Stone Tower & Duncan House Medieval Buildings Finished

    Ferisia Ironhorn Fortress from RRB Minis & More - my first painted project of the new year!

Welcome to my first Lead Legionaries post of 2026! Why not start things off BIG -- as in two very big buildings? I picked up these two 3-D printed, medieval buildings back in September at Battles at the Brewery in Chillicothe, OH. My friend Rich Brown of RRB Minis and More had shown up to sell his products at this game day run by the Chillicothe Area Wargaming Group. I went there expecting to pick up the Duncan House building, but the four story stone Watchtower was an impulse purchase. The price ($29) was simply too good to pass up, so I brought both of them home. They are nice print jobs that fit together easily with notches at the top of each piece that align nicely into a cavity in the level that fits atop it. Each has a door that swings open and closed -- another nice touch. If you like them, Rich does have some in stock, he told me recently. However, supplies are running low, so contact him quickly! He will ramping up production in the new year, though, he promises.

    The 3-D printed Duncan House, also from the Ferisia City line by Dadi Dungeon & Dintorni

The Duncan House looks like a town building from either the late medieval or early Renaissance era. Rich bought the STL from Dadi Dungeon & Dintorni. Check out the link! Both buildings are from their Ferisia City line. The company (an Italian one from Torni, Italy, perhaps??) has an amazing line of incredibly cool buildings. More on that below. The Duncan House has a variety of surfaces textured onto the exterior and interior -- stone, wood, plaster, and a tile roof. On the other hand, the stone tower -- known as the Ferisia Ironhorn Fortress on the site -- looks more like a watchtower in a mountain pass or guarding a frontier, and is perched atop its own small rocky outcrop. Its interior and exterior surfaces are mostly stone, with a pyramidal tile roof. The windows in the Duncan House have diamond shaped panes, while the much narrower windows in the tower are merely gaps in the stone. I was tempted to cut some clear plastic and glue it up against the panes of the interior of the Duncan House. It might look nice on the exterior (especially if colored with transparent markers), but I felt it would look silly on the inside with the panes behind a solid sheet of plastic. So, I left them black.

    Rear of 3-D printed watchtower - my 'impulse purchase' from RRB Minis & More at the game day

I prepared both buildings by spray painting them black with Krylon Fusion acrylic. Next, I went over the paint with a 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and water, doing the insides first, then the exteriors after the insides had dried. This is by far the messiest part of getting them ready for the tabletop, with drips on your working surface being an unavoidable annoyance. Once completely dry, I did the stone surfaces of the two buildings first. I did them in a dark gray followed by light gray dry brush. The doors, wooden floors and ladders on the interior of each level were done in a dark brown, with Camo Brown then Khaki dry brushing. The interior plaster walls were done in a tan with lighter tan dry brush. The exterior ones were done in a light orange color called Terra Cotta, followed up by a tan dry brush. Some of the exterior wooden surfaces of the Duncan House are molded in what looks like wide wooden panels. I did these in a lighter base coat (Autumn Brown) with tan dry brush. So, there is a bit of a two-tone look to the wood on some sections.

    Rear of the Duncan House - I like how the wooden portion overhands the ground level

The metal fittings on the doors and trap doors were done in Iron Wind Steel with bronze accents atop it on the flat parts. The raised bolts were left Steel (or touched up where my brush went astray). The window panes on the Duncan House were done in Moroccan Red with a Salmon dry brush to show some sun bleaching. The tile roofs were done in a red brown base coat with Howard Hues Middle Easter Flesh dry brush. I really like the way all of the colors went together on the Duncan House. I also like how both buildings are not straight up square columns. They bow out in some places and have stone arches supporting the wider levels above. 

