Friday 18 December 2020

2020 Autumn of Architecture - Part 4: Bricks! Linka part 4 - finished building.

3 years ago I started work on a Linka building and I realised that I never published the final update with the completely finished project!  I got as far as part 3 which was the painting but after that I made a small base out of foamex, attached it with UHU glue and added some basic groundwork.  I wasn't completey happy with the end result but never got around to improving it until now.

Following the Summer of Scenery, I've added some extra foam flock and tea leaves from the scenic materials I've made with the kids.

The base is finished with the standard Wilko tester pot emulsion paints.

The tuft of grass comes from an old paint brush.  Paving slabs were marked into the surface with the back of a knife blade.


The doorway is still slightly wonky but unfortunately that's something I can't easily fix without shattering the entire front of the building!

Tuesday 15 December 2020

2020 Autumn of Architecture - Part 3: Desert shrine

My desert buildings are all fairly plain so I fancied making something a bit more interesting, a small shrine.  The basic structure is foamcore with half a foam sphere for the dome, cereal packet card for the archways and triangular roof edging.  The stars are a couple of small sequins.

The whole building was textured with filler/paint.

I made it with 3 sides open so that I could include a detailed interior.  The floor is a single plaster-cast Linka wall section, trimmed slightly for neatness.  The shelf is just a few small balsa scraps.  The pots are 28mm scale plaster cast items from Hirst Arts mould #59.

Some string creeper with green dyed tea-leaf leaves plus home-mad clump foam vegetation finishes the building.  When I find where I put them, I also have some 6mm artillery crew who will be painted gold as litle statues to go on the shelf.


 Quick, easy and small but will make an interesting addition to my desert village.

Saturday 12 December 2020

2020 Autumn of Architecture - Part 2: Desert ruin

 Number 1 son mentioned that he'd like to help me make one of my "ruined buildings" so we set to work on one for my desert town.

The basic structure is 5mm foamcore attached to a foamex base using no-nails.  Assorted grit was added using PVA.  The walls had a coat of paint & filler, then a top coat of Dulux weathershield.








Monday 7 December 2020

2020 Autumn of Architecture - Part 1: Large desert building

 As the 2020 Summer of Scenery belatedly dawdles to a close, so we gently transition into the Autumn of Architecture (also now somewhat belated, but it's taken me a while to write them up).

I fancied making a few more desert buildings, including one which will be suitable as an objective for various scenarios.  It includes 4 open fronted bays suitable for a range of purposes - storage areas, tank bays, maintenance bays, shop units.  I may build some drop-in inserts for the open bays with tools, refuelling pods etc so it will work for modern or for sci-fi.

 

Finished building.

The main structure is 5mm foamcore on a foamex base.  To ensure the walls stayed in the right place, I drilled holes in the foamex and pushed glue-coated cocktail sticks up into the foam in the centre of the foamcore.  This held it all straight and prevented any warping while the no-nails dried.

Tank bays...

Or storage areas?

We had some number hole punches in one of our craft boxes, I stacked up 2 or 3 punches of each number to get a good thickness and glued them over the bays.  It adds a bit more interest to the front of the building and also makes it easier to tell instantly which is the front!

Wait! Was that movement back there?

Doorway to the rear access road.

The tank/storage bays all have doorways leading out to a rear compound.

Rear access.

Aerial view.

That tank seems kinda old...

Roof lifts off for figure placement inside.

Plenty of space out the back.

A few weeds out the back.
The base was finished with sand painted the obligatory Nutmeg Spice, Coffee with Desert Sand drybrush.  A bit of foam and tea-leaf scatter plus some not-very-good string trees finishes it off.