It has been an interesting week hobby-wise with quite a few things to discuss so let’s not waste any time. First up, I had great fun today getting my recently finished shotgun-style house, which Black Site Studio calls the Kingsley Residence, ready for some photos. I’m not quite sure what to call the house so I’ll probably use either term interchangeably going forward. While I know I showed it off in a mostly done state not too long ago, I wanted to take a bit of a victory lap and take some awesome cinematic shots because I haven’t been able to do that for a while. So out came the mat and minis and here is what I came up with!
As you can see, I never finished the foundation for the house which makes it look quite a bit better and there are stairs on the front and back now too. The stairs don’t really attach to the house so I’ll be probably leave them loose and set them up whenever I play Fallout. One thing you’ll see is that a lot of the MDF tabs on the house are now covered fairly well thanks to a recommendation from Dave Stone. Wood filler really does the trick with MDF gaps and I will be using it in the future without a doubt, so thank you, Dave! Now, back to the cinematic shots!
And that’s a wrap! This finished project is my entry for Dave Stone’s Paint What You Got Challenge. That’s two shout outs for him in a single post. That has to be a record! Its great to see my first big, complex piece of terrain get finished and I’m unsurprisingly thrilled I got a higher quality kit from Black Site Studio. I’ll be buying more in the future as this was generally a fun project to work on and the end result speaks for itself.
But what about the Warhammer project for a certain competition, you ask! Well, I have a little bit to share there too. Unfortunately, while the legs and cape are assembled, there isn’t really much to show so you’ll see more of that later on. Instead, I have what is very much a work in progress with the base. Truthfully, I had an idea of what I wanted to do but it wasn’t coming together the way I thought. Fortunately, I have a friend who is an excellent painter and he always gives great feedback, he reassured me that I was on the right track and once I edge highlighted the base, it would look much better. I was skeptical initially but fully admit that he knew what he was talking about. This is what the base looks like currently.
My fear is that this would look gaudy but I think it actually fits Warhammer well and while it does look a bit fantastic (in the fantasy genre sense, not me patting myself on the back kind of way!), it should be a nice contrast from the mini I’m painting. Unfortunately, I had to stop working on the base during the week because I ran out of paint or Lahmia Medium to be more specific. Truthfully, I probably wouldn’t have gotten the Kingsley Residence done this week if not for this delay so I guess there is some silver lining there. With any luck, the paint will arrive on Monday and the project can resume. I still have enough time to get this done, I believe, and it was nice to take a break for a day or two but I am eager to get back to it as having time to pour into the project can only be a good thing for achieving strong results.
Finally, my plan when moving to the condo was to get a portable gaming table that I could setup in my room where I paint, play video games, and have all my stuff stored so that my poor, long suffering wife wouldn’t have to “share” the dining table with me when I want to game or take scenic pictures like above. However, I’ve been researching to find a table that could work and I’m not seeing much of anything out there that has the right dimensions and is portable. Ideally, the table would either be 4×4 or 6×4 since Fallout can require as big as a 4×4 space. I was hoping to find something that is portable as well so I can stash it in a closet when its not in use but the places I would expect to have that sort of thing (Amazon, Wayfair, etc.) do not. There are a couple of hobby tables out there but one seems to be out of stock with no indication when it might be available and the other is on a dodgy looking website for a company based in Eastern Europe so that’s not ideal. I’m a bit stumped about what to do now but I do think I would be wise to make use of our dining table more in the meantime and try to get a game of Fallout in sooner than later. I’ve been itching to play and have everything I need so there’s no reason for me to keep pushing it off! The table is a few years old now, showing wear, and from IKEA so it is going to be replaced with a much nicer table that I don’t know if the lady of the house will let me use in the same way.
Fortunately, there is some good organization news. I’ve been working at taking down the shelf that was in my room’s closet and in a week and a half, I will be getting a closet organizer installed so I can finally get all of the stuff in my room stored and organized. It has been really annoying having it all out on the floor and I’m curious to see how much storage room I have in the closet once everything is put away. I think that will give me a much better sense of how many games and terrain I can support in the coming years as well. It will also provide further motivation for me to reduce things like my card collection which I haven’t made a ton of progress on truthfully. Hopefully all the organization talk wasn’t too boring and I will share some pictures of my closet, if not my room once it is all done as a reward for suffering through it!
Kuribo's Painting 
Great photos of the finished building and I like the look of the base you are working on too. Storage is generally a pain for us all and solutions are seldom easy or long term. Good luck finding a folding table. Alternatively you could always keep the dining table for gaming and eat off trays but I’ll let you suggest that to your good lady! 😉
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Thanks, mate and I think your statement on storage is very true and wise! Its funny you mention that idea because a leg rest on one of our chairs broke so now my wife is even more motivated to replace the perfectly good gaming/dining table that we have 😉
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The building looks excellent Jeff, and the weathering fits perfectly for the setting. Thanks for the double mention, will have to aim for more ! LOL
The base is looking good, and the stone has an almost alabaster look to it.
