Joao's Random Workshop

I love your town ... your models ... and it may not look like much but i think the way you base your models is amazing! what material do you use to keep it so thin? does it hold well with time?

I'm not usually all that fond of Mummies, but your Wrapped-for-Freshness Lads look TERRIFIC! VERY WELL DONE!

Thank you, guys! Your comments keep me motivated to carry on - even if in slow motion!

@ izmerul: thanks for asking about the bases (not a frequent question). I use washers or laser cut ply bases (like these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380372573802&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:GB:1123)

For bigger models, I usually cut a big round base from cardboard.

Having the bases lower than the usual wargaming bases makes them blend in with the scenery - as opposed to looking like they're standing on platforms (no disrespect to whoever choses those types of bases, though; many of my previous models were based like that).

Also, I go for round bases as the models tend to look much more natural than with square ones (I don't really know how to explain it, but it "feels" better than with square angles).

Finally, I put sand mixed with bird grit (for variation) on the base including the edges, so again the model blends in well with the rest of the board.

So far it's been working for me, but I might change my mind one day, who knows?

Joao

You've been waiting for someone to ask you eh? ^^

Thanks for your explanation, as soon as I pick up some minis i'll try to find something around here to do the same.

And it does work, they look much more like a part of the scenery! I'm surprised more people dont try it!

izmerul wrote:

And it does work, they look much more like a part of the scenery! I'm surprised more people dont try it!

Personally (and particularily in skirmish games) I would likely "loose" models on the board if they blended in better and forget to use them, lol.

I however wholeheartedly agree that round bases look better, I believe Mordheim only used square bases so that players could use thier models either from warhammer, or in warhammer (if they were mordheim models). I use "Warmachine" style bases for all my figures.

JoaoS, thanks for sharing such wonderful pictures!

Hey fellows, thanks for the comments - I hadn't been in this thread for a while, as I've been doing everything and nothing at the same time. I've got a few hundreds of different projects going, but nothing near to completion (story of my life).

I've been doing some scratch-building incursions lately and getting more confident with the idea of creating my own terrain from scratch. This is mainly due to the fact that I currently feel that most of my medieval houses look pretty much the same and with similar dimensions. So, in the near future, I will be building houses out of foam board, balsa wood and other bits and pieces. I will post whatever I can come up with - but only if it is any good.

Anyway, last night I got to play around with a cork tile to make some flagstone pattern for the town. The idea was to create a central space for the town square so I could have a town bell on display there. I tried to sculpt a bell out of FIMO but ended up with some sort of phalic object that just looks too obscene to represent a bell. I will go on eBay and get a proper miniature bell for the town.
Back to the cork tiles, I was quite surprised with the experience. It was extremely easy to draw the flagstone pattern on the clean side of the tile, as the cork already contains some sort of flagstone pattern anyway. Carving the lines on the cork was a different ball game. It was really hard and time consuming, and I'm not sure I would like to do it again with these tools. Maybe there's an easier way to work with cork.



In the end, I sprayed the floor, and then used drybrushing techniques to paint the stonework:
GW Charadon Granite
GW Codex Grey
GW Dheneb Stone
GW Fortress Grey

And then mixed a few washes to individually paint some stones:
GW Devlan Mud
GW Ogryn Flesh
GW Gryphonne Sepia



Mixing them into several colours created variation but unity in the overall look of the flagstone, which was exactly what I wanted.

And here is one of the possible uses while I'm still sorting out the town bell.



I hope you like it.

Joao

Working with cork has been one of those things that I've never tried. Your Town Square may make me give it a try. VERY WELL DONE!

I saw one artile where the user got a decent effect on the cork just by burning it with a heat gun, it made al teh texture shrink a little thus giving it a stone effect. Looked ok in the photos and certainly simple.

DeafNala, thank you! I'll be curious to see what you come up with when working with cork.

maxxev, is there anyway you can post the link to that article you read with the heat gun?

Joao

There are a couple of articles on making buildings out of cork sheets on Matakishi's Tea House. Here's a link to one of them:

http://www.matakishi.com/toastermedieval.htm

Yes, I had seen that article a while ago. Really useful and informative - and inspirational.

In fact, that's the article that made me get the cork tiles in the first place. Let's see what the next experiments lead me to.

Joao

Your town looks great, and I love your townsfolk, I know just how hard it is to find all of those guys not wielding a sword!. Well painted, well don. I look forward to seeing more...

Cheers for the feedback, Theomar!

I'm seriously considering basing all houses - I know they will be less modular this way, but at least they will have more character.

Nowadays it's getting easier to find non-fighting miniatures. Cianty pointed in the right direction with his Gierburg project and the civilians he has there: http://cianty-tabletop.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Gierburg

And then Bruegelburg came along and it has brought loads of characterful civilians.

I will post some more when I get the chance.

Joao

Stunning thread ! Very nice paint jobs. If i have to specify it will be my life's work to do so

Keep up the good work!

Thanks Paluke! Wow, it's been a while since I've been around here.

OK, on with some updates. Since two months ago I started having a go at building my own houses (something I always feared would go terribly wrong). But as I was watching other people doing it, I thought "what the hell, I'll give it a go".

Got myself some foamboard, coffee stirrers (thanks to my office colleagues) and some doors and windows from Antenocitis.
I also paid close attention to some great tips and pointers people like Theomar have been giving in the forum.

