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Miniatures Adventure => Adventures in the Far East => Topic started by: Papierschnitzel on January 09, 2018, 10:35:11 AM

Title: (COMMERCIAL) Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on January 09, 2018, 10:35:11 AM
Hi guys,

I have started working on my upcoming Samurai Village paper model set. This is a first look at the first building. How do you like it? Does is capture the essence of that era?

(http://www.papierschnitzel.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/DSC08013s.jpg)

It is not weathered yet, so that will be added soon and then I want to make a couple of color and texture variations that you can build a village with just this one building alone. And then I will add some more building elements for more variety :-)

Let me know what you think!
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Sangennaru on January 09, 2018, 11:14:28 AM
As i said before in several occasions, i find this kind of models FAR more interesting than MDF buildings. Bravo!
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on January 09, 2018, 03:23:41 PM
As i said before in several occasions, i find this kind of models FAR more interesting than MDF buildings. Bravo!

Every material has its pro and cons. Paper models, you don't have to paint them and they are quite affordable. And you can make as many as you want!

But I have seen amazing MDF buildings too and you can paint them any way you want  :D
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Vagabond on January 10, 2018, 12:02:43 AM
Looks as good as your other models. Printed stuff tends to be looked down on but I really don't know why. Some of the best modelling was on this board a couple of years ago, the guy had used paper texture but in 3D. His results were stunning, some thought his initial pics were real, myself included.
Someone then suggested he was cheating using print rather than paint! It may have been a tongue in cheek comment though, but really!
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on January 10, 2018, 06:58:30 AM
I focus on designing the sets I make so that they can be built easy and fast.

But you can always improve them with more details. For example with this house you could print the walls a second time, cut out the clay wall area, mount it on stronger cardboard and then glue it on the wall. That way you have "real" looking 3D framework. This is called doubling up.

Same for the roof. You could double up the top roof wood area and then the single (vertical) logs and again make it look more real.

It all depends on how far you want to go!
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on January 17, 2018, 07:42:30 AM
So with the first part of the Samurai Builder series nearing completion I wanted to try out how a little village would look with just the one building type (plus optional lean-to) but with many, many, many print options. I did a quick math and it's almost 1000 variations!

I think the buildings look quite unique, no? And only took about 3-4 hours to print and assemble  :)

(http://www.papierschnitzel.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/SVB1_sneakpeek1.jpg)
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: DintheDin on January 17, 2018, 09:31:40 AM
I focus on designing the sets I make so that they can be built easy and fast.

But you can always improve them with more details. For example with this house you could print the walls a second time, cut out the clay wall area, mount it on stronger cardboard and then glue it on the wall. That way you have "real" looking 3D framework. This is called doubling up.

Same for the roof. You could double up the top roof wood area and then the single (vertical) logs and again make it look more real.

It all depends on how far you want to go!

Meticulous, outstanding and inspiring job! Congratulations! Thank you for sharing!
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on January 17, 2018, 08:55:33 PM
Thank you DintheDin! Very kind of you,
Chris
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Braz on January 18, 2018, 12:24:54 AM
Outstanding! Those are really nice.
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on January 23, 2018, 08:09:00 PM
More WIP pics. I have added a couple of options for the walls, plants and tools. With all optional print layers you can combine you have more than 100.000 options of unique skins.

(http://www.papierschnitzel.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/walls_tex_stuffnplants.jpg)

You can see an overview of some of the options here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/wall-details-16559233 (https://www.patreon.com/posts/wall-details-16559233)

I'll build a couple of new buildings soon and can then show an updated view of the village!
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Corso on January 25, 2018, 07:07:30 PM
Very interesting :D
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Redmao on January 25, 2018, 08:23:07 PM
Very nice.
I'm a fan of paper terrain and I really like what I'm seeing here.
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on January 27, 2018, 10:05:24 AM
Thank you guys. I have a little more to show before my Patreon release. I have been working on the fold-flat adaptions so you can assemble/disassemble the houses for easy storage and safe transport. I was not sure how the roof would work out but actually it was a success.

(http://www.papierschnitzel.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/DSC08083.jpg)
I think you cannot see much difference to the regular build. The fold flat piece are made out of three layers, outside, middle and interior, and when using reasonably heavy cardbaord (200-300gsm) you end up with parts almost close to MDF  :) They are very sturdy and due to their weight, they don't feel like paper toys in your hand.

If you want you can also build an interior ...
(http://www.papierschnitzel.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/DSC08064.jpg)

And this is what a disassembled house looks like, walls and roof. Nice flat and all.
(http://www.papierschnitzel.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/DSC08084.jpg)

BTW if you are interested in getting this you might want to join in time on my Patreon for the release. Go visit https://www.patreon.com/papierschnitzel (https://www.patreon.com/papierschnitzel) for more info. If not, no worries, I will release it later on the regular channels  :)
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: juergen c. olk on January 27, 2018, 02:41:51 PM
Very nice product.
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Marine0846 on January 27, 2018, 07:09:29 PM
Your buildings are very cool.
Really like what you have done.
Am very interested in joining your group
and purchasing some.
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on January 28, 2018, 07:23:31 AM
Your buildings are very cool.
Really like what you have done.
Am very interested in joining your group
and purchasing some.

