Tuesday 14 July 2015

La Grande Hotel - Part 3: La Grande Hotel!

After several evenings at the dinner table (my partner was very tolerant whilst I built my 'dolls house') with the smell of burnt mdf in the air and dirty fingers half glued together...I finally completed the full Grand Hotel Complex!

Here are some rather indulgent pictures of the completed build, with a selection of staff and guests!







Jenkins welcomes the new guest, Mister Swarmi, as Rick looks on.


A fine place for a smoke...


Bentley the chauffeur cases out the joint.


The Arched Passageway.


The Courtyard. Signore Vialli discusses his Model T (in the garage) with handyman Thompson.


Damhairn the cook stands proudly outside her 'domain'.



Felicity the maid has a freedom to roam the entire hotel.


The Coaching Stable / Garage.




The Cook House / Kitchen.



The 'Attic' Rooms.



The First Floor Rooms.



The Ground Floor Rooms.


Reception.



The Bar (Ricks favourite place...)


The doorway between The Stone Hotel and The Grand Stone Hotel.



An overview of the full hotel complex.



What nefarious plans are this Trinity of Evil discussing? Jenkins pretends to be discreet...


Rick and Swarmi agree a deal.


Although almost prohibitively expensive at the normal price, in all this is a great kit and a pleasure to build. It has loads of nice internal and external detail, there are 'working' doors throughout and plenty of space for figures. It looks good and ready for the tabletop - though admittedly not particularly realistic depending on your point of view. I am sure you could 'pimp' you hotel if so inclined (as is the current fashion!) but I am a wargamer and not a diorama maker so this is perfect for me.

Now all I need to do is get it on the table for a game. With plenty of internal room I think this will be great for smaller sized adventure / skirmish games such as Doctor Who, 7TV, Pulp Alley, IHMN and Fistful of Kung Fu etc. It could also present an excellent objective for WWII games (where is that German sniper?) and anything VBCW.

Figures from Artizan and Pulp Figures.

Tuesday 7 July 2015

La Grande Hotel - Part 2: The Stone Hotel.

Next up was the 'Stone Hotel'. This is essentially very similar to the 'Grand Stone Hotel' with a few variations to each floor, an archway passage, an access hatch to behind the bar and a slightly more elaborate entrance. 


The build was pretty much the same standard as the first so no real surprises...other than I realised the archway / window keystones we not actually 'stone' as the instructions showed. No bother, I quite like the wood on the main archway and I flipped the window keystones to the 'unpainted' side and they look just fine.


The entrance portico has 3 language variations for signage depending on what part of the world you want your hotel.


The grilled coal shute - it works!


The main entrance doors / portico.


The beer barrel access hatch, a nice little touch.


A quick escape route?



I won't put up and more images of the actual work in progress - I'm sure you get the picture!

Next up - the completed Hotel Complex.