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

Various Ruined Buildings & Such Ready for the Flea Market

    Modern 'Stalingrad' ruins from 4 Ground -- first times I have built any of their MDF kits!

In keeping with my plan of steadily "thinning the herd," I've started painting things up specifically to sell in flea markets. Looking over my list of all my terrain and scatter, I realized that even if I did paint it all, I likely wouldn't have room for it! So, I've been going through the list and deciding what I can live without. The goal is to get it ready for the tabletop -- just someone else's table! Here is the first batch of various ruins -- buildings, walls, statues, etc.

    I thought these stairs would be a pain to put together, but the both kits went together easily

I bought two 4 Ground Stalingrad MDF ruined buildings from my friend Jeff Gatlin at the first Hold the Line convention. However, looking at all the modern ruins I have already painted and based up in game room closet, they are kind of superfluous. So, I put them together -- the first 4 Ground buildings I had assembled. They go together very nicely and are right up there with Sarissa Precision. Maybe even better with the extra little bits they give, like a strand of material to cut and use as exposed iron rebar. The thin cardboard building accents for the outer walls are nice, too.

    Base coating black and then doing two layers of gray dry brushing made these paint up quickly

I thought assembling the three stories of staircases would be a pain in the butt. It was not, though. The 4 Ground method made a lot of sense and was very easy to do. I used tacky glue to assemble all the pieces and was honestly shocked how little time they took me. One of the buildings comes in two pieces, and I used epoxy instead to join the halves together once each part was built. Once they were done, I spray painted them with Krylon Acrylic Fusion matte black. Once dry, I went over all the surfaces with a 50/50 mix of black paint and water to ensure everything seeped into all the blind spots and crevices. 

    I added a lot of rubble along the walls and in the corners of both buildings

Painting them was an easy dark gray dry brush, followed by a lighter gray highlight. For the wood, I painted them in dark brown, and followed up with a medium Camo Brown dry brush and a khaki highlight. I used a pale blue for the floors, hitting them with a white dry brush highlight. For the trim pieces, I used either pale blue or green for the trim pieces. For the rebar pieces, I used epoxy to stick them into their holes atop the ruins. I painted them Iron Wind Steel, then for the first time, tried a Rust effect solution from "Dirty Down" on them. I'm very happy with how it came out. I bought it from Discover Games at Buckeye Game Fest on a whim, and am glad I did. I can see myself using this in the future.

    I like the accents 4 Ground includes -- like the cardboard rectangles and pieces of 'rebar'

Both buildings are much cooler than their little black and white picture on the package showed. I admit, I am half tempted to keep them rather than sell them in the Historicon flea market. They are different enough from the ones I already have to provide variety, but still have the same ruined city or town look to them. Likely, I'll still sell them, though. I really did enjoy doing up my first 4 Ground buildings!

    These chimney ruins are 3-D printed and bought from Jarls Workshop a couple years ago

These three "chimney ruins" are 3-D printed from my friend Rusty at Jarls Workshop. I picked them up from him a couple years ago at Advance the Colors. I've painted 2-3 of them up already and figured that I really didn't need three more in my collection. So, they were on obvious trio to be culled from the herd. I prepared them the same way as the 4 Ground buildings. I painted the brick areas Iron Wind Red Brown first, then dry brushed them with Howard Hues Middle Eastern Flesh. 

    I put a lot of flocking and loose bricks to dress up the area inside the building foundations

All that is left of these ruins are the foundations and chimney, with the interior area meant to be overgrown vegetation. However, I decided to add some tumbled bricks to this area, though. I am running low on my little plaster bricks I bought at Dragons Guildhall so long ago. I need to find some more at Historicon or somewhere. And no, I won't count each brick as a piece of scatter on my Acquired vs. Painted totals. They're supplies, like paint...ha, ha! Once the glue was dry on the bricks, I painted the turf areas with my 50/50 mix of white glue and brown paint. I then sprinkled on fine brown ballast from Woodland Scenics, followed by Blended Earth flocking. 

