MBA 'Customs House' with Scratch-Built Roof is Done!

    Miniature Building Authority's "Customs House" completed with my own scratch-built roof

I have this little thing that I like to do with items I've purchased from a vendor at a convention: finish them! What's more, my goal is to try to finish painting up what I bought from that dealer before I see them again at the next convention. Well, Kirk from Miniature Building Authority will be in Columbus, OH, this weekend as a vendor at Buckeye Game Fest. When I saw him back at Siege of Augusta in January, I bought MBA's "Customs House" -- a large, two-story resin building. It has been sitting on my painting desk since then, patiently waiting while getting "ditched" by trailers, Viking longships, and dozens of scatter pieces.

    Some of my 28mm Pulp figures investigate the MBA Customs House - a grand old resin structure!

The wait was over, though! If I was going to finish it before Buckeye Game Fest, it had to get done this week! Step one was to create a roof. Kirk sold it to me at Siege of Augusta for $40, less than half of what it normally sells for, because this one did not have a roof. While the Customs House had been sitting on my desk for months, I had been thinking of how I would prepare it for the tabletop. I decided to use two slabs of bass wood for the roof, taped together on the underneath. 

    I used some dollhouse scenery shingles to make my roof - slightly out of scale, but looks nice

Now, what to do for the roof's surface? It was too large for either of the two plastic pattern sheets that I had (they would have worked perfect). The craft store I bought them from and all the train stores no longer carried them. I could order them online, but they wouldn't arrive in time. While walking around Hobby Lobby, I found doll house roof shingles in strips. They were out of scale, yes, but with the black roof tile texture they were perfect. They even had adhesive backing. Score! I started with the bottom of the roof and laid each strip down, with the next one above it overlapping it. Wouldn't you know it, though? The length of the strips was about an inch short of the roof width, so I had to cut and add an extra half shingle in each row. It worked perfect, otherwise. Once I reached the peak of the roof, I cut a long strip of cardboard, folded it in half to match the roof angle, and epoxied it down. I painted it black and flocked it to match the shingle pattern.

    Close up of the front entrance and the lovely blue shade of wash I colored the exterior with

I traced the "pediment" -- the triangle-shaped part of the roof rests upon -- onto a piece of cardboard. This was used as a guide to cut out two triangular pieces of foam core which were glued to the underside of the roof, fixing the two bass wood slabs at the correct angle to fit snugly onto the building. I used black Sharpie marker on the edges of the roof piece, and brown paint on the part of the underside that would show. Other than a clear coat, the roof was done and looked great, I felt.

    A look at the rear entrance of the Customs House with its archways and my "oriental carpets"

As for the surface of the building, the resin piece came semi-painted, I would say. There was definitely gray wash done on it, as well as gray paint on the interior. By my standards, though, it looked half finished. I decided to see what just doing a colored wash on the surface would look like. I wanted to utilize the nicely molded exterior texture of the Customs House. So,  I put three drops of Vallejo blue paint into my palette of water to create a light wash and brushed it on with a wide, flat brush. I was kind of holding my breath, hoping I didn't ruin it. I really liked how it turned out, though. It preserved the pockmarked surface it is modeled with, and used its texture to my advantage. Another thing I like about the exterior is portions are modeled to look worn, with the exterior plaster having fallen away and the mud bricks (I think) exposed. I painted those in a light brown with a khaki dry brush. After examining it at this stage, I went back and forth whether to do an overall brown or black wash. I decided NOT to, afraid that it might "erase" my lovely faded blue exterior color.

    Interior of the building - note there is no 2nd floor, so I made one with MDF and bass & balsa wood

As for interior, I decided the gray it came painted with wasn't fancy enough for a Customs House or official government building. I did a wet brush of light blue over all of the interior walls. Once that dried, I did a very light black wash over it. I think this made the interior walls looked nice, too. Not as nice as the exterior, but more than just functional. The clock was ticking, though. I would see Kirk on Thursday and I really, really wanted it to be done (and a blog post about it created) before then. 

    A look at my 2nd floor (with open stairwell) which was trimmed to fit precisely on the first floor walls

The blue wash from the exterior and the black wash from the interior had run onto the model's floor and made the gray concrete floor look even less fancy than it had originally. It needed prettied up, I felt. Government officials work here every day, and they need a nice place to show off for the ordinary folk who come to their office how important they are! I decided I would paint each room's floor a different, darker color -- Midnight blue, Hunter green, Moroccan red, Terra Cotta orange, and Dun yellow. Then, I would cover up part of that floor surface with a printed out oriental rug. Now, that's fancy! I went online and found images of oriental rugs and resized them to fit (and match the color of) each room. I put them on a flash drive to be printed off the next day at the local office supply store.

