Martian whimsy

I fancied making something a little more whimsical for Mars... Why not a bandstand and some gardens.

For the bandstand the roof was printed and most of the base and the railings were laser cut. Plastic stonework sheeting was used for the base sides and the steps were cut from xps foam (I think, the brand name is Foamex).

The columns were brass tube with four pieces each. I won't be doing that again as I went through 16 scalpel blades lol. The handrail on the railings was just some half round microstrip.

Painting was fairly simple as I kept most of the parts removable. 

 

The gardens were mainly lasercut (including the topiary hedges which then had growies stuck on them). The plants inside the glasshouses are just various bits and bobs I've had knocking around and the plant pots are available from here 

Painting was kept in the same vein as the rest of my Mars terrain and I'll need to do some high walls to surround it. I've also got a colonial style mansion that's in need of some love to go with it.

 

 

ttfn

'Tango' is not welcome here. Nor is Bill

Another semaphore tower

 But quite different from the last one.

Went for a walk down on Chatley Heath the other week and there's a wonderful semaphore tower from the early 19th century. Not much use in normal games but I thought it would be perfect for Mars. There is a telegraph system on Mars but with Sky Martian raids destroying the lines and the engineers hard pressed to keep up it's a good opportunity to have something with a more reliable form of communication.

We can also use it for our (eventual) games of England Invaded/Battle of Dorking when it gets off the ground. One of the reasons why it hasn't been based (keeping my options open).

 

 

ttfn

 

'Tango' has no permission to take anything from this blog, neither does Bill (even though I reckon they are the same person) or anyone else for that matter.

Currently away but...

But back next week so to keep you going here are a few photos of  some of the VSF antics I get up to. I hope to have some more comprehensive posts regarding this but seeing as a lot of it was some time ago I'm not relishing the text part...

I'm posting this now due to the time difference but next week it'll be the usual early evening timing

First few pictures (and the last two) are from some games that have been played in the past, middle pictures are scratchbuilt neffs and buildings. The buildings use element from the Victorian range in the catalogue Here which is going to have a bit of an overhaul in the next few weeks.

On to the photos!

ttfn

New Victoria

Can't sleep again so a good time for another post, this time explaining and showing a bit more of my Colonial Martian city of New Victoria.

I've been playing VSF on and off for the past few years with a mate across the river and occasionally with some chaps from the LAF and the story behind seems to be getting a little bit out of control. I'll write a full back story before Salute but basically, Mars has been colonised and some of the indigenous population aren't keen on the idea...

New Victoria is the largest human city on Mars and is ever expanding. The idea was initially thought up a while ago and just keeps getting bigger and bigger; city walls, railway, neff hangers and docking stations, reconditioned canals, the list just keeps getting added to.

Anyway, on to some photos of the railway as it stands at the moment. The idea for a railway was an early one but to put it on a viaduct was a late addition. I had already made some mesa as terrain pieces but. Thought it might be a good idea to have the railway at a higher level, starting on one mesa and going across the table possibly to another one at the other end (the table for Salute will be 6 x 12).

A quick look on google images set me off...

ttfn