Thanks man, you are most welcome :) This is just the start. I have a couple more generic buildings in the pipeline for a little more variety and then maybe some special buildings like the village Samurai house, tea house etc. If there is enough interest I also want to do a couple of town buildings in the machiya style.
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Marine0846 on January 28, 2018, 10:05:13 PM
After looking over your web site, I became a member.
Am excited to see what you come up with.
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on January 31, 2018, 07:07:26 AM
Here's a little diorama with paper figures (28mm scale): Attack of the Oni!

(http://www.papierschnitzel.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/SVB1_promo.jpg)

Figures are by David Okum (okumarts), Jess Jennings (TrashMobMinis) and Marshall Short (printableHeroes).
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: DintheDin on January 31, 2018, 08:49:38 AM
Nice and stylish! Cheers!
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Yuber Okami on February 04, 2018, 05:56:24 PM
I get that your buildings are "unfoldable", that is, that you can fold and use them, then make them flat again for easy storage. If that's so, how can I become a patron? :)
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on February 06, 2018, 08:06:44 PM
I get that your buildings are "unfoldable", that is, that you can fold and use them, then make them flat again for easy storage. If that's so, how can I become a patron? :)

Thank you Okami, yes you can build the buildings so you can unfold them. So they are quite foldable ... or unfoldable that way  :D

I have added my channels including Patreon to my signature here. You can join directly on the Patreon page. If you have questions, pm me here or contact me on the other sites.

Chris
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Yuber Okami on February 11, 2018, 02:41:40 PM
Say hello to your new patron :)
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on February 16, 2018, 01:44:56 PM
Say hello to your new patron :)

Hello ... and thank you  :)

So you are in the loop then, but for the others I want to share where I am in the process of the next stage. This village set will include different buildings, often found in the mountains in villages and even forts. They will come with texture variations but my vision is the "all wood panel" version.

This is a combo of the larger and smaller building (the L-shaped version to warp around the larger one) and the HD water wheel ... to turn it into a water mill. There will be a simpler wheel version too, but I just love this one.

(http://www.papierschnitzel.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/DSC08228.jpg)

If you are interested in more details, check out my Patreon. The posts and pics are all free, so no danger  :D

I hope to have a multi buildings preview soon!
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on February 19, 2018, 08:13:32 AM
Here is the simple version of the water wheel. Much faster to build but look almost as nice as the detailed one, no?

(http://www.papierschnitzel.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/DSC08234.jpg)

And here is a little sneak peek pic for the new buildings! Ninja are attacking the village, thinking they only have to deal with the warrior monk. Unaware are they of the Samurai preparing in hiding!

(http://www.papierschnitzel.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/DSC08235sneek.jpg)

Need to start on working on the grass ground tiles, so I can spice up the yellow ground!
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Golgotha on February 20, 2018, 08:46:24 PM
Fantastic when will these be available for purchase on wargames vault?
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on February 21, 2018, 01:07:09 PM
Fantastic when will these be available for purchase on wargames vault?

The first set beginning of next month. It's always one month after the Patreon early release.
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on February 25, 2018, 07:21:10 AM
I went crazy combining the L-shaped building with the larger one. Trying out all combinations  :D

Here is one version ...
(http://www.papierschnitzel.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/DSC08271.jpg)

... more on my Patreon page.

These combinations don't look that Japanese to me, but it was fun trying out what is possible!
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Vagabond on February 28, 2018, 11:35:51 AM
These are looking excellent.

I use quite a lot of paper scenery, mainly because the printing is more realistic than my painting, but the big issue I have are the roofs because they do tend to look flat no matter how good the print texture is.
 
I've used teddy bear fur and towel for thatch on top of paper walls and that looks ok, and I've used commercial laser cut shingles and painted them which also looks ok. Both ways give me quite a good 3D roof and hide the flatness of the walls of a building but involve quite a lot more work.

It's the same as your idea with the water wheel, one looks much better than the other but for additional work.

I wondered if you had given any thought to trying to get a 3D printed roof. For example with the thatch you have 3 panels of thatch, if each panel was printed individually and was a little bigger so it could be wrapped around a card former, with the lower part of the panel printed to represent the ends of the thatching material rather than the length of it. That way you end up with 3 pieces of thatch per side and then glue them onto a roof so that there is 3D from the card levels and 3D effect from the printing.

You could do the same thing with the shingle roof but the problem is that none of the shingles are even along the bottom edge and need cutting with a scalpel to get the shape and then the edges colouring. They then need overlapping as a strip to get the right effect and the individual shingle print would need to be longer to compensate for the physical overlapping.