    Speaking of the stairwell, here is the 1st floor portion of it with its stone staircase and bright rugs

It was Tuesday evening, at this point, though...aack! There was one more thing I wanted to modify on this model. I wanted to create a flat surface to place onto the walls of the first floor, acting as the first floor's ceiling and the second story's floor. I used some MDF material that I had, carefully measuring it and trimming it to fit. Then, at dinner, I had the bright idea to cut out the portion over the interior stairwell for gaming purposes. I did that, and proceeded to fall down a rabbit hole. Next, I decided to do walls for each of the two second story rooms and glued them to the MDF, then scrap booking paper for the floors, then a door leading to each room. Sigh. I was setting myself up for a very busy Wednesday! I should probably have left it at a simple ceiling/floor piece with some carpet-like texture on it...but nooooo! I had to get all fancy!!

    A close up of the 1st floor's oriental rugs - images downloaded and printed out on a paper

One of the last things I did Tuesday evening was epoxy the Customs House down onto its own MDF base that I'd cut. I still would have to do the flocking to blend the exterior onto the base. And clear coat it. Heaven forbid it was humid on Wednesday and I couldn't spray it...! Oh no...what? Oh, yeah. I am pre-writing my blog on that very busy Tuesday before that very busy Wednesday. I am crossing my fingers and hoping everything comes out all right. 

    Another look at the exterior - the rear of the building seems to be a hub of activity

Cut to Wednesday evening: Loving how it is turning out. The oriental rugs are a classy touch. The second floor turned out better than I feared it might. Just finishing up flocking and taking photos tonight. This was a lot to get done in a week or so, but I'm happy to say I manged it.

    The cool shaded interior of the Customs House - reserved for government officials & their clients!

 

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 119
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 60 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 13
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 22

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 55

    Another look from above of the colorfully decorated interior of the Customs House

 

    What secret deals are being made inside the shady interior of this thick European-style building?

 

 

Test Figures for 28mm Vietnam Project

    My 2 test figs for my 28mm Vietnam project -- I like the method I used on the radioman better

Now that the moment had arrived to begin painting figures for my Vietnam project, I wanted to take some time and figure out how to paint them. In particular, how to do the olive drab U.S. Army uniforms? The more I considered the idea, it boiled down to two methods. One method would be to paint their uniforms a dark olive drab and dry brush a lighter version over it. That is typically how I do my 28mm miniatures nowadays. Or I could do a light olive base coat and do a dark olive wash over them, allowing the darker tones to settle into the folds and shadows. I have had inconsistent success with painting figures with this method, so it would be trickier.

I decided to choose two figures and paint one up using each method. I didn't notice till after I had begun that I chose the "U.S. Army Specials" pack from the Black Sun line. It didn't matter, but I ended up picking the radioman and a leader fig from the five figure pack. I cleaned them up, and these Crucible Crush figures, made by Pulp Figures people, had minimal flash. They were excellently cast miniatures, which is why I chose them for my Vietnam project. Next, I used white Gesso to prime them, letting them fully dry overnight.

    Stage 1: Gesso-primed figs receive a base coat of Delta Ceramcoat Light Timberline Green

It was a pretty straightforward thing to do the base coat and dry brush method. For the wash method, I premixed Vallejo Military Green with their Clear Matte Varnish. I used 15 drops of green to each full dropper bottle of clear, using an empty paint plastic paint bottle I picked up from the local craft store. I started with five drops, shook it, and painted it on a sleeve of the figure. Too light. Then I upped the mix to 10 drops. Better, but still a bit light. At 15, I hit what I thought was the right combination. Right away, I felt I liked this method better than the dry brushing. It looked smoother and colors more blended. Once I finished each test miniature and gave it a black wash, I definitely liked it better. The dry brushed one was too dark, and almost looked like a WW II German infantry dark green.

    Stage 2: Web gear and pouches painted Sage green, poncho & helmet camo medium green

I wanted a little more definition, though, between the web gear and the uniform shirt and pants. I remember my web gear in the 1980s was bleached out olive drab, while my uniform was darker. So, I decided to use a different, almost Sage Green, color for the web gear, pouches, and so on. The shirt and pants were a Ceramcoat paint called Light Timberline Green. The poncho was done in a medium green, as were the camouflage splotches on the helmet. After doing the remaining three figures of the pack that way, I decided I needed one more slight refinement. I would dry brush the sage green equipment a very light gray before adding the O.D. wash mixture. 

    Figures after the O.D. wash is applied - I like how the dark olive is in the crevices, much more subtle

The pictures beneath the two test figures show the second batch progressing through its stages. I may actually end up proceeding with this project by having more than one batch in progress. I am letting the figures dry overnight with each of the above stages. I think this allows the acrylic paint to "shrink wrap" onto the figure. This provides better definition in dry brushing, delineating the lines between two colors, and of course providing the deepest crevices for the wash. 

So, as you can see, things are progressing along with my 28mm Vietnam project! I will probably wait till both batches are flocked and finished before updating again on these figures. Suffice to say, I am happy with how they're turning out. What about terrain -- what am I working on there? Well, if you remember the really large resin building I bought from Miniature Building Authority at Siege of Augusta, I am finally working on that. I have scratch-built a roof for it (I got a big discount because it didn't have one) and am working on painting the building itself. The goal is to have it completed before I see Kirk at his vendor booth this coming weekend at Buckeye Game Fest. Will it happen...? I hope so!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 119
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 60 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 13
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 55

Sword & Scabbard Ruins & Turn Marker

    Other than the trash cans, these are all purchases from Sword & Scabbard Games at Daycon 2025

I decided not to pack away the things I'd bought at DayCon 2025 when I brought them home a couple weekends ago. They were from Sword & Scabbard Games, owned by my friend Scott, who is assisted at shows by another friend, Lonnie. They had a lot more 3-D printed terrain at their booth this time than they did when I saw them a month earlier at CincyCon. At that show, Scott had a lot of painted 15mm DBA armies. Apparently, they've been selling well, as there were few left at DayCon. That was a good thing for me, as I'm not interested in those, but am instead a big fan of 3-D printed terrain.

    This 3-D printed ruin of a wooden building caught my eye immediately and is a great looking piece

Anyway, the wooden ruin in one of his bins caught my eye right away. I have plenty of stone or modern ruins, but this was a fairly unique piece. I think it could be used for everything from Ancient times to Modern. In fact, I was tempted to paint the outer wall in "barn red," but decided that I liked having it be more generic. As I suspected, this painted up VERY quickly. Prime black, wet brush Camo Brown, dry brush Khaki, and wash black, and it was done. It will probably see the tabletop in one of my post-apocalyptic games, but like I said, it is a very useful and generic looking piece. I'm glad I bought it!

    This ruined floor of an Ancient Temple (or modern government building?) is a cool design

The ruined floor of an Ancient temple was the next thing I painted up. I mentioned on my DayCon Purchases post how Scott gave me the idea of doing the square-tiled temple floor in a mosaic pattern. I decided to do that to give it a little extra pizzazz. Like the wooden ruin, this one was completed very quickly. A black prime, dark gray wet brush, and light gray dry brush got the piece started. Next, I took pale blue and green colors and highlighted the tiles in alternating colors -- like a checkerboard pattern. The remnants of the columns I gave a yellowish stone color on top of the light gray. I finished it off with a black wash, which sank into all the crevices nicely.

    For only $8, this turn marker was something I couldn't pass up & it painted up very quickly!

Although I am playing Saga less often these days, Sword & Scabbard's 3-D printed turn marker was a fun purchase. My friend Abel had shown me the one he bought earlier that day at DayCon. When I saw they were only $8, I decided to pick one up, too. I chose the one featuring a king seated on a throne rather than the pose pointing a sword. I was worried the sword might snap off, so decided to play it safe. It got the same prep treatment as the temple floor, above. For the Roman numerals marking Turns I - VI, I re-painted them black after all the dry brushing was done. Then I picked out the numbers in Iron Wind Metals Copper so they'd stand out more. I'm very happy with how it turned out, and it can obviously be used in any game with a designated number of turns.

    3-D printed trash cans from A Critical Hit sitting in front of "Wallace's Brewpub"

The last items in this batch have been a work in progress for more than a month. They are four 3-D printed trash cans from A Critical Hit. They were printed in a bluish-black material, which I wasn't 100% crazy about. I gave the cans several black washes, then picked out the metal handle rings in a Pewter metallic. The most time consuming part was filling them up, at least partially, with trash! I stared with tiny rocks, then put in shreds of cardboard and finally cut and balled up tiny pieces of paper. I did a bit of a wash on them at the end, but very lightly. Each successive layer of trash was held in place by a tiny squirt of white glue. With these done, I think I have trash bins from several sources, now. I think I'm good on trash for now!

    These have sat on my desk for nearly a month while I slowly filled up the bins with scraps of trash

So, what's next, terrain-wise, for me? I have finally begun working on the large, 2-story resin building that I bought from Miniature Building Authority at Siege of Augusta 2025. I got it at a great discount because it did not have a roof included with it. So, I have begun building the roof. The flat sides of the roof have been cut, as have the two triangular pieces of foam board. I will glue those to the underside of the two pieces of bass wood which will comprise the roof. Unfortunately, the plastic pattern sheeting that I had on hand, which I was going to glue to the roof to give it a terra cotta look, is insufficient. It won't cover the surface of the roof. Today's goal is to make the rounds of train and craft stores to find something that will work for the pattern of the roof. Hopefully, I will find something that will work that isn't too labor-intensive!

    Another look at the wooden ruin, which is probably my favorite piece of the batch

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 119
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 60 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 55

    The less exciting back side of the wooden ruin, which painted up extremely quickly

'Game Over!' - Colonial Marines for Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps

    Figs for 'Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps' which need painted & assembled

One of my friends from Indiana recommended the board game, "Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps" to me last year. When I mentioned it to the Sunday evening gang, Keith chimed in that he already owned it. Besides loving the movie, one of the things that intrigued me about the game is it could accommodate up to six players. We have a definite shortage of games that can take 6+ players, so another one in the stable is a good thing. Keith agreed to bring it and we played it and enjoyed it. I liked the mechanic for assigning each of the Marines (or Ripley) as a main character, but if you didn't have the full six, the others were slightly less powerful "NPCs."

