Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Halfway there;

 Whooooaaa It's halfway there      
whoooaaa-ooh, terrain on a prayer!
Glue gun in hand, it'll stick I swear,
whooaa-oh! terrain on a prayer! 

Quar House Progress 

Good progress of the Quar house / barn, my first time ever scratch building anything.  
Let's rapid fire pics to get through the assorted bits quickly in order to get to the big payoff.

First, create a little staircase out of foam:

tadaa!


then for the roof, cutout two triangles out of foam that will make the upper portion house.  Cover these with planks made out of coffee stirs to create a wooden effect.

Protip, when you cut the first triangle out of foam you can just slice that triangle in half,
so the you'll have two the exact same. 


For the actual roof, I used a jig also bought form shifting lands.


the idea being that it helps you cut consistent shingle shapes like so...



and after repeating the process several, several, SEVERAL times you have enough shingle strips to glue on appropriately size roof sheets..

little roof


Big roof


I decided that it'll be easier to paint if all put together.  But before that I had to cover the windows so that they wouldn't just look inside the ugly interior.  I took some plastic from a blister and some card tock and layered them inside.  The plastic down first and then the card stock, to create a glass effect and light coming from inside...

not the best picture.  Here is the inside


and the outside.  
still not the best picture and I'm not sure that makes the effect.
But it gets the job done.



Now it's time to glue all the separate pieces together...

All the separate pieces laid out.  


using a hot glue gun on the low setting, I glued it all together.  



 Somehow somewhere along the way I mis-measured,
as I didn't plan for the ramp to butt up right against the house.
I thought there would be some space in between.









it's pretty big.  I did not appreciate how big until I saw it all together. 
For a reference, here it is next to the Sarissa MDF barn..





Since 28mm buildings aren't in scale anyway, I don't think the larger house will be an issue other than the large footprint on the table.  Though the whole point of the terrain is that it's sits in the corner and looks pretty.  But there it is, in all of its scratch build glory.  

This gives me about 2 weeks to paint the thing.  Should be good as long as I don't waste any time.


Time Wasters:


The kids went back to school.  It's glorious.  but they brought back with them germs.  And of course, the sickness has transferred to me.  Got all the symptoms. 

The other big-time waster is our newfound video game addiction 


My son is big into Minecraft, and I thought that I would try it out just to see what it was and have an understanding of what it is, and now I'm all into it too.  It's a nice way to spend time together.  But there have been a few nights where after he goes to bed...and I still play it.  I have history with video games.  There was a time when I could play Word of Warcraft OR finish my dissertation for grad school....but not both.  


Not Time Waster

I went over to my friend's Mr. PC professional wargaming shed for a game of Dead Man's Hand.

Table set up


Game play picture.


I really liked the game of Dead Man's Hand.  It's got good play and easy mechanics.  Which is good because I have a whole pile of terrain for it around here.... somewhere. 


Extra Credit


I finished the extra credit assignment that I gave myself.  

Tadaa!


28mm 

Just a fancy cup holder really.  A place to put in game resource tokens.  


Thanks for reading.
Double thanks for writing a comment.
Till Next time.

43 comments:

  1. The scratch build is looking great

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  2. That really is a big building. Next time for even better scale purposes, place a mini next to it?

    Regardless, those tiles look WAY too time consuming to put together - but damn mate, they look great!

    DMH has always looked good on the table and sounds super fun to boot. I think I might even have a handful of gunslingers in my collection just sat waiting for an excuse to be painted?

    Statue and cups thing looks like a bought and paid for piece, not at all scratch built. Really nicely done.

    Get better soon matey.

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    1. Thanks Dai. I'm saving the miniature for the final reveal. Got to leave them wanting something you know? the tiles didn't actually take that long.
      DMH is a really good simple game. I got a little pile of MDF terrain for it somewhere around here. Glad you liked the extra credit piece. It was pretty simple. 😁

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  3. Another excellent addition to all your other tabletop terrain (and structure) projects--stuff that I would rather buy than build (good on ya!). Love the Quar cup-holder (a neat touch to put on the table, with a function, no less!).

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    1. thanks Ed. I'm hoping the Quar cup holder will draw attention and provide for a few laughs. 😁

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  4. I'm really enjoying your scratchbuilding project Stew. The game of Dead Man's Hand looks good too, and is a project I have had at the back of my mind for a while as one of my gaming friends is very much into the Wild West.

