Northern Inn

By John ‘Scarab’ Salmond

It was time to do another building. The Terrainthralls had been getting several requests to do an Everblight or Nyss piece for the Warmachine / Hordes gaming systems. I had put some thought into it and I didn’t want to do another landscape piece. I have done plenty of them lately. I decided that it was going to be a building. I started thinking for what I would like to do and I thought an Inn would be the building of choice. It was going to be in a snow ladened country so it had to have steep pitched roofs but have a fantasy feel to it. A cabin I have stayed in at Bear Lake, Utah was the starting point. It had steep roofs so they didn’t have to be shoveled off. Not to drag it out any longer this is what I came up with.

The frame work was going to be constructed of my favorite building material (1/4″ Foamcore). I purchased some from Michaels and drew up a quick sketch of what it might look like. The main hall would be square with some areas coming off of it. The first area was going to be a patio or covered deck. I wanted to change things up so I went with part of an octagon shape. I measured out the pieces and used a hobby knife to cut the foamcore. I used white glue to attach the pieces with stick pins to hold them in place. The pins are easily removed and don’t create large enough holes to cause be any issues.



I wanted to add some character to the front of the building too. This was going to have tapered walls to break things up a bit. I was also going to have an over hang so I had to construct it in two parts. There would also be a window on the lower part where a pub might be located for the guests.



The over hang portion of the front piece I wanted to have taper back out. This is to give it more character like was mentioned already. At this point I had to start thinking of the roof. It was going to be attached to the next section that was going to be added. Plus, when you cut out one roof support section you can overlay the piece onto another and use it as a pattern and cut out multiples. I decided to throw a middle support section that will never be seen but it will help keep it uniform. I added more support on the back roof piece for strength. I also had to add a floor to the over hang piece.



I measured the top portion from end to end. I wanted the roof fronts to be slanted with the top hanging out more than the bottom. After cutting the roof sections I put lines on them at a 1/4″ apart for future guides when it came time to do the shingles.



I also had to prep the underside of the roof pieces so they would fit together at the top with out leaving a gap. On the underside I used a hobby knife to trim the foamcore.



This shows both pieces cut which will be match together.



If you decide to make the interior playable you can glue the roof piece separately in order to work on the inside later. Just make sure it dries in so it fits back on later. For this piece I am gluing the roof on.



After gluing the roof on I noticed that my pins were not getting the tight fit at the top I was looking for. Luckily the clamps worked fine and sealed it up.



The side roof I wanted to have a sharp pitch come off of the normal roof. I think it will look cool plus I need a lot of room for what I have planned for the deck roof. That is why you may have noticed the two different supports sizes. I also had to be creative on getting the supports to stay where I wanted them.



Here is a few shots with a ruler thrown in to give some scale.




The next piece is the front entrance. I wanted it to have it’s own little structure so to speak and not just a door. I built it as a separate piece and would attach it after it dried. Once again I used pins to hold it together while the glue dried.



The roof over the deck was going to be more difficult to build. The deck is in the shape of an octagon so the roof would be the same. I wanted to roof to be supported by wood beams so the initial construction would need better support. I used the bottom as a template to make the underside of the roof. I cut some scrap pieces to glue to the underside for strength. They didn’t need to look good because they would never be seen.



I am going to use a picture that I have from the Trollkin Village piece. This is the way I create blocks or chunks of plasture. I use wood covered in plastic wrap and place them on top of plastic wrap. I use weights to hold them in place and pour the plasture. I then cut them up to the size that I need. I needed several blocks for the next step in the project. I wanted to have a stone foundation for the Inn. The next photos show the mold for the stones and the placement of the stonework. Before placing the stones sand the edges so you have a weathered and worn look to them. Detail work will be done after they are glued in place.




Once the stones are in place I used a dental tool to nick them up and give them some cracks. Hobby knife or sculpting tools can also be used for this. I just happened to ask my dentist if he ever threw away old tools and if I could have them. He sanitized them first before I took them. Anyway here is a couple of shots detailing the stone work.



The next couple of photo’s show the stone work completed.



The Inn is now ready to have the wood work applied to it. I am using Bass wood which is a little tougher than balsa. I can’t use balsa for the technique I am going to use on the wood. I want the wood to have the grain very prominent for painting later. This can also give a good weathered look. The way to do this is by using a wire brush. Go in a back and forth motion to bring out the grain in the wood. Balsa is to soft to do this.



I try to create the grain before I cut them to length. Remember that if you cut them you may have to wire brush an end that may be exposed. I place the wood where it will be places and mark it with the pencil. I then us a scroll saw or in this picture I am using a hobby saw.



Here are some shots of the Inn with some wood applied. They show the roof over the deck, front, side and some rear shots.





One of the features I wanted the Inn to have was a large sign that I plan on casting. I needed some place to hang the sign from. I used a couple of thicker pieces of wood for the mount. For the design I was looking for I had to glue a them together.



Some extra feature I wanted to add required that I duplicate some wood pieces. I cut the first one and then used it as a template. After all of them were cut I was really concerned about a perfect match but I did want them to be fairly close. I used sand paper to sand them down.



After I used the wire brush on them I applied them to the roof. I also cut part of the sign mount to give the underside a curved shape before creating the wood grain. Some of the grain does not appear in the photos very well but should show up when I paint them and high light them. I am only going to apply the roof wood to one side. The other side may have smoke stacks. The other side also has the windows.




Well it is back to applying more wood and then the roof shingles…