Minaret (or Observatory?) and Butcher's Stall

    My medieval/fantasy town just got a new building -- a minaret...or observatory??

At Historicon, I picked up this 3-D printed Arab Mosque Minaret from my friend Ron at Diabolical Terrain. I thought it would look great in my medieval city -- maybe as an observatory instead of a minaret? It would definitely be a change of pace in styles of buildings, but it's stone texture would make it fit in, as well. I also picked up this Street Bucher Shop from the Shantytown line that my buddy Kirk at Miniature Building Authority makes. Although it is a fraction of the size of the minaret, it has so many details that it would end up taking twice as long to paint up!

    This mosque minaret from Diabolical Terrain is TALL -- 15.5" from bottom to crescent!

Let's start with the minaret, though. It comes in several pieces -- a hexagonal base section, a round upper section, and the rooftop. Although I glued the roof to the upper section, I decided not to permanently attach the two tower sections together. It is really tall (15.5"), and I felt it would be both difficult to store and to transport that way. So, I drilled two holes in the bottom of the door pillars of the upper section and inserted thicker brass wire (cutoffs from my spears). I super glued those into the holes I'd drilled, then marked where those wires would touch when I set it on the platform atop the base section. I drilled matching holes in the platform so that the wire would fit into the top of the hexagonal base section and keep it stable while sitting on the tabletop. I didn't want some to bump it and the whole tower crash down on miniatures or other scenery!

    Birds-eye view looking down from the top of the tower to the streets far below

Once this was done, I primed the entire structure with Krylon Fusion Matte Black, and followed that up with my usual 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and water. I had decided to go with a gray stone look so that it would match the rest of my growing medieval town. I did a dark gray wetbrush over the black, and then followed that up with a medium gray dry brush on the stones. I did a final highlighting with a very light gray in a few spots where the sun might strike the structure most noticeably. 

 

    My medieval/fantasy town just got a new building -- a minaret...or perhaps an observatory?

Now it was time to decorate it! Mosques and minarets in Islamic architecture are usually always fancy. Blue seems to be an almost required color, so I went with bright coral blue and very light green. I did these in an alternating pattern on the stone archways all around the building, so the pillars of stone went blue-green-blue, etc. This was definitely the most time consuming part of this model. It was worth the effort, though. As I finished more and more of the archways, I began to be happier and happier with how it was turning out. Once all the blue and green decoration was complete and dry, I did a very light gray dry brushing of those colors to make it look a little weathered. I didn't want it to look chipped and falling apart or abandoned -- just a little more sun-bleached. 

    I took advantage of some 'blurry detail' on the sides to cover it with moss growing up the tower

I'd noticed while dry brushing that the detail on two faces of the lower hexagon was more blurred. Almost like it was hot and had melted. However, my friend Mike S pointed out that perhaps the lower, hexagonal section of the model was originally intended to be a corner tower. And the smoother sides were where they joined the walls? Perhaps -- I had not considered that! I'll ask Ron when I see him in October (he will be coming, as usual, to Advance the Colors 2026 in Springfield, OH. Anyway, I decided to disguise this intentional or unintentional blurring by going over this area with Dirty Down Moss Effect. Once dry, I painted white glue onto about half of the mossy area and added in Woodland Scenics Blended Grass. So, the "blurred areas" would actually be where vegetation was growing up the tower sides. I felt that was a good solution.

The last part of the structure to paint was the globe and crescent atop the minaret. When I bought it from Ron, I was thinking of sawing that off and putting something more generic atop the roof so it could be something besides a minaret. However, a crescent works very well for an observatory, too, doesn't it? I painted both Iron Wind Metals Ancient Bronze first. I gave them a gold highlight, and then added an even brighter metallic yellow light shining metal effect on the uppermost parts. Once dry, I gave them a black vehicle wash to "blend" the highlighting together and give it a less pristine look. All in all, the minaret ended up taking very little time to paint, as it turned out. So, my medieval/fantasy town continues to grow with the addition of a "observatory" (or minaret).