    I think these chimney ruins turned out great for as little time they took to get ready for the tabletop

Similar to how I usually do my figure basing, I painted on white glue in irregular splotches and sprinkled it with Blended Grass from Woodland Scenics. Next, I added clump foliage and occasional tufts or flowers to make it look more interesting. I think they came out nicely. Not on the scale of the 4 Ground buildings, but still nice little pieces for someone's tabletop...I hope!

    I LOVE my Acheson terrain, but felt I could be parted with this cat statue on its ruined pediment

As much as I love my Acheson Creations terrain, I have to admit I am not sure why I bought this statue of a cat that looks like it is part of a ruined temple. My friends all know of my cat allergy (and avoidance of them). So, there would doubtless be some serious ribbing if I put a statue of a cat on my tabletop. Sorry, Fluffy, you're going to be culled, too! Like all Acheson terrain, this was incredibly easy to get ready for the tabletop. Preparation followed the same method as the other pieces. I used the same stone ruins recipe I use for my other stuff -- black base coat, dark gray dry brush followed by a lighter highlight. Like with the chimney ruins, I added a bunch of clump foliage to show it being overgrown. It turned out nicely, I think...for a cat! Ha, ha!!

    I think I did a nice job 'dressing up' this overgrown and ruined wall piece

The final piece is a section of ruined stone wall. It is from the Plastic Guys, a group of regional gamers from the Toledo area who used plastic and styrofoam to create simple terrain. I trimmed off the excess plastic and based it onto a piece of bass wood. I used a couple tiny model railroad trees to dress it up a bit, and added pieces of tumbled stone along both sides. I flocked it as I did with the chimney ruins, and added in lots of clump foliage to show it being overgrown, as well. For a piece of plastic terrain, it came out fairly well. Hopefully, someone at the flea market feels the same way and is willing to buy it!

So, there you have it -- my first batch of terrain built and painted with the express purpose of selling off. I typically double the price I paid for the item for my asking price, usually rounding it to a multiple of $5. My thoughts -- and feel free to tell me if you think they are too high or too low -- are $40 each for the 4 Ground buildings, $15 each for the Chimney Ruins, $10 each for the cat and the ruined wall. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on those prices!

What else is on my painting desk? I am in the flocking stage of the next batch of 5 Viet Cong. I'll do photos of those five and the previous ones together as one post. I will also continue to work in some more terrain or scatter to sell, as well. I have two more to do of the Sci-Fi scatter that were in the pictures with the Alien Grays. I bought six of them and want to wait till I have all six to do a post about them. Stay tuned...more to come, as always! And I appreciate the comments, guys -- it makes my day to read them and know people are enjoying my ramblings!!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 145
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 107 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 39

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 72

'Loot' from Drums at the Rapids 2025 (mostly from RRB Minis & More)

    One of the prizes I won from RRB Minis & More - a very cool 3-D printed multistory urban building

I ran my Viking Raid game at Drums at the Rapids, but I was the one coming home with the loot! Normally, there were only a couple vendors at Drums, so I didn't really expect to come how with a lot of new stuff. However, I did take items to sell in the flea market at Fort Meigs. I did very well and sold most of what I took up -- more than enough to pay for my hotel, meals, and purchases. But even more significantly, most of what I was bringing home were prizes from RRB Minis & More. Owner Rich Brown had run a contest for scenarios for any of the rules sets he carries. Mine was the winner (my campaign rules for Zombie RV, which are a free download on his site). When he first told me that I won, I was surprised...even more so when I saw home much he gave me!

    The rear of the building -- I love the door upstairs to the rooftop...great sniper position for games!

