How to Make Fake Concrete Sidewalks for Dioramas!

NORM! KATE!! Thank you so much for this How too!!! I got a few 1/6th Scale stuff I need to work on.

Is the platform stable enough? What happens if someone were to let’s say hypothetically puncture the surface of your sidewalk with a metal object…. Would it be too hard to puncture into the foam? Or would it slide right in with ease?

All that complicated work when u coulda pour plaster an then paint it

This is really great! one thing to add would be to lightly sand the foam to get the sheen off .. that will also add a bit more texture. It depends on the look you are going for

What color of rub n buff did you use?

Kayte's cool.

this was really helpful for concrete texturing and color. I have a few pieces of foam intended for that material copy. I like the offset and I'm adding a yellow curb to a 2.5in strip design for the top of a diorama.

Man, I've been doing this all wrong, for years I've just been using actual concrete, this seems easier

Love it!

Does America use marble for their sidewalks Norm?😄

Can i use wood?

This is useful for me, I will probably use this for my NASCAR race track dioramas!

I like the foil ball idea. My only criticism is that when a concrete tile cracks, it cracks all the way through. you almost never get it cracking half way with a little "forked tongue". Think about breaking up a chocolate bar, you can break off a full piece, but you can rarely get it to snap part of the way, but not completely off. Also (depending on the county) concrete can be very different colours. Its normally quite yellow in the UK VS Americas cement grey.

We need more diorama videos with Kayte and Norm! I love stuff like this, and have been making my own little 1/12 scale dioramas for years. Figures like Marvel Legends really come to life!

I like them both. One looks more like a fresher concrete but very real. the other one looks like battle tested concrete. I picture an avenger in New York during a battle standing on top of it. But the more clean one is more End Game , 5 years after the battle, what is iron man doing in New York before Ant Man suddenly appears back! Both methods are equally important. It depends on the story you are trying to show .

Dayum… I coulda made that out of real concrete in half the time of the video, and 1/10th the cost😂😂

Looks awesome

I could watch this kind of stuff all day.

Would it be worth using the foil BEFORE scoring the lines for the different slabs?

Can you guys do like the interior or a space ship next? not like super crazy, but like a faux metal grated floor or something. lol.

Kate’s sidewalk looks like it would be in a ‘nice’ scene. I would be afraid of dark corners in Norm’s scene. Both so well done!

For added realism check out how (in this instance) concrete is finished, ie they usually streak the top with a push broom before poured concrete is fully cured.

Dear Tested, PLEASE do more close ups throughout.

I absolutely LOVE that this was just a down-to-earth, beginner level, step-by-step guide!
Then we can start adding all the bells and whistles later, but get the basics sorted first👍
Just a tip for the basecoat - acrylic paint can be thinned with water, so you can paint a couple of really thin layers in stead of one thick one and not worry about losing detail😃

That was great! Next you should try something more complicated, like brickwork or weathered wood planking with deep grain lines

Well now I can’t do that tutorial

Great Video Kayte and Norm You guys mentioned that you did a video on how to realistic flooring eg wood floors could you please send me the link please

Why is this on Adams channel?

This was great. More things like this would be great. I love making scenery and dioramas with XPS foam.

Not into dioramas, but still really interesting. I can see how this would be really fun, the push/pull aspect of laying down color.

For a diorama base I would have laid the blocks on an angle, perhaps with one corner of unpaved surface. Thanks for the video. Great stuff.

This is perfect. I don't have room for dioramas, but I can at least make a concrete base for my Marvel Legends.

great method, thanks.

So very cool. Thank You guys.

Never trust a maker who doesnt have bandaids :)

i never really thought about miniatures and the different scales they could be and how different scales would have different 'feels'

Why do they always need two people to just drag out projects.

Norms needs some moss/greens busting the gaps

Honestly, concrete is so expressive. Deceptively so. I might try some hints of green between tiles to indicate little plants sneaking up. Or maybe a tiny quarter glued down :)

Oh Norm… 🤦🏻‍♂️

THIS IS GREAT! Please more dioramas and models!!!

The thing about a concrete surface is that depending on what it was used for and where it is located and what time of year, is going to decide what it will end up looking like, concrete in Pittsburgh is going to have a different look then in San Francisco, or concrete in an urban area will be different in a suburban area even rural. Desert is different from wetter regions.
It is best to collect pictures or take pictures of different concrete surfaces to have a good reference catalogue for modeling, terrain building, and dioramas.
Another thing is among the aged dirty concrete you can have a section that is brand new and clean because work was needed to be done and the concrete was removed and new was poured.
Now modelers and drawers are going to pay more attention to concrete surfaces while out and about.

I think an awesome little addition would be using a stamp to emulate classic handprints, signatures, etc. that people would put in wet concrete.

Army Painter makes a spray primer specifically for XPS foam that won’t cause melting.

What about rain-slicked sidewalk? Maybe some kind of clear coat on part of it? Could be really cool with all your new light/fog setups. I'm imagining it shot from an angle where you would get interesting reflections.

noice !

Norm is one sexy beast.