    The base board game that the plastic miniatures came in

As you can imagine, it is a cooperative game with the players attempting to complete a mission (such as rescuing Newt) while not being killed by the aliens. I thought it might be a good game for Jenny and I to play on evenings when we didn't have anything planned. The fact that you can play the scenarios included in the rules as a campaign makes it all the better! So, I bought the game, got it home, and discovered all the plastic figures you use for the characters and aliens need assembled. Ugh! I did some reading, and apparently the alien figures that come with the board game are super-fiddly! So, instead I decided to use the 3-D printed aliens I'd purchased from JS Wargamer Printing for the game, instead. I would have to get around to painting up Ripley, Newt, and the Colonial Marines, though. Because...well, you know! That's the way I roll...!

    Newt & 'Ripleyyyyy!' - I think the Newt figure is my favorite...love the saluting pose from the movie!

We actually played the game a second time on Sunday night, as well, and I still enjoyed it. So, a couple weeks ago, I decided it was finally time to paint those miniatures up (except for the aliens -- I have two batches of those already painted up). They assembled very easily, actually simpler than the various Stargrave boxes that I am now somewhat comfortable with. Many come with a peg and hole to help you determine the best position for an arm. Most come with the heads on already, too. I decided not to use the textured bases that came with them, though, as I wasn't crazy about the character name being printed so prominently in raised letters on the base. I had some 3-D printed Sci-Fi bases that I bought at Advance the Colors 2024 from Diabolical Terrain, so I super glued them onto those. So far, so good!

    Vasquez (with headband & heavy weapons), along with two marine buddies

After priming them with white Gesso, I began painting them. I looked online to confirm the colors, and decided to follow what I saw and do the marines' uniforms in a camo pattern, but leave the web belts and torso armor olive drab. After doing the flesh, I painted the uniforms a dark olive and dry brushed them with a lighter tone. I use Camo Brown, black, and tan for the irregularly-shaped splotches. The web belts and pouches I did in a light olive just so there would some variety in color. The weapons were done in Iron Wind Metals Steel with pewter highlights. 

    Gorman and one of his squad - the figs are okay, but the detail is a bit muddy, especially the faces

The boots were done in a dark gray and then highlighted, and after finishing them and the bases (more Iron Wind Steel with Pewter highlights), these figures were just about done. I did my usual brown wash on the flesh and black wash over the rest. They were now complete. Do I like them? Well, the detail is a bit muddy on the figures, in my opinion. It is sometimes hard to figure out what all the equipment festooned all over the marines actually is, even under my magnifying glass. The faces are kind of a blob, too. Still, the board game will look MUCH better with them painted up! Will I use them for other 28mm Sci-Fi miniatures games? Possibly, but not likely. Still, they'll be stored with my Sci-Fi figs, along with my two packs of painted aliens ready for the next time I play. I also picked up a white opaque "paint pen" that I will attempt to write the names of the Marines on the base edges with. May not come out well, but we'll see!

What else is on my painting desk? I have my two test figures for my 28mm Vietnam project base coated. I'm either going to do the U.S. uniforms in a dark olive with light O.D. drybrush. Or I am going to paint them a light olive and do a Dark Olive Drab wash over them (to settle into the folds and recesses). Once I have the two figures painted up, I will make the call which I like better. I am thinking the wash process will be a LOT faster, but we shall see which looks better. I have had inconsistent success with this method. Otherwise, I am almost done with the 3-D printed stuff I bought from Sword & Scabbard Games. So, you will likely see that post next.

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 119
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 60 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 19

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 50

Sarissa MDF Trailer...Modified (& Some Scatter)Zombie RV: Unemployed? In Greenville..??

    MDF Trailer from Sarissa Precision modified with corrugated siding and large 3-D printed deck

It has been about 2 1/2 years since I finished a heavily-modified Sarissa Precision MDF trailer. Finally, the second one I had purchased at the same time is completed! I modified this one a bit, too -- but not nearly as much as the first -- which you can see here in this post. The first one was meant to represent a survivalist's repaired and reinforced trailer. Individual panels of metal had been "bolted" on, as well as metal bars over the windows. Instead, this new trailer was meant to look like one surfaced with corrugated siding material -- just aged and abandoned. 

    I prefer the plastic patterned material I used over the model's original scored or incised detail

The corrugated material I used for both models is textured plastic. This time, I ended up having to buy it online because the local craft store had stopped carrying it. I prefer corrugated plastic over the incised MDF it comes with because it looks more three dimensional. This time, I also took a big shortcut. Instead of cutting and gluing on individual pieces of the corrugated material, I did each of the four sides as one sheet. Before I constructed the trailer, I took the MDF sides of it and placed them over the plastic material,  tracing its outline, windows and all. I cut it out with a hobby knife and checked to make sure it was as exact a fit as possible. This would end up working out VERY well, and I finished this trailer in less than half the time it took to do the survivalist's one back in 2022. 

