I set up the VCR to tape something I saw yesterday on CNN. They had a computer
graphic video of their interpretation of urban combat. It showed tanks hidden
in trees, soldiers in buildings, etc.
The reason I taped it is that it gave me some great ideas for SG2 buildings!
The majority of the buildings they showed in the graphics were nothing more
than blocks, but there was one neat looking "apartment building" complete with
balconies, and another that was simply a three-storey box with a smaller
two-storey box on top. It showed how simple but effective buildings
could be created for urban scenarios.
Question for those of you who have built wargame buildings: what do you use
for building material? I was thinking thick card or foam board. Foam board has
a bad tendency to warp, and so I'm not sure it would be the best stuff. Thick
card stock has this tendency to, but you can reinforce it more easily as the
warping isn't usually that extensive. Just wondering what y'all use to build
your buildings.
> Question for those of you who have built wargame buildings: what do
Hungate's had papier mache gift boxes, about 3" square. I inverted the box and
glued the lid (upside down) to the bottom to make a parapeted house. That
might be a "building block" for you. Depending on how big a structure you
want, you could use foamcore, styrene sheet, or matte board. If you want
buildings with curves, you might
try Sintra (should be available from sign shops)--available in various
thicknesses. Or you could get blue insulation foam and cut your shapes from
that, stacking them together as needed.
I use Irregular for DS 2 And Germy has some great buildings in 6 mm and 25 mm
downloads (free.)
Gracias, Glenn
On Fri, 28 Mar 2003 15:39:50 -0600 Allan Goodall
<agoodall@hyperbear.com> writes:
> I set up the VCR to tape something I saw yesterday on CNN. They had a
I use 1/4" foamcore for all of my buildings and I've
never had warping troubles. Applying paint can warp some materials from
absorbing the moisture. There are two remedies to this; One is to paint the
side of the material that you don't care about first so that it warps one way,
then paint the side you do want so it warps back to about straight. No really,
it works. Another method is to seal the material before you paint with a spray
matte. This works even better but can melt the internal foam in the foamcore
due to the acetone used in most spray product. Eric
> --- Allan Goodall <agoodall@hyperbear.com> wrote:
I didn't know about the warpage...I have aquired some foamcore a while back,
but hadn't made any buildings yet. (sigh) Real life(tm) interfears again...
As to sealing it, could you just "paint" ordinary white glue on all four
exposed edges, and then paint it anyway you want? Unless you want the
partially melted look... :-)
Donald Hosford
> Eric Brown wrote:
> I use 1/4" foamcore for all of my buildings and I've
> --- Donald Hosford <Hosford.Donald@acd.net> wrote:
> As to sealing it, could you just "paint" ordinary
Sure, or just use masking tape to dutch the seam and cover the exposed
foamcore, whichever is easier.
I finished filling a 6'x4' table with "industrial ruins" and I intentionally
left a lot of foamcore exposed, peeled back the paper in many places, and
gouged out holes from large calibre weapons fire then
spray-primed everything heavily in black. The foam
melts even more when you direct the spray straight into it.
> As to sealing [foamcore], could you just "paint" ordinary white glue
You could use glue, or just use a water based paint (eg latex house paint) to
seal the edges. The warping comes from painting the sides, though, not the
edges.
On Sat, 29 Mar 2003 03:26:49 -0500 Donald Hosford
> <Hosford.Donald@acd.net> writes:
<snip>
> As to sealing it, could you just "paint" ordinary white glue on all
Fusion Gun Damage!
> I use 1/4" foamcore for all of my buildings and I've
I built a series of foamcore buildings (multistory, sized for WH40k) about 9
or 10 years ago. I still have them, they still work fine, and no warping, even
on the bases which were also foamcore.
I painted them after assembly with a basecoat of black, but it was
water-soluable acrylic sprayed through an airbrush, and I painted every
surface except the bottom.
Sealing them with matte sealer first or painting them with straight primer
would work well, though I would first paint the exposed foam edges with white
glue (maybe watered down a little) and let that act as a sealer to stop the
foam disolving.
Another option, if you're interested in a "rough-stoney" sort of finish
(which would be great for stucco, now that I think about it) is to get some of
the stuff that goes by the name of "Speckle Stone" or it's equivalent. This is
a paint with suspended fibrous particles that gives a rough "stone like"
texture when it sprays. I'm not sure how "stone like" it really is, but it's a
nice texture anyway. I've found this in several brands with
both water-based and solvent-based paint, in a variety of colours. I
painted all of those foamcore buildings with this stuff relatively
recently, and it worked great - though they were already sealed. If you
were using a water-based version, it would act as a sealer. If you used
a
solvent-based version, then do the white-glue-edge-seal thing first.
Also, as a building technique, if your design suits this, try to avoid
large areas of open unsupported/reinforced space. If you're going to
have long wide walls, use buttresses or something. Interior walls are good.
