How to Make a Mini Port City

I decided to make this instructable because of the Big and Small contest. I had already made a cool paper mache set up but hadn't made the city yet so I decided to carry on with it. I will still teach you all the techniques of how I got it looking so nice.

1. Paper
2. Newspaper
3. Paper mache solution
4. Paint and paint brushes
5. Cardboard
6. Glue gun and glue
7. Sticky tape or see-through tape.

Unfortunately no images because I'm pretty sure you know what these look like.

1. The first thing you want to do is find a nice cardboard or any durable base to build on. I got hard board. The next thing you want to do is cut it out to the size you want. Mine was roughly 40 by 50 cm.
2. Next you want to start crumpling up pieces of paper and putting them in a pile to make your mountains and landscape. Make sure you leave space in between for a bay if you are creating two mountains.
3. Next use sticky tape all see-through tape to tape down the pieces of paper in place. Make sure that everything is pretty stable.
4. Lastly, get your newspaper and shred it into long thin pieces. Layer a few layers over the sticky tape and pieces of paper and make sure they are no holes and the pieces of paper mache stick together. Let it dry for a few hours in the sun.
5. Optional; If you still have some cracks and you can see paper, you can put on a few more sheets of paper mache.
6. Once it is dried you want to paint it with brown and green to get the right mountain texture. You then want to paint the rest of the base blue and leave some space for the port city. Create waves by taking the color white and splotting it along the edges of the mountains. You can also add some yellow for a beach if you want to.

1. First you want to make the ship docks. Depending on your size, you can make it like it is shown in the pictures. Optional; Leave space for a beach further back to the left or right.
2. The next thing you want to do is start making the town. Start by cutting the base for a town out of a big piece of cardboard. Once you've gotten it to the right size, glue the ship docks to the main base for the town. Then start making your houses. You can also make ships if you want but I didn't. Make sure you scale them to the size you want.
3. Optional; You can paint the ships and houses if you want to.
4. When you have made a decent amount of ships and houses, start organizing the houses into streets and make space for roads in between the houses.
5. Once you have glued your houses down, you can start painting. Use your imagination and remember that any mistake you make is fixable and can be turned into a magnificent piece. In the end I decided to not make a beach but make a grassy plane.

And if you have done all the steps above, you are finished. Give a round of applause and a pat on the back to yourself. I did not make my port like every other port you see. I made it my style. If you're looking for perfection and realism, you're not gonna find me, but if you're looking for a whole lot of effort and perseverance and authenticity, that is where you will find me. (Although sometimes I can make some pretty realistic things). Thank you so much for reading this short instructable. There are some honorable mentions:

1. My mom, for borrowing me her phone to take pictures and borrowing me her paintbrush.
2. My dad, for also borrowing me his phone for taking pictures.
3. And my brother and my sister,...... for just being my brother and my sister.😁