Thanks chaps!
Now for the next build...
I could ramble on for ages about my thoughts on this build but let us just say that a Rohan settlement without a farrier's smithy would not be believable.
This build is one of the smaller you can do with standard parts: to long wall pieces, one short, a bay window piece, and the door opening for the vestibule sub kit. AS you can see I cut out the doors, simply because I wanted the shed to be open.
This build is actually too small for the standard thatched roof piece. Just as well, as section II, paragraph 9 of teh Rohan building code, clearley states that constructions with a open fireplace require a turf roof.
I cut two pieces of styrene to shape and scored them, like so...
I also cut a wave on one side of each piece as I wanted the roof to be sagging.
The gap was simply covered with masking tape. In my neck of the woods, turf roads are backed with split wood shingles ans several layers of birch bark. That's why I glued strips of syrene to the lower edge to the roof as I wanted them to stick out under the turf.
An observant person may notice that I have turned the horse heads of the rafters to be facing down, just to get som variation on a theme.
And yes, it is that awful cad, whatshisname, who is posing for size comparison.
Unfortunately I did not take som progress photo of the turfing process but I basically did it like this: I made a mix of paper mache and white glue which I spread on the roof, sculpting it with a wet finger to a semi-rough surface. It take some time to dry but the result is a quite passable uneven dirt surface.
If you've seen my previous build you can see it is painted in a grey tones, like aged untreated woods. It is something I've nicked from GWs painting tutorials and I think it works very well to set a Rohan theme. For the farrier's smithy I wanted something darker so I thought I'd try to emulate tarred wood and it's color transitions from red-black to gold to yellow tan. For that reason sprayed the shack in van Dyke brown, the roof to.
I wanted the forge part to be sheds around a yard, with the forge, anvils, tools etc., visible. So I started the usual fucking about with scoring model lumber, razor saws, sanding fitting, swearing and, as per usual, lots of lots of cutting my finger tips off.
Since I am a myopic nutter I even detailed the bits of roof *which simply wont be seen*, like the planks under the turf. Please, pass on the number to a good therapist, someone...
I tried to find some referense illustrations of vaguely Dark Age/Early Medieval forge chimney but ended up with a lot of non-convincing fantasy illustrations. The did most likely not look like this...
..but that's what they ended up looking in my build. I wanted something solid, like a kiln, so...
Turfing the shed was a lot of fun. Using various sorts of tuft renders good results quite rapidly.
I then prepped a mix of flock, static grass, foam and that dust like material I can't remember the name of, all in various greens and some browns and yellows. After brushing on diluted white glue on the non-tufted parts of the roof, is sprinkled the mix on it.
If you want a terrain piece to really come alive, it is always good to strew tools and trinkets around it.
The coalbox is scratch built, all the other things are shit from my bitz boxes which have waited quite some time to be put to use. Can't even remember where I got the anvil set. Probably from an O scale model train shop.
And that's pretty much it!
If you want to see the completed and assembled Rohan farrier's smithy, I have put some
glamour shots here.