Finally I needed inspiration. I was looking for some tall, narrow buildings for my town. Pardulon makes really good models, so I blatantly plagiarised one of their houses as my first homemade terrain. Still, I felt I needed to do something slightly different here, so I opened one of the walls and made a cobbler's shop (the shoes are chopped from GW zombies, as zombies can simply be used as they're coming out from the ground).

So, most of the building part was very straight forward, and even the roof tiles weren't as daunting as I feared (although it took me more than one hour just to get them done). In the end I also added a chimney made of blue foam with a push pin on top (to blend in with some of the chimneys I had on other houses).

Painting-wise, it was super quick and cheap (I used Wilkos tester pots for all of it). Painted the roof first, wood next, with some dry brushing and then walls and details.

Hope you like it:










This is clearly the cobbler's first day at work. He seems clueless.


Detail of the shop with the shoes waiting to be collected by their unfortunate owners.


The owner of the whole building, a rich and greedy merchant.


The back of the building, where street performers entertain the passers-by.


Detail of the chimney.


The house among the town buildings.

Joao

That looks TERRIFIC...you're a natural! The piece has some interesting angles to it, & is nicely detailed & painted. Best of all, you've overcome your self doubt. All in all, VERY WELL DONE!

Very nice little shop you've built. It fits in splendidly with the rest of the buildings. Great to see your town again and all the inhabitants.

Fantastic work, JoaoS! The cobbler shop was a very creative idea, and your use of zombie feet was absolutely genius!

The painting of the house was very well done and blends nicely with your other terrain. BTW, by re-reading some of your older posts about your "failed-falic-town bell", try looking for cheap Christmas decorations, you will find nice little bells there, that's what I've used for my Clock Tower...

Cheers,

Arcuballis

Cobbler shop looks great, and the size looks good too. It's big, but it's not unrealistically big, so it fits nice. Great work, I'd be proud of that one.

Hey guys, thanks a lot for checking these out and for the feedback!

Arcuballis, thanks for the suggestion. I managed to find an old pencil sharpener I had back home which is perfect for what I as looking for.

But your clock tower is absolutely stunning (in fact your whole project is!).

Joao

So, back in action with some extra stuff. I managed to finish off the fishmongers's shop and a few goodies to go with it.
This shop was originally my first ever building from scratch, even though I only painted it now. When I first started building it, it was supposed to be a shack (hence the small size). But then I looked back at those poor, homeless fishmongers and thought it would be best to give them some space to inhabit the town.

I wanted it to look dilapidated (as my friend Werekin likes to put it) so having cracks on the wall and broken glass was essential. Basically it had to look like an old, neglected building.





Even though it's scratch-built (foamboard, cardboard and coffee stirrers), I added Antenocitis' windows and door and stonework from Wills (coarse stone). I also included bits from GW (like the doorbell, hooks and knife).



The sign was made out of a fish charm, from a beads shop, attached to a GW Ogre spear.



The fish, alas, were sculpted by moi with green stuff (which was very challenging, as I have no sculpting background).



Since it was made into a shop, I had to somehow make it realistic. So, I opened a wall section and placed a wooden window that could open up for the exterior, where the fish could be placed. The downside of it was that it would expose the unpainted interior of the building. So, with my girlfriend's help, I placed a piece of cloth as a curtain to cover the interior.



The painting was quick (thanks to the marvelously cheap Wilkos' tester pots again), even though I couldn't quite emulate the effects on the roof tiles that I had achieved on the cobbler's shop - I hadn't tried Theomar's roofing techniques when I built the fishmonger's joint.
The trickiest bit was the door (I used some turquoise mixed with light brown to give a worn out effect to the painted door).



Not forgetting the fish (eventually I used metallic paints and some washes to add realism to the fish).



Finally I put stains of red and dark brown on the cloth to give a gritty look (maybe as a result of the fishmongers cleaning their dirty hands).

Another thing I decided to do was to add some character around the shop, by painting some more civilians and props. This is an excellent way of getting more stuff painted.
So I got these two rascals done (the models are from MegaMiniatures and GW - Frenzied Mob pack).



Also this dog and cat (both from MegaMiniatures).



And then I painted up almost all my barrels, sacks, buckets (from Antenocitis), crates (bought them from Warlord Games, but I can't remember who the manufacturer is) and some more bits from Tabletop World that came with the Merchant's House (cart, barrels, wooden boxes, sacks and wrapped goodies). I also painted the cat that came with the house, so it could add more character to the fishmonger's shop. There are also an extra cart (from MegaMiniatures) and a wheelbarrow from Thomarillion.



Having all of these available will create a much more lively environment in the town (I must paint more animais too). They can also be used in the market or around other buildings, mainly shops.



And now with the scenes. I hope you like it:



The fishmongers scaring away their own customers.



A cat and dog getting ready for a fight (maybe over some fishbone).



The two kids vandalising the shop and breaking some windows.

The fishmonger's shop is located near the market square. You can see how busy it gets.







Joao

VERY IMPRESSIVE! The Fishmongers House is a GEM...I love the details like the broken window.
The new additions to the City's populace are VERY COOL. The place has life & vitality much like a real Renaissance Town. VERY WELL DONE!

absolutly love it, your scenery is plain awesome! So much life in it, unbelievable, and the best is, you just build the fishmonger shop, its actualy the background of my possesed. After seriolmom killed my magister of those fruitstore possessed, i resculpted my magister and made him a fishbucket helmet. Even my warbandmembers have fishy with, them, and yur remember big fishy? He would love your fish shop! F****n awesome terrain, and thats the first time that i use that term here on toms, you really earned it! floedbolle

Great inspiration! Your buildings and models are excellent! Thank you for sharing.