ALY MORRISON'S "BUTTERFLY" ADVENTURES IN THE WORLD OF WARGAMES AND TOY SOLDIERS

Wednesday, 22 September 2021

Shiny Napoleonics… My first building.

Greetings.

I have just finished my first building for this project…

It has taken me quite a while to decide what buildings to use/make for this project…

I suspect that I will include some of the ex Airfix buildings that are now made by Dapol…

https://www.dapol.co.uk/shop/model-accessories/self-assembly-oo-kits?page=2

But what I actually wanted was something with a European feel…

I have looked at and bought samples of resin, mdf, plastic and even paper… they were actually all fine and good models but the size and look of most of them just did not click for me…

And then I saw these…

https://sarissa-precision.com/products/european-timber-frame-town-set-15mm

As you can see … they are for 15mm figures.

This works well will my thoughts on the footprint of wargames buildings… 

For large scale battles I like my buildings to represent a built up area rather than individual structures so for me the smaller footprint works better… and in this case it also has a decidedly old school look about it.

So I purchased a sample to see how it looked…

https://sarissa-precision.com/products/european-timber-frame-farmhouse-15mm




I spent a lot more time painting this than I initially intended as my original idea of just painting it in flat colours looked…. Flat!

So I decided to repaint it more in keeping with usual style…

The Walls are… Citadel… Balor Brown… Which has been give a wash of… Citadel… Seraphim Sepia Wash. This was then dry brushed up with Balor Brown then Balor Brown with a touch of Foundry Boneyard 9B.

The Roof is… Citadel… Tuskor Fur… Which was washed with… Citadel… Reikland Flesh Shade. This was then dry brushed with Tuskor Fur. Some of the roof tiles were painted a lighter shade to add visual interest.

The Timber Frames are… Contrast… Gore Grunta Fur with a touch of Doombull Brown added.

The Chimney Stack is… Citadel… Tuskor Fur… Which was washed with… Contrast Darkoath Flesh and then dry brushed with Tuskor Fur.

The Windows were blacked out using… Contrast Black Templar.

The Frames are… Citadel… Corax White.

The Shutters and Door are… Citadel… Dryad Bark… with a wash of… Contrast… Cygor Brown.

Everything was given a spray of… Citadel… Munitorum Matt Varnish.

(Spellchecker has a field day with these names 😁)

A bit more effort than I expected but I am very pleased with this…


Here it is with some toys…

The base was cut from a 3mm Cake Board.

I shall definitely be ordering more of these buildings…

The paints are Wargames Foundry and Citadel...

https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/paint
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Painting-Modelling

All the best   Aly.







48 comments:

  1. Nice. I like Sarissa and have loads of their 28mm buildings I use for Newhaven - Don't usually paint them at all for that, the MDF looks good as it is for Lovecraftian settings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Rob…
      Yes MDF can look quite good unpainted… I’ve done that for my buildings for my Little Britons collection…

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  2. Aly
    You really must have the 'Airfix' cottage!
    In order to reduce footprint I usually use 28mm buildings with my 40mm figures - I doubt anyone ever noticed!
    A lot of the Hovels buildings have a very small footprint.
    Steve

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    Replies
    1. It would be rude not to wouldn’t it Steve…
      I do like Hovels as well… they are a nice size.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  3. Never done the smaller scale buildings reduced footprint thing but it looks really good. Nicely painted too…though that should come as no surprise to anyone.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you JBM..
      With the size of some of your new toys I don’t think you could get smaller 😁.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  4. Works well. I tend to use a scale smaller, except for skirmish scale games.

    Nice job.

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    Replies
    1. I am pleased with how it came out Matt.
      The smaller scale still looks the part but without dominating the table.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  5. A fine looking residential piece there Aly.

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  6. It looks great Aly - I have visited Sarissa on many occasions - they seem to have an enormous range of very nicer looking mdf buildings

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Keith…

      I like Sarissa buildings they go together well and you can pimp them up a bit if you want.

      All the best. Aly.

      Delete
  7. Looks great Aly and certainly has the right feel to match your wonderful shiny armies👍

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  8. Lovely work! I use 6mm buildings for me 10mm figures as the difference in the Z height is not too noticeable, but the X & Y axis give a nice small footprint that allows for a reasonable looking BUA.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Steve…
      It seems like the smaller footprint is getting the vote😁

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  9. Very pretty Aly. Beautiful work on the building.

    Cheers,
    Helen

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  10. Lovely building Aly. I am with you on building size/footprint. Most '28mm' buildings are only useful in skirmish style games in my view. It's not shiny though, is it?😁

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  11. Thank you David…

    I’ve never been tempted to gloss varnish buildings/terrain…
    I think it would just look weird 😂

    All the best. Aly

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  12. Aly; as always, beautiful detailed work. Hats off to you sir!

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  13. Lovely work, nice European feel and the smaller size makes sense,although I flip between doing smaller and more realistic without working out which is best,still I'm having fun!
    Best Iain

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Iain…

      I think we sometimes forget that we are doing this for fun…

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  14. Looking good Aly! We have some Sarissa Buildings in our club and they look good once painted, but it’s usually a lot of work, and we are always tempted to put some texture paint on the walls. I’m planning to get some Japanese ones from them for the Test of Honour gaming soon and maybe an Ironclad for the ACW, but I have to make the river first ;-)
    As to HDF buildings I also recommend Black Grom Studio.

    Best wishes,
    Jan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jan…

      I like the fact that you can do your own thing with them if you want…
      I’m looking forward to doing more buildings for this project…

      I’ve added texture to my War Bases Roman buildings and it worked really well…

      The Black Grom buildings look good… I like the Afghan compound.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  15. Very nicely done Aly. Very best wishes mate.

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  16. The building's a perfect fit scale-wise and I like the way you've matched it to your figures with a similar green base - better than making it shiny. Apologies if I've asked before (mind like a sieve) but do you have a rule-set in mind for these shiny Napoleonics?

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Rob…

      The green bases are what is going to tie everything together I think…
      I haven’t really decided on my rules choices yet…but I may go with Black Powder at first… mostly because it’s something I’ve used a lot.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  17. Looks great & just the part for your project!
    Agreed on the foot print, we use 6mm buildings for our 10mm collections & they look brilliant.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you…
      It certainly looks like the smaller scale is the popular choice.

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  18. A fine looking outcome--I'm not sure if I would have the motivation to spend so much effort painting a structure, but the results do speak for themselves! (I also use 15mm buildings for 25mm games that depict "battles"--I tend to go with 25mm buildings matching the figures if it's a skirmish affair).

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Ed…
      I think it was worth the time.. and now I know what I am doing the next ones should be easier… hopefully 😁

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  19. Hi Aly, I have just stumbled upon your blog and discovered your delightful shiny Napoleonics. I don't know how I have missed this blog, but I shall visit more often. I just love your Scots Greys and French infantry.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Bob…
      Thank you…
      Im glad you popped by…

      All the best. Aly

      Delete
  20. Funny you should mention the notion of shiny buildings Aly, as I too was wondering what they would look like if painted to match the troops. I decided that would be going to far and might distract the eye too much from the toy soldiers if the buildings were also glossy. Your European style timber framed house looks smashing. The slightly reduced scale often looks very appealing so I think you have nailed it there. Now go out and get that Dapol cottage. No collection is complete without it!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you David…

      I think you are right there… the buildings might visually dominate things if the were gloss…
      There will definitely be. Dapol/Airfix cottage in this collection…

      All the best. Aly

      Delete