    This Miniature Building Authority Street Butcher Shop packs in lots of detail & features

The MBA Butcher's stall came in four pieces -- the three walled, open air structure of the stall, roof, metal wire with hunks of meat hanging from it, and a stump with meat and a cleaver atop it. I decided to be clever and paint the stall first, before hanging the wire, putting on the roof, or gluing down the stump. That way, my brush wouldn't have to get around or under things blocking my brush's access to the areas behind. The walls and roof of the stall appear to be corrugated metal applied in various patches. I like the effect of different colors of metal sheets on a run-down structure, so painted each separately, let them dry, and dry brushed them. Once the interior and exterior metal walls were done, I did the table, boxes, meat hanging from the walls, etc. I used Iron Wind Blood Red for the meat, and added in highlights of brighter red, too. The table, boxes, and such were painted brown as wood, with a few other colors here and there. 

    Perfect opportunity to break out my butcher figure to photograph alongside this cool piece of terrain!

Once the stall itself was completed, which took more than a week doing bits here and there, I attached the wire with its hunks of hanging meat. It set nicely on rests for it on either side wall. I painted it and then glued down the stump (which I had worked on while doing the stall). Finally, I did the bottom of the roof and glued it into place. The roof's top was also cast to look like it had several pieces of corrugated metal, so I had to do those individually and dry brush them, as well. There was one final step, though. I used my Dirty Down rust effect liberally over the interior and exterior walls on the corrugated metal. I've found if you brush some of the liquid solution on thinner and other areas dab it more thickly, it gives a nice variety of rust colors. Now, finally, the roof could be glued down (and rusted), as well. 

    I think the 'Rust Effect' from Dirty Down does great weathering & making things look run down

The entire piece got a black vehicle wash to give it more of a grimy, "street butcher" appearance, too. I used my Blended Gray Ballast for a gravel effect on the base, giving it a black wash also to darken it. That is the basing effect I go with more often in modern street terrain and scatter. DONE...finally! As I said, it was definitely a labor intensive piece of scatter terrain. Unfortunately, the corrugated metal means it can't really be used for my medieval town, but it will work just fine with any of the modern or even post-apocalyptic terrain that I have. It is definitely a nice looking piece -- and not expensive, either!

    This plastic toy well ended up painting okay - not as nice as items from MBA, of course!

The last scatter item on this post is a very, very old plastic toy well that has been sitting in one of my boxes for decades. When I was getting the Diabolical Terrain Town Well painted up, I was reminded of it. I decided to get it out, mount it on a round MDF  base, and prepare it alongside the others. It was painted with a mix of my base coat and dry brush method for gray stone and brown wood. I gave it some Steel for the metal mechanical parts and some flocking and leaf scatter on its base. Not the prettiest and most detailed piece of scatter, but it will be yet another water well for my growing medieval town. 

    Even though you can see the flaws close up, this well will look fine on a crowded medieval tabletop

This update finishes off the massive batch of scatter and terrain that has been crowding my desk over the last several weeks. Currently, there is no terrain or scatter waiting to be painted. So, I will have to remedy that situation first thing, tomorrow morning! Stay tuned for another update on the miniature painting kerfuffle (as my friend Allen likes to say) that I had this week. No painting disasters, but a moment of panic did ensue!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 179

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 75 

Some Scatter Terrain & an Alien Monster

    Town scene set up with my 3 new pieces of scatter -- the shrine, town well, and campfire logs

For the last month or so, batches of scatter terrain in various stages of painting have been mixed about on my desk. As I get to a stopping point on whatever figures I am working on, I pick them up and do some more work. Maybe I'll add a base coat, dry brush - whatever. However, it feels like there is little organization, so that's why this update seems to have little rhyme or reason to it.

    'Town Water Well' from Diabolical Terrain - assembles nicely and paints up very easily

One of the scatter pieces is a Town Water Well that I picked up from Diabolical Terrain at Historicon last month. Its four pieces glued together very easily with two-part epoxy. I decided to permanently attach the wooden lid to the ring of the well, as I couldn't envision a need to have to remove it during a game. It isn't big enough to fit a figure inside, and doing it in one piece would make it go much faster. I spray painted the well with Krylon Acrylic Matte Black, following that up with my usual 50/50 mix of black paint and water. Once it was dry, I decided to start with the wooden parts using my normal wood recipe. That is a dark brown wet brush, Camo Brown dry brush, and khaki highlight. Then I did the stone base with two dry brushes of a medium and lighter gray. Finally, I did the details. I decided to paint the wooden tiles of the roof in a light blue, weathering them with an even lighter blue. I finished off the metal bits with Iron Wind Metal and Bronze. The tiny bits of rope you could see I did in a lighter brown with Dun Yellow dry brush. The town well received a black vehicle wash to complete it. I really like how it looks, and am glad I picked it up from Ron at Diabolical.