As I said, Rich was very generous. He gifted me a huge amount of 3-D printed stuff from a new line he is carrying. It is all from the Kickstarter 20th Century Urban Environment. Check out the link -- this is some great stuff! If you like anything you see, feel free to contact him so he can print it out for you. Some of it was exactly what I was looking for. A few things I already have, but still, this was a very generous prize. The centerpiece was a multistory building with attached garage (I think it is meant to be attached, but it could also be a separate building). The doors open, roofs come off, and it is all very modular. I know I probably have enough urban buildings for now, but I'm going to be hard pressed to resist getting this one painted up and ready for the tabletop. I think my favorite part is the second story door leading to the flat rooftop with parapet. I can see this being a favorite "sniper position" in games using the building. It also game with some ladders which I will likely attach on the outside as a fire escape or another way up onto the roof. 

    The one story garage which I believe is made to be attached to the multistory building

The garage looks very much like a building you would see in an urban area. Maybe it is a "hole in the wall" automobile repair shop? I might paint it up that way. The garage could just as easily stand alone as its own building. It is modeled partially damaged on its sides, which gives it more versatility. If you sandwich it between two other intact buildings, though, you will never see the damage. Standing alone, it is a damaged building - perfect for post-apocalyptic or a city in ruins. One building, two uses. Although I will paint it up separately from the multistory building, it will be in a similar style so that it can be attached, if I choose. 

    The rear of the garage -- if you look through the left window, you can see the damaged side

The things I was really excited about when Rich showed me this kickstarter last year were the rooftop scatter items. The water tank, air conditioning ducts, skylights, and even doorway to the rooftop are all very generic and very useful. I had actually been looking for these types of items, so when Rich shared the Kickstarter website with me, they were the first thing I asked about. Likely, they will be the first things painted up, too. They should fit on any flat roofed building, which most of my Sarissa Precision city buildings are, thankfully. They should also paint up fairly quickly, too. I look forward to getting them finished and onto the tabletop in my next game of Mean Streets gang warfare or Zombie RV.

    3-D printed air conditioning ducts, skylights, water tank, etc., available from RRB Minis & More

If you have seen my games, you may have noticed that I don't have any stoplights in my urban setup. Initially, I had been going back and forth about how to scratch-build them. However, since then, I have picked up a couple varieties. Rich's prizes add in a third variety. I will have to set all three out and decided which ones I like better. One selling point for Rich's will be that I should be able to order as many as I want from him. I like the street lights, too -- a somewhat ornate, elongated globe. Very fancy! Of course, I would need a LOT more than two to replace my dozen or so scratch-built ones that I made a few years ago. The Stop, Yield, etc. signs are nice and will be useful, as well, as is the phone box. I already have a lot of plaster traffic cones already painted up, so I will likely not spend time on these soon. I'm not sure what the black cylindrical items are...they look familiar, but their purpose on a street is eluding me right now.

    Street scatter that Rich included in my gift box -- traffic lights & signs, streetlights, & even cones!

Rich also included some other trash -- literally! I love the collection of three garbage bags. I also like the dumpster with the separate working lids. The sawhorses are nice, as well, as are the barrels, trash cans, and even barrel fire. I already have some of these items painted up (same with the fire hydrants), but the manole covers or sewer access points are new to me and a great idea to paint up and throw onto a street on the tabletop for that little bit "extra." That's the awesome thing about scatter terrain like this. It makes your tabletop come alive. It is those little extras that draw people in and make them want to play a game on your tabletop. I highly recommend picking up some of this inexpensive scatter to take your display to the next level. 

    The goodies keep on coming -- love the collection of garbage bags, dumpster, and sawhorses!

Can you believe I'm still not done with what Rich included in the gift box? I was excited to see the three wooden pallets. I almost bought some at Cincycon this past March from A Critical Hit. However, my tub was already pretty full, so I decided to be frugal. Yes, I could make pallets with bass wood. Why, though? For a wargamer, time is money, too. These will take next to no time to get onto the table. Plus, they will be far less fiddly than cutting pieces of bass wood, arranging them, and gluing them together. I'll happily spend a small amount for 3-D printed ones. Along with the traffic lights, they will likely be my first order of additional stuff from the samples he sent me. The park bench is nice, as is the dead tree (it will join my growing dead forest). I have to admit that I have no idea what the four tiny red things are...hopefully Rich Brown will see my post and comment on what they are supposed to be. The brick rubble is good -- post-apocalyptic gamers can always use more rubble!

