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By YRM - Dec. 31, 1969 "Metal & Leather Works" is a small, but detailed and useful building in my D&D Gaming Town project. All of my models are designed to be useful and interesting on the inside and out. Not too many small entries in the past have been multi-use structures, so I figured I'd give it a try.The building is 7.5" tall, 6.25" deep, and 5" wide (total 18.75"). The sizes include the full awning and cobblestone forge area. The forge is outside, and heated efficiently by a small fire elemental. Inside the first floor is primarily storage and can serve as a makeshift sleeping quarters if the owner is working late or passes out drunk. Wooden stairs lead up to the leather-works on the second floor. Cantrips on the pipes keep them from burning the wood, and reduce the smell of the curing leather considerably. There's also a small table for working leather. Like everything else, the building also doubles as a potential battleground, with archers firing from the windows on the first or second floors. - CONSTRUCTION - Most of the castings are made from green die-stone, a strong dental plaster that's slightly cheaper and weaker than Excalibur. (which is also great) Molds used: - Wooden Plank Mold #220 - Wood Shingle Roof Mold #240 - Small Brick Mold #250 - Cobblestone Mold #210 - Gothic Floor Tiles Mold #205 (herringbone brick pattern) - Dragon's Inn Mold #51 (just 4 shutters) NOTE: Next two molds only saw minor use on the forge and upstairs leather curing device (you could easily do without): - Bridge Mold #53 - Turret Mold #61 This is the type of project that anyone could build with a handful of molds, and it could make a variety of buildings. Other materials: - Matte Board (upper floor walls and roof/awning support, base) - Small wooden craft pieces (table, container next to forge) - Printed Sign - Clear gloss to fill the container next to forge with "water". - Primer/Paint - Bending Drinking Straws for the stovepipes Painting Techniques: I tried to prime each piece of the building with the color most likely to help in the final paint job... - Wood/Roof (brown) - Bricks (gray) - 2nd Floor (white) Most of the paint job consists of a similar technique to what Bruce describes on www.hirstarts.com, but a few areas are different. I brushed the 2nd floor with some Elmer's glue and rubbed the glue with a piece of paper to give it some stucco-like texture, then, after the building was painted, I put a tan wash onto the stucco-texture and buffed it off with a paper towel, giving the 2nd floor walls a nice, natural look. Also, any floor is going to look better if you give it even a slight wash to offset it from the tone of the walls. In this case, I hand painted each brick inside the first floor, then used a dark brown wash on the first floor bricks and cobblestones outside. After that, I drybrushed tan and white onto both the bricks and cobblestones. The bricks have different tones, but they also show a level of continuity, and I think the cobblestones are one of Bruce's best molds. The stovepipes are simply painted black and drybrushed with BoltGun Metal (everyone's favorite metal colored hobby paint). If you look at the images, you should be able to see that it was necessary to sand/cut the wood roof and wood plank pieces. It's also necessary to cut some of the small brick pieces and herringbone floor tiles. Fortunately, these molds are easy to cut with a thin sawblade or x-acto knife and file down with sandpaper. Overall, this is a simple project, but for a small project, it's moderately complex. It fits right in with the larger buildings on my gaming table, and it has an interesting and unique look. Fountains and gazebos are wonderful projects, but functionality is very important to me, and I wanted my small entry to be something that Player Character miniatures could really interact with. As a newcomer to this contest and relative newcomer to the hobby, I do want to thank everyone who has been so polite, inspiring, and helpful on the Hirst Art forum over the last year.
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