Sunday, May 28, 2017

Details And Completion On The 4Ground Manor


Well, we're calling the manor and first board complete! I'd love to be able to get inside the ground floor and add some more details to the rooms, floors, and walls, but unlike the Rolling Stones, time is NOT on my side!! So next is to focus on the underground facility.


I thought it would be neat to have this recruitment poster at the table, it would both let everyone know which game this is, as well as tell everyone when the games are when I change "watch" to "play" and add the game times over the "Tuesdays". The only problem is the poster is pretty big, the frame is 16x20 - I'd love to get it to 9x11, so I'll see if I can get it to a copy store to shrink it a bit.


A quick photo of shingles going on the roof. The angles definitely caused some difficulty, as well as the all the windows - all sorts of cuts had to be made to make everything work correctly.


So, details - I went through all the buildings and painted the bricks to make them more realistic and give them a bit of life.


This was a decision I very quickly began to question, lol!



Seriously though, as painstaking of a task that it was, the end results were well worth it. I can't believe how much of a difference it makes, the improvement is pretty significant.


A couple of marble statues in the courtyard.


I printed some labels for the 4Ground cardboard boxes with the Isodyne Energy logo from Agent Carter season 2. I think it'll be neat to try to connect that company to my game somehow.


I used the same styrene I used on my old west buildings to add a bit more detail to the window roofs on the manor.



And the results. Just a small detail, but it definitely improves the look.


An early photo of the board before all the final details were completed.


And the final completion photo. All the photos that follow are close ups going around the entire manor complex.



Air vents behind the carriage house.


Trimmed bushes around the cookhouse.


I added some lights around the doors, as well as the car entrance.


Bushes around the balcony/patio sort of hide the plainness of the Styrofoam - probably should really revisit that though.



I added some styrene to the edges of the manor to represent rain gutters. Again, just a small detail to vary the look a bit.



I went over the fences with some orange paint to give them a rusted and oxidized look.


Close up of the brick detail, gutters, shingles, shutters, and bushes. Pretty happy overall, but I am wondering if the shingles look a bit too "new" and if some weathering should be done?


A few possible figures for SSR Agents - Agent Thompson and Agent Blackwell, with civilian attire Peggy Carter. I have a figure and an idea for a crutch for Agent Sousa, so stay tuned :)


Here is my field version of Agent Carter. I'm still undecided on whether or not I'm setting the game in Europe or in America. This will be the figure I use if I place the story in Europe. Just need to get her on a clear base.


Overall good post, but... I'll end on a bit of a low note. I had a bit of accident with my TinTin figure. Earlier in the day I had brought my TinTin figure (thank goodness I didn't bring a Carter figure or I'd be on suicide watch right now!!!) to a local hobby shop that carries a lot of die cast cars. I brought the figure along to scale it up against some of the vehicles because I wanted to try to find a few 1940's era cars for the game. Well I forgot I had him in my pocket when I took all the horses out in the pouring rain later that night. Ironically I actually took this photo coming back in and sent it to my wife, saying "See how much I love the horses? I'm risking pneumonia!"
*and apparently I'm ten feet tall*


When I got back inside I threw my pants in the dryer and heard a loud "knocking" coming from the dryer - I just thought it was the buttons on the pants since they were in there by themselves. Well by the time I figured out what it was, Tin Tin's nose had clearly lost the fight with the dryer! Looks like he took a punch square to the beak. Super disappointing, because I don't think that there is anyway to try to fix it.

So it's crunch time for the facility now, I'm giving myself until the end of June to have it 100% complete. Focus, focus, focus. Wish me luck, I'm definitely going to need it!

As always, thanks for looking!
Ivor

12 comments:

  1. You should be able to pull it off. I still have to make my board for mine!

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    1. I hope so! What time are you running your games again - I have an open ticket for Friday to use if you have a game running then, I would love to try to get in!

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  2. It looks fantastic. I think some weathering down both the shingles and the stone would be appropriate but it looks just fine without it as well.

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    1. Thanks Kris! Agreed on the weathering, it really didn't hit me until I saw the photos - it's crazy too, because my fingers were black from working with the shingles, I had to wash them off several times during the build!

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  3. Splendid stuff, Ivor! Really looks the business. Agree that the brick work would send you crazy, but it does lift the buildings. Sorry to hear about Tin Tin!

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    1. Thanks Bill! At least it's done and I can see that it did make a big improvement :).
      Yeah, Tin Tin is pretty much doo doo now!

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  4. TinTin can be fixed, that board, however, looks amazing.

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    1. Thanks a lot, appreciate it! I don't know about TinTin, I hope you're righ - but unfortunately my experience with green stuff has been less than successful and that nose has almost literally been melted down!!

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  5. That looks absolutely brilliant! And I'm just a little jealous of your lovely games room, too!

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    1. Thanks Gordon! Yeah, pretty lucky to have gotten the attic finished into a nice game room :) Great to be able to fit 3 6x4 tables up there with no problem, the only real issue is the ceiling - anyone over 6 feet tall will be banging their head!

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  6. Great details, realistic and superb!

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