Imperial Outpost WIP

Hi!

Well I find myself with a day off so thought I'd post up some pictures of an Imperial outpost that I've been working on over the last couple of evenings!

Imperial Outpost

I've been beavering away with the selection of cardboard boxes I picked up the other week and along with some cork tile and cardboard, I've had rather a lot of fun creating some suitably grubby structures for my diminutive troops to fight over and better still, its all modular and can be changed around to create lots of different layouts!

 Raised platform

The raised platform was made from the lid of the potpourri box (the taller, angled box) lid with a couple of old MDF squares glued to the top to create a decent surface and some cork tile being pressed into service for walls and a ramp. I also used a little bit of filler at the edges to cover over the joins.

 Imperial complex

The main building at the moment is the hexagonal box (I have another two in various stages of completion!) with a few bits of cardboard glued to it along with a piece of granny mesh stuff which is perfect for 15mm scale ladders. I have also created a load of corridors, bulkheads and stuff to improve the general look and provide some means of entry to the buildings.

 Corridors and doors

Handily, these corridors can also make decent shelters or dwellings in their own rights and took next to no time to construct. The end pieces are cork tile while the main bulk is just cereal box cardboard with a few bits and bobs glued on to make it look a bit more interesting.

I created the hazard striping separately by painting it onto a sheet of paper and cutting lengths out and gluing it onto the finished structure and adding a wash of ink to give it a more grubby finish. I do think it finishes them off nicely and adds a much needed touch of colour to what would otherwise be an awful lot of grey...

Pumping Station

Equally handily, the pipeline I built previously fits onto it too so it can also do double duty as a pump station, storage tank or whatever the scenario needs. 

I used a thick coat of burnt umber paint to prime the whole lot which created a nice textured surface for the base coat and lots of drybrushing to bring it out. I had loads of fun adding rust and grime to the whole thing with burnt umber, chestnut brown, chocolate brown and a couple of acrylic inks which were smeared onto the surface with my thumb and dabbed about with a little bit of tissue paper.

At the rate I am going at, I should have a decent complex built and ready to go within the next couple of weeks. Just the thing for my assorted warbands to skirmish over but first I need to add a few extra elements to really bring the stuff to life such as barricades, piles of boxes or oil drums, raised walkways and some fencing to surround the place. I also have to build a VTOL landing pad, roads and a defence tower with an automated AA gun but more on that later.

Hopefully my next update will include some more exciting terrain and possibly even a few miniatures!

All the best!