This may be a lot more work than you envisage people taking when they buy paper buildings as it is usually seen as a quick easy and cheap way of creating scenery, but I have seen excellent examples that rival the best in painted 3D models.

Sorry for the long post hope you can make some sense out of it and as I said these are excellent.
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on March 01, 2018, 08:19:28 PM
These are all great ideas and I have thought about them also. The majority of gamers I know prefer the quick to the detailed build. But as I have layered the roof (both thatched and wood shingles) texturing wise, I could easily make separate cutout parts. If you print them on heavy cardboard with overlap you would get the effect you are talking about. I wonder how many would want such a building pattern?

Another way to add 3D detail is to double up parts. For the walls I would print just the framework layer on thicker cardboard and glue that over the regular wall, to make the framework pop out.

Here I have doubled (actually tripled) up the top roof details to make it look more like the real thing.
(http://www.papierschnitzel.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/DSC08221.jpg)


Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Vagabond on March 02, 2018, 07:28:02 PM
I think you are probably right in your assessment of what gamers using printed scenery want, that is something quick and cheap, but maybe if they had a reasonably easy and quick alternative that would produce something that rivaled a well painted resin casting building they would go for it.
This is the Minka in Kew Gardens London.
(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/24/7162_28_01_16_7_51_55.jpg)

As you can see apart from the apex of the roof there is little real texture or difference in depth on any of the building surface or roof thatch, especially taking scale into account.

We "know" it's there even if it actually isn't. Our mind tells us it is there even if our eyes don't.

You can print wood, or mud more realistically than I can paint it, so somehow there has to be the opportunity to overcome the prejudice against what we know something is like, when in actual fact it's not.
The only other point is that I presume the thatch was done by modern thatcher's and they may not be replicating 3/400 year old Japanese practice.

I'm not saying anything you don't already know I just wonder if there is some way to move on to another level with printed buildings that you could benefit from.

Having said all that, please don't think that I am criticizing what you are doing because I think it's excellent.
Cheers
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on March 03, 2018, 10:30:10 AM
Thank you for the thorough feedback. And keep it coming! I even and very much appreciate criticism when it's appropriate as it will allow me to grow my skills.

I have tried improving the walls using the "double up" method I spoke about earlier. This is the result.
(http://www.papierschnitzel.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSC08294.jpg)

Even my better half, who usually is not very impressed by my paper crafting, likes this version very much  :D

Regarding 3D printing, the problem is not that I am not interested, but it took me a while to get to this point with my paper model creation skills that I am really enjoying the process now and also I don't really know where to start with 3D. I am pretty sure I will go there in the future. There are a lot of things (like small bottles, cups etc.) I could do that I cannot with pure paper! I am kind of waiting for it to come into my life in an organic way.

Cheers
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Vagabond on March 03, 2018, 06:56:09 PM
I'm sorry I wasn't referring to plastic 3D printing but to printing on paper to get a 3D effect, my apologies if I was misleading.

What you are showing here on the walls is exactly what I was trying to achieve with my suggestions for the roofs. Using printing and a layering process to enhance the excellent printed texture you already have.

I don't wish you to think I am being critical and I'm sorry if that is the way it has come across.

Cheers :)
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on March 04, 2018, 05:41:00 AM
Ah! That's even better then. I will try to make the layered roof too the next days.

You are coming across very encouraging btw. Just pointing out that I am also open for critique :)

Also I have setup the first set on the OBS site shops. So if you are interested you can get it at

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/235566/Samurai-Village-Builder-I (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/235566/Samurai-Village-Builder-I)
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/235566/Samurai-Village-Builder-I (http://www.rpgnow.com/product/235566/Samurai-Village-Builder-I)
http://www.wargamevault.com/product/235566/Samurai-Village-Builder-I (http://www.wargamevault.com/product/235566/Samurai-Village-Builder-I)
Title: Re: Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on April 06, 2018, 08:39:58 AM
Hi guys,

I have made the Samurai Village Builder II set available. Also I am moving to Gumroad as my main shop site (I will still make my products available on the OBS stores too but I get a better deal at Gumroad so if you want me to have some butter on my bread please consider buying at Gumroad  :) ).

(http://www.papierschnitzel.com/images/SVB2_OBS_promo.jpg)

Read more about it on my site: http://www.papierschnitzel.com/samurai-village-builder-ii-released/ (http://www.papierschnitzel.com/samurai-village-builder-ii-released/)
Title: Re: (COMMERCIAL) Samurai Village buildings
Post by: Papierschnitzel on April 26, 2018, 06:23:57 AM
Made a little diorama with the new parts I made, to make the village look more lived in!

Fences, carts, hay bale, a storage hut (and tons of ground tiles ... but more on that later)

(http://www.papierschnitzel.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/groundtiles_and_storehouse2.jpg)

Here a photoshopped a background into the pic  :)
(http://www.papierschnitzel.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/groundtiles_and_storehouse.jpg)

Happy building!
Chris