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Tips on making good ruins:
(Includes part instructions for mini-ruins and sections of other build processes)
1: Foundations.
Probably the single most overlooked element of all scenery and that includes many professionals.
The human eye and subconscious is very good at detecting "things that look wrong" and it is that ability that often produces our "gut reaction" to pieces of scenery. One not immediately obvious mistake is to not give your ruins or buildings proper foundations.
In simple terms many people just slap their buildings and walls on top of the ground, something that never happens in real life as the wall or building simply falls over! It is this aspect of "walls sitting on top of the ground" that the eye detects and steers the mind towards negative impression of any model. If you put two identical buildings on display it is always the one WITH foundations that people will regard as the better model EVEN if they haven't noticed the foundations.
Creating "foundations" for a model is as simple as ensuring that any walls come up THROUGH the ground. This is easily achieved by placing a thin layer (3mm or 5mm) of expanded polystyrene (or foam board) on top of the base and then cutting out sections where the walls will go.
Then when you place the walls they will sit a few millimetres down into the ground and when the piece is finished the building or wall will look as though it is coming up through the ground from proper foundations.
2: Wall Heights.
Old ruins mean lower walls! The older a ruin the less likely a wall will remain standing unless supported by buttresses or some other architectural or natural object (such as Ivy or a tree). I you want to portray an old ruin you do not need to pile up lots and lots of rubble - simply make the walls lower to the ground and 99% of people who view it will naturally assume it is an old ruin as so little is left.
OK - I know what you are thinking "That's Obvious!". Yes it is - but it is still another very common mistake.
3: Weathering:
All ruins will be weathered to some degree. This will mean stains from rain, wind erosion, erosion form animals, trees splitting walls, mud splatters and so on and so forth. Make sure that you spend some time after you have finished painting to add "weathering" by using weathering powders or, if you don't have weathering powders, try some dry brushing.
4: Micro-habitats.
All rough stone walls, rubble and ruins form ideal micro-habitats for plants to grow. Make sure that you mimic this by having grasses and other shrubby plants growing from the cracks in walls and even on top of the walls. ANywhere that soil can gather plant life is sure to follow sooner or later.
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