Scratchbuilt Buildings - Part 1

These are some old pics of a scratch-build project that I finally got back to working on.

The Goal

Before a bunch of life changing events began to derail my hobby efforts, I embarked upon a goal to create some scratch-built 1:56 scale (28 MM) terrain.  The idea was to save money and to do something creative.  I have long been inspired by DIY blogs such as Matakashi' Tea House and I wanted to try my own hand.

So, I set out to create four buildings that could be used for the suburbs within the 1920-1940-ish period so that I could apply them to Pulp, Interwar, and the Mythos genres. It would be a first step to bigger projects which would include urban buildings and eventually rural ones as well.

These buildings shown here were first designed on a sheet of graph paper.  I used foam-core, pink styrene, and card-stock paper.  A hot-glue gun was used to keep things in place. The buildings have a foundation with a removable frame and a board is glued upon the foundation to stabilize the styrene and act as a flooring surface.  This allows me nearly double the real-estate because I could have a layout where there are foundations placed separate from the frames themselves.  Of course, I'd need to create some ruined frames to make the foundations convincing. 

These images are from 2010-12-21.  I've got some new ones that I'll post in a few days.

Back of Small Building A.

Front of Small Building A.

Small Building B.  It has a deck area.

Large Building A, interior.

Example of the removable frame and the foundation.

Old School GW-Still Forging Ahead

Not much to report. I have loads more miniatures to paint after I complete these. I've kept the bases a lot darker than I normally do I think it sets the tone more. I just noticed I'm almost half way done with this lot.

Basing Experiment

When I first started painting minis again, I used to base first, but I found that sand and grit would contaminant the miniatures while I was painting them. Ever since then I have been basing last. I've found that basing after you paint your models is a pain in the ass.

Looking back, I think it was mostly due to an error on my part. Not priming first, not cleaning my work area enough after basing and general sloppiness, so I've decided to base everything first again.

I also tried a different method for adding texture my bases. I brushed on thinned down GLUE, sprinkled on course sand and then immediately submerged in fine sane. I think this gives the bases a more natural appearance and I'm pleased with the results so far.

The lot.

A recently painted harpy.

A Dead Guy a Thug and a Druid WIP's

Only managed a little work today. It was getting dark out so a lot of the details were washed out in the photo.

More Fantasy WIP's

I managed to get my record player working properly today for the first time in a few weeks (yes I said record player). I found my happy place listening to music and got 6 minis more or less finished.

The battle damage on the shield and the mummy can use a little more clean up.

I'm pretty happy with all of these so far.

Fantasy Project Update

I've been scouring eBay and managed to pick up some Chaos Thugs, Beastmen, Cult of the Possessed and Chaos Hounds.

I'm choosing Chaos themed minis because I want more of Michael Moorcock feel to this project, specifically the first 4 Corum books.

I managed to paint up a few more miniatures that still need basing. I have base colors down on 4 or 5 more that need highlighting and detail work.

Still love my micro pens!

Some New Techniques

So I ended up selling a lot of my old school miniatures haul over at the LAF.
It was nice getting to spread the luck around a little bit. I have a few left though and I started going to work on them.

I have been experimenting with a few new techniques with them.

First off I primed my latest batch of miniatures differently.
Normally I prime black and dry-brush white.
This time, I started with a light brown primer (grey would work as well), followed by a top down white primer, followed by a black wash.
I noticed the the base colors went on very smooth and required a lot less work. I'm really happy with the results.
Next, I purchased a brown and a black Micro Pen for drawing on pupils. It would normally take several tries to even get something passable if I just used a brush.
I was really pleased with the results. Just see for yourself.

Top down white primer over brown, black wash, nearly finished product

Micro pen pupils

Another view

Got some terrain painted

I finally replaced my brick walls that I use to make small courtyard areas for my buildings.
I also made some stone walls and painted another building.
The paintjobs are all "table ready" but they do need a lot of details tidied up.

Mummy Extermination Service

Unless those are silver bullets, you might need a bigger gun!

"Haunted, preposterous! I have never heard anything more silly in my life!"

And that was the last anyone one ever saw of the daring Ms. Thistle.

More Scale Comps

Red Orc over at LAF requested some Brigade Games scale comps, so I took a few pictures.
Some sit a little higher on their bases than others but I think you can get the idea.

Blue Moon, Brigade Games, Pulp Figures, EM4

Lead Adventure Mini, Westwind, Brigade Games, Black Tree Designs

Brigade Games AC57, Foundry, Brigade Games, Games Workshop

Old School Miniature Pay Dirt!

So I've been really inspired by some of the old school miniature projects I have seen going on over at LAF. There's something really cool about finding an old neglected miniature and giving it a little TLC.
So I've been checking ebay a lot and doing some bidding, only to watch the sale prices sore out of control.

Recently I bid on some miniatures and actually won the bid! The photo was pretty horrible. I could barely make out slotta's so I assumed most of them where old GW. I counted maybe 60 miniatures in the picture.

I figured "What the hell, I'm in a gambling mood" and bid on them, even though I couldn't really see what they were.

This is what I got:

What a haul! 100 plus totally awesome miniatures. It's amazing what fun and funky miniatures GW used to make. I really lucked out on this purchase!

I'm really going to enjoy painting these fellows.

Finished Brigade Games Models

Well, at least I thought they were finished. After I took pictures of them, I saw a thing or two, here and there, that I'd like to touch up on a few of them. Small stuff so I will not rephotograph the changes.

Brigade Models Based

I hate basing. It's pretty tedious, but I'm always amazed how much better everything looks afterwards.
Nothing special here just sand, a few rocks, glue and paint.
I just need to do final touch ups and and add a little static grass.

Last of the Brigade Games WIPs

So it's the last of the Brigade Games WIPs.
I'm not particularly thrilled about how these two came out.
They still need a lot of work.

The whole lot.

More Victorian Age Gangsters

A few more WIPs.
I have two more minis from my Brigade Games purchase to go. Then I start over with all the touch ups and basing. I've noticed that photos really help to identify problem areas with my minis.