    I modified this 'misprint' from Miniature Building Authority by adding in the saint in the shrine

Next up was a 3-D printed shrine that Kirk from Miniature Building Authority had sold me at a deep discount because it was a "misprint." One small corner of the roof of the shrine had not printed well and was turned up. I added some pieces of craft sticks to that corner to make it look like it had been damaged and shoddily repaired. Once again, I started with the wooden part of this structure. I used the same recipe as above on it. The tiles on this model looked more like standard ceramic ones, so I did them in a red brown with Middle East Flesh dry brush. I picked out some metal bits on the structure in the same Iron Wind Steel and Bronze as above. I also painted the cobblestones stone surrounding the shrine as above, too. With that, the exterior of the shrine was finished.

I decided to add a miniature to the interior of the shrine. I searched my unpainted lead collection, looking for something that could perhaps pass for a saint. I wanted it to be a little roadside shrine or one in a square in a town. I finally found this miniature, which for all the world, looked like a Byzantine noble lady. I base coated her black, and then followed my normal stone recipe for her. I glued her in place, then unhappy with which of the four sides of the shrine she was facing, popped her off and reattached her inside. And yes, this statue counts as a miniature painted for the year! I really like this little MBA shrine, and plan on adding it to the tabletop with the Diabolical Well next time I set up my medieval town.

    This campfire ready to be lit came with my Bad Goblin Games campfire & bonfire purchases

This campfire in ready to be set aflame actually came with the two Bad Goblin Games scatter pieces I finished up a week or so ago. I guess it was included as the "Before" and the LED-lit campfire is the "After"? Not sure why someone would expect that to be included, but the folks at Bad Goblin are awesome. This type of extra touch fits their personality, for sure! I'm really excited that they are coming this October 9-10 to Advance the Colors 2026! Anyway, I think you can guess how I painted this pile of logs surrounded by a small ring of stones. And you also see why these all were finished around the same time, as I was doing lots of stone and wood on these pieces. I'm sure I will find a use for this campfire on the table in one of my games, someday.

    Pre-painted hot dog cart a friend gave me years ago -- I did some weathering on the tires & cart

Yes, that is a hot dog cart! My friend Derek from Indiana bought it for me as a birthday gift a couple years ago with a bunch of other cool, modern scatter terrain. It is probably a little small for 28mm scale, but hey -- it's a hot dog cart! Do YOU have one for your miniature tabletop? Boy, that sounded a bit like my friend Keith...ha, ha! Well, if you're my friend Bill who I will be visiting in update New York next month, you do have one! And it was his post on Dice, Doubloons, and Random Musings about his own hot dog cart that inspired me to get this one readied for the tabletop!" This pre-painted piece is either plastic or resin. I am not sure which. The tiny metal pole holding the umbrella up was probably the trickiest part -- gluing the pole in and then making sure it was set in place without too much lean. After it was all assembled, I thought it was a bit bright, though. So, I did some weathering on the cart with my black vehicle wash to tone its bright, plastic look. I also painted the tires dark gray and added lighter gray highlights. Otherwise, they were too Matchbox car shiny black plastic. So, I DID do brushwork on this, but the signage, little hot dogs, condiments -- all of that, came pre-painted. Still, I'm glad I finally got it ready for the table. Thanks, Derek!

    3-D printed 'Megaguirus' which will stand in as the next alien monster for 'Critter Control' to fight 

And finally, the other miniature in this batch. When I attended Cincycon 2025 earlier this year, I was searching for minis I could use for alien monsters in my solo games of Majestic 13. At the booth of my friend John from JS Wargamer Printing, I found two I could use, including this one. It was labeled Megaguirus, which is apparently a Kaiju that fought Godzilla at some point. It certainly looks like one, but next to a 28mm miniature, its size is a perfect alien monster for my Critter Control team to fight. In fact, the whole reason I pulled it out and painted it up was because I was getting ready for another game. I rolled up my opponent and this figure seemed perfect for the alien my team would fight.

