basswood, maybe museum board. chipboard is ugly and hard to cut/ shows glue easy.

depending on the scale, you might want to consider some block wood. that won't work if the scale isn't rather small, though. i wouldn't dismiss chipboard out-of-hand though. i've always felt that museum board lends itself to more of a material implication than chipboard, and chipboard can be done quite nicely, especially if you're concerned about the model being monochromatic, as museum board will be harder to match. i always like the look of chipboard and basswood together in a model.

Chipboard is great! Don't know what chip blackharp was using, but all the stuff I've used was good and easy to cut (if you have good craftsmanship, glue won't be an issue).

Basswood will take too long to cut for a model that large, not to mention cost a fortune.

Museum board is nice (personal fave, although I like them all, for different projects/presentations), but for a large model I think you'll lose some of the details in the shadows when light gets put on it.




I've always loved site models made out of chipboard, then the final design inserted as basswood or museum board. Adds a great contrast.

personally, I would use thin chipboard. It's easy to cut and inexpensive. then I would mix acrylic paints with modeling paste and apply to the chipboard with a putty knife. most of the early morphosis' models are done like this.

Like trace stated, the contrasting basswood model looks great.

this is the way to go for my personal tastes, too

I know you mentioned that the scale is 1/8 and the final model will end up 4'x4', but what are the building typologies and what will you make the final model out of?

Generally speaking, I always box out the masses of the context on a site model with something easy to cut - like foam (blue or pink foam insulation, built up). I just run that stuff through a band saw (or, if it is very small scale cut it with a knife). Then I just veneer all of the masses with either chip or basswood - if you cut your foam masses straight enough, then hot glue gives you a good adhesive for the veneer, and is a real time saver. If you need a great degree of detail in the context buildings, consider getting facades lasercut so that you can just veneer them on. Veneers are also good (at this scale) for easy parapets on buildings. One more benefit to massing out of the foam - the model is so solid and things stand very well on their own. They hold up considerably better over time and abuse than something boxed-out from mere chipboard faces.

The benefit to basswood is that it can be sanded much cleaner later, and even painted should you desire some other neutral tone. Basswood is also lighter and will show shadows better than even the lightest chipboard.

The benefit to chipboard (as mentioned earlier) is cost - even if you buy 1/32 basswood planks, the chipboard will always be cheaper AND you have less veneer face-match joining to do, because chipboard comes in sizes large enough to veneer in continuous, solid pieces.

So if you have high-rise buildings, just make this site model with chipboard and have the chipboard facades facades lasercut. You can cut the masses out of foam, veneer plain chipboard to the foam with hot glue, and then use white glue to put the facades on. It will give you nice, detailed depth for a model that size at a reasonable price. You can make a cheap base out of pine and/or plywood, and you can cut blocks from the same chipboard (at 1/8" scale, a 6" real-life curb would be a 1/16 piece of chipboard).

If you don't have high-rises for this model, then consider basswood, because you will likely have less repetitive detailing to do, and you can be creative with the kinds of patterned basswood veneer you use. Also, the normal dimensions of basswood make it great to walk out of the store with pieces that are ready to be hung as details (like window frames or windows themselves) which will help when you are making a million cuts for a model.

Lastly, to counter a suggestion made earlier, museum board is nice, but all-white is sometimes tough to see differences in the context buildings. And, that stuff gets dirty easily. You need to be extremely neat and careful while building. Consider using museum board that is off-white (like the beige-ish archival stuff or light grey) in a very thin cut (2ply MAX) as a veneer...I have done that and gotten great shadows as well. This gets pricey as well, but mixes some of the benefits of the basswood (good contrast for shadows) and chipboard (large pieces for continuous surfaces).

about 3'x3' laser cut basswood for the elevations..baltic birch ply for the site


just some samples.... basswood and acrylic


museum board model that was old..... i built the towers and a few parking decks out of acrylic...painted the site with white spray paint..light coats and sanded the boogers off between coats..... model was 4'x4'

www.237am.com/portfolio/index.asp?Cat_ID=5 for my portfolio stuff....theres a models section in there if your curious


b

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I like the foam + basswood veneer idea.

i second the mophosis style model.. you can get amazing results,, your school library must have their first monograph,, take a look at it

I'll third it. What I used to do was take gray modeling paint, dab the tool (my "tool" was scraps of thicker chip) in black and begin randomly spreading the stuff on. Gives it a pretty unique look.

You can also sand it once done to get another look.



I'd test the foam option before committing to it. It doesn't take but a few minutes to glue the pieces without a solid underneath. The thing I'd be concerned about is that if you cut the chip a 1/32" too small (smaller than the foam), then you'd get some awful looking gaps.

If it were all chip, you just fudge it a tad and it looks fine, no gaps.

Just a personal thing, though. I've always been a big stickler about perfect craftsmanship.



I miss making models :-(

if you want to tell a few friends...

i started a model building forum...trying to get the visits/members up....

modelbuilding101.com

also if you register...use a decent screen name...... been getting alot of spambot members so i approve people now...grrrr


b

I love making chipboard models and find it to be the most versatile material. With site models, especially with contour you really can't get any better.

Here's a|tekno's standard finish for a monochrome site model

plywood base for the model. Let this be your lowest surface (road level, landscape). Lightly spray (mist about 1m from model) with red matte spray paint.

Build your structures using chipboard as per similar instructions above. Prime the buildings using acrylic spray paint. Mix 2:1 red acrylic + black guoache and let sit for 15 minutes or so until thickened. Apply generously using a spatula (an old butter knife works just as well). Allow to dry inside for at least 6 to 12 hours. Sand with fine grain paper. Thin mixture with 1/4 cup of water, and let sit again. Apply 2 thinner coats to model and let dry for another 12 hours. Sand, sit back and lament on the fact that you really have an old school morphosis site model in red