This will be a running tutorial as I actually build a section. There has been a lot of discussion about set building. Some people aren't all that creative. Some are incredibly talented. I'm somewhere between. Sometimes I can do it fast and good. Other times, it's a hack job. But the secret is to make it NOT look like a hack job. Hopefully, a tutorial like this will help dispel some fears. And just so you know, you can always reuse your sets.

This will be a 'modular' wall piece which means, it'll be able to link up with other sections. One goes modular to make fotographing easier. You wouldn't actually build a 10' wall section with no breaks and try to shoot your 1/18th figures at the OTHER end. Doesn't matter if you have a long lense, it's kinda ridiculous. That's just one shot before you close in and take pics up close. Kinda hard to do 10' away, y'know? Let's get started!


First off, you gotta have a place to work. Now that I'm in an apartment (well, it's been over 6 months but still...), I don't have a lot of space to build. So I try to limit myself to a small space on the floor (in front of the tv or at least near it since I either have that or music on!).

You should usually have a remote idea of what you want your walls to look like. I use foamboard which you can buy in sheets at any art store. Prices and thickness vary. Go to thin, the things will be like a limpy noodle. Go to thick, well, there's no real reason. What's nice is that if you build GENERIC walls, you can change them up for different sets. But sometimes, you want static sets. I used to have TONS of this stuff but threw it all out when moving out of the house.

In my case, I had bought a lot of wood boards from Lowes to use as the bases for my set. THIS big piece is only half the size; I had someone at Lowes cut it in half. I use it for cutting on and painting as well as gluing or whatever else I need it for. It's my work area. (I had several of these pieces, which were used in the dio "Transformations".)

To example most of the stuff I use, you can se a couple rulers (METAL), paint, brshes, box cutters, etc. Please NOTE the metal rulers. When cutting, you'll cut up a regular old plastic 12" ruler. Then your lines won't be straight. Also to notice is the right-angle ruler. Chances your lines won't be exactly straight so you gotta use something that you can line up on the edge to give a straight line. I'll pencil the line with it (after measuring with the other ruler), then cut on the regular metal. Mine has that grippy underside but the best ruler I had, I lost. It was a THICK metal one that didn't bend at all.

When I do walls, I don't have a set height. I always measure what I think looks right against a figure. In this case, I'm using a 4" 25A Flash. I used Flash as the model for how tall the wall should be and how tall the doors should be. Keep in mind that if you go too small on the walls, it's incredibly hard to shoot. Sets are built BIGGER than you think but once fotographed, you can manipulate the shots so it looks tighter.

Want dimensions?
Wall dimensions - 14"x 8"
Door dimensions (for 1/2) - 3" x 7"



Here, I'm checking the size of things to see how it will look. Are the doors too big? Too small? That's really up to you but I'm doing BIG doors so it looks like Cobra (ahem) can fit larger things into the room. What room could be in there? That's up to you too. It's pretty generic so it could be an arms room. Or a lab. Who knows?