This was to be a finished project to post at the weekend but
the Memsahib caught me in the laundry looking for old towels and rebuked me on
thinking any such thing was present in the household linens! Two if it was I
wouldn’t be allowed to use it for my “little men”. So I’ll have to pop out at
the weekend to try and find some cheap hand towels. So here is a teaser before
they are finished and used in a game. Thanks to Matakishi for the thatched
roofing idea using towelling.
For four huts:
PVA Glue
One old towel
Thin card
Corrugated card
Dowling
Cocktail sticks x 350
One used kitchen towel roll
Bases and flocking
Domestic paint
Please
note the work was not done on the floor just placed there to take photos. No
carpets were harmed in the making of this report ;)
Following the original plan to keep costs low for Venus I’ve
gone down the Blue Peter route of building.
Well not quiet , no toilet rolls but kitchen rolls, they are
slightly thinker and stronger I find.
First cut the rolls into smaller tubes to form the skeleton
of the hut. Cut a circular floor from corrugated cardboard and glue in place.
Then with your finest PVA glue coat one section of a tube
and place your cocktail sticks onto it. Now the trick is not to try to do one
in one attempt. It is likely to fall apart if you do. Let a section dry first
and go onto another tube and repeat.
Once dry you can trim the cocktail sticks should they be a little too big and move onto another section.
Once dry you can trim the cocktail sticks should they be a little too big and move onto another section.
Once you’ve finished the number of huts you want and they
are much stronger now with the sticks in place make your holes in your floor for
the ‘legs’. Match these up with your base so all fits in line for when you
raise your hut.
Next cut a circle in card and place a centre cut
in it and fold to make a cone. Add glue and us something like a bull clip to
hold it in place until dry. Then take your old towel and glue in on top of your
cone and wait till dry.Trim to your desired shape and paint the whole hut the
colour scheme you want and dry brush to finish.
Its
up to you if you want to secure the legs into the base with glue, it depends on
ease of transport. I’ve taken the risk
and hope they travel well.
The ideal for the over all project comes from page 30 of the sadly maligned Conklins Atlas.
Interesting method. I shall have to give it a try. My lizardmen need domiciles. Of course, my parrotmen do, too. And they need to be assembled and painted as well. Drat.
ReplyDeleteGreeting Sir,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there are much better ways of doing it.But I keep breaking my rules of no more lead this year.So many nice VSF figs coming out ;) So cheap is the way to go for terrian at the moment for me.
My Kroot (Parrotmen)are all glued and undercoated but aren't likely to see the paint brush for sometime lol
I've been thinking about their housing though.
I'm thinking some kind of clay daub effect supported by poles(with add 'nest' effect),inturn supported by rocks/natural clusters of obelisks rocks?Topped off with a thatched roof.
All with a strange egg shape or African grain storage look?
I'm borrowing heavily from an online piece by Dewbakuk for ideas.It and an earlier which I can't find online anymore attracted me to Parrot men in the first place,
"Homes
A Parrotman village is an odd looking place, even to a seasoned traveller’s eye. I was expecting a collection of huts as may be found in Africa or South America. In truth, such structures do exist in some villages, those located far from any Lizardman tribes. However in most villages, huts would be susceptible to attack from Lizardman raids and as such they have developed what have been termed Eyries by most human settlers.
A common feature atop the Venusian mesas are spires of rock rising from the ground. These are usually found near the edges of a mesa and I am told by my geologist companion, Monty, that such formations were most probably caused by extremely high winds in the past. Thankfully for the Parrotmen such winds are unknown in the modern day, for they have taken to building their dwellings atop these spires.
Each spire will support a single dwelling of most unusual design. The dwelling is made in a manner that appears to be an interesting variation of a style still used on Earth by some cultures, that of wattle and daub. The unique part however, is that the dwellings are spherical! I had the fortunate opportunity to see such a dwelling being made on one of my visits and the construction process appears to be an odd mix of basket weaving and plastering. The dwelling is supported on the spire by several wooden posts which are recessed into the rock and the dwelling itself. The result is a very stable, if somewhat odd, single room dwelling.
Each dwelling is linked to it’s neighbours by suspended walkways which run throughout the village. Certain sections of the walkway can be raised or lowered to allow or deny access from the ground. In this way the village has a rather effective defence against the predations of their enemies."
Doubt I'll get to it till after Summer (with life and this seasons re-enactment) but will be looking for bits/part during that time.