Ruined Church

Concept: One of my most ambitious early projects, took me nearly three months working daily in a shed in my old place, in the Fall all through to December. I had to warm my hands on a small space heater. Dedication! Ha. But really, the concept was a party ruined Gothic-style church, worshiping Elder gods. The ruins would make it open just enough to be usable in a wargame setting. Ceiling and tower are magnetized and removable. Lots of texturing for the outer the walls, used various techniques. Used PVA on the floor to make its tiles shinier. The piece was my biggest at the time, about 18” in length.

The coffin, chandeliers and fountain are by Reaper Miniatures.

Materials: Polystyrene for the walls, craft sticks for the roof, foamboard for the floor, masonite base. Started with PVA glue but lost patience and moved to cyanoacrylate. Tried to mix my own wash for the walls with china ink, dishwashing soap and water, with mixed results.

What I’d do differently: Polystyrene is horrible to work with, for a lot of reasons, but here, it really limited the level of detail I could put into the walls. It’s apparent on the windows. Otherwise, the base warped slightly from inexperience. And I’d make the walls a bit darker, the grey metallic paint I used reflects too much light.