Sunday 4 March 2012

WWG Police Station part 1

Okay, folks, here it is - my largest ever card building and without doubt, the most eagerly awaited. It is, of course my World Works Games 28mm scale Mayhem City Police Station.
Here it is in all its glory. Those of you who can remember my work in progress shot that I showed last year will notice a few changes, most notably the first floor parapet, two air-conditioning units, a communications dish and tower and a set of ladders to the helipad. There is one external prop that I have deliberately omitted and that is the searchlight. I honestly couldn't see any need for adding one (or more). If ever I do need one or more, I'll add them as non-permanent features.
Three of those four new items came from the Mayhem Police set. The ladders, however,  came from the original Mayhem Armoury set. The Mayhem Police set does come with a rooftop access structure for the helipad, but to be honest, I thought it looked naff and so went with the external ladder option instead.
The set comes with a wide assortment of signs to put above the entryway but I've gone for the most basic of them all, which is the "Mayhem City Police" sign. This is generic enough for me and doesn't tie the building to a specific location as some of the other signs do. Almost everything you see in these photos has been stuck onto thick mounting card. The parapet was glued to foamboard and the upper floors/roofs are reinforced with foamboard. This allows them to fit in place. All doors, the front entrance circular columns and the communications dish have been reinforced with thin card.
The building sits on a base that measures 24" by 15". The ground floor has a footprint that measures 21" by 12". The first floor (sorry American viewers, I'm going with the English convention where the first floor comes above the ground floor) has a footprint of 15" by 12" and the second floor measures 9" by 6". Each floor is 3" tall. Overall height, if you measure to the top of the communications tower is 12"
The rear of the building shows that vandals have been busy daubing graffiti on one of the walls. In my opinion, that lends the place an air of realism. I decided to add a footpath along the back of the building, but grass verges to the front and sides, thus ensuring that the station will not be abutted by another building.
One of the things that I am most proud of this building is the first floor parapet, which is a very clever piece of design. Because of my external ladder to the helipad and the access to the first floor roof I knew that I wanted to fit a parapet to the first floor roof. From a Health and Safety point of view, I'm sure it would be a legal requirement. The only problem was that the set didn't come with a parapet. Or rather it didn't come with one per se. What it did have was a sheet of roof edgings, which, if turned through ninety degrees, made for a perfect parapet. This, my friends, is called lateral thinking, or thinking outside the box. They are glued onto strips of foamboard and they make a perfect parapet.
Whenever I do my building reviews I always start from the ground floor and work my way up. This time, however, I'm going to work my way down from the top floor. Given that the ground floor is the largest of the three floors, that will be covered in part two of my review. The photo above shows an overhead view of the second floor interior, consisting of three rooms. To the left is the landing leading to the stairs down to the first floor and showing the door that leads outside to the first floor roof. The small room is the access corridor to the evidence room. Here, anyone who wishes to enter the evidence room, must sign in. The largest room is the evidence room.
The evidence collected by detectives is bagged and tagged and stored in here on one of eight shelf units. These shelf units came from the Ebbles Ambient Elements Storeroom and Workshop sets. Likewise for the two cardboard boxes I've added atop the shelves. Unless I mention otherwise, all furniture items come from the WWG Mayhem Police set. The low wall at the top of the staircase is the same design as my parapet, only not as wide. The wall was stuck to a piece of mounting card rather than foamboard.
