Thursday 3 October 2013

The Pavilion!



This particular piece of scenery has been a long time in the making as it was initially bought as a farmhouse for my New Zealand Wars collection a couple of years ago.  As with a good many of my fanciful ideas it was soon shelved and was quietly gathering dust until a chance reading of the proposed 7ombieTV scenario revealed the need for a changing room; well perhaps not a changing room, but how about a cricket pavilion, thought I?  



Those that have enjoyed the love of our great sport, particularly when played at village level will, I hope, instantly recognise this bastion of all things English.  Perhaps not unlike a bone fide pavilion it was clear that I needed to add a few modifications to the start kindly provided by the Perry brothers and so the raiding of the bits’ box began in earnest.  


The basic timber framed building would work well as it was and fortunately the roof is cast to resemble tiles, so I instantly imagined these as the red sussex roofing slates that are prevalent in this area.  I still felt that I needed to give it that quaint look often associated with these structures and to that end some cut down picket fencing was fastened to the front at the perfect height to put your feet on while waiting to go into bat.  


I did consider removing the chimney stack as this seemed a little grand for a pavilion, but decided that it might prove a job to far and so it was left, but with the addition of a central heating exhaust and television aerial as a nod to modernity.  


Clearly the days of playing cricket or lacrosse are fast dwindling from the minds of the girls, their days devoted to nothing more than survival and so defence was the order of the day.  Windows have been boarded up and the back door has been secured with corrugated iron sheets.  Those that have played cricket will no doubt be aware that dodging rain showers can be important, particularly at the start of the season and so guttering was installed, collecting the rainwater in a rusty old water butt, although how successful this will be is in doubt given the amount of weeds growing in the gutter.
  

With a nod to the Englishness of it all, the bunting, again from the talented 'Jesse Bunting', is reinstalled this time in a rather fetching red, white and blue.  This was enhanced with the addition of the ubiquitous ‘Keep Calm’ poster, but sadly it would appear that the fourth former sent to paste it to the wall has been snatched mid posting!   The ram’s skull is a nod to the ferocity of the girls and acts as a talisman against the undead; even the crafty fox is wary of staying too long within its vicinity!


This has proved to be a wonderful distraction and I’m afraid to say rather took over my hobby time as I kept finding new things to add.  It was great fun seeing it on the board as I edge, albeit painfully slowly, towards the proposed game.  



As I was searching for ideas for my pavilion I stumbled across Zabadak's alternative version of both the farmhouse and the barn.  What I love here is that he has considered the interior as a playing area and furnished them accordingly with exquisite detail.  



Although, I haven’t considered adding interior detail myself at this juncture seeing Zabadak's did stop me gluing on the roof so the option is still there and of course I can now illuminate it for those spooky night games!



Now I just need to prep some zombies to paint this weekend!  Don't forget to click the 'Zomtober' button to see how the rest of the chaps are getting on with the challenge.  





100 comments:

  1. Outstanding! You did a tremendous job on the hut.

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  2. That's a wonderful piece of scenery! I love the little details that you've added in there

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    1. Thank you Paul, it was certainly great fun to do.

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  3. That so fits with the girls. An excellent addition. Seriously good.

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    1. Thank you Clint, it was a blast setting up the photographs too.

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  4. Excellent! All those details that took up your time were worth it. The torn Keep Calm sign gave me a chuckle when I saw it. And I can see your pond sitting there and it looks quite nice in the shot.

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    1. Thank you Anne, this was a wonderful diversion whilst away from the blogosphere.

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  5. Brilliant! I can just see the 6th form retiring there after a game of hockey to partake of post-match "refreshments".

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    1. Absolutely, that bottle of cooking sherry in the changing rooms will help warm them through.

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  6. That is an exceptionally good rendition of the model.
    The guttering and other details really make it stand apart from its American origins, especially with the "modern" additions !
    I imagine the inside would have the fireplace bricked up and an electric or gas fire installed.
    I do wish I'd thought of using the fencing as a balustrade - great idea.(and thanks fro the plug btw)

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    1. The electric fire is a genius idea! As for the plug, you are more than welcome. your work certainly inspires me.

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  7. A fantastic work, some beautiful details!

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  8. Nothing short of excellent

    Glad to see you blogging again as well

    ian

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  11. Superb attention to detail. Lovely job

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    1. That you Dave, pleased to finally get it finished though.

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  12. Fantastic work! Really good conversiosn and additions to that house! Masterclass!

    Greetings
    Peter

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    1. That is incredibly kind of you Peter, thank you.

