Bunker Complex - MrJuice

I’ve had a lot of requests for a tutorial on this one and I’ve finally managed to get some time to write one up. It’s a step by step of the basic structure, you can then take it from there. This is actually pretty easy to do and shouldn’t take too much time. I didn’t take any work in progress shots while I was painting solely because I forgot to take any pictures.

I started by drawing my basic template for the size/supports for the building on regular paper then I cut it out.

I have some pretty sturdy cardboard that I use sometimes. Its triple walled, a little more than ¼” thick and works fine. You can substitute with foamcore or any other suitable material, it was just handy for me.

 Its just a matter of tracing out your template onto the cardboard. I made more just on case I were to wreck a few in the process.

While staying away from blemishes so I have a nice flat surface for exposed areas. Make sure that you have a fresh blade to get a nice clean cut.

 I only chose to use three ribs for support but you can use as many as you like.

The next step was to choose the material for the roof. I have some corrugated craft plastic type material that works well. It’s a corrugated plastic on one side with a thin backing.

Using the cardboard cutouts I determined what size I wanted to roof and cut a rectangle section. Once cut I began by gluing the ribs for support. I started with one end, then the other end and added the middle section last. I chose to have the grooves run lengthwise but this was just my personal preference at the time.

 You don’t need a whole lot of glue, just enough to stick the roof and hold it in place. Then once everything is square I glued each side of the ribs with a hefty amount of glue.

 Once set, flip it over and you have the basic structure.

Now we need to make it a little more interesting so I chose to add external bracing. I did have thoughts of making a hinged door along the one side but wimped out on that one. I have vinyl sheets that are great for modeling but you can use any flexible material to make the braces.

 I cut them about ½” thick and chose to have 2 that go widthwise and glued them in place. You could do lengthwise bracing down the length. Just a matter of preference. If I did, 3 or 4 equidistant strips would be my choice.

Looks better but I wanted a little more. So I cut 2 more strips about 1/8” that would be attached down the center of the previous strips.

Now on to the front of the building, I decided to make a door that would slide open. Using vinyl, roof material and some plastic mesh I came up with this.

Technically the mesh track I made is a little too short/small for the size of the door but I needed to attach the lower track section to the building to keep it sturdy. You could extend it past the building and attach the bottom to your base. I didn’t want a permanent base for this building.

I wanted one more detail to the front so I decided to have a light. I had thoughts of using an LED behind it but decided not to since it was easier and it was already going to have an additional ‘working’ lightpost.

Simply done by taking a fuse, bending both ends and puncturing it into the front of the building.

This is the LED light post below is another thing I picked up from a hobby store. The battery pack hides nicely underneath the building when set up.

 I also wanted a paved ‘yard’ to go along with the building. It is a textured piece of vinyl, cut to size, then glued to a styrene sheet to keep it rigid. Having it free rather than fixed means I could place it in front or along the side.

I was planning on making the yard fenced but decided not to, mainly for shipping purposes as I sell on most of my pieces. So you can see that it’s a pretty simple building to make, but effective, which is why I think it ended up looking as good as it does.

Next you just need to get some primer and it looks something like this.

Now all you have left to do is paint.

Mr Juice

http://tabletopgames.spaces.live.com/

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