    Close up of the stairs, entrance & rocky crag with a 'Dirty Down' moss effect on the boulders

I'm actually kind of strangely sad that I went to the Dadi Dungeon website and looked at the buildings on there. I am now very tempted to pick up more of them for some medieval town skirmishes. They have several different lines. The buildings of the Ferisia line have a very solid, stone look about them. Some are classified as "Dwarven" buildings, which makes sense with the look and name. Silverlake City has a very Lord of the Rings "Lake Town" vibe. Some of the buildings look very hodgepodge and like they've been added to higgledy piggledy to over the years. Many have balconies or rest upon wooden or stone pilings. You will definitely be reminded of the look of Lake Town in the Peter Jackson Hobbit trilogy. 

    Entrance to the Duncan House with lion crest above the door and the stone & plaster surface

Salmystia is VERY much modeled upon Renaissance Venice. In fact, some of the bundles are even labeled "Venezia." To me, Venice is the most architecturally beautiful city in the world I have visited (currently at 104 countries). I would love to have a tabletop Venice to do skirmish games upon. As much as I would like to do it, I am definitely daunted by having enough room to STORE it all...ha, ha! Crazy to even consider, eh? There is also a fourth line called the "Damned City," which looks like a classic medieval ruined city. Peruse the pictures on the website at your peril...!

    Interior floors of the watchtower with their plain stone interior, wood floors, ladder & trap doors

Once the five levels (counting the roof) of the tower and the four levels of the Duncan House were completely done, I stacked them back together and let them sit for a day. It wasn't just to admire them. I was contemplating whether I would do a brown or black wash over the interior or exterior surfaces. I ended up washing the wood sections with my black vehicle wash. The plaster sections were done with the dark brown vehicle wash. Also, for the tower, I used my Dirty Down Moss effect stain for the first time ever on some of the rocky outcrop's surfaces (deciding which side was "north" and doing only those very roughly facing that direction. Once the moss effect was dry, I flocked the lower portions of the rocky outcrop with grass. I wanted it to be mostly stone, but I also felt it would be a more striking look if grass had grown over some portions and moss was on other parts. I added tiny bits of clump foliage, too, to give the crags a more 3-D look. 

    Interior floors & tile roofs of the Duncan House - which I actually won as a prize from RRB!

All in all, I am very happy with how these two very tall medieval buildings turned out. What's more, they are the very first things I have completed in 2026. I am honestly not sure when I will get them on the tabletop, yet. I would love to do some medieval town skirmishes use Sellswords & Spellslingers. Hmm...maybe I should use my Christmas money and purchase a cloth or neoprene cobblestone mat? Speaking of purchases, I have (so far) held off on the temptation to buy any more of these medieval buildings from Rich. I do have two more medieval town buildings that I bought from Sword & Scabbard Games at Advance the Colors last year. I should probably paint those up first, right?

    Zooming in on the 3-d printed stone work which I did in black, dark gray, and light gray dry brush

So, what else is on my tabletop, to start off the new year? I have a batch of nine Gripping Beast armored orcs that are underway. They had arrived already based up and primed black, and some having various stages of armor or other colors on them. I am essentially repainting them so that they match my current orc and goblin horde using the Ragnorak figures. In addition, I have six Reaper wolves of various sizes (Warg, Dire Wolf, Wolf Pack blister packs) that are primed and awaiting their first base coat. I will also begin working on some elephant grass for my Vietnam games soon. I bought the material last week for them and will likely do my first test batch in the next few days. 

I hope everyone had a good set of holidays! Happy New Year!!

    Zooming in on the side of Duncan House building - I will definitely be buying more from this line

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 6
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 0

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 2

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 0 

Purchases from 'Battles at the Brewery'

    3-story testament to RRB Minis & More's generosity -- the 28mm Duncan House awarded as a prize!

I didn't attend Battles at the Brewery, put on by the Chillicothe Area War Gaming group, expecting to buy anything. However, my friend Rich Brown of RRB Minis & More was there. He'd made the more than three hour drive from his home in northeast Ohio to Chillicothe to set up his vendor table and run some demo games for a one-day event. My own game that I was planning to run was game mastered by Jason Stelzer instead of me. A funeral ended up being scheduled on the same day, so I came at the beginning to set it up and after the funeral to tear it down. While there, I decided to shop at Rich's table. 

