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'

Viking Longship in 25mm Resin

    This 25mm resin Viking longship has languished unpainted in my closet for more than a decade!

Many, many moons ago, I went to Pittsburgh for a DBA Ancients tournament held at a game store. I placed well enough to win a store gift certificate, but ignored the packets of 15mm Ancients lined up for us to choose from. My eye had been caught by a 25mm scale Viking longship on the shelves. I chose that, and it has languished in a series of closets over the years until recently. I pulled it out to paint up as eye candy for my Viking Town Raid game (which I seem to mention on here in every other post...ha, ha!). 

    Closeup of the dragon figurehead, which was actually a metal piece which needed to be glued on

It comes with rowers and such, but honestly I want it just as a piece of stationary, atmospheric terrain. So, I stuck the rowers in the unpainted lead drawer to continue languishing (poor guys!). The longship comes in two resin pieces -- the hull of the ship and the deck with its benches and such. The dragon figurehead and curly tail spiraling off the stern came as lead castings. It also included one single wooden dowel for the mast. I glued the deck to the ship and the figureheads to their bow and stern posts. The dowel I set aside to agonize about later. The constructed ship itself got a black spray paint coat, followed up by my usual brush-on 50/50 mix of water and black acrylic paint.

    A close up of the benches and fur bundles that the rowers would sit on while at sea

Painting the ship actually went very quickly, much to my surprise. I did a wet brush of Howard Hues Camo Brown, followed by a dry brush of Khaki as a highlight. Then, came the more time consuming part of picking out the details on the deck -- the wooden seat benches, the piles of furs or skins for rowers to sit on, and the various bronze fittings. I went with paler colors, figuring the sun and salt spray would have bleached them over the weeks and months at sea. Once done with all of these, I did a black vehicle wash over the entire thing. I was very happy with how it had come out so far, but there was the small detail of that dowel for a mast!

    Panic along the coastline as the dragon figurehead is sighted - Viking raiders on the way!

Obviously, a single upright dowel was NOT going to do! Not sweet enough for eye candy, in my opinion. I would have to at least do a cross-spar, and hopefully with a furled sail gathered around it. The model will be sitting at anchor or dock 90% of the time I use it, I imagine, so a furled sail looks better than one with a bellyful of wind. I did research on what a Viking longship with a furled sail would look like. I asked the incredibly creative folks on the Lead Adventure Forum for suggestions. Thus, the two weeks or so of "agonizing" while the rest of the longship sat finished on my desk.

    The curled stern is another metal piece and turned out very nicely when dry brushed

Before I could even begin on the sail, I would have to first affix the horizontal spar to the dowel rod. I decided to go with a narrower width dowel for the spar, and I would pin the two together with a piece of brass rod. I also shaved out a bit of a flat on the spar so the two would join closer together. From there, it was a simple matter of drilling a hole in each and then adding the pin. Once it was in place and the glue had dried on the mast, I slid the spar onto the projecting length of the pin. Once again, simple to do, with white glue adding its grip to the two pieces of wood. Once dry, I trimmed off the excess pin and recommenced my agonizing about the furled sail!

    The cause for days and days of agonizing: How to do a furled sail on the longship?

There were several good suggestions for how to do the furled sail on the forum, but I ended up going with my first thought. I purchased a piece of red and white striped scrapbooking paper from the local craft store. For some reason, Viking longships are always illustrated with a red and white vertically striped sails. The pre-printed paper would keep me from having to paint the sail. I measured and trimmed off a rectangle. I then folded it in half, painted the underside with white glue, and set it under a weight so it dried flat. While it was drying, I borrowed a spool of brown thread from Jenny, and wrapped and cross-wrapped the spar and mast together so it would look like rope lashings.

    A welcome sight to many villagers -- a Viking longship sailing away!

I was still figuring things out on the fly, and putting further work off each day. One night, while trying to get to sleep, I had the idea of pre-curling the top part of the sail around the spar and epoxying it in place as a separate first step. So, I took the sail (which was only about half the length it would be if it would be down and "full bellied"), and trimmed out a divot in the exact center where the top end would split to go around the mast. I epoxied it into place. This worked really well. So far, so good. I took a deep breath. I was ready to put my ideas to the test and furl the sail to the spar. I found a piece of insulation foam and poked the bottom of the dowel into it, firmly fixing it upright. Next, I grabbed my bottle of 50/50 white glue and water and poured its contents into a plastic cup. I set the foam on the edge of the sink and weighed it down so it wouldn't tip over and fall in.

