From ByronM - Western Town from Northern Lights Terrain (220 Points)

It's really been a bit of a slow year for me this painting challenge, and I am sorry about that.  With the end of the challenge coming up oh so quickly, I really wanted to get a project done that I have needed to complete for the better part of a decade!!  When I started laser cutting terrain it was 2014 and one of the first sets I launched was a line of western buildings which was finished and for sale by early 2015.  Since then, they have sat unpainted in a bin, getting pulled out to play with (unpainted) but otherwise untouched.

The biggest issue was that I didn't really know what I wanted to do with them.  I thought about just painting the signs and leaving the rest wood, or painting them all but not really sure how to go about doing an aged wood look, so they just sat.

Well, I resolved to get them done this year, and since I had such a slow painting year, I decided I needed to bang out something big for the end of the challenge, and this happened to be it.  You can find my whole line of western buildings for sale over at Northern Lights Terrain.

I ended up deciding on a worn wood look, but wasn't sure how to pull it off without spending a ton of time.  I figured going with a brown base, dry brushing grey and then various washes over it would work but wasn't 100% sure.  So I used a lifeline and called Curt to discuss options.  He had pretty much the same idea / colours in mind but suggested that I start with grey to skip the brown undercoat and then proceed to washes of browns, greys and maybe some greens.

I wasn't too sure, so tried it out on the outhouse first, and was really happy with the results.  I think it looks great and was relatively fast as well!  I used a medium grey as a base, washed generously with a dark brown (burnt umber ink from Liquitex, but you could use Agrax Earthshade), then dry brushed back a bit of the medium grey, then a light grey, both trying to be rough dry brushes and following / creating what would be the grain of the wood.  I then went back over it with a thin brush randomly creating darker runs of the ink and then with a lighter brown ink, and then lastly added some green for rot or moss in the corners and the odd area.

I then went about painting the fronts of the buildings in some various bright colours, and cut some lettering for the signs.  I kept all the trim on the buildings a bright white to make it pop.

The gallows was painted the same as all the building just without any bright coloured details, as were all the boardwalk sections that tie the town together so that the "ladies" don't have to walk in the muddy roads.

Last up was the church, which I painted in a traditional white and black colour scheme.

While I am unhappy that I had a slow painting year this year (due to way to many various reasons over the winter), I am thrilled to have these buildings painted and we have already fought several games of "What a Cowboy" over them. The only building in the line that I did not get done as I couldn't find the assembled one I have (having just moved in the fall) was the barn.  Now I have a few more buildings to design though!!!  As we felt we need some old sheds for non town fights, a Bank as an objective building, a stable and blacksmith, and maybe even a train station!  So maybe I will be back next year with some more western buildings.

As for points, each of the regular buildings are about 7" x 5" x 5.5" so I am going to call each one a 20 point cube of terrain as I feel it's close enough.  There are 6 of those, so 120 points so far.  The gallows is slightly smaller, but if I add the board walk sections and outhouse to it, that should be another cube, so up to 140.  Then the church is bigger at about 1.5 cubes and the saloon is a massive building at 9x8.5x8.5 so over 2.5 cubes, so adding these together should be 4 cubes or 80 points for a grand total of 220 points.  I am ok with more or less as the judges decide. I am just happy they are all done!  I might be back with a few more odds and ends before the end of the challenge, but if not, awesome work everyone!

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Well, our "free fire" submission period will not commence until Saturday, technically speaking, but Byron is a friend and so I am abusing my powers as a minion to welcome his post into our final round of Wednesday submissions. Welcome Byron!

And what a fine submission it is! I will always make cracks about painting terrain, mainly as a weak way deflect from the fact that I am just dreadful at ever getting it painted. But this submission is a clear demonstration of the value that excellent terrain designers such as Northern Lights bring to our hobby. The kits are great, and they are fabulous once painted up! I think your approach to painting the wood has absolutely achieved the right "look".  This is totally a wonderful table set up, and I can already picture a variety of Hatfield-and-McCoy disputes being settled with pistols and rifles! 220 points well earned!

GregB