I know the title of this post says Helsreach, but I've decided I could do with naming my own distinct settlement as a different setting for all my buildings. Something like 'Blackdust Gulch' or 'Edge Town' perhaps. I'll give it some thought.
Today's post shows off the newest addition to the collection of buildings - a mid-sized two-storey house which has become the dwelling of the merchant Yakob Pento (now he's moved from Necromunda, where we last saw him!).
The building in question is one of a pair of lumps of solid resin I bought a while back, I guess designed for historical gaming. I've left the other, smaller building for now, instead focussing on the larger one, as it had more playability with the stairs.
Whatever the source, this is a rather crude cast, with lots of air bubbles and misshapen details. The resin is that horrible really slippery stuff which flakes paint as soon as you look at it. Nonetheless, I've persevered!
You can see on the photos below that I made some additions to the building, including a roof vent, comms aerial, new doors and balcony.
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| Door and aerial are both from Scotia Grendel. I blended the door into the walls with some filler. |
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| Both doors here were made from layering up some plasticard. |
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| The balcony was added using textured plasticard and various different plastic strips. |
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| Roof vent is from a pack of vents for Dropzone Commander. I think they're supposed to be 6mm, but they work OK in 28mm as well. |
Painting was done using exactly the same techniques as my previous houses (drybrush of off-white over a sand colour basecoat, then some detail painting over the top. It's not perfect, and I would have liked more of the base colour to show through in the recesses from the white, but terrain doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to act as a nice backdrop for the figures!
Black Dust Gulch sounds baller. Glad to see someone else's town taking off. Your really cranking these out now. :)
ReplyDeleteBlack Dust Gulch would be fun! I really want to get to the point where I can create logical streets and different zones in the town. I have some warehouses, another 5-6 houses, a shanty town, landing pad and fort all needing to be painted!
DeleteI can't wait to see it all. ;)
DeleteNor me buddy!
DeleteThe irregular shapes of your buildings make them even better en masse. This one is like the others, very efficient and it sets the scene instantly. I love the added doors, they make all the difference.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm enjoying mixing them in with painting figures - they take less attention and you can be a bit more carefree painting them up. The buildings are of course all carefully selected so they go along with the theme ;)
DeleteYour building up a proper little township now. It needs a backstory and some dodgy characters. A small scale campaign based around the town would be awesome. Kind of like mafia families in space.
ReplyDeleteI've plenty of dodgy characters. Just need to get some games in to use them :)
DeleteVery cool! The addition of just a little techo-bits really gives it that old school Rogue Trader feel. Loving this series of posts - keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I try and add enough bits without going overboard. I'm waiting for some security cameras to arrive which I'll sprinkle liberally!
DeleteLooking good, and that you have a ton more buildings lined up sounds pleasing too!
ReplyDeleteAnd it sounds like you have exactly the right idea about terrain... it should look like a good backdrop for the characters, and not be its own character.
Thanks! I'm working on the principle that a building every 4 weeks or so will rapidly grow the settlement.
DeleteWOW! I love it. I'm nothing but thinking of how to shamelessly copy and replicate all your work!
ReplyDeleteI'm really pleased you like it Suber. Copy away!!
DeleteAnother solid addition.
DeleteThe addition of the balcony is smart, turning the piece from a line of sight blocker into something more interactive. It also makes it more visually interesting, while also adding a useful and visually attractive raised tier for taking the occasional group photo with. Good move.
I'm a fan of naming my terrain sets. It sounds slightly daft, but they each develop their own character that way, and become recognisable places to my gaming group.
For associated reasons I think that you are wise to ditch "Helsreach" as a title (but not as an inspiration) and call it something unique.
With a current veer back towards space western gaming I'm looking at refurbishing and expanding Standard Falls soon. I will be plundering Black Dust Gulch for ideas and inspiration.
Thanks cheetor. I think that the standard wild west building template is perfect for playability - flat roof, external stairs, balcony - that's what I need more of.
DeleteI quite fancy an elevated platform of some kind at some point too. I'm playing with some ideas for another scratchbuild- let's see what happens!
Great work again.
ReplyDeleteCalling it "Edge Town" makes it sound like some elaborate burn. "Hey Edge Lord, why don't you go move to Chez Edge in Edge Town?
Chez Edge sounds rather pleasant. Somewhere with a veranda perhaps?
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