    Pallets! I regretted not buying these from A Critical Hit at Cincycon...now I have a source for them

I actually did buy some things from RRB Minis & More, too. He didn't bring his store, but did bring along some stuff to add in the flea market. GMs attending Drums at the Rapids are encouraged to bring flea market items to set on one of the tables or shelves along the outer wall of the main gaming area. I've been doing it for years, so I was glad to see Rich brought some things I could purchase to pay him back some. I bought printed copies of three of the rules sets he carries. I already had the PDF of Mice-at-Arms, but always like having a printed copy when I play a game. I had been meaning to download Frogs of the Fen (supplement to go along with the rules), but hadn't gotten around to it. Rich has been running his Sci-Fi rules, Fictioneers: Legacy Fantastic Sci-Fi Warriors rules for a few years at various conventions. My friends who have played them all have enjoyed the games, so I figured I would pick them up.

Rich told me he wasn't aware he could have brought his store and been a vendor. Doug of the Colby Street Irregulars usually recruits a couple for each show. So, there was a communication breakdown there, as I'm sure others would liked to have picked up some stuff from RRB Minis & More. The one vendor who was there were my friends James & Rusty from Fireland Games. They brought their collection of Saga, Bolt Action, and more figures, as well as various other items. One thing that they do that is a great service for gamers is they open up the plastic boxes and sell individual sprues. Sometimes, you don't need 30 of a figure type and five or six fit your needs perfectly. James says it has been a successful marketing strategy for them.

    Picture from the Gripping Beast website of one of the two trolls I bought from Fireland Games

Readers of my blog know I actually prefer metal miniatures, but am willing to paint plastic or 3-D printed figures, too. When I saw these 28mm metal trolls from Gripping Beast online, I knew I wanted to have a couple. I asked James at DayCon if they could get them and he said yes, and ordered the two for me. So, my purchase form Fireland Games was already "set" when I arrived. I am looking forward to the second edition of Dragon Rampant to be released in October. Fireland Games will be ordering me a copy (contact them if you want one, too). Our Sunday night gaming group enjoys the Rampant series of games. They are quick, easy-to-learn, and provide a great multiplayer game that can be finished in a couple hours. Just to give you an idea how quickly the system moves, my friend John L (owner of JS Wargamer Printing) recently ran a six player Xenos Rampant game (the Sci-Fi version). Each player controlled 40-50 points ("normal" size is 25) and it finished in a little more than two hours. If you haven't played any of the Rampant games, I highly recommend them!

    Meet my second 28mm Gripping Beast troll I got from Fireland Games -- his name is Gorka

I am telling everyone that 28mm Fantasy will be next year's project. My 28mm Vietnam is this year's, and I am adamant about not making a major purchase to start a new one before next year. Two trolls are not a major purchase. And um...neither is the box of Gripping Beast metal Orcs I'll buy when Fireland Games puts in their next Gripping Beast order. Nope, nope -- no new project! "Move along, folks, nothing to see here...!" The final picture is of three cups worth of Hirst Arts plaster pieces that Rusty brought along to get out of his basement (his wife's instructions). He wanted to give me everything he brought, which would have been about 50 of these cup's worth -- not just the three I filled up. I did not need that much, though, but there were some pieces I could use. Rusty refused to accept money for them, which just goes to show how good of guys they are (or how much he wanted to get rid of it all...ha, ha!).

