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Fallout – The Burns Residence – II

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While it was a bit up and down over the span of the week, I am happy to share that I’m feeling better overall the last day or two, in particular. I don’t know if I have everything figured out yet or not, but I’m working on my diet and we’ll see if that pays even more dividends this week upcoming or not. If nothing else, the headaches have finally gone away and that has made life a lot easier for me.

A byproduct of feeling better is that I’ve been able to paint more and make progress on the current terrain project from Black Site Studios. I will warn you that it doesn’t look like I made as much progress as I have and I’ll explain why in a second. The first thing I did was apply some more weathering to the exterior which features two different shades or dirt/dust now. I did this on my first piece of house terrain and I think it ended up looking better that way so I figured why not do the same here. I also varnished the exterior so everything you see in the house is varnished and ready for gaming which is great. Here is a picture of the house from last week and then a look at this week’s progress so you can see what I mean.

The real time sink was the windows. They’re small and look easy to paint but white paint on MDF takes a million coats to basecoat well. Okay, its more like 5-10 coats of paint but a million is what it felt like at times. While I was working on them, my wife expressed some concern that the white windows might be too bright. This is noteworthy because she is pretty indifferent to most things I paint though I will admit that I had a similar concern. I tried to weather the window frames to tone down the white a bit and a weird quirk of Black Site Studios MDF reappeared too. The last time I worked on one of their houses, I found that for some reason, varnish turns yellow, especially against lighter colored paint colors. There’s not a ton you can do about it other than try and wipe the yellowed varnish off before it dries and then apply more until you get the right look. In this case, when you’ve got a lot of white surface area, a little yellowing isn’t too bad so I tried to embrace it. Its pretty subtle and hard to see in these photos but overall but adds even more of a weathered look to the house while keeping the white from being too eye-catching, hopefully.

And that was all I managed to get done this week despite being more productive. Am I on pace to get anything Fallout done this month? No, its obvious now that I won’t get this house done in time. What a shame as I was and still am enthusiastic about getting Fallout stuff done in the coming days. I think we’re going to have at least one more entrant to the new monthly challenge to save my bacon and embarrassment a bit too, thankfully. It would appear that the expression, Rome wasn’t built in a day, also applies to Fallout February! I will certainly try to make it more of an event next year and will do a bit of preparation to ensure that some things actually get done.

While I’m still enamored with Metro Exodus, I’m going to save any other discussion of it until I beat the game. Instead, I wanted to give a brief recommendation to a comic book series that I’ve been enjoying and I think one or two of you out there might like as well. Until recently, all I knew about Flash Gordon was that it inspired George Lucas and Star Wars. Since I heard the first issue of Flash Gordon was good a while back, I thought I’d pick it up and try it. Sure enough, it is unlike pretty much any other comic book coming out right now and I’ve enjoyed each of the six issues released thus far.

What is Flash Gordon? It is a pulp, Sci-Fi story about a football player from Earth who gets transported to space. This version of Flash doesn’t emphasize the protagonist’s past on Earth and he’s used to being in space at this point. In fact, he’s well aware of the villain, Ming the Merciless and how devious he is. This version of Ming reminds me a lot of Doctor Doom. He’s super smart, arrogant, wants to take over the world, and essentially thinks he knows best at all times. I think we’ve all met or had to interact with people like that before! Ming’s arrogance contrasts nicely with Flash Gordon’s humbleness and sincerity in these opening issues. I don’t necessarily associate humbleness with football players but that part of Flash’s backstory is a bit of a weakness in modern times and is more reflective of the times in which Flash was originally written.

While that alone is a pretty good building block for any comic book, Flash Gordon also features a lot of action in each issue just like any good pulp story should but it also is fun in the way the original Star Wars trilogy is. There’s action, betrayals, and plot twists galore! Never a dull moment, in other words. Flash Gordon reminds me of what I love about Star Wars and have missed from most of the stuff that Disney has made that I’ve watched. While it isn’t a Galaxy Far, Far Away, it is still one that I’ve grown to really enjoy in 2024. At the same time, you can pick up the first volume of Flash Gordon and understand everything you need to know. You don’t need to be an expert or know any of the planets in the Flash Gordon universe to enjoy.