The desk is actually made up of two small Ebbles desks from his Barracks set, glued together to make one long desk. The laptop computer is also from one of the Ebbles sets. The chair and telephone unit are from the Mayhem Police set. The filing cabinet in the corner is from the Mayhem Industrial set. Note that the door to the evidence room is kept locked at all times, but like all of my doors, it will open and close.
Moving down a floor, this photo above shows an overhead view of the first floor of the building and now things really start to get interesting. Starting at the top left hand corner and moving clockwise we have a detective's office, a small office, the CCTV monitor room, the Captain's office, the Captain's toilet and washroom, the squad room, the stairwell leading to the ground floor and the second floor, and finally, the locker room and armoury.
I'll begin my tour of the first floor with a look at the Captain's Office, a room I am very proud of. It is jam-packed with stuff, especially on the walls. The Captain sits behind an L-shaped desk, upon which are his computer keyboard, monitor and lots of papers. His computer sits in the corner of the room on top of a filing cabinet. On the wall behind him is a classical landscape painting, showing he is a man of taste.
On the wall in between the two windows is a large map of Mayhem City.On the wall with the exit/entrance door is a small bookshelf, a wall-mounted flat-screen TV (this came from the Mayhem Mega Mall set), a photo of his father hangs above two of his numerous certificates and sitting above the door, a Mayhem Police shield.
A huge bookcase (from the original Shellendrak Manor set) dominates the far wall, next to his own personal washroom and toilet. Actually, you can see what's inside the washroom far better from the overhead view that I posted above. The room is 6" square, with the washroom occupying a 2" by 2" corner.
Next door to the Captain's Office is the Close Circuit Television (CCTV) monitor room. This is where police operatives monitor and analyse footage from lots of CCTV cameras dotted around Mayhem City. It is not part of the WWG Mayhem Police set, but is something that I have designed for my police station.
The long desk, the two chairs and the two phone units are part of the Mayhem Police set. For the wall of TV screens I used a piece of black mounting card cut to the length of the room and stuck on 12 images of WWG scenery taken from their website and shrunk to fit, to represent various Mayhem City locations. Obviously, I chose images that had no writing on them. The result looks very effective and just shows what you can do with a bit of imagination.
This photo above shows the CCTV Monitor room and two offices used by some of the station's detectives, one small and one large. You can also see part of the L-shaped corridor that connects all the rooms on this floor.
In the small office, you can see a desk, with an Ebbles laptop computer on it, and two chairs. From left to right in the large office are a small filing cabinet, upon which sits a telephone unit; a computer stack, a wall-mounted bookcase, and in the corner, a larger filing cabinet.
In this photo above, you can see the desk in the large office has a computer keyboard and monitor on it. This room measures 6" by 3" whilst the small office and the CCTV monitor room are 3" square.
The rest of the small office is taken up by a small filing cabinet and a blackboard mounted on the wall. Next to the window in the large office is a photocopier machine,
Moving on, we come to the locker room and armoury. The two lockers shown above, one open and one closed, contain body armour, helmets and equipment for this station's SWAT team.
The eight lockers shown here are those used by the street cops. I'd have liked to have added more of both types of locker but I didn't have the space to.
Along the short wall at the far end of the room is the gun cabinet. This is kept locked electronically. It contains pump-action shotguns, sniper rifles and sub-machine guns.
Finally, on this floor, is the squad room, the largest of all the rooms in this building. It measures 9" by 6". This is where the street patrol cops receive their briefings and where they type in their reports. 
There is a lot going on in here. Against the long wall at the top of this photo are a long rack of filing cabinets (taken from the Mayhem Industrial set). A water cooler sits on top of the cabinets, off to the right, Above the cabinets is a long wall-mounted bookcase. Towards the right top corner is a photocopier machine and a coffee vending machine. Cops do like their coffee!

