The Viereckstal Campaign: Sixth Interlude (part 2)

 In which I construct some real estate...

Right then, I'm more or less free of the interruptions of the last few weeks and ready to re-immerse in the campaign during my free time. Over the last couple of weeks I have been able to put together a small selection of Warbases MDF buildings that will flesh out my mid-European 1780s setting beyond the very small collection of buildings I already have. To make the buildings look a bit less "MDF kit" like I have used a variety of techniques to disguise the finish, with the aim being vaguely to make them look like slightly ropey resin castings, with rougher edges and as much texture as possible.

First to feature is the church. I'd normally build-up (see what I did there?) to this through the post, but as the first picture gets picked up on the front page I might as well start with the biggest and best new arrival:

This started life as a WW2 church that has etched stonework. I added texture to the walls with papier-mache and stippled on texture paint. I added the half-timbered effect to the top of the tower and used laser-cut tile strips on the roof. I based the building (and most of the others) on 5mm grey board. I'd really sruggled to find a "German" church that would fit in with the Warbases Napoleonic Prussian range so am quite pleased with how this has turned out - even if it possibly looks more Polish! It's certainly not a museum quality model but will look good on the table as either an objective or more in the backgound. 

I did make one mistake in assembly, getting the hinges for the big doors the wrong way round (they should be fitted to the INSIDE of the wall. I also only realised after gluing that life would have been easier if I'd reversed the wall pieces so the unwanted stone etching was to the inside. If I ever build a second one I'll do better...

Next is the Warbases "Merchant's House":

Again, I have added texture to the stone walls. I also emphasises the flagstones by cutting new ones from thin card, gluing these down and then covering them with a layer of toilet paper and dilute PVA to roughen up the finish without obscuring too much detail. The barrels are resin ones I bought from eBay; they are a fantasy set so the "open" ones are fulled with skulls which needed disguising, again using PVA and toilet paper to give the impression of a cloth cover.

Last of the "big" buildings is this one from the Paris range:

More of the same techniques were used here. I did replace the diamond-pane windows in this kit with square-paned ones using some offcuts from a cheap plastic fly swatter.

All of the buildings in this batch were painted with craft paints, gloss varnished, oil-washed and matt-varnished. There was then a final stage of touching up and weathering. 

Moving to the smaller buildings we have various Prussian Cottage kits.

I used this one to create a small inn or tavern (in case all those barrels aren't enough of a clue). Again, I used a fly swatter to provide alternative windows for the main building. Basing was onto a rectangle of 5mm grey board with flagstones added to match with the larger buildings above:

Then comes a trio of cottages that have been based to add some interest with bits of fence (Renedra plastic) and walls (MDF offcuts):

...and finally we have the baby of the bunch, the smallest cottage kit in the range but buildings of this kind are never to be underestimated for the usefulness in a wargame, or when taking photos:

One of the advantages of building and painting in a large batch such as this is that is dissuades you from getting too fiddly with the fine details. In this case it means that I've not bothered to paint the etched-in door handles, for example. I could do this, but it's a precise job and I don't feel that it would be noticed during a game, or even on a photo unless I point it out. Sometimes "good enough" is simply that.

Now these are done I have more or less cleared away all of the crafting gubbins from the wargames table to can plan the next clash between the forces of Tattemberg and Gallia as we return to Viereckstal.