Ruined Building & Various Scatter for Flea Market Sale

    Two-storey ruined MDF building from Father and Son -- I really like the detail on the floors!

I'm continuing to crank out the stuff in preparation for having things to sell on my flea market table at Historicon. I had earmarked this MDF 2-Storey Ruined Building from Father and Son Gaming as one I had purchased, but didn't necessarily need in my collection. Much like the earlier 4 Ground ruined buildings, this one came out so nice I'm tempted to keep it and not sell it! I really like how it looks all painted up.

    Three of my survivors check out the newest ruined building that I prepped for the flea market

I don't know if it is typical for their MDF products, but there were no instructions included other than the photograph from two angles of the finished building. Unfortunately, for me -- Mr. Not a Puzzle Person -- it wasn't enough. There were three pieces I never figured out where they went. And I ended up assembling the walls "inside out," with what was supposed to be the exterior facing inwards. You might say that I "ruined" it, but honestly, I think it looks pretty darned good this way! I absolutely love the floor patterns that Father and Son have inscribed on the MDF. It really makes this building "pop," so to speak.

    This view shows the rubble along the base of each of the walls that I added to the MDF kit

The only modification that I did to the building was adding in rubble all along the walls. This step is easy to do. You just squirt white glue where each wall meets the floor and pour in tiny rocks or rubble. I used a bag of black rubble that I bought from Discover Games at Buckeye Game Fest. Then you tap off the excess that didn't make it firmly enough to where the glue was, and sweep that up and put it back in the bag or tub. It doesn't take that long to do and I think really adds something to the look of a ruined building. 

    Close up of the black prime, dark gray wet brush, & light gray dry brush I did to the walls

I did my usual method to ready MDF ruins for the tabletop: black prime, go over it with a 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and water, and then wet brush dark gray and dry brush light gray. Once those steps are done, you are all but done with this. I decided to dry brush the floor in Wedgewood blue -- a very pale craft paint color. Then I took heavily watered down medium blue and painted it into the recessed floor designs. I'm very happy with how it came out. For the downstairs floor, I simply did a Terra Cotta craft paint wet brush over the tile floor. The different amounts of paint on the brush over the top of a primed black floor looks really nice.

    Also painted up 18 plaster oil barrels that a friend had given me long ago - I like how they turned out

I also like how this collection of oil barrels came out. They were cast from plaster and given to me years ago by my friend Tim Peaslee. They've sat in my unpainted scatter box for quite some time. This was mainly because I already had oil barrels from Acheson Creations and my pre-painted gas station set. Since most modern or post-apocalyptic gamers could use oil barrels, I figured why not get them ready for sale, as well? I primed them black with Fusion Acrylic Matte Black, then went over it with a 50/50 mix of black acrylic paint and water, as usual. Then I dry brushed them in various colors, which gave the a nice dirty look.

    Close up of one of my survivors guarding the oil barrels - good look at the rust effect I did

I decided to use my bottle of Dirty Down "Rust Effect" on them, too. So far, I've learned you don't simply paint this over an entire piece. It's best to pick out certain areas where rust might show up, and also to stipple it every once in awhile. Also, don't be afraid to apply some of it thicker and other parts more watered down. This gives different effects. However, I do think the effect is improved noticeably by doing a black wash over it afterwards. I was very happy with how these rusty, dirty barrels turned out. Once again -- stop me if you've heard this before -- I was tempted to keep them and not sell them in the flea market...ha. ha! I did base them on tiny washers to make them more stable on the tabletop and flocked the part of the base you can see with Woodland Scenics Blended Turf. What do you guys think? Would a buck ($1) a barrel be a fair price, or is that under pricing them (or too much)? Feel free to give me feedback in the comments.  

    3-D printed dumpsters from Sea Dog Game Studios that I also painted up for the flea market

The last things in this update are four dumpsters from Sea Dog Game Studios. These are 3-D printed items that I bought several years ago before I'd painted up the other ones I typically use in my modern games. In fact, I probably have too many dumpsters already, so these were definitely superfluous. What better thing to turn into cash than something you paid for years ago and don't really need, right?

    'What do you think - should we look inside?' - A closeup of the largest of the 4 rusty dumpsters

I gave these the same prime and 50/50 preparation that I did with the other two things in this post. I painted the dumpster itself a dark green, with a brighter Kelly green dry brush. The lid was left black with a medium gray dry brush on it. For some reason, I did not like how the Dirty Down rust effect worked on the dumpsters. Maybe it was the 3-D printed texture or the darker green color? Either way, I was unhappy, so went back to my "old school" painted-on rust. I painted speckles and blotches of rust in Autumn Brown. I then added fluorescent orange in the middle of the brown. Once the two colors had dried, I went over it with a dark black vehicle wash.

    Unlike the oil barrels, I painted this rust effect with brown, orange, & a black vehicle wash

I was tempted to put some labels, graffiti, or signs on the dumpsters, but I wanted them to be generic to tempt more purchasers, so passed on that. I based them up on pieces of styrene plastic and flocked them with Woodland Scenics Blended Gray Fine Ballast. I painted the ballast with a black vehicle wash to give it more of an asphalt rather than gravel look. I thought they turned out nicely. I am completely at a loss what price is fair to charge for them. Feel free to comment and give suggestions. The bigger one is obviously going to be more expensive than the three small ones. But what price?

    A final look at the Father and Son MDF building -- is $45 a fair price, you think?

That's it for this update, and possibly the last update for a week or so. I will be at Origins Game Fair at the Columbus Convention Center this week. I'm running my Viking Raid on an Anglo-Saxon town from Thursday through Saturday, this week. So, I'm going to be pretty busy and will unlikely get a chance to update the blog. There is a chance that the last batch of Viet Cong may get posted before then -- they're were just finished this morning. Otherwise, the last two batches of U.S. infantry in Vietnam are nipping at the Viet Cong's heels. They'll likely be done the week or so after Origins, too. I also have some ruined Buddha statues and a stone bridge that are pretty far along, too. Those are for the flea market, too. So, stay tuned! There may be a week or so delay in posts, but they'll be back on track soon!

    A last look at the oil barrels...is $1 each a good price? Could I get $2 each -- what do you think?

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 232
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 117 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 40

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 100