The Gray Haven project (updated 01-19-2014) more buildings and stuff pg. 4

[Luckyjoe]

What a great project. I love those buildings. Very playable. The sidewalks look great and those homemade manhole covers and street lights are awesome. I'll be watching this project with interest.

[Papa Spanky]

Busy, busy, busy. I have lots of things going on, but I will skip the booring day to day stuff and get right to the really important things : updates and pictures! I've mad a little progress on my town, mostly on exspansion. I press molded the drains and sewers; the drains turned out ok, the sewers not so much. So now I'm waiting for my mold making order to arrive so I can make good copies of those.

You can see the middle board has some curbs and drains going in, the far board has just had its streets paved.



I had a corner that was a bit too small for a building, So I created a simple grassy knoll to fill in.


I added a not yet finished Plasticville Post Office to be used as a... post office!


And then finally the almost finished first board with all its building elements in place...




Till next time,

Papa Spanky

[Mason]

Looks great so far.

Clever use of the green plastic crate panels, inspired!
They work fantastically well.
I will be watching this with much eagerness.

The roads look great, I particularly like the parking lot idea.

[Papa Spanky]

Thank you sir!

[Hawkeye]

Yep, that's looking good - like the road surface a lot, and the buildings are very nice - the use of that green plastic is inspired! I'm taking notes for my own Road Wars/Battlecars/Car Wars project (which isn't going to happen anytime soon, but still...).

[Papa Spanky]

Welcome back to another update! A while back on my blog, I reviewed Demo's Laser Cut Design four Pack of Shops . Well, I finally got them painted up. Right now they are a bit empty, but they will acquire more furnishings over time. Ganger Maddie from the Eschers will be my stand in model for my pictures. (don't ask how she got out of the hive and into the past, shes sensitive about that...)



I arranged the buildings in a strip mall style, but varied the fronts. This is typical of towns in the Midwest that have older buildings re purposed into stores. The owners of each unit are free to make their store look how they want. I also did this to show that with a little work, you can make these boxy buildings really unique. I used acetate for windows and door glass.


The back of the mall. I haven't done much decorating here, as this sits right on the board edge. That strip on the ground is wide enough for a model, but that's about it.


The insides. I painted and weathered and even tried my hand at using scrapbook paper here.



This shop is the Good or Bad Pub. Watch out for the spirits. In this town, that could mean just about anything. I named it this because I have an idea that this could be used as a accorded neutral ground for supernaturals, humans and the like. It might make for a good storyline and a reason for sides to be fighting, like a truce meeting between vamps and werewolves that went bad, and it spilled out into the streets.
Anyway, I modded this building by simply putting a strip of brick styrene on the lower half.



Next in line is Non Electronic Rolled Dice Games . Owned by my so-far-only resident Hanna Jablonski, it is one of the few places in town were people can go to learn about the supernatural.
I did this building by adding a parapet and painting it with stone textured spray paint and many weathering washes. The parapet was made from the unused bases that came with the model. A word of caution with these buildings, (or any unsealed MDF)  I was pretty heavy handed with the liquid in the washes and swole up some of the MDF. This caused problems with the joints and the roof not fitting properly. I repaired it, but do be careful and learn from my mistake.



Nuclear Subs is up third. Stop in for a bite, just stay away from the hot peppers.
Again I modified this building with a simple strip of styrene brick, in a different type.



Lastly is Milas flowers. I was listening to a podcast called "Fetidus" and there was a character named Mila in it. I like it and used it, as it seemed a nice name for a flower shop owner.
This was the hardest modification of all four. I made a stepped parapet from the base material and had to fully cover two sides of the building with clap board styrene sheet, as this is a end unit.



As a parting shot, here are some of the details I'm working on. Flower bushes and potted mums for the flower shop. Mums? Yes, I decided I wanted Gray Haven to have a nice fall setting. Kind of a creepy time of year, perfect for all the nasties that will be around.
Time to go, before Maddie does some pruning with that chainsword. Thanks for looking!

Until next time,
Papa Spanky

[Papa Spanky]

A update and progress shots to celebrate my 10,000th blog view!

These are the three boards, finished except for the sewers and drains.


And here they are with all the buildings I have done or am working on.


A closer shot of the mall again, with the unfinished grassy median included.


Lastly, I re-did the grassy knoll to make it more fall like.

Thanks for looking, questions and comments welcome as always.
Papa Spanky

[Steve F]

Coming together nicely.  I keep thinking that the flower shop must be run by Mila Jovovich and the games shop by the Neptunes!

[Mason]

Great work, Papa!
 

I love the extra work that has gone into the new buildings.
It has really given them their own individual character whilst retaining the 'block build' look.

You are doing great with the board, I do love coming back for another look now and then, even without an update.
 

[dijit]

One of the best city boards I've seen for a while, nice work.
Duncan

[Hawkeye]

Looking good - like the strip mall. Looking at the streets again, I like how you've detailed them so that the rubber tracks from car tires make the streets look old, and used. Nice touch.

[Papa Spanky]

Thanks everyone. Happy to share!

[magokiron]

OMG!       

As I'm currently working on a "Zombie survival" project right now, your work is truly inspiring.

Lots of ideas to steal erm... LEARN from here. 

Thanks for sharing your GREAT WORK.

[Papa Spanky]

Thanks magokiron.
A while back I mentioned I was going to sculpt and cast my own sewers and drains. I even sculpted some and cast a few drains. Well, I wasn't really happy with the casts and the sewer covers were just too big. So I used the few cast drains I had and set about scratch building something new everything.

This is the drain. its simple four pieces of wire glued to plastic card and cut into the street and curb.


Here is the sewer cover. This is a small plastic button used to cover screw holes in furniture. I drilled holes and inscribed circles to add some detail.




a few more shot for your viewing pleasure.




Now this will get cast somehow, sometime. Its an empty dumpster with lids. I want to make a few and model them either full, empty, lids open or closed, with zombies in them, etc.
Thats all for now, Q&C welcomed as always!
Please visit my blog also!

Papa Spanky

[Papa Spanky]

Updates coming fast and furious! 
Actually, Ive been down with a cold the past few days so it was a good time for some postings.

 

An aerial shot of all three boards together. From here you can see all the drains, sewers and weeds I added, as well as the no parking zones. 



A closer look at the grass median. The trees are real branches and the bushes are Woodland Scenics HO trees. The grass itself is fake rabbit, or teddy bear fur, first seen here. (Well Dijit, are you pleasantly suprised?    ) I finished it off with Silflor grass clumps for weeds and fall colored scatter from Woodland Scenics.


Another view of the median, I like this shot.


 An overview of everything as it is so far. The area behind the PD/ FD will be an open fenced area with maybe a radio tower in it or parking. The other areas are still open for building suggestions. Obviously a gun store is a must. I was also thinking of a small market or convenience  store. I will show off the Hydracorp building at the top later.
More pics and building info over at my blog.
Thanks for looking, questions and comments always welcome!
Papa Spanky