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

DayCon 2025 Purchases

DayCon is a smaller, regional convention that I've been attending regularly since Randy and Angel Miller began running it. A few years ago, it expanded from a Saturday game day to a Friday and Saturday weekend convention. Like last year, I decided to drive over for just Saturday, though. I would be running my Viking Town Raid game in the afternoon slot. I also was bringing a large amount of Saga terrain to sell to Fireland Games. When I stepped back from running tournaments, they asked if I would be willing to part with some of the terrain that I had made for the tourneys, and we agreed upon a price.

With a nice wad of cash in my wallet, you knew that I would not be able to resist picking up some things from the vendors. One vendor in attendance was Sword & Scabbard Games with a lot of their 3-D printed terrain. I picked up the above wooden ruin because it was different. I have lots of stone ruins, but no wooden ones. Plus, I knew I would be able to paint it up quickly. Primer, base coat, wet brush, and dry brush and it will be done. I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks all painted up -- it looked great on their vendor table! It reminds me a lot of an Acheson terrain piece in style and heft.

I also picked up this piece of terrain from Sword & Scabbard. It is a nice flat ruins piece representing the floor of a temple or other columned building. I keep telling myself that I need to scratch build some flat ruins pieces to fill in the spaces between my ruined buildings. I saw this and felt it would work even for modern or post-apocalyptic games. Many government buildings in Europe and America have Greek style columns. So, this should be fairly versatile, too. Plus, like the wooden ruin, it should paint up real quickly. Although, as Scott Gray and I sat there talking, he suggested that you could even do a mosaic like pattern with the tiles. That may add an extra step or two if I try it.

My friend Abel had picked up one of these earlier in the day and showed it to me. It is a 3-D printed turn marker, intended for Saga, but could be used for any game where you need to keep track of turns. I always try to support the vendors at our regional conventions, so added it to my purchase from Sword & Scabbard. I think I will paint the seated king as a stone statue to make it go quicker. I like the way it looks and will be fun little turn marker to have on the board.

I have always had a soft spot for gnolls since way back from the D&D days. When I dropped off the Saga terrain with James of Fireland Games, I saw this box sitting on the dealer table. One of the things James and Rusty from Fireland do is sell individual sprues. They will open a box and sell you just one sprue if you want. Since gnolls are basically hyena men, I thought they'd fit in with my Sellswords & Spellslingers solo games. Rather than just pick up one, which would have been enough for that, I decided to pick up three -- thinking ahead to one day playing Dragon Rampant (2nd Edition coming soon, by the way!) and having enough for a 12-figure unit.

I still prefer metal miniatures over plastic. However, I have found that the Frostgrave/Stargrave figures go together well enough that even a super-glue incompetent like me assemble. Have the legs and torso come together makes it doable. I just have glue on the arms (the harder part) and the head (usually the easy part), and then glue it to its base. In fact, these will probably be easier than the Stargrave figures I have glued together because you don't have to somehow match the shooting right arm exactly up with the supporting left hand. All of the weapons the gnoll arms are holding appear to be one handed.

Of course, my purchases mean I keep throwing off my Painted vs. Acquired ratios...ha, ha! I'm actually ahead on Terrain painted, though, and within sight of catching up on Scatter. However, I'm in the red significantly on Miniatures, though -- especially with my huge 28mm Vietnam purchase. I've picked up some other figures here and there, too (like these gnolls). On the bright side, though, it is only April. I have till December to catch up! Plus, spring is always a busy convention season around here, so that means more opportunities to support the dealers!  

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

Mushroom Scatter Pieces Because...Well, why not??

    Pre-painted mushroom charms from a craft store that I based up and got ready for the tabletop!

I was in Hobby Lobby a couple weeks ago looking at their beads and charms to see if there was anything I could use for gaming pieces. I saw these plastic mushrooms in two different sizes. Then I saw the 50% off sign. They were already painted. All I had to do was pull off the metal bits and base them up, right? I couldn't resist, so picked them up.

I found some round bases that they would arrange nicely on, two big ones and three smaller ones. That separated neatly into four bases worth. So, it actually wasn't as easy as epoxying them onto the base, of course. The metal bits came out easily with a pair of pliers, especially when I learned the top piece unscrews (leaving a tiny hole, but I could live with that). The mushroom bottoms on the smaller ones were flat, but the bigger ones were rounded. I took a pair of wire cutters and snapped off the bottoms of those. Once they were all ready, I epoxied them to the bases in a nice, natural arrangement, I felt.

