Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Scenery pics/video: inspiration from dad!

Spent the weekend of Family Day (holiday Monday for us here in Ontario) up at my parents cottage with my folks and some friends.  These pictures and video are from a visit last year but being there reminded me to post them up.  My dad is the one who got me into modeling/painting - he always collected toy soldiers, model ships, etc. and when I was getting into D&D he found a Games Workshop and probably thought it was a good way to keep an eye on what I was up to and be able to teach me a bit as well (I always used to go with him to his hobby shows when I was younger) - the rest, as they say - is history.
entire bell tower shot
My dad built this bell tower for his train set out of old business cards, using inspiration from GW's "How to make Wargames Scenery" book that he picked up years ago - he was always really impressed by the level of detail in GW models and terrain.  The bell really works (though it's not wired up yet), as does lights in the lamppost and hanging above the door, even the water fountain "works" - it uses a specially shaped piece of clear plastic that gives the impression of water pouring down when it spins around.  I thought the video had a better view of the "water" but it is a little difficult to see - still posted it so feel free to watch.
Just goes to show you that with a bit of effort you really don't need much to make a great looking piece of scenery. When I look at this piece - the few store bought bits (lamp, fountain) really tie it together and you would never guess it was anything but an entirely store bought piece of terrain. Every time I look at these pics, I want to build some scenery for my own gaming.  It's a little tough right now with minimal work space but definitely something I'm looking forward to getting to one of these days, hopefully sooner rather than later.
close up of the water fountain

2 comments:

Nesbet said...

Wow, I really envy you. My father has nothing to do and knows almost nothing of my hobby, or previous hobbies/games I played. You're a lucky man, seriously!

I hope to be as your father was with you, with my son. I'll have to wait a little, he's only 2 years old xD

Cheers!

Tristan M said...

I definitely consider myself lucky, he taught me about washes, drybrushing, pinning, decals - even resin casting! It gives us a great common ground to chat about and every visit to the cottage includes an hour spent in his studio just talking about what hobby stuff he's been up to.

No little one here yet, but I can't wait until I can be that dad either :)

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