How to Make Fake Concrete Sidewalks for Dioramas!

Kayte and Norm return for a new season of Model Behavior modelmaking videos, and kick things off this year with a tutorial demonstrating how to make realistic scale-miniature concrete sidewalks! Using insulation foam sheets and household materials, here's how to quickly fabricate panels that can be used for your figure or diorama displays.
XPS Foam sheets: amzn.to/3J8Uuon
Vaelljo dipping wash: amzn.to/35EuLWL
Foam Brushes: amzn.to/3KdPAaV
See these sidewalks in use here: • Cyberpunk 2077 Diorama...
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Shot by Joey Fameli and edited by Norman Chan
Music by Jinglepunks
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Intro bumper by Abe Dieckman
Thanks for watching!

[@tested]

XPS Foam sheets: amzn.to/3J8Uuon Vaelljo dipping wash: amzn.to/35EuLWL Foam Brushes: amzn.to/3KdPAaV Disclaimer: Tested may earn an affiliate commission when you buy through the links here. Join this channel to support Tested and get access to perks: kzbin.info/door/iDJtJKMICpb9B1qf7qjEOAjoin

[@DaveDeBaeremaeker]

XPS foam can be purchased a lot cheaper at hardware stores. The downside is they mostly come in 4x8ft sheets, but its $18-20 for a 4x8, 1" thick board at my local store (North Carolina)

[@justinbroniszewski]

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!

[@ingajohannsdottir1180]

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😃

[@itwaslikethatwhenigothere]

This video is perfectly timed for me. I picked up some 1/35 scale resin zombie figures a while ago, and I have been thinking about building a small apoctolyptic diorama for them. Once I scale it down, I think that this will make the perfect base for my project.

[@seanblakely4375]

Anyone else enjoy the relaxing feeling of this video?

[@theherrdark4834]

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.

[@jonreis8505]

I would absolutely love more videos of this kind of content!

[@JeffHanke]

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.

[@tytanwargaming]

for rain slicked generally you'd want to go a bit darker then gloss coat it

[@OlgrimFastfang]

Might be fun to see how resin works with your idea.

[@SvenSvenApfel]

Resin would probably your best bet for that.

[@yxeaviationphotog]

Future Floor Wax?

[@lazyhydroponicsandstuff3682]

@@SvenSvenApfel No use wet effect by like AK or Mig

[@theSuedeMonkey]

I hope you can do more videos on diorama, this is awesome Kayte and Norm!

[@spagamoto]

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 :)

[@z-beeblebrox]

After you're done using the aluminum foil for the texture, get a hole punch and voila! (well...for 1:6 that's more a silver dollar, but still!)

[@ThatVideoGuyTom]

I could watch this kind of stuff all day.

[@TheSalemCrow]

You can use an Exacto blade to make the cuts, but then run a wooden pencil or small paint brush to make those indents. Using just a blunt object can actually dent/tear the foam.

[@lordofarda]

Yeah, always cut first unless it's a shallow/rounded indent

[@Craftlngo]

you can protect the foam and make it more robust when you paint it with a mixture of Mod Podge, Water (to thin the Mod Podge down) and acrylic colour

[@DaveDeBaeremaeker]

This is one of my goto techniques.

[@Craftlngo]

@@DaveDeBaeremaeker if you also add tile grout to the mixture, you'll get a neat texturing for free

[@TaliesinKnol]

I just use white glue, since mod podge is basically just a thickened version of that anyway.

[@Craftlngo]

@@TaliesinKnol you are partly right. Mod Podge is a PVA glue, but it comes with different finishes. You can get it with matte, satin and glossy finish. PVA glue is not optimized for the finish and the look can vary in the outcome.

[@pixl3l]

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

[@o2bsam]

You can literally make anything from extruded polystyrene. Thanks Kayte and Norm!

[@wm2922]

Awesome! More diorama/wargaming content please!!!!! :) P.s. Thank you for the video!!!

[@jleddy]

👆🏼 What they said! More dioramas, model kits, etc!

[@LuciferRaine]

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.

[@JaytheP]

This was awesome, I’d actually like to make a faux concrete wall for my bedroom

[@purpleYamask]

Lego translation: Build road. One stud-height above road, flat plates/sparse studs in light or dark gray.

[@zakuukaz4322]

Interesting comparing the results from such slight style variation.

[@bentationfunkiloglio]

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

[@dralbora]

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!

[@DarthNoshess]

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?

[@PKWModelwerx]

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.

[@MrJimmyBananas]

I'm a beginner, so this video is awesome! Thank you

[@gdn86]

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.

[@adammakarenko]

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

[@Broadshore]

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

[@tommloye4626]

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

[@lordofarda]

Just put a mod podge layer down first and melting isn't even an issue. And as it is a like a lacquer it strengthens it as well.

[@1989worms1]

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

[@janajeffsilvernickelladventure]

So very cool. Thank You guys.

[@Silentspeaker3]

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

[@spellxthief]

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

[@matlavi4075]

Nice build! I want to try making this!

[@geromitesushiman6035]

Very interesting and usefull and also prefect time because its actually what i plan to do for a custom base.

[@rjc0234]

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.