    My three cups worth of Hirst Arts plaster blocks -- the doors were nice, and I can always use stone

So, how do I count all of this to add to my tallies, below? The two buildings are easy -- they're "Terrain." The scatter...wow. Do I really count each individual traffic cone? That seems excessive. And I certainlyi can't count each Hirst Arts block! Maybe the traffic cones should count those as one, to quote Gimli the Dwarf? Either way, I'm about to go seriously in the "red" on my Scatter counts of Painted vs. Acquired. And I was doing sooo well!! Luckily, I am catching up on miniatures as my Vietnam figures are going quickly. Still, it is only May. I have more than seven months to make up these totals! And who can look an amazing gift horse in the mouth, like what Rich gave me? Still, I think I need to start working some of these scatter pieces in fairly quickly...!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 145
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 85 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 23

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 60

MBA 'Customs House' with Scratch-Built Roof is Done!

    Miniature Building Authority's "Customs House" completed with my own scratch-built roof

I have this little thing that I like to do with items I've purchased from a vendor at a convention: finish them! What's more, my goal is to try to finish painting up what I bought from that dealer before I see them again at the next convention. Well, Kirk from Miniature Building Authority will be in Columbus, OH, this weekend as a vendor at Buckeye Game Fest. When I saw him back at Siege of Augusta in January, I bought MBA's "Customs House" -- a large, two-story resin building. It has been sitting on my painting desk since then, patiently waiting while getting "ditched" by trailers, Viking longships, and dozens of scatter pieces.

    Some of my 28mm Pulp figures investigate the MBA Customs House - a grand old resin structure!

The wait was over, though! If I was going to finish it before Buckeye Game Fest, it had to get done this week! Step one was to create a roof. Kirk sold it to me at Siege of Augusta for $40, less than half of what it normally sells for, because this one did not have a roof. While the Customs House had been sitting on my desk for months, I had been thinking of how I would prepare it for the tabletop. I decided to use two slabs of bass wood for the roof, taped together on the underneath. 

    I used some dollhouse scenery shingles to make my roof - slightly out of scale, but looks nice

Now, what to do for the roof's surface? It was too large for either of the two plastic pattern sheets that I had (they would have worked perfect). The craft store I bought them from and all the train stores no longer carried them. I could order them online, but they wouldn't arrive in time. While walking around Hobby Lobby, I found doll house roof shingles in strips. They were out of scale, yes, but with the black roof tile texture they were perfect. They even had adhesive backing. Score! I started with the bottom of the roof and laid each strip down, with the next one above it overlapping it. Wouldn't you know it, though? The length of the strips was about an inch short of the roof width, so I had to cut and add an extra half shingle in each row. It worked perfect, otherwise. Once I reached the peak of the roof, I cut a long strip of cardboard, folded it in half to match the roof angle, and epoxied it down. I painted it black and flocked it to match the shingle pattern.

    Close up of the front entrance and the lovely blue shade of wash I colored the exterior with

I traced the "pediment" -- the triangle-shaped part of the roof rests upon -- onto a piece of cardboard. This was used as a guide to cut out two triangular pieces of foam core which were glued to the underside of the roof, fixing the two bass wood slabs at the correct angle to fit snugly onto the building. I used black Sharpie marker on the edges of the roof piece, and brown paint on the part of the underside that would show. Other than a clear coat, the roof was done and looked great, I felt.

    A look at the rear entrance of the Customs House with its archways and my "oriental carpets"

As for the surface of the building, the resin piece came semi-painted, I would say. There was definitely gray wash done on it, as well as gray paint on the interior. By my standards, though, it looked half finished. I decided to see what just doing a colored wash on the surface would look like. I wanted to utilize the nicely molded exterior texture of the Customs House. So,  I put three drops of Vallejo blue paint into my palette of water to create a light wash and brushed it on with a wide, flat brush. I was kind of holding my breath, hoping I didn't ruin it. I really liked how it turned out, though. It preserved the pockmarked surface it is modeled with, and used its texture to my advantage. Another thing I like about the exterior is portions are modeled to look worn, with the exterior plaster having fallen away and the mud bricks (I think) exposed. I painted those in a light brown with a khaki dry brush. After examining it at this stage, I went back and forth whether to do an overall brown or black wash. I decided NOT to, afraid that it might "erase" my lovely faded blue exterior color.

