Although I scaled the model for 15mm during the design process, I also designed it to use a .2mm print head with a layer height of 0.06mm, which although vastly increasing the print times, does give me the flexibility to scale up the print for 28mm without losing detail.
Overall I am very happy with how this turned out, but I do wonder what the “box” on the roof ridge to the left of the steeple is? I would guess it’s some form of chimney for heating the church, but have decided to omit it since I can’t get a clear picture of what it actually is. Likewise I completely made up the far side and back of the church, reasoning that the far side would be a reflection of the near side in respect to the arrangement of windows, and that it would exhibit far less damage. As for the back, I just completely made it up and added a small door for rear access.
Reading (still): Welker, David A., The Cornfield, Antietam’s bloody turning point. (2020) ISBN: 978-1-61200-832-5
So a few weeks ago I started making fences, and then more fences, which is something I continue to do in my spare moments and while I am still about 10 feet short of my desired goal for the snake fences, I did decide to hit the pause button and do a test paint on one of the smaller sections so I could get a feel for what they would look like once done.
Stages of painting (top to bottom)Finished fence (15mm Iron Brigade for scale)Minie Ball markers (awaiting painting)
Snake Fences: Matt Black (spray paint), liberal dry-brush Raw Umber(247), dry-brush 50/50 mix Paynes Grey/War Grey(065/078), dry-brush Warm Grey(078), dry-brush/highlight (bottom rails only) Army Green(AP)
I’ve also been a bit distracted with the “bits” that go alongside wargaming, the markers, firing sticks, movement trays and such, the little things that add to the “feel” of the game more than the look, though they can also enhance that too. So there has been some progress on planning for some of these, namely a 3D printed Minie Ball to act as either a casualty marker, or even a disorder marker for ACW games depending on the ruleset. I saw some used in a similar fashion on this video: Markers and Aides for Fire and Fury, and was inspired for a theatre specific gaming aide.
Reading (still): Welker, David A., The Cornfield, Antietam’s bloody turning point. (2020) ISBN: 978-1-61200-832-5
Reading (distraction/inspiration): Back Issues of WSS (Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy) In a nutshell I am a long term subscriber that kept my subscription going while not really reading any issues, so I am at 92/117.
Confession time, I have been working on a digital model of the Lutheran Church for probably the last two years. When motivation struck I would work on it, and when it would fade the model would just gather digital dust on my hard drive. Difficulties in maintaining a solid model* with such detailed geometry saw me start over a few times, but with renewed purpose I am going (to try) and commit to getting it finished.
Luckily John Banks has already done the work of providing close ups of the photo (right) on his blog post: Antietam battle damage at Lutheran Church, not so fortunate is that the close ups show that I had made a few errors around the windows and for the front door, namely I had made the sash windows both top and bottom as 9 pane glass while the photo clearly shows the lower sash is only 6 pane**, so these will need to be rectified.
Given that the church no longer exists and I have been unable to find any other photos I will make the assumption that the far side of the church is a mirror of the photographed side, and I will exercise some poetic license and the rear of the building can have an off centre door but will be devoid of windows.
The front door is quite recessed and from the photo (left) it appears to be of a traditional design. While the steps are quite “rustic” and almost falling down, so I will need to make sure these are modelled in a quite rough manner.
Although not related to the church per se is the photo below that shows a differing view of Sharpsburg’s Main St and is taken from the right of the church and looking down the hill. The house on the right (in the church photo) is now on the left and there are a few buildings offering inspiration, though they are simply variants of each other, so possibly quite easy to model.
* A 3D digital model needs to be “solid” to print optimally. Which is to say it does not have any “holes” that lead into its geometry and thus create a model of exposed planes, rather than a “solid”. There are websites and plugins that try to correct these errors in the mesh, but there is no substitute for creating the model properly from the start.
** I know I mentioned somewhere else that I want my models to be as accurate as possible, while remaining usable and printable. Sometimes to get a usable model that is printable will mean small compromises in accuracy but it is something I try to avoid.
Reading (still): Welker, David A., The Cornfield, Antietam’s bloody turning point. (2020) ISBN: 978-1-61200-832-5
The Gun Bar 