Painting Some Terrain - Market Stalls & Acheson Log Cabins

Repainted Miniature Building Authority market stalls in 28mm

It was time to paint up some buildings and such that I have had laying around. First on the list were some prepainted market stalls from Miniature Building Authority. Wait a minute, you say, I thought you said they were prepainted? Well, they were -- and that was part of the reason I picked them up way back in the Spring at Cincycon 2016. MBA makes such gorgeous buildings, but unfortunately they are usually out of my price range. The market stalls were much more affordable, so I bought I blister pack of three. I always like to support the vendors at our regional conventions. I tend to pick up odds and ends when they show up at Cincycon. In the past, I've bought their "Jersey Barriers" -- triangular concrete barricades we see on roadways for my Modern 20mm gaming, resin Buddhas for 28mm Pulp, and even some 25mm office furniture that, ahem, still sits unpainted in my boxes!

Close up of the vegetables stall

 So, back to the prepainted thing! Once I unpacked them, I was less than impressed with the paint job. Think cheap Chinese prepainted and that was the caliber. There was no wash or dry brushing -- just solid colors sloppily blocked in. The more I looked at them, the more I felt I would need to repaint them. This explains why they sat for half a year before I finally got around to painting them!

 

Just what I want -- meat that has been sitting out for hours exposed to the flies...mmmm!

I painted everything in black acrylic as a base coat -- right over the colors that were already on there. The detail and grooves on them were deep enough that I didn't feel it would obscure much. Once it was dried, I began work on the canvas roofs of the stalls. I chose three different whitish colors -- a light gray, tan, and dun yellow -- and wet brushed it on thickly. I left black where there were creases and folds in the canvas. I progressively dry brushed two lighter shades over each. Next, I went to work on the wood. With four 3D wood posts, a shelf, and upper and lower framework, there was a lot of wood to paint on each. I applied Howard Hues Camo Brown over the wood in a heavy drybrush. I followed this up with Colonial Khaki in my usual method for painting wood.

"Get your fresh bread here! Just baked -- right out of the oven!" Old Glory 28mm Baker

The toughest and most "fiddly" part was painting the products that are cast onto the shelf. One appears to be various meats, another vegetables or fruits, and the third is breads. It was time consuming, especially so when you consider these were prepainted...ha, ha! It was such a pain in the butt doing all of the sides of the wood and all of the products on the stalls that I think I will scratch build them in the future. Still, they turned out very nice, I think. The models themselves are very well done, and I recommend them highly. However, I would caution gamers to inspect them and determine how picky they are about what appears on their tabletop. If they consider themselves picky at all, expect to be repainting these.

 

Two Acheson Creations log cabins with some of my 28mm Colonial French marines

Next up were three Acheson Creations log cabins that I had purchased from Bryan Borgman at Advance the Colors 2016. I wanted to have them painted up and ready for our next convention scenario we will be running in 2017 for Song of Drums and Tomahawks. I have stated on here often enough how big of a fan I am of their polyurethane "resin" terrain. It is incredibly affordable, a breeze to paint up, and looks great on the tabletop. They are my favorite maker of buildings and terrain, and look better and cost less than most equivalent laser-cut wood buildings, in my opinion.

 

You can see the black foamcore board slots I add to the roofs of my Acheson buildings to keep them in place

One thing I do to all of my Acheson buildings that have roofs, now, is to epoxy in some black foamboard as slots to keep them in place and from sliding off. Early on, I used rare earth magnets, but the thickness of the metal and magnet leaves a gap between the building and the roof that I don't like. This more primitive approach works like a charm. I simply cut out a piece of cardboard in the shape I need, then lay it down on the foamboard and cut it out with a hobby knife.

 

Acheson Creation's polyurethane "resin" buildings paint up wonderfully and are a solid, 3D presence on a table

Otherwise, previous readers here know well my approach to painting up these log cabins. First, it goes in the dishwasher to remove the mold release from the surfaces. I then use an acrylic black spray paint as a base coat, and follow this up when dry with a brush-on, 50/50 water & black acrylic paint. I wetbrush Howard Hues Camo Brown, followed by dry brushing Colonial Khaki, and finish it out with a Rebel Gray light dry brush on the roof or most sun exposed portions of the wood.

And just like that, my Colonial era village grows larger and larger!