Modelling Workshop 5: The Coaching Inn and Forge (WD 143)

This is the final instalment of my revisiting of the Modelling Workshop articles from the White Dwarf's of the early 90's and the only one that I had not previously made as a teenager - the Coaching Inn and the Forge.

It was quite an extensive build and the instructions, at times, were particularly hard to follow, so some problem solving was required (which my teenage self would have struggled with). The roof to the inn was especially problematic; joining two sloping edges...

I've also made a few changes, namely the size of the footprint has increased, it always felt a bit cramped from the photos in White Dwarf and you couldn't really appreciate the two buildings. I've also improved the stable design and made a removable wall from the back of the courtyard so that the two buildings can be separated without creating an open courtyard. 

The doors, as per the article, are hinged on some paperclips.

Here you can see the forge and stable without the coaching inn and the long removable wall in place.

A better view into the forge and with it's roof removed you can see the forge itself (made from foam)

And the coaching inn by itself (pre-weathering):

And some Wip's so that you can see the construction and some of the materials/processes:

This image inspired me for the creation of the forge:

And the original article in case you're interested in re-creating this yourself:

And finally, my terrain building skills came in useful for my daughter's History homework, we worked on this together and she now has to learn the secrets of painting and in particular some quick dry-brushing and weathering techniques....

Modelling Workshop 4: The Cottage (White Dwarf 130)

This is my 4th post in this little series of terrain building using the Modelling Workshop articles from White Dwarf, following on from number three; the barn, number two; the ruined temple and number one; the townhouse, with just the more complicated coaching inn and stables to go.

For this classic cottage, I wanted to approach it from a slightly different perspective, partly because I have made these before and also because I wanted to add to my Frostgrave / Mordheim collection with more ruined buildings. So after a bit of image research I decided to go for a ruined and burnt out cottage but still using the same materials and templates as per the original design.

The painting of this was really quick. A grey primer was sprayed on and then everything was washed with a very dilute dark grey. This was then highlighted up with a few drybrushed lighter greys. I then worked a cream colour onto the less burnt areas of wall and again drybrushed the highlights.

A little tip: always drybrush in the direction you want the light to be from; in this case from top to bottom. There will be more paint on your brush as you begin and therefore you'll automatically create a lighter tone at the top which will recede to darker through the brushstoke as you brush is less laden with paint. 

I then applied a multitude of green and brown washes to the walls to show it's derelict, mossy state. Finally I re-applied some black to the areas where the fire damage would have been most extensive, where the wooden aspects of the building are - window frames, beams etc.

Here's a couple of wips to show the process of making using all the traditional materials and techniques as suggested in the original Modelling Workshop articles. I meant to add clay stones to the chimney but totally forgot and instead applied my thinned polyfilla to all the walls.

And finally the plans from the White Dwarf, if anyone fancies having a go themselves.

Minotaur Lord homage to a favourite classic

This Minotaur Lord is unashamedly inspired by Tim Prow's from a White Dwarf of many years ago. No converting, just a little Nurgling companion added to  his shoulder. My version:

Modelling Workshop 3: The Barn, White Dwarf 140

Continuing on my quest to make the buildings that were published in White Dwarf's "Modelling Workshop" articles from the golden era of the magazine; I have now completed the Fantasy Barn from White Dwarf 140. 

I've made a few adaptions as I felt the original design was a bit bland and boxy, so I wanted to challenge myself to make some additions, such as the attached lean-to, the slightly ajar hinged barn doors and the smaller loft door. 

When constructing this I also wanted to add some further details to create a better sense of realism, rafters on the roof, contrasting vertical and horizontal beams for the building/doors, hinges, handles and wagon wheels, mill stones and a rat.. 

In terms of painting I started with a grey primer as this speeds up the process for the look I was going for. I wanted to avoid obvious, but rather unrealistic browns and go for a range of greys that showed the weathered and faded look I hoped would look best. Over the grey primer I washed a darker grey into the recesses and shadows and when dry started to dry-brush up successively lighter colours. This obviously looked quite pale and odd being so grey but was rectified by about 5 million washes of browns, yellows and greens to create a weathered and streaky appearance. All of these washes were applied in a vertical motion. The rusty spot colour breaks up the quite monotonous faded grey wood.

 Well here's the finished version for you to judge:

Learning from past mistakes, I ensured the roof was detachable on this model, but completely forgot to paint it! In fact I probably won't paint it but I am tempted to add some hay in the loft by cutting up some brush bristles:

And here's how the lonely barn looks on my first terrain board. Perhaps it would look better on a rural setting, but the paving slabs I carved into the cardboard exterior floor help it fit in a bit. It probably needs a farmhouse next to it which may be a future project (that may well be a ruined farmhouse...):

And here are my scans of the White Dwarf article if anyone else is interested in making their own version: