Dark Age Buildings - Part 3

 Only two more buildings to go, so I thought I would include these so they were not left out.  These are great as they are livestock buildings, so a little different to the dwellings that I have painted and posted previously.

Building 6

Building 7

I'm delighted with these building and I do have a use for them, being used primarily for Dux Britanniarum rules by the Too Fat Lardies.  These will play a crucial role. I would also like to play some of the lesser known Dark Age battles such as the one at Nether Wallop near Winchester in Hampshire UK.  This was also known as the Battle of Guoloph.  The only issue will be the Order of Battle, the terrain and the exact location...but hey, we are wargamers, since when has that ever stopped us! 

On a different topic, I have received my massive parcel of Medieval buildings now from Grand Manner. These are all from the magnificent unpainted limited sale from earlier in the year. To say they have been lovingly individually packed is an understatement.  They are clearly very customer service focussed as they were determined that they arrived in a superb undamaged state.  I have not finished unpacking them yet, but my goodness, they look superb!  The Battle of St Albans and many others including English Civil War, will be played out with these new buildings...when I get around to painting them!  First of all, I really need to paint some soldiers! 

Dark Age Buildings Part 2

                              

A few more snaps of my Dark Age buildings made by Grand Manner, continued from my last post.  All of these are 28mm resin buildings.

Building Three - Small Dark Age dwelling thatched -timber and daub

There is a joy in trying techniques and then trying to add a few more refinements.  There is a muted-ness (is that a word?) in the colours used on these houses.  With the flakes of wattle and daub coming away there is an element of decay in these houses. An honest peasant sort of house with this being totally unassuming.  Airey, spacious with rustic charm, all terms that modern real estate people might call it.  

I know it was just fun to paint, and make it look lived in and blending in with the environment over time.  I imagine that the wafts of smoke from the open hearths would be the first thing that an approaching traveller might see, rather than the houses themselves which would blend in so well to the landscape.

Many of the colours used in all of the buildings were the same paints, but I tried very subtle differences just so they did not all look the same.

Building Four - Dark Age Medium Thatched Dwelling

This is one for the more upwardly mobile sort of peasant.  The porch must have been the social equivalent then of having a Ford Mustang in the drive.

Again I love the little touches that Grand Manner added.  The heavy fabric curtains, allowing an element of colour, the axe outside ready for more of the frequent log-chopping for the hearth.

This building is wood panelled throughout and I really was unsure initially how best to go about this. Again I decided that deep browns were not the way forward, leaning instead towards buffs and greys.

The internal details were a joy to paint.  The top shelf of the shelf unit was a detached item that was glued on after the lower shelf contents were painted.  This was a great idea and gave more space to wield the brush. It was fun painting the contents of the food baskets. I can't recall ever doing anything quite like that before!

Building 5 - Medium Dark Age Dwelling Thatched - Timber and Daub

Another simpler type of house but still enjoyable to paint. I was glad to finish these. I found I got engrossed in the detail and the temptation to keep adding more was ever present. 

Amazing to see that wood panel floors are back in again in popularity, a timeless classic look!

Just some animal pens to go in the next post.  These houses were great things to do as a different sort of project.  I didn't feel like painting intricate figures last week and I also wanted to practice my techniques as I also ordered a medieval town set just before the Grand Manner unpainted buildings offer expired.  These should arrive tomorrow!