Zombiegame Gunstore

I want this model to be relatively detailed and decided to start with doors and windows. Simply made it out of cereal box in different layers. by cutting different forms in the layers you can create some interesting effects, making the model look real and not to flat. I also made bars out of cocktail sticks and plastic rod for the windows. A gunstore needs to be well defended after all.
These windows will be painted and varnished, and than I’ll add plastic in between them to simulate glass. They won’t be added until the rest of the model is varnished, as to not taint the ‘glas’.
But I need to know the shapes now, so I can prepare the rest of the building for the right sizes.

I used PXE foam and a proxxon hotwire cutter to create the walls. When I had the shapes right it’s easy to add detail. Adding additional layers to create interest or a soft pencil to simple draw details. The foam holds this detail very well.
I also used some rolled up tin foil and dabbed this over the stone, to create texture. A small tool I bought from www.shiftinglands.com was used to create lines at regular intervals to simulate brick work. I did redraw the lines with a soft pencil to get them deeper, without tearing the foam, but it cut a lot of time measuring.

One wall was made out of 3 layers. On both sides I stuck a cast from a Mantic  airvent. Just another piece of interest, to break up the monotony a bit

After sticking it all together, this is what I have so far.
I need to inlcude a skylight on the roof and the roof is going to be removable, allowing mini’s to enter the building and get a defensive position.

Busy day. I finished most of the roof build and added some detail. This seems most of the mainbuild complete. The windows and skylight are mostly done, so now I need some furniture and paint some terrain crate stuff.
I think the roof ended up a bit to wide for the build, but it needs to be removable.I’m still pretty pleased. I think theres plenty going on for what is pretty muck a rectangular block.
I noticed the skylight windows I made did not completely seal of and some doorways were to big. Some small cereal box strips creats what looks to be fraiming and closes the whole thing off again.

I allso added some cocktail sticks to the small box on the back, simulating some electrical piping, made a rainpipe out of a straw and a small light on top of the backdoor, which is just one of my wife jewelry beads.

After this I painted some watered down PVA on the roof and lightly sprinkled it with sand for the under a bird cage ( after seaving it through one of the missus’old panty hoses.)
It’s currently drying, but I am wondering if I should hit it with a little spray of the same mixture for extra sealing, before painting the whole building in a mix of water/pva and primer to make it more solid and ready for painting.

I dug up some stuff from terrain crate and magnetise and primed it. Next stop is create a counter and a display case for some guns.

Not quite done, but I’m hard pressed for a couple of day to make much progress. I really like how it’s turning out. Maybe I won’t add any more structure to the bricks a next time, as it took me a bit longer drybrushing as I’d liked.
These results are mainly achieved with cheap art brushes and acrylic paints. Just a small selection and mixing the lot. Drybrushing and washing, it still needs some detail. The doors still need a wash, and there needs to be done some work on the inside. Than it’s off to the details

I’ve been working of and on on the project, but hit some snags. One of them being that I needed to varnish the model before placing the windows. A step I was looking forward to, but this is where things went wrong. I had two old cans that I soon discovered where no longer any good, No problem, as before the great pandemic I ordered some stuff online, so my hobby wouldn’t be to much interfered  with any lockdowns. Including a brand new spray can of matte varnish. I rattled the can and gave it an experimental spray. Immediately varnish started to spray upwards and the can just wouldn’t stop. I placed it somewhere where it couldn’t do to much damage and had to order a new one. But I was slightly miffed.

In the meantime, I tried to focus on some other stuff that had to be done. I needed to make a shop sign, some furniture and wanted to experiment with a graffiti transfer. I found a letter type I liked and printed the name of the shop. Then I made a thin slice in the appropriate form from foam and enveloped this with a small strip. I cut the printed sign on some cardboard so I could simply stick it in when all was painted.
I also painted up some bits from mantic.

I also took some small pieces of foam and made some furniture. A display case and a desk for the register. Both would have a display case, covered with some overhead projector sheet, under which some guns from some warlord sprues where displayed. I simply used some matchstick, pins, cardboard and patience.
One neat little trick on the desk is: I’ll have a piece of can from some tomato-paste underneath the cardboard. I will also put a piece of this material on the back wall. This will allow me to magnetise the mantic terrain crate stuff and re-use it if I want to use other buildings in the future.

I also needed a ladder to get to the roof. Probably no-one would be to bothered if it wasn’t there, but I would.
I used some coffee stirrers I got from a Starbucks. (I walked in a asked for some, they where very generous). Using a small drill bit (I tried a bigger 1 but it split the wood, I drilled through to at the same time at regular intervals. Than I used a round needle file to increase the hole and I could fit some cocktail stick through. Stuck together with pva and snipped the stick away. Just needs paint now.
A bit labour-intensive, but I like it. I’ll probably make a lot more of these in the future.

My varnish arrived and I sprayed most of the model. After this I tried sticking in the windows:
Learning points

– when putting in windows in the future, the wall should exist of  2 layers, one of which has a slightly smaller gap for the window. This will allow easier insertion and a fit without gap.
– Next time, if I put bars on windows and such, put them on after putting the windows in their place.

I spend far to long re-sizing the windows and wasn’t happy with how they fitted. I’ve been able to fix it, but haven’t got any pictures yet.

Last thing for this post is my experiment with a graffiti transfer.
I got some from a buddy that couldn’t use it anymore on his current printer. I should work fine with mine, since it was his old one.
The transparent paper wouldn’t feed through, unfortunately, no matter what settings I used. The white did work. That made for a bit more hassle cutting them out, but I could work with that. I printed several test print. I had a piece of wall prepared. This was a store front from my 1st attempt for the project, of which I decided I’d take a different approach. I had coated it in my basic PVA/Primer mix so it should react the same as the rest of the wall. The transfer sheet was covered in 2 coats of varnish to ad some sturdiness to the transfer. After applying a coat of gloss varnish on the wall, I soaked the transfer in water. The gloss was dry so I applied some transfer solution to the target area. The transfer slid on reasonably well. It didn’t really comfort to the wall, however. I used a cocktail stick to smooth it between the bricks. This kinda worked, but I was afraid the thing would dry out if I had to do each brick. In the end the magic tool was dabbing it with my finger. It ended up looking great and I was confident enough to put in on my real model.

Well, that’s one fortified position some survivors might find some refuge. Assuming they can clear the place of zombies, of course.
I wanted to add some graffiti on the garage door, but it just ended up looking horrible and I was lucky to be able to remove it. Still, it looks alright. I imagine the store owner being one of the worst, stereotypical bad gun owner.

The roof was finished by adding some extra strips of cardboard to hide the seams and add some more interest.
I had, of course, added the graffiti on the back before I varnised the lot, but forgot to mention it, since last week I was just doing stuff of and on. It worked reasonably well, but I ended drawing around the painting with a fine black felt pen to hide some minor damage and blend it in with the wall better. Than a little dry brush with the colour of the bricks, to simulate some wear.

The inside of the store has some magnets. The potted plant, cash register and gun cabinets on the wall are all magnetised and ready to be used in other buildings should I need it. I might end up painting other pieces that I could use in the store, maybe for a scenario, where the survivors are looking for some BFG.

Side of the garage, not much special to see, but for completion’s sake.
And last, but not least, the garage. I like how the ladder worked out and it’s clear how survivors can get on the roof. I figure the rain pipe on the left side of the shop is another. Some boxes from mantic, which aren’t glued down. This way I could also park and escape vehicle in the shop, should it end up some groups’ stronghold. Just a few small thing I printed out on the walls finishes this project.
Hope you’ll enjoy