Welcome To Lazarus

Instead of a "BANG", humanity is passing away with the shuffling of dead feet, and hungry moans. Desperate men and women fight against the rising tide for the newly risen dead.Sometimes, though, the undead are not he most dangerous things out there. Civilization has failed the test; the only thing left is survival.

Lazarus is just one of many places where humanity holds on by a thread, and life and death come as easily as a roll of the dice.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Suburban Test House

Soon, my Lazarus campaign will move into the suburbs of the city.  I have nothing built, as far as terrain goes, for that setting.  I have about 5-6 different style paper house I can build, to give my neighborhoods some variety.  So, that's not a problem.  The issue I have is capturing the real feel of a US suburb.I could just plop my houses down on a green table top, but that would just look weird.  Drive ways are the answer.  How do I model them in an  easy and durable manner that, though?  I searched the web and found what I think is a great solution; roofing shingles!

I took a shingle, left over from my house being re-roofed.  I traced out the shape I wanted and cut it out.  Use a cheap utility knife, as these things will ruin an Xacto blade in a heart beat.  I then used wood glue to affix the paper and foam board house to the BACK SIDE of the shingle.  I painted the area around the edge brown and glued static grass to it.  I dry-brushed the areas that would be concrete grey and then painted in expansion joints.  I used green scratch pads for hedges and even made a little flower bed.  Here's the results
Here's an action shot with minis and vehicles for scale:
 
Going forward, here is what changes I am making to the process:
  1. The driveways need to be longer, so two vehicles can be parked tail to nose in them.
  2. Add back patios to the bases
  3. I am going to lightly over-spray the base with grey primer, so I won't have to dry brush.  That'll lighten the color up, as well.
  4. Paint the edges brown BEFORE gluing the houses on.
  5. Find, or build AC units, satellite dishes, etc to add detail
  6. I am going to use shingles for my suburban roads, as well.
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19 comments:

  1. LuckyjoeNovember 18, 2011 at 7:35 AM

    Brilliant! I love the way that came out. I've used the oof shingles for roads in 15mm. They're very handy. I never thought of using them for driveways or patios. They'd also make a great parking lot for Convenience stores or Gas Stations.

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  2. Rodrick CampbellNovember 18, 2011 at 7:48 AM

    Nicely done! The addition of driveways and other minor scenic elements really increases the visual appeal.

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  3. Simon Quinton November 18, 2011 at 8:02 AM

    Very nice. The little details are what makes the difference.

    What happened to the MIB post prior to this one it looked interesting only i never goto see it?

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  4. shintokamikazeNovember 18, 2011 at 8:42 AM

    great job, the driveway brings them to life

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  5. DylanarmanNovember 18, 2011 at 9:06 AM

    There are abounding pre-made plan sets accessible at your bounded lumberyard or big box store.

    HOA Legal Opinion

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  6. ZerloonNovember 18, 2011 at 9:37 AM

    Very good!!

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  7. SmillieNovember 18, 2011 at 9:41 AM

    Nice work, Its additions like driveways and front gardens that make the table look that little bit more real.

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  8. Fantasy FixturesNovember 18, 2011 at 10:31 AM

    Brummie, the MIB post was a fat finger mistake. It's the 2nd part of a 2 part idea. The first part will be posted next Friday. It'll be worth the wait :-)

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  9. AnonymousNovember 18, 2011 at 12:05 PM

    whwre are the graphics from?

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  10. VampifanNovember 18, 2011 at 1:22 PM

    Simple but effective.

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  11. shintokamikazeNovember 18, 2011 at 1:51 PM

    whats the company for the pdfs for trhe house?

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  12. Lord SiwocNovember 18, 2011 at 4:13 PM

    This looks pretty good to me! Well done indeed!!

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  13. The ExtraordinariiNovember 19, 2011 at 2:32 AM

    The last pic is ace, it really came up looking like a suburban home, good work.

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  14. MathyooNovember 21, 2011 at 2:26 AM

    Hello, firstly, I would like to apologize for writing on this particular post, but I didn't found any other way to contact you.
    I am interested in starting playing ATZ, and I am still thinking of a scale. I was just wondering, why have you picked 15mm instead of 28mm to play the campaign and if you modify the rules in any way (distances?) when you play.
    I am leaning towards 15mm myself, due to price of the minies and the fact that I have never painted 28mm minies. But then again, 28mm gives more room for "personalisation" of a character, i believe.
    Thank you for your help,
    Mathyoo

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  15. Fantasy FixturesNovember 21, 2011 at 6:39 AM

    Mathyoo, not a problem. My choice of 15mm is as follows:

    1) Economy of cost: 15mm is way cheaper than the other scales.
    2) Economy of scale: I can put a lot more "stuff" on the table. Plus, I would need a 10x10 table, minimum, to host what do on a 3x3. It takes up a lot less storage space, too.
    3) Economy of time: It takes a lot less time to get 15mm stuff ready for the table; especially when I have a one off thing I need, quickly.

    I am putting together 28mm figs, on the off hand chance I find someone locally, who plays ATZ and doesn't irritate the snot out of me. So, I am not against gaming in larger scales. I can paint 15mm well enough to customize heroes, too. I just don't feel it's necessary, at this time.

    In the end, go with what makes you happiest; price and size be damned!

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  16. Fantasy FixturesNovember 21, 2011 at 6:42 AM

    Oh, and I don't modify distances and such for 15mm. I do use GM prerogative for other things, though: -)

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  17. AnonymousNovember 21, 2011 at 12:10 PM

    Looks great, but where did you get the textures for the buildings please?

    Rossyuk

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  18. Fantasy FixturesNovember 21, 2011 at 12:28 PM

    here is an earlier post on my paper buildings are made, and where they came from. Hope it helps:

    http://welcometolazarus.blogspot.com/2011/04/streets-of-lazarus-howre-they-made.html

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  19. MathyooNovember 21, 2011 at 12:43 PM

    Oh, thank you for the help, haven't expected whole post :D

    I think I will really just start with 15 and i can always expand to 28 if the urge will be too big, hehe

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