    In case you're curious, the tree stump with face behind the mushrooms is from Bad Squiddo Games

The mushrooms were painted, but the colors were awfully bright and garish. So, I did a brown wash followed by a black wash to tone them down a bit. It also made the stems look more natural, as well, with a darker tint and not blinding white. Once I was happy enough with how they looked, I flocked the bases with my normal method. I sprayed them with a matte clear and they were done! Quick and simple, and who knows? Maybe they will look good or be useful for some of my fantasy games. Or perhaps I could use them as objectives markers in a post-apocalyptic or other game?

Either way, they're done and ready for the tabletop! What's next? I will post my report from our Star Wars spaceport game at Keith's on Sunday next. Otherwise, I have another batch of Splintered Light Miniatures on my painting desk, along with a couple pieces of larger Sci-Fi scatter from A Critical Hit. Those will probably be next, after the AAR. Stay tuned -- updates will be coming fast and furious!

    Here's what the charms looked like straight off the shelf at Hobby Lobby

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 100
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 49 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 16

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 37

Clothes Lines (with Sheets & Clothes) from MBA

    Three sets of clothes lines from Miniature Building Authority - more decoration for my trailer park!

One of my friends, Jason from South Carolina, suggested that I add clothes lines to my slowly growing 28mm trailer park. That reminded me that a couple years back, I had purchased metal clothes lines strung with laundry and shirts and pants from Miniature Building Authority. I dug through my unpainted terrain and scatter and found that I actually had more than I thought. I had one pack of just a pair of clothes lines, but two packs of their "Clothes Line Set," that included poles, a wash basin, and other things in plastic.

    The 'shirts & pants' side of the pair of lines, along with the wash basin and bucket

I pulled out all of them and sorted through them on my painting desk. I decided to make three sets of clothes lines with poles based on MDF. The Clothes Lines Sets included a plastic base for the poles, but it was horribly warped, and didn't actually look long enough. So, after cutting my MDF bases, I drilled holes to plant the two sets of poles into the base itself. I made a third set of poles with dowel and bass wood, spacing them apart so that the metal clothes lines would rest on the horizontal beam across the pole. I used epoxy to affix the lines to the beams. The metal clothes lines themselves required minimal cleanup of flash. Once everything was upright and secure, I primed them with white Gesso.

    The 'sheets' side of the clothes line

I worked on these a bit at a time while painting up other batches of things on my desk these past two weeks. I did the sheets hanging from the clothes lines first. I chose light, pale "bedsheet" colors -- pink, blue, tan, etc. Then I began working on the shirts and pants hanging from the lines, doing various colors for them, and mixing those colors up amongst the three sets of clothes lines. I did a dry brush on everything after its base coat was painted -- white for the sheets and lighter versions of the base coat colors for the shirts and pants. The clothes lines themselves were painted in a yellowish-white bone color. I wanted them to be different than the white of the sheets, slightly darker. 

    You can buy these either in a set with poles and basins and such, or just a pair of lines with laundry

Once the clothes, sheets, and lines were done, it was time to paint the poles holding up the lines. I did some Google Image searches for inspiration, but couldn't find anything that jumped out at me. So, I decided to fall back on a metal aluminum-looking pole. I did a base coat in Iron Wind Metals Steel color, then Pewter, and finally Silver highlights. It still ended up darker than I wanted, but oh well. These are meant to be for scatter terrain for my modern games -- not for a diorama! I also painted up the wide, wooden wash basins and the smaller buckets to put on the bases, too.

    I painted the sheets in various pale colors like you might find on people's beds

Finally, I flocked all three bases and they are ready for the tabletop. Chances are their first game will come in May at Buckeye Game Fest, when I am running a couple games of Zombie RV. Until then, here are some photos I took of them.

    Pants & Shirts were painted in a variety of colors & highlighted

What else is on my painting desk? I also finished four stands of mushrooms made from charms I picked up at the local craft store. They'll be in a post here soon. I have another batch of Splintered Light Miniatures -- five anthropomorphic wildcats dressed in Roman legionary apparel. I am also adding painted details to one of the larger pieces of Sci-Fi scatter that I bought from A Critical Hit. After that, I will begin painting a huge MDF Sci-Fi building that John at Dad's Armies assembled for me at Cincycon 2025. Stay tuned for those, and a battle report on last night's Galactic Heroes game set in the Star Wars universe!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 100
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 49 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 16

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 33

Shipping Container Homes for My Trailer Park

    Inspired by an MBA shipping container office, I created two more 'homes' for my trailer park!

