Imperial City, Mike-lopolis

Ok... our local group managed to get a hold on an Imperial City Boxed Set, from a nice fellow named 'Mike'. I have been entrusted with building this thing (as my OCD needs to kick into overdrive! ) The objective was to create an Imperial City in which we could play . So, in honor of Mike, I have baptized it Mike-lopolis.

I'm keeping a WIP log... here are couple of pics. I could not leave my brothers and sisters here without the scoop. If you are interested in details and comments on the build and (future) painting process, please go to the Death Squads Forum (LINK) for TONS of pictures. Other buildings will soon be added, as well as painting process.



Your help and comments are always welcomed!

COOL STUFF! I got to build a 40K table a few years ago fo a local game store with that box set as a basis. I wound up mixing it with foam structures. It REALLY is a GREAT set...ENJOY the building process.

Mordheimer is becoming an excellent terrain maker.

@Deaf: Hehehe... thanks! So far, I'm getting a kick out of building this stuff. The challenge is that there are NOT instructions and I have to think of the build as modular (maximize the terrain formations), effective for Death Squads (primary game) and useful for 40k (to share with other at the local store!) The pining of the different levels proved a great (yet time consuming) resource. I think that I may go to the 'terrain building & painting business'. This stuff is hard to do. For the painting, I have few ultra-fast (quick & dirty) techniques... then few slow detailing ones. If all comes through, the terrain will come out very nice.

@DaBank: Well... I don't know about 'excellent'... but I have LOTS of great terrain to get schooled by you stuff!

nice start mordheimer

Thanks Paluke!
I'm working on Building C, the Hall of Valerium. Simple in design. From the top it looks like a cross (to help those Orbital Bombardments! ). It will have a 'giant' Space Marine stone statue as a center piece. The statue will boast a 'golden bolter', which would become a focal point. Here are a couple of WIP pics... more photos and comments on the Death Squads' Forum.



I have changed the Statue's right leg (more natural pose) and green-stuffed the gaps and base "rock". Comments, critiques and suggestions ALWAYS welcomed. Enjoy!

Got to see the building first hand and they are great!

Mordheimer is putting "pins" in to allow you to create your own buildings but going higher or going down to one level.

Wow!!! That is great !

Where did you get that big marine model from? it will look cool indeed! very lovely touch!

For my own scenery project i am interested in your building pinning technique! could you perhaps write a tutorial on how you do that? =)

@Paluke: Thanks for the kind comments. The Space Marine is from the Inquisitor line of models. I beleive they are 54mm scale. Detailed information is on the Death Squads Forum (www.DeathSquadsGame.com). There is where I keep my complete WIP log with plenty of pics. I will definitely add a tutorial on the pinning for buildings. Building D is already on the way (since I still waiting on some material on the Statue to dry). Pics will be uploaded there soon!

Something new from Micro Art that you MIGHT like:



www.microartstudio.com
Cool, huh?!

very cool, oggling that site now.

Duce wrote:

very cool, oggling that site now.

What!?!?! That sounded like you've never heard of Micro Art Studio! You definately need to check out their selection of bases (available anywhere in the world). Great products, very very reasonable prices.

I had no idea... definitely I will look at their stuff when they produce it!

Nice!

perfesser wrote:

Duce wrote:

very cool, oggling that site now.

What!?!?! That sounded like you've never heard of Micro Art Studio! You definately need to check out their selection of bases (available anywhere in the world). Great products, very very reasonable prices.

Never heard of them, i've not really looked into bases so thats prob why they went under my radar.

That piece of scenery though looks awesome. Now if only i could find some At-43 containers for sale outside of the sets i could make a 40k dockyard.

Time to reclaim my own thread!

I got some time, so I finished work on the Hall of Valerium !!! About time... but the statue was a challenge indeed. The statue can be put in place (or removed) for play and/or storage. Now the building is complete... ready for priming and painting! Few pictures on the finished building to share with you guys. Please visit the Death Squads Forum for more details on the work and lots more pictures! Comments, critics and suggestions always welcomed!


The statue of Valerium is quite imposing! When any model is standing beside it, it looks majestic... larger than life... over the top. I think that, if I manage to paint the building correctly, this will become a nice center-piece.

IMPRESSIVE! At last a cool use for an Inquisitor mini...why GW decided to go for 54mm minis for the game is a mystery to moi. Makes a fine looking statue. FINE IDEA, Amigo!

Awesome Work!

Very SWEET! Keep the pics coming and keep going man...you are doing great!

Time for new update... Building D is DONE! This is another modular 2 story building. It is a complete building, rather than part of the whole structure... it has minimal ruins. The 1s floor can be split in two halves, each boasting an all-around balcony frame. The 2nd floor is a cube; it can be placed in top of the 1st floor or be used as an independent building.



Now... I will stop the build for some time, so I can start putting some color to the buildings. First, prime black... then, only the Emperor knows!

Nice work!

VERY NICE! I can appreciate just how difficult the assembly on the Cities of Death buildings CAN be. My only problem with the buildings is that I think that they are MUCH TOO SMALL...of course that's only my opinion.

DeafNala wrote:

VERY NICE! I can appreciate just how difficult the assembly on the Cities of Death buildings CAN be. My only problem with the buildings is that I think that they are MUCH TOO SMALL...of course that's only my opinion.

...and your opinion is VERY important! What do you mean by small? I'm NOT trying to be a smarty-pants... I really want to know!

I have MORE material to build more stuff, and I would like to get it 'right'... in case one day you grace us with a visit, the last thing I would like to hear is complaints about the terrain! HA! Anyway, most buildings are at least the size of Mordheim's ruins and I have two 3-story buildings that dwarf most things on 'standard' buildings.

Thinking about this, I believe that the buildings give impression of a small size because they are not based. As explained on the WiP log (on the Death Squads Forum) we figured out that the bases would warp over time; so we decided not to base them. Instead we will make 'portable rubble' mounds to place in locations. Also, Hall of Valerium (the one with the status) is small on purpose... so the statue looks even bigger.

Give me your ideas on how to make the buildings 'larger'... I'm very interested.

First off, I'm not being critical of your work; it's REALLY nice looking stuff & well thought out.
The size of the buildings should reflect the type of habitat; i.e., an Empire Hamlet should have rather small buildings of two or three stories while a city like Mordheim would have towering structures of five or more stories intermix with a few smaller structures. For a 40K settlement one or two story shelters with some shacks would do the trick with, again, an Imperial City sporting towering architecture. The elaborate pieces on the CoD set would fit more with the city idea. I measured up what I would consider one of my average size Mordheim buildings; it came with an 8" X 8" footprint & was 20" high.

The 40K board I did for a local gaming store used the CoD pieces to detail pink foam/foam board structures; i.e., I made the basic structure using 3/8" pink foam & imbedded* the different pieces from the CoD for entries, window, balconies, etc.. A couple of free standing CoD annex pieces were added to represent power stations & the like. If I can dig up some of my left over bits I can make you some sample sections to better show you what I'm talking about.

With the imminent necessity to relocate, you may very well have the misfortune of meeting moi...got a room to rent?

*This was a little more than a little vague, so I thought some further explanation was in order: By "imbedded" I mean the foam board I was/am using is two ply. I cut out a section to size in one of the two plies, & glue the GW section in the indentation. The GW pieces & a single ply are roughly the same thickness.

Wow baby so cool!!! Rock on!