11/04/2016

New urban planning

One of the things I was missing on my urban board was some chaotic nature in the city development. I mean, I have a number of beautiful MDF buildings (and some more still in their boxes awaiting for the moment to come!), but they all share a feeling of, I don't know, maybe 'order'. I mean, they offer me sound volumes, perfect shapes... If I painted them in a delicate, clean way, they would no doubt fit in a more elegant setting. But I was looking for a more shanty town look, though not exactly that. Confusing, I know.

Then I realized that in fact I already knew what I was really looking for. Not a junktown. I was looking for a medieval sci-fi town. Let me elaborate. The interesting thing about this board would be offering an intrincate labyrinth of crossing streets, walkways, different heights, that kind of stuff. I wanted to give the impression of uncontrolled growth.

My perfect example would be the Italian town of Sanremo. I had the chance to stay there for a couple of weeks some years ago and the old town, La Pigna, totally represents what I mean. A maze of streets going up and down, buildings towering over more buildings... there is an intrincate beauty in that, seriously. Just google some pics of Sanremo La Pigna.

Yup, this is just a street
Turn this into retro sci-fi and you got it
Have I disgressed enough?

OK, of course such a thing is out of reach for my skills, my board and my... everything. But yet I could do some stuff and make the difference with my previous MDF buildings. So, with a box and some foamcard I begun to create some shapes...

It all begun like this...

...and then it turned into this
The addition of the second tower didn't really please me, but I only saw that once it was assembled. It was a little too much, but it was a way to make this on the rear part:

Not actually functional, as there is no inside, just for the show
I begun to make some additions to somehow disguise the bulky appearance:

I first thought of a walkway, but I changed my mind to the roofed version, looked more like what I was looking for

The rear part needed some stuff too, but nothing so large:

That red box is an empty air refreshener :D
It adds an interesting shape, I'm definitely using more in the future
Those weird ledges will have their function, it's in my mind, hehe...

So, once the main body is defined, it's time to think about the details:

Doors from RoeBeast's Trash Bash Kits KS, A/C units from Euphoria Miniatures
Details! More details!
So this will be more or less the final look
I'm trying to achieve a mix of that medieval flavour (messy buildings with no order) with a low-tech scifi setting, which I think I must favour above the former. Maybe it's too bulky, that's my main regret/concern about it, but well, it's done and it is what it is. I still have to see how it looks once painted and on the board.
But for the moment it's quite a start!

27 comments:

  1. Yes! Love the concept, and what you've produced looks great too! Can't wait to see it painted up.

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    1. Thnak you! Painting it shouldn't prove too difficult, I'm just spraying it all over!! :D

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  2. That's pretty kick arse Suber! Looking forward to seeing it completed.

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    1. Thanks, man! Weird as it looks I think it's a fun piece, hehe. Let's see how it looks when finished!

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  3. Dude, that is brilliant!

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    1. Thanks! Not too decadent? Sometimes finding balance is delicate with this stuff...

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  4. Fucking brilliant, there's nothing I like as much as intricate architecture and this is an awesome example of it !

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    1. Haha, thanks! Entropy! Entropy all over!

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  5. You have certainly achieved the mix!

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    1. Thank you! I want it to look strange and a little bit unsettling. Let's see what colour brings to this mix!

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  6. this looks sooo cool!! :D
    I want to see more!!

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    1. Thank you! I hope it will look better once painted!

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  7. Estupendo. Ahora te queda lo mas duro!! Ánimo y no dejes de enseñar fotos!!

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    1. ¡Gracias! A ver qué tal queda pintado, ensuciado y con detalles, jeje.

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  8. Excellent! This is just what I imagine most imperial worlds to be like, layers and layers of buildings over centuries.

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    1. Thanks! Yup, that's exactly my idea, buildings growing like mushroom wherever they are. It's kinda difficult to achieve that, but in the end I hope the board will look nice :)

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  9. This build is coming along very nicely.

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    1. Thank you! I think painting will be the real test, I hope it endures it!

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  10. This is extremely cool. What are the rough dimensions, base-wise?

    I tend to prefer interiors, but I reckon you could get at least one level in most of those buildings. That's a general "you," actually referring to me, because this is inspiring me to go play with foamboard again. I can see the height being a bit of an issue, but for a narrow board (say, 2'-3' wide, square or long) with one block on each side you could get some really interesting stuff going.

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    1. Thank you! As I'm writing this, the base coat is drying, so I cannot take accurate measures, but I think it should be roughly about 30x30 cm (1'x1', give or take). I'll take measures when I finish it and let you know.
      I also like interiors, but I've already made some buildings with rooms and stuff and now I need some cheap'n'quick stuff to breathe a little! Some board filler allowing me to have some interesting game choices. I have some more ideas, hopefully I still can make a couple of nice buildings, hehe...

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  11. That looks brilliant Suber. Have you had any ideas about how to use it in a game?

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    1. Thank you! The plan is crowding the board I already have and particularly using this building in combination with another one (mabye two... I don't think it will come to three... well, who knows...) that I still have in mind. All shall be revealed in due time... :)

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  12. That's an incredible structure - I love it! It really brings the idea of a densely populated settlement. Great stuff!

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    1. Thank you! I hope I'll still build another one or maybe a couple. I'm learning some stuff during the process, so I may dare to build new shapes. I hope I'm providing a nice environment for... let's say some Colony87 minis! ;)

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  13. I love what you have done with that building, and I never thought of buildings like that. Great source of information as well, it just makes sense that sci-fi buildings would be like that, especially in an old hive like structure. Thanks for the inspiration!

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    1. Thank you! It's just a crazy approach, still to be tested how it works for playing. I'll cross my fingers...

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