WWG Mayhem Armoury

This is something of a departure from my normal postings but it is the first of what will be a regular series of reviews of my World Works Games scenery that I use in my games. I have had a number of requests for just such articles, especially from the good folks on the WWG forum. Whilst some may think what has this got to do with the "World of the Undead?" I'd say it is worthy of inclusion. Just look at my battle reports of my zombie games and try to imagine them without the scenery. Good scenery can make a game come to life and add the "wow" factor.

One of the first WWG buildings that I made was the Armoury building from the Mayhem Armoury set. My philosophy in making my WWG scenery is this - wherever possible, go the extra mile to make the best model possible. What this means in practice is that all doors should open and shut; windows should be printed on transparency paper; all buildings should have interior detail. I print all of my WWG models on 130g Matt double-sided photo-graphic paper. Once I have cut out the components, I stick them onto mounting card, a very thick cardboard. This doubles my workload but gives my models great strength and durability.

Most of the time I use UHU clear adhesive for the vast majority of my gluing purposes but if I have a large section to glue down, like for example, a floor, I use 3M Photo Spray. UHU glue can be a bit stringy if you're not careful but that is the only downside I've found in using it. I like the nozzle on the tubes, which allow for great control when gluing small fiddly pieces. Best of all, it gives a permanent bond. Once a piece is stuck it stays stuck.

An important part of the art of making card models is "edging." This is the process of coloring the edges of your models to blend in with their surroundings. Failure to do this results in very noticable white edges that just look wrong. A thick marker pen is generally good enough to run along the edges. Black will work for most cases but for others you'll need coloured markers. Because my builds are stuck onto mounting board the edges are even more noticable. I always use acrylic paints to edge them. It's slower than using a marker pen but it means I can perfectly match the colours.

All upper floors of my buildings are reinforced with foamboard. Foamboard is roughly 5mm thick and absolutely must be cut with a sharp knife. If the blade is not sharp it will tear the foam, which is sandwiched between two layers of thin card. The main reason that I use foamboard on the floors is to keep them in place when stacked on the storey below. Some people use foamboard for the walls aswell but the big disadvantage of that is you lose floor space on the interiors. I lose about 1mm of floor space per wall, which is acceptable to me.

Okay, enough background info, let's take a closer look at the building itself. The billboard on the roof was an optional detail that I decided to add and it seems both appropriate and in keeping. Shown above is an overhead view of the ground floor interior. Everything in here comes from the Mayhem Armoury set. I love the textures of WWG models and the little details they add. Note the muddy footprints on the floor and all of the spent cartridge casings.

What, sadly, is not visible from my series of photos is behind the cashier's desk on the top shelf is a sawn-off shotgun, well hidden from any customer or would-be robber. This is what I mean about the little touches that make WWG such a great company

I had to move the accessories sign and shelves below it to the far end of a blank wall in order to accomodate the staircase. On the second shelf down is a row of helmets. I sculpted them all out of modelling putty to give a proper 3-D effect, rather than using the flat card models. Another example of "going the extra mile."

The two gun display cases at the front of the shop were very difficult to make due to the "roof" and "front wall" of them being made of transparency paper. Still, the extra effort was well worth it.

All of the interior signs and wall-mounted gun cases were cut out and stuck onto mounting board. Likewise, the props on the cashier's desk

Here is an overhead view of the upper floor of the shop and it is here that I deviated from the WWG instructions to come up with something totally original. This floor is split in two, with a storeroom for guns, ammo and accessories and the living quarters of the owner, whom I see as being a single ex-military man. He has a combined kitchen/lounge as well as a toilet/shower room and a small bedroom.

The shelves against the back wall come from the Ebbles Ambient Elements - Storeroom set. Ebbles make a great range of sci-fi furniture that does not look out of place in some contemporary settings - like here! The toilet and sink are from the Ebbles Ambient Elements - Barracks set. The black and red tiled floor comes from a WWG Shellendrak Manor Kitbash set - More Floors. The television is part of the Mayhem Armoury set, although I have changed the picture to one of Lara Croft, Tomb Raider. I can just imagine the owner being a fan of Lara!

The cooker, sink unit and fridge all come with the Mayhem Armoury set. The overhead cupboards came from the WWG Mayhem Police set. The dining table and chairs are part of the Ebbles Barracks set.

The long set of lockers can be found in the Ebbles Storeroom set. I imagine the owner keeps his rifles, sub-machine guns and shotguns in these. The shower is something I created and is not commercially available, although I may submit it to WWG as a kitbash. The desk and laptop are from the Ebbles Barracks set.

The bunkbed, foot locker and assorted boxes you see are, of course, from the Ebbles Barracks and Storeroom sets. I should point out that all of the Ebbles models are to the same scale as the WWG models, which makes them totally compatible.