Hi guys, thought I’d share some terrain stuff I’ve been working on. I’ve been looking at mdf terrain for wasteland stuff and Serissa Precision have some good table fillers and pretty cheap too …and they have a retro 50’s Americana section that is absolutely on point for Fallout.
I picked up a few bits and I’ve been working on their Airstream Caravan model. It’s only £8 quid and looks dead right. Bit of a tricky build though.
Then glue onto each rib. I used PVA and probably should have used superglue. I made a bit of a pigs ear of glueing up and was running a real risk of turning the skin into a paper mache mess. I had to walk away and let it go off a bit, then come back to it and then later, fix bits that weren’t sticking with superglue. If I was hoping for a perfect caravan model, this would have ended up in the bin. Fortunately, I was looking for a 200 year old wasteland wreck …so the mistakes just add to it. Well, that’s my excuse anyway.
FYI, I made the base, you dont get one with the model.
Check out their stuff …they have a pretty cool 50’s school bus that would fit right in too, and some buildings that look like they are straight from Sanctuary Hills.
Thanks for this. I’ve been wondering about this kit. I’ve been looking for trailer (caravan) models for a while. The propane tanks could be made into Mr Handy fuel as well.
Yeah, I think they are great value. It’s just a LoS blocker at the end of the day, but they look dead right. These caravans are everywhere in fallout, I think I might get another.
Nice, looks great. I think you’ve nailed the weathering and basing
Sarissa are great, they are right in the sweet spot for cost and quality for me. I have a whole load of their kits, mostly unassembled (including their paddle steamer, don’t ask )
I haven’t got this one though, definitly one to pick up.
Thanks guys, it’s good to get feedback. I’m new to model building and minis. I painted my first just a month ago and I’ve never played a wargame in my life. I’ve got a good crafting bench though - I used to do a lot of leatherwork and there is a lot of tool overlap apart from the paints and glue.
I have a few more bits from the same Sarissa order in progress. A guard house/bike shed which was another £8 quid model and their bunker hatch which was £6.50. It’s not exactly right for a fallout hatch …no gears or such, but it looks the part. The construction of the hatch is the same principle as the caravan above - basically ribs radiating out from a central hub, with a cardboard skin glued over it. Though a much easier build than the caravan.
I have a couple more bits too …a small water tower which was also £8 quid and a more expensive centrepiece that I’m not sure is going to work out. I bought a big building from their sci-fi range with the intention of modding it into a sort of wasteland refinery, but I think it might be a bot too sci-fi and not enough ‘mad max’.
Here are some more of the guard house/hut thing. I used some offcuts from the mdf sprue to frame out all the windows and doors. Then made a paint from PVA and fine sand. The sand-paint is not subtle so the window and door framing provide an edge to paint into. When the glue dries back it leaves the sand coating the model and it looks like it’s stucco or rendering or something.
More on the hut. It doesnt mention it on the Sarissa website, but they call this model the guard hut or bicycle shed. What they dont tell you is you get a sprue of little bicycles with it. Could be useful for scatter terrain or part of a barricade or something.
Anyway, back to the hut. I’ve done some staining and weathering. A way to go yet but progress. I’ve added a corrugated tin roof and made some sandbags out of greenstuff to make the roof playable and offer some cover. I’ll need to make a ladder for it.
…and some progress on the hatch. I painted it a few days ago with the same sand-PVA mix that I used to render the hut. I wanted the hatch to look concrete, not steel. Obviously, I’ve lost the etched detailing, but I’ve gained the texture and I prefer it. Still some finishing on this, but getting close.
…and everything to date. You can see the water tower at the back. It’s built, primed and base coated. I’m gonna do it as half rust, half pale blue paint and probably put some corrugated iron around the legs to offer some LoS cover. But I’m going to finish up the other stuff first. I have a terrible habit of flipping between different things. Just for reference, those 4 items cost me £30.50 in base model cost. Obviously there is paint and time and wotnot to factor in, but I think it’s pretty good value.
I love what you did with the hatch. The concrete looks good. What ratio to you use sand to glue? Or what consistency do you look for?
Personally, I’d leave the roof unglued so that minis could go inside if you wanted that as an option. But I tend to see things from a “rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it” point of view.
With the door on there, you could add a lock token to be able to access the inside in some scenarios…
I just mixed it in a small bowl. I added some PVA first, l diluted it with water just a little, maybe 5% or so and then just kept adding sand till it felt like it was loaded but still paintable. The trick is to use ultra-ultra fine sand. You can buy it by the kilo as fine aquarium sand on Amazon - some guarantee a grain size of 0.25mm. Paint it on and then just prime, paint and dry brush to make it pop. I gave the hatch 2 coats of sand-PVA because I wanted a heavier texture than the hut.
Yeah, I think you’re right. I had thought about putting a table inside with a terminal on it and maybe a floorsafe. Problem is I’ve got to decorate it now.
I had thought of just printing off fallout wall and floor textures and then PVA pasting them to the inside. It might be easier to just paint it though.
I have seen some people print and glue wallpaper patterns and such, but typically it’s a coat of paint from what I’ve seen. Tho it might work for something like wood panels or what have you, that you might see on the inside of a shed. Saves the detail painting the lines. If that was what you were going for.
Unfortunately, yeah it means building pieces to go in it. But if you don’t make them permanently attached, you can reuse the pieces or redecorate the room as needed.
That way you can tell yourself you’re being smart, so you don’t have to do as much. While you work on your next piece. And the next. And the one after that… lol
Well I thought I’d give it a go. I havent tried printed walls before and I thought this was probably a good place to practice. If I dont like it, it’s only a hut. Let me know what you think?
I downloaded this dirty, mouldy plastered wall image from the web that I thought would work well. After printing it made a 15cm x 5cm strip which was enough for 2 walls in my shed and some room for movement to avoid obvious repeats…
Those look great, I like using paper for walls and floors in smaller builds. You may want to run a sharpie around the edges so they aren’t stark white. Keep up the awesome work!
This is great. Thanks for sharing your build notes, especially your scoring details at the very beginning. I’d been wondering about these for a while, and well, you answered most of my questions. Well done, mate.
)
Love the sandbags, I may need to steal that idea 
