New Commerce Field Museum WIP UPDATE 6/27/10

[Alfrik]

A Lazy Susan is one of your best friends!

[white knight]

There will be two staircases inside the main hall that lead to the second floor. I wanted them to look more real then "game useful" so a model will probably not be able to stand easily on them. I'll use a game mechanic to allow models to get up and down them without the need for having to measure and place them exactly.

Or you could make small sections of stairs, about a base deep, that you can put upside down on the actual stairs, with the flat side up so you can put your figure on it. If that makes sense, it's hard to explain this without an image to show.

[Hammers]

Or you could make small sections of stairs, about a base deep, that you can put upside down on the actual stairs, with the flat side up so you can put your figure on it. If that makes sense, it's hard to explain this without an image to show.

I get it. Not a bad idea.

[Operator5]

Excellent idea for the stairs. I'll make a few pieces that will rest easily on the stairs.

In the meantime, someone posted over on the Speakeasy, wanting to see how it looked for gameplay with the walls removed. So here are some "exploded" shots of the building.


First up, the front of the museum.



Here is the front of the museum with the centerpiece out. Excuse the tape on the stairs, the glue is still drying.



And here is the back of the museum.



And the back of the museum with the back wall off.



And here is the 2nd floor with the roof pieces off. Those center walls can slide out so as to make one long gallery instead of two smaller ones.



And the first floor with the second floor removed.



Now, I could have built it so that each wall was one piece and instead of taking floors off, I took a wall off. But, no matter how you do that, there will always be some difficulty in getting to the figures. I went with the magnets, not because I wanted to be able to remove walls during play, but because it would make transport and repurposing the walls easier.

[twrchtrwyth]

That's a wonderful building.

[Operator5]

Okay, the ABSOLUTE last photo before Historicon. Had a productive day and got nearly all the airbrush work done.

Other than what has been pointed out already, the "New Commerce Field Museum" will eventually get etched into styrene and painted like the rest of the building. The Print out version is temporary.



Now it is time to work on the displays!

[General Roos]

That´s awesome. What a great job Operator. 

[Neotacha]

Couldn't get into the game at Historicon, but Rich very kindly let me take lots of pictures of the museum when it wasn't in use.  The pictures do not do it justice!  This is one seriously beautiful piece. I fully intend to steal some of his ideas -- the charms along the galley wall in the animal hall were delightful and a clever way to get that effect of relief figures we see in so many museums.

And magnets.  I think my dremel, lots of resin buildings like the ones from Armorcast and Arnica Montana, and I are going to be playing with magnets in the very near future.

I think someone needs to come up with a line of collapsible buildings something along the lines of what he did here.  I'd pay a bit more for nice buildings that I could store more compactly.

[Alfrik]

Ohhhh needs inside display cases! Clear Plastic dice conainers with exotic wild life figures inside rather than dice!

[Operator5]

I think someone needs to come up with a line of collapsible buildings something along the lines of what he did here.  I'd pay a bit more for nice buildings that I could store more compactly.

I am happy you liked the building so much. Sorry I was not willing to sell it just yet.

And it never occurred to me to do that with resin buildings. I think that if you can get a building where the resin has not warped, it should be very easy to sink some magnets in and do the same thing. I just may have to try that.

[Hammers]

Better and better, Rich. Is that a white over gray spray paint job?

I see you saved the fun for last, the displays I mean...

[Operator5]

The painting is:

1) White Primer
2) Textured tan spraypaint
3) Darker tan craft paint blotted on with a natural sponge
4) Off-white craft paint blotted on with a natural sponge
5) Finally, a light coat of off white using an airbrush.

The pictures do not capture the texture of the whole thing very well.

[Darkoath]

Wow that looks absolutely fantastic!!!

Can't wait to see some battle report photographs from Historicon!

Have a great trip!

Darkoath