    Closeup of my 'Rakire Winged Hunter' -- I used a bumble/dragonfly look to its paint scheme

Thankfully, the wings are already in place and it is a one-piece print. The only gluing needed was to attach it to an MDF base with a piece of piano wire. There was already a notch on his underside, but my piano wire was probably a bit too thin for it to fit firmly. The whole time I was painting it up, the creature wanted to rotate slowly around on its post. After attaching Megaguirus to hits base, I did my usual Krylon black spray to prime it, hoping to strengthen the fragile nature of 3-D prints a bit. I went back and forth in my head on what color scheme to use. I never did a Google search to see what Megaguirus is supposed to look like. Remember, this wasn't supposed to be a kaiju. According to Majestic 13, it is a Rakire Winged Hunter!

    Back of the model, showing the detailing I did with my micron pen on the wing fabric

I finally decided on a metallic brown and Iron Wind Steel alternating banded pattern -- kind of like a bumblebee's stripes. I painted the entire model -- except the wings -- Steel first. I added the alternating pattern of Metallic Chocolate Brown in, adding in gold highlights on the spikes, talons and such. I painted his six smaller legs Pewter, and gave them black striping, as well. I left the wings for last. I decided continue the metallic brown for the "fingers" of the wings, so to speak. The thin material in between I first painted pale yellow. I drybrushed it white and was immediately unhappy with the look. So next, I decided to give it a faint orange wash. I liked that color much better! Finally, I did an image search on dragonfly wings and found some pretty cool photos. I decided to mimic the veining or pattern on on one of the pictures with my smallest nib micron pen. I really, really like how the wings came out. This afterthought is actually my favorite part of the model -- even more than its yellow jacket looking eyes.

    Hungry yet? A look at the other side of the cart with its drink case -- nicely frosted window!

I worked on this figure during breaks between painting my Valkeeri faction and the almost completed Viet Cong women soldiers. All together, this small group was perhaps not worth their own update. However, I decided to go ahead anyway and take pictures and write them up. I'm happy with how all of the pieces of scatter and the miniatures came out. Doubtless, this post will be followed quickly by those V.C. fighters in the next day or so. Definitely soon!

    Another look at the town scene and my newly-painted scatter terrain

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 173

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 75

Bad Goblin Games Scatter Pieces

    Scrying Pool from Bad Goblin Games -- very cool piece of 3-D with a flickering LED

In talking to my friends Brian and Liz from Bad Goblin Games at Origins, it made me remember that I have some of their scatter terrain pieces that I've been wanting to paint up. So, one day while at my painting desk, I grabbed two of them -- plus an old 28mm stone tomb which I believe is from Reaper. The two Bad Goblin items are their LED Barrel Fire and their Scrying Pool (which wasn't listed on their website last time I checked). Apparently, it was designed by Fat Dragon Games, but Bad Goblin has the license to print and sell them (thanks for the correction, Brian!). I painted all three of them black craft paint as primer. 

A video I took at x2 speed, showing the pulsating glow & color changes of the Scrying Pool 

Both the Scrying Pool and the tomb look like stone, so I did my usual gray stone formula on them. Black prime, Dark Gray wet brush, Medium gray dry brush, and then light gray highlight. They painted up very quickly, making me wonder why I let them sit on my desk for so long! The coolest thing about the Scrying Pool is that it comes with an LED light that pulsates with changing colors and three different tinted plastic disks to represent the surface of the pool. One is a swirling blue, another is a bubbling green, and the third is simply clear. You lower the disk of your choice onto the rim of the pool, while the LED and batter component is pressed up into the piece from the bottom. Watching the pool slowly change colors in a throbbing pattern was really cool. I can't wait for a chance to get it onto the table in a fantasy game! 

    This stone tomb has been sitting on my desk, waiting to be painted, for more than a year!

The tomb is decorated with skeletons and skulls, and obviously is the resting place of some evil being -- perhaps a Lich? Anyway, it's job on my desk for the past couple years has been to be a prop of sorts for something in the process of being expoxied or super glued. Ha, ha! Yes, something that took me less than a half hour to get ready for the tabletop, from brush priming through spray coating, sat un-started (but not unused!) for months and months. Not any more! It is inside one of my rolling carts that contain most of my scatter terrain from various periods.

    This barrel fire has a flickering LED, as well - obviously meant for modern not fantasy, though!