    Close up of the L-shaped plastic material I used to "cap" the four corners of the building

Once the corrugated sides were cut and ready, I glued all the MDF pieces of the trailer's model together with Aleene's Tacky Glue. The model goes together very easily, as do most Sarissa Precision kits. I then let it dry overnight. The next day, I epoxied the corrugated plastic onto the four outer sides. It looks better, but you could still see a noticeable gap where each face of the trailer ends and its neighbor on the next side begins. I wanted to cover this up. So, I cut small pieces of "L-shaped" styrene that you can buy from a model train shop to "cap" those seams. This gives it a much smoother appearance. It was tricky for the curved section, requiring about four pieces per edge, instead of one cap for the square ended half of the trailer.

    A look at the MDF roof which I left "as is," except for adding small MDF pieces to cover open slots

At this point, most of the construction was done. I let it dry overnight again. The next morning, I primed the whole structure. Knowing that I was going to paint the exterior siding a dun yellow color, I used a "Camo Sand" spray acrylic paint primer that I had purchased at Menards. Being a lighter color, it would required fewer coats to paint over than if I had primed it black like I usually do for terrain.

    A look at the light green interior & wooden floors - I chose to paint rather than paper both this time

I started the painting by "wet brushing" (think dry brush where you don't wipe off as much paint) my dun yellow color  over the ridged corrugated plastic material. Next, I did a straw yellow colored highlight as a dry brush. I painted the window trim and doors a medium green. It ended up needing two coats to really cover the doors, but not so much with the windows. Finally, I dirtied it up the exterior here and there with splotches and streaks of an Autumn Brown color. At this point, the exterior was done except for the black wash, which would come once the interior was also ready.

    Close up of the interior showing my "hillbilly decor" - posters made from Google Images

The interior I did in a very light green. It also took two coats to smoothly and evenly cover the walls. I did mess up here and there and I had to repaint sections of the medium green in a few places. By using a flat square brush, though, I was able to do a better and more controlled job than I would have with a round one. I need to remember to use the square brush more when I want a large area to be covered smoothly. The floor was next. I decided I would actually use the scored surface incised on the model and not cover it with scrap booking paper like I have for most other trailers. I painted on a dark brown base coat. This was followed by a Camo Brown wet brush. Finally, I did a light highlight of khaki. 

    The clear plastic skylights included in the kit are a nice touch, which I showed off with scatter leaves

With all the coloring done, by and large, it was time for the black wash. Here is where I screwed up the most, I feel. Rather than using a wide, flat, square brush, I used a round one, again. This gives the black wash a very irregular streaky appearance. You would think I would learn after having just noticed how much easier the interior was doing it with a square-tip brush! I ended up having to go back over it and re-apply a light green dry brush to tone down the streaks and darkness of the wash. It was simply too dirty looking!

On the outside, I remember to use a flat wide brush and it ended up looking MUCH better. I was amazed at how much quicker this trailer had gone than the first one. I still had the roof to do, though. I wet brushed the dun yellow that I had used on the trailer, and then used a khaki highlight because it seemed much darker.  Looking at it, I decided I didn't like the unused slots in the roof. There are six open narrow rectangular slots that MDF tabs from the trailer are supposed to fit into. However, the way I put together the trailer (did I make a mistake?), only two of them had corresponding tabs. So, I covered up the other four with spare MDF pieces that I had from other kits to look like hatches or mechanical stuff.

    I used brown splotches and a black wash to "dirty up" the trailer and make it look weathered

I painted both the spare pieces and the area around the two skylights Iron Wind Metals Steel. I highlighted them Pewter, to give it a more 3-D look as the detail was incised onto the MDF, not raised. The kit includes two clear acrylic pieces that I would epoxy onto the underside of the roof for the glass (or plexiglass) skylights. However, I would not affix those until after I had done any clear coating -- I didn't want them to "fog." At this point, I was mostly done with the trailer. 

Now it was time to add the other obvious modification I made to the Sarissa kit. I added a big, 3-D printed, wooden deck I bought from Bad Goblin Games to the long side of the trailer with the door. I wanted to wait until the entire exterior was finished before I glued the deck down, though. Otherwise, painting the exterior portions under the deck would have been a pain! Luckily, the Bad Gobin deck was just about the correct height for the Sarissa trailer. It probably should have been a tad shorter, but I wasn't going to try to saw off exactly the same amount from the eight posts holding up the deck. I primed the deck black, did a Camo Brown wet brush, and Khaki highlight. I also gave it a black wash. 

    Less than a week after being finished, the trailer was used in one of my games of Zombie RV

Now it was time for the posters! When I save an image online for a poster or sign, and then go to print it out for a model, I usually make it in three sizes -- the one I think is right, as well as one slightly bigger and another smaller. I also save my unused posters and signs. So, I dug this folder out and looked through it. I was able to find enough "hillbilly decorations" to put onto the open wall spaces of the interior. I also glued on a No Trespassing sign of sorts on the back of the trailer, too. I thought about putting gluing down some scatter on deck -- chairs, etc. However, I decided to leave them unattached and just sit them on the deck. I picked out four chairs from the one of the Mantic Games scatter boxes (Abandoned Office?) and painted them up. Those are the ones you see in the pictures, above.

