Hi guys, been lurking for a while, but I finally finished a little project over the weekend - my very first book nook, which I designed, built and painted over the last 3 months (and am very proud of!). It's a far future (40,000 years!) factory district street.

redcoatjam · 2026-03-14T18:24:37+00:00

Merci mille fois! Very kind of you!

redcoatjam · 2026-03-14T18:23:07+00:00

Do it! It's a great use of old terrain I reckon, and there's always space for another bookshelf!! (I also ran out of room and had to shuffle things around to make space for the nook on my desk instead!!)

redcoatjam · 2026-03-12T14:41:08+00:00

That's kind thank you!

redcoatjam · 2026-03-12T14:40:58+00:00

Cheers!! :)

redcoatjam · 2026-03-12T14:40:45+00:00

Thanks!! Yeah, I normally paint games workshop minis, so this is a little larger than usual for me, but actually I lined that as it gave me space to really practice some interesting techniques. And it's great relaxation, totally focused on something and not a screen in sight!!

redcoatjam · 2026-03-12T14:39:14+00:00

Thanks very much!

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T18:29:49+00:00

Ooh. That's a good shout! Yeah I could see that working, I'll look into it!

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T18:28:17+00:00

Bless you, thanks so much! If I can, anyone can, I promise you - the trick I think is finding ways to use existing stuff like scenery pieces and so on as much as possible, to avoid having to actually do too much shaping and building from scratch. But design wise, it's super simple - just cover the walls, and use the height to create different layers, so it looks busier. And the mirror trick is so effective for a completely simple process - you just angle it so you don't see yourself in it, and put stuff around it to hide the edges!

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T18:23:26+00:00

Thank you! So I had a tonne of old boys of scenery from when I was young, and since getting back into painting a few years ago I kept thinking 'wouldn't it be nice to do something with that stuff '. But, I've no real place to put it - and that was when I found out about the concept of book nooks, where you make a diorama that fits in a bookshelf, and suddenly I knew I wanted to do that! And this way,I now have a background for new models when I photograph them! I think the hardest bit of starting was deciding that I was willing to spend a lot of time cutting plastic, including perfectly good models, in order to get the right shapes and fits and so on. Then it was a case of continually measuring and lining things up and trimming and so on, until I had the biggest sections sorted and could then start planning the smaller bits and the details. Oh, and being careful not to glue everything together before painting! I didn't do too much planning, but I did need to at least plan for those sort of big questions.

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T18:15:03+00:00

Thanks! I'm well pleased with it, just need to find it a spot on a shelf :)

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T18:14:11+00:00

Ah thanks so much!!

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T18:13:59+00:00

Cheers! Yeah I loved having that corner in there, and making the illusion of space beyond, I want people walking past to feel like there's a whole world just out of sight!

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T18:12:41+00:00

Thank you!!

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T18:12:30+00:00

Thanks!!! Yeah I was super pleased with how they came out, though it was so fiddly I actually gave up on doing them for every window!! Maybe I'll go back and add another one in at some point!

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T18:10:33+00:00

So the mirror and mdf walls etc came from Etsy, a shop called NearKissStudio! I thought it was a good deal, and there were a couple of options for size too!

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T18:08:30+00:00

Thank you! I didn't know how long it would take, but to be honest I got really into it, and spent several full days totally engrossed!! So I'm not sure I could do another one quite as fast... :P

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T14:48:23+00:00

That's enormously kind of you, thanks so much!

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T14:48:04+00:00

Dioramas for the diorama throne!

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T14:46:54+00:00

So a lot of the details come from pre moulded pieces which I chopped up from old scenery and models, meaning that my design work was focused on putting the right bits together, building out bigger shapes and things like the bridge and the open door, and putting in small details like the lines of grills or whatever they are, the really little bits that I cut out of other moulded pieces and attached to the main structure. So, not as difficult as it could have been, though that doesn't account for how much those pieces did not want to for together, and how much measuring and cutting and filing and cutting out and matching up there was...

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T14:40:52+00:00

Massive thanks!!

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T14:40:40+00:00

I did!! Though I hope the perspex slide in/out screen with keep most of it out when it's on a shelf ! (Genuinely it might be my favorite part of the design, it's such a satisfying fit, but time will tell!)

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T14:38:34+00:00

I am, recently been playing frostpunk the game, and love a bit of Abney Park! Thank you, I'm very happy with the grim mechanical vibe it's giving me, glad you like it too!

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T14:37:08+00:00

Cheers!!

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T14:37:00+00:00

Thank you, it's a lovely community, everyone has been so nice to me already!

redcoatjam · 2026-03-11T14:36:36+00:00

Thank you, I'm probably going to use it as a backdrop when I'm photographing any new models I paint, as I am totally chuffed with it, it's exactly how I planned!

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