At the top of this photo you can see the desk and chair used by the duty-sergeant to give out the daily briefings and announcements. "Let's be careful out there!" At the top left corner of the photo is a large board showing a map of Mayhem City, identical to the one seen in the Captain's Office.
The room is dominated by four double desks, with seats and Ebbles laptop computers for eight cops. A pair of room dividers have been placed between each pair of desks.
I thought I'd leave you with a sneak preview of the ground floor interior. I'm sure you can identify many of the rooms yourself from this overhead photo, but I'll give you a much more detailed review in my next post in a few days time.

60 comments:

  1. All I can say is WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW so much coolness I don't no where to start. Love the custom CCTV room you've done with the different pics on all the monitor. Can't wait to see the rest!

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    1. Thank you so much, Simon, for such an enthusiastic comment. I must admit that I'm very proud of the CCTV monitor room and it was such a simple concept to implement.

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  2. I.....What?.....Holy........

    Stunning! That was the word I was looking for! You could easily do a game just around this single building!!! Now I know why it took this long, the detail is great!

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    1. Thanks, Johnny. I am planning an ATZ scenario with the police station coming under siege from a large horde of zombies in the style of the film "Assault on Precinct 13." This will probably be the only building on the board.

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  3. Wow, out of intrest how sturdy is it?

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    1. It is VERY sturdy. I emphasise VERY because it is all reinforced with mounting card, which is very thick card used for framing photographs. In America, it is called artboard.

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  4. I can't show this to my players or they'll expect me to do one as well. Really good to see it though and draw inspiration from.

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    1. Yes, it is a dilemma, knowing your players will expect you to make something similar. It's probably best to keep it to yourself.

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  5. There's no telling what has flown into my mouth as my jaw dropped to the floor 5 minutes ago. Even more awesome than normal, Vampi!

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    1. Thank you, Russ. That's very kind of you to say so.

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  6. Man, you have really outdone yourself. It's huge! No wonder it has taken you so long. Not just a project, but obviously a labor of love. I love the CCTV monitor room. What a great idea! I immediately thought of Shawn of the Dead when I saw it. :) The Captain's Office is another triumph. Very well thought out, and equipped like a real person's office, right down to the certificates and a picture of his dad. Wonderful attention to detail. It's obvious you lavished the same care on the rest of the building. The parapet made from the roof edging is brilliant and really adds to the overall look. And all of the other touches really bring this to life. I can imagine you aking a list of necessary equipment for each room or area, and then either finding it somewhere in the numerous kits you have or designing it and building from scratch. This is just an outstanding build. I intend to be going over and over these pics seeing how many cool details you've added. I imagine I'll be busy for quite a while. Thanks for the teaser shot of the ground floor, too. I can't wait for the next installment.

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    1. Joe, I am so heartened that you like this so much, as I know that you have been clamouring to see it more than anyone else following my blog. Yes, this was a labour of love, for the most part. Not so much when I got so sick and tired of making furniture that I stopped card modelling for half a year or more! However, I came back to it with renewed energy, vigour and enthusiasm. I did more planning for this building than any other model I've made. So, I had a pretty good idea of what rooms I wanted and what I wanted in each room. I'm sure you'll like the ground floor just as much.

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    1. With a building that size, and the fact you use mounting board, what did you use for the base, is it also mounting board?

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    2. Yes, Ross, the base is also reinforced with mounting card.

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  8. I am absolutely gobsmacked, your attention to detail in this build is even greater than we have come to expect, you leave us mere mortals with our feeble efforts in your wake.

    About how many hours did you spend on this do you think ?

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    1. Thanks, Joe. The attention to detail is something I strife for in all of my builds, but with a model this big, it really stands out.

      I honestly don't know how many man hours went into the making of this but It easily stretches into triple figures. This was incredibly complex to make and extremely labour-intensive.

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  9. Wow, that is such an amazing piece of terrain. I hope you enjoy it in a game soon, as you put so much time into it. Really inspiring.

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    1. Thanks, Adam. I can't wait to use it in a game. But first I need to get Team Vampifan inside and that will be the thrust of my next scenario.

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  10. Bloody hell, that looks excellent, I can't believe its made from card!!!! I bet your extremely pleased with it!!

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    1. Ray, I am more proud of this building than any other card model I have made. The only part of it that is not made of card are the windows and they are plastic transparencies that you can print on.

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  11. An astounding work Bryan,
    very very very well done!!
    Looking forward part 2... ;)

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    1. Thanks, Fabio. You won't have long to wait for part 2.

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  12. AMAZING! Truly amazing! What a master piece! I'm very impressed.

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  13. That is really simply outstanding! I love all the little detais, especially in captain's office. But if I'd had to pick one, briefing rooms wins for me. I can't wait to see the siege now that you've mentioned it!

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    1. Thank you, Mathyoo. It's interesting to note that you like the squad room best of all. That was the last room to get furnished.

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  14. A splendid piece of work my friend! absolutely awesome!