Finding furniture pieces for use with war gaming can be a pain, have you thought about a smaller table, that you then place a gaming board on top, this was the solution I went with, and have two 4′ x 3′ table tops that connect together, that sit on top of the normal table.
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Thanks, mate! You set the bar high for yourself there and you’re going to have to work to break your record I’d say 😉
Alabaster is a nice way to describe the base. I guess the resemblance is why people are liking it so far which I’m glad to see.
Your idea is a good one. I wouldn’t have even thought about doing something like that. I was hoping that a solution already existed (naively as it turns out!) but I think some creativity is going to be required here to work this out!
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The house is excellent and I love the Diorama style photos. Also the base looks very nice
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Thank you for the kind words, mate! I appreciate it 🙂
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The house really has come out very well, Jeff, I can see why you’re pleased with that! 🙂 And it’s obviously not just me going through an organisational phase at the moment either!
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Thank you, John! I’m trying to catch up today and now you’ve piqued my curiosity to see what organizational projects you’re working on 😀 You might help inspire some ideas for me!
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Stunning work on the building, Jeff! The weathering and damage look spot-on in terms of realism, and the model itself is great.
If you’re going for a marble look on the base, I’d say you were hitting it perfectly.
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Thanks, Matt! Its always flattering to hear kind words from another painter who is doing similar work to you so I appreciate it!
I really had no idea what I was going for on the base so it is a happy accident more than anything else! 🙂
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Congrats on finishing the “residence”, it looks great! I was surprised how the interior was though, didn’t expect it to be divided in two that way. When I hear shotgun house I visualize a clear shot from front to back 😁 I like your cinematic shots, looking forward to seeing the house in a game.
Regarding a gaming table that can be stored and used, how about going old school and getting a 48in card table?
Wanted to thank you for several items I’ve learned from your blog; the use of Lahmia Medium and chinchilla dust. I use the medium when doing faces and it has helped quite a bit from looking so caked on. I tend to have to do faces several times, especially around the eyes and the medium has helped. The chinchilla dust adds a nice texture to smooth plaster pieces I use. So again, thanks!
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Thank you, sir! 🙂 I agree that interior is strangely done. It is not nearly as playable as it could be. I’m not sure why Black Site chose to put the one wall that blocks anyone from crossing the house…
A card table sounds perfect to me and I’d be happy to grab something in that size. Maybe I’m just using the wrong search terms… I’ll give that a try and thank you for mentioning it!
I’m glad to hear there have been things that are of use to others. I don’t do tutorials much but I’m happy to share knowledge where I can. Lahmia Medium is better than water to thin your GW paints and it gives smoother results. Thinning your paint is almost always a good idea when painting but it really helps with faces which can look rough with too heavy of washes or thicker paint!
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The house is brilliant mate, I love it!
I think I may end up doing some post-apoc after all… having recently won some things on eBay at amazingly good deals. I am trying to work out the coolest way to scratch my WW2 platoon level combat (Chain of Command from Toofatlardies) and a retro futuristic post-apoc Wasteland (ie Gamma World mixed with Fallout, Walking Dead and Mars Attacks).
Now I need to figure out how to get some cheap TT Combat MDF buildings to look good enough to not be embarrassed by. I will no be able to reach your lofty heights of post-apoc world building but you continue to serve as an inspiration and mentor. I heartily thank you for that!
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Thank you, mate! 😀 I’m thrilled to hear you might be doing post-apocalypse as I know its something you’re really into like me. That sounds interesting. Are you doing a setting or rules that are of your own creation? I’m always impressed that you can come up with those sorts of things. I’m the opposite and rely on game designers to do all that for me. Either way, I’m excited to see more.
When it comes to MDF terrain, there isn’t a lot of good info on how to weather stuff unfortunately. I’ve experimented mostly to figure out what works best. It doesn’t take a lot of skill but just knowing what techniques work best will take you pretty far so if you have any questions, just drop me a line and I’ll be happy to help!
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You are always so helpful and kind. You sir are a shining light in the darkness of the internet.
I am not sure what I am doing for rules yet. I am committed to Chain of Command but I do not think that will do everything I want to. I will be looking into Mars Attacks, Konflikt 47, 5 Klicks from the Zone, Zona Alpha, Last Days and This is Not a Test…. Oh and probably Fallout Wasteland Warfare (both the tabletop and RPG). And maybe even some original Twilight 2000 and Gamma World. I suspect a lot of house rules cobbling together things I like from different games.
Mrs. GG is beginning to show an inkling of interest as she appreciates some of the wacky tongue in cheek aspects of Fallout. If I accentuate that and the focus the conflict to be with non-humans in some scenarios, I might get her to play those specific scenarios. She seems quite willing to wargame against invading aliens although we will likely still need to play coop.
