Things have been fairly hectic work-wise, and then to really eat into my available hobby time, my guitar effects unit went on the blink and I've had to spend hours fixing and servicing that. So much for my planned game! However, since the 4Ground "Fabled Realms Backstreet Hovel" arrived on Saturday thanks to the efforts of Colonel Bill's I thought it would be rude not to tackle it straight away!
I decided to omit the "high fantasy" curved ridge supplied, and simply capped the roof with a length of square section strip, which means I'm also re-painting the roof.
Another building I got at Christmas is the Timeline Miniatures "Market Hall". This has been occupying the bench and getting bits done whenever I've had the chance, and is just about table ready.
I'll be working on the interior next, so I'll show you the solution I came up with when I've done that. (What a tease eh?!)
So, I get the "Tortoise" award this week, while Col Bill's rapid response team take the "Hare" title for this brief offering.
I'm off to make sure the effects unit is in working condition for the weekend, (and dig out my old 'spare', just in case). Thanks for dropping in, and with a bit of luck, I'll have a game report for the next post!
Good stuff, Wargame Addict. They look great, and are presumably fun builds?
ReplyDeleteThanks Simon, I dunno about "fun builds" - assembling terrain seems more like a chore when I'd rather be painting (or even better, playing with) mini's, but I can happily state that 4Ground and Timeline Miniatures are stress-free kits to assemble :-)
DeleteHopefully I'll be picking up a couple from "Sarrissa Precision" to try out in the near future - they're produced about half an hours drive from where I live!!
The 4Ground buildings are my favourite MDF buildings and the fact that they come pre-painted is a huge plus for me. They may be more expensive than unpainted models but you're paying for quality and the time and money saved by not having to paint them is priceless.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the excellent service from Colonel Bill's. I ordered three 4Ground Wild West buildings from him just before Christmas and received them two days later. Plus, they were on sale. Win-win!
I totally understand why you like $Ground buildings so much now Bryan. This was my first one, but certainly won't be the last :-)
DeleteColonel Bill's is definitely one of THE best mail order suppliers in my book, and I was delighted to receive this order ahead of the previously announced "downtime" this month.
Speaking of suppliers, I got hold of this month's Wargames Illustrated magazine and spotted an plug for GRINGO 40'S latest releases...... I still haven't received my order from last year and will try just one more email :-(
Oops! Yep, that SHOULD read "4Ground" ;-)
DeleteVery nice buildings Greg, at least you managed to find some hobby time no matter what life threw at you
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave, the way I reorganised my modelling / painting set up so that I could dabble "little & often" over the festive season has really paid dividends. Even if I'm busy, I can sit and do a bit even if it's just while having a brew :-)
DeleteThank you for the kind comments in regards Colonel Bill's, Greg. I'll pass them on to Stuart when I next see or speak to him.
ReplyDelete[FYI: The Col. Bills 'downtime' got pushed back a week (here's hoping - I've not heard different and in this case, no news is good news) so its this week, as far as I'm aware, that orders will be effected. The webstore was updated with this information, but Stuart advised me not to keep updating when it could possibly be, as we are all playing it by ear for when he's giving the green light that things are going ahead and he's away from work.]
Anyway, good show on the builds. I built one of the Medieval 4Ground houses over the break, with the teddy bear fur and that was fun. I'll wait and see what you've come up with for the interior, then.
Simply praise where it's due Roy, I've had nothing but excellent service from Stuart and his 'team' :-)
DeleteTo be honest, I won't be doing a great deal to the interiors, I want to make these timber framed buildings dual purpose to an extent for 17th century and fantasy games.
These both look good, especially the 4 Ground one, I like the way they have disguised the finger joins on the corners and the timber framing is just right.
ReplyDeleteWill you do anything to the roof? Those tabs are the only thing I see that shows its MDF. You could thatch it or the warbases tiles are quite good and cheap as well but both require a bit of work that may not be worth while.
Looking forward to the game report.
They've sorted the problem by having the timber framing attached over the basic box construction, FAR better than simply etching it into the kit 'sides' as some manufacturers do :-)
DeleteI plan on improving the look of the roofs at some point in the future, but at the moment I'm 'bashing them out' as basic functional builds, so I can use them asap.
I really like the look of the "Superquick" timber frame buildings you've got John - but I know how time consuming they can be to build, so I'm keeping an eye open on ebay for some secondhand examples ;-)
4 or so of the Superquick buildings are probably 35 years old the rest about 5 years, I don't recall them being time consuming to build though and because they are printed on quite thick card they don't need much strengthening. They could probably do with a bit of distressing as I think they look a bit pristine, and they are flat.
DeleteI have been playing around with some western buildings using textures from the web and coffee sticks to get a 3d effect and I'm quite pleased with how they turned out.
I should probably have written "relatively" time consuming ;-)
DeleteI used a load of free download pdf buildings to do the Winter of '79 terrain - they were really basic and simple to build (knocking out several an evening), while the few "Superquick" buildings I added took considerably longer (a few evenings each).
Your scratchbuilds sound very interesting and I'll keep an eye open for them :-)
The buildings look fab Greg, I have a few myself and really like the 4Ground ones, particularly as they are prepainted.
ReplyDeleteCheers Andy, I'm a fan of 4Ground after getting just this one building :-)
DeleteThe pre-painting is a real time saver, but the quality of the kit itself is also top notch as well!
I doubt I;ve seen a poor 4Ground building yet and yours are no exception, but I do hate putting them together!
ReplyDelete"IF"(capital letters and inverted commas, so it's a big if)it wasn't for the fact that there's a queue of mini's that need painting asap, I'd actually be be really enjoying putting these together Joe. As it is, this batch are 'much needed pieces of terrain', so the task feels more like a necessary evil ;-)
Delete