Return to Darkest Africa (Updated 24 Mar 20 - Masai)

[Overlord]

I've now finished off the tembe.

The excess thatching was removed, but was still a bit wayward.  I covered it with brush-on matt varnish which, when it eventually dried out, made it lie a bit flatter and has probably made it a bit more resiliant.  A final trim of the edges was all that was left to do.

[Prof.Witchheimer]

Very cool building, something I could also need for my Africa setting. Well done, Paul.

[Plynkes]

Great shots. Sure looks grand, though I think it looked fine with the "wayward" thatch, too.

[Phil Robinson]

A cracking piece of scenery there.

[Bugsda]

Superb! Love it 

[Captain Blood]

Very nice Paul 

[aggro84]

I'm a big fan of buildings where the roofs lift up to incorporate minis.

Nicely done. 

[Overlord]

Thanks for all the nice comments. 

Not sure whats next.  The LPL6 looks likely to intrude into my plans for a while now.  With a bit of luck several of my entries with be on a DA theme.

[FifteensAway]

Very nice.  And did you paint the underside of the roof?  Maybe its just me, but I think it should be so that when you lift it off there isn't a glaring bit of white to distract from the wonderful visual of everything else in your photos.  Just a thought.  The devil is in the details - forestall the devil!   

[Overlord]

As events conspired to prevent me entering the LPL6, I thought I would post some of the WIPs for the steamer I was hoping to build and include in the final round.

Lots of inspiration from other projects on the forum, but especially Admiral Benbow's fantastic build: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=19955.0

I had started out with the intention of building the simple steamer originally built by Gary Chalk in an old Wargames Illustrated, but the above thread led me astray somewhat.


The basic hull shape was cut from 2 layers of 5mm foamcore and a sheet of balsa, that had been previously glued together with PVA.  The decking was the scribed into the balsa with a pencil and ruler.  I then cut 2 side pieces from mounting card and glued them in place with PVA.  So far it was just a stretched version of the Gary Chalk model.


I then built a larger version of the stern wheel using foam PVC for the wheels (5mm) and paddles (3mm).  3 corks formed the centre of the wheel and were clad in cereal box card.  Its a bit bulkier than I would ideally like, but makes for a reasonably sturdy wargame model.


After reading the Admiral's thread I decided that I wanted a slightly more detailed boiler than the Chalk model, which I built from a bottle top various odd bits of plastic card and tubing and some map pins.  Probably not even vaguely realistic to ship/steam enthusiasts, but should look OK on the final model.


The completed components together with the start of the cabins, and starting to deviate from the original idea.

[Turbo-Ben]

A friend saw your pics here and asked me if I could build a Tembe for his birthday. Well, I can and hope to finish it till friday...



(more pics on my displaced acount)

Let me know what you think!

[Alxbates]

Oh, that's just fantastic.

I want one.

I want three!!

[Overlord]

A friend saw your pics here and asked me if I could build a Tembe for his birthday. Well, I can and hope to finish it till friday...

Looking good.   I like the stepped walls, just like the picture that Plynkes posted.

What have you used for the thatching? It looks very effective.

[Turbo-Ben]

Its an old towel. The method is described somewhere here or over at Sweetwater-Forum (german).

[Alxbates]

An old towel???

That's so simple and brilliant!  I love it!