    5 pieces of 3-D printed scatter from A Critical Hit and one MDF Outhouse I finished recently

All that was left was the flocking, which I did with my usual method. I painted the base (underneath the deck was the hardest) with a mix of brown paint and white glue. Then I poured in Woodland Scenics Fine Brown Ballast. Once it had dried, I added Blended Turf. Next I added irregularly splotches of Blended Green. For this building, I also added more tufts than I usually do to make it look weedy and overgrown. Finally, I used my tiny bag of leaves that I had bought at ATC 2025 and placed some on the clear plexiglass skylights and in the corners of the deck with white glue. It was done, once again, in about half the time the other Sarissa trailer had taken me. 

    More easy to get onto the tabletop scatter from A Critical Hit -- two 3-D printed picnic tables

I made my deadline, too, as I wanted to use this trailer in Sunday's game of Zombie RV: Unemployed? In Greenville..??. I now have an acceptable looking trailer park with six trailers and at least another half dozen buildings that don't look out of place alongside them. As I finished up the trailer, I was also hurrying up to finish some more modern scatter that have sat in my closet for a year or longer. 

    I bought these from A Critical Hit in 2024 and they've sat in my closet for a year...oops!

The two picnic tables and crates of tomatoes and salt were purchased at Cincycon 2024 from A Critical Hit. It is crazy that 3-D printed pieces that took so little time to get ready for the tabletop just languished in there for a year. For the picnic tables, I simply did a Camo Brown wet brush and Khaki dry brush. That was followed up with a black wash and they were ready (other than a clear matte spray). The crates took a couple more steps. I did the same thing to the wooden slats, but them painted the metal bands Iron Wind Steel. I picked out the bolts with Bronze and then did a black wash over the crate part, but not the produce. I left the salt alone. After clear coating it, I brushed on a clear gloss over the tomatoes.
 

    I *believe* this MDF outhouse is from Sarissa, but am unsure - it has sat unpainted for even longer!

So, if I'm embarrassed that the A Critical Hit pieces sat for so long, I should be mortified by this outhouse. It came with one of my kits -- I believe from Sarissa Precission. Not sure, though, as it has been so long. I assembled it long ago (before I even moved into my new house), and even primed it black. And there it sat, forgotten, but clearly visible on the shelf of my closet containing my unpainted or unassembled terrain and scatter. Literally, all I had to do was a Camo Brown wet brush, Khaki dry brush, and black wash, and it was finally for the tabletop!

    Look! Proof the Outhouse finally made it into a game, as 2 zombies feel an urgent need to "go..."!

What's next? Yesterday, I finished my Colonial Marines from Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps. I photographed them tonight, and you will likely see a post on them tomorrow. I've begun working on the 3-D printed ruins and turn marker that I bought at DayCon 2025 from Sword & Scabbard Games. What about miniatures, you may ask? Well, I think the time has arrived. After finishing this blog post, I plan on sorting through my 28m Vietnam and getting started on my first squad of U.S. Army troopers! The Vietnam project is finally underway!!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 119
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 54 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 19

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 50

Unemployed..? In Greenville?? Zombie Road Trip Part 2

    Earle and Jimmy pause for a moment as zombies seem to be everywhere in the trailer park!

 

 Unemployed...? In Greenville? - Zombie Road Trip: Part 2

The convoy of survivors had nearly made it to the Indiana state line when they decided they would be better off stopping somewhere to scavenge for more supplies. Near Greenville, they spotted a quiet looking trailer park. No signs of zombies were anywhere, and no people could be seen moving about. This seemed to be their best chance to find some food, gas, medicine, or even weapons. The convoy sent eight ahead in two RVs to investigate and explore, while the rest remained with the other vehicles. The recon group split up, with four approaching from each of the long sides of the trailer park. Things were still quiet, so they exited their vehicles and began to sneak forward.

    A look at my 4'x3' trailer park board complete with half a dozen trailers and a water tower

For this game, I had four players, each controlling two survivors. I was using a 4'x3' board with a dozen buildings in two rows, separated by a dirt road going down the center of the trailer park. A water tower loomed over the center of the board on one edge. Instead of fixed spawning points, as is typical in a game of Zombie RV, I had 12 potential places (each building) for new creatures to spawn each turn. Dividing the trailer park into two halves roughly on line with the water tower, the players would roll a d6 for the which building would be the spawn point on each half of the board. Then they would roll for how many. That way, threats would be coming from both sides of the board, and the players could not "know" where new ones would appear. If a building had already been searched when rolled, the zombies would instead come from the treeline nearest the building. And yes, the zombies could spawn in a building a survivor was currently inside and searching (but not yet found anything). That never happened, though, but fairly quickly, the zombies seemed to be everywhere on the board!

