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Author Topic: Hudson & Allen medieval buildings - another one finished (Jan 2019)  (Read 7092 times)

Offline Charlie_

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I got hold of some of the FANTASTIC medieval buildings from Hudson & Allen.



For those who don't know, they are made of some sort of resin foam. They have VERY good fine detail, and are extremely lightweight. I only hear good things about them, and have only SEEN good examples of them painted up.

I don't know yet how durable they are. As I say, they are lightweight, and it is tempting to think they could dent or chip easily, but I don't know.

I don't know the history of Hudson & Allen, or when these buildings were first made, but nowadays they are sold by Vatican Enterprises in the US. There is a nice big range of medieval buildings, various cottages and barns and the walled farm you can see here, plus several others I haven't got yet including some interesting urban buildings. There is also a VERY extensive range of castles walls, including all sorts of buildings, halls, stairs etc attached to the inside. There also seems to be buildings for a few other eras / settings, including wood cabins, native american dwellings and Scottish highland builings. Vatican Enterprises also supplies MDF hoardings for the castle range.

There doesn't seem to be anywhere in the UK that supplies them, meaning you have to order them form US, which means pricey postage and customs. HOWEVER... the buidlings are actually priced really reasonably in the first place, especially compared to companies like Grandmanner. The small cottages and barns are all about $10-$12. I believe it averages out as ok cost-wise, if you place one large order rather than several smaller ones. I was planning to get this lot painted up, and sometime in the future (next year at least) do a second order of the other buildings I didn't get, including some of the interesting urban ones. So this order was the walled farm and most of the basic rural buildings - annoyingly though I seem to have missed one of the timber frame cottages, which looks to my eyes as the best of the batch.

However the Vatican Enterprises website doesn't inspire confidence - it doesn't look like it's been updated in many years, doesn't look very professional... I also found them available from a US supplier called Michigan Toy Soldier, which had the full range, so I went for them instead. It took a very long time, seems they didn't have them in stock and had to order from Vatican, who then had to actually cast up the buildings.... Total time from ordering to receiving package was 2 months, from US to UK. But I wasn't in any hurry, so I was happy. No complaints with Michigan Toy Soldier. Though next time I probably will contact Vatican Enterprises and see about ordering direct from them.

If anyone's interested, the buildings cost me £126 (the walled farm was about half of that), shipping was £37 and customs was £25. Total £188. Make of that what you will, but consider how much something similar from Grandmanner or Tabletop World would cost!!!

____________________________________

Anyway, now I'm looking for advice from anyone who has experience with these buildings, or anyone who has painted up medieval buildings.

Specific to these buildings and the resin foam they are made of....

1 - Will the foam melt if I use hot glue gun to attach them to bases, or spray prime them?
2 - What did you use to prime them?

And to anyone who has painted medieval buildings like this.... What colours did you use? I'd be interested to see some photo examples with exact colours used. I'm thinking a base coat followed by layered drybrushing for the timber frames and thatched roofs. The rendered walls might be easier to carefully block in and apply washes to.

And what sort of paints do you recommend? I think if I use my Vallejo model paints I will get through them too quickly - what are the best alternatives for terrain painting? For my terrain boards and such I use emulsion tester pots from Wilco, £1 a pot, I could afford to get a selection of suitable colours. Or would specific model paints be more appropriate for this?
« Last Edit: January 03, 2019, 07:10:53 PM by Charlie_ »

Offline Ogrob

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Re: Hudson & Allen medieval buildings - tips for painting etc?
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2018, 11:03:52 AM »
Haven't worked with these in particular, but for both resin terrain and foam terrain (Ziterdes), I use hobby acrylics from a hobby shop. Larger bottles, but can be thinned down to a good consistency. There's a bunch of terrain pictures in my Game of Thrones thread in my signature, all painted with hobby acrylics.

Offline OSHIROmodels

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Re: Hudson & Allen medieval buildings - tips for painting etc?
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2018, 11:11:04 AM »
Halfords car primers should do the trick. There’s the camo range as well that includes black, khaki, green and dark brown.
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Offline commissarmoody

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Re: Hudson & Allen medieval buildings - tips for painting etc?
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2018, 01:57:54 PM »
I got all 3 of the Scottish Highlands Village buildings. Pretty good quality.
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Offline painterman

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Re: Hudson & Allen medieval buildings - tips for painting etc?
« Reply #4 on: August 04, 2018, 04:19:24 PM »
Hi Charlie
I've done several of these and the castle walls too. Think there are pics on this forum of some of mine?
My approach has been to undercoat black , using humbrol enamel thinned with thinners. Then use acrylics to paint. I use green-greys for all timbers, staring dark and dry brushing up to lighter tones. I think the key approach with theses models is to dry brush , so that all the fine details get picked out and highlighted. Within stages of working the detail lighter, I add a wash of browns to all colours ( such as Army Painter soft tone) and let this dry completely before dry brushing up again, as this way you really can get the castings to do the work for you and create some great looking buildings.
Are you putting them on scenic bases or using as stand alone?
Simon

Offline Charlie_

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Re: Hudson & Allen medieval buildings - tips for painting etc?
« Reply #5 on: August 04, 2018, 05:46:36 PM »
Halfords car primers should do the trick. There’s the camo range as well that includes black, khaki, green and dark brown.

Yeah I use Halfords car primers on my minis - the aerosol isn't gonna do anything weird to the resin foam then (i.e. melt it?). If not, that's certainly the easiest option from my point of view.