I will close by saying the art in the series has been above average too which is impressive because Mad Cave Studios is a small, independent publisher. If you’ve ever read comic books before, you know that there is pressure to publish issues on time and that sometimes artists cut corners to do so. Flash Gordon is not that way and it feels like a lot of love and attention to detail is put into the art instead. That makes it a visual treat where you feel like you’re seeing a real, fleshed-out Sci-Fi universe.

If you’re interested, the first trade paperback or collected edition (those basically mean the same thing, in my opinion) came out a few weeks ago and should be available at retailers like Amazon. Its called Flash Gordon Vol. 1: Escape from Planet Death! and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for some pulpy, Sci-Fi action.

And lastly, I’ll say, if there are any Flash Gordon fans out there, do you recommend watching any of the older movies or TV shows? I have watched the trailer for the 1980 movie recently and it looks “interesting” to say the least! I don’t often watch things that came out before I was born but if some of you promise its good, I’d consider giving it a shot, if I can find the time!

31 thoughts on “Fallout – The Burns Residence – II”

  2. Great to hear you are feeling better Jeff, and that must be a relief to get rid of the headache.

    Great progress on the scenery, although I am surprised that you kept adding more white paint, as it is a ruined building, some of the wood colour showing through would have added more depth to the worn look , good that you embraced the yellow varnish, as that often happens with varnish over time, in the real world.

    Having watched the black and white version of Flash Gordon as a child, and the 80’s movie, sounds like you are enjoying it. As for watching the 80’s movie now, if you like over the top nostalgia give it a go, there are some big characters in it, and the vehicles are very much in the style of the original black and white series.

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    1. I am relieved to be feeling better for sure. And all I can say is that nobody said I can’t make adjustments to the white windows! 🙂 I’ve been thinking it over and looking at some references and I have an idea or two for how I might go about it so the windows may not be done yet!

      I could tell from the trailer that Flash Gordon from the 1980’s is quite over the top. When Ming talks about enjoying playing with his victims a little first that really drove that point home! I may just have to give it a go, especially because Sir Timothy Dalton is in it and he is quite a talented actor and underrated at that.

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  3. Can I suggest that “Fallout February” is followed by “More Fallout March” just so you keep up momentum! 😉 I’ve seen MDF behave strangely with paint before so I always prime it with enamel. I’ve only ever noticed enamel varnish yellowing with age and never acrylic so, as you say, it could be the MDF contributing.

    I’ve had a “Ming The Merciless” trade paperback (gave it to my nephew, since he loves comics as well) so I’ve now added Flash Gordon to my Amazon wish list (can get the Kindle version for less than £4)!

    Glad to hear you’re feeling better! 🙂

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    1. There also could be Astoundingly Fallout April and Massively Fallout May too 😉 In all seriousness, I think that is basically what’s going to happen. I’ll keep going on it for a while until I get sick of it.

      I haven’t tried doing it but I might try and prime all the MDF before painting it next time just to see if that helps any. Its a bit of a pain with some of the small pieces like the windows but it might save time later on so its worth considering!

      I mentioned my enjoyment of Flash Gordon in this article because you were someone I thought might also enjoy it. I can’t say how the new series compares to previous Flash Gordon iterations but I think its pretty appealing as a modern take on pulp. Four quid is a bargain and I hope you enjoy it when you get around to it! 🙂

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      1. The easiest way to prime MDF, is a layer of PVA glue mixed with water about 50/50 mix, this stops the porous nature of the wood soaking up all the paint, just make sure to give it plenty of time to dry, before applying paint.

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      2. I’ll have to give it a try! Have you used this technique with pre-painted MDF because the Black Site Studio kits are, much like 4Ground was when they were still in business?

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  4. Saying the movie Flash Gordon is over the top is an understatement. With a soundtrack by Queen how can you lose?

    The building is coming along nicely, keep at it!

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    1. I can believe it and Queen definitely fits the one of the movie if the trailer is indicative of the full movie!

      Thanks for the kind words as well. I’ll get the mostly destroyed house done, one of these days.

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  5. Keep going with that building. I think it can often be hard to balance between realistic, good-looking and practical when it comes to terrain. I say go as bright as you like with the window frames – it’ll stand out nicely on the tabletop.

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    1. Cheers, mate! White window frames are very realistic as well. A lot of houses in the US have them though I think I might have gone too dark with the blue and that is why they stick out so much. Either way, it is what it is at this point and I’ll try to make the most of it!