    Interior of the building - note there is no 2nd floor, so I made one with MDF and bass & balsa wood

As for interior, I decided the gray it came painted with wasn't fancy enough for a Customs House or official government building. I did a wet brush of light blue over all of the interior walls. Once that dried, I did a very light black wash over it. I think this made the interior walls looked nice, too. Not as nice as the exterior, but more than just functional. The clock was ticking, though. I would see Kirk on Thursday and I really, really wanted it to be done (and a blog post about it created) before then. 

    A look at my 2nd floor (with open stairwell) which was trimmed to fit precisely on the first floor walls

The blue wash from the exterior and the black wash from the interior had run onto the model's floor and made the gray concrete floor look even less fancy than it had originally. It needed prettied up, I felt. Government officials work here every day, and they need a nice place to show off for the ordinary folk who come to their office how important they are! I decided I would paint each room's floor a different, darker color -- Midnight blue, Hunter green, Moroccan red, Terra Cotta orange, and Dun yellow. Then, I would cover up part of that floor surface with a printed out oriental rug. Now, that's fancy! I went online and found images of oriental rugs and resized them to fit (and match the color of) each room. I put them on a flash drive to be printed off the next day at the local office supply store.

    Speaking of the stairwell, here is the 1st floor portion of it with its stone staircase and bright rugs

It was Tuesday evening, at this point, though...aack! There was one more thing I wanted to modify on this model. I wanted to create a flat surface to place onto the walls of the first floor, acting as the first floor's ceiling and the second story's floor. I used some MDF material that I had, carefully measuring it and trimming it to fit. Then, at dinner, I had the bright idea to cut out the portion over the interior stairwell for gaming purposes. I did that, and proceeded to fall down a rabbit hole. Next, I decided to do walls for each of the two second story rooms and glued them to the MDF, then scrap booking paper for the floors, then a door leading to each room. Sigh. I was setting myself up for a very busy Wednesday! I should probably have left it at a simple ceiling/floor piece with some carpet-like texture on it...but nooooo! I had to get all fancy!!

    A close up of the 1st floor's oriental rugs - images downloaded and printed out on a paper

One of the last things I did Tuesday evening was epoxy the Customs House down onto its own MDF base that I'd cut. I still would have to do the flocking to blend the exterior onto the base. And clear coat it. Heaven forbid it was humid on Wednesday and I couldn't spray it...! Oh no...what? Oh, yeah. I am pre-writing my blog on that very busy Tuesday before that very busy Wednesday. I am crossing my fingers and hoping everything comes out all right. 

    Another look at the exterior - the rear of the building seems to be a hub of activity

Cut to Wednesday evening: Loving how it is turning out. The oriental rugs are a classy touch. The second floor turned out better than I feared it might. Just finishing up flocking and taking photos tonight. This was a lot to get done in a week or so, but I'm happy to say I manged it.

    The cool shaded interior of the Customs House - reserved for government officials & their clients!

 

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 119
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 60 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 13
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 22

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 55

    Another look from above of the colorfully decorated interior of the Customs House

 

    What secret deals are being made inside the shady interior of this thick European-style building?

 

 

Sword & Scabbard Ruins & Turn Marker

    Other than the trash cans, these are all purchases from Sword & Scabbard Games at Daycon 2025

I decided not to pack away the things I'd bought at DayCon 2025 when I brought them home a couple weekends ago. They were from Sword & Scabbard Games, owned by my friend Scott, who is assisted at shows by another friend, Lonnie. They had a lot more 3-D printed terrain at their booth this time than they did when I saw them a month earlier at CincyCon. At that show, Scott had a lot of painted 15mm DBA armies. Apparently, they've been selling well, as there were few left at DayCon. That was a good thing for me, as I'm not interested in those, but am instead a big fan of 3-D printed terrain.

