Neo classical bolt action ruined mansion Terrain 17

 I signed up to Dave Stones (Wargames Terrain blog) terrain challenge to try and get some stuff that's been hanging around for ages done. This building has been a long time in the making . The facade was built for 40k so that means built in the 20th century , the parquet floor and stairs were built for a college project over 35 years ago,  each piece individually cut and then stained with shoe polish! It's based on a piece of hardboard the floorboards on the first floor were added one fathers day with my daughter, coffee stirrers of course Mark!  The brickwork is 1/35 tamiya plastic, where it hits the foamboard I added a bit of ready mixed filler to join them together and a bit on the inside and outside of the brickwork as plaster/ render. The gates and railings at the front are from Rendra.  The mix of scales is funny 1/56 for the railings, heroic for the facade, 1/35 for the brickwork and 1/25 for the parquet and stairs but I think that Abby the Frankenstein building is just about alright! It's a  kind of shrunk down mansion, it should really be bigger but even for skirmish gaming I think it's as big as I want to go.

I added piles of cat litter with pva, I was trying to go for the airfix Stalingrad vac form terrain feel, I think that works, there's a bit of nominal architrave around the windows and window ledge ,quoins on the corners and lintels over the windows but I haven't bothered with skirting or further detail, I was going to add the attic floor for snipers but just wanted to get it done! It was sprayed black( I  masked up the parquet with some paper) and then I slopped brown around a bit on the ground and on the bricks, deliberately leaving some of the black coming through. I did the inside walls and exterior walls in a similar fashion as I wanted the black primer to suggest fire damage, I dry brushed white on the bricks and  debris which highlighted the bricks but also suggested the white lime mortar without doing loads of work! I went for the yellow exterior colour as I have seen it on Russian and German neo classical buildings and it's really unusual on Georgian buildings in the UK and I didn't want it looking British, although there were a few neo classical buildings in England during the civil war, maybe with earthworks it could be a manor house under siege?! I've added some Napoleonic chaps in but can't really see where I would use it as the footprint is too big, although the yellow colour was quite popular in Saxony in 1813? Lots of places to use it, but really it's for my bolt action Soviets to fight over, either in the country side with the burnt out barn or in built up areas with other ruined buildings. I have some more similar vintage ruins I might try and get resurrected during Dave's challenge.  I suppose it could stand in for an antebellum plantation but that would mean doing the ACW and I'm sorry Stew that's never going to happen!

All the best 

Iain 

The last of the pound shop, novelty items and key rings, artillery! War of three Kingdoms 23

 Here we have the heavy guns, an Essex gun, two novelty items that were a couple of quid each and an extended barrel from the pound shop mighty empire reinforcements set, the novelty items have benefited from having the pound shop gun wheels and some balsa and cardboard added, the  pound shop barrel  has a scratch built  balsa frame and wheels left over from the novelty items, still turned out alright I think. I was given the Rendra gabbions by my nephew Des who was clearing out his 17th century stuff plus a resin item and I figured combined with some roughly chopped up coffee stirrers helped convey the idea of siege guns, I'll still use them as normal guns if I need to but I like the look, more Old Glory crew with the odd Essex figure, some of the Old Glory figures are press ganged billmen as I didn't have enough pure artillery chaps.

So this is the current artillery park (excluding the Scots who were one of the first posts on this blog) I say current as I still have a few other guns that might work in the lighter range and I realise I don't have a mortar....anyway the end of my 17th century excursion for now, I feel another siege coming on but until then,back to Napoleonics I think!

All the best

 Iain 

More pound shop purchases, novelty items and key rings artillery war of three Kingdoms 22

 So these are the key rings (!) from English Heritage with mostly Old Glory crew I've given them a variety of small barrels and I will use them as light artillery and if/when I do a Swedish army for the 30 years war they will be battalion guns. There is a bald Essex figure and a former Essex pikeman in amongst the Old Glory chaps plus some Rendra barrels.

They're a mix of artillery and clubmen from old glory, the clubmen seeming bigger and less anatomically correct but all good in context, next up ? The big guns and after that probably more Napoleonics!

All the best

 Iain 

French command Napoleonic 37

 Just a short post today, a small pallette cleanser from the 17th century artillery. Here is Marshal Lannes rebased with a newly painted mounted Colonel also from Perry , I always envisaged mounting Lannes with another figure once one became available, I'll be doing the same with Lasalle at some point, I'll have some more junior officers  on single mounted command stands to give me some more varied options going forward, there are various French command ongoing  at the moment. 

It's a slightly smaller base than the Napoleon command base which seems about right. Probably back to 17th century artillery and then more Napoleonics!

All the best 

Iain