More Martian temples

After making a successful prototype ‘temple of Mars’ building, I decided to make a couple more in the same way. I’ve covered what I did to make the prototype here, here and here, so this post is really just an excuse to whizz through the process again with a new set of photos.

Below is a photo of one of the buildings after assembly. For the benefit of new readers, it’s an upside-down coleslaw tub glued to a 6" x 6" vinyl floor tile with epoxy resin. The steps and trim are made of various sizes of spruce sticks. The gaps are filled with ‘no more nails’, which I’ve taken a liking to as an alternative to plaster.


For the entrance tunnel, I made a box with an opening at the front from off-cuts of 4mm MDF, raised it to the height of the steps with more off-cuts then glued it to the tile. I cut a section out of the tub for the entrance before gluing the tub to the tile and adding the steps and trim. Next is a good view of the construction of the MDF tunnel. There was no need to be neat with the parts the go inside the tub:


Here are both of the two new buildings:


And a ‘work in progress’ shot of the four buildings I have made so far:



The one in the top right is the finished prototype. The two on the left are the subject of this blog post, after I covered the outside surfaces in PVA (mixed with a drop of washing-up liquid) and flocked them with sand. The one in the bottom right is a ruin. The latter will be the subject of my next post...


Here is one of the buildings, ready to paint. I sealed the sand with a PVA and water mix. There was no need to block in the colours but at the time it seemed a nice way to end the day.


Before painting, I wanted to add some larger stones and rocks. In addition to a big jar of sand scavenged from various places, I’ve made various mixes of sand, flock and ballast which I keep in the smallest food tubs I can find. I find this is a real time-saver and avoids a lot of repetition and mess.


After I gave the bases a liberal smothering of PVA, I sprinkled some of the ballast mixes on to the bases and added a few individual large rocks:


To make the stones look like they are a part of the sand underneath, and not just added as an afterthought, I then sprinkled a little more sand over the ballast mixes:


I try to do this kind of thing late at night so I don’t have to wait for it to dry. In the morning, this is what I had:



A quick undercoat to unify all the different colours:


Then I painted ’em. I covered the colours in my last post so I won’t repeat them here. Here is the first of the two new buildings:


And here is the second:


And, for the sake of completion, a photo of the original prototype building.


At this rate, I just might be able to get a game in by Christmas...

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