    This 3-D printed ruin of a wooden building caught my eye immediately and is a great looking piece

Anyway, the wooden ruin in one of his bins caught my eye right away. I have plenty of stone or modern ruins, but this was a fairly unique piece. I think it could be used for everything from Ancient times to Modern. In fact, I was tempted to paint the outer wall in "barn red," but decided that I liked having it be more generic. As I suspected, this painted up VERY quickly. Prime black, wet brush Camo Brown, dry brush Khaki, and wash black, and it was done. It will probably see the tabletop in one of my post-apocalyptic games, but like I said, it is a very useful and generic looking piece. I'm glad I bought it!

    This ruined floor of an Ancient Temple (or modern government building?) is a cool design

The ruined floor of an Ancient temple was the next thing I painted up. I mentioned on my DayCon Purchases post how Scott gave me the idea of doing the square-tiled temple floor in a mosaic pattern. I decided to do that to give it a little extra pizzazz. Like the wooden ruin, this one was completed very quickly. A black prime, dark gray wet brush, and light gray dry brush got the piece started. Next, I took pale blue and green colors and highlighted the tiles in alternating colors -- like a checkerboard pattern. The remnants of the columns I gave a yellowish stone color on top of the light gray. I finished it off with a black wash, which sank into all the crevices nicely.

    For only $8, this turn marker was something I couldn't pass up & it painted up very quickly!

Although I am playing Saga less often these days, Sword & Scabbard's 3-D printed turn marker was a fun purchase. My friend Abel had shown me the one he bought earlier that day at DayCon. When I saw they were only $8, I decided to pick one up, too. I chose the one featuring a king seated on a throne rather than the pose pointing a sword. I was worried the sword might snap off, so decided to play it safe. It got the same prep treatment as the temple floor, above. For the Roman numerals marking Turns I - VI, I re-painted them black after all the dry brushing was done. Then I picked out the numbers in Iron Wind Metals Copper so they'd stand out more. I'm very happy with how it turned out, and it can obviously be used in any game with a designated number of turns.

    3-D printed trash cans from A Critical Hit sitting in front of "Wallace's Brewpub"

The last items in this batch have been a work in progress for more than a month. They are four 3-D printed trash cans from A Critical Hit. They were printed in a bluish-black material, which I wasn't 100% crazy about. I gave the cans several black washes, then picked out the metal handle rings in a Pewter metallic. The most time consuming part was filling them up, at least partially, with trash! I stared with tiny rocks, then put in shreds of cardboard and finally cut and balled up tiny pieces of paper. I did a bit of a wash on them at the end, but very lightly. Each successive layer of trash was held in place by a tiny squirt of white glue. With these done, I think I have trash bins from several sources, now. I think I'm good on trash for now!

    These have sat on my desk for nearly a month while I slowly filled up the bins with scraps of trash

So, what's next, terrain-wise, for me? I have finally begun working on the large, 2-story resin building that I bought from Miniature Building Authority at Siege of Augusta 2025. I got it at a great discount because it did not have a roof included with it. So, I have begun building the roof. The flat sides of the roof have been cut, as have the two triangular pieces of foam board. I will glue those to the underside of the two pieces of bass wood which will comprise the roof. Unfortunately, the plastic pattern sheeting that I had on hand, which I was going to glue to the roof to give it a terra cotta look, is insufficient. It won't cover the surface of the roof. Today's goal is to make the rounds of train and craft stores to find something that will work for the pattern of the roof. Hopefully, I will find something that will work that isn't too labor-intensive!

    Another look at the wooden ruin, which is probably my favorite piece of the batch

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 119
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 60 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 55

    The less exciting back side of the wooden ruin, which painted up extremely quickly