HOBBY TIPS
1. BARNSTORMING IDEAS
A detailed sketch was produced following illustrations I had found on Pinterest and I used a corrugated cardboard core on to which I clad some spare balsawood which was glued in place with superglue. The base model was re-scaled to fit on to a used CD, similar to the earlier Wooden Church.
2. CLADDING SANE
The balsa clad core was then detailed with some scrap card (packing card from the back of an A4 reinforced envelope) before adding ‘wooden’ shuttering and supports modelled from some more scrap card – this time packaging from some Christmas mince pies. I call this technique ‘layering’.
3. IT’S A FRAME UP!
Further card detailing was glued in place to model the barn doors and window frames. For most of this process I like to use thick PVA (undiluted) as I find it ‘grips’ better and makes construction less fiddly. Drying time can be greatly reduced if you use a hairdryer – it’s one of my most utilised model making tools.
4. SCRAPPY ROOFING
The roof was also modelled from scrap card (more of the thick card used on the back of the reinforced envelope). These roofing tile strips were glued in place over-sized and cut back with a scalpel once the glue had fully dried. I found that I could ‘age’ the roof shingles by scraping in an upward action with the back of a snap-off bladed knife.
5. CD BASE
I glued the card barn onto a used CD with superglue, building up the groundwork with DAS modelling clay before texturing the groundwork with sieved sand and fine powder. The lower walls of the barn have been sculpted from more DAS and prior to taking this image I have coated the whole model and base with a strengthening mix of PVA glue, ready-mixed filler and some acrylic paint. In addition I scoured my spares-box for a couple of small metal barrels which were glued in place with superglue.
6. UNDERCOAT
I basecoated the model with an Ochre craft paint before adding some variation to the base colour by stippling on some Pale Flesh modelling paint. I would usually basecoat my figures or terrain with a black or dark brown basecoat, but felt that this model needed something much lighter on which to build-up the colours.
7. PAINT THE TOWN RED
The red barn was painted red, obviously. But – perhaps not so obviously – I used an orange-red colour as the base. I had seen on various illustrations of actual red barns that the colour ‘bleachesout’ to an orange-red over time. Later washes would darken this base colour while the white areas were built up over a pale cream colour, highlighted with a near pure white.
8. I’VE GOT SHINGLES...
The roof shingles were painted in a dark brown/grey colour which was later drybrushed with a lighter grey colour to highlight the roof tile texture. I then picked-out individual shingles to add some interest to the ‘grey’ roof. The lower stone walls of the barn were painted in a cream colourer Craft paint, highlighting individual stones in both lighter and darker colours.
9. GROUNDKEEPER
Once the groundwork had been painted and drybrushed I ‘washed’ the whole model with Dark Tone wash and some Red Tone wash (on the red areas) both from the Army Painter range. The Red Barn was then varnished with Galleria matt varnish and the base decorated with some Mediterranean Soil Mix from Geek Games. The Red Barn is 75mm x 70mm x 70mm tall.