Hi Charlie
I've done several of these and the castle walls too. Think there are pics on this forum of some of mine?
My approach has been to undercoat black , using humbrol enamel thinned with thinners. Then use acrylics to paint. I use green-greys for all timbers, staring dark and dry brushing up to lighter tones. I think the key approach with theses models is to dry brush , so that all the fine details get picked out and highlighted. Within stages of working the detail lighter, I add a wash of browns to all colours ( such as Army Painter soft tone) and let this dry completely before dry brushing up again, as this way you really can get the castings to do the work for you and create some great looking buildings.
Are you putting them on scenic bases or using as stand alone?
Simon

Yes, I know yours from your blog, and might well end up copying your colour schemes!
I think Army Painter washes sound like a good idea - I use the dark tone extensively. I think I'll get myself the soft tone and strong tone, between the three of them they should give me a good range of washes between the drybrush layers.

Looks like I'll also go to a hobby shop and get myself a selection of brown and grey acrylics.

I'm probably going to give them scenic bases, but I'm not completely certain yet. They do sit nicely on my terrain boards as they are... But the idea of giving each building a yard and fences is too good an opportunity I think. I don't want the bases to be too obvious though... I've got some 6mm MDF which seems very strong, but I think too thick.... I've also got some 3mm hardboard, which seems the right thickness......
Are there any real differences between MDF and hardboard when basing buildings like this? Is hardboard more prone to warping, or anything?

Offline painterman

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Re: Hudson & Allen medieval buildings - tips for painting etc?
« Reply #6 on: August 04, 2018, 06:06:33 PM »
I have always tended to use sheets of plasticard for basing terrain pieces (and figures prior to laser cutting arriving on the scene). I use about 3mm thickness and the edges can be chanfered with a modelling knife if needed. If it's a large base then you may need to go slightly thicker as the plastiic sheet can bend slightly.  It won't warp.
Simon

Offline The Bibliophile

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Re: Hudson & Allen medieval buildings - tips for painting etc?
« Reply #7 on: August 18, 2018, 03:05:18 PM »
I have quite a large castle from Vatican. I simply spray primed mine black with a generic primer and they were fine (my castle walls did seem to come pre-primed in a light greay). For painting, I've used normal acrylic non-craft paint, the sort you can get at the hardware store in little tester pots for $3-4. Personally, I think expensive miniatures paints are overkill for a project of this size.

Also, I had similar trepidation about the Vatican website, but i found them very responsive, and have placed two orders with them directly with no problems.

My only problem with the line, and it is ultimately a minor one, is that these buildings all seem crafted for 25mm a bit more than 28mm and larger. It’s not a big issue, but with the castle, my 25mm minis felt more to scale than my 28mm ones...my Reaper minis definitely started to feel oversized. But for the price and quality, I will happily keep ordering more from this line.
« Last Edit: August 18, 2018, 03:10:04 PM by The Bibliophile »
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Offline Meier_Elf_Fanatic

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Re: Hudson & Allen medieval buildings - tips for painting etc?
« Reply #8 on: August 19, 2018, 09:26:08 AM »
I am importing these for sale to the UK and Europe, and just waiting for the first shipment to arrive.

I'd be tempted to use a Montana Gold base coat - acrylic spray with no exotherm like many car paints.
If you intend to bugger about in the time stream, dress accordingly!

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Offline Ogrob

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Re: Hudson & Allen medieval buildings - tips for painting etc?
« Reply #9 on: August 19, 2018, 09:39:42 AM »
I am importing these for sale to the UK and Europe, and just waiting for the first shipment to arrive.


Well that won't make resisting these any easier....

Offline Meier_Elf_Fanatic

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Re: Hudson & Allen medieval buildings - tips for painting etc?
« Reply #10 on: August 19, 2018, 09:45:56 AM »
Ain't life a beach? ;)

Offline Captain Blood

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Re: Hudson & Allen medieval buildings - tips for painting etc?
« Reply #11 on: August 19, 2018, 10:54:15 AM »
There doesn't seem to be anywhere in the UK that supplies them, meaning you have to order them form US, which means pricey postage and customs.

Ebob used to be the UK importer / distributor. He seems to come and go with his activities and products...

Good news if there's going to be a new UK importer. I may finally have to succumb!
Will you be carrying the whole range, Meier_Elf_Fanatic, or just a selection?

Online FifteensAway

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Re: Hudson & Allen medieval buildings - tips for painting etc?
« Reply #12 on: August 19, 2018, 02:39:34 PM »
Montana paint is very heavy in pigment, very heavy, and will give a somewhat granular effect - but probably not noticeable in this scale.  But you do get a good selection of flat paints.  Just ALWAYS! remember to shake the can really, really good.  And then whack the can a time or two before spraying - and more so after the first round of spraying, both the shaking and the whacking.  And CLEAN the nozzle every go!  Also, did I say anything about shaking the can really, really, REALLY good? 

Offline Sir_Theo

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Re: Hudson & Allen medieval buildings - tips for painting etc?
« Reply #13 on: August 19, 2018, 03:48:07 PM »
I am importing these for sale to the UK and Europe, and just waiting for the first shipment to arrive.

I'd be tempted to use a Montana Gold base coat - acrylic spray with no exotherm like many car paints.

Interesting! Very interesting...

Offline Charlie_

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Re: Hudson & Allen medieval buildings - tips for painting etc?
« Reply #14 on: August 21, 2018, 04:52:32 PM »
I am importing these for sale to the UK and Europe, and just waiting for the first shipment to arrive.


That's great to hear, I think you'll find a lot of people interested. If you do so I'll definitely make my second order with you, but I better get these ones painted first!