Tuesday 17 June 2014

More Leven Miniatures desert buildings

In between painting various units of new tanks for my North Africa 1942 Project I have also been trying to get some terrain items painted as well. Much of the stuff I have has been sitting patiently in my to-do box for several months waiting for inspiration to strike! There are a handful of suitable UK based suppliers of 6mm Desert scenery and one of the best (IMHO) is Leven Miniatures. Their range of buildings is pretty extensive and the quality of the casting is very high and all for incredibly low prices. I've picked up quite a few bits from Mike (Mr Leven himself) over the last year and I have not had a single problem or issue with any of my purchases.

These two buildings are a case in point. Both are really simple desert/adobe style domestic buildings that would suit pretty much any middle eastern or North African setting. The resin is strong and clean without any significant bubbles or other imperfections. The models need a good wash with detergent before painting but aside from that don't really need any other preparation before painting.



I base coated these using Iraqi Sand (819) and when dry washed them with a Strong Tone Quickshade applied with a brush. I let this dry thoroughly overnight and then drybrushed more Iraqi Sand and then Ivory (918) to leave a nice smooth colour and highlights to edges of walls and roofs. Aside from some minor detailing and sealing with varnish that was pretty much it.

Another recent acquisition from Leven miniatures are these four single arch culvert bridges.



A few months ago I bought about twelve foot of Wadi (dry riverbed) desert terrain and realised I need some bridges if my roads were to cross them. These small bridges are ideal and form a nice terrain feature and tactical objective to be fought over. I used the same method as with the buildings above so these were completed pretty quickly as well.


Incidentally I may add a soft tone wash to the banks of the wadis as they are very bright and clean looking (they came pre painted). A little 'dirtying up' with some wash will make them fit in on the games surface a lot better. 

4 comments:

  1. More desert goodness what more can I say.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Excellent! Going to make for great looking tables and something for your tiny armys to fight over.
    cheers

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving a comment. I always try to reply as soon as I can, so why not pop back later and continue the conversation. In the meantime, check out my YouTube channel Miniature Adventures TV