09/02/2016

Follow-on milk building

OK, if the title didn't get your attention, I don't know what will do. :D

This is the first of my shenanigans about scenery on a budget. If you have been lurking for a while here, you must have noticed my crazy future urban setting for Rogue Trader like games, which I call the Besenval Port. I have a number of gorgeous MDF buildings by now, but I'm facing the prospect of thinking a little out of the box and making some more scenery of my own. I still have some nice MDF kits waiting for their moment, but I also felt the urge of having some more stuff that could be easily set, that gave me new shapes and possibilities and, more important of all... that was unexpensive!

Sooo, until I get and cut some foamboard and stuff like that, let me explain. It all started with an innocent idea. The other day I just had this follow-on milk can in my hands...

The can was empty. No Suberling was deprived of food during this experiment
'Ohhh... I think I can use this shape...' was the thought that immediately crossed my mind. The rest, well, you can imagine.
I had two thoughts in mind. First of all, it could be used as a huge oil tank, that made sense for a port area. But it would have looked a bit dull, just one single pale colour and rust all over. I thought it could be something more. How about a building?

One single colour and spray dirt all over. Dull
Yup. I see a building over there. Trust me :P
I didn't really need this to be particularly shiny or professional looking. In the best Rogue Trader tradition I'm just using whatever junk I have at home and turning it into something useful on the board.
I painted raw blue on the parts meant to be windows and added just one professional bit to the mix: One of the really nice doors from the Trash Bash Sci-Fi Doors Kickstarter by Robebeast. Recipe for success. That tiny bit makes the difference, trust me.

Begin to look like something?
I was a little worried about the floor height, it's slightly smaller than actually required for 28mm. scale, but this being this kind of project, I really didn't care that much about accuracy, it's simply a way of having a cheap building with an unusual shape to give variety to the board.
Then all I had to do was painting some naive, comic-book like glass effect and paint the door. I could have added some more shapes, cardboard stuff or whatever, but this was enough for the experiment. What I indulged myself to do was a (cheap) advertising signal for the roof, as it looked too flat. I just copied the general design from a travel toothpaste kit I got on a travel to China some years ago, so it also fits into Firefly settings (one day... one day...). Dual-use material, I never do random stuff:

Please, any Chinese speaking reader out there, indulge my puny attempt
This is for certain the cheapest building I have in all my collection. I know, totally amateur, but works for me, I think it will do its part on the board. Great news is that I can potentially have a full neighbourhood of these in a few more weeks! I can build a full town! Mwahahaha!

No, seriously, now that I'm in the mood for stuff like this, I've begun to see the potential of lots of stupid objects and boxes. I think you may want to embrace for the impact of a Diogenes attack...

32 comments:

  1. Would not have looked out of place being looked at by Rick Priestley in Rogue Trader.

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    1. Haha, thanks, I take that as a true compliment, as that's exactly the intention!

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  2. Scalene's got it right: straight from the pages of Rogue Trader. Very nice too!

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    1. Thank you! Now I feel tempted of building up a city out of these cans... Sim Rogue Trader :D

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  3. I think it looks great, I'm all up for turning junk into gaming opportunities, especially multi-purpose ones. Btw; I'm currently re-watching Firefly and was thinking about using it's setting as a start for my intro to 40k, intrigued to see what you create...

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    1. Thank you! My Firefly plan is long (looong) term, but I'd like to have a few minis for an adventure oriented set of gaming. I've been suggested Pulp Alley, but still undecided on the subject, as RT or another number of rulesets may work as well (But I'm way ahead on the matter, I don't even have any minis yet!)

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  4. LOL ! I have the exact same pots at home meant for the exact same purpose !
    As always, you're better and faster !

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    1. Hahaha!! :D Geek parenting unfolds a world of opportunities indeed...
      Seeing how easy this can turn out, I think I may add some more stuff to the next one. A/C units, electric wiring or whatever. Looking forward to see what you do! :)

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  5. Very nice mate - reminds me that I have a stash of odd shaped tubs and whatnot that I need to do something with!

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    1. Thanks! But ooooh, you need to do something about that then! Come on, let's bring up a revival of old scenery to the community!

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  6. Replies
    1. Thank you! It was fun and super easy, I must do a few more!

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  7. Simple yet very effective it looks great!

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    1. Thanks! That's the deal here, it takes no time/effort/money, it's a win/win! :D

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  8. That works very nicely indeed. Given that 40k scale is all over the place, as long as it feels right, then it works for me - and this definitely feels right!

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    1. Thank you! It has some retro vibe that works for me. I think I may work on some other signs and stuff to make it more RT/WH40K-oriented, that is the kind of details that count in the end...

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  9. Suber! That is absolutely awesome!!! I love it!! So Rogue Trader!!!!! It makes me wish I had a kid so I could steal their formula bottles!!

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    1. Hahaha! Thank you! Well, I hope you can find other kind of cans, or else you will be pillaging over your mates with kids! :D

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  10. Cool stuff! Maybe some air-conditioner bits on the roof of the next one...? :)

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    1. Thanks! Yes, I think that a few more additions can make nice improvements. This is all a matter of trial and error :)

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  11. Replies
    1. Thank you! As you can see it needs zero skills, so that's my favourite part :D

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  12. Looking great! I really like those windows -- they're what make the whole thing work.

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    1. Thank you! I must admit they were my main concern. They look kinda goofy (or comic-style if you want to put it that way), but the general overview effect is not that bad, I think it's suitable to the ambientation :)

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  13. That's a great building, and a whole city of those would be really unique.

    A Suberling should be proud to skip a meal or two to help with this project!

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    1. Haha, thank you! In fact I already have another empty can and a third one on its way... :D

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  14. Ey, no había visto el final de este proyecto!
    Te ha quedado genial, pintar los cristales no se me habría ocurrido...

    Ah, y el primer kanji estoy casi seguro que significa "Orko"

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    1. ¡Gracias! Es una cosa apañada, tampoco tenía más pretensiones, jeje. :D

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  15. Very creative as usual Suber ... nice! :)

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    1. Thank you! Nothing too complicate, but it works!

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