Thursday 4 June 2020

A Larger Hab for a Person of Means

After enjoying the construction and painting of the previous two habs, I've been on a non-stop urban expansion drive! I've finished a third slightly larger hab, and have another five at various WIP stages.

My third hab is a two-storey (or possibly one-and-a-half storey) construction to add some height and variety to the settlement.



As you can see, the hab is constructed using the same approach as the previous two (old Necromunda bulkheads), but with the addition of an overhanging first floor and porch extension on the side.

The roof and most of the detailing was made from plasticard or plastic strip, whilst I think the porch extension sections came from a Technolog Platformer kit.


I added a section of balcony balustrade from an old piece of GW city fight kit to the rear.


I also made a removable roof for the first floor room, allowing figures to be placed inside for an excellent sniping position with three fields of fire.


Painting-wise, I used the same colour scheme from my first grey and yellow hab. I'm working on the theory that grey with yellow hatches and markings denotes a hab unit, whilst grey with red hatches and markings denotes a commercial or industrial unit. That will be more apparent as I paint up more.

I'm particularly pleased with the change in look for these windows from the large gothic arches on the original bulkhead.

I cut away ladder rungs to give them impression of a vertical window with a shutter blind.


I also added a few posters that I printed out and glued on with pva as a bit of extra detail. Once you start butting a couple of these up against each other, a really convincing street scene starts to emerge!



31 comments:

  1. where'd ya get them posters, chummer?

    (really great work! super atmospheric without being fiddly and clunky)

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    1. Thanks! Some of the posters a friend of mine put together (the wanted posters on the rear) and the others I snaffled from the internet after doing searches for 'Necromunda Posters' and '40k Posters'. There's loads out there, so it's a case of picking the ones you like :)

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  2. Your attention to detail is incredible. The paint scheme really gives the impression that this hab was, at some point a deluxe apartment in the sky.. er..sump!

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    1. Quite the glamorous property isn't it?! ;)

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  3. Love those and they're quite an eye opener, I always found the side slots for the cardboard inserts to be visually annoyig but they don't hinder much if at all on the painted versions, your builds also show small builds work fine with a little planning and the right gaming friendly shapes, I'm taking mental notes because they both tick the western and cyberpunk look I fancy.

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    1. I'll be honest, I had similar thoughts about those slots, and did actually trim a bulkhead down, but it really didn't enhance the look enough to warrant the effort. As it is, I think they look OK as some kind of reinforcement to the design.

      It is a real challenge to build with gaming in mind though - you want enough interest and detail to avoid having big rectangular blocks. Pop-outs, overhangs and plenty of ladders help, as well as the occasional line of sight through the windows or doors of a building. I'm still working out how to best deal with moving over rooftops - bridges and gantries seem a bit formal, so I might do some scrap bridges rigged up by the inhabitants!

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  4. Really clever design work Jon. Laying out all of your Helsreach adobe structures and these on a tabletop at the same time would look like a real lived in township....in an RT kinda way :)

    Top shelf again mate.

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    1. Thanks Shane! The ultimate aim it to get all of this stuff on the table at some point :)

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  5. Really very nice! The bulkheads work very well together. I like the colours you've used: industrial, but not too dull. Are you going to make a table of them?

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    1. Thanks Toby. I've got 8 in total, plus another 3 in a similar style. Add in some walls and walkways, and I think that'll cover a decent skirmish area :)

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  6. You're on fire, axiom! On fire! I'm tempted to make my own habs out of the stockpile now.

    I'm trying to work out from the photos if you're covering the gaps when you connect two bulkheads at ninety degrees? I can't see them flat on with anything other than shadows behind.

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    1. Get to that stockpile! We must build a better town.

      There's nothing behind the gaps, just a big empty void! I guess they could be filled, but honestly it seems like an unnecessary bit of work that would result in minimal discernible improvement to the look!

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    2. Thanks for the intel!

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  7. That's absolutely awesome. The stackability of the thing looked like a must, but you even went a step ahead with the balcony and the assymetry of the whole thing. I cannot say how much do I love this.

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    1. Hopefully you'll like the stackability of the next couple I'm working on! Thanks Suber :)

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  8. I love the subtle gradient in the blue, the chipped yellow on top really nice. It's so cool how every piece of terrain doubles as both a playing piece and photography back drop. Good job keeping it all so cohesive yet detailed. Looking forward to see it all fill a table 😊

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    1. Thanks very much! I certainly try to keep playability in mind as much as usefulness as a backdrop. I can't wait to get it on a table either!!

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  9. Absolutely gorgeous.
    I haven't been up to much in my hobby recently,but this is really inspirational.
    Been sat on a bunch of Bulkheads for a while with an eye to doing a little shanty town.
    I may get around to it someday :D

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    1. It's absolutely worth giving it a crack - they're easy and look pretty good at the end - just the thing to spark some hobby activity. Thanks!

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  10. I love these - really effective and could easily fit the 'wild west in space' theme that I love!

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    1. Wild west in space is absolutely my favourite theme too, and features very strongly as a setting for both Rogue Trader and Necromunda. Thanks!

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  11. Looks fantastic once painted ... the colors are all spot on!

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    1. Thanks very much! It's interesting how important the brown tones are. When it's just grey and yellow they look quite flat, but add in the browns and they start to look pretty interesting!

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    2. Very true. They are more orange brown and that's a good thing as orange hues go fantastically well with the grey blue hues.

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    3. Orange and blue are a classic colour match, right?! :)

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  12. Nice! I will probably steal your idea !

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