    Players could place their vehicle starting point along any board edge, including along the tree lines

All 12 buildings could potentially have supplies, but the player's mission was to get eight supplies and then get back to their vehicles and escape. I also gave them a chance for each cache of supplies to also include a weapon or extra ammo, if they rolled that. Joel's characters (Earle and Jimmy) teamed up with Mike W's (Reef and C.J.). They began in the center of the side of the board opposite the water tower. Keith's characters (Junior and Roman), with their companions Mike S's Coop and Daisy, began in the shadow of the water tower. Each group of four split into teams of two and sought out a building to investigate.

    C.J. gets ready to check the door of a trailer as Reef covers him, looking out for zombies

Mike W's C.J. ran forward and onto the deck of the trailer with the metal bars over the windows. Just as C.J. reached for the door, he heard a familiar moaning sound from behind him. Three zombies had just spawned from the building behind him and began shuffling towards him. His companion, Reef -- a new guy the convoy had just picked up -- fired at the zombies, killing two. C.J. disappeared inside the trailer and ducked inside one of the rooms, closing the door behind him. He heard Reef continuing to fire, and then begin to curse loudly. "I'm jammed, C.J.! I'm out of here -- heading back to the RV!" Quietly, C.J. cursed the faithlessness of his new companion and peeked out the corner of one of the windows to keep an eye on the zombies. They seemed to be following Reef. That was good news, at least. They seemed to have forgotten he was there.

    Zombies shamble across the dirt road towards Junior on the porch and Coop, in the distance

Not far away, Jimmy and Earle were creeping quietly between a rusted home made from a shipping container and a trailer painted bright pink. They heard the gunfire and flattened themselves against the shipping container building. Slow shuffling footsteps sounded like they were just on the other side of the building, so they crouched in place, hoping not to be noticed. On the opposite side of the board Junior and Roman dashed up onto the wide deck of a large trailer that seemed to be in pretty good shape, other than dirt, trash, and leaves piled up around. Across the little lawn between it and the neighboring, heavily damaged trailer, Coop and Daisy were moving forward to investigate, too. "Check inside," Junior whispered to Roman, "I will cover you from out there." Roman pulled his hoodie up and pushed open the door of the trailer.

    Hearing Reef's gun shots and slow, dragging footsteps, Earle and Jimmy take a moment to hide

Much to my surprise, the player controlling Reef was serious -- his rifle-armed character who'd rolled a "1" (out of ammo) did flee back to the trailer and jump inside, gunning the engine. I let him move the trailer back and forth along the edge of the table, which was really all he did for the rest of the game. He did try to run one zombie down, but only knocked it off its feet. Poor C.J. cowered inside as the zombies circled the trailer where he was hiding. They were drawn by the gunfire of Earle, who would shoot at the group of zombies, then dash off out of their movement range. The tactics of Earle "the Rabbit" would be put to the test as zombies spawned from all around him in this game. As the zombies were distracted, Jimmy ducked inside the container building and began searching.

    Drawn by the sounds of shooting, zombies begin to shuffle towards the survivors

Meanwhile, zombies began to notice Junior standing on the corner of the deck keeping watch, and shuffled towards him. A Fast Zombie led the charge. Once a large group was within range, Junior let off two blasts of his shotgun, killing several and physically hurling others back. More zombies began to converge on Junior, and he continued blasting away until he ran out of ammo. One zombie clambered up onto the deck and clawed at him, but Junior smashed its head with the butt of his shotgun. Hearing his cursing, Roman dashed out onto the deck. "Found some supplies," he said, shoving things into his backpack, and you might want these!" He tossed a belt of shotgun shells to his friend, who snatched it and quickly began to reload as more zombies shuffled into view.

    Coop and Daisy pause after searching a trailer, only to be surprised by zombies arriving nearby

Seeing his distress, Coop began firing at the growing horde of zombies, killing two. Daisy dashed out of the fire-damaged trailer slinging her pack onto her back, "I'm good!" she called, "Let's move!" The two moved towards the water tower just as a trio of zombies emerged from the trees behind them. The trailer Daisy had just searched came up as the spawn point, which meant they arrived in the trees behind it, instead. As the two dashed off, pursued by zombies from both sides of the street, Earle sprinted across the dirt road. He had rolled an extra action, so he stopped at the corner of the building and blasted away with his rifle twice. The zombies redirected and began to converge on Earle. 

    Junior takes a position on the deck of a trailer and blasts away with his shotgun at groups of zombies

Meanwhile, Roman had darted back inside the trailer, planning on ducking out the back door to search Swingle's Schwarma Shack across the street, when the coast was clear. Junior quietly snuck off the porch and crossed the lawn, hoping not to be noticed. Earle's friend Jimmy also ran across the road, firing his pistol. He followed Junior behind the damaged trailer. Zombies followed them both, streaming around both sides of the building. "Damn!" both cursed simultaneously. With nowhere to run, each turned to face the oncoming zombies. Junior's shotgun barked twice, while not far away, Earle's rifle fire cracked out. Zombies fell, but soon Junior and Earle were in hand-to-hand combat with zombies hungering for their flesh. They heard the sound of Coop's rifle and Daisy's pistol, though, as the two fired on the zombie horde. Junior hoped that the gambit would draw the zombies off.