Details around windows or "fake columns" up the outside work too. This
provides anti-warping support. On my buildings, I beveled the edges of
the foamcore going into corners so the corners were nice and square, and that
also acted as an anti-warping measure I think.
Hope that helps.
Hi,
I was just about to point out that using an airbrush removes both the melting
problem and the warping problem. Not everyone has an airbrush though...
Cheers, Tony C.
> On Monday, March 31, 2003, at 12:48 PM, Adrian Johnson wrote:
> I use 1/4" foamcore for all of my buildings and I've
[snip]
> Hope that helps.
Sounds like you could get creative with a sodering iron...:-)
Donald Hosford
> glenn m wilson wrote:
> On Sat, 29 Mar 2003 03:26:49 -0500 Donald Hosford
> partially melted look... :-)
I do like the methods used on this page:
Major General Tremorden Rederring's Colonial-era Wargames Page
(http://www.zeitcom.com/majgen/)
Look for his "jump station" part way down the page, look under "structures".
The pics look fantastic!
Donald Hosford
> Eric Brown wrote:
> --- Donald Hosford <Hosford.Donald@acd.net> wrote:
Actually I use a small propane torch to shape and texture my styrofoam
gameboards and hills. Makes nice craters too.
THE MAJOR GENERAL IS AN OLD FRIEND OF MINE.
i learned to make buildings from mat board and foamcore from him, Charles
Christy, Max Carr, Ed Philips, the master builders of the DFW as far back as
the 70s.
i built the small border fort featured under pix for Skip and want to say
several things here.
foamcore, glue to mat board and weighted down to avoid warping when wet, can
make good basing material. when dry, cover it with a clear acrylic spray so
this prevents later warpage when applying texture and paint.
other, better sources of bases for terrain projects are masonite, with or
without the pegholes, or plastic sheeting. foamcore can be glued to these to
make attachment points for buildings and terrain features.
since my terrain travels a lot, i use a 12" x 12" base board for large
structures.
if my project requires more space, i use 2 or more modules that can be placed
base to base to make the whole piece.
i make my roadway sections up in sections of 6" to 12" length. since most of
my fighting is done in mid to low tech colonial environments, the majority of
the roadways are dirt and 4" wide.
sometimes i model " drainage ditches" on the sides of the roads by indicating
them with raised edges, the ditch a bit wider than a soldier base. culverts
passing under the road can be modeled too.
in "modern" towns/cities i model sidewalks around my buildings which
are slighly higher than paved streets.
a very cheap source of street lights, LOL, are clean, never used disposable
razors, with the guards glued in place over the blades. easy to paint and
mount.
clear plastic sheeting is used to cover display windows in shopfronts,
residential windows, and to make glass doorways.
tinted plastic can also be used for this.
always build structures and make terrain with a soldier and a tank or other
vehicle in the scale y'all are using on hand for quick comparisons.
measure twice, cut once! just like a carpenter.
round plastic toothpick can make nice jail bars and zoo bars.
car body repair mesh, and plastic window/door screening can make
excellent chainlink fencing!
chicklets make great sandbags; so do small beans.
bamboo BBQ skewers make good light wooden palisades.
lord, there are zillions of ways to do stuff to make your terrain look
knockout!
DAWGIE, back for a visit...
On Fri, 28 Mar 2003 15:04:37 PST, glenn m wilson <triphibious@juno.com> wrote:
> I use Irregular for DS 2 And Germy has some great buildings in 6 mm
I've seen Germy's buildings, but they always looked kind of flimsy to me. I'd
prefer something that could be mounted on thick card or foam board.
On Fri, 28 Mar 2003 15:10:12 -0800 (PST), Eric Brown
<squirmydad@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I use 1/4" foamcore for all of my buildings and I've
I have foamboard lying around, and it's warped. Most of the boards that I've
seen in the store are warped, also. This is why I was against using it. I have
decided to give matte board a try. For one thing, the local Michael's had big
sheets of it on sale for $1 a piece...
hmm I might have gone blind, but I cannot find the Jump station anywhere?
tir, 2003-04-01 kl. 11:10 skrev Donald Hosford:
> I do like the methods used on this page:
> >
The "jump station" is just the table of pics/hyperlinks to the various
parts of the site, labelled "Click the Pictures for the Following Topics". One
of the sections is "Structures". Some *very* impressive stuff there.
Ahhh - thanks. Been searching the whole damn site for pictures of a
jumpstation - lol. Well even though my main historical interest always
has been WW2, this site has always impressed me, and he sure does have a lot
of cool pictures.
/cheers
---
With kind regards Claus Paludan cpaludan@worldonline.dk webmaster@krigsspil.dk
http://www.krigsspil.dk Danish Miniature Wargaming Society
[quoted original message omitted]
Re: The good Major General's display...
> Well even though my main historical interest always has been WW2, this
Of course, there's plenty of WWII North Africa usage of the buildings
possible, and the structure 'Philosophy' is instructive.
And, personally, I always enjoy a good Firesign Theatre reference!
The_Beast