Sunday, January 31, 2016

'Defensive Terrain' from AlanD - 'Frostgrave Library'



Somewhere deep in Frostgrave there is a forgotten library. Unlike all the buildings around it, it was not ruined at the time of the great cataclysm that destroyed the rest of the city, but has remained intact over the centuries, waiting for its secrets to be rediscovered. In design more a fortress than a library, the citizens of Felstad once quickened their pace as they passed the forbidding structure, wondering to themselves whether its stout walls were designed to keep eneies out, or keep something trapped within..


For the Defensive Terrain round I thought I would make something for Frostgrave, and happened to remember that about 15 years ago I picked up (cheap) one of the Zvezda kits for their large castle layout. This model is the Living Quarters set, theoretically in 1/72 scale, but certainly looks fine with 28mm figures.


I tried to model this as a piece of terrain that could be used flexibly for gaming, so I made the top floor removable. It is therefore quite possible to track the progress of a skirmish through the lower floor, up the stairs and into the library itself by having the library floor as a removable module. I'm also planning to make a separate floor insert so I can use this in historical games, perhaps with Border reivers



The problem with making the floor removable was that I then needed to add a staircase and some rudimentary interior detail. The ground floor was given a base made from air drying clay mixed with PVA, and all the interior walls lined with Greenstuff. Zvezda doesn't supply stairs or even a stairwell, so I cut a hole in the top floor and added a dodgy staircase put together from bits of 4-Ground staircases left over from some Wild West buildings. 


The bookcases are all scratch-build from plastic card and balsa, with books on the shelves and roosting around the library made from Greenstuff. I wanted to do more of these but ran out of time. The statue is a wizard figure from Reaper, while finally the zombie librarian is made from components found in the Frostgrave Soldiers and Cultists sets put out by Northstar




23 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Sorry, I had typos. Let's try again.
    This is excellent Adam! The extensive revisions you did on the interior are impressive as are the bookshelves and the books.

    Bravo sir!

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  3. Awesome work Dux! Your shelving reminds me of that fabulous Dylan piece you did for me a few years ago. :)

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  4. Thats awesome. Those books though appear to have a mind of their own. Attack books. I wonder what subject those books contain. Demonology, combat...magic perhaps. cheers

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  5. Thats awesome. Those books though appear to have a mind of their own. Attack books. I wonder what subject those books contain. Demonology, combat...magic perhaps. cheers

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  6. Very cool indeed Alan! Love all the little details.

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  7. Good fun! Black Cat Bases make some cool book golems

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  8. You can tell a good bit of time has been dedicated to this and not a second wasted

    Ian

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  9. fantastic - the interiors are great and looks very useable for gaming.

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  10. Pretty incredible - really well done.

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  11. What a fabulous idea and really nicely done too.

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  12. Nice bit of work! Great job on the bookcases and stairs, but my favorite bit are the books flying about!
    They must leave less of a mess than a watchdog! ;)

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  13. That works brilliantly, Alan. It looks a formidable place to borrow a book from - no doubt there's a battleaxe librarian in there with half-rimmed glasses and a stern up-do, annoyed that your book is returned two days late. Great work!

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    1. Well, you know that feeling when a book takes hold of you and just won't let you go....?

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