Cathay Style WIP

i've mostly posted inside "inspiration" so far so it's time to start building stuff ...

The goal is eventually to be able to build a nice mordheim city in cathay style (sort of a hong-kong mordheim!)
But since i've got no experience in building terrain i'm starting with a wall and hopefully enough buildings for a cute village for warhammer. I'll move on to complicated ruins much later!

Thanks to all the tutorials and wip in this forum i'm quite happy with the wall+gate i'm making. it hasnt received any paint yet and i'm trying to figure out how to finish the door but here it is:



the door idea would be something like this:

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-2669781/stock-photo-red-chinese-door-with-a-lion-dragon-head-concept-chinese-new-year-celebration.html

if you have any ideas on making that happen easily i'm taking it all ...

Nice piece - reminds me of recent trips to China and Japan. How are you making the tiles, they are something that have eluded me! Can't wait to see some more!

Looks very cool, a promising start.

Theo

Quote :

How are you making the tiles, they are something that have eluded me!

Cardboard, the kind they put around paper coffee cups to keep from getting your fingers burnt
i was thinking of cutting and gluing wooden toothpicks to make it look like the rounded tiles that they use but even a toothpick seemed large on the roof. for bigger buildings i might do it though!

i'm not sure how fast i can post updates ... doing a couple of L shapes and a stdrd straight wall in the same style right now. hopefully i'll move on to a Courtyard type house next week-end!

Quote :

Looks very cool, a promising start.

Theo

Thanks Theo!

VERY NICE START! The stonework, roofing & plastered effect look TERRIFIC...the door has potential.
You've got the feel for your subject...it would work well with the Border Town Burning scenarios. Keep up the FINE WORK!

DeafNala wrote:

VERY NICE START! The stonework, roofing & plastered effect look TERRIFIC...the door has potential.
You've got the feel for your subject...it would work well with the Border Town Burning scenarios. Keep up the FINE WORK!

Thanks Deaf! The Stonework is a pain! i feel even more in Awe when i see entire castles and gaming boards made out of it!

The plaster effect is an unexpected bonus, i deceided to sculpt the small wooden beams instead of gluing some balsa on so i had to puch down on the foam and THAT happened! I hope i can keep the effect and use it for the paint job. will it still show after sealing the foam with white glue? (that's how it's done no?)

Oh and, since i've never really had a gaming club i havent played border town burning! how much walls and buildings do you need for that? it'll help me set a target

Oh and here's a progress report, making corners is HARD! And you can see the materials i used on the table/workspace: Foam, the cardboard for the tiles and tooth picks for the roof tops.

VERY NICE PROGRESS! The new sections of wall match the gate very well...same lovely stone, plaster, & tile effects.
I agree; doing corners is a pain.
I don't use the watered down glue as a seal...just a thin coat of black & a dry brush of white as a base coat. Figuring there will be several more coats of paint before the spray finish, I've found that ample protection for the foam.
Border Town Burning is, like Empire In Flames, a rural setting...SO less buildings are required.

well i was hoping to have done a painting test by now but my workspace isnt ready for that yet and i'm missing some sand ...

so this is all i've done since last time: a couple of straight sections with *small* gateway (as oposed to the bigger one i did first) and finished the second L (there's 2 more in preparation). I'm really hesitating for the T sections i wanted to do 'cause the material i have for the bases is a (insert female dog name) to cut out!!!

a pic of the small gates and an overall view:

VERY NICE PROGRESS! As the grand obsession takes over, you find that the amount of progress will increase dramatically. The smaller gates look TERRIFIC...& the overall effect is lovely. WELL DONE!

On the sand: go for the craft or sandbox variety; re, it eliminates the flea infestation problem.

wow wow, hold your horses!

FLEAS? like seriously you can get FLEA infestation??

The packaged sands you get from craft stores & for children's sandboxes has been combed/sifted & sterilized. Depending on local conditions, beach sand will all too often have fleas & their eggs. Having spent most of my life near beaches, I have a certain familiarity with fleas.

I've found a way to make the chinese style reinforced door i wanted

like the one in this link but without the door knocker (i'll keep that for a better building l8er i think) http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-2669781/stock-photo-red-chinese-door-with-a-lion-dragon-head-concept-chinese-new-year-celebration.html

You just punch the nails in through the foam and cut whaever comes out with the plyers ! easy ! just watch your fingers

PS: doesnt work with balsa because it splits. All the tools are on the second picture!

VERY NICE! The studded effect on the doors looks TERRIFIC. If there's a craft store in your area, check their jewelry section for push pin (alternate studs & their not pointy) & jump rings (door knocker rings).
You can add the pins to the balsa if you drill the holes, then add the pins; a #64 drill bit would be about right.

Thanks Deaf , i'll try! unfortunatly the craft store is a bit complicated ... i thought there was a hobby town and another but after several attempts it appears they've closed the shops and now sell strictly online from the chinese ebay ... it's just so much better when you can walk through the store :'(

still negative on the sand ... the arty stores i found just laughed and said i can pick it up from any construction site ... i'll probably have to live with that.

That is looking really nice izmerul. Well done!
You are building something very unique and inspiring.

I am looking at that and thinking about a Cathay Empire in Flames Campaign........

qboid wrote:

I am looking at that and thinking about a Cathay Empire in Flames Campaign........

Thanks! That just made my day!

yay finished the square (13" woopee the skaven in me is xtatic) and started making some paint tests on the smaller parts to see how it goes.

since the texture is kind of nice i think i'll go for a white undercoat, then wash brown on the plaster and black/dark grey on the stone and roof (roofs here are grey) and then highlight with a couple of drybrushes (grey on the walls and roofs and off white on the plastered walls.

Please comment and advise on this! if there's an obvious better way to do it i'd love to learn it!



I've got one last place to visit this afternoon for the sand, if i dont get it there I will take it on the street and deal with the fleas ...

Hi izmerul,

your walls look fantastic, even unpainted. I hope you will do some buildings soon.

on the sand: if you won´t find some, try to bake it for some time in the oven (hot), maybe the fleas will die.

The compound looks FANTASTIC! You've captured the charm of Chinese walls very nicely...I can almost picture the buildings that will fill the square. Keep up the FINE WORK!

Hopefully the sand you pick up from building sites will be different from the beach sands I'm familiar with,,,the spray coat should help also.

Yeah, great work

hehe, thank you Opaque & Deaf & Quid !

I'm feeling the pressure for the buildings but i'm still painting the walls. Dont have spray and do everything in apartment so the drying time is long after each step ...

That's some excellent terrain right there. Can't wait for the proper buildings!

Theo

Great looking walls! Hoping for some other color than gray, or at least less gray. Realism is not always a good thing.

Nice idea, it really looks great! Are you going to paint the portal? Waiting to see some cathay buildings!

Cheers guys, I've started making some drawings of the future buildings, as i said the first project is just a village so most likely they wont be "open" and only 1 floor just to get some practice.

In the meantime i've progressed on the painting and am trying to keep in mind what U said VK:

Von Kurst wrote:

Great looking walls! Hoping for some other color than gray, or at least less gray. Realism is not always a good thing.

i've added some yellow ocre to the highlights to give warmth and am making the wood reddish (as if it had been painted but is now too dirty to be very red)

Let me know what you think and if you'd do it differently? (the middle one in middle was a test so it's not xactly the same)