Town base
One of the first bases I finished. It has a combination of different shaped walls and buildings and the side road is a bit narrower than the main road.
Middle Eastern Moderns Gallery
Introduction
These buildings were part of a commission for a wargaming comrade. We play WRG Moderns
rules and he has asked me to make 20 Built Up Area (BUA) bases, each 150mm square, so that 4 bases could be combined
to make a 300mm square town. I used 3mm perspex for the bases as it is nice and strong and I could get it cheaply (free at the time). The buildings are mostly
Gamecraft with a few Mainly Military buildings, Hovels, JR Minatures and a some old Military Miniatures (in NZ, now Battlefront).
I tried to make the layout as modular as possible and make sure the roads connect up, so they could be used in lots of different
ways (thats why they follow a bit of a grid pattern). Also the size of some of the larger buildings meant that there was only certain
positions on the bases where they would work. Another thing I tried to keep in mind was that you still need to be
have enough space to put figures and vehicles in there, and not lose them or wedge them in.
Here is a photo of all the buildings and materials used. As you can see there is a lot and this took me almost a year to complete! I only used a couple of the JR buildings (the grey models) as they
were such poor quality and the style didn't fit well with the other models. There are a few models which I painted as a
test case in the very front along with a few small towns from hovels (to be used outside the main BUAs).
Materials and techniques used
The Gamecraft buildings are very nice and crisply cast but the backs of the buildings are the top of the mould, so there is no details. I used a variety of pieces of plasticard to create some details on the back and to hide any bubbles in the resin. I also added some railings to the front of some of the apartment buildings which were cut from a cross stitch sheet.The buildings were spray painted or airbrushed a dark brown or black undercoat followed by the base colour. Then the buildings were highlighted and then lightly drybrushed with a cream colour. Next I painted the details and then gave them a thin black pin wash into the cracks and around the windows. Then they were given a brown wash using GW Devlan mud washes and finally Tamiya weathering powders were used to make the buildings and walls look old and grubby.
The roads are made from black cardboard which I airbrushed dark grey and the kerbs are from plasticard or part of the Gamecraft walls (which I tried to match the size of the squares with the plasticard). The road markings were drawn on with a white ballpoint pen and it worked much better than I thought it would. All the roads were given a light airbrush of Tamiya buff to make the roads look dusty and to blend in with the rest of the base.
The ground texture was created using Tamiya's Light Sand "Diorama Texture Paint". It was a bit light so I added some Tamiya Desert Yellow paint to it. First I used some light brown coloured caulk (silicon) to fill the gaps between buildings and to build up any joins between terrain pieces. They I smeared the base with the textured paint. Once it was dry I lightlighly drybrushed with a cream paint followed by weak GW washes of Sepia and Devlan mud.
The fancy walls are also Gamecraft (I know I sound like an ad for Gamecraft but thats where he brought all the stuff from!) and I added some extra ones from plasticard and cut up a few of the Gamecraft walls to fit the bases. The walls were painted with the same techinques and colours as the buildings.
The palm trees are from Samtrees and are beautiful brass etched tress and come prepainted and all they required was to be based.
I used mostly Burnt grass Flock from Woodlands scenics as I think it looks good for the desert and it isn't too bright green. There are also a few Silfor tufts and Woodlands Scenics "Fine-Leaf Foliage" as bushes.
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Rural base
This base had buldings from Mainly Military and a couple of old Military Miniatures buildings. The mainly Military buildings were on a thick base so I had to build up the edges to hide the edges. I also added some gardens to add a bit of green to the base and it helped to cover the edge of the buildings base. There is a road running through the buildings but its hard to see in the photos as I left it sand and brushed on some black and brown weathering powder.
Mosque
A beautiful model and quite large. I used some Gamecraft walls right around the Mosque and a couple of Palm trees to provide shelter to visitors. The tiled base on the Mosque is from plasticard which unfortunately warped when I glued it down. Actually it was the second piece I used and the first piece was much more warped and I had to throw it away!
Another rural base
With this base I tried to create an area on the outskirts of a town with walled compounds and a small garden. The curved road is designed to match up with the straight roads of the other bases but it helps break up the grid pattern of the other bases. I used a few different types of flock to create the small garden and add some colour.
Wharf
The wharfs are from Old Crow and are very nicely cast. I tried to incorporate them into the base and still leave plenty of empty space for cranes, cargo, vehicles etc and thats why the look a bit plain. I added some plastic card around the edges and gave them a brown and black wash to make them look dirty. Someone pointed out that the ramp to the lower level is too close to the edge and it would be difficult to manuoevre down there!
Coastal apartments and Wharf
The base was designed to represent a mini waterfront style area with a apartment block and a wharf area. The two tall apartment buildings have had extra plasticard details added at the back to cover the air bubbles in the resin from the top of the mould. I didn't add many details around the buildings as they are pretty large and take up most of the base. Extra plasticard pieces were used as paved walkway areas in front of and in between the buildings.
Town Square
This base could be used to represent a typical village scene or as part of a suburb within a larger town. The focus is the fountain and it could also be the site of a market. These buildings with all the arch ways on the front of them, look good facing out onto a square. The fountain is part of a Gamecraft roundabout and all the walls from plasticard.
Military Center
The main building in this base is a Radar/Military building from Mainly Military. It is from their Scifi range but is very suitable as a modern building. It is enclosed within more walls and is designed to be hidden from the road with trees.
Urban area
A base depicting a more affluent area of a town with walled compounds, gardens and some local shops. The curved road (leftovers from a roundabout) are designed to match up with the straight roads but helpt to break up the grid pattern of the other bases. The compound walls are Gamecraft and work very nicely together with their buildings.
Shopping center
hese three buildings make up a small shopping area with a car park in the middle. The buildings have had railings added to the front, which was cut from a sheet of plastic cross stitch sheet. The walls were used as compounds for the back of the shops (even though the buildings don't have doors leading out to them at the back!).