The final piece, the Barrel Fire, took the most time to paint up. It contains a variety of surfaces and items modeled on it -- sand bags, wooden crates, a giant wooden spool for cable, cinder blocks, a trash can lid, and more! Naturally, all of those took more time to paint up. I did my usual wood recipe for the crates and piece of wood leaning against the barrel. For the cinder blocks, I did gradually lighter gray dry brushes until I was happy. The trash can and metal debris I did in Iron Wind Metals Steel first, then did a Pewter brush-on highlight. I will likely use it in my post-apocalyptic or modern games.

    I like the various odds & ends modeled on this piece, such as the crates & cinder blocks

So, what else is on my painting desk? I am working on a special set of miniatures in honor of the Lead Adventure Forum's 20th Anniversary. These figures are about halfway done -- maybe more. The next miniatures that I do will be the final six Elven spearmen for my Dragon Rampant army. Of course I say that, but who knows? With Badger Games attending Historicon, there's always a chance I may pick up another pack or two of the newer releases that weren't part of the Warhost line when I made my purchase. The Elven Guardians pack has those long, halberd like things that Elrond slashes up the orcs with in the flashback scene in The Lord of the Rings. For terrain, I am FINALLY getting around to painting up one of the Pacific Theater Huts that I picked up from Diabolical Terrain at Advance the Colors 2025. Hopefully, I'll get them done before I leave for Historicon next Wednesday!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 141

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 12
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 28

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 21
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 62

Hurrying to Get Things Done for my Medieval Town Game

    Fountain for my fantasy or medieval games (from the Ferisia line called 'Dwarven Stone Fountain')

I'm scheduled to run my first medieval town skirmish in two weeks or so at Drums at the Rapids, May 15-16, at Fort Meigs. Since Rich Brown and I are still working on tweaking Four Delvers, I decided to not use it and instead run the game with a system that I am satisfied with already. So, I'll be using my Mean Streets gang warfare game, with modifications made for a Fantasy/Medieval setting. Even though there will be some tweaks to that, too, I know the basic command & control and combat systems work well enough already. So, with a deadline looming, I am hurrying to get some buildings, scatter, and miniatures done in time for the game.

    Stone Cutters Yard -- which could also be used as a stable, also from the Ferisial 3-D printed line

These items represent the bare minimum that I wanted to get done for the game. The two smaller buildings (Stone Cutters Yard and Dwarven Fountain) are also from the Ferisia line carried by Rich at RRB Minis & More. The pair of two-wheeled carts and the four-wheel wagon are from A Critical Hit that I picked up at Cincycon 2026. I'm also working on eight miniatures from Gripping Beast and (I think) Old Glory to add to my Dark Ages Saga figures that I already have painted up. I hope that I will also get one more of the larger Ferisia buildings done, but we will have to see. Those take time with all the different levels and having to do both the interiors and exteriors. Still, I wasn't expecting to run a medieval town skirmish till later in the year. So, getting one on the table in spring is way ahead of schedule!

    A look at the wood tile roof for the fountain -- dwarven runes carved into stones on the corners

Both the Stone Cutter's Yard and Fountain are very simple buildings to do, requiring fewer colors and details than the Duncan or Catrine House. I started out with the usual black spray prime and then 50/50 water and acrylic paint to make sure all the crevices were fully covered. For the Fountain, I did a dark gray wet brush over the entire bottom half of the structure. For the roof, I used a medium leather color for the wooden tiles, much like I did with the Merchant Store B I finished a week or so, ago. The Stone Cutter Yard roof also got the same initial coating of medium leather. Its floor appears to be stone tile covered in dirt and mud. So, the floor received a dark gray wet brush, too. However, the two walls are obviously wood, so I wet brushed them dark brown. 

    Jets of water emerging from the mouth of the carved faces are fiber optic wire glued into place

Since the Fountain was going to be all gray, except for its roof, I did a medium gray dry brush, too, to give it more depth. Once that had dried, I highlighted it with a light gray. The bottoms and sides of each basin were given a light blue color on the walls so that people would think "water" when they saw it. Yes, I know that if a gray stone basin has water poured into it, the sides don't suddenly turn light blue! However, the key is for people seeing a piece of terrain to make the right connection. Light blue often means water in our brains. And who's to say that it isn't reflecting the blue sky above? Ha, ha! All doubt would be removed with the "water" I crafted from fiber optic wire pouring out of the dwarves' mouths. It turned out much better than I thought it would, and encouraged me to paint some white splashes and wavelets in each basin.