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  6. Hey mate – shame to hear you’ve been feeling ill, but good to hear that you’re on the way back up!

    The building looks pretty nice. I understand that a good fix for painting MDF is to give it a coat of shellac-based spray primer which basically seals in that super-absorbant wood fiber. Painting wise, it’s pretty bright still. I have thoughts on the weathering and some of the techniques – but they may go against your chosen painting style and aesthetic for it. Let me know if you’d like me to expand on it here or even via a chat on discord, etc – but regardless it still looks great and far better than most people could ever achieve even if you stopped right there. 🙂

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    1. Thank you, mate! I am doing quite a bit better and almost feel normal this week so that is a relief all the way around.

      I think I have heard of the shellac-primer thing before now that you mention it. I will definitely look into it and if I can patiently wait for the weather to be good to prime my next big terrain project, I can probably save myself a fair bit of time so I definitely need to try that in the future.

      I’ve been working on the last white bits on the house this week and once I get them in place, I think I’m going try and dull down the white a bit more to see if that makes me like it any better. If you have any thoughts that you don’t mind sharing, I’m certainly all ears. I know what you mean about painting style and aesthetics too. I try to be sensitive about that with other painters too as we all have our own preferences.

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      1. Honestly it looks really clean still – I can see the edge highlights on every weatherboard panel, though I’d expect to see a lot more scratches and flaked paint on the weatherboard, particularly on the edges of the boards and even moreso where they’re broken and/or cracked – obliterating the edge highlights.

        The floorboards look great, but they’re very consistent in the wear pattern – you’d have much more dirt in the corners of the floors and skirting boards. A targeted stipple/drybrush of thinned panzer grey and/or a desaturated brown would do the trick – and then the same around the outer lower edge of the building as the bottom weatherboards look the same as the top ones. Wear patterns on high-traffic areas, and also some completely uneven weathering, like some pigment powder in just a random blotch section of the flooring – imagine light pigment in almost the shape of Italy as opposed to a circle in the cracks on the floor

        More weathering on the hard, sharp, outer corners of everything – including the window frames. They’re the parts that get hit and dinger by flying debris. In a future MDF kit, you might also consider denting edges and corners, and even going to town to cause extra damage where you have splintered or broken wood.

        Streaking where the rain would naturally flow, both outside and inside – and especially messing up the wallpaper on the interior. Streaking from window frames.

        All this sounds like a lot of work, and it can be if you do it precisely. I think the sort of weathering I’m describing can (mostly) be done much more roughly and randomly.

        A basic illustration of the sorts of things I’m talking about can be seen in this post

        https://azazelx.com/2021/12/29/15mm-flames-of-war-battlefield-in-a-box-small-desert-houses-large-desert-house-ruined-desert-houses-ruined-large-desert-house-weathered-repainted-bb216-bb222-bb230-bb231/

        But also look at photos of worn, abandoned buildings, and the youtube channel of a military modeller guy called Night Shift who does a lot of diorama pieces is also something I’d recommend for inspiration.

        https://www.youtube.com/@NightShiftScaleModels

        Hope you take this as intended – and possibly even find the feedback useful! 🙂

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      2. Thank you for the feedback and there is a lot to chew on, but in a good way! I’m glad you mentioned Night Shift Scale Models as I used to watch some of his videos and its been a while. He’s one of the better Youtubers in my opinion. I’m going to be catching up on his videos and I will keep mulling over all this to think about what I want to incorporate in the current project. Thanks for sharing it, mate. I appreciate it!

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    1. Thanks, Nic! Metro has definitely been inspiring thus far. There are a lot of metal surfaces that have rust and chipping on them but the game is a great source of inspiration for the post-apocalypse in general. Nobody has said to avoid Flash Gordon so I’ll have to find some time to watch it one of these days when I can pull myself away from Metro Exodus 🙂

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  8. glad you are feeling better.
    MDF does take a lot of paint, it just soaks it up. If I’m doing a piece that’s just an MDF she’ll then some spray primer goes on first.

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    1. I really need to do that. I have an irrational fear that I won’t be able to assemble the kit if I don’t follow the instructions somewhat closely but the reality is that isn’t very likely. I can take all of the pieces out of the MDF sheets and prime them and be fine. I have a big terrain project to tackle maybe this year or early next year and so I will try and spray it to save some time and effort and see how I like that.

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