Andrew's resurrected 1/72 Armourfast Farmhouse....

[adt70hk]

Good evening all

So the main house painting is now finished, just a bit of weathering to tie everything together and tone the 'freshness' down.

Latest work includes:

• White window frames using Vallejo Model Colour Off White 70.829. It's whited out a bit in the photos but I did in thin coats over the base colour to bring a bit of tonal variation which isn't obvious in the photos.
• Shutters in Vallejo Model Air Faded PRU Blue 71.109. I tried black basing but gave them all one coat too many. So I'll give them a wash to tone it down and emphasise the plank cracks.
• The stone corners had a light coat of a mid-grey and them a dry brush of a light grey but it was not quite right to my eye and so it had a wash of my home brew off-black/dark brown wash made from Revell acrylics and looks much better IMHO.
• The chimney has been painted.
• The inside was given a couple of thin coats of a Revell Beige R89. Nothing flash, just enough to kill the grey primer coat.
• Vine given coat of brown paint followed by a wash of my home brew off-black wash.

The idea was that the PRU blue shutters were meant to bring a bit of colour but it looked a bit monotone when I removed all the masking...which was a lot...so I'm not going to change it now.

ACW as usual and sorry for the sheen from the roof, it really is not that bad in real life - it will be getting a coat of mat varnish once I'm finished.

ATB

Andrew

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[adt70hk]

Good evening all

So I've been working a base for the house. I had been thinking about doing one when Junior made it clear that it was an absolute necessity - thanks son!! :smiling5:

In his book, Mel Bose aka The Terrain Tutor, talks about a relationship triangle in terms of the balance between realisim, functionality and durability - with dioramas obviously being at the realism end and wargaming club meetings at the durability end because the terrain items will be handled a lot. In terms of terrain I have to err towards the durability end because of the available storage for my terrain pieces.

This house is no exception, especially when you consider the fact that I can't have it permanently attached to the base due the aforementioned storage limitations.

So here's where I've got to so far:

• Base is 3mm mdf. I've rounded the corners and bevelled the edges a bit.
• A sub-base made of 2.5mm card for the house to sit on. This is to lift it it up a bit to ensure that the groundwork not come right up to the lip of the doors.
• A wooden ground floor made from coffee stirrer sticks, this was cut so the house fitted perfectly around it - which it does!! I did not cut these to scale as these are just for wargaming. I've done it once before and it took a loooooooong time......although it's just occurred to me I could score additional lines instead to give them a semblance of scale.
• I made a first floor using the 2.5mm card and the coffee stirrer sticks cut to size.

Pictures below and all comments welcome as usual.

ATB.

Andrew

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The start of the base.
The two end planks were glued in place first to make sure I had the house sitting square on the base.
.




The finished base
So as you can see not quite perfect.

Either the house was out of square very slightly or the sticks were not exactly the same width - probably a bit of both - but for my purposes it works and most importantly the house fits perfectly around it with not even a hint of wiggle!!! :smiling3::smiling3::smiling3:

The gap you can see in top left corner is for the back door to sit in; it was easier than trying to trim it to make it fit - remember I started this nearly six years ago.







The first floor
Rather than try to cut the planks to the right length, having established the correct size for the base I simple laid a full length plank across the whole width, flipped it over and then ran my razor saw down against the edge of the base - perfecto!!

The lump of wood towards the middle is purely practical - I need something to grab hold of to get the floor out out during battles. I put it towards the front because there is no window there and also to give space to place the figures around said windows. I'm sure there could be more elegant ways of doing it but only Junior and I will see it.








Anti-warping tool.....
Just to make sure the base and floor did not warp when drying I used my usual anti-warping technique......

The object is placed on our perfectly flat and expensive solid oak kitchen work-top with a suitable weight placed on top.....

....approx. 7 kilos worth of weight to be precise!!!:smiling5:

[scottie3158]

Andrew,
This is looking really good the detailing has really paid off.

[Tim Marlow]

Coming along great Andrew. Be interesting to see it once the weathering is done…..that is the stage which ties everything together.

[adt70hk]

Andrew,
This is looking really good the detailing has really paid off.

Coming along great Andrew. Be interesting to see it once the weathering is done…..that is the stage which ties everything together.

Tim, Scottie

Thank you as always for the support. It is appreciated.

ATB.

Andrew

[Jim R]

Hi Andrew
Great job on this. Yes it does deserve a base :smiling: Look forward to the next steps.
Jim

[adt70hk]

Hi Andrew
Great job on this. Yes it does deserve a base :smiling: Look forward to the next steps.
Jim

Thank you Jim. Much appreciated. I've warned Junior that he has to help with the base at the weekend!!!

ATB.

Andrew

[Steve Jones]

Just had a nice catch up read through Andrew, Coming along nicely my friend

[adt70hk]

Just had a nice catch up read through Andrew, Coming along nicely my friend

Thanks Steve, it's not looking to shabby is it.

Also thanks again for the advice on W&N oils......miraculously 8 tubes turned up for Christmas!! How Father Christmas knew, I'll never know!!! :smiling5:

[JR]

Thanks again all for the support

So I had a bit more of a play with a brighter colour last night.

At first glance I thought it stuck out too much but then it occurred to me that I've been using pretty muted colours so far and so that as I add other lighter/brighter colours, it will look less obvious. That said, if it is too bright I can always tone it down a bit.

As before it's a bit darker/browner in real life

ACW please!

Andrew

Even better Andrew .

[Lee Drennen]

Coming along nicely Andrew

[Mini Me]

Git 'er done!!

[adt70hk]

Even better Andrew .

Coming along nicely Andrew

Git 'er done!!

Thanks for the support gentleman, it is very much appreciated as always!!!

ATB.

Andrew

[spanner570]

Excellent work Andrew.
It's great watching this come together.....

[adt70hk]

Excellent work Andrew.
It's great watching this come together.....

Thanks Ron for the support, it is appreciated.

ATB

Andrew