    RRB Minis & More's 'Duncan House' is a Medieval tower house - each level & roof comes apart

First things first, Rich had generously awarded me a prize for entering a scenario contest on his website. It was the Duncan House -- a 3-D printed medieval tower home. This three story building is actually also the setting for the scenario I submitted. A medieval noble has kidnapped a noble lady and spirited her away to the upper floor of the Duncan House. Her father offers a hefty reward for her return. The other players try to batter their way into the house and up to the top floor to rescue her.

    Pictures of the interiors of each level (with door choices taped in) -- 1st Floor = Ground Floor

The Duncan House is a really cool design, with a wider section on the second floor and narrower sections on the ground and top floor. The design is late medieval, it appears, but honestly considering the number of medieval buildings still surviving in Europe, it could be used for a number of periods in the historical sections of towns. I'm looking forward to painting this one up and possibly using it for skirmish games (maybe some Sellswords & Spellslingers set in a town?).

    Since the Duncan House was a prize, I bought this 3-D printed, 4-story Medieval Watchtower

Perhaps because I won that building at no cost, it tipped the scale for me to purchase the 3-D printed Medieval Watchtower he'd brought along. Like the Duncan House, it disassembles by floor and is also three stories tall. The only modification I want to do is figure out some way to have my figures magnetic bases stick to the stairs leading up to the front door. I don't know whether to imbed magnets in the 3-D printed material, glue tiny pieces of metal, or coat it with ferrous paint. Honestly, I don't think I have anymore of that paint left, and it would seem a bit much to buy a jar of it for just for that!

    Interiors of the Medieval Watchtower with some of my 28mm Orcs storming the building

What else did I buy? I picked up one of his 3-D printed Pod Habitats that I use for my Sci-Fi skirmishes. It is his "Extra Large" version, but for me, it is a small home compared to my other Sci-Fi buildings. Still, I keep slowly building up my collection of them so that I can cover more and more of the table with suitably Sci-Fi buildings! 

    Very cool 3-D printed Sci-Fi piece that I will use as a landing pad in my skirmish games

Another Sci-Fi terrain items I picked up was the landing pad (at least that's what I'm calling it). It has stairs leading up to the top surface and would be a perfect place to put a small shuttle or spaceship on for a scenario. The top surface comes off, but I can't see any reason to have anything underneath it. So, I will probably glue it in place and paint it solid state. 

    The surface of the landing pad pops off and there is a printed interior 'control room', as well

The final thing I picked up from Rich was a printed copy of David Bezio's "Saddle Bum" rules. I am thinking of using these for a hillbilly trailer park battle, even though they were designed for a Western game. I figure the three firearms in the rules -- pistol, shotgun, and rifle -- fit perfectly for the trailer park vibe. Of course, I don't have hillbilly figures for such a scenario, but when has that ever stopped us from buying an interesting rule book? Rich loves these rules and all of David Bezio's adaptions for them, including black powder (Frizzen Bum) and Medieval (Chivalrous Bum). In fact, my winning scenario (actually tied for 1st place -- Rich gave both of us the prize!) uses the Chivalrous Bum rules. Jenny and I played them at Drums at the Rapids this past May. It was using those rules that I proved I can roll a statistically astounding series of "6's" on 1d6 after the game was well out of hand and I was going to lose...! 

    A picture of the 'Extra Large' 3-D printed Habitat dome that I picked up from RRB Minis, as well

Anyway, the organizer of Battles at the Brewery, Art Nickles, said it was a success and was pleased with the turnout. All of the games had players and were able to get under way, and folks were still gaming when I returned around 5:15pm. I helped Jason pack up my Song of Drums and Tomahawks game, had dinner and a beer at Fifty West, and then did my shopping from Rich's table. So, even though I didn't get to GM or play, I still got to experience a bit of the game day!

