It is amazing how a bit of effort and time can breathe new live into certain hobby projects. Recently I was clearing out my hobby storage bunker when I came across a big box of JAVIS resin scenery that my best mate and I bought in 2004 when we got back into the hobby.
Most gamers in the UK are probably aware of JAVIS products but I'm not sure how well known they are in the international community. As a company their roots lay in producing model railway scenery, but a few years ago they diversified in into making wargames terrain for the 20mm-28mm market.
The terrain they make comes in a plain, dull grey resin that is designed to (unconvincingly) emulate stone, and it is usually pre-flocked. On uncovering this horde of old terrain I was considering just binning it as I now have an extensive collection of much more realistic looking scenery for a variety of settings. However on examining the individual pieces I quickly realised that with a little attention they might actually be be renovated back into serviceability.
Now like most of us my time is limited so I didn't have a huge amount of time available to invest in this renovation. So I decided to see what could be achieved by just applying a series of washes directly over the resin followed by some heavy drybrushing!
And as you can see the results were really rather good, an afternoon of washing and drybrushing (and 3 full bottles of Agrax Earthshade) gave me this.... The unrealsitc greay resion was gone and in its place was some far more visually pleasing scenery with realistic wood and stone tones.
I am really, really pleased with how this turned out, and now I have the perfect terrain to construct a ruined Fantasy Village or Town and it has literally cost me nothing!
All you frugal gamers must surely approve (I am looking at you Chico and James Holloway!!)
In fact I am so pleased with how this has turned out that I have actually bought a couple more JAVIS pieces to round out the town!!
Can I suggest that you all dig into you mountains of forgotten hobby supplies and see what treasures are there! You might well be surprised with what you uncover!!
Great one!
ReplyDeleteCheers mate!!
DeleteOi I'm not fungal... Oh frugal, ok carry on.
ReplyDeleteLooks rather good how much did that lot set you back all those years ago?
Thinking about it I can't imagine it came to more than about £80 mate. We acquired piecemeal over a few months from a local newsagent that randomly stocked it!!
DeleteWish I could just "Stumble upon" a fat pile of scenery... ;)
ReplyDeleteLooks great though. Would work nicely for just about any fantasy setting.
Hahaha, yeah it was a spot of luck! And I didn't have the heart to get rid of it as I had many fond memories fought over that bare grey resin over the last 13 years!! I'm glad I've managed to save it.
DeleteAny fantasy setting.... or perhaps a medieval/feral world in the 41st Millenium!!
Looks good old chap. It'll certainly spice up the tabletop.
ReplyDeleteCheers mate! It'll certainly look better than when it was just plain grey resin!
DeleteI hadn't heard of JAVIS (thought he was the velvet jacketed chap from Newman and Baddiel in Pieces) so thanks for introducing me to them! Your finish really reminds me of the old stone walls and ruins on Dartmoor - must make for a dark and dingy (in a good way) battlefield!
ReplyDeleteIt's cheap and cheerful stuff that you tend to find in places that stock hobby stuff in addition to other products (i.e. A newsagent) as opposed to dedicated hobby stores.
DeleteYeah it's definitely got that Dartmoor feel to it... it basically reminds me of every Army Training Area I've ever been on!!
I'm looking forward to getting it on the table... maybe with me newly painted skeletons!!