Last month, when I painted up Miniature Building Authority's shipping container office from their Shanty Town range, it gave me an idea. Since the core of MBA's building was a Reaper Miniature's plastic shipping container, I thought, "Hey, I have one of those! I can make my own." And when I saw another Reaper shipping container at Dragon's Lair, a local hobby shop in the Columbus area, I picked up a second. I would make up a pair of new homes with them simultaneously, and add them to my growing trailer park.

    Insulation foam base, surrounded by 'brick' styrene,  forms a platform for a the shipping containers

Mobile homes tend to sit upon a base, raising them off the ground. I would do the same for my shipping containers. I also wanted to use two of the 3-D printed sets of stairs to lead up to their doorways that I had left over from my Bad Goblin Games trailers (they give you a choice of two). So, I measured their height and cut strips of textured styrene to match it. I'd purchased the textured styrene long ago when a local craft store carried them. One had a brick texture and the other more of a stone pattern. They would be the platform that the shipping containers would sit upon. To give it a more solid base, though, I cut two rectangles of insulation foam to match that height also and epoxied them onto the MDF bases that I was going to use for my shipping container homes. The foam was a bit short, so I put a piece of bass wood atop it to give extra height.

Next, I glued those strips of textured styrene along each edge of the insulation foam base, using masking tape hold the corners flush with each other as the epoxy cured. Once dry, I trimmed a little slot in the rectangle I'd created to fit the corners of the shipping containers. I made sure the container's bottom fit snugly. Then, I put epoxy along the shipping container's bottom edge and on the piece of bass wood. I pressed the container down into its slot, so to speak, and used a rubber band to hold them together tightly while the epoxy cured.  The building would rest on the foam, and the styrene would grip the bottom of the container on all four sides. 

    The above picture illustrates the "slot" I created for the corners of the shipping containers to fit into

Although the two shipping containers were both from Reaper, they were slightly different. The roofs came off of both, of course. However, one you had to glue the doors onto while the other was molded with the doors sealed shut. It didn't look like the doors would stay in place, though, and be able to swing open and closed. So, I epoxied them into a half open position. For the other one, I would need to create my own door and glue it over the top of the surface, representing an opening that the occupant had been sliced into the shipping container. 

    Windows were made out of cardboard and bass wood strips and glued into place along the outside

In addition, I decided to give each building two windows -- one one each long side. I tried to use an X-acto knife to cut a rectangle out of the container's plastic material, but it was too strong. If I had been smart, I might have cut tried to cut the window openings out BEFORE gluing it into place atop its platform to give me more leverage. So, I gave up. The solution wasn't perfect, but in the end I scratch-built my own windows out of a rectangle of cardboard with bass wood strips along the edge to represent the window frame. The cardboard would be smooth and be painted black to represent the glass of the windows. Towards the end of the process, I even painted in tiny broken glass lines on the black of the windows.

    This aerial view shows the ventilator and stovepipe I created for the roof of each home

The shipping container home would need some sort of heating or ventilation, I figured. So I searched through a bag of miscellaneous MDF pieces I'd picked up at a flea market a couple years ago. I found a pair that looked like vaguely like ventilation grills, so used them. Each had an off-center hole which would perfect for a pipe to emerge from it. Luckily, I had some styrene tube that fit the hole perfectly, so cut two lengths to be the stove pipe vents. These were epoxied onto each shipping container's lid, or "roof."

    The front of one of the shipping container homes & the bass wood door I cut & assembled for it

At this stage, all of the construction part was done. I glued the cinder block stairway into place for one of them, holding off for the moment on the other. I spray painted both homes black with Krylon Fusion Matte Acrylic, and went over it with a 50/50 mix of glue and black paint to ensure it got into all the grooves and crevices. First, I painted the platforms the shipping containers sat upon. I used a medium gray base coat with light gray dry brush for the stone pattern. For the brick one, I used a base coat of red-brown and then painted in a highlight of Howard Hues Middle Eastern Flesh to pick out a highlight for each brick individually. It actually went faster than I thought it would (and probably sounds!). Once a black wash was put on at the end, I thought the platforms looked really nice.

