Monday 13 November 2017

Urban Project - Nash Road (WiP)

Hi all

As part of my grand plan to design and build a 3 foot by 3 foot playable participation game of Zombie goodness at PAW 2018, I have constructed "Nash Road".  This is of course a vanity and it could have been called anything else but in fact there is actually a Nash Road in Thanet so its has uses for my ATZ campaign based in Thanet.

To start the road then, I took a large piece (18"x17") of 6mm blue foam and designed the layout of one side of the road.  As I wanted my buildings to be of a good size and totally playable, I only put three buildings on and because a lot of houses and roads in the UK have been added to towns haphazardly over many decades, sometimes centuries, I have placed them in a curve.  Each side of the building is 6" long and they consist of an open plan ground floor with a patio entrance to a tiny back/side yard.


On the foam I also carved paving slabs for a pavement, with some tarmac filling in for missing slabs as well as some drains and manhole covers.

I also, on this set of buildings wanted to experiment with proper windows as opposed to the painted on versions I did for the "Winchester".  This is a new thing for me and I was quite worried about how they would come out.  As it turns out they're a bit wonky! but do you know what? I really like how they've come out.  I used coffee stirrers cut to length, split down the middle and painted white to form the frames.  I then glued these to a clear plastic blister pack to form the glass.  I then added another frame on to the other side of the plastic to give it some thickness/strength.



Added to my blue foam walls, they look like this - yes they are wonky aren't they!


I then made up some coffee stirrer front doors and blue foam stairs as well as decorating the inner surface of the walls with scrapbook paper.


One back yard I "crazy-paved", another had a path going to a shed (which I built out of coffee stirrers) and the last one will be an unkempt lawn.


For the boundary walls I decided they would be a bit more decorative and made the middle of each wall section a flint type wall, quite common in these parts, as is the grafitti.... That was painted using Neon Acrylics that I got from HobbyCraft for 89p each!


I used a poundshop version of "no-nails" to stick the walls to the base.  When I'm building these projects I tend to work on different aspects of it at any given time, so a lot of these WiPs won't form any particularly logical progression....sorry :-)

Anyway, I went on line and printed off loads of random portraits and wedding photos as well as mingling in a couple of my own, including my fave pic of the Nerd Herd!  Once shrunk down and printed off, I used a gold Sharpie and drew a simple frame on each pic.


When added to my "wallpapered" walls, represent the various framed photos that families have in their homes and add another quick win/small detail layer for these buildings.  I also added some paper curtains to the windows to hide some bad joins and add another detail.


One purchase that I made for this project is some plastic street lamps from China, these are really good value at £3.42 for 20pcs (I bought two packs).  They can be hooked up to a power source and made to work but I'm not that technical and not having any real need for the lights to work cut the wires off...


starting to come together!
Having got quite a bit of the work done on the structures, I turned my little rat brain back to the small details and with that in mind I started building some electronics...

Stacking music centre - showing my age!

And so I've managed to get some of the stuff painted up and finish the downstairs on all three properties...
Nash Road - evens side

number 2 with its "crazy paving" garden

open plan ground floor - lounge area

kitchen nook
 the kitchen units are from blu stuff molds and are made of Das with Das plates and food and a blue foam microwave.


number 4 is a bit more smashed up!


i'm a bit proud of the garden shed in the back yard

broken down front door at number 4


number 6

you can see through the window, April Nillson is hiding!


blurry shot through the patio doors


the smashed patio doors of number 4



So thats the ground floors and most of the work done for Nash Road.  Extra detail will flow when I start getting street furniture and signs onto the pieces and of course the upper floors of the properties.

hope you enjoy
dGG

27 comments:

  1. Really coming together Andy, the windows are a great touch and add light to the areas

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    1. Thanks Dave, I’m already thinking of how the windows are going to look in my next building project ;-)

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  2. Really outstanding work, Andy! There is just so much to admire about this latest project of yours.

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  3. Oh my goodness me, that looks amazing Andy! I love the broken glass details with the blood.

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    1. It’s the little details that I enjoy doing the most Michael :-)

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  4. Andy mate, that is just gob-smackingly AWESOME! :-)
    Absolutely fantastic and has put 'blue foam' on the top of this week's shopping list!!
    Yep, the windows might be a bit wonky, but that just gives the build even more character - especially when added to all of the details you're adding.
    Bloody marvelous stuff :-)

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    1. Cheers Greg, I bought the foam dirt cheap online and have so many projects in mind!

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  5. WOW! (nuff said)

    I've the option of either working Plymouth or Bournemouth show next Jan/Feb, so if I'm at Plymouth I'll definitely be popping over to see this.

    In case I'm not at Plymouth, will you be at Bournemouth show, can I ask? If you are and want to say hello, then I'll be working the Col. Bill's stall. But, to be honest, I really want to get to PAW and see this game in the 'flesh'

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    1. Sadly I’m only at PAW Roy, seeing as I’m not a business this whole thing * is costing me personally so can only afford to do it once. I really hope to see you there :-)

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  6. Nice:)

    Have you thought about printing out some images to glue to the TV screens, like a image BBC News or something like that?

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  7. That is all stunning mate. Awesome job!

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  8. What an impressive output of ideas and a nice challenge you set yourself on the windows"

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    1. Thanks Joe, I’m always looking for ways to improve my techniques

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  9. Absolutely super... beyond stunning and out the other side.. somewhere between unreal and out of this world :-)

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    1. Lol, cheers Steve - so you like it then?

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    2. Me too, me too. Andy these are beyond amazing. Best I`ve ever seen you do I think.

      .........And, congratulations on the elevation, very well deserved.

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    3. Why thank you Tarot, that’s very kind :-)

      Ta - I hope you’re doing well too

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  10. Stunning, Andy, simply stunning... not sure how well its all going to travel when you box it up and send it to me, but why not risk it, eh? ;-) Terrific posting, as are all your scenery projects :-)

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    1. Maybe I’ll just deliver it after PAW ;-)

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    2. of course, that entails making a second set to sent to me tooooooo.

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    3. It may take a while mate...

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  11. This is simply gorgeous, and I am in total awe.

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