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    1. Thanks Lawrence. DMH is one of those games that has a low figure count but a high terrain quotient. But it was a lot of fun. I might get it off the ground soon myself as I have a pile of MDF terrain. 😁

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  5. Nice scratchbuilding! Freeform will often give you over-sized models but measuring everything can cramp the creative style......I tend to have something of reference to hand just so it doesn't turn out too big or too small rather than relying on plans or similar.
    Who's to say sentient anteaters don't live in giant houses anyway? ☺
    Neil

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    1. Thanks Neil. I actually don't think it's overly big, but bigger than what I envisioned. but time will tell i suppose. 😁

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  6. Fancy bit of scratch building no matter the size. Spending time on terrain is one of my least favorite parts of Wargaming. Good to see that you enjoy it.

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    1. thanks Jonathan. Good thing about the hobby is that it's a large tent and covers many things. too bad we're not closer: you could provide the troops, and I could provide the terrain. 😁

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  7. Fantastic result Stew. I will look fabulous on the table.

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  8. Wow, if that is a 28mm Sarissa barn then yes, IT IS BIG! Looks good though - will be even better when you get it painted!
    DMH looks great - some lovely scenery on that table, for sure!

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    1. Thanks Keith. yes, it is a 28mm barn. juuust a little bigger than I first envisioned. I hope my paint job will be up to snuff. and DMH is pretty good. 😁

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  9. Impressive job. I am envious of your work ethic.

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    1. thanks Jennifer. There is little to be envious of. Having a deadline helps.

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  10. Well the quor things are keeping you busy at least…..I would think they lived in holes ?

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    1. Thanks Matt. maybe Quar live in holes and maybe they don't. 😁

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  11. Loved the house - hated the work involved, especially those fiddly diddly roof tiles (which look awesome by the way). I think there should be a Quar faction that just live underground and then all you’d have to construct is something like a mine entrance.

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    1. thanks Mark. maybe the Quar live underground and maybe they don't. The house was more interesting. 😁

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  12. Outstanding work, and surely a nice centerpiece model on the table!

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  13. That house is looking great, although maybe you should call it a palace! Any pictures with miniatures to show its scale?

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    1. thanks David. The house is pretty big but I don't think it's that big. I was saving the miniature for the end pics. Gotta leave the public wanting more! 😁

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  14. Great job on the house, super impressed by the roof tiles. I am presently sharing your misery with my new best pals … the germs and the sickness! Get well soon :-)

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    1. thanks Norm. you didn't get your new best friends from children, did you? little petri dishes. 😁

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  15. A very nice addition to your buildings, and well done for having the patience to do all those roof tiles.

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    1. thanks Peter. In truth the jib made it easy enough. 😁

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  16. Fabulous work Stew. That jig is sure a useful tool...wish I had had one before I started my latest model with many hundreds of tiles!

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    1. thanks Mark. It does make it a little easier. 😁 Course, you need the hotwire cutter to go with it.

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  17. Great work on that building Stew:)! My wife goes back to school in just over a week's time, so we expect a cold or bug to hit us within two weeks of starting: twas ever thus:(. Never been into computer games at all, maybe just not the right age when they first became a 'thing'...

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    1. thanks Steve. Yes, it's the traditional cold as school starts. I'm doomed to this cycle for the next decade at least. 😁

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  18. Great looking massive building! Lovely work, I find it's useful to have a figure with me when scratch building, just to check the scale as I go but this makes a fine town hall and I like the roof, Great attention to detail!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain. It's coming along alright. 😁

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  19. I can't wrap my head around you quoting Bon Jovi (or at least I'm pretty sure you were) and then playing Minecraft. What pop culture whiplash that is! :) The terrain is looking excellent and kudos on that roof. You did some professional work laying those tiles, I reckon! I can't wait to see you paint it up! Dead Man's Hand does look and sound like a great time. I'd love to give it a go if I had the hobby space to take on a project like that. There's just something cool about the wild west and wargaming!

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    1. I'm the one who left that one! I got logged out somehow by accident and didn't realize it until I hit Publish.

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    2. thanks Jeff. yes, that was Jovi. Deadmans Hand is a game right up your alley with a low figure count and small space to play. Just need a western town...😁

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  20. What a beaut house Stew. More building extraordinaire by you. "My first time ever scratch building anything..." who are you trying to kid? Terrain boards, trenches, walls... don't count?
    I love the pink roof; or do you say 'ruff'? You should leave it that colour.
    The statue to the god of Quar is sensational. Complete with (small) cups for her minions to place tributes.
    Best wishes, James

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    1. thanks James. I guess terrain boards could count as scratch building. I didn't really think of that. I'm still new enough anyway that this is all experimentation versus practice.
      Thanks for the kind words. The Quar statue thing is just a bit of fun that I had. 😁

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