[@Jack_Wolfe]

20:32 Norm should splash some clean liquid in spots around the place, maybe even streaks like tiny dropped cups of drink

[@dannonmarsh4633]

How are you guys doing the wash without the paint lifting off? Is there something as bout the Vallejo wash that makes.it different from just very thin paint? I had a base painted last night I thought looked great. This morning I tried to put a thin black acrylic wash on and the base just started lifting and peeling immediately.

[@christopherking6496]

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

[@corybyrdlong6219]

What color of rub n buff did you use?

[@rynohobbies]

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

[@Regular_Jo]

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.

[@davestinyworkshopotherprojects]

great method, thanks.

[@Onestringpuppet]

Looks awesome

[@alexartiststudios7981]

Love it!

[@leemarsh3569]

cool, really enjoy these videos :)

[@ekojar3047]

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 .

[@AhlquistMediaLab]

Great video! Would love to see how to do concrete textures at a smaller scale for things like multi-building city dioramas. I'm building one to shoot in VR and am having trouble finding the balance between detail and scale.

[@DaveDeBaeremaeker]

How much smaller? I've seen this technique used for things as small as 28mm scale. Less than that the texture is almost irellevent, and it's more about the paint job.

[@lordofarda]

Use sandpaper. Wet paint the base color to get into the grits then drybrush lightly to bring out the gritting then do a wash and dry brush again. Looks spot on for texture at smaller scales.

[@AhlquistMediaLab]

@@DaveDeBaeremaeker Thanks for the advice Dave. Your point is well-taken. Much smaller than that. Think 16th inch people. That's being driven by budget and physical space. And on top of that, this is for VR cameras set at its ground level. When experienced through a headset, the buildings will look and feel massive. And so will my crappy paint job. Which is why I was wishing and dreaming the amazing Tested team might have someone who can wisdom dump in a video. I know Phil Tippet has worked with something like what I'm trying, but the scale is bigger... and he's a grandmaster.

[@AhlquistMediaLab]

@@lordofarda A megaton of thanks! I'll experiment with this.

[@flexiondynamo]

Kayte's cool.

[@Xtafa]

Norms needs some moss/greens busting the gaps

[@christobacon1]

You could take 1/6th size boots/shoes and imprint that like kids do sometimes...

[@peterkelley6344]

Fun. If your a good artist you could also do hand prints.

[@johnlawn8879]

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

[@tested]

here you go! kzbin.info/www/bejne/hmeaoH9mZtqlgLc

[@johnlawn8879]

@@tested Thank you very much

[@loofy26]

noice !

[@santiago5893]

Can i use wood?

[@nixhixx]

Dear Tested, PLEASE do more close ups throughout.

[@xMcStarley]

Update on the martian spacesuit build!>!>!>!>?!?!?

[@ajisinthewoods3692]

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

[@peterkelley6344]

We've seen a number of videos with aluminum foil. Someone must have had a brainstorming session of the number of ways to use aluminum foil. This is something I probably will use in the coming year. Would either of you (or anyone else) consider cutting the foam base into the size of the concrete blocks, weather it, and then assemble it for the effect?

[@PrograError]

unless you are mass producing something, IMO what they are doing should be fine for most use cases. why make more work for yourself and assemble it one by one instead of a block.

[@saddislocation9291]

It depends on the final result you are looking for. You can do it, but since you weather the single pieces at the interfaces it could show the different wheatering of the edges; it wouldn't be a problem for something that has an intrinsic defined separation, like sidewalk and road

[@davidhogue100]

Peter, concrete sidewalks are actually one piece for fairly long distances. The joints are called expansion joints, but when poured its often just a groove in the top. Idea is it creates a stress riser and breaks at the groove if it needs to. So technically it's more scale in one piece than blocks!!

[@willfreund3315]

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

[@technounionrepresentative4274]

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

[@shaunlewis286]

Does America use marble for their sidewalks Norm?😄

[@rslaskjoel8617]

You forgot chewing gum

[@densmorde4520]

Why is this on Adams channel?

[@OilersWorkshop]

Well now I can’t do that tutorial

[@Xx_KingMoses_xX]

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

[@nickademuss42]

Never trust a maker who doesnt have bandaids :)

[@jleddy]

Oh Norm… 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@Imjustsaying1966]

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

[@badboyv360]

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

[@Aaron_Somers]

Every time they say sidewalk I cringe, being from the UK we call it a pavement. We also use the metric system

[@TheEnd]

Pavement is a broad term that refers to any area that is covered in concrete, sidewalk however refers to only the outer edge of the pavement along the buildings, shops and homes where people and their animals are meant to be walking. Pavement is just not specific enough.

[@DaveDeBaeremaeker]

I am a Canadian who lives in the US, and I am constantly shifting my scales between metric and imperial. I tend to use metric for most things, but use imperial when it makes sense, like my material already comes in an acceptable size but in imperial measurements. i.e. that foam is likely 1", so if I was making bricks its easier to do 1"x1"x2" Pavement as a sidewalk is odd tho. For us North Americans pavement is more asphalt covered things, which tends to be roadways and parking lots (occasionally outdoor sports surfaces like basketball courts). I love the differences in the meaning of the words between english speaking cultures. It makes the world a richer place to be.

[@Zveebo]

@@TheEnd Not in the UK etc - it means the pedestrian section at the edge of a road.

[@TheEnd]

@@Zveebo I have “loads” of “mates” from the UK and an ex girlfriend of mine was from Leicester. Very familiar with those vernaculars.