    I was scheduled to run a 'Song of Drums & Tomahawks' game, but Jason Stelzer stepped in for me

So, what is on my painting desk right now? The two warlord stands for the Advance the Colors Saga tournaments are almost done. That's six fancy figures who will be positioned, three-each, on a circular 60mm stand. Well underway, also, on the table are my first 28mm Gripping Beast metal goblins. The skin and base coat of the clothes is complete on them. So, they should be finished in the coming week, too. I also have another update on a couple quick pieces of scatter terrain that I completed for the two games of Song of Drums and Tomahawks that were run at the museum and Battles at the Brewery. You know me -- there's always one more tweak I want to add to the tabletop to ramp up its look. So, look for a post next week on those, as well!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 288
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 194

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 40
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 61

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 159

Cincycon 2016 Purchases

    One of my Cincycon purchases, the Catrine House, from RRB Minis & More

Cincycon is usually my first convention of the year. Fortunately for me, it falls near my birthday, so I can rationalize some "birthday presents" to myself when I visit the various vendors at the show. I showed up with a number of things on my shopping list, which I duly typed into the Notes section of my iPhone. And then promptly forgot to check it...!

    These excellent 3-D printed buildings from RRB Minis & More are STLs from Dadi Dungeon

The biggest purchases in both size and money spent were the 3-D printed buildings I was picking up from Rich of RRB Minis & More. I ended up coming home with three new medieval town buildings -- two roughly 3-4 story ones and another that was 1-story. Rich's prints are always nice and his prices simply can't be beat. The first building was the Catrine House, which is the sister of the Duncan House that I painted up earlier this year. If anything, it is even more cool and elaborately designed. I also picked up a building titled simply "Merchant's House" by Dadi Dungeon & Dintorni. Like the Duncan House, it is from the Ferisia City line. If you check out that line and see something that you like, Rich has the STLs and can sell you any of the buildings from the line. Merchant's House is also a 3-4-story one with window galleries and other cool features.

    Rich talked me into buying this 'Merchant House' from the Ferisia line - a gorgeous model!

The final building of the three was called Merchant Store B. It is a simpler, one-story building but with a unique feature. It has an attached outdoor, roofed section with long counters for the family to sell their wares from the exterior of the home. I don't want every building in my medieval town to be 4-story medieval skyscrapers. This one still fits in well with the others, but is simpler. I actually ordered two more buildings from him, but through no fault of his own, he did not receive the STLs from the Kickstarter until the day he was leaving for Cincycon. I'll likely pick them up in April from him at either DayCon or Little Wars. I look forward to painting up all three of these buildings.

    Winged Insectoid alien & heavy weapons pack I'll use for Sci-Fi terrain from JS Wargamer Printing

The next "big thing" I was looking to pick up at Cincycon were big alien monsters for use with the Majestic 13 solo/coop rules from Snarling Badger Studios. One of these I found at JS Wargamer Printing that was in his line of movie monsters. It is a very large, insectoid creature (Megagirus) that will fit perfectly as an opponent for my Critter Control team. I also picked up a pack of some miscellaneous Sci-Fi heavy weapons which I will make turrets or other scenery with for my Star Wars games. The pack is meant as an add-on pack for his 3-D printed mechs or futuristic tanks, but the guns and such will work perfectly as installation defenses in my skirmish games. 

    3-D printed Jawas from Big Mr Tong that John at JS Wargamer Printing had waiting for me...

I had also pre-ordered a pack of Star Wars Jawas from him. They are STLs from Big Mr Tong and will be fun to paint up. They will also likely find their way into a scenario for our skirmishes using Space Weirdos rules. Jawas are one of those iconic Star Wars races that are part comic, part atmospheric. Not as cartoonish as the Teddy Bear-like Ewoks, but still instantly recognizable with their hooded faces and somewhat sinister appearance. If there are any Big Mr Tong or other Star Wars figures you need, John at JS Wargamer Printing can print them off for you very affordably.

    From one of the Star Wars games, these pre-printed plastic figures will work fine as big, nasty aliens!