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I just hope to make a positive impact on others in any way I can, mate 🙂
That sounds like a good plan on the rules. You’ve probably seen this already but Fallout Wasteland Warfare’s rules seem to be either really liked or hated. I’m on the really like side but others seem to think they’re needlessly complicated or hard to learn so we’ll see what you think of them.
There are aliens in Fallout and there is a single mini available from Modiphius for them so maybe you can use that to your advantage. Fallout overall has a pretty playful tone though there are plenty of darker things going on too. Either way, that sounds awesome to me. Finally, I should mention that there is the AI system in Fallout so co-op is definitely a possibility if you two like the rules. I need to give the AI system a try. Its on my to-do list this year for sure.
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Very nice job and some cool pics of the shotgun house. Guess I’ll have to choir this Dave Stone guy since you mentioned him twice!! 😀
Good luck with your organization and eventual game table. Take the time to get what works for you.
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Thanks, Stew! If you like Star Wars at all, then Dave’s site is a great read. I find it inspirational and I don’t play any Star Wars mini games as you know.
I want an easy solution but have no choice but to be patient so that is what I will do until I figure out a good solution here. I’m sure something will hit me eventually!
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First of all the ruined house is great! The base is looking good too, although I’m still no further forward with “guess that Stormcast”!
Regarding the table, this may be a daft suggestion (as I’m obviously not familiar with the rooms) but if you’re going to replace the dining room table why not move it into your hobby room and use it? It wouldn’t fold away (I assume) but there’s a lot to be said for having a semi-permanent painting area set up (so long as you keep it tidy and organised which I’ll admit I often don’t). I ended up building my own painting desk and I’ve found it’s done wonders for the quality and quality of my output. If you can’t find something that works for you ready made maybe go down that route?
Storage is the bane of every hobbyist’s existence. I use stackable plastic boxes for my models and I’m fairly happy with it, it’s far from a perfect solution though. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with, I’m always in the market for fresh inspiration. 😀
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Thanks, mate! 🙂 There are enough hints on the base that you can probably figure out which Stormcast I’m painting but I wouldn’t waste any time researching it if I were you!
That is a smart suggestion and there has been some discussion about whether the table could be saved in that regard. The problem is that the table is tall, much taller than your typical dining room table so I think it will look really odd in this room. If not for that though, it probably would be the optimal solution at least for the short term!
Hopefully the end result of this closet work is a pretty good looking and clean setup. This room certainly needs it.
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The house is fantastic mate. The cinematic shots are cool. The base looks great too man. For us hobbyists there’s never enough space haha. I’m already thinking I need a bigger hobby cabin haha
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Cheers, mate! And haha, that is the truth. I think you should just slap rooms on top or on the sides of the hobby cabin Ork-style personally 😀
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Haha it’d look cool. Possibly a gun turret as well
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Nice post Jeff. The apocalyptic building foundations came out nice and really add the flavor to them. As for the Warhammer base – looking very nice so far. Good luck with the storage – I cannot recommend Really Useful Boxes highly enough.
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Thanks, Mark! I will have to remember Really Useful Boxes once the closets are done. I can hardly wait to get everything organized and put away!
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Lovely, thematic pictures Jeff, well worth showing off your finished residence, and the filler worked a treat – I’ll be stealing that idea, thanks Dave!
The base looks a treat too – nice colour choice I think.
If you’re going to be replacing your dining table then why not use the top and make your own portable games table?
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Thanks, mate! I would heartily recommend filler, its really a must have. Unfortunately, the table top is fairly heavy so I don’t think it would be all that portable of an option. I like the creativity though. If I can find a bit more of that, I probably can come up with a good solution to this problem 🙂
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The house and weathering has come up really well – a win like that should really buoy your enthusiasm for the next piece. 🙂
The base looks pretty sweet, and the edging does really bring it up a lot also!
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I’ll probably complain the entire way as I usually do with terrain but thanks, mate! 🙂 I do look forward to putting this house to use in the game as well.
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Well Jeff the house turned out to be a marvellous piece to play with, I am impressed!! Even with your advice in the past I still have lack the ability, or maybe I’m lazy, to get weathering to the high standard you and some of the other folk have.
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Thank you, Pat! Weathering is definitely worth practicing as it isn’t too hard once you get it down. I find that there are a couple of techniques you can kind of “stack” on painted MDF to help create the optical illusion that a building or mini is real. The best part about weathering is that it isn’t as precise as regular painting and I often drybrush or sponge paint on to achieve the effects you see so it can be pretty relaxing to work on too.
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I don’ do much in the way of buildings to get much practice in the past but I now have some which I intend to paint this winter so fingers crossed 🤞 my efforts will improve 😉🤓
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