Hooray! New post! It's taking me waaay longer than expected to paint anything these days. Not because I've lost my paint mojo or anything, but due to pure real life issues.
To make it up to you, I'll try this post to be worth the delay. I've been building the main front facade of the mining town. It all was too plain, so I started to add tubes, plumbing and stuff:
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| A slight touch of colour |
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| You can barely notice any difference, but there are some hours of work from the other pic to this one |
The process is painfully slow. Work, children, life, etc. left me scarce minutes from time to time. This is the perfect example. Here you can see all the progress I could make in two whole days:
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| I sticked two matches. All. I. Did. I mean it. For. Two. Days |
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| Then the awning took me another three stupid days |
To bring this board to life I knew I had to add tons of absurd details. I used anything I had at hand.
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| These are lollipop sticks |
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| You guess what I'm trying here? |
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| Right, a nice terrace |
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| A rudimentary hoist of unknown purpose |
So this was the aspect of what I was getting:
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| Ahhh, way too clean. Something must be done... |
Weathering and dirt!
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| The hard part here is not to overdo it |
Do you remember what I tried (
back in this post) about the prayer flags? I think I found a place for them:
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| I hope they don't look too festive |
Yet more details!
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| Still playable |
I'm aware I'm on the verge of building not a gaming board, but a dollhouse. It's something I have to remember from time to time. In the pic above, the table is just a standard 25mm base with some sticks. The bottle is part of a set by
Green Stuff World and the rug is but printed paper (you may want to revisit
this post to know more).
A friend kindly provided me some 3D printed pieces which I can certainly use here:
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| Not pretty sure of what is this |
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| But I can make a... street lamp? Long range scanner? |
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| Who knows! Who cares! |
So, with some details here and there I came to this final result:
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| Ta Daaaa |
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| All these weeks just for a facade |
But this cannot be considered a town if there are not any people around!
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| Find a crew, find a job, keep flying |
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| Dirty posters and dirty rugs |
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| Sticking posters there inside was kinda challenging |
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| I wanted to add more stuff here, but it had to be playable, remember? |
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| The weirdos are following miss sunshade |
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| Maintenance of those antennae is tricky! |
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| Apart from the sand on the MDF board, I consider the facade finished |
The pics really don't show the time invested here, but I don't care that much, as I'm enjoying myself. So well, what's next?
I think I'll paint some minis or anything smaller, so I don't disappear from the blogosphere for another month, but...
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| ...this other facade looks unbearably empty now, doesn't it? |
Let's see how long does it take!
My god man. This is beyond amazing. The details are beautiful... little things like the prayer flags and random awnings remind us that actual people are meant to live here in this otherworldly structure. It makes me think of the Walled City of Kowloon or something similar.
ReplyDelete... and if it borders on being a "dollhouse", I say so be it. It's a fantastic one.
DeleteThank you so much! My approach on scenery is to provide something more than mere line of sight blockers, I want to make the setting part of the story. Honestly, the balance between the dollhouse and the gaming board is difficult to get. I'd love to add tons of details and more stuff, but it would take me ages and would make the thing totally unplayable. So this is the compromise I have to accept!
DeleteWoooow! That's awesome building man!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I hope it looks like a 40K Mos Eisley in the end :P
DeleteInspirational work!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It only takes some amount of patience (which I didn't knew I had!!)
DeleteI am stunned at how much detail you continue to layer onto this build, whilst managing to maintain playability. I love all the little homely touches like the rugs, awning and prayer flags. I love all the tech elements that root it firmly into a sci-fi setting. I love that there's an entire side (on the right of the façade) that I didn't know was there and now can't wait for you to add details too!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much! This is of course but a tribute to your own works on scenery! Your recent take on the Fogou houses, for example, just showed me the way. I hope it doesn't take another three months to finish that other part!
DeleteThe work you've put into the detailing really is making a world of difference. I love it!!
