The Horseshoe Forge from Dampfpanzerwagon (painting 23.02.15)

[Dr. The Viking]

Blimey!!!

I've learned more reading this thread for two minutes than from hours of searching for terrain building techniques in the past!

[von Lucky]

Lovely stuff. I think this'll be a cute little addition to your collection.

[dampfpanzerwagon]

Thank you for the comments. I'll try to pass on some more helpful hints before the build is finished.

The Large Town House was one of the scratch built building featured in More Wargame Terrain. I'm glad that you liked it.

Tony
http://dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/more-wargame-terrain-book-by-tony.html

[dampfpanzerwagon]

My Lead Adventure Forum, Build Something 2015 Contest entry continues  and I have now added a flagstone base to The Horseshoe Forge.

The base was constructed from 3mm plastic card (the sort that is used for point-of-sale advertising) with the individual stones carved into the plastic with a scalpel. I then used a rough stone (actually a broken roof tile) to impress the stone texture and finally sanded the base with some rough sandpaper.

The master terrain builder Emanuel Noullier (who features in Military Modeller and Continental Railway Modeller) is an expert at using this material. see this link for details.
http://www.militarymodelling.com/forums/postings.asp?th=89025

The three images below show the effect better than words.







NOTE;
This plastic card is not the thin plastic card used by modellers and written about by scratch-builders, but a thicker and softer plastic card used by sign makers and for use in stores as POS. If in doubt, you should be able to easily flex the card and mark the surface with your fingernail.

The card can be cut easily and textured by pressing stones or sandpaper into the surface and sanding or texturing with a wire brush. It can also be glued together with superglue and if layered can produce very strong structures.

I find that you can pick up off-cuts very cheaply and sometimes for free, if you contact department stores who are usually only too pleased to supply the out-of-date advertising material free of charge.

My latest batch is a Stanley Knife advertising board. Be aware that the same plastic card is sometimes covered with coloured sticky-back plastic, which can be easily removed.

Tony

[von Lucky]

Lovely progress. I only discovered Emanuel Noullier the other day (posted a link in my build thread), his work is inspiring.

And I agree with you, scratch building materials are all around us if we look.

[Mason]

The stonework looks great.
Thanks for the tip.
 

[McMordain]

Looks good so far 

NOTE;
This plastic card is not the thin plastic card used by modellers and written about by scratch-builders, but a thicker and softer plastic card used by sign makers and for use in stores as POS. If in doubt, you should be able to easily flex the card and mark the surface with your fingernail.

It's sound like plastfoam. Great stuff for a lot of things. Awfully hard to glue though, as only superglue sticks to it...

[Vanvlak]

That's interesting, the paving stones look the works.
 

[dampfpanzerwagon]

I'm starting today's update with another teaser. This is a battery operated Tea Light that I am planning on including in the model of The Horseshoe Forge. Expect more updates once I work put how I am going to use it.



I have built the main forge chimney out of Blue Foam and in three pieces. Each piece was cut from some scrap foam. I have first carved the random stonework with a scalpel, then textured the surface by pressing a rough stone into the foam and finally sanded the surface with both sandpaper and a wire brush. The chimney top has a thin lip (a fourth piece of Blue Foam) although I am still undecided on how I will model the chimney top or chimney pot.



This final image shows the chimney against the back of the forge (but still not glued in place). You can also see how I have further textured the Green Foam timbers, nicking small chips out of the uprights and adding additional wood grain and weathering. This will be highlighted once the model is painted (and particularly when it is drybrushed).



Tony

[pocoloco]

Very nice  Will look grand when painted.

I might use the blue foam for my sauna build or then go another route just to try out a different method.

[Mason]

Nice carving.
 

[Silent Invader]

That's a great trick to create the undulating roof.

Coming along extremely well 

[dampfpanzerwagon]

Finally, The Horseshoe Forge has a horseshoe doorway.



I knew that this bit of modelling could make or break the whole build. I had to get this right.

I sketched out a horseshoe on some scrap paper and made sure that it was the right size and shape. before transferring it to some Green Foam.



I cut the foam to shape and sanded the outer edges smooth before sanding the whole 'U' shaped doorway on a piece of 3M abrasive paper, stuck down to a piece of toughened glass. (Sorry about the image, the camera was having difficulty focusing on this small piece of foam).



The 'U' shaped entrance way is 2mm - 2.5mm thick and very fragile, but it is the right shape.



The doorway was glued in place with Superglue and small rectangles of plastic card were added to simulate the metal joining straps used to join the four stone pieces of the archway together. I then cut tiny joins at the top and sides.



Tony

[beefcake]

Looks great.

[pocoloco]

Excellent! Fine detail work with that.