Friday, September 7, 2012

58. If You Live in a Paper Building...

...don't smoke.

So.  How are you?  Long time no see.  <sigh>  Unlike many other people, my job makes me more busy during the Summer months.  My work schedule becomes absulutely crazy.  It's all I can do just to get in my gaming room, not to mention actually painting or playing games.  "Dun't bee seely."

Because of that, all I was able to accomplish over the Summer was the construction of some paper buildings.  These were easy to build and of very low time investment.  I could easily start them and walk away in the middle without worrying about not coming back for 2 weeks, with no untoward effects (like paint drying out, etc).

Every single one of these buildings was free off the Inter-Web-Tubes.  I did have to do some searching, as they are not all from one place.  You'll find links below the pictures.

My main goal was to quickly (that being a relative term) and cheaply construct a modern town for some good 'ol Zombie gaming.  It's pretty tough to do zombies with only one or two houses.  What I have here is still not really enough, but I am much, much closer than before.  I even have several more buildings unconstructed that I can add, plus a couple of these are generic enough to have two on the same table without a problem.

I used regular cardstock and an old-er ink jet printer on the normal setting.  These printed out just fine for 28mm gaming.  I've heard it's easy to scale down the printing for 15mm gaming, but so far I haven't needed to.  I've also heard some people say that you should spray coat your finished buildings to protect the ink from running if they get wet, but it seems to me it is just as easy to build a new model if that were to happen.  I've got other things to use expensive spray on, but that's just me.

Also, there are certainly more elaborate ways of building these types of models.  Some people such as the excellent Vampifan on his website build them, quite literally, to last a gaming lifetime.  His is an example of how to do it right.

I am happy with my results, and reasonably proud of the quality.  I don't expect them to last forever, so I entered into the equation with the idea that I would just print more if I have to.  One good thing that happened, that beforehand I was worried about, was that I never even used up one cartridge of ink.  All these buildings and my ink cartridge is still going strong.

And now for the pictures.  Links are at the bottom.

Here's Harold the zombie in No-Whereville.
A view of the other half of the street.
Here, Harold is in front of a warehouse, from the most excellent Germy.  The "street furniture" is from Tommygun.
Harold picking up his dry cleaning.  Zombies like clean clothes, you know.  Building by MicroTactix.
Harold, worried that the Area Control office might see him go into the Gun Shop.  Buildings by Germy.
The nice thing about Germy's stuff is that the roofs (rooves?) are removable, with interior printing.  Very cool!
Harold, desperately trying to quench his undying thirst.  More from Germy.
An interior detail picture.  The pool table and bar are 3D accessories, too.
Harold, feeling he is missing something from his former living status, checks out the strip club.  Building by Tommygun.
Harold, still trying to fill the void within him, tries Stinky's Pizza.  Building by Microtactix.  Street furniture by Germy and Tommygun.
Seeking something to occupy his time, Harold thinks about buying a TV.  Model by Microtactix.


And now for something completely different....

I admit, I was caught up in the paper-model-building craze, and decided to try some new things.  Maybe a good Star Wars-ian sci-fi building would be fun.
 
"Come on, you Ewoks!  Bring it!"  At the Comm Station, by Momir Farooq.
Comm Station rear view.  This was a much tougher model than some of the others.  Lots of fiddly bits.
Next I wanted someting sci-fi but simple.  What better than Toposolitario's IKUBEs?
They come in many shapes and colors.  Wait, strike that.  They're all the same shape, but many different colors.  And super simple to build.  They're a box!


I also decided to build some "Street Furniture," as it's known by the "In" crowd.  Vending machines, ice machines, phone booths and so on.

A variety of selections, by Germy and Tommygun, mostly.  That's Harold just for scale.
After that, I wanted to build a couple more of Momir Farooq's Star Wars items.  Here's the Hoth Tactical map, the Death Star control console, and some various Star Wars-ian crates.  Oh, and the Death Star Vending Machines.  What, don't you remember seeing them in the movies?  I'm sure they were there....

O.K., O.K., I simply forgot to put the vending machines in the previous picture....
Close up of the Hoth Tactical Map.
Close up of the Death Star control console.  Too bad I don't have a Han Solo miniature, so he should shoot at it....


Links:
Germy
http://www.germy.co.uk/ 

Tommygun
http://tommygun.sector-17.com/tommygun/main.php 
Sadly, Tommygun seems to be off-line at the moment.  He was there in the summer, but when I checked just now it says the domain has expire.  That's a shame, as there is lots of great stuff there.

Microtactix Twilight Street series
http://www.microtactix.com/

Toposolitario
http://www.toposolitario.com/
 
Momir Farooq
http://www.momirfarooq.com/ 
He's got lots and lots of really cool (and quite complicated) Star Wars models (and not only buildings).


And Harold the zombie is from Victory Force, in case you were wondering.
http://www.victoryforce.com/ 

Thanks for reading, and check back soon.  Now that Summer is over, I hope to have more things to say here.

7 comments:

  1. nice work!

    (I think I saw Dave Lister servicing some of those vending machines...)

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  2. Hi, I found another freebie for you, but it is called "heroic scale" so you might have to resize it (and I don't know if that is possible). Anyway take a look here:

    http://www.rpgnow.com/product/29057/Twilight-Street-Heroic-Scale-FREE-Horseman%27s-Deli?src=s_pi&it=1


    -- Jeff

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  3. @Fitz-Badger, thanks (and I think you're right!).

    @Bluebear Jeff, thanks, but actually the Horseman's Deli is the exact same building as the Dry Cleaners; it's the same pdf file. The Microtactix folks were kind enough to provide two different signs. I chose the Cleaners but I think the town needs someplace to eat, too!

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  4. Well, Sir, you have been very busy. Fine modeling. Your town looks super. Thanks for sharing your hard work.

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  5. Cool Stuff, thanks for the links, especially. Hopefully you can take Harold out more now that autumn has arrived.

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  6. Nice little town, KC! And I DO like the sci-fi models, too!

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  7. Cheers, Richard! Glad you could drop by. Now let's see a little of your gaming stuff!

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