ReplyDeleteThank you! You can see it's all pretty basic, essentially recycled stuff. I guess this is a sustainable board!
DeleteAwesome!
ReplyDeleteAll those tasty details!
Thanks! I do hope they resist storage and that kind of stuff!
DeleteAmazing work. Lots of tasty details.
ReplyDeleteIn the last picture there appears to be a round opening in the top. Is there a detailed interior?
Thank you! Oh, sure. In fact it's how it all started, with a cozy spaceport. You can have a look here, the very beginning of the project:
Deletehttp://oldschoolworkshop.blogspot.com/2019/03/inner-spaceport.html
And my first thoughts on the desired end state:
http://oldschoolworkshop.blogspot.com/2019/04/a-new-board-story-of-overcoming.html
I see, that garage/spaceport looks great. This is a superb project and very inspirational. I look forward to seeing how the rest of it develops.
DeleteThank you! I have lots of plans. Not sure if they are even feasible, but I'm certainly trying!
DeleteThat is just an awesome vertical board.
ReplyDeleteWish I could play on it
Thank you! I'm honestly at a stage in which I'm only focused (well, if that word can ever be applied to me...) in designing and building the board. I have a few ideas for scenarios, but I guess they will be shifting as the board grows! One of your fantastic narrative games here would be awesome!
DeleteHonestly, I think all of our tiny people are, by definition, dolls. And their houses are all doll houses. We just strive to keep them playable so that we can apply rules to the family disagreements and sort it out in a civilized fashion: with dice! Anyway . . . spectacular! Might be the best and most playable sci-fi dollhouse I've seen. Certainly the best in a good long while. Oh my goodness this is wonderful! I can't wait to see the game that unfolds here! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! As much as gaming is an abstraction of certain kind of events, the board should allow them to happen as organically as it's possible. I'm not aiming for a 'realistic' piece, but rather for a 'plausible' one, if that makes sense! Still a lot of work ahead though!
DeleteOh, entirely. I think what you're doing might be what Major Guiscard called "bathtubbing." You want the piece to have something like the look of what you're going for, but if you have a completely accurate scale model of the Omaha Beach it will be unplayable. So you compress things here and leave things out there, rather in the nature of a bathtub toy boat. The key isn't to be precise, but to have the key elements needed for the level of story you're looking for; be that a Saturday bath or a Saturday gaming. And I would say you have the math about perfect! :)
DeleteYeah, that's right, bathtubbing! :D
DeleteI'll try to keep on building this in the same fashion. Next parts will involve smaller blocks and other different touches. I'll cross fingers to see what happens!
We're going to need a battle report using that, sir ;) For the other facade, how about a big mural to save you time? Can always add further details later..
ReplyDeleteThat will certainly come in due time!
DeleteI have the general idea for that hidden area, and most of the materials (I think!). I hadn't thought of a mural, but now that you say it I think I need to make one some place here...
It lacked base coat and weathering on details like fans and so on, it's pretty noticeable the amount (and quality) of work you done.
ReplyDeleteEnvidia sana, la atención por el detalle vende la idea de que ahí pasan cosas, vive gente...
Te lo tienes que haber pasado como un enano.
It's kinda annoying to spend hours and hours on some random piece no one will ever notice and then... oh, f&$ck, I cannot even tell the difference from it's previous state! :P
DeleteEs un proceso lento que voy haciendo a ratos muertos, pero sí, se disfruta cosa mala :D
Looking great, all those details really add up when you get them placed on the board.
ReplyDeleteAs for "dollhouse" and "train layout" as pejoratives for our terrain, I think that there has always been a board game player element to the hobby that wants terrain effects to be measurable and obvious, and never get in the way of the game. Felt pieces as forest, block buildings and the like. This is the opposite of that, a lovely construction that looks good on its own, and invites the viewer to look closer, and in play creates its own narrative in the way that a stack of books and a soda can could never.
