24/11/2019

Another brick in the wall -and Blog Anniversary!

Though it looks like that in recent times I'm having my share of lemons in life, that's not keeping me totally away from miniatures and stuff. Slowing down my path, maybe, but not preventing me from keeping on updating the blog. I won't be whining over here, but rather look for the silver lining, and the thing is that I have some more stuff to show. So let's go!

Following with the mining town board, I had to complete the walls before I could build the central section. You may have noticed those doors up on the wall. Wow, how will the neighbours get there?

Disencouraging visitors since... well, always
I built the platforms with some sprues as handrails:

No wonder the landlord never gets there for some cleaning
So, in a very preliminary first step, this was my approach:

It can get complicated when you come back from the supermarket with the bags
Next thing to do was the pavement on the street. I decided I didn't want just mere sand, but some gritty, old, unattended cobblestone, quite in the way I built my Shadespire boards. So same way to do it, using DAS putty and a rolling pin.
Yes, you may have already adverted the problem. I already had the streets placed, so it would be impossible for the rolling pin to... well, to roll. Given that planification seems not to be my superpower, let it be adaptation & improvisation. I cut a piece of paper the size of the street and placed the putty over it:

Totally irregular, not even trying it to be plain
Then, the rolling pin:

It will have to do
Then I glued the paper directly to the foamboard:

When this thing dries I'll know if it works
Well, guess what? It worked! Hooray!

So I did the same for the other pieces of street
On my Shadespire boards I used mere beach sand to texture the parts with no cobblestone, but it was impossible here, given the size of this board. I would have ended with the whole room covered with sand and I don't need to give the missus even more reasons to get mad at the whole minis thing :D

Instead of that, I remembered I had this GW textured paint, the 'Astrogranite' one, which I had already used for the spaceport that started this project. Let's give it a try:

I gave it a couple of layers to add real texture
I sprayed the whole area and applied a wash with dark brown
Then I could finally add the access stairs to that other door on the wall:

It finally begins to look like the thing I had in mind
Time to tell you about a failed experiment. I wanted to add some colour here, to break the chromatic monotony. I specifically had this kind of image in mind, the colourful Buddhist prayer flags you can see in some places (I believe mostly around the Tibet, but also in many other places over central Asia):

My board will have 103% less vegetation
I thing you get the idea

However, my first attempt didn't work.

Looks like a local fair :(
I have removed them (mere paper glued to a thread) until I find a better way for them to fit in the board; I'll probably weather and torn them a little, to tone down the colour explosion; in the end it was too much. But that will be a matter for another day.
As you can also see, I randomly added signs and posters. The final touch was some thread used as electric wire (or whatever) and a couple of tubes and bits:

So this is the cozy corner
The signs include my infamous 'Keep calm, the Emperor protects' or 'Tranquilitam servate, Imperator custodiat'
I added some flock for life f***ing finds a way. Even here
Most of the signs won't be visible when I keep on building the central section
Finally, with some minis for scale:

I hope there will be room enough for a hand to get there and move the minis when gaming!
This process is painfully slow (and real life hasn't really helped!) but I hope it will all be worth of the time and effort in the end.

On another different issue, as the title says, this week (next wednesday!) is the blog anniversary. Seven years since I started posting my mumblings! Given that I already had this post, I didn't see the point in posting again in a couple of days with no pics at all. I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you all again for your constant support; your visits, your comments, your suggestions... They all give me the strenght to carry on with this blogging thing. Thank you, seriously (no, not you, Bola Pelangi bot; in fact screw you, you've been quite annoying). Ahem.

That's all for today! I really hope I can bring some more stuff soon!

40 comments:

  1. Great stuff. I thought the flags looked pretty good, but hopefully the second version looks even better! Good work on keeping up 7 years of blogging--well done!

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    1. Thank you very much! I hope so, let's see if I'm able to make any improvement!

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  2. I liked the flag idea. Reminded me of my time in Afghanistan. Every thing grey, pink and kakie. Then boom! Bright flags, or a wall painted in a randomly bright color. With almost child like paintings of kites, trucks and diffrent shapes added to break up the drab.
    They also seemed to love green and red Christmas lights, and the towns or villages that had power would light up the front of their buldings that way.

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    1. Thanks! You are totally right! In fact the second pic is a graveyard in Afghanistan ;)
      It's pretty mindblowing, as you say. I find it fascinating to find such a colour shock in the middle of that kind of landscape. I tried to bring it to the board, but wasn't convinced with the first try. I'll see what I can do...

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  3. Wooow! Another great looking terrain!

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    1. Thank you! It's just a little corner in the whole board, but I think I'm finding the ambientation I'd like to get for the whole piece :)

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  4. Great work. I think the flags have real potential. As you say, weathered to tone them down a bit.

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    1. Thanks! Yes, I think I have to go that way, I hope the second iteration works better!