In my search for big alien monsters, I found about a half dozen more, some in flea markets, others in the bargain bins of vendors. Two that I picked up from the flea market are actually pre-painted plastic models from one of the various Star Wars lines issued through the years. One is called a "Reek" and the other an "Acklay" -- whatever those are. I am not as steeped in the "Lore" as the folks at Wookiepedia or anything! Bing already painted fairly well, all that I will have to do is perhaps a wash and then flock the base. They'll be ready to take on Boone MacDonald and his buddies defending Earth from alien invasion.

    3 aliens that I will have to paint up to be monsters for Critter Control to fight in 'Majestic 13' games

Some others I picked up will require painting and even conversion work, but I'm happy that I now have them. I think that counting the stuff I already have, I can more than cover any other missions I game out this year with Majestic 13. One of the vendors I picked them up from also carried Iron Wind Metals paints. I am almost completely out of their Steel color, and I was able to snag two bottles of it! That should cover me for at least the rest of the year, and hopefully more!

    I wanted more wagons as scatter for my medieval town from A Critical Hit & picked up these three

Inevitably, I made some purchases of 3-D printed scatter from A Critical Hit. Talking to the owner, I was happy to hear that the family's possible move to Seattle did not happen and they will stay in the Midwest area (they're from Indianapolis). So, I can look forward to seeing them at least a couple times a year at various conventions. On my list of purchases were more of the two wheeled carts that I painted awhile back. She had only two in stock, but I also picked up a four wheel wagon to go along with it. I was actually VERY restrained at her booth this time around. I think that the only other things I purchased were 8 tiny rats (real scale -- not giant ones), and a wheelbarrow to have laying around in my cityscape near a market, perhaps. Somehow, though, a tiny bin full of carpenter's tools also found its way into my purchases, though I have no memory of putting it in there!

    I was VERY restrained at A Critical Hit's booth and picked up a fraction of what I usually do!

In addition, I found a couple bigger pieces in A Critical Hit's bins that I felt could be used for aliens for Majestic 13. One is of a spider like creature with crystals growing from its abdomen. This was printed in colored material so won't need to be painted at all. Its legs are multiple pieces and are secured and strung by a string or something so are flexible. It has bright eyes and is meant to look "cute," I think. However, that is genetically impossible for any spider-like creature! Ha, ha!! The final piece is printed in a dark green material and is honestly hard to figure out. I probably will need to paint some of it black so that the green parts "pop" a bit more. Either way, two more aliens for Critter Control to hopefully defeat!

    More aliens for Majestic 13 -- the spider-thi8ng on the left is pretty much ready for the tabletop

The last thing I purchased at Cincycon was from my friend Dave E. He had a box that I eyeballed half a dozen times at World at War 2025, but decided not to pull the trigger, so to speak. It contained three packs of unpainted Splintered Light Miniatures anthropomorphic animals. They were three, bigger "hero" packs, I believe, and would fit in well with the Splintered Light figs that I already have painted up. Actually, some I actually likely already have! As part of the package deal, he threw in a 3-D printed 28mm orc village (I believe), consisting of one more elaborate chieftain's hut and four others. Finally, he included the Ganesha Games Song of the Splintered Land stand-alone supplement to Song of Blades and Heroes. I don't have that one in my collection, and since the package deal was a bargain even without the rules, decided to finally pick them all up from him this time...haha! The sheer number of essentially 15mm-sized figs skews my Acquired vs. Painted totals to Hell and back, but I really do enjoy their anthropomorphic animals.

    Pics from the Splintered Light website of some of the figs I bought from Dave -- unpainted, though!

I've updated my statistics below, with the unpainted miniatures taking the biggest hit, as I mentioned. I had begun to climb back closer to even after my Gringo 40s and Warhost Elves purchases, but that goal is receding even further from sight! I have no doubt that I will eventually draw even by the end of the year. However, convention season is always the worse time for my totals. I like to support the vendors who show up to support our hobby. I figure as long as my totals balance out by the end of the year, I can splurge a little once in awhile. Besides, in the famous words of Gollum, "It's my birthday present...!"

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 52

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

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

Two Medieval/Fantasy Stone Buildings

    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!

    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!

    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! 

    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. 

    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.

    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!!

    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.

    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. 

    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!

    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

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