Dollar Tree Bubble-Wand Microphone 6mm/10mm/15mm Sci-Fi Building

While on my trip to get the new Dollar Tree "Tombstone Corner" Halloween Scenery (See my previous post), I also noticed these microphone shaped bubble-wands in the toy aisle.  I thought the tops had good possibility to be converted into some sort of sci-fi building for my upcoming 10mm sci-fi project.  Perhaps storage tanks, or a communications center of some kind

Shown with a U.S. Quarter for scale.

The tops unscrew easily, and the attached wand was easily pulled from its mounting inside the cap. I then gave the tops a scrub with soapy water (using the bubble fluid inside the handles! :)  )  I started to try to remove the sticker label on the tops; but as is so often the case with these labels, it tore apart into little bits rather than come off easily.  So, I decided that the labels were centered enough on the side panels to probably not be too noticeable after painting.  I cleaned up the one panel where I had tried to remove the label, and left the rest in place.

I then cleaned up the molding seams as best I could and glued the microphone tops to cut-down old hotel key-cards.  I then cut out some simple doors from thin cardboard and glued those on.   Finally I added  little plastic toy bit to each piece for visual interest.  After the glue dried, I painted the buildings with flat black spray paint.

 When the spray paint was dry, I painted the buildings with a simple tan color scheme, then gave them a brown ink wash, and finished with a light drybrushing to bring out the surface texture on the "domes".  Next, I glued sand to the bases and painted it with a series of drybrushings.

I'm really pleased with how these turned out.  They are shown in the photo above with some 10mm Mechwarrior figures for scale.