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| These two 3-D printed buildings from Sword & Scabbard are my latest addition to my medieval town |
After being excited about how my
Watchtower and Duncan House came out, I wanted to paint some more medieval or fantasy type buildings. I'd purchased this pair of buildings from my friend Scott of
Sword & Scabbard Games at
Advance the Colors 2025. They were also 3-D printed and I liked their somewhat ramshackle look. I think painting medieval buildings is going to be a bit of a side project for this year. Two more finished gets me closer to eventually being able to run a Medieval Town skirmish scenario!
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| I'm looking forward to collecting (and painting up) enough buildings to run town skirmishes |
However, painting these two were a night and day different experience than the previous ones. The way these buildings were laid out with taller walls and more cramped quarters (part of the look I liked) made them VERY difficult to paint the interiors. The initial base coating and dry brushing the stone wasn't too awkward, though I did have to find an angle to tip the building towards me to really see what my brush was doing. However, getting at the various beams in the walls, doors, window sills, and wood beams along the floors (!!) was a nightmare! These two buildings are smaller than either the Watchtower and Duncan House, but they easily took two to three times as long to paint. There was simply an excess of interior details, in my opinion. I would be very surprised if the designer (unfortunately, I didn't ask Scott who created the STLs) actually painted one of these prints up! If so, my guess is he (or she) would have made some changes...haha!
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| Close up of a courtyard created by setting the two at right angles and on my new stone surface mat |
This issue is certainly not Sword & Scabbard's fault. This was simply me not examining the buildings carefully enough. I just looked at the exteriors, which I loved. The exterior details were very easy to get at and painted up easily enough. Well, then again, when you factor in all of the different types of surfaces -- stucco, stone, wood, roof tiles, window slats, window leading, metal on doors, etc. -- the exteriors were not
too bad to paint...ha, ha! The interiors were simply miserable, though! I will have to remember that and more closely examine the interiors of any new buildings before I purchase them!
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| The one story building - easier to paint because it did not have that cramped, tall upper story |
I began, as I usually do with 3-D printed buildings, spray painting them with Krylon Fusion Matte Black. I then brush on a 50/50 mixture of acrylic black paint and water, which sinks into all those crevices the spray can may have missed. And there were LOTS of little crevices on these buildings! I did a wet brush of dark gray followed by a dry brush of light gray. Sometimes, I do a three different shades of gray atop the black, but I didn't this time. The next step took me several days to finish, though. I painted all of the wooden surfaces with a dark brown paint. This was when it really hit home to me how painter unfriendly these designs were. Things got only a little better when I did the first dry brush on the wood with a medium tone called "Camo Brown" from Howard Hues. The final Khaki highlight on the wood took another day. Throughout the process, I had to go back and clean off splash-overs on the interiors -- especially from trying to paint those stupid wooden beams along the floors! I'm sure the designer thought it looked atmospheric, with all the wooden surfaces intermixed with the stone.
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| A view of different sides of the one story building and some of my 28mm civilian figures |
I was also painting the roofs at the same time. There was only one small stone section on the roof of one of the buildings. Both roofs are mostly covered with tiles and wooden beams, with the two story building also having its upper level attached to the roof piece. The one story building has what looks like standard clay tiles, while the two story has what appears to be wooden tiles. I thought about differentiating the wooden and clay tiles in different colors, but decided to go with the same color for both. I did a craft red-brown paint for the wet brush and another Howard Hues color that I try to keep in stock, Middle East Flesh, for the more orange dry brush highlight. Unfortunately, I am running low on that particular pot of paint and probably won't see my usual vendor for it until April. After that step, it was time for Dark Brown nightmare, Part 2. There is a LOT of wood on these roofs, but since it is all "exterior," it went much easier than the interiors of the buildings. I followed up with the same Camo Brown and Khaki I used on the bottom levels and interiors.
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| Even though it was a pain to paint up, I love the way the building overhangs its entrance way |
These two buildings also have an unusual amount of doors and windows as part of their design. A medieval fire safety inspector would doubtless approve of all the emergency exits! Each door has what appears to be metal parts, too, so that was another two-step painting job (Gunmetal Gray and Bronze). I went back and forth on what color to use for the stucco sections (mostly the upper section of the two story building. I decided that the one story would have a pale yellow stucco, while the two story would have pale blue. I like pastel colors for stucco or daub and took out my various bottles of pale colors, placing them next to the buildings before making my choices. For the interior stucco on the two story, I decided to go with a more tan/white look. Done, now? Nope! More to do!!
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| 2 more sides of the 2-story -- I really like the ramshackle look of these Sword & Scabbard buildings |
For a brief moment, I considered putting clear plastic on the inside of the window frames. Perhaps I could even color them with transparent markers to look like decorated or stained glass? In the end, I decided that the interiors would look awkward then, with the criss-cross black leading behind a solid sheet of clear plastic. Speaking of which, the narrow bars on the windows I decided to do in black, while the thicker wooden slats would be lightly dry brushed with a faded color. For some reason, I like how dark red looks on windows of medieval buildings, so decided to go with that on the one story. On the two story, I decided to dry brush a medium blue as a faded coloring on its frames, to go with the pale blue stucco.
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| The interior of the 1-story...take a look at the wooden beams going along the floor & wall line - ugh! |
Once again, I wanted my medieval buildings to be as "generic" as possible, so I did not add signs or any unique decorative modifications myself. Also, I worry about a black wash possibly obscuring the highlighting on dry brushed gray stone, so passed on that step for both of these. Same with the tiled roofs. However, I covered the stucco sections with a dark brown or black wash in the end. Same with the metal on the doors. I like how a black wash ages metals.
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| The interiors of the two floors of the 2-story - hopefully my players will think they turned out well! |
And I think that finally -- other than a matte spray coat -- finishes these two medieval sagas! I like how they look -- especially the upturned wooden beam decorations on the roofs. Speaking of which, the roofs fit on nicely, as does the upper section of the two story. These will make great additions to my eventual medieval town board. I do have another medieval building on the way. My friend Rich Brown from
RRB Minis & More, who printed both the watchtower and the Duncan House, has his 3-D printer back up and running. He had some sort of glitch that derailed his printing for months. He has promised to print up the Catrine House for me. It's from the same
Dadi Dungeon & Dintorni range as the Duncan House, so should look great. I will be seeing him at the end of this month at
Cincycon 2026. If you're going to Cincycon, he will be there as a vendor. So reach out to him if you want something printed -- his prices are unbeatable!
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| Final look at the two buildings together as a street scene - that one lady is sure angry at a lot of folks! |
So, what else is on my painting desk? The first batch of
28mm Elves from Warhost are nearly done. Look for a post on them very soon. So far, I am keeping my pledge to alternate batches of figures from current projects with something I purchased pre-2026. I have primed and ready to go two giant spiders (from the
Wargames Atlantic kits), along with four not-so-giant ones. I picked them up last year from
Firelands Games at
Hold the Line 2025. Rusty and James sell individual sprues, which is a great resource to the gamer! I picked up two sprues of the spiders. I also have a 3-D printed fantasy
Ancient Deer that I bought from
Beldolor Studios at
Origins 2025. It looks almost alien, so I figured it could possibly be used as one of the aliens my
Critter Control dudes have to fight. They're waiting in the wings. Terrain-wise, the bullet impact markers I picked up at
Michigan Toy Soldier are next in line. So, lot's more on the way!
MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Miniatures acquired in 2026: 95
- Miniatures painted in 2026: 34
TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
- Terrain painted in 2026: 21
SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Scatter acquired in 2026: 2
- Scatter painted in 2026: 24
