This is not a How To, nor is it a look what I’ve done post, but it’s more a question of looking for advice and help from members who are far more talented than me and have far more experience in model making than I will ever have.
It’s also intended to try and ensure I continue to move forward with the project long after I’ve decided something else calls for my immediate attention. In modern parlance I think it’s called shaming, I’ll be shaming myself if I don’t move on with it.
Anyway enough of that, basically I would like to create something along the lines of Bob Murch’s China Station, a place set in the mysterious South East Asia. Until a couple of days ago I’d only seen the pictures on the Pulp Figures site and a couple that Wirelizard posted on here some time ago, like about 10 years ago.
So I’ve started off with a foam core box, my intention is to get texture on the roof, in this case with microflute corrugated and detail on the walls by using printed paper textures.
This will be the warehouse in my China Station, I still haven’t decided on a name for the place. I envision this as being the original building that will become the nucleus for a small trading post. It will be the entrepôt for goods coming down south from the area of the Golden Triangle and goods and money going back north.
Probably I should show the sort of thing I’m aiming for, this is one of Wirelizards pictures that has been in my head for over a decade and believe me that’s a long time, even for me.
This is the other one and as you can see it’s basically a trading post built on the banks of a river and I think it looks fabulous. It has so much gaming potential for a solo, skirmish style story telling gamer that would be hard to resist. Yes I know I’ve resisted for 10 years but sometimes these things need to mature, besides I’m not the fastest car in the garage.
Ok, back to my box…..Sorry. Because I’m going to apply printed paper to the walls I need to try and hide the joins, I’ll be doing inside and out so everywhere I’ll have a raw paper edge needs to be black.
According to my research corrugated steel was produced in the early 1800’s and I bought this microflute years ago so I’m going to use it here. If it was good enough for Mr Murch it’s good enough for me. I did read somewhere that he used corduroy material for the roves of some of his houses but my corduroy trousers wore out years ago and I didn’t have the forethought to save the material.
These are the printed paper textures I’m going to use for the walls of this build. I still haven’t decided if the buildings should look new, as in the place has just been built or that it’s been here for ever and so will look very dilapidated.
This is how it looks on the box. You might notice the lego bricks in the background. Years ago someone mentioned Engineers Steel Blocks or something similar that they used to get walls square when building a box. I checked because his stuff was lovely but the cost of them is ridiculous, I stole my Grand Childs Duplo to achieve the same thing at a fraction of the cost, well no cost.
No I’m only joking; I bought the Duplo at a local market for a couple of quid, almost as good as stealing them from the Grand Kid but much safer.
And with the roof on.
This side will be on the river front and will have a veranda roof over it. I’m going to try and build separate quays or wharfs for the buildings to sit on above the river. I don’t want to create buildings on stilts because they will be more flexible without, I can use them on land as well as above the river.
My main issue with printed textures is that there’s no texture if that makes sense. So I’ve built separate windows and doors to glue on to the walls. I’m using a printed window and adding 3d texture around it with bits of wood. I’m doing it this way because in the past I’ve just glued it onto the building but when it comes to painting I’m not accurate enough with the dry brushing and get it on the paper as well as the print. Hopefully this way it will be neater.
At the end of the day this is how it turned out. The overhead lights have made the roof look lighter than it really is but in the main it’s what I was looking for.
In the foreground you can see how my normal old wood painting looks on the canvas roofed hut.
And this is how the printed texture looks with the prefabricated windows glued in place.
And the back of the building, which is where the road access will be.
So I’m reasonably happy with my first building, it has printed texture inside as well but needs a mezzanine floor and an office space built before it’s finished and I forgot to take a picture to show how it looks currently.
However, and the reason I’m posting this, is because I’m not completely happy with it. I wanted to create rusting on the corrugated roof but the walls looked in such good condition that a rusting roof seemed daft. So I’m wondering what I should do. This is intended as the original building in the settlement and so should be the oldest and I’m thinking it should look a little more distressed than it does.
Printed paper textures have no texture and so I don’t think the usual trick of washing and dry brushing will work. I’m sure I’ve come across the idea of using dilute tea to distress paper but can’t think where I’ve seen this and quite what effect it will have. I wondered if anyone had any advice to give on the subject, either for or against distressing and the best way of achieving it if that should be the way to go.
After writing this post I asked Bob Murch if he had any more pictures of his China Station and he's just posted some of the Pulp Board, you should have a look and then you'll know why I've carried this idea around for so long.
Anyway thanks for any advice you may have.
Cheers
August 26, 2008, 03:49:56 AM