OTP Terrain North African Scenery

Earlier this year I had the opportunity of introducing a good friend of mine to the world of Chain of Command.  This came on the back of painting British and German forces for North Africa 1941, which was a major achievement for me.  (You can follow this thread here.)  Being asked to game with them so soon afterwards was the icing on the cake.    So I began to turn my attention to consider the scenery I would need.

Now, buildings for North Africa aren't the most difficult buildings to make, and considering some of the different things I've attempted over the years, you may be surprised to hear that I went ahead and ordered some.

I'd been searching for inspiration, when I came across OTP Terrain in Australia.  And I have to say that what I saw blew my mind.  Honestly, take a look at all the awesome stuff they do.  Anyhoo, I was drawn to their North Africa range, and in particular their damaged buildings.

I know I'm going to be using these for North Africa in 1941, but these wonderful buildings are suitable for anything from Biblical times to the present day.  And yes, I weakened.  More than I've ever done before.  I decided to give them a go, and ordered the set of four, along with the well.  Don't get me wrong, I really wanted to buy more.  A lot more.  Like, the whole range.  But the cost of postage is quite horrific.

Why did I decided to buy these?  Well, it's the fact that they are a solid building.  I would really struggle making something like this out of foamcore that would be half as robust as these.  I make my buildings as a solid cuboid to enhance their structural integrity.  I couldn't do that with exposed roof beams.  So I thought it would be a sound investment. 

OTP Terrain produce 3D Printed terrain.  It's not something I've ever experienced before, so I was intrigued to see how it looked in person.  And in the case of OTP, it looks satin-ey.  But boy do they look good. They don't come overnight, but they aren't as bad as you might think.  Mine actually turned up a week ahead of our first planned game.  I hadn't expected this to be the case, so you can understand my delight at having enough time to paint them and get them ready for the table.
As it came to preparing the models for printing, I realised some things about the models.  Take, for example, the underside of those support beams.  I understand its a part of the process of printing, but it's not something that I was prepared for.  I tidied them up a bit with my craft knife, but it wasn't without some worry, I can tell you. The last thing I wanted to do was to ruin the models. 
I also quickly realised that you can make out the layers on the print on the sides of the building.  I'm glad I noticed this before I tried to do any dry brushing.

Other than these two caveats, I have no complaints whatsoever.  And when it came to painting them, they were an absolute joy.  I tend to do a lot of wet blending with my painting anyway, so a lack of dry brushing wasn't a problem.

And, to be perfectly honest, I can't find anything else even slightly negative to say about them.  They are great to paint, look wonderful on the table and are totally solid.  What's not to like?

And when the time came for playing the games?  Well, personally I think they look amazing!
As you can see, I'm using a box of Hexon boards I made for the desert.  You can find out all about how I went about this by reading this post.
If there is any caveat to what you can see here, it was the realisation that we really needed more scenery on the table than what you can see here.  Personally, I wish I could have afforded more of this fantastic range of buildings from OTP Terrain.  Sadly though, my budget won't stretch so far.
So I guess I'll have to post about some scratch built stuff then...!

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Comments

  1. Despite it's flaws it's a really great building and it looks fantastic on your table.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Wouter. They are lovely buildings. I just wish I could make something so sturdy myself.

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