Saturday 6 May 2017

As the Boys from Monty Python would say...

...and now for something completely different.

These three Dark Ages buildings are a part of a new project that will take shape over the next few weeks.

The first is a plain A frame structure with sod roof. The basic form was simply a cardboard form, over which I glued matchsticks as the base timber structure and then a pieces of twigs from the garden as framing. The sod roof was created by covering the cardboard with foamboard with one face of the card cut off, to give it an irregular surface, and the edge were carved into shape. The whole roof was then coated with PVA and a coarse sand was applied. After the roof was painted I added some flock, grass tufts and sisal tufts.


The second structure is a pretty standard thatched building. Again the form is card covered with matchsticks. The roof is carved foamboard covered with a finer sand.


The third is a meant to be a farm house with a barn attached. To give it some real interest I created an odd bend in the structure and used a mix of matchsticks and sand on the outer surface. The thatched part of the roof was made from carved foamboard and sand, while the wooden roof was made of matchsticks.


And so there is the beginning of a village. There is much more to come here yet.

18 comments:

  1. Thee are really cool as always Mark - they look very Dark Ages - will you be buying figures or just bringing the village along to JB's games? My Valkyries would not look out of place around these buildings either!

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    1. Yes there will be figures...in fact they have been started, but it is a unique project, the purpose (or insanity) of which will be come clear in time.

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  2. Realistic and superb, what a splendid building!

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  3. Such fine modeling. The irregularity and weathering on the barn is superb!

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    1. Yes I was most pleased with that one. It has given me some ideas for a couple more.

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  4. Great work Mark. I really like the method for creating the thatched roof.

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    1. Thanks Nathan. I think I will experiment more with that technique.

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  5. Very nice, and a definite change of pace. What paint did you use for the wood? It looks very effective.

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    1. Thanks Lawrence. I decided I needed a change from painting greatcoats and making African buildings! The wood tones are created with a basic brown dry brushed over a black undercoat. I usually use a terra cotta from the Reeves basic artists acrylic range (at $4.50 for a 100 ml tube its a hard value to beat) for the base colour, but on this occasion I used GW Skrag Brown. Then I dry brush a lighter tone across the top - because these browns have a lot of red in them it is sometimes necessary to add a small amount of yellow rather than just white otherwise the result can be a little pink...and not too many Dark Ages warriors would have pink as a house colour of choice I think. Next is a lighter shade dry brushed over top and finally a very light dry brushing of white. To finish I go back with some black wash to provide water stains, shadows or separation. It sounds complicated, but, apart from the undercoating, the whole job can be done in half an hour tops.

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    2. Thanks Mark, I have a pile of Grand Manner Russian buildings I have been holding off until I find some craft paint I'm happy with, so will give this a go.

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    3. Another option is to find something wiith a strong texture and test the technique

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  6. Very nice Mark, loving the turf roof.
    Cheers
    Stu

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    1. Thanks Stu. I was happy with the way this came out.

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  7. very nice and some excellent tips on the use of foam board!

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    1. Thanks. Yes it is interesting stuff to work with...useful for me that I managed to score several 8' x 4' sheets of it for free, allowing me to be extravagant with my experiments.

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