Taking a wide flat brush, I soaked the sail thoroughly with white glue and water. I waited till its ends began to curl, which hopefully meant the layer of white glue joining the two folded sides together was once again wet and pliable. I cut a length of brown thread, made a loop, and pulled it tight, pulling the sail up like a curtain. I wrapped the thread round and round the dripping paper. I did the same thing in three more spots -- two "tie ups" on either side of the mast. It was a little crumpled in places, but by and large, looked vaguely like I wanted it. I set it to dry over the sink.

   A view from above of the longship, which actually painted up very quickly to my surprise!

That evening, once the glue had dried, I trimmed off various wild pieces of string, and painted over the loops with full strength white glue. The next morning, I used a thin brush to paint a light leather color over the looped string. Was it perfect? No. I am sure others could do a much nicer job. However, I pronounced myself satisfied and all that was left to do was to clearcoat the ship and mast. Done! After languishing in my closet for more than a decade, I finally had a 25mm Viking longship! I have updated my tallies below, but felt a little like Legolas and Gimli when adding only a "1" to the "Terrain Painted" total. Despite weeks sitting on the painting desk (and days of agonizing), "That still counts as only one!"

    Last look at the dragon figurehead -- which historically was removed when sailing to trade peacefully

What's next on my paint desk? Well, the occupants of the ship! I purchased a set of five 28mm Viking miniatures from Brigade Games that are sculpted to resemble Ragnar Lothbrok and his friends and family. They are close to being done, and will likely be my first post when I return from vacation. So stay tuned!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 7
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 10 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 5
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 7

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

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

Two Miniature Building Authority 'Shanty Town' Buildings

    Two Miniature Building Authority structures I bought at Siege of Augusta painted up & ready!

Two of my purchases from Siege of Augusta a couple weeks ago are ready for the tabletop! I decided to jump the two Miniature Building Authority structures I picked up from their "Shanty Town" range to the front of the line. They both looked like they'd paint up easily, as well as be usable for a number of differnt periods, including modern, post-apocalyptic and even Sci-Fi. The larger building is the "Souq," a mud brick building with three small rectangular store fronts beneath a corrugated steel awning. The other is a building made out of a shipping container.

    I like how MBA's 'Souq Minimall' painted up -- the garage doors here pop in or out as you wish

The Souq M.E. Minimall is a hefty, resin piece. I decided to mount it on MDF board rather than the usual styrene plastic. I recently got a long sheet of MDF that came as packing from a purchase. I saved it, knowing it would be useful as basing material (and it was free!). I spray painted the building black and then brushed on a 50/50 coating of water and acrylic black paint to make sure paint got into all the nooks and crannies. As a first coat, I slathered on a wet brush of dark leather color. Next, I dry brushed a Khaki highlight. Finally, I did a very light tan on just the sections that looked like they were stucco. The exposed mud brick I left alone. 

    Back of the MBA Souq guarded by some of my 28mm Foundry figs from their 'Street Violence' line

Once that was done, I turned my attention to the corrugated steel awning. I decided to do a patchwork of colors to represent the material for the awning was scavenged from various sources. It is a "Shanty Town," building, after all...! I used pale greens, blues, yellows, pinks, and mixed in light gray, too. All the colors got the same white dry brush highlight. I mirrored the colors on the underside of the awning, though I doubt anyone will ever see it. Finally, I added rust effects to the corrugated steel. I painted streaks of Autumn Brown first, then added splotches of fluorescent orange to the center of the streaks. I was happy with how the rust turned out, which is not always the case!

    The roof is simply a piece of MDF that I textured with sand - here it is removed

The detail on the back side of this MBA building is really nice, too. I picked out the wires in a dark gray with light gray highlight. The electrical boxes were Steel and Pewter. The doors were either wood or painted steel (dirty pink and light blue). The trash heap was kind of a pain to paint. I did a dark gray across the entire heap, then went back and picked out various tin cans, bottles, and scraps of cloth. Finally, a light gray dry brush over the areas that remained gray completed the trash heap. The included roof is simply a rectangular piece of MDF. I painted it to match the wet brush leather color. Once dry, I painted the top surface with white glue and pour sand over it. This gave it a nice texture, which was made even better by the application of the black wash, below.