    Long side of the blue trailer -- I chose lighter colors so they would show rust and weathering better

With the platforms for both done, I glued the 3-D printed wooden stairs I had left over from one of my Bad Goblin Games fortified trailers into place on the remaining trailer. Now, I had to decide upon what color I would paint the outside of the shipping containers. I looked at images of them online and decided I would stay with lighter colors so that it would show the rust and weathering effects better. I chose to do one in a sea-foam bluish-green and the other in a very pale yellow color. It took two coats of craft acrylic paint to fully cover the black priming, though. Next, I dry brushed each in white to represent the sun bleaching their colors.

    The brick patterned platform came out nicely, too -- I didn't try to do a mortar between the bricks!

Next, it was time to pick out the windows and doors. I chose a medium blue for the bluish trailer and a dull orange for the yellow one. I dry brushed the trim in lighter colors to show a bit of bleaching and weathering, as well. I painted the the ventilators atop the roof and the original iron rods securing the shipping container doors Iron Wind Metals Steel first, and then added Pewter highlights. The 3-D printed cinder block staircase from Bad Goblin Games was painted medium gray with a very light gray highlight. The wooden staircase was done in Dark Brown, and progressively highlighted in Howard Hues Camo Brown and khaki.

    Here you can see the iron rods that originally secured the shipping container's doors painted Steel

Now, it was time to make my "nice" new homes weathered and rusty! I used a craft paint called Autumn Brown as the base coat for the rust. I looked at images of rusty shipping containers online to mimic this, especially in places I felt mostly like to rust. These were the corners, the place where the container was sliced open for windows, and in wide open patches where moisture might collect. Inside the Autumn Brown, I added dots or splotches of fluorescent orange. I did this for the roofs, as well. I did not glue them down, because I wanted access to the interiors for play.

    The side of the pale yellow shipping container home, along with the misspelled warning to 'looters'

While laboriously doing the rust weathering, I was struck by a bit of whimsical inspiration. I rationalize that my fictional, post-apocalyptic occupants of my trailer park are "good old boys" who were never very good in school and have exaggerated, patriotic, conservative beliefs. Okay, you can call them "rednecks"...ha, ha! Well, circulating on the internet is a meme of a warning spray painted that "Lotters will be shot!" This is paired with a French-looking otter in a beret taunting, "L'otters are not afraid!" It is one of my friend Keith's favorites and he frequently posts it on Facebook. So, I just had to hand paint a similar warning on one of the trailer's sides. I did my best to give it tiny drips to represent spray paint running at the bottom of the letters. Hopefully, Keith will be pleased as the meme is commemorated in 3-D!

    Heavy black wash on the sides of the shipping container homes makes them look unkempt & dingy

The final step for the trailer's exteriors was the heavy black wash. I use a black vehicle wash from Vallejo that is watered down by 50%. I really like how the wash makes the homes look like they are dirty and poorly kept up. The wash was also applied to the stairs and platform bases, of course. I feel that a nice wash at the end of something (figure or terrain) always does a good job of muting brushstrokes and blending the overall look. In this case, it made the orange rust more subdued and gave both trailers a unifying the look -- not just a collection of differently painted parts. If that makes sense!

    The interior of the blue trailer, with its printed out windows, door, and posters

With the exteriors done, it was time to go to work on the interiors. I decided to do a shortcut for the windows and door, though. Instead of making another 3-D one with cardboard, craft sticks, or bass wood, I decided that I would print them out. Make the interior more two dimensional, since it doesn't get seen as much and that's what I've done with past buildings. So, I created images of the doors and windows on my laptop and then printed them out on a color printer. For the wallpaper and floor, I used scrap booking paper that I'd picked up at the local craft stores. I measured as closely as I could and cut them out and "dry fitted" them first. Then, I painted the interior of the wall or floor with a light coating of white glue. I pressed the paper down, and it usually does a good job of sticking. However, the container with the doors that needed glued on did not have flush walls. There was a curb at the bottom and top jutting out (probably to help glue the four sides, top, and bottom together). However, the paper is somewhat bowed. 

    Interior of the pale yellow trailer - note the blue door handles (I forgot this was the yellow trailer!)

