Sunday 27 April 2014

The Amera Amphitheatre

Introduction

A couple of weeks ago, at Salute 2014, I bought a couple of bits of terrain from a company called Amera Plastic Mouldings.  They make vacuum-formed pieces and while this technique limits the sharpness of detail that can be achieved, their terrain is incredibly cheap.  I've had my eye on them for some while - the long-defunct Bellona range of vac-formed terrain is a very fond memory of my childhood - but until now I'd not bought any of Amera's product.

Of the 2 pieces I purchased at Salute, I've now finished one.  I have special plans for the other (F218 Temple Ruins); it won't be finished as a temple if my ideas work out - but that's for the future.  For now, here is a description of the model that I have completed.

The Amphitheatre

This piece appears in the Amera catalogue as "F208 Amphitheatre".  Officially it is in the 28mm Fantasy section, but I see no reason why it couldn't be used for historical settings or indeed for 15mm or smaller figures.  Other than the depth of the terraces and possibly the size of the stone slabs, there's not much to indicate scale on this.  Indeed, the "orchestra" (the circular space in the middle for the performers) averages 78' (23m) in real-world Ancient Greek theatres.  For 28mm figures, this equates to rather over 1' (30cm), which would be a prodigiously large terrain piece.

So, my amphitheatre is going to be a small, provincial affair rather than one associated with a busy city.  However, it has a wealthy patron, so the orchestra will be paved with marble rather than just packed dirt.  This is really just an excuse for me to try out a circle-cutter that I got for Christmas (from a pound shop or similar "bargain" store, so not a very expensive tool at all!).

I cut out a disk from plasticard that was embossed with paving.  This is really sold for scratch-building model railway layouts and is scaled for OO layouts, so the paving is perhaps a bit small for my project.  Still, it'll just have to do.

I also cut out a slightly larger ring from plain plasticard, to be used as a border.  I used a triangular file to mark out the stones on it by cutting a slight groove every 1cm or thereabouts.

Fitting these new parts to the model was easy - or at least it would have been if I'd applied the super glue to the correct side of the plastic!  If the finish looks a bit rough then that's because I had to wipe off the embossed side very quickly, wait for the remnants to dry and then try again.

I also took the opportunity to shape the rim around the bottom, thus removing any straight lines.  It's my opinion (not backed up by any science of which I'm aware!) that straight lines draw the eye more than gently-curved ones.  My intention is for the base to blend in with the table a bit better.  I really don't know if this works or not, but there we are.  Hmm.

Actually, I did consider removing the base rim completely, but I decided that it probably added some structural strength.  I also thought of packing the reverse side to enable the model to take heavy figures.  However, it's made from quite thick plastic as it is and barely flexes when I press down in the centre of the orchestra.  In the end, I decided that such reinforcement wasn't needed.

Painting

The amphitheatre was coated with my usual grey undercoat (Halfords spray body primer, for cars).  The circle of marble was painted in a much paler colour and then all the stonework was washed with black.

For the dirt parts, I under coated with a mid yellow-brown paint to which some sand had been added (for texture).  A couple of successively lighter dry-brushes completed this.

Finally, the edges of the stonework were highlighted and I added some static grass and clump foliage.  This theatre might have had a rich patron once upon a time, but I think it's fallen on hard times more recently and the weeds are starting to take hold!

The End Result

It occurs to me that I haven't mentioned the size of this model amphitheatre yet.  Well, it works out at roughly 30cm wide and 21cm deep, or perhaps slightly larger than this.  Even if it's really too small for a historical Greek theatre in 28mm, it's still quite a big model!  The figures seen on it are some of my "Jason and the Argonauts" project; I don't think that the skeleton warriors summoned by the evil King Aeëtes are part of the show at all!

The cost of the amphitheatre is a mere £3.50 (plus a little for the materials I've used on the model).  I'm very happy with the way it has turned out and I can certainly see myself buying more products from Amera in the future.  Now I've just got to work out how to store this piece...

23 comments:

  1. That is certainly a great find and what a bargain. Although Vacuum formed scenery has it's limitations, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this, especially for the price. I shudder to think what it would cost if done in resin. You've done an excellent paint-job on it too.

    (And just in case you hadn't seen my rebuttal of two blogs ago her's a link for you to look at:
    http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/113842/tournament-joust

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    1. Resin would also have been extremely heavy, I think!

      Thanks for the "tournament-joust" link. It's on my backlog of "to do" items :-( , but from an initial glance it does seem quite promising.

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  2. Top job on that. I've often looked at the Amera site but yet to take the plunge for fear I won't make a good job of it and it'll just end up looking like a poorly painted lump of plastic. :(

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    1. At the risk of sounding flippant, it wouldn't be a huge cost even if the model was poor. However, I see no reason why you shouldn't make a perfectly good job of it :-) .

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    2. Very true. I do like the cost! I was looking at their Middle East buildings when I was thinking of doing a 15mm modern project. Never got that one off the ground unfortunately!

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  3. Great work! The lack of detail really shows after washes, but at that price, it's a fantastic bargain. At 3.50, you should be happy if it'd end up looking roughly circular! :P

    Just out of curiosity, do you think it would be worth painting every stone separately to make them stand out more? It looks like a lot of work :P.

    And I am pretty sure there have been researches done that prove your point about straight lines being easier to spot. They are "unnatural" and should be avoiding at camouflaging :P.

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    1. I think you're right that picking out each individual stone would be a lot of work. Not sure that would be justified for a cheap, simple model :-) .

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  4. There's not much I can add to the other comments. I think you've done a cracking good job on it, Hugh.

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    1. Thanks, Vampifan. I do need to concentrate a bit more on scenery and less on figures; this seems like a good start.

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    1. Thanks, Bob. I didn't put a whole lot of effort into this, mind.

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  6. I too remember the Bellona Vacc Forming from my childhood. (very Fondly). And while I did see this at Salute I was not over struck by it at the time (I have no use for it at present). That said you have done a cracking job with it. I look forward to seeing it as some tabletop. Nice work Hugh.

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    1. There's surprisingly little detail on the Internet about Bellona, considering how big a deal I thought it was at the time. Ah, well - perhaps it wasn't such an important wargaming company after all...

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  7. That looks excellent and really simply done. Certainly as you say would fit in with a lot of different scales. Pound shops are a bounty treasures!

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    1. Well, the circle cutter struggled a bit with the plasticard! I think it would work well enough on paper or thin cardboard though.

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  8. What a result, a cracking bit of building and on a budget too - brilliant!

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    1. Thanks, Michael. I am quite pleased with how it turned out :-) .

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  9. Excellent visual effect. Your painting really turnds the piece from a vac-form to believable scenery.
    I owe you an apology, as I'd promised some pictures form the Odeon at Kos.
    Will try to send something through by mail.

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    1. Thanks Steve! I think that "believable" is an excellent compliment :-) . Also thanks for the photographs - I wouldn't have realised that stone benches came in 1st class and 2nd class versions if I hadn't seen the pictures for myself!

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  10. nice transformation from what it was to what it became. I am looking forward seeing it in one of your scenario.

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    1. Thanks, Cedric. It will probably be used for "Jason and the Argonauts", though I don't know when I'll get round to playing such games...

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  11. Thanks for the link and comments . Great article and finish hope OK to share with our followers and look forward to next one. Thanks for buying at Salute Jane www.amera.co.uk

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    1. I'm delighted that you like what I've done with the amphitheatre, Jane. You're more than welcome to share a link to this article with anyone you choose.

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