    Coop & Daisy continue their methodical search, cleverly always just out of reach of the zombies

The zombie attacking Junior swung wildly with its claws, but missed. The burly survivor then bashed in the creatures forehead with the butt of its shotgun. As he saw more closing in, he cursed again, and ran for the RV parked nearby. Jimmy quickly followed him into the vehicle, shutting the door behind him. This left Earle alone and in a bit of a lurch. A stream of zombies closed in on him, led by a Fast Zombie clothed in nothing but bright red underwear. Her claws tore through Earle's leather jacket, but the survivor shrugged off the pain. Another zombie closed with him. Earle heard the door of the RV opening and closing, and began edging backwards that way. He battled fiercely, and shoved himself free for a moment of the zombies' flailing arms. When he did, he heard shots ring out and the snap of bullets whistling past his ears on either side. Both zombies dropped as his friends covered him from the windows of the RV. Seeing an opening, Earle dashed for the vehicle himself, ducking inside and shouting, "Go, go, go...!"

        Things are getting dangerous -- Junior attacked by a zombie while Earle faces down another

Meanwhile, with all the commotion, Roman had been able to sneak across the street, using the burnt out hulk of a vehicle as cover. After what seemed like forever waiting for the zombies to shamble a safe distance away, he sprinted for Swingle's and dove across the counter top into the small, stone building. While waiting, Roman had been shaking his head, watching as Reef drove the other RV up and down the lane on the other side of the trees, alternately revving the engine then skidding to a stop. "What the freak is that guy doing...?" he mumbled. When the new guy returned to the corner intersection and slid to a stop, Ramon waved at him frantically at him. Once he caught his eye, he mouthed the words, "WAIT...FOR...ME!" He got a thumbs up and a grin. Ramon shook his head, again. "Crazy mutha..."

    Things are looking bleak for Earle -- in contact with 2 zombies and nearly surrounded

Coop and Daisy were on the run, again. They had eased the pressure off their friends, but were attracting the attention of a lot of zombies. Daisy would quickly enter a trailer to search it, while Coop tried to hold off the zombies with his rifle. Once Daisy had found something worth scavenging, she would exit the trailer, and add her pistol to the firing to slow down the zombies. Once they stemmed the surge a little, they would dash for the next building in the trailer park. As they were outside the last one, they heard honking as their RV sped around the corner. Earle and Junior's heads were hanging out the windows shouting at them to get in. Needing no further encouragement, the two survivors darted for the van and jumped inside. On the other side of the trailer park, C.J. was doing the same. Roman held the door open for him as he sprinted inside. C.J. shouted, "I'm in, now let's get out of here! Reef, you are a crazy sonofabitch...!"

    Zombies shuffle back and forth underneath the legs of the water tower drawn by gun shots

There were some close escapes, but all eight survivors exited the board inside one of the survivors' RVs. They scavenged nine caches of supplies and rolled well enough to find a couple more weapons or extra ammo. This would keep the convoy moving well into Indiana, and keep their bellies full. Earle certainly had the closest calls. He was hit by zombies twice, once rolling the necessary "6" to pass his Grit Check. The other time, the zombie rolled only a "Flesh Wound." Junior also had very good fortune, too, never seeming to miss when a zombie closed the distance and was within striking range. Mike S's Coop and Daisy were seriously good "team players." Whenever one of their group was about to be overwhelmed, they fired like crazy to draw off the zombie hordes. 

    Coop and Daisy on the run from zombies, again -- they played cat and mouse with them all game

Reef's "peace out" as soon as he ran out of an ammo was a disappointment. The player contended that he couldn't do anything since he was out of ammo. I told him that there are survivors in every game of Zombie RV that we play who are armed with only a melee weapon. He could run. He could search. There was plenty he could do besides leave his companions to do all the scavenging for supplies. Driving up and down the lane beyond the line of trees in the RV wasn't going to accomplish much. In the end, he did provide pickup service Roman and C.J., who had been cut off from the rest of the group. So, the "new guy" wasn't completely useless.

    Earle will relive this moment in nightmares as more and more zombies close in on him...!

I was happy with how the trailer park looked. The water tower is a great, iconic rural America terrain piece, too. The system of moving spawn points worked really well, I thought. I like it better than the one I've been using. It raises the danger level and limits the somewhat cheesy "rabbit" tactic of having a fast player continuously run back and forth to distract the zombies. Instead, the players stepped up for each other, firing to support group members who were in trouble. Except in scenarios where a single spawn point makes sense, I may keep this mechanic of moving spawn points for most of my scenarios. Its hard to use the word "realistic" in a zombie apocalypse game, but it certainly makes more sense.

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 119
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 54 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 17

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 39