After those were done, I added in the posters. I did my usual Google searches of what I felt were appropriate images for someone who chose to live in a shipping container...ha, ha! Same process -- print them out, paint a light coat of white glue, and press into place. After all the images were dry, I used a black dry brush to dirty up the interior some more. I added black smudges in the corners, around the door, by the windows, and so on. I couldn't go all out like I did with the smoke damage on the last batch of fortified trailers from Bad Goblin Games. These shipping container homes still have supposed structural integrity. Their cleanliness and upkeep just isn't up to Martha Steward standards...! 

The last thing I did was the flocking and adding various scatter around the container homes. The grill and folding chair are part of the Crystal Peaks camp set of plastic scatter terrain from Mantic Games. The two padded chairs either side of the other's staircase are actually 3-D prints from Sea Dog Game Studios that I bought a long time ago and finally found a use for! The cinder block are from Bad Goblin Games, and the bricks were bought at a gaming store, but I don't remember who makes them. I really like the way these turned out, although I admit there were a lot more steps and work to get them the way I wanted than I first thought! Still, the trailer park continues to grow -- which is good, because I will be running a Zombie RV game in May set inside a trailer park. 

What else is on my painting desk? I have a batch of 10 Splintered Light Miniatures rats that are partway completed. Also, I have finally started painting the three sets of clothes lines from Miniature Building Authority. Hopefully, these two things go WAY faster than these shipping container homes and the Dark Age cavalry! They certainly held up my progress for awhile...

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 100
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 39 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 16

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 30

Told You They'd be Fast! A Critical Hit Pieces Ready for the Table

    Colorful 3-D printed crystals from A Critical Hit are checked out by a couple of my Sci-Fi figures

As I mentioned in my last post, I picked up $50 worth of $1, $2, and $3 pieces of 3-D printed scatter terrain at Cincycon this past weekend from A Critical Hit. I wanted to get some of them ready for the tabletop because I knew they'd take next to zero time. A few hours on one day and 21 pieces from my "unpainted" pile moved to my drawers organizing my finished scatter. Of course, none of them required actual painting, being printed in a filament of the appropriate color. Most required at least some drybrushing highlights and washing, though.

First up, seven crystals printed in various colors of filament, some using the "color shift" technique of three different colors bound together into a spiral (or so I understood store owner Blair say). The four largest don't have a base, so actually required no work at all. The three smallest have bases, which I painted Charcoal Gray and then flocked with a coal ballast from I picked up at a model railroad supply store. I really like the bright burst of colors they provide and need to find a way to get them onto the tabletop! Most of the crystals change color as you rotate them, which is really cool to see.

    3 round bases of Sci-Fi crates also needed only flocking to be table ready - perfect objective markers!

Staying with the Sci-Fi setting, here are three objective markers with stacks of futuristic crates. One of them is in color shift material while the other two are done in a metallic silver color. For the the silver ones, I did a black vehicle wash on them to dirty them up a little and give some shadows. I should probably have done a second application of it, looking at this picture, as you can't really see the darker shadows and recesses. The blue fabric over the crates on the left I did nothing to -- I really liked the satiny sheen the material had. The cloth drape on the one in the middle came printed in a bright red. I washed it with Middle East Flesh and probably went overboard with that making it look more orange, now. Still, you can see some variations in color in the folds, now, which didn't exist before. I also gave it a black wash. Then, I applied the same coal flocking material and "Deadlands" tufts.

    Two 3-D printed tables and 4 chairs from A Critical Hit -- great generic scatter terrain for miniatures

I had a feeling that the wooden tables and chairs would respond well to some drybrush and wash, and I think they did. They are printed in one color of brown, but I highlighted them Khaki and gave them both a brown and black wash. I think they look a lot more three dimensional now than straight off the shelf. I can see using these for my modern, zombie, or post-apocalyptic games. They'll fit right into the vibe of my trailers, too! I think their size is perfect for 28mm figures, though Blair was wondering if they were too large and more of 32mm in size. I think that once you add in a figure's base, the height comes out right.

