Sunday, 13 December 2020

Terrain and Buildings

The past couple of weeks, I have been scratch-building some terrain and making adobe buildings for the Kaimenistan expedition.








The hills are made from styrofoam (using a simple styrofoam hot cutter) with some sand and stones for texture, and several layers of emulsion paint from a dark brown to a very light final highlight.

The bits of cork bark were added to MDF bases, tetrioned, and then given the same paint treatment as the hills.

The mountainous peaks were a set of plastic ones made by Kallistra which i picked up at the York show around 5 years ago. They've been waiting to be 'tarted up' since then, and I final got round to it, and painted with the same method as described above.

The buildings are mainly scratchbuilt, very simple. The gatehouse is a Sarissa MDF piece, as are the two towers, and the domed building is one of Renedra's adobe kits. The whole lot was given a simple colour scheme, and it seems to work ok. I left them 'unbased' to give maximum flexibility.

I have still got some extra details to do, such as ladders, pots and jars, and other paraphernalia to give it a 'lived in' look.

Although I had my Back of Beyond project firmly in mind when creating this, the whole set up will, of course, serve for many theatres and periods... I can see my ancient Successor armies fighting over it, for example, and my Colonial troops.

The Renedra building, in a certain light, looks like it is some sort of christmas cake, with an icing covering! Well, it keeps it festive! 

Finally, I added a bit of flock to indicate sparse patches of grass, typical of the region, and the picture shows the British contingent arriving to garrison the town.

And so, the Back of Beyond project moves forward! Next up, some more troops...


18 comments:

  1. Very attractive terrain and buildings you have modeled there, Phil. Well up to your usual standards. It all really looks the part. I've got a bunch of 3/4" styrofoam sheeting here that I've hoarded for several years and a new hot wire styrofoam cutter, but I'll be placing my layers beneath my felt terrain mats ala Charles Grant once done. I hope to get this done in time for the planned Boxing Day game between myself and The Young Master. Hopefully my dice rolls will be better than last time! See you Saturday (with seasonal funny hat).

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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    1. Thanks Stokes. Playing around with styrofoam is fun! Go for it!
      Best rgds
      Phil

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  2. Your adobe buildings and hills look fantastic! Cheers, Karl

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    1. Thx Karl. It made a change from figure painting. I find that once I'm in the mood for scratch-building, it can be great fun.
      Phil

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  3. This position looks formidable. Great work!

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    1. Thanks Jonathan. It's fun to set up these scenes now and again. Of course, whilst this is a great defensive site, the British will probably embark upon an expedition into the hinterland... then who knows what will happen?!
      Phil

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  4. All very nice and practical. Multi period too. What's not to like?

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    1. Thx Paul. Yes, the multi-use of such terrain does have an appeal.
      Phil

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  5. These are brilliant and really set the scene perfectly.
    Regards, James

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    1. Thx James. Glad you like it. I kept it simple and wanted it to be practical for gaming, but also attractive enough from a distance of a few feet away!
      Best rgds.
      Phil

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  6. Great terrain and buildings

    Maybe some figs you can use for your project from Tiger Miniatures
    https://www.tigerminiatures.co.uk/central-asia
    https://www.tigerminiatures.co.uk/nwf-1
    https://www.tigerminiatures.co.uk/nwf?page=2

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    1. Thx Tidders. You are a walking wargames catalogue! I do have a few figures from Tiger Mins, but hadn't spotted all of their ranges.
      Phil

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  7. Great terrain, Phil. In particular, it is very helpful to see how a finish common to all the buildings can integrate the buildings from different manufacturers and the scratch built ones.

    Now, better get some sangers made and get some outposts on top of those hills or the town garrison will soon be dominated! Or is that the "cunning plan, my Lord"!

    If I don't get a chance to check in, all the best for the Yuletide - hope it is suitable happy, festive & rewarding! And best wishes to all your "viewers" as well!

    Merry Christmas & Cheers, Rohan.

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    1. Thanks Rohan. and thanks for your comments over the whole year. Much appreciated. Have a very Merry Christmas, and here's to a prosperous 2021.
      Phil

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