Berman Blog: Red Door Palace (Terrain)

The Red Door Palace was the first Nunawading 2020-themed terrain item I've created. It stands 140mm high and has close to a full A4-sized footprint and kind of set the tone for my subsequent complementary creations.

31-Apr-18 Update: I've now made a skin for the rooftop of the Palace, intended to fit more with the cyberpunk aesthetic the Nunawading 2020 Team are shooting for. You can see the skin's pictures and details here.

How did I go about doing it? Well the superstructure consists of three boxes: two resting on a third below. Then I added an extra box and a half on top to create the different areas e.g., dance floor? From there I added all manner of bits-and-pieces, primarily with my glue gun going 100mph and occasionally with some super glue assistance. Some of the more memorable components include:

Plunder from a large plastic aircraft carrier that my sons had played to death - rather than hitting the bin it was harvested by Dad;
Some electrician things (I have no idea what they are) that I lifted from a skip bin - I reckon they'll make great ATMs in due course;
An old wireless air card (I think ye olde laptops used such things to connect to networks back when Captain Cook landed in Australia) and USB Memory Stick (I wonder if there was anything on it? Too late now!);
Three metal mint containers - the idea was they might be ovens or boilers on the rooftop;
Bits of wire from various things including leftovers from when I built our chicken coop;
Plastic bendy drinking straws. I was warned that they don't paint well and you know what, they're not great - because they're not solid, if they're pushed, the paint flakes off (live and learn);
Lids from my son's pet lizard's food containers - they've been used to line the dance floor; and
The doors were hand made using cardboard and there's a bit of card and acrylic offcuts added over the whole of the building - I like the manner in which it looks a bit patchwork, it adds to the overall authenticity.

Painting started with rattle can basecoats - maybe 10% black from the bottom, 90% grey from the top. After that, I mixed up red-brown paint and airbrushed it on. As I ran out, I mixed more, hence the variety of shades. I also airbrushed some greys (again of various hues) and once I got sick of that, I spent a bit of time freehanding details (without undue focus on keeping in the lines) like the lights etc. Looking at the photos again, I've got to say there's something to be said for muted, bland paint jobs for terrain... something to consider for future projects. You'll notice that there are a number of blank areas: It's my intention to make some larger posters to cover the same in due course - they will come later.

If you're interested the photos, here's the link to a complete (?) album, otherwise I've included a selection of the Palace's shots below. Enjoy!