And a huge mural is a great idea for that unfinished wall! (also trash/rubbish/dirt along the edges where the building meets the board)
Thank you! I have to say I find it a little bit annoying to see people spending hours painting wonderful minis, having amazing armies... and then playing among randon cookie boxes. Man, what's the point of that? Your army deserves better! :D
DeleteThat's what I'm trying to achieve, some believable setting in wich any kind of strange adventure can happen. I'd like players to come over and feel themselves inside the game, more than becoming mere dice rollers. There's still a huge amount of work to do, so let's see what hapens in the end...
This gets slowly quite awesome, Suber! Impressive skills in scratch building and painting... just wow. I should plan some nice holidays somewhere in Spain and invite myself for a game with your splendid terrain!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much! You can see I'm keeping everything in a budget; there's nothing really special about the board, nor it is any kind of unreachable goal! You're most welcome, but at my annoyingly slow pace, I don't see this board being finished for the next couple of years :D :D
DeleteThat's really cool. All the little details really make it - definitely worth the time taken. What are the awnings made out of, by the way?
ReplyDeleteThank you! Oh, my! Now that you ask about that I can see I totally forgot to tell! They are made of a baby wipe (a clean one!!). I cannot take any credit, I miserably stole the idea from mighty Axiom:
Deletehttp://magpieandoldlead.blogspot.com/2019/12/crates-and-barrels.html
(Thanks, man, I'll edit the main post to give you proper credit!)
The texture is nice and it's opaque enough, I will definitely use them in the future again :)
I can imagine baby wipes, or even used dryer sheets, making good fabric pieces for stuff like this. They won't unravel if you cut them, but you can abrade them around the edges to give a raggy appearance.
DeleteFirst time I've used them myself, and I'm enormously happy. I will most definitely keep on using them.
DeleteJust stunning. So inspirational! Great work, man :)
ReplyDeleteThank you very much! I hope I don't lose too many sanity points!
DeleteGorgeous, all the little details make the whole piece come alive. I also dig the Rogue Trader/Eastern style, almost like a Spanish Cyberpunk scene.
ReplyDeleteI know all too well how hard it sometimes can be to find some hobbytime. But, it makes it even more rewarding when you finally finish something.
Thank you! That was my purpose since the beginning, kind of a tribute to Logan's World and the like. So the influences are quite varied!
DeleteI want to play there so bad!
ReplyDeleteWell, let me see.. .I hope I can finish the first module maybe by 2021, so the full board might be ready by mid 2022...
DeleteThat looks incredible!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I insist, there's no secret at all here, it's just a humble homemade board done in the easiest and laziest way I can find! :D
DeleteWonderful detailing, I'm also firmly in the need for decent terrain camp, it all looks wonderful and dolls house shouldn't be a negative ,it just has to be playable, which this clearly is!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks! That's where the balance gets complicated, when is it 'too much' detail? You need some clear, open areas, so you can play; but you don't want to leave everything looking 'unfinished'. In a board like this you want to tell a story, to make it 'liveable', designed for people. Of course there are tons of details I cannot get properly, but I'm trying to make it look at least decent!
DeleteLa sencillez hecha perfección..., cada pequeño detalle está llenando de vida cada uno de los pequeños rincones del tablero.
DeleteEstoy convencido que este proyecto, servirá de inspiración a más de uno para animarse a poner en marcha el suyo propio.
Sinceramente, si abro un número de la Wargames Ilustrated y encuentro fotos de tu ciudad vertical en ella, me parecería perfectamente normal.
Enhorabuena y que no decaigan las ganas hasta que termines esa maravilla
¡Muchas gracias! ¡Caray, es todo un elogio! Me importa hacer un tablero creíble, donde la partida que juegue sea una verdadera aventura. ¡A ver cuándo soy capaz de acabarlo!
DeleteThat canvas roof looks so simple and yet to me is such a super cool detail to add.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's enormously basic, I'm quite a specialist in cheap, dirty stuff :D
Delete