    Once more Bryan shows us all why he is Vampifan the Great!!

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  15. Hmmm this is seriously making me reconsider paper bulidings as terrain. This looks as good as any scratchbuilds I've seen. Well done sir!

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    1. Thanks, Papa Spanky. When done well, card and paper terrain can equal any other medium on the market. Plus, it's a lot cheaper.

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  16. well done mate, thats the best piece of scenery work i have seen in a long time, the detail you put in is amasing, i love the cctv room, such a simple and great idea. i cant wait to see it in action

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    1. Once again, many thanks. I also love the CCTV room. As you rightly say, it was such a simple idea, but one that works so well.

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    1. Welcome on board, and many thanks for your comment, Tito.

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  18. So Impressed vampifan! that is a building I would love to game on (sound familar?), the detail is so rich, so much to take in, you have outdone yourself mate, congrats.

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    1. Hey, if ever you're in the neighbourhood, you'd be more than welcome to come and join me in a game of ATZ.

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    2. Thats not so far fetched my friend, I'm doing more travelling than I have ever done.

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    3. That's good to know. If ever you visit our sunny isles, do let me know.

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  19. Incredible sir. I am not surprised that you lost your mojo a little bit on this build. Or even that you're not really in the mood to make furniture. As you've rightly pointed out, a small cabinet takes almost the same amout of time (in terms of steps) almost as a small basic building (give or take some adjustment) but essentially it is still a box. So the time dissapears sooooo quickly when making interiors.

    Well done for staying the course, so glad you finished it and cannot wait to see the ground floor and a Batrep featuring the police station.

    Outstanding!

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    1. Thanks, Adam. The truth is that I don't mind making furniture. The problem with this project is that I had so much to make it just got on top of me. Hence the need for a break. It must have done me good because when I got my mojo back I was raring to go. And fortunately, I'm still raring to go!

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  20. Mind blowingly stunning! No wonder it took a whole year!

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    1. Thank you, Lead Legion. I would have finished it much earlier if I hadn't taken such a long break.

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  21. Great job man, I like the T.V. screen, I think you should use a couple of images from your batt reps of zombies walking around, overturned cars, etc...

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    1. I hadn't thought of that, Werewolf8, but I like your idea. I could easily make another set of screens to slot in place and use one in pre-apocalypse games and one in post-apocalypse games.

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  22. What a fecking beauty, you could run a whole game in there or a TV series, absolutely brilliant Bryan....

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    1. QUOTE - "A fecking beauty." I love your turn of phrase, Fran. Thanks, mate.

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    1. Thanks, FF. Impressive and awesome seem to be the adjectives of choice.

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  24. This is so great and I may not be the first to say this, but your CCTV room ist absolutely fantastic (or impressively awesome?). You win this month's inofficial zombie project contest!

    Now go and do the "Assault on Precint 13" scenario. :o)

    Whiteface / Oliver

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    1. Hi, Oliver. I look forward to receiving my prize for winning the unofficial zombie project contest. I wonder if it'll be a big pile of nothing. I could really do with a big pile of nothing. LOL!

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    2. LOL! Well, it could be worse: you could receive a big pile of something. I have a lot of something!

      But obviously it's all about honour, fame and glory...and not about trivial prizes, right? RIGHT?!

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    3. Right! Honour, fame and glory. (Nods head enthusiastically!) Far better than any trivial prizes.

      Just as well it wasn't a big pile of something because knowing my luck it'd be a big pile of something I don't want!

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  25. New theory of the first Zombie outbreak:
    Vampifan blowing the minds of a few fellow gamers, leaving them speechless and drooling... Now imaging we could move away from our screens in this state :D
    Absolutely astonishing!

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    1. Ha, ha, I love your zombie outbreak theory, Stefan.

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  26. Ok, I'm really late, but I must say this.

    F A N T A S T I C!!!

    This is by far the best element of terrain I have ever seen. Really love the control room with all the monitor, but all the interior is really a masterwork.

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    1. Don't apologise about being late, Zerloon. I accept comments any time... especially if they're as complimentary as yours.

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