Friday 28 August 2015

'Gotham City High-Rise' - WIP - Part Four

The Flatroof Starter Set contains various sized walls, some corners, a skylight, air ducts, airbox tile and roof tiles
This Gotham City high-rise 'arena' measures 7" x 9.5" and was constructed using pieces from Ainsty Castings” terrific “Streetwise: Flatroof” resin scenery range. In fact the majority of the pieces came from the manufacturer's code 8300A Flatroof Starter Set.

To begin with I took a rectangular-shaped section of medium-density fibreboard and super-glued a number of ‘edging wall’ pieces around its circumference in order to create a solid non-movable border for my rooftop. This process actually took significantly longer than I expected as I soon found that none of the resin castings had the same dimensions as one another, so I ended up shuffling them around until they all fitted together.
As the central tiles aren't fixed down they can be moved about to create a variety of rooftops
 Once dry, I gave the entire model an undercoat of “Citadel” Abaddon Black before painting the brick walls with several coats of “Vallejo” Heavy Red. I then applied a very rough wash of “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade to these areas in order to help bring out the detail in the pieces. As I wanted the roof’s surface to be rather dark and easy to paint I simply used a combination of “Vallejo” Bluegrey and “Citadel” Nuln Oil. Finally I painted the stone capping with “Vallejo” Heavy Brown, washed it with Strong Tone Quickshade and then dry-brushed it with more “Vallejo” Heavy Brown. The entire assembly was then given a coat of PVA glue in order to help seal up any tiny gaps between the resin and provide the paint-job with a somewhat rubbery protective coat.

In addition I have also finished painting one of “Ainsty Castings” wonderful Chimney stacks. This model was painted very similarly to my rooftop in order to better fit in with its surroundings. Although in order to make the pots stand out a bit more I actually dry-brushed them with “Vallejo” Bluegrey after washing them with “Citadel” Nuln Oil. 
Rooftop WIPs - All the pieces have been under-coated using "Vallejo" Bluegrey
As I want to have plenty of choice regarding what debris will be littering my rooftop, I’ve started work on a few other pieces from the company’s Streetwise: Flatroof range, including a skylight, air duct and junk pile. 

22 comments:

  1. It looks great, Simon. Having so many options for placing various scenery items is a clever option. The obvious question to ask is, when will you be posting your first rooftop batrep?

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    1. Thanks Bryan. Its not quite so red as it is in the photos, nor as brightly coloured, which is why I ended up dry-brushing the stone capping and chimney pots - just so they stood out a bit more. Hopefully my Sunday post will feature Jim Gordon with the G.C.P.D. tackling the Riddler ;-)

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  2. Well done! I like the dark, gritty look you've given it.

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    1. Many thanks Anne. I wanted it to be really simply and dark so the minis stand out, plus I really don't like painting scenery (which is why I buy so much pre-painted stuff from the likes of "Tablescape" and "Gale Force Nine"). I was tempted to dry-brush the walls too in ordert o lighten them up a little but as the photos show they're already rather red.

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    1. Cheers Solo, much appreciated. Glad you found it of some interest as I rarely paint scenery :-)

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  4. An excellent arena. :)

    Something I have thought of but not followed through on - therefore maximum kudos for doing this. :)

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    1. Thanks PulpCitizen. It certainly looks odd sat in the middle of my gaming table as its rather minute, but should prove fun for what I want to use it for. I've already bought a second Flatroof Starter set as I want to now build a larger one - maybe in two pieces - so as to encourage models having to jump across sheer drops :-)

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    1. Cheers Gordon. Not on par with your splendid looking "Frostgrave" buildings but it'll do for what I want to use it for. Now to build another... ;-)

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  6. Wonderful Simon, let the rooftop battles commence.

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    1. Thanks Michael and absolutely... Sunday's post will essentially be a simply re-packaging of "Pillow A-go-go" as featured on Vampifan's wonderful website, and then I may start tweaking rules and adding new events etc.

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  7. Really nice rooftop Bk! Lovely details and a great finish. Roll on the batreps dude.

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    1. Cheers Bob, glad its over as I dislike painting scenery. But I already have an idea for some zombie-based action too ;-)

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  8. All coming together nicely, the end result should be well worth the effort. Having alternative bits and pieces should also give a longer 'shelf-life' to the project.

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    1. Thanks Joe. Now I have enough to actually start playing the rules I would hope the rest of the pieces won't be so much of a slog - though with hindsight I still rather like your cardboard rooftops :-)

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  9. That's some excellent scenery there Simon, and a really clever idea you've got playing rooftop battles, it'll give a real comic book feel to your games as well stopping characters running off once the going gets tough! Good work all round I'd say.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Cheers Roger. Glad the basic rooftop is finished, as well as the chimney stack - so I've a little variation already. Hopefully the games using it will be fun and worth it.

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  10. Great stuff, all coming together rather well eh? :)

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    1. Thanks Chico. From someone who I know makes quite a fair bit of scenery, your comment is much appreciated my friend.

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  11. Nice work, Simon. Between your posts on this and Mr Awdry's, I'm finding it difficult to resist taking a trip to Gotham. May have to look after doing something along these lines myself.

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    1. Cheers Jez. Much appreciated. I do have a "Knight Models" series of WIP postings just waiting to happen myself ;-)

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