Terrain & Buildings: Russian Buildings, 6mm or 10mm?

Undercoated in Halfords grey primer, base coats going on.

I bought all these buildings quite a long time ago now. They were gathering dust, very literally, in a plastic tub. I decided, when I recently made a scratch-built Russian church-tower, to get these out, dust them off, and start painting them.

All the better buildings base-coated.

The buildings from the Big Battalions range by Total Battle Miniatures are fab, and very nicely varied, even including burnt-out/ruined hovels. I've base-coated them in a range of grey/browns, some veering towards beige, some brown, some green-ish. Only a result of these building have much stonework. As was the case in Russia at the time, most buildings were largely constructed from wood. And most old external wood turns a silvery grey, unless it's somehow preserved or painted.

Some other 6mm buildings I bought, at Salute, years ago.

Pictured above are some 6mm scale buildings, by Timecast. These are a lot lower quality, the resin being fairly brittle, and therefore more prone to chipping. They're also less well sculpted, being rather too regular and 'foursquare'. I will probably wind up using them. But perhaps hidden in amongst my Smolensk project scratch-builds. One good thing about them is that they're smaller than the Total Battle buildings, so actually work with my 6mm figures and my own scratch-built buildings.

The better buildings, from the Big Battalions range, are intended for use with 6mm scale figures. But they are too large in my view: if buildings are made in 'true' scale to an individual model figure - and remember each figure usually represents about 20-30 actual soldiers - they actually wind up seeming oversized. So I think I'll use the 6mm scale buildings from Total Battle with my 10mm figures, and build my own 6mm buildings.

Gradually getting into layering the paint on...

Painting is proceeding slowly... but it is proceeding. The Total Battle Miniatures buildings are superb. I'm painting them with a mixture of artists acrylics (Windsor & Newton, Rowney, etc.) and Vallejo. Using washes occasionally, to build up uneven patchy finishes, for a more natural look. When I've done the basic blocking in I'll give the lot a gloss varnish, and do some oil paint washes, to bring out the detail, and then seal it all off with some matt varnish.

Lighter colours and oxidising copper roofs blocked in.

Buildings & Terrain: Painting my 6mm Russian Tower.

So, day three of my little 6mm Russian tower build, and I've finally finished the basic construction. I suppose I might add more, if things look too bare as I paint it up. But I hope not. As my first foray into buildings and terrain, I think I'll be content to keep it pretty basic.

Second and final grey undercoat. I'm pleased with it!

I've decided to use artist's acrylics, as you get a lot more paint for your pounds and pennies with them. Though they're still pretty dear, in my view. I mixed a pale brick colour from yellow ochre, white and cadmium red, and base-coated everything but the dome and 'spike'. I'm using the latter to handle the model at present.

 A pale terracotta type colour to start with.

As with my miniatures, I'm holding off basing at the mo', as I don't yet know how I'm going to base either my figures or my scenery. That's a conundrum for further down the road.

In the meantime I'm fortunate to have the leisure time to allow me to alternate painting sessions with lounging on the sofa, watching the snooker World Championships on ye olde BBC iPlayer. It's Gary Wilson vs Ali Carter, with the latter three one up (at the time of drafting this bit!). I think I'm rooting for ex-cabbie Wilson.

I'm a little chary of accelerating drying time with a hair-dryer, as much as I'd really like to, 'cause there's quite a bit of cardboard in this model, and I don't want that bending it all out of shape. I have to be patient, and pace myself. Not easy for an impetuous chap like me!

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Okay, back to work after a 'foot long' chicken sub-sandwich. A darker red-brown artists acrylic wash over the terracotta base-coat looks fab! I actually feel it'll be a shame to paint over any of it! But I have to, really.

Dark red-brown wash, over two layers of varnish.

For the roofing and stonework I went with Vallejo's Basalt Gray, a colour I really like. The roofing will be various colours, ultimately. Not sure exactly what colours yet. The columns, lintels, arches, etc, will be various shades of pale off-white. I'm not sure whether this will have a gilded onion-dome or not. And the roof of the second-floor might be oxidised (green) copper. Hmmm?

Vallejo Basalt Gray for roofing and stonework.

Anyway, I have to confess I'm really chuffed with how this maiden build is coming along.

Getting the columns and lintels painted.

Doors and windows block-coloured in.

Getting there... still a fair bit to do painting wise.

Getting into the colour painting is fun, if fiddly. I'm not a terrifically neat painter. So I'm constantly having to go back and touch up bits and bobs as I go along. I think I need to do a lighter grey on the upper faces of the roofing, gild the dome and do a tarnished copper roof on the second story.

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Dinner eaten, snooker on the telly, and my Russian tower more or less painted. I still want to do a wash or two, or some extra paintwork, e.g. to make the oxidised copper roof more defined, and get the whole building really 'popping'. But this will have to do for now. I've really enjoyed building this. And look forward to making more terrain.

Nearly there... copper roof and gilded dome painted.

I also glued a bit of cork to the base, so I could handle the model without using the spike atop the dome. Ok, it looks nothing like the building that inspired it (see previous post). But that's fine. That was just inspiration. And I'm very happy with how this has come out. Thanks to Tony Harwood and his title on Napoleonic buildings for the motivation.

One final thing I feel I should note: I think that reproducing building in 'true scale' doesn't really work. If we remember that each figure we have represents however many real soldiers, then we ought to realise that direct equivalence of individual figures to buildings will result in grossly oversized buildings. And yet we want the terrain to look right, in relation to our miniature troops. This is a tricky area! And in part why I named my blog 'a question of scale'!

Personally I like the approach this American dude whose name I forget uses. He wargames in 6mm, but using Heroics and Ros miniatures, which are smaller and less detailed than the Baccus and Adler I prefer. But his games always look stunning. His terrain being amongst the best looking I've ever seen. Taking a leaf from his book, my building are smaller than those commercially available from manufacturers like Timecast and Total Battle Miniatures.

This does present an issue: will I be able to use the models I bought from these guys? Will they work with mine? Or will I have to build all my building and terrain myself? I'm kind of thinking/expecting it'll be the latter. But I don't mind that. It's a challenge, for sure. But one I welcome.