Houses of the city - Post-apoc/Sci-fi scenery

In the last couple of weeks I had the chance to play a fair load of games and for the second part for the french Oldhammer event (posts HERE and HERE, I had decided to build and paint a bit more scenery to have a good table.

Now I've started these a few months ago but like often I did most of the job and then couldn't get myself to do what was left.

But deadlines do have that ability to kick you in the rear, especially if you've committed for some nice folks and don't want to end up playing on something like this :

So here's what I managed to finish in the 3 days prior to the event (thank May and its 4 bank holidays !) :

The main building is a rather unique one, it's a prototype from Oakbound which I got as a reward for the painting competition at BOYL last summer.

The building came as a basis more than a complete building so I decided to make it some sort of imperial administratum... outpost ?

I decided to go with a mix of Victorian/steampunk elements to anchor it in a futuristic setting so riveted roofs, sci-fi doors (from other kits, see below) and a few bits which would anchor it in tehegrimdark far future and we would be good.

I obviously had to cut 357 billion rivets out of plastic rods, losing most of what sanity I had left, but I suppose it was worth it in the end...

The most chalenging but fun part was to build an administratum icon from scratch which ended much better than I feared. Of course, since I didn't want to model more of it, I made an Oyumaru mould and got a few cast with resin. The result is more than pleasant since the original and copy look exactly the same when painted.

This building doesn't provide much in terms of gaming (not much room to climb on but it does offer some good opportunities for scenic shots and the sheer size of it makes it a perfect focus point on the table :

The photos above are heavily lit from above and hid the nuances of colours but I do find that given the time spent, it really works as a decorative piece on the tabletop :

After that, I had a few models from Miniature scenery I ordered back in August. I have to say I was really impressed with those, they were a delight to build with tight fits, clever designing and very limited preparation work (no excessive filing and sanding to make parts fit which can be a nightmare).

If it wasn't for the postage and duty fees, it would be the best around, I really wish they could get a european retailer.

Those come with plenty of little bits and pieces you can add to other buildings to decorate them so I used some windows and doors to make the administratum outpost look more integrated with the rest.

Like above, the pictures here are all lit from above and lack some of the nuances they have IRL but you get the idea.

First one is the Administration block, a very simple design but which does provide 2 levels and hence plenty of gaming opportunities.

Next was the Distribution building, a very interesting building with 2 levels, a removable roof for scenic shots and a cool workshop on the first floor.

Then the Central processing building, which just fits right with the other buildings :

Then the Auto shop, , just 1 level but larger and some good cover so still very useful in game. I haven't decided what kind of sign I want to add in front so I've left this space blank for now...

Now the lesson I learnt from the other events is that when you have big scenery, you need about twice as much scatter terrain to make it look good so I picked a variety of pieces I knew I could get painted in a small time.

Some communication relays (which got used for both our games of Rogue Trader), they're 40k bits that help add a little grimdark vibe without being too eye catching, I painted them very simply.

I've also based some lamp posts to decorate the streets, some ladders because you simply never have enough of them and 2 sewer doors along with the 9 barricades from the Necromunda box.

Nothing really fancy here but the aim really was to have them done ASAP.

In the end I'm quite pleased with how everything turned out, it works well on the table, fits all together and is relatively easy to store which for now is the compromise I'm aiming for. I still have a few commitments for May and then I'll get some free rein for the summer so I better end this month as brilliantly as it began !