    A look inside each of the mud brick souq's 3 store fonts with the printed paper 'tile' floors

The next to last step was to apply my black vehicle wash to the entire structure, roof included. It ended up making it much darker than I anticipated. I should probably have watered the black wash down further (I am pretty sure it is already half strength inside my pre-mixed bottle). Oh well. It just looks dirtier, right, and shantier? I am not unhappy with how dark it is. It just doesn't match the other two MBA mud brick buildings that I have painted up previously.

    This MBA resin building can be used for modern, post-apocalyptic and honestly even Sci-Fi games

Finally, I went online and looked up "Middle Eastern floor tile" results on a Google Image search. Scrolling through pages of results, I finally found one with a brown tone that I liked and thought would match the overall color of the Souq. I used the Screenshot feature and my Affinity Photo program on my laptop to make a full floor pattern of it. I resized it into three different sizes, then printed it out at the local office supply store on their color laser printer. I picked the smallest tile size of the three and trimmed it to fit the shop floors. Voila -- floor tiles!

    Great idea for a shanty town -- a building made out of a converted shipping container!

I was in for quite the surprise when I opened up the Container House: Contractor Office. The shipping container was plastic and looked familiar. Hey! It was a Reaper shipping container -- the same as the one I have sitting unpainted in my closet...ha, ha! It also included two pieces of resin. The first is the resin front of the office, including a corrugated steel door and awning. It also has the outlines of a window molded into it. The second piece mystified me. It looked like a wooden door, but had no door handle. Later, looking at the photo on the box which I'd saved (duh!), I realized it was meant to be a wooden porch. I had already based it up, though, and didn't have room for it anymore. No biggie -- I decided to save it to use as a door for another project, someday. The building would work fine without a porch. 

    I am really happy with both the rust effects and the 'No Trespassing' signs on this building

I glued the office front piece in the center of the shipping container's long sides, then the building and the roof received the same preparation as the Souq: spray paint and 50/50 black mix. Shipping containers come in so many different colors, so I went back and forth on how to paint it. I decided a pale green, so gave it a medium green base coat and light, green-gray dry brush. I painted the iron latches steel and then went to work on the front of the office. I painted the corrugated steel office front pale blue, the door a dark red, and the window black with steel and pewter bars.

    The kit comes with 2 resin parts -- the 1-piece office front here and a porch that I didn't use

I liked how the rust effect had turned out on the Souq, so I duplicated it here on this building, as well. Once I had sufficiently rusted up the steel, I turned my attention towards the interior. Rather than paint it by hand, I decided to glue in patterned scrapbooking paper for the walls and floor. I measured the sizes, checked and trimmed each piece, and then covered the area it would be attached with a thin coating of white glue. This does a good job keeping it secure in place, as I have used this technique for multiple buildings. I decided to decorate up the interior like I did with my Bad Goblin Games trailers, too. I went with the same "hillbilly patriot" types of images to decorate the walls. I also built a little door frame out of cardboard, craft wood sticks, and corrugated styrene. I placed it inside lined up as best I could with where it was on the outside of the structure. To recreate the window, I used plastic grid netting ("granny grate," it is sometimes called) and trimmed away portions of it so that it looked vaguely like the window on the office front.

    The shipping container itself is plastic with separate roof and is from Reaper Miniatures

The contractor office came out well, and would not look out of place in my trailer park. In fact, I plan to convert my two unpainted Reaper shipping containers into another similar house. With the two new trailers I bought at Bad Goblin Games, I am getting close to being able to have a tabletop that is one big trailer park! That should be fun!! I'm happy with how both of these turned out and am glad I picked them up at the convention. Kirk at MBA is a great guy, and I always try to support him when I see his booth at shows.

    I used scrapbooking paper for the walls and floor and scratch-built a door and window to glue inside

What's up next? I am assuming I will eventually get around to doing the furled sail of the Viking longship one of these days before I leave of on vacation! The ship itself was actually finished before these two buildings. I've just been delaying doing the mast because I am afraid I will make a mess of the furled sail...ha, ha! I need to take the plunge and do it. I've said "I'll do it tomorrow" the last three days! Hopefully, that means I'll do it tomorrow...

    Of course, I decorated up the interior with what I thought were suitable 'Hillbilly Patriot' pictures

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 7
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 10 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 5
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 6

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

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