    Stone Cutters Yard without the roof -- nice & simple 3-D building to paint up!

The wood tiles on the roofs got a Khaki highlight, like with Merchant Store B. The other wooden portions of the two buildings were done exactly as I typically do wood. After the dark brown wet brush, I do a dry brush of Camo Brown, and then khaki. For the sections of the floor covered in mud/dirt, I painted in my usual Earth Brown that I use on my bases. Next, I flocked it as I typically do miniatures, with Woodland Scenics Blended Turf. I decided to do a black wash on the wood tiles on the roofs for these buildings. In hindsight, after I had finished the Merchant Store B, I thought perhaps it was a little too bright. This gave it a more weathered, darker look.

    One 3-D printed wagon & a pair of 2-wheel carts from A Critical Hit

Moving to the carts and wagon, they were also quick and easy to finish up, too. I was surprised that I had to improvise something for the wagon's axle, though. Of all the many pieces of scatter that I've painted up from A Critical Hit, it was the only thing that needed anything additional. The carts wheels attach directly to the body of it with no axle. Luckily, the print was done very cleanly and all I had to do was find a piece of piano wire that was closest to the diameter of the holes in the wagon wheels and the shaft underneath the wagon.  The brass wire I used for spears was too small, and all of the dowels I have were too big. Luckily, I had some thicker piano wire leftover from a previous project, and it worked fine. Afterwards, I thought that perhaps a toothpick might have worked, too? Otherwise, everything fit together easily with superglue.

    I had to use piano wire to thread through the wheels and bottom of the cart for an axle

Rather than spray prime them, I brush primed them with black paint. The color of filament that A Critical Hit prints them in is too light or brown for my liking. I prefer the grains in my wood to be darker. After it dried, I simply did a dark brown wet brush, Camo Brown dry brush, and Khaki highlight. The metal parts of the wagon were done in Iron Wind Metals Steel. Quick and simple! And they will look good as random scatter on the streets of my medieval town. I would have bought more of them at Cincycon, but I cleaned them out of their wagons there. Next time I see Blair, hopefully she will have printed some more.

    Two-wheeled carts from A Critical Hit -- bargain price at just a couple bucks each!

As you will see in the next day or so, both buildings and the carts/wagon saw use in a game this weekend. So, what else is on my painting desk? Well, those 8 townsfolk miniatures are about halfway completed. I also spray primed the medieval building I bought from Phalanx Games & Sundry at Little Wars. It is the smallest of the three medieval buildings I have left, so I am hoping I will have it read for the tabletop when I run my medieval town game at Drums at the Rapids in less than two weeks. Wish me luck!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 176
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 91

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 7
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 25

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 17
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 59 

Merchant's Store for My Medieval City

    3-D printed medieval building from the Ferisia line from RRB Minis & More - Merchant Store B

After building another of the large buildings last month from the Ferisia line carried by RRB Minis & More, I decided to build a smaller one next. As opposed to the towering ones composed of 4-5 levels/roofs, Merchant Store B had only two pieces. The lower one was the house itself while the upper one was just the interesting looking roof. What I liked most about it was the covered patio attached to the house, where the merchant would ostensibly sell his goods. It was a unique design and matched the overall look of the buildings I've been painting up, so far. The STLs for the Ferisia line are from Dadi Dungeon & Dintorni. They've created a number of other, very interesting lines, and I highly recommend folks to check them out. 

    Side and rear of the merchant house, with a good look at the wooden tile roof

As much as I like the 3-4 story Duncan and Catrin Houses, I assume that most medieval cities would have a limited number of buildings that tall. The bulk of the homes would more likely be one or two stories tall. Because of that, I'd picked this building up from Rich Brown of RRB at Cincycon, and fast-tracked it to be the first one that I painted up. Of course, I bought another tall one at the same time, simply called the "Merchant's House," that is four stories tall (interestingly, the roof being part of the 4th story). Considering that I just came back from Little Wars 2026 yesterday, where I bought three more buildings from him, I have a feeling this is going to be a routine for this year. See Rich, buy buildings! Ha, ha!!