    These capitals (or tops) of Greek or Roman columns were the easiest of all to prep for the table

I didn't necessarily have a use for three capitals (or tops) of Greek or Roman columns, but hey -- ruins are ruins! I could end up using them as scatter for a historical or even fantasy miniatures game. A Critical Hit also carries the round "drum" sections of the columns, but I didn't like how they looked. Too perfect and not ruined, like these. All I had to do to get these ready was a couple layers of black wash and then, once that was dry, a brush-on clear mat. The filament material comes out with a slight sheen and I wanted to remove that. I use Vallejo's brush-on Matte and it does a good job of taking out any shine.

    Four fire hydrants that can be placed randomly along my streets in modern & post-apoc games

I probably should have done more work on these four fire hydrants, now that I look at them in retrospect. They come printed in a bright red color, which I tried to dull down with a heavy Salmon dry brush. Now that I look at the pictures closer, I probably should have given them some rust effects, too. We've all seen rusty fire hydrants on the streets. The black wash didn't really do a good enough job of dirtying them up. In fact, the filament material must be somewhat absorbent, because I ended up needing a second application (and probably should have done a third) on some of the items. One coat is plenty on my miniatures (and sometimes too much!). I will remember that as I prepare more of their scatter pieces for the tabletop.

    A close up of the fire hydrants - was I in too much of a hurry to get them ready? Need more details?

What else is on my tabletop? Yes, the same 8 mounted Welsh Dark Age warriors are still there, moving along gradually. Eight is a bigger batch than I usually paint (especially mounted), but that was how many were in the Gripping Beast "reinforcements" box they came from. My shipping container buildings are primed, as are a new piece of scatter I decided to get ready for the tabletop. My friend Jason from SC had suggested that I do clothes lines for my trailer park, and I just happened to have three sets from Miniature Building Authority. Those are built and primed, so expect them soon, too!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 100
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 15 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 9

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 51
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 26

Trailer Park Grows: Two More 3-D Prints from Bad Goblin Games

    Bad Goblin Games' 'Fortified Trailer #2' - 3-D printed building with lots of character & details

I picked up two more 3-D printed trailers from Bad Goblin Games at Siege of Augusta awhile back. One is their Fortified Trailer #2 and the other is Ruined Trailer #2. The really cool thing was that Brian and Liz Peak will both be attending Cincycon this weekend. They wanted to run a game of their Trailer Park Warlords of the Apocalypse. I offered to bring down a game mat and terrain for them, if they wanted to do it. They agreed, so if you go to Cincycon, you'll have a chance of playing a game with these newly-finished trailers!

  Heavily damaged front of 'Ruined Trailer #2' with some of my post-apocalyptic survivors

I decided to do both of them simultaneously, because I had slight deadline pressure. Plus, having already finished two of them that I bought at Historicon 2024, I knew how quickly they painted up. There is no construction to do on these -- just prime and paint. That is, unless you count epoxying the upper half of the trailer to the lower base...! First, though, I based both on MDF. For the ruined trailer, I glued the roof on, too,  because it is 2/3's destroyed/missing. The roof wouldn't get in the way of moving figures around inside of it. For the fortified one, I kept the roof removable -- it has nice tabs that keep it in place during games. 

    Other side of the fortified trailer with my add-ons (yard flamingo & bird bath) and some 28mm figs

I did my usual Krylon Fusion Acrylic Black Matte spray coat first, followed by brush-on mix of 50/50 water and acrylic black paint. The black base does mean you have to do two coats of lighter shades (like I was going to do), but it is no real problem. I chose a pale gray-green for the ruined trailer and a salmon pink for the fortified one. Each got a base coat then a dry brush of a lighter shade (very light gray for the green, pink for the salmon). The bottom half of the ruined trailer I did in a medium gray, figuring a two-tone look might be nice.

    Detachable roof on the fortified trailer -- the tires, cinder blocks & everything come already affixed

Next, I painted the various fortifications and damage on both trailers. The tires, wooden door, stop signs -- all of it -- is straight out-of-the-package. The only modifications I did to either was to the interiors with posters and flooring. I did the windows and doors in a contrasting trim color, dry-brushed in a lighter shade. For the damaged sections, I painted them dark gray with a medium gray dry brush. The tires were also done in charcoal gray, with medium gray drybrush. I had to pull out one of my finer tip brushes for my attempts at lettering the "STOP" on the hexagonal signs. Bad Goblin trailers typically come with two stairs leading up to the doors. One is made of cinder blocks and the other is wooden stairs. If you are using the wooden ones, I suggest gluing them to the base AFTER the outside of the trailer is done. That way, you don't have to poke your brush through the slats to paint the trailer's surface. 

