Welcome to my blog, the story of my continuing journey into the World of Zombie Wargames.

Monday 23 September 2013

Demolition Site

This is not truly a demolition site, but does sound a bit more up-market than the classic title of "ruins"
The model has a footprint of about 10" square (25cm) and at the highest point is about 4 " (10cm).
The materials used in the making of this model were the usual mix of foamboard, polystyrene, cork (for the loose bricks) and of course the ubiquitous coffee stirrers !
The model was based on my Tenements flats
This shot gives a view of how the model looked after I'd arrived back from holiday (3rd Sept) whilst the photo on finished model above was dated 8th September and as I'd worked on this and my construction site for no more than an hour out of each day, you can understand when I say just how easy a build it was.
Scoring the walls and cutting out rough wall shapes took about another hour whilst gluing them to the base (a soft plastic) took about another hour. 
The foamcard walls were all scored to give the impression of bricks using a sharp pencil and a very blunt craft blade. I then painted it that horrible puke yellowy-green colour for the underlying mortar colour of the bricks.
    I used polystyrene to bulk out the rubble on the interior and then all the non-brick surfaces were covered in a filler mixed with sand as I was using smooth finish filler. Once dried the whole of the now gunk-covered bottom layer of rubble was painted.
 
The two photographs above and to the left show well the polystyrene bits used, (basically all the brown lumps and bumps that aren't bricks !).
Coffee stirrers where lightly sprayed in black and grey and either bent and snapped before spraying or in some cases afterwards to represent floorboards etc.and then glued in place around, over and in the polystyrene "rubble", always with a mind that figures will need a  place to stand  in the building too.
After the wooden bits were added I then proceeded to put bricks on the model which I'd made as an off-shoot from building my streets.
 Again, the bricks weren't placed completely randomly as I always had it in my mind that the resulting ruin had to accommodate figures, something I'm always aware of in all the models I make.
Amongst the rubble I did place a few detail bits that are quite hard to spot, such as a book (just behind Sid's head in the photo to the right), a newspaper (of course) and I also used the now redundant wooden back door from the construction site (the eagle-eyed amongst you may just be able to make out the green corner of it in the bottom centre).
View of the front and left side of the building.
Rear view of model
Internally I placed two walls back to back down the length of the building (you can clearly see this in the above photo) to represent the divide between the two tenements.
The right side of the building
General plan view
To finish off the general ruined feeling, I carefully "powdered" the whole model using filler powder (unmixed obviously) and gently shook off any excess.
Another general view.
You may also have noticed that the inside front of the model has painted walls one in light green and the other blue, representing the inside ground floors of the two buildings.
In real terms this building took about 8 hours to make, but as I waited between each stage for the various bits to dry in place  it still took about a week to complete. I was only working on this in-between drying times for my construction site and seemed like a bonus when finished, as it was actually complete before  the construction site !

And that's it for another week, I'm now doing the great after build clean-up and setting my table out for my next scenario.

Finally let me welcome my latest follower Dave Cooke, who has an excellent blog here , some of you may also know him by his alter ego of Maxshadow.

Thanks for taking the time to read (or at least look at the pictures) and as always your comments are both welcomed and appreciated.

26 comments:

  1. This got repetitive now, but this is honestly amazing, as everything you make so far. I keep reading what you did and it all looks like something pretty simple. The end effect is just stunning. At least I find them very realistic. And hey, kudos for cutting all those bricks!

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    1. Thanks Mathyoo, if the things I did weren't simple then I wouldn't even attempt to do them. Bricks were very easy and quick to make, merely strips of 4 or 5mm cork cut about 5mm wide and then cut by eye ! (They weren't all cut at once either !)

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  2. Now if that isn't dangerous terrain then I don't know what is! Anyone entering such a site must be prepared to break an ankle, get partially buried under loose bricks or be caught on projecting nails.

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    1. Yup, you're spot on C6 and would make for a "nice" surprise for players in an umpired game.

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  3. A construction site and a demolition site! It is evident that the building slump has not effected your town. I think I prefer this to the construction site. Again packed full of character and details. Love it!

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    1. Thanks Clint, and yes I too actually like this better as it's more versatile and was far easier to make.

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  4. This complements your building site very well, Joe. This could be a building that is being demolished to make way for whatever the constructors are working on in your building site. Or it could be a random set of ruins. Either way, it is another great piece of scenery that could see use in many a gaming genre. Ruined buildings are just so versatile.

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    1. Thanks Bryan and you're absolutely right both feature in my next game too !
      I had to have something for security guards to guard and ruins are a must in any apocalyptic setting.

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  5. Stunning work.... looks soo real :)

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  6. Great detail, i love the stairs, this could be used for ww2 or even 40k

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    1. Thanks SK, it is a versatile piece, good from about 1900 onwards I guess as well as fantasy.

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  7. Excellent, looks a right mess!!!! But that's good!

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  8. Looks very realistic great job Zabadak.

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  9. Very nice indeed. You could swap the demolition site with the construction site in a campaign to show time passage.

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    1. Thanks PS, that's something I hadn't thought of.

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  10. Very nice my friend, creative is your middle name, the end result is very good.

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    1. Thanks for the kind words TE, it's always a bonus when one of my ideas blossoms. (and it's actually Thomas!)

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  11. It's all been said I am in awe.

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    1. Thanks Irqan, I'm humbled that bits of scrap can impress so much.

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  12. The bricks are great and the puke green and blue mortar are terrific. I couldn't see the green door. Which also happens to code for swingers clubs over here.

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    1. Thanks Baconfat, the green door reference escapes me, but I'll be wary of it in the future !

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  13. Another nice job on this sir. May I ask how you store your terrain between games? Some of you pieces are larger and I am debating what to do with my larger things now.

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  14. Thanks Charles. My terrain boards are stored either alongside my table or under it, whilst my buildings are stored on shelving. Some of my models actually fit inside one another (like Russian dolls), but like many others I suspect storage is becoming a problem.
    There are quite a few glimpses of my stored buildings and boards on many of my photographs in the backgrounds!

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