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  13. Ruddy marvellous piece of work, totally transformed the original model.

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  14. Wow! Wonderful work and all of the little details definitely paid off. Its those little things that give a model life.

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  15. Amazing! A work of art in itself! BTW, the raven looks like the one from GW. Best, Dean

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    1. Thank you Dean a great fun project to work on.

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  16. Brilliant! No village green should be without a zombie refuge...err, cricket pavilion. Again, the details really give it life. Well done!

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    1. Thank you Sir, always good to have somewhere to shelter!

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  17. This is awe inspiring Michael, Z Day might just be your calling.

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    1. Thank you, it was certainly great fun to work on.

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  18. Off the charts good! It is well worth whatever hours you took to bash this out. Your last two shots look like they're straight out of a movie!

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  19. Very nice modeling, Michael. Lots of exciting details for the picture-scene-detective to discover and to enjoy. My cup runneth over.

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  20. Fecking......amazing.....work..........Michael......top of the class!

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  21. Lovely!!! Adding the Fox is a great idea

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  22. WOW! This is really an amazing and attractive post. I appreciate your posted wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing such an interesting post.

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  23. Excellent conversion work! A fine example of creativity!

    Christopher

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  24. That is an excellent piece of terrain. Very impressive.

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  25. It is a fantastic building and painting work, sir!!!

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  26. a really nice bit of work. so many lttle extra's. truely impressed.

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  27. Having seen this project in various stages, it's great to see it finally finished and on the board.

    As always, a great job.

    Pip pip

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    1. Thank you my good man and I promise when all this madness is over to get to your belated birthday present!

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  28. Excellent piece of terrain, brilliantly converted. Thanks for the WIP shots as well!

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  29. really excellent!
    it gives the exact felling to the scenario.
    bye

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  30. Great lighting in the final shots Michael.
    CheersStu

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    1. Thank you Stuart, I knew those LEDs would come in handy eventually!

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  31. Oh that's just brilliant! You're showing off now! ;-) Looking forward to some zombie-fest battlereports!

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    1. Thank you Scott, this was a long time coming so really glad it has been received so well.

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  32. Stunning !!!

    Greate details !

    Greate night time picture with the advancing zombies!

    Best regards Michael

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  33. Very nice work, Michael; it is amazing, what can come out of a pile of plastic. There was some problem with my last comment. Alas, I took a duplicate down and it deleted the original post as well. Technology is great when it is working correctly...; long live technology!

    Jan

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    1. Thank you Jan for persevering with the comment that is very kind of you and much appreciated.

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  34. I would definitely put that on my table...outstanding!!!!

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  35. Now that is outstanding. Well worth all of the effort, such a humorous piece with a gret mny inspired touches. Whatever next?!

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    1. Thank you so much, coming up with have some barricades, tents and a bobcat! All will be revealed shortly.

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  36. It looks great Michael. You shouldn't feel bad about your pace, you are putting out some wonderful models. I think we all wish we played more games.

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  37. Wonderful work there Michael and it looks the part. I have to admit I am thinking of getting one of these to make the very same thing a cricket pavilion for my VBCW games, especially when the Sloppy Jalopy Cricketers come out.

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    1. Thank you Pete and I hope this might give you some ideas; the cricketers sound fun, you must let me know when they arrive.

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  38. Magic, simply magic! Hats off!
    Michael this is great! :)

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  39. Wow, Your stuff just keeps getting better and better. Thank you for sharing. Your passion is infectious.

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  40. Can't believe I missed this! I'm almost lost for words to describe it. Wonderful stuff mate! So much story telling!

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    1. Thank you so much my good man, incredibly kind of you.

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  41. I love it! It would make a great 'shunned house" for Cthulhu/Pulp/Horror gaming too
    Who makes the plastic kit you started with?

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    1. Thank you Paul, the original kit was the Perry Miniatures ACW Farmhouse. A fabulous starting point.

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  42. Michael great work!

    On your barricades post with the zombies (and maybe I missed it) but what do the counters with the axes mean and how are they used?

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    1. Hi there, sorry to be so late in replying. The axe tokens are part of the 7ombieTV game set and represent barricades/defences. As the zombies attack an area they roll a dice to see what damage they do - ultimately hoping for a breech.

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  43. Michael thanks for the reply. I'm new to this site and was wondering if you've done a review of 7ombieTV? Rick

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    1. Hi Rick, not yet! The sad truth is that I've played very few games of anything - I'm aways far too easily distracted. I'm sure one day there will be a review here.

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