Going through my storage, I came across an old dusty box that contained my 28mm Desert Fort. Clearing off the dust, opened the box to see how the model inside had held up, as it had not been opened in a quarter century.. Looking inside, all the pieces were in good shape and just waiting to be painted. So, I pulled out the four parts and set up the model of the Desert Fort and put it in my paint queue.
Hudson Allen was a company that manufactured 25mm terrain made of spray foam. The line has since been taken over by Vatican Enterprises and is available for order online. This terrain has been part of my collection since I started 25mm gaming, so many years ago. When I bought the fort, it was called Fort Zinderneuf (from Beau Geste), now it is just called Desert Fort.. I’ll stick with the original!
Like all Hudson Allen models, the fort is made of spray foam. It has highly detailed surfaces and very light weight. Being foam, there is not much internal space, so you cannot really put miniatures indoors. However, they make great set pieces. Being so light, they are easy to store and easy to transport. The spray foam is a tan color with various shades of tan and brown on the surface.
Now it was painting time and I needed to figure out how I wanted to do it. The individual sections are somewhat large, so I wanted to use cheap paint. I decided to try something a little different from my earlier Hudson Allen terrain. Since it already was tan, I opted to spray everything with Krylon matte varnish. I figured this would make a nice base to dry brush up various shades of tan, to give more of an aged and modeled look.
I headed out to Michaels to pick up a few cheap craft paints. The first stage was covering the entire model with Woodland Scenics Dark Umber terrain paint to give a heavy wash/stain effect. Once that dried, it was time to drybrush. I hit the whole model with mid tone tan. I then painted all the wood areas with contrast dark brown, followed by a dark tone tan on all the exposes stone. I then hit the windows and openings with some black. I went back and dry brushed the wood with some earth colored paint. I then finished the painting with a light tan craft paint dry brush over the entire model. To add some more weathering, I added pigments to the flat surfaces and finalized the model with a coat of Krylon matte finish.
Twenty five years in the making and finally painted! Now, I have a nice fort for Pulp Gaming. Then again, as some moister evaporators and its ready for Star Wars Legion! Everyone knows that all you need to do is add some moister evaporators to any terrain board and it is perfect for Star Wars!
If you are looking for a desert style fort, this model should be on the top of your list. It is lightweight, looks great, easy to paint and to store.
- Manteuffel