I went to the local model railway shop last week and had a look around. If you thought Games Workshop charged outrageous prices, you should see what a model train costs... Anyhow, I found some platforms made by a company called Pico, and thought I could use them in my fantasy town.
I added some extra bits to them, in the form of little stone tubes sticking out of the brickwork, presumably to help drain the platforms of whatever filth accumulates on top of them. The tubes were made by cutting some plastic discs from old sprue, and then drilling holes through them before sticking them on. They were painted to look as if they were leaking sludge, and are almost invisible. Oh well.
I also added a couple of baskets and barrels to make the platforms a bit more interesting. The barrels were from Renedra, and aren't the greatest miniatures ever, but I don't think it matters much here.
The problem is that the platforms have flat tops, presumably meant to be made out of concrete. My question is whether I ought to add plasticard to make them look as if they're made of cobblestones. It'd be a faff, though. I don't know if it would be worth the bother.
Here's the platforms with some buildings. I like the idea of varying the heights of the buildings in Tableton, as it creates variety and gives people something to jump off.
Quite nice, and yes, varying the height is important I think, gives more visual interest, breaks up line of sight, and helps to blend smaller buildings in with larger.
ReplyDeleteAs for the surface, I think it looks fine, although you could do it as dirt/gravel or roll out a cobblestone top if you ever do more.
Regarding the prices of train "stuff" I think it depends on where you get it, used things on Ebay can be very cheap, new in box from a train store, definitely not. Without a "warhammer" input, the model railway hobby is graying much faster than the miniature hobby.
Thanks - a lot of the scenery I really like has a complexity that comes from multiple levels. I did originally plan to keep the surface of the platforms quite flat, to give me more options for placing objects.
DeleteModel railways are a bit of a closed world to me. Some of the setups are really impressive, though.
Oh, looks great, but I understand what you mean. I can suggest a relatively cheap trick I've used some times; I use a thin layer of DAS putty (or any clay of the like) and carve on it (I use a stencil, but I guess it can be done manually). Sorry for the blatant spam of my blog, but I think I better provide you some pics to show what I mean: https://oldschoolworkshop.blogspot.com/2018/10/underground-cult.html
ReplyDeleteThat's just the kind of blatant spam I was looking for! I did consider painting some kind of tromp l'oeil grid of stones on the base, but your method sounds much easier. If I get more of these, I might well give that a go.
DeleteHaha, glad you liked it :D I've done different variations on the theme along the years, but they are essentially the same method, with that putty, so I totally recommend it!
DeleteA trick I like to use for flat surfaces like that is to get some brick or cobblestone textured vinyl from Christmas Village type products and glue some down over top. Very easy to texture lots of surface area quickly, and with a quick sand and some textured paint it doesn't look like a repetitive pattern at all! I love the pipes you've added to this, great work!
ReplyDeleteThanks, I'll have a look for that. I've not heard of Christmas Village before - is that a specific company?
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