OK, so this may be one of those crazy ideas. We have a proliferation of those 'cheap as' shops here in Christchurch, and for some months I've been eyeing up these small mock tudor buildings that they have been selling for $3.90 each. They are garish, but I wondered whether, with a few coats of the Citadel washes (Badab Black and Devlan Mud) I might be able to tone the colours down and make some useful scenery for the ECY boys to battle around.
I thought that for $3.90 it was worth trying just one to see how they look. Here is the result. If there's anyone out there reading this, I'd appreciate some feedback. I'm still not sure.. maybe the buildings are a little too much of a toy caricature for serious historical 'gaming.
Hi Robin, a couple of us here in Chch have been using those. The detail on them (if not the proportions and mix of thatch and tile!) are actually pretty impressive. Thei colours have to go though!
ReplyDeleteBest way, I think, is simply to rebase them, then spray back and dry brush the details up from scratch. I'm actually working on a batch of these this afternoon - but ran out of gapfiller for the bases. A batch I did yesterday look ok even with just their basecoats and should be pretty good once they have details. Not really historical, but you can't argue with the price and the detailing is far superior to scratchbuilts. They pick up even my rough paintjobs fairly well and look like they would reward a bit of care, if you were so inclined.
Jamie
ReplyDeleteThanks.. love to see some photos.. I may indeed be tempted to spray and repaint...just depends on how lazy or energetic I feel..LOL
KInd regards
Robin
When I get something finished, I'll do a blogpost on it. The blog is rough(wotr) and I'm on the TGN network too, so you'll see the update pop up.
ReplyDeleteI'm not personally inclined to spend a huge amount of time on my projects (that's the 'rough' part of the blog title) but they seem to be taking pretty well to the drybrushes and the details I want to do are all raised up on the houses. So hopefully should not be an effort. That part of the painting always takes the longest though.
Definitely a good score for $4 a pop. I've got ten.
Jamie
ReplyDeleteWhen you say you rebase them, do you cut the existing base off? Looks like a slightly fraught task???
Kind regartds
Robin
Hi Robin,
ReplyDeleteSince I wasn't explaining myself too well, I've chucked a picture of what I have done up on the blog:
http://roughwotr.blogspot.com/2010/12/wip-4-houses-for-my-15mm-terrain.html
Nothing too fancy, and I just intend to use a bit of foliage etc around those bases to conceal the the lines of the base further. I am focused on keeping it quick, since I will be wanting these in numbers for FOW purposes.
Cheers
Jamie
It looks so cute :-), but you know me...i love anything tinsy!
ReplyDeleteCheers and have a fantastic new year!!! xx
Sarns
I think I'd definitely repaint them from scratch so that the tones are a bit more unified. Even toned down with washes, the factory paint-job is a bit too "fruit salad" for my taste.
ReplyDeleteFitz
ReplyDeleteYes, having seen jamie's work, I think I'll spray black and start from scratch... his look quite reasonable (given the toy shop style of manufacture, that is) with less garish colours...
Kind regards
Robin