Resistance encampment

 An overview pic of the completed resistance encampment.

As stated elsewhere, this project was mainly conjecture - this is what I feel a partisan encampment could have looked like, and in my opinion it looks the part.

From left to right: HQ, shelter and ammo bunker.

Please check the individual posts for details of the structures.

Resistance ammo bunker

 To round off my World War II resistance encampment I decided to build an ammo bunker.

Not sure if resistance camps had one, but if they didn't they ought to.

Naturally, I went with one built wih locally available materials: logs and earth.

The basic structure was as so often is the case styrene, but that will be hidden from the public view soon.

The logs were barbeque skewers. I stock those in several varieties, this was the medium thickness kind.

Chalk paint as primer works well with acrylic washes.

The stucture dug in and kinda bomb-proofed with my usal mix of sand and diluted white wood glue - a mix that dries rock hard within a day or two. 

Brown acrylic wash applied.

Landscaping painted. In tyhis pic it was still wet, it turned out without glossy spots.

Resistance HQ

 After building the first resistance shelter, I went on to do a second one, which I dubbed the HQ.

The construction went as usual: styrene on dead CD - yes, still got a pile of those - clad with coffee stirrers, which I do buy wholesale.

Chalk paint as a primer works in my opinion best with acrylic washes.

Floor dirtied.

Landscaping done. My usual mix of sand and diluted white wood glue, which dries rock hard.

Brown wash with diluted acrylic paint.

The "landschaping" painted.

(Clean) tissue canvas roof.

Canvas roof painted and camouflaged.

Again, an easy but functional wargames building, and a rather unique one.

Resistance hide-out

 I've painted quite a few partisans to be used for the Eastern Front, and I figured they needed somewhere to live.

Details of partisan encampments are sketchy to say the least, so I had to improvise. 

I decided to do a semi-dug in structure with a canvas roof, purely because it's something I would and could have built under the same circumstances.

I also decided to make it CD-based, since after all it wasn't just a building but also a bit of terrain.

I started off with a building method I feel comfortable with: styrene, clad with coffee stirrer planks. The roof beams thought they were going to be barbeque skewers.

Primed with chalk paint. The terrain built up with a mix of dried sand and diluted white wood glue, which gives in a rock hard result. 

Wash with diluted acrylic paint. Floor muddied.

The canvas roof originally was a tissue - a clean one, I must stress.

Canvas painted and given an improvised camo pattern.

Almost all the comforts of home deep in the forest.

Fifth and last Polish village house.

 After finishing the synagoge, I feared that the larger buildings were changing the rural and simple nature of the village, so I decided to add another simple village house.

It's in the same style as the first three, with different sizes and colours, for variety.

Having more buildings also means I have more options for setting up a village for a wargame, not necessarily using each and every structure each time.

Since the construction was familiar, I went with a styrene model from the start.

Coffee stirrer planks and matchstick windowframes added. The roof over the woodpile also got a few planks.

Main construction done, corners finished, roof thatched with strips of towel. 

Chimney painted, walls primed with chalk paint. The woodpile was donate by the plane tree the city was friendly enough to plant in front of our house.

Again for variety, I used different washes for walls and roof.

This must have been one of my easiest and fastest buildings, but it does the job, and that's what counts.

Fourth Polish House - a bit posher

After three rather modest houses for my 1939 model Polish village, it was time to add a bit posher one, for the big man in town.

I was inspired by a pic from a Polish museum village or open air museum - sorry, don't know which, my Polish is sadly lacking.

The end and rear walls were done in the usual way: coffee stirrers on styrene sheet, with matchstick window frames.

The front wall was provided with a boot room

The roof halves look nice like this, in reality I had to brace the rears to stop them from warping.

A moment of silence please for the hundreds of coffee stirrers who were sacrificed for this building.

A few supports added to stiffen the structure a bit.

Not one, but two chimneys! Styrene, obviously.

And everything put together.

Walls painted, roof primed with chalk paint.

Roof washed, chimneys painted.

Framing painted. Possibly attracted by the appropiate colours of the wall, a Soviet batallion command took possession of it already.

 

Polish stable

 To add some more variety to my 1939 Polish model village, I added a stable.

The basic shape is identical to the polish houses I did so far. Large carriage door in the center of the long side, horse boxes on either side.

Basic styrene build, so far so good.

The planks went on okay, but I did not realize the roof was going to be a problem. Building tip: never ever use a striped or otherwise patterned towel as thatch.

The wash should have covered the stripes. Should. As you can see, it didn't.

The walls were primed with chalk paint, and after three applications of ever thicker washes the stripes finally surrendered. 

Naturally, by then the strucure of the towel was also burried under all that acrylic, so I had to brush the roof to get at least a semblance of the right texture back.

The finished building, complete with Soviet medics who plan to turn it into a field hospital. 

So boys and girls, what have we learned today? 

Striped towels may be fine for drying, but NOT for roofing.

Third Polish village house

 Since a village should have more than just two houses, I decided to do a few more. This is the 3rd one.

The basic construction is identical to the first two, I just changed dimensions and colours a tad so the overall look of my village wouldm't be too boring.

First the styrene basic construction. T chimney srted out life as a complimentary hotel pen.

Windows and door cut out.

Coffee stirrer cladding (sorry: planks) applied.

I bought my wife some new hand towels so I could use the old ones.

Walls primed, roof had a wash already. I use a chalk paint as a primer, I find that works best with my acrylic washes.

Done, and being heroicly defended by Polish infantry.