see the effect

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alright now after the wall is done you can add some drybrushing to the objects and the fence the color i chose gives the metal a rusty look and you can add detail to the rocks and the tracks ect....adding it to the tracks gives it the illusion its still Mud

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PLANTS!!!! ok i have leftover fishtank plants so i took some pieces of it and hot glued the base to the ground and the back of it to the wall
drybrush them to look dying or half dead using your brown you made


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SIGNS!!!! ok i only did this one for the fence just cut a piece of thin cardboard to the size you want paint both sides black and drybrush the brown on it let it dry and add your words pics......ect


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and the finished product with some more action scenes



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[Luke Sprywalker]

Daniel thanks so much for sharing this wealth of info here! People get ready, Tankster Industries is going to take this place by storm!

[Tamer]

Wow, talk about a nice how too. Looks like I have a news story for tomorrow's front page already. Thanks for sharing!

[Darth Optimus]

This is so awesome and idiot-proof I may be able to do it!  Thanks!

[Mando Assasin]

This is great! I might just have to try it!