    My favorite part of this building is the roofed patio and its counter where the merchant sells products

Anyway, back to the Merchant Store B! I painted this one up using the same system as the others, with a black spray prime followed by a 50/50 mix of water and acrylic black paint. Once dry, I completed the stone sections first. I gave them a dark gray wet brush over the black, then a light gray dry brush. Next, I painted the wooden sections dark brown, followed by two highlights -- a medium Camo Brown from Howard Hues and a Khaki dry brush. Next, I painted up the metal components on the two doors and pillars holding up the open air, covered patio. I base coated them in Iron Wind Metals Steel first, followed by Bronze. I wet brushed the window panes and frames in Iron Wind Dun yellow.

    A look at the interior of Merchant Store B and its patterned wooden floor & fireplace

The results on the building looked good, but I thought it needed more. I decided to do a checkered pattern on the stone tile covered patio. I used a very light dry brush, alternating the colors of the square sections in Dun yellow and a light Wedgewood blue. I liked how that looked, so added those colors to the raised arc of stones surrounding the front door to the house and the side door from the patio to the home. Finally, I echoed those colors again on the rooftop's conical decorations. I had gone back and forth on whether to portray those finals as metallic or simply painted wood. In the end I went with painted wood in pastel blue and yellow.

    Front doorway with its 2 torches,  blue & yellow stone archway, & decorated wooden door

There are also two torches flanking the front entrance. Originally, I was worried they might be fragile, considering they are 3-D printed. However, I never brushed them accidentally during painting, so I think they'll be fine. The torches were completed with a wooden handle, metal rim, and very bright yellow and orange. I admit I am a bit worried about the conical decorations on the roof's spine. I snapped a couple off in transporting the building home from Cincycon, but luckily Rich had the foresight to include extras. This is a similar to a problem with the finials on the railings of the Catrine House. You really have to be careful where you put your hands on the model to pick it up. No "claw" grips! Watch where you clasp your fingers around it to pick it up! Otherwise, these 3-D printed buildings are sturdy and solid state. I have no worries about breaking off any other sections. As you can tell from how many I have bought, I really like this line of buildings and Rich does a great job on printing them.

    I wasn't sure how to paint the wooden tile (or 'Shake') roof -- decided to go with a new wood tone

The roof of Merchant Store B obviously looked to me like it had wooden tiles -- not terra cotta ones. I was tempted to paint it with the same red brown base coat and orange flesh dry brush anyway, but decided not to, instead.  I did a handful of Google searches on wooden or "shake" tile roofs. Based on those, I decided to do a different tone of brown. I wet brushed the tiles with a medium leather craft color called Raw Sienna. Next, I did a dry brush of craft paint of a darker Khaki color. I liked the different tone it gave from the wooden beams and patio pillars. In fact, I liked it so much that I chose not to do a black wash over it for fear it would "gray out" the colors too much. Same with the gray stone sections of the store. I did the black wash only on the wooden beam/pillars, the metal, and the Dun yellow windows. I really like how it came out!

    I did a blue and yellow patterned tile flooring to the patio, which comes off of the side of the house

So, what's next on my painting desk? I'm hurrying to get things together for my scenario that I will be running at Drums at the Rapids, May 15-16. I'll be using my medieval town terrain for it, and I want to get as many structures completed as possible. So, in that light, I'm painting up two of the smaller ones that I bought this past weekend from him at Little Wars (see them in an upcoming post on the convention). To go with that, I'm also working on a batch of eight figures that can pass for medieval townsfolk. You know how it goes -- if I am not rushing to get something completed it time for a game I'm running at a convention, things just aren't right! So, considering the upcoming deadline, hopefully you will see more updates soon!

    A final look at the newest addition to my medieval town, which will be used this weekend in a game!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 91

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 23

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 56 

Catrine House - Another Lovely 3-D Printed Medieval Building

    Towering Catrine House - 3-D printed purchased from RRB Minis & More adds to my growing city

My medieval (or fantasy medieval?) town is slowly growing. My favorite part of it, so far, has been the 3-D printed buildings that I've bought from my friend Rich Bown of RRB Minis & More. He bought the license to produce and sell the Dadi Dungeon & Dintorni products and their Ferisia line. If you get a chance to check out this line or any of the others, it is truly worth your time. They are amazing, evocative buildings. The Catrine House is no exception. The fact that "Katrin" was one of my best friends from teaching (our middle school's German teacher), makes it all so much the better...ha, ha!

