SCRATCH BUILD MDF SIGNAL BOX

Continuing  work on my MDF building, a Signal Box , first  piece  of  a Train Station build for CANCON 2020.

Its built from 3 mm MDF and is made to suit 28 mm miniatures 

I started off making a nice new intact building but changed my mind and turned it into a battle scared building.

Work in progress

The railing is constructed  from wire, bent  into place and  soldered together, I also used wire to construct the control cables to the rail lines. 

its based on 3mm MDF sheet.

Finished signal box, painted the roof with Vallejo Model colour Luftwaffe uniform, and highlighted by adding VMC off white to the base colour, individual slates were highlighted with a higher proportion of VMC off white.

The platform was painted with VMC Biege Brown and highlighted with VMC Iquai sand to the base colour.

Windows were painted with VMC offwhite.

I used clear plastic sheet to simulated the glass.

The base colour for the top of the building was VMC Green Grey and increasing highlighted by adding VMC offwhite.
The stone portion of the building was done with VMC game colour Stone wall grey and highlighted by adding off white. Individual stones where highlighted with GW  washes and VMC offwhite. 

Image showing the signal box control cables linking up with the rail lines.

BEF troops fighting off the Germans, these building will be featured on the gaming tables at CANCON 2020.

Cheers John 

WARGAMES SOLDIERS & STRATEGY , WARGAMING SURVEY 2019

WWS, Wargaming survey for 2019 is on again and it would be great if we were able to click on the  link below and participate, 
Wargames Soldiers and Strategy Survey 
WSS  magazine  have been great supporter of Chain of Command. 
Cheers John 

SCRATCH BUILT MDF BOX GIRDER BRIDGE

I have been busy scratch building a number of MDF building projects, here is one of them its a Box Girder bridge ready for MOAB 2019.
It measures  51 cm  in length, 16 cm wide and at its highest point is 16 cm high and is geared for 28 mm miniatures. 

Some images of WIP ,I used 6 mm MDF for this task.

MDF struts support in place as the glue sets.

Once set the top portion of the bridge it cut out and glued in place.

The railing is constructed from  wire mesh I found in my garage glued in place, odd bits of thin MDF were added to key areas on the bridge .

Food for thought:

On completing  the bridge, I thought to myself I could have just cut out each side of the bridge from a solid piece of MDF using  a drill and a electric jigsaw, anyway I will keep this in mind if I ever have to make another bridge.

To create the walk way I cut a strip of 3mm MDF and used a hand saw to create horizontal cuts to simulate planks of wood, I also used a sharp pointed instrument to scratch in some detail into each individual plank.

I coated the road portion of the bridge with a very thin layer of white caulking.

Primed black with spray can.

This image shows my first attempt at painting, I started painting it a greyish colour but was not happy with the results. 

I changed the base colour to Vallejo Model colour Flat Brown using a wet technique to add the paint.

First  highlight was done using Vallejo Game Colour Carne Marron and continued with a highlight of Vallejo Panzer Aces Flesh base.

(its like dry brushing but with a more loaded amount of paint on the brush and its down with more careful brush strokes)

I add some random spots and streaks with Agraxearthshade 

The walk way was first coated with VMC Beige Brown being careful not to cover the black Primer between the planks.

I highlighted with a 1:1 mix of VMC Beige Brown and Iquai sand.

Final highlight: was done with random streaks with a mix of 40:60 VMC Beige brown and VMC Flat flesh.

The railing was coated with VMC while grey and highlighted with VMC offwhite.

VMC white grey was used to simulate bird droppings on the bridge, I was inspired by Nick and his take on MDF bridge follow this link.

The road was painted with VMC black grey mixed in with VMC Iquai sand , I started with a mix of 1:1 ratio , highlighting was done by increasing  the portion of  Iquai sand to the mix.
Note try to leave some of the black primer come thru in the middle of the road.
I also added some flock on the egdes of the road to simulate weeds and a bit of VMC Flat Earth spots where added on the edges of the road to simulate dirt on the road.

Complete bridge

The walk way easily accommodates the bases of troops.

The road is only wide enough to accommodate one large vehicle.

Some more images showing the bird droppings.

cheers John