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Alan has an interesting construction method for buildings using cork floor tiles. In this section he describes the construction of this church, and a gaol (jail) house. |
Every spaghetti western has a church in it, so when I needed a centrepiece for a Wild West game it seemed the natural option. I make most of my Old West buildings this way - it is relatively quick and pain free.
Materials
Method
The basic structure of the church is built up out of 4 cork tile walls with windows and doors cut into them. In my church I made the upper sections of the side walls separate, containing the side windows, because I wanted to make getting at the interior easier. In retrospect this didn't actually help painting much and I have never taken them out during a game. So you don't have to do that.
After cutting out the window frames blank them off again on the back of the frames with card painted black. Into each frame glue a rectangle of car repair mesh to represent a leaded window. You don't have to paint this but I did give mine a black wash. Finally, glue match-stick sized pieces of balsa (or matches) around the edge to make a frame. Don't worry about any gaps between the frame and wall due to cutting mistakes, just make sure the FRAME is squared off. You can always fill any gaps later.
Make two gable ends. These should be a bit wider than the width of the church to make the butresses. The slope of the roof will have to be carefully worked out, because Pantile roof sections are not very wide, but also are very difficult to cut! Measure the width (ie: top to bottom) of a pan-tile section. The gable ends should be angled to suit this size, less about 5-10mm to allow for an overhang. In one, cut a large door and window. This is the front. In the other, just cut an upper window (if you want to). I fitted a large balsa wood door into the frame.
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Now the fun part: Glue the basic structure together, and to the base. The roof was made in several parts. First, cut a piece of thick cardboard to make a former for the roof, bent in the middle to fit the gable ends. Then decide how big you want your bell tower to be and cut out that sized section of the peak of the roof. Glue in a flat section to be the base of the tower, this will hold the roof in its shape. Then tile the roof with sections of pantile. |
The bell tower is made similarly to the rest of the building, the cross was cork bits reinforced with a match.
Painting
You could paint the church how you like, but this is what I did: First, I mixed fine sand and some PVA glue into a quantity of sand coloured paint (this could get confusing I know). I painted the external walls with this, including the bell tower. The glue helps harden the cork and the sand helps with dry brushing later. Second, I mixed up some lighter sand colour and drybrushed it over the external walls. Then I painted the interior walls white. I also picked out exterior details such as cornerstones and door frames in white. I painted the doors sand coloured on both sides, and then did a dark brown wash, followed by drybrushing with light brown. Other exterior wood, such as window frames and the bell tower balcony, I did in light brown with a light sand drybrush to represent weathering. The interior floors and roof sections I painted a dark, reddish brown, and drybrushed in a lighter shade. (Be carefull not to get any on the walls.) Paint sand paint and PVA mixture on the base outside the model, and sprinkle sand onto it. Repaint with the mix if necessary.
Gaol (Jail) House
Ruins