    Angry looking madam of the house looks out from the rear of the stucco & stone building

I love how this building turned out. However, I don't want to play down how long it takes to paint up a five piece building (base ground floor, level 2, 3, 4, and roof). I believe I have been working on it for at least two weeks! The main reason for this is because I'm using my standard base coat and dry brush method for just about every part of the building. That means a lot of waiting overnight (or at least half a day) for the base coat to dry and "shrink wrap" onto the model, so the dry brushing sticks out properly. So, let's say that on Day 1 you spray prime, Day 2 you put on a 50/50 mix of black paint and water like I did, and Day 3 you base coat the interior stucco wall portions of levels 2, 3, and 4. That means you have to wait a day for it to fully dry before you dry brush the interior stucco. On the same day, you can do the base coat for the stone sections of the interior. Now, you have to wait another day for it to dry before you can dry brush that part. You get the picture, and you are still about a dozen days away from being done! 

    'Now where have those danged kids gone off to...?' Looking from the cool, 4th-story balcony

I like to do all of the interiors sections of each level first, then the exteriors. This ensures I have something to hold onto that isn't wet paint while I am working. So, once I've done the interiors, I pretty much have to then repeat the process for the exteriors, if that makes sense. Once I'm started, a normal day working on the Catrine House settled into a dry brush highlighting what I had base coated the day before and then base coating the next part. On most days, that is 20-30 minutes worth of work. So, it is probably best to be working on something else, too, while you're painting a building -- perhaps a batch of figures? That way, after finishing your 20 minutes on the building, you can work on the figs for the rest of your painting session. In two weeks, you should be done. Well, that's if you are being anal retentive like me and insist on doing a thorough job and not doing a just quickie paint! 

    All five pieces of the 3-D printed Catrine House laid out side by side

Note that I'm no boasting and saying that I've done the best-ever paint job possible on this building. To me, it seems like I am doing a minimum acceptable job. There was no customization on the Catrine House, no signs, no graffiti -- nothing to make this building "pop" other than its own natural beauty. Why not add a bit extra like those things? Mainly, it's because I these medieval/fantasy 3-D buildings to be useful for a maximum number of periods or games. I want it to be able to look great on a tabletop simulating a thriving medieval city, but also on a ruined, abandoned one. The less individualization I do on it, the more games I can use it in the table without needing a wink and a nudge!

    Level 1 is all stone and came out very nicely - I like the faded green & blue tiles and stairway up

I especially like how these Dadi Dungeon & Dintorni buildings recreate a variety of textures and surfaces. Of course, that is also part of the reason it took me two weeks to get this beauty painted up! I think it does look more natural, though, for it to not be all stone or wood, or whatever. All the different types of surfaces also add variety to the tabletop. The quality is great -- each level (and roof) fits securely onto the level below and comes off easily. It makes it much more skirmish friendly for gaming! 

    Who's this ruffian at the front door...? Is he a particularly unsavory looking employee of the owners?

Still, these buildings are no idle undertakings. I will do the much smaller, two-story one I bought from RRB next. Then, I will tackle the next 3-4 story one. And once I finish those, it will likely be time to see RRB Minis & More at an upcoming convention. And you know what that means, right? There's a very good chance he'll be bringing along more 3-D printed buildings for me to buy...ha, ha! Anyway, I just need to keep telling myself it is not a sprint to get these done. Work on them slow and steady! Hopefully, you guys are enjoying seeing them. And perhaps, some of you are reaching out to Rich to buy some of his incredibly affordable buildings, too!

    Interior of level 3 of the Catrine House - you can see the trapdoors and ladders to go up & down

So, what else is on my painting desk? Well, Samwise will be happy with me. I did go back and assemble and prime a half dozen of the North Star Frostgrave Gnolls. This will allow me to fulfill my promise to myself to intermix in a batches of figures purchased this year with ones purchased in previous years. That means the big alien monsters I was working on were "kicked to the curb" by the gnolls. And the monsters don't look happy...ha, ha! Also, I began working on a single, 25mm, 1980s Grenadier Dark Ages warrior . Why? He is the only thing I have in my unpainted lead pile that could possibly pass as a Dwarf...ha, ha! I will need him for my Four Delvers games. So, stay tuned for pictures of these things soon!

    Level 4 without the roof on - I think this upper level balcony adds a nice look & gaming possibilities!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 73

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 22

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48

 

    A final look at the building with no figures around it -- an abandoned house in Moonrest...??