    A look at some of the 'trailer park kitsch' posters I printed out and glued to the walls

For the doors, I decided to leave them open on two trailers. They are modeled to be able to swing open and close, but I find that once you've painted both the doors and the frame, the layers build up kind of freezing them in place. If you want yours to open and close, I suggest you shave off some material from the door or frame before priming. For the interiors, I chose pale colorw for the walls (yellow for the ruined one and sky blue for the fortified trailer). This time, I used a wide, flat brush rather than my usual rounded brush. It worked a lot better, and there was fewer splash over spots on the window or door frames. Two coats was enough to cover over the black primer, even with the lighter colors I used.

    Other wall's posters -- Jenny suggested the "Velvet Elvis" poster, and a look at the smoke damage

Next, I did a black vehicle wash over the exterior and then interior. I stupidly went back to my rounded brush for the interior of the ruined trailer and it came out very streaky. For the sky blue interior, I used the wide, flat brush and I was much happier with the look. The flooring is scrap booking paper sold at the local craft store trimmed and glued into place. I also dry brushed smoke stains around the damaged sections on both the interior and exterior. I was very happy with how this turned out, adding a touch of realism, I feel. 

    A little bit of whimsy with the flamingo and a scratch made water fountain with water & leaves in it

The next step was to glue my trademark posters on the inside walls (and a few choice places on the exterior). I found images I thought were appropriate with Google searches. I tried to go with what might be a stereotypical decoration in a low-income or working class trailer park. Jenny suggested the Velvet Elvis painting, and the NASCAR poster (sorry, Jason -- don't tell Lily!). I thought the Springsteen "Born in the U.S.A." and the Lynard Skynard...wait, "Skyyyyynard!" were nice touches. Hopefully, no one is offended by my playful lampooning of trailer park chic! I resized the images and printed them off at the local office supply store on their color laser printer. After cutting them out, I paint the back with white glue and stick them to the walls. They are easy to do and work perfect!

    The mostly blow away back of Ruined Trailer #2 - I'm happy with how the smoke damage came out

The final step was to decorate (or trash up?) the yards a bit. For the pink one, I built a bird bath with round miniature bases and a tiny plastic bowl. I cut a circle of blister pack plastic for the water surface and glued a couple leaves to it. I added in tiny sky blue ripples of a reflected sky and then finished it off with a clear gloss. I then did the Homer Simpson, "D'oh!", because I would need to carefully cover it up with masking tape when I clear coated the model to prevent it from "frosting." Other things I added to the yards for atmosphere were a toilet, kitchen sink, and curved pipes. For the pink one, I really, really wanted to put flamingos in the yard. I couldn't find any tiny plastic ones at the local train store or craft stores. So, I resorted to buying a pack off Amazon. To save our brick and mortar stores, I try to buy as little as possible off Amazon. The flamingos are probably too big, but I used them anyway. I drilled out the underneath and added wire legs with a paper clip. I also drilled holes for the legs in the MDF for stability. If you think they look too goofy, let me know. I can always remove the flamingo later if I decide the out-of-scale size bothers me too much!

    Close up of the posters in the ruined trailer -- a rocker & NASCAR fan lived here (or still does?)

The last step was flocking, clear coating, and then the two trailers were done! They went quickly (soooo much faster than building and modifying an MDF one). If you're interested in creating a 28mm trailer park or adding one to your skirmish games, I highly recommend Bad Goblin Games and their selection. Thankfully, Liz and Brian are NOT bringing their store with them to Cincycon (they're in town for work), so I am saved at least till Historicon 2025 from the temptation of buying more trailers!

    Side of trailer with my scratch made debris and plumbing pipe from Miniature Building Authority

What else am I working on? I have a batch of eight Dark Age mounted troops begun on my painting desk right now. The plan for the next terrain that I will paint is to convert my two Reaper shipping containers into buildings, much like the Miniature Building Authority one I painted recently. And of course, I'm headed to Cincycon this weekend. Hope to see you there!

    Close look at the included cinder block stairs & more debris flocking I made & an MBA kitchen sink

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 15 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 5
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 9

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 9
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 5

 

    Another look at the front of the ruined trailer with some of my survivors scoping out the territory

    Side view of the fortified trailer, plus a discarded toilet sitting in the yard to 'trash it up'