Paper/ card stock modeling

[Raging Celt]

Curious as to the reception of card stock buildings and vehicles. There are some quality products available. Are they popular? Being used? Or is this considered cheating?

[Cherno]

I have lots of experience with it, both paper "miniatures" and models for buildings, vehicles etc.

Pimp my Standees! Hub thread for my cardboard miniatures

I think they have some advantages if you are not completely against the general concept.
If everything is cardboard and paper, you achieve an unique look, it's very inexpensive and you can make as many as you want, you can easily personalize models if you can use image editing programs, you can even make your own if you want. A lot of buildings are made to fold flat so they store easily, you can put a whole city into one shoebox, and of course if you use flat standees for your figures you just toss them into a bag. If something is damaged beyond repair, you just print out some new ones.

The manufacturers I have experience with and can recommend:
Dave Graffam Models (he has sales every now and then)
WorldWorksGames (especially their SwiftScenics line and extensive line of vehicles)
Toposolitario
Christopher Roe's vehicles

In the end, I think for many people it comes down to cost. For games like Warhammer, it's often enough to have two or three small buildings, but for games like Dropzone Commander, you want  a whole table filled with structures as a real urban area would have. In the first case, it's reasonable to spend the hundred bucks for some nice resin models, but for the second case, printing and assembling 30 buildings will cost only the ink and paper (if you have a printer), while it would costs hundreds of dollars/euros.

For cardboard vehicles, they are most often seen in the form of terrain features or props, very seldomly have I seen them being used as actual playing pieces/units, although there are some games that are designed specifically for them (WorldWorksGames' Wormhole is one).

[Pijlie]

Curious as to the reception of card stock buildings and vehicles. There are some quality products available. Are they popular? Being used? Or is this considered cheating?

It is certainly a matter of taste as well as cost. Personally, I like paper terrain very much. Not only is it cheap and not very labour-intensive but also very light to drag along. Which is quite an advantage when you move your terrain to clubs and conventions and such.

Some people dislike the relative two-dimensionality of it, but I think that this is practically invisible as long as you don't inspect all terrain parts too closely. Of course, resin terrain in 3D undoubtedly looks better, but ways a ton and costs as much. And let's be honest; this doesn't look half bad does it?











And I have no idea why it should be "cheating". Certainly no more than buying painted terrain 

[tin shed gamer]

It's definitely a matter of personal taste.
Every thing in these pictures are made from card and are used for gaming.(except the two armoured cars and figures )
The Brewery buildings are a Metcalfe HO card model rescaled for 28mm with a a little texture added in the form of cereal packet card.This came in at £12.75p doing the same in mdf would come in around £80. For that kind of money you can do a whole table just by reworking HO card buildings.
There's no way I'd call this cheating. its just making the best use of your budget.

[joekano]

Paper has grown on me as well and I started using it once photorealistic textures started becoming available instead of just drawn components.  Here is some of my paper and card terrain:







For the most part, these were all built from scaled up kits and textures for OO model railroads.  I think the secret is to use layers and 3D elements when you can to help hide the 2D nature of the paper.

[gweirda]

Ditto all of the above.

I think it looks fine (if consistent across the table)...


...and the control of wall thickness (via substrate) lets the interior be closer to scale...



This fellow has a good grasp of it...
http://www.warartisan.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/CARDSTOCKBUILDINGTUTORIAL.8090409.pdf

[agentbalzac]

Agree with all the comments so far.  

In terms of costs, variety and convenience (flat storage and transport), card is a great medium for buildings.  

My scratch-built buildings are an evolving concept - recently I've moved away from trying to replicate the versatility of mdf or resin (i.e. no interiors or internal rooms) to focus on the buildings as "exterior only" terrain.  I try to think of the game they're going to be used for - if I'm playing a game set in Venice - the focus should be on the canals and waterways, with the buildings' job being to set the scene (much like a move set), perhaps only providing a balcony or a church tower as a vantage point, and built to comply with the well-known "three foot rule".

Another set of buildings for a Victorian London rooftops setting (again for IHMN ).  This time emphasis was on the slippery tiles, precarious leaps, narrow ledges and chimneys, so no need to go inside and construct interior detail.  For exteriors, seamless textures you can find online and print, and the little details (stone ties, chimney pots, cracks, posters) are your friend.

There's no way I can afford the cost or storage space of other materials except for a few key versatile pieces (check out the excellent Sarissa Chateau or Italeri's Italian Church for versatility) which, with care, can be mixed in as focal points.  

Grab some card, google image search "textures", and build and play with confidence.  

[Raging Celt]

No question. Cardstock allows for large scale dynamic tables. I appreciate the tip regarding adding elements to the design. Adds a nice touch to the model. And, if I haven't said it enough, these tables are wonderful. I am very impressed by what I see and I am inspired. I run 28 and 15 and I am returning to true 25. Looking forward to my own dynamic tables again!