Somewhere in Attica 431 BC (updated 11-7-12)

[xpalpatinex]

So after seeing the frankly bonkers yet amazing Harbor terrain by Frank http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=40074.0 I decided to embark on a rather large project.

I have a good number of Classical Greek figures and wanted to try a skirmish/small battle game in a city fight style scenario. Sort of like an ancient Greek Mordheim. I've read all sorts of accounts of fighting to take the Agora of a town, defending the acropolis and battling through the streets as villagers throw clay tiles from the roofs.

I started small just attempting to bash together a quick Greek hut. The final layout will include a full table with a marketplace, temples, gymnasium, streets and a ton of houses.

Here is the first attempt during construction. Knocked together in an afternoon with some obvious mistakes (I'll call them learnings for now).

Here it is in bare foam


And now I've added texture and a roof. Apologize for the sketchy photos.


Next up is painting! And then I just need to do about 30 more buildings, carve some foam terrain boards, paint civilians and create some statues

[Cecil Gaybody]

I off to fun island of Mykanos for little break,
I will keep my eyes open

[Mad Doc Morris]

Welcome to the LAF! Sounds and looks like a promising start. Keep us posted!

[bigredbat]

Looks fun!  Will follow with interest.

Cheers, Simon

[The Dozing Dragon]

Impressed already!

[Dolmot]

Is that roof corrugated cardboard? If so, it looks surprisingly effective.

[xpalpatinex]

The roof is corrugated cardboard cut into strips (roughly the size of tiles but scaled up) and glued onto the roof. Gives it a little irregularity which I think helps the look. I'm off to the paint shop (hopefully tonight) to get the larger sizes for my ground colors. Then I can get the next stage going on this test building. After that, onto some larger buildings I think.

Any advice on where to find stamped plastic sheeting/styrene in a course stonework pattern? Apparently they used stone foundations with plastered brick above that so I want to mimic the look.

[xpalpatinex]

So i've done a quick update showing the painted model. This means house one is done and only about 20-30 more to go not including the larger buildings. I'll be working on a two story U shaped home next with a courtyard in the middle.







My reference materials have shown up in the mail so I get to start tackling slightly larger challenges next (slanted roofs intersecting). I learned a lot of things not to do on this first slapped together house so I'm expecting the next one to go better. I'm getting a better idea of what to create for the city setup itself but for now I'm just focussed on getting some houses done and improving my techniques.

[Chairface]

This is inspiring! Please keep us updated. I look forward to the rest.

[Alxbates]

What did you use for the wall texture?  It looks great!

[xpalpatinex]

Small update since last time.

I'm happy with how my houses are coming along and need to do some city planning before I make to much progress. I needed to do a quick mockup and make sure I'll be able to create enough city walls to surround a portion.

Here is the beginning of that process...

Extruded Polystyrene sheet (2 inch thick) cut down so that the width is the length of my wall sections (11"). I decided on about a 7 inch wall height but that might change as I test them next to my buildings.



Here they are chopped down into the sections and ready to be sanded.



After that I scribed rock texture into them with a ball point to represent the rock base Greek walls were built on. This is pretty dull work and was accomplished while watching Alien Directors cut. Apparently in 5th century Greece they put about an 8' base of heavy rocks as a foundation and then built the mud brick wall above that (plastered over). You can see the height of the wall next to the figure. Currently it is to scale but sometimes you have to fudge buildings smaller to make them work in miniature scale.



Next up...more scribing, more planning, more buildings!

@Alxbates - I use basic wall spackle applied with a putty knife and then dry brushed.

[Dave Knight]

A very interesting project

[Chairface]

Very cool!

[xpalpatinex]

Another small update. I textured and chopped one of the walls to make it look more like something to defend a city and less like a piece of cut up insulation foam. Still needs to be sanded and have texture added to the rocks section on the bottom. Then it is on to painting. After that I'll make some tower sections but I'm still planning how to do that.





Thanks

[xpalpatinex]

Been busy working on this but not really updating as much as I should. Holiday weekend so I took the buildings I've got so far onto the back porch and captured some sketchy images. I've been mainly making generic buildings to fill out the town and finishing up the town walls. Here is the state of things so far.



I'm at 7 building complexes so now and need to get a bunch more done to round out the town. The mat underneath is just there for now. The final project will have terrain boards featuring the same texture/color as the building bases. There are also more wall and tower sections I just couldn't be bothered pulling them out for this.

Some more shots







Next up are some more specialist buildings, a terraced section and statues.


-Brinton