Hey everyone. Long time no see lol. Some of you might remember my long winded decades long attempt at a diorama from the old Armorama forums. For those of you who do, I still haven’t fully finished it 
; but that isn’t stopping me from trying my hand at another project. This is basically how it stands today. I’ve done a bit more stonework in the front, and added some more detail in the 2 main debris areas but you get the idea. More updates to come in the future, including more shots of how this project came to be where it now is. Hope you enjoy the journey… peace.
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Welcome back. 
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Thanks man. Not sure how often I will be around, but I’m gonna give it the ole college try.
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Hi Dave welcome back! I remember your Armo’ dio very well, a superb church interior…even stained glass & lighting…? Will that back onto this new one by any chance? Great to see you here
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Hey! welcome back! It’s been a long time, but, like Tim, I remember the build!
Nick 
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Hey Tim!! Some of the old dogs still around! That’s awesome to see. Yeah, no lol. This one is a completely new project. The old one sits on the kitchen table that now functions as my latest bench, and I see it every day I sit there. It’s in a sad state of renovation and disrepair; who knows if I’ll ever get to it again. Thought I’d try fresh with this one. Similar but quite different too. Here they are side by each other… just far enough apart that the old one doesn’t distract me from this one; but close enough that I can be reminded of the potential.
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Yeah hey thanks Nick!! Man your stuff is still as mind blowing as it was when I first started out on the site! I’ve been more active on a couple Facebook pages since kinda getting back into building last fall. TLDR it’s been a journey the last few years. Have moved to a small town on the edge of the Rockies in west central Alberta, and have struggled to just make it day by day since. Needed a bit of a distraction from the grind to make it through the seemingly endless winter months. Glad to see you’re still building too. Lots of inspiration to be found.
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Love it!!! Who’s a good boy!
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He is most of the time – my son’s girlfriend’s much-loved giant border collie called Beau, I think he’s about 7 or 8 so certainly late middle-aged. Has a superb tenor voice whenever sirens pass by.
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Niice!
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Here is the genesis of this new project. After moving to Rocky Mountain House and selling almost everything I had in the way of modelling stuff I eventually decided I needed the hobby to help me with my sanity and creative nature. I purchased a couple very inexpensive kits, one of which was this Academy version Tiger. Having my old diorama as a starting point I liked the idea of another church front theme which helped me to block out the basics of the build. And since I already had a value village picture canvas just hanging around; and since it was the same size as my last build, I had my starting point. And most of a plan…
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I love foamcore boards. They’re so versatile and cheap at the dollar stores. You know what else is cheap? Cardboard… as in cereal box cardboard. And Trisquit box cardboard. And cookie box cardboard, and all the other types of cardboard that comes with the food a 62 year old divorced man living on his own in a small town close to the Rockies buys! The cardboard is practically free lol. So, instead of the adhesive backed cork covering the foamcore structure of the church this time… I am using cardboard. Lots of individually measured and cut and glued pieces of cereal box cardboard. Because.. why not lol. I’m a sucker for punishment if you didn’t already know.
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Now that’s some proper recycling right there. Don’t bin the boxes build with them. Great work man 
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The stash is at least twice the size it was when these pics were taken, which is a good thing lol because the price of the cereal I used to get has more than doubled since then and so I stopped getting it several months ago now. And to be honest I’m almost at the place where I won’t need more than a few of the boxes I have left to finish the things I’m using it for.
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Welcome back!
Model building should be fun while building,
not a rush to get something finished …
Take your time and enjoy the process.
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Thanks sir. Believe me, I’m not the guy you have to worry about going all guns ablazing at breakneck speeds to finish a project lol. I always want to finish; I’m just not very good at it yet… but I’m only 63 this fall so there’s still hope🤷
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So I decided at some point after I’d begun that I wasn’t satisfied with the layout how it was… so I went ahead with a major-ish remix. I think the first iteration was a bit too linear in its positioning of the church to the picture canvas I was using for the base. It took some time to come to my final choice for orientation, and ended up with me having to tear down and rebuild most of the structure; but I’m glad I did. You can see in the top photo just how different and massive the changes were. Anyone who knows me knows I am not afraid to go big or go home…
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The plan was a foamcore structure with a cereal box cardboard exterior that would resemble stonework. Sounds easy right? I’m glad that I am a patient person, and that I had a bunch of good sharp blades for my hobby knives and a scale aluminum ruler. A few interwebs searches and a basic plan in my head and I was off.
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