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Snorrastofa
Please scroll down for more details of the project
Welcome to the Snorrastofa fortified viking settlement page.
Here I will post progress on the model and it's eventual inauguration in Reykholt, Iceland.
The model is 28mm scale and consists of several different types of building typical of the period and location; more of which will be posted below of course.
Part of the model will be on show at this years Salute (Apr 11th) and hopefully the completed model will be at Partizan (May 17th). The model is designed to be interactive so people will be able to play on it.
Update 1 - The samples
The first part of models like is this is a set of samples that will help tie down finishes and details for the rest of the project.
Three simple samples at the moment which consist of part of the palisade walls, a corner of the stave church and a cold store for food etc.
At the moment the colours do look a little flat, but that will change on the actual model as I'll be able to go in with the airbrush and add tonal variations.
Some of the colours have been thrown off in the editing so I'll be doing a larger groundwork sample to allow for more variation in what is shown.
There is a good chance to see some of the models in a slightly different form in the webshop later in the year most likely including a palisade set.
There is quite an eclectic mix of buildings in the compound including storehouses, living quarters and not least, the stave church which was actually built and assembled in Norway then flat-packed and shipped over to Iceland!
The stave church will be one of the first buildings made as it should be making an appearance at this years Salute.
Update 2 - The baseboard begins
A larger groundwork sample was needed (more for myself really) and so I made an A4 sized area including the churchyard berm to hopefully give a better impression of the differing textures and colours that will be applied to the whole model.
Some 'sculpt-a-mold' was applied on top of a craft foam substrate and it was then painted my usual warm grey ground colour. Although they won't really be seen I added some drybrushes of warm browns and tans to the ground before adding the flock mix
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The flock is a mix of several manufacturers and grades/sizes as this gives a better natural look to the whole thing. Some Gamers Grass tufts were added here and there to break it up a bit.
The base board construction is mainly 9mm mdf and an upsidedown box is created which is the substrate for the whole model. Sides are then added which have been infilled with a layer of 10mm craft foam and then a layer of 25mm expanded polystyrene.
The sides have been added to allow for the hot pool, which is at a lower lever than the main compounds and will be made apparent when I move onto the second baseboard in a week or two (see main picture at the top).
The berm was 25mm craft foam cut with a chamfer on it and glued to the base. The black and brown cut outs are to locate the buildings after the base has had its texture applied.
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As mentioned before, 'sculpt-a-mold' will be added to the whole base. It's basically shredded tissue paper mixed with plaster powder and when mixed water it makes for a good material to cover large areas.
It does take a few days to go off properly but when dry is a good hard surface to work on. Hopefully the texture is apparent in the photo; it's a good, uneven surface instead of the flat surfaces people are used to playing on.
Update 3 - The baseboard continues
The baseboard for the first half is very nearly complete. It will need some remedial work when I get back from Salute (joining the two halves together properly, hiding the join etc) but for the time being it will do.
Once the sculpt-a-mold was dry (which takes several days) everything was painted with my normal groundwork cover, given a quick drybrush of some lighter tones and then the first layer of flock was applied.
The texture from the sculpt-a-mold isn't as apparent as it was in the previous photos but it is there and is visible in person.
I applied two layers of flock, allowing the first one to go off properly before adding the second. It was glued down with slightly watered down wood glue and then I added some tonal variations with an airbrush using lighter and darker colours of the main flock colour.
This is the overhead view of the church base showing the tonal variations and bare patches where footfall might occur. I've also added several types of grass tufts to various places to help break up the monotony. Mainly Gamer Grass and about six different types including some blue flowers
There are still several things to add, like slate paving to the church, gravestones and the actual buildings. The church is progressing well and the next update will concentrate on that.
Update 4 - Even more baseboard
Plus the stave church, which is now complete on the outside and has its first coat of primer. I forgot to take some detailed shots of the church but I will do so with the other buildings. It will have a detailed interior as well.
The main carcass was lasered from 2mm mdf which was then clad in textured balsa wood (more on this on a later building). The roof tiles were lasered from 1mm card and stuck in layers with roof details in balsa wood again.
The main compound for the model has now been fleshed out and plates for the main building locations have been stuck. The outer groundwork was sculpt-a-mold again (and with the weather being how it's been it took well over a week to dry properly). The interior texture was a gloop mix of acrylic decorators caulk and fine play sand mixed together. Both were applied with my hand and then the interior was smoothed a bit with some washing up sponges.
Same colours of course as the other board with some heavy drybrushing where the most footfall would've occurred. I will be doing a more detailed update on the steam pool when I come to it in the next week or two.
The palisade for the main compound has also started to be stuck in. I don't usually count things on models but needed to fof this bit and there are approximately 700 individual staves for the palisade.
A channel was made between the inner berm and the outer so the staves have somewhere solid to sit. Gates etc will be stuck in at a later date as I'm awaiting information on them. These will be weathered and drybrushed when they've all been stuck in.
The church was primed with Colour Forge Desert Sand, several coats were applied and once dry it was given a wash of mixed inks (Mainly GW browns with a touch of green and some flow improver). Once this was dry the whole model was given a drybrush of a light tan (Pebeo Antique White) with varying degrees of firmness in the brushstrokes.
A few areas on the roof and planks on the walls were picked out with some watered down brown ink and suitable areas on the roof were given some extra weathering to represent rainfall.
Update 5 - The main compound
The main compound has now been fleshed out and mostly painted although there are a few elements that will need completing; the main ones being around the gates. I am going to try and have the gates moveable but they will have to withstand many eager hands and I don't think I'll be able to make them robust enough.
I'm also designing the main entrance gate which should appear in the next update or two.
The berm for the defences consists of an interior walkway, an exterior slope and the stakes/sharpened logs. The logs are just simple balsa wood dowel, sprayed and cut to size and shape before being 'planted' in the gap between the walkway and the berm. There are approximately 750 of them in the model which equates to roughly 37m of dowel.
The green plates are the locations of the buildings. They are all drawn and I'll start to cut out and assemble in the coming weeks. As you can see from the illustration at the top of the page, there are several different types with differing techniques used for each.
One element of the compound is the use of slate for the paths. This was done with pine bark chips that were broken up, cut to size and stuck in place with wood glue.
As the model was taken to Partizan, there wasn't enough time to lay them down before so I had to scrape the flock before sticking them. They were painted a warm grey, washed with some brown ink and then drybrushed with a pale grey. They will be sealed along with the rest of the model at the end.
Update 6 - The sauna
Quite an important piece of the build is the sauna, which is located just outside the main compound to the south-west. It is at a lower elevation than the rest of the mode; hence the height of the base boards.
A space for the entrance was cut into the landscape and a little doorway with a roof was made and sunk in. There were also two rows of stones on either side that were glued in place before painting.
The pool element is a disc of acrylic that was backsprayed with a suitable dark green colour. This will have some varnish applied to the top to give the impression of water. It was surrounded by stones and these were cut from a very dense foam (foamex) and glued to the acrylic.
The water and attached stones will be left loose to allow access underneath for the workings of the atomiser.
The stone parts were painted the same way as the slate paths in the update above and the surrounding groundwork was painted like the main base. Flock was then added around the build but around the path itself it's a finer flock to represent footfall.
There will be an atomiser under the base to give the impression of steam rising from the water and I'll do a video of it working when it's in place.
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