Just thought I'd stop by to see what is happening and to mention that I'm starting a new terrain project and am documenting the progress on my blog.

Here is the Sketchup model of what is being built:


The plan is to run the "Down on the Farm" scenario listed in the new FoF Bush Wars supplement once this and perhaps a few other buildings are finished.

Anyway, if you are interested, please feel free to follow the blog via RSS/Email. I'll post here once the project is done, but I don't want to continually pester non-interested people with frequent updates.

Comments, questions, and suggestions are quite welcome!

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Visit my Miniature Wargaming blog here: http://blog.ryan.skow.org

Awesome!

I just finished painting my ZIPRA/ZANLA troops...and am in the process of finishing up the bases...all 77 of them!

Next up: the 30 or so RLI troopies!

Oh and I just ordered a couple of the Dushka packs that Eureka just released (and some helicopters!...hey, my B-Day is this month!!! )

I look forward to more updates!

- Jim

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I could agree with you...but then we'd BOTH be wrong.

Just a quick update - lots of progress over the weekend resulting in all of the wall pieces being sculpted and cast.

Jim - Do you have any photos of your troops? I'd love to see them! Also, I sent you a PM in response to the one you sent me - just want to make sure you got it.

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Visit my Miniature Wargaming blog here: http://blog.ryan.skow.org

WOW! you have fantastic talent. Do you sell anything you make?

Thanks! Your comment is much appreciated.

Normally I don't sell anything as it just takes me too long to fully assemble & paint to sell 'finished' works. It may, however be possible to sell plaster or resin castings of the wall pieces. I'd just need to make silicon molds of the newly created masters and then cast the pieces. If there is enough interest in buying castings to offset the cost of the silicon, I may consider it. Additional ideas on this subject would be most welcome.

Thanks again!

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Visit my Miniature Wargaming blog here: http://blog.ryan.skow.org

Ryan,

As I mentioned in my PM last week...I would be interested in buying one of these in "kit" form. Trying to ship a "completed" piece would be an exercise in futility.

Once I see how you plan on doing the roof...I can gauge how successful I'd be at completing the "kit".

I'll try to get pix of my troops up soon. I still need to complete the "bases". Right now, the bases are just painted brown. I need to dry-brush the "flocking gel" and then add some green things (flock, "foilage brush", grass tufts, etc.).

Cheers!

- Jim

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I could agree with you...but then we'd BOTH be wrong.

Well, the good news is that I made two copies of each of the wall sections. Although it was a little bit of work to 'reset' the Plasticine mold between casts, I knew there was at least some interest by other people in getting a kit so I decided to do it. Casting a set of pieces in dental stone from a silicon mold would be quite simple and fast - the only hurdle is the cost of the silicon to produce the mold to begin with. If I were to sell 100 copies it would be a decent investment, but if only one or two people actually want to purchase one then the price would have to probably be higher than people would be willing to pay.

My guess is that it will at least take a single full 2.8lb kit of OOMOO 30 to produce the set of molds. I could be off in my estimates though and it could take two kits. So we're looking in the range of $25-$50 for the silicon. It would be a bit cheaper to buy bigger quantities, but the gallon units are way too much and the bulk of it would probably go bad before I could use it...unless I end up pushing out a dozen new buildings or something. The dental stone I use isn't cheap either, but probably less than $5 of material would be needed for a building of this size. Of course it would be nice to make a full-time living off of building models, I wouldn't factor too much of my time into the cost of this particular 'kit'. The sheer coolness of seeing stuff I've built in various AARs depicting other peoples' gaming tables would offset that a bit.

After doing a bit more research, I do believe the roof was corrugated iron which I had initially assumed. Likely I'll make it similar to the radio station I did awhile back:


I think it may actually be possible to cast each side of the roof out of resin, but I'd have to make each section separate to be able to mold it which I wasn't planning on doing. Most likely for this, I could include enough raw sheets of corrugated metal to build roof for the 'kit' and it would be part of the 'some assembly required'.

Anyway, additional ideas, comments, or other random thoughts are most welcome.

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Visit my Miniature Wargaming blog here: http://blog.ryan.skow.org

Just a quick update - the tricky framing part of the roof is finished. Things are coming together farily well.



Additonal photos and text of this and other minor updates are on the blog.

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Visit my Miniature Wargaming blog here: http://blog.ryan.skow.org

The roof is fully tinned and the basecoat is on:


I've now been sidetracked by another related project which is being used as a prototype for the painting technique:

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Visit my Miniature Wargaming blog here: http://blog.ryan.skow.org

Wow, I'm almost speechless! First time I see someone to build gaming terrain like real house! Great, keep those photos coming, please!

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See also my painting and gaming blog!
http://mentor888.blogspot.fi/

Excellent work! It looks like it's going to be superb. Your radio shack is awesome as well. Can't wait for the final pictures.

Both the house and carport are coming along. Here are a couple update photos:


Still working on the window frame, door, painting the roof, and adding some foliage.

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Visit my Miniature Wargaming blog here: http://blog.ryan.skow.org

The attention to detail is mindblowing!

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"How dangerous is the inferno?"

Lots of pieces in the finished/nearly finished stage.

Here is the overview of the new stuff I plan to use for the Rhodesian "Down on the Farm" scenario at Fields of Honor:



Several more photos related to this update on my blog.

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Visit my Miniature Wargaming blog here: http://blog.ryan.skow.org