In preparation for a few Norman vs. Saxon games, which will most likely be using scenarios from One Hour Wargames, I needed to create some buildings and bridges. I use the pictures from paper soldiers "Wargame 1066" by Peter Dennis as a guide to the design of the terrain items.
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| A band of paper soldier Saxons (42mm) with the new terrain pieces. |
As with my previous terrain, I tend to use blocks of wood cut then roughly painted. This allows me to pack away the terrain without having to worry about breakages, and it is cheap. I used to use just the blocks painted, but now I use a Gesso Paste to create the roofs which in most cases have the most texture. This helps speed up the painting process with washes and dry brushing.
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| The building process once cut moving left to right. The Gesso paste gets textured with a toothpick. |
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| A Saxon church and buildings suitable to represent a village. All the building features are painted on using various washes and dabbed on blobs of paint for stone buildings or stripes for timber buildings. |
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| Saxons defend their village. |
The bridges take a similar approach to the buildings. Normally I would not have applied the Gesso Paste, but decided to give it a try and see if it was effective.
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| The cut wood has some dowel added to the sides. Then Gesso paste added to give a rough texture. A strip of card cut the width of the bridge is used to give a ripple effect of logs or planks. |
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| A close up photo of the finished bridge. As with the buildings, these are painted with washes and a few lines to emphasise the planks. |
These terrain items were completed over two days. One day to cut up the wood, stick and apply the Gesso paste. Then a second day to paint.
Very effective once again Peter. I've not thought of using gesso paste, but must give it a go, as the results look very good.
ReplyDeleteI originally bought it to use on bases, but found it more effective on buildings.
DeleteThese look very good. Roughly how big are the buildings and the figures?
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Simon
Hi Simon, the buildings are 90mm tall and the figures 42mm. When I copy the paper soldiers I increase the copy from A4 page size to A3 size which make them 42mm. Cheers, Peter
DeleteAs always, a great transfer of an idea into the practical format. I bought a tub of Gesso for artwork that never took off and have found a lot of practical use for it in my gaming, including adding a bit to extend the basing paste that I use for figures and keeping it more mobile while it is being appplied.
ReplyDeleteI am always looking at different products in the local arts handicraft shops.
DeleteYou’ve pulled it off again Peter! Effective looking and robust.
ReplyDeleteA belated Merry Christmas to you and a Happy New Year.
Thank you and all the best for the New Year.
DeleteVery nice idea fir simple, robust, effective and cheap buildings!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Easy to store too, which is always an issue as collections grow.
DeleteHi, could I ask what the brilliant looking 'cloth' is that you use as the battlefield? The bridge and houses are very effective, as is the river. A splendid job.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Here is a post on the making of the battle mat from some curtain material as it has some weight to it https://gridbasedwargaming.blogspot.com/2021/01/scifi-terrain-mat-made-from-curtain.html
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