Modelling update

The table top for chapter 2 is coming along slowly but surely. Things are going to have to pick up soon as I have given my self an absolute dead line; 29th February. The above image shows what is missing so far, the inn and the workshop need to have their roofs finished. Four buildings need slates on their roof's and the Captains tower structure needs finishing also. After that its all polyfilla and painting and a few remaining internal walls.

The captains tower might seem a little ostentatious for it is based on some of the rather grand towers that once stood in some of Germanys old city's. The images below for example show such towers. The lowest image is much as I imagine Takshendal, though with fewer trees.

Slapershaven

Slapershaven is the village around which Chapter 3 of the game takes place. These images are a rough guide to what the village will look like. The idea is the village is built on a small out cropping of rocky ground at the point where to small rivers meet at one end of a small lake. The model boat indicates where the two rivers meet and the idea is the waters surround the village on all sides except where the palisade completes the villages defences. There are currently six 'houses', one of which is an inn and another is a general store/smithy two barns and a headman's hall. Naturally this is just a rough idea of what the village will look like so I may change some details later on, possibly add a building or two depending on how much time I can devote to further building projects...

1. The house of Bernold Bokkel & family.
2. The house of Pieter Garrison & family.
3. A barn/stable belonging to Bartlemy Linschoten.
4. 'The Merrye Badger' inn belonging to Samuel Leadfern.
5. General store & smithy of Bartlemy Linschoten & family.
6. The hall of village headman Herluf Brethouwer & family.
7. The house of Mattheus Lowhouse & family.
8. Watch tower.
9. The guard house of Reynold Klompenhower & son.

The city walls

About two years ago I conceived of the idea of making some city/castle curtain walls and set about acquiring some scrap wood and cutting it down to size. I eventually settled on ten parts at 10 cm each. This is enough to span the width of our gaming table (when used in conjuncton with two towers I am also building).

Each element is coated with polyfilla which has been carved to replicate masonry. This was a difficult process to undertake at first because I didn't realise how long to allow the polyfilla to dry. Subsequently all my first attempts are rather messy and not very 'brick like'. It was only with time that I realised that allowing the polyfilla to dry for 90 minutes or so was the best option as it became easier to sculpt the bricks rather than make impressions in the wet polyfilla. At the same time, one must not let the polyfilla dry to long lest the polyfilla hardens to the point where scratching it will simply erode the surface into dust.

Once the polyfilla sculpting was finished, it was simply a matter of grounding the models with matt acrylic black and then dry brushing gradiating tones of grey to simulate a stone finish. Dry brushing is an art in itself and I find that the larger the surface area the harder dry brushing becomes. All in all I am fairly satisfied with the finish which I weathered with some guache tints before varnishing with acrylic matt varnish.

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Building Takshendal

Takshendal is a ridiculously time consuming and overly ambitious project. Its literally half a years intense model building for a game which will probably not run for more than forty hours all told... but fortunately for me, the fun is not just in playing the game, but also in building the models and creating the characters. Setting the stage one might say. Indeed, it feels sometimes as if I'm creating sets for a movie. I do research online (see below: Firenze), watch movies I know have good scenery or ambience (see above from Doctor Who). I examine the buildings and streets around me to see how they are construsted and obsess over small details which will be utterly irrelevent in the finished game. I spend a good half an hour each evening just surfing for interesting faces or image sof old city streets. Yesterday I watched 'The triumph of the will' and all I could find interesting was the old German street scenes at the beginning. Old buildings long since pulverized and gone. Nurenberg was such a beautiful city. I'd be tempted to steal one or two of those buildings if they weren't so 'teutonic'.... I may anyway.

Every night as I go to bed, I act out small drama's in my head, or play with idea's, create characters and enact imaginary conversations revolving around the plot. This is essentially how I create all my games and short stories. I generate an ambience in my head first and then try to recreate it. This works well for me, but I'm not sure how well it translates to the players. One of the things I'm always worried about is if all the detail has remained locked in my skull and I'm just taking it for granted that every one else understands what I'm talking about.

The one thing I really miss not being able to recreate is the audio environment. It would be too ridiculous to have a looped audio file running in the background with 'ambient city noise', but it would be cool to try and make one.

Cthulhu House update

Its coming along nicely now, though I've run out of the nut wood I like to use for paneling and floor boarding. The next stages are to finish the windows (which are made of perspex etched in a diamond pattern) and then start on the masonry (which will be made of etched polyfilla). There after I hope to do the turret roof before finishing the internal walls.

I had thought of attaching a small green house to the back of the building, but given the leaded glass windows I've decided that the amount of glass in a green house would be a contradiction in style, so I've scapped that idea. I'd really like to do a building with a conservatory though maybe I'll just stick to the generic medieval period for now.
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The Cthulhu House

I am currently working on the model house which I plan will stand opposite the inn on the T junction (both face the city wall). This house, due to its design and shape, I have taken to calling 'the Cthulhu House' because it is inspired by the houses which were often shown on the covers of the Call of Cthulhu RPG:

So far I've made the frame for the first two floors and next up will be the frame for the roof and upper turret. I've also been applying polyfilla brickwork to my city wall elements and these are 90% rendered.





I've also been searching online for inspiration, and the other day I came across this image which I shall use as a template for Consuela Brackenbridge's shop:

Scene of the crime

The Captains Tower (black) - unfinished.
The barracks tower - unfinished.
The wall - unfinished.
Town house Nr1. (red tiled roof) - finished.
Town house Nr 2. (dark red with thatched roof) - unfinshed.
The Inn - Unfinished.
The Wharehouse - finished.
The Big House - Not yet begun
Townhouse Nr 3. - Not yet begun
Smithy - Not yet begun
The green shaded area is for buildings not yet planned.