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  5. Lovely bit of textured walkways and platforms, when the flags are sufficiently weathered I'm sure that they'll work well! Oh and congratulations on your anniversary!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thank you! I hope I can traslate the effect I have in mind to the board!

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  6. It's been really cool following this build. You've inspired me for dealing with certain space relationships and how to represent things that are smaller in the model than would be with the actual structure.
    Really really great work.

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    1. Thank you very much! You are quite an inspiration when it comes to large structures! I think I know what you mean, the 'representation' of a space is not an easy thing to grasp at the correct scale. I hope I can make this board work!

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  7. I salute you Suber for such dedication to the hobby. Looks like so much work. End results look great so it's worth it.

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    1. Thank you very much, sir, but if we talk about dedication, you happen to be my hero!

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    1. Thanks! Just a corner of the board, but it enables me to keep on building stuff!

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  9. Flags or not, the posters do a great job of adding colour and variety and the dangling wires add much realism. Very nice work.

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    1. Thank you! I discovered that effect when building my urban board. It's amazing how much you can get when you add a sense of gritty, dirty ambience to anything :)

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  10. This is an awesome project and looks amazing!! Very impressive!! Also congratulations on 7 years my friend!!! That’s an amazing achievement!! My blog reached the 6 year mark in July... I can’t believe we’ve both been posting about our hobby activities for so long!!!

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    1. Thank you, mate! Right, I never imagined I would still be riding the wave seven years later :D

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  11. That's coming along amazingly! I do feel bad for the poor sucker who got stuck with the apartment that's only reachable by ladder, tho. And I thought I had some bad times getting couches into apartments!

    The flags, yeah, I think need to be weathered more, and probably also crumpled up a bit. As much as the colour being too strong, they're also looking too stiff and regular. Should be doable with some work, tho. Congratulations on seven years of posting, and I look forward to many more.

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    1. Thank you! Haha, I'm sweating just thinking of getting a couch there! :D
      Thanks, I think you are right, I'll put some work on the flags and see where that leads...

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  12. "For life f***ing finds a way!" I think that should be the improvisational modeling mantra right there. Well played, sir! Gorgeous setup!

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    1. Hahaha! :D You nailed it!
      Thank you!

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    1. Thanks! This is coming along step by step...

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  14. Happy anniversary!
    Love the road and these platforms, using these pieces of sprue was definitely the right thing to do.
    By the way, maybe you could try and improve your math skills a bit ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜‰.

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    1. Thank you! Haha, I live on the edge! Improvisation and overcoming have their own beauty! :D :D :D

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  15. Happy blogiversary!

    That set up looks awesome!!

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    1. Thank you very much!
      Still lots of work to do!! :S

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  16. The more I see of this wonderful build, the more I'm in love. The ramp looks great, but the little tufts make it spring to life. The balconies and walkways make sense of the access points and add a layer of playability. The flags and posters provide a level of realism that sells the location as a probable, possible place. I keep thinking you're going to come to an end, but then you add another layer of brilliant detailing. Great work!

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    1. Thank you so much! Well, your own work on huts and buildings of all kind is obviously an inspiration! I'd love to implement some of your ideas here!
      I'm trying to get not a mere dull board with LoS blockers, but a place that tells a story, the kind of border town you imagine when reading a sci-fi tale. I think I told it at some point, I'm going the (RT) World of Logan way and just see where it goes!

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  17. Wow! Everything is looking great so far, with a very lived in grit. The picture with the miniatures in place really sells it!

    I think that the flags will certainly work, they just need to be less... new.

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    1. Thanks! I kinda like this worn out aspect, it's not Star Wars shiny, yet not pure WH40K dark & decrepit neither. Delicate balance, I know, I hope I can manage to keep it that way!
      Thanks!

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  18. Happy blogversary, Suber :) Always enjoyed your posts, thank you for the hard work. Sorry real life has been so 'real', remember to enjoy the little things and be thankful :) The coloured flags almost work - maybe a heavy wash of brown? I was going to suggest some hanging tapestry type things on sons of those blank spaces myself. Maybe thin streamers cut from metal foil? The whole piece is shaping up great though!

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    1. Thank you! You are right, you have to be thankful everyday. I won't be whining, but I do complain about how little spare time life allows! :D
      I have some rugs and stuff precisely for that purpose, but I think I'll wait until I have some more defined spaces. Thanks for the suggestion, I hadn't thought of metal foil! Hmmm...

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  19. Te estรก quedando muy bien. Le podrรญas incluir algo de basura por los suelos, papeles, latas y cosas asรญ

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    1. ¡Gracias! Me gusta lo que propones y creo que es justo lo que le hace falta. Hmm, tomo nota :)

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  20. Congrats and Happy Anniversary!
    I always enjoy coming here and looking at your project. Always interesting and always high quality

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    1. Thank you! Your kind words are encouraging. But then, you know, with great power...
      I'll try to keep it up!

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