This Olde House, Part 1

Here is a much smaller version of the house that I constructed a while back.  This one is a bit more simplified as well.  There are no dormers or anything.  It was also limited to the size of the plasticard roof sections that I had :-)

I cut out the sections of foam core to the correct size. I had the benefit of my matt cutterm but you can also do this with one of the metal rulers that has the cork backing.  That keeps it from sliding as you make your cut.  When it comes time to film the video of this project, I will have to use that method.

I started gluing the pieces with a strong elmer's glue (wood glue is ideal)

The sections are now set, as well as a support bar in the crest of the roof line.  I used some painter's tape to keep the pieces stable while the glue dried.

Once all the sections had been glued together, it was time to start making the strips of wood that would   give the house that wood and stucco feel.  This was thin balsa wood.

I measured the various strips and cut them to size...

It takes a little while to get all them in place, but it will be well worth it!

When you do the corner pieces, make sure that you cut one side a little shorter than the other.  This way they will look even once they are attached.

The Tudor look requires some cross bars, etc...

The angles pieces need to be planned out carefully, but they look very cool!

The windows were done with some of the left over cuts.  If I wanted to get more details, I could have used some really thin strips of plasticard for the interior frames of the windows.  But, the idea was to keep it simple!

I decided not to make a chimney for this bulding, since it will see a lot of rough use at the Dragon Shoppe, and I didn't want them to have to worry about not breaking that!

With all the wood planks in place, we need a door!  I will be making one from sculpey that is very similar to what I did for the watchtower.  That and more is coming in the next episode!

Completing the fortifications!

There were three final tasks remaining to finish off the fortifications.  The first was to glue all the rivets in place, which takes a lot of time.  However, it always looks neat!

For the parts that are not metal, I had to make some pock marks.  This would be the second element that I needed to add.  

I took that same very sharp exacto blade and chopped out some chunks of various sizes.  I also added some bullet holed by pressing a ball point pen into the foam.

I added a few chipped out areas to the walls, using that same super sharp exacto blade to that I would not tear away the board from the foam.

This gives you a nice view of the rivets on the walls.

The last task.  Out comes the trusty Oxide Paste.

The oxide paste does far more than just fill in gaps.  I allows me to create a rough texture on what will be metal surfaces to create a rusty, encrusted look.

It also lets me hide unwanted texture, such as the painter's tape.  I learned that on the Tomb Kings army board project.

So, I will be painting this thing up, which is actually going to be another kind of experiment.  Stay tuned!!

Working on that modular cover save... fortifications part 2

OK!  We get back to the modular 40k fortifications.  When we last left this project, I was waiting for all the glue to set up on the various elements.  In this image, you can see the door that I had ready to go...

A platform was created to guard the entrance...

Now the gate and the pillbox are all set.

I put foam core on the tops of all the elements to give them just a bit of extra height.

I added some corner pieces, as these will be platforms for optional weapons such as heavy bolters, etc.  I believe that when you purchase bastions with your points, you can choose from a few weapons.

For more story driven games, I was going to make some communications arrays that might go in those corners or even teleport homers.

I added a few more elements to the walls.  I wanted these to be metal struts, to which I will be adding those rivets...

Speaking of rivets, here is the part that I hate the most... punching out the rivets!  It takes forever, or at least it feels that way.  Very tedious, but they are very important for the desired effect.

This is a sheet of relatively thin plasticard.  The hole punch is from an archive/scrapbooking store.

I tried to gather all the little rivets into one container, and got a new, sharp blade for my exacto knife, which I would use to place the rivets.

Here's some of those rivets in place!  Stay tuned for the final construction episode!