Redvers and Son Get Into Bushido

As my son’s faction is the Temple of Ro-Kan, I wanted to add some more temple-esque terrain that could be used in our games. Looking at some reference images, one of the particularly beautiful elements of a Shinto temple are the torii gates. Doing a little bit of research, I understand that these are the gateways that the gods use to enter the temple from their domain. The gods always walk through the middle, so when visiting, mere mortals should use the gate at the edges, not the middle.

There are plenty of stl files out there on Thingiverse and other 3D printing sites that have either been built in a sculptor or are 3D scans of real gates. I selected a couple and, through the wizardry of uv resin, ended up with the following.

I failed to take pictures of the painting process however it was fairly simple.

For the larger gate, I’ve used an airbrush to get the transition from black to red. It’s the same red that I have used for all of the terrain to ensure that there is continuity across the terrain pieces. The roof is painted with a cheap green acrylic paint from an art shop. This was then given a green wash and dry brush. The sign was Iraqi sand and then I’ve just used a permanent fine tip pen to write on it. I varnished the whole lot but left the green tiles with a satin varnish rather than matt to try and replicate the glazed tiles that you often see in China and Japan. I’ve then mounted the gate on some plasticard and used an acrylic mud to blend it in. Final step is static grass, making sure that I put more grass in the middle of the gate where no one will be walking (except the gods).

The smaller gate was much the same. The wood was a flat earth, heavily washed and then dry brushed with Iraqi sand. The rocks were a black wash over the grey primer followed by a dry brush of light grey. Again the whole thing mounted on plasticard and given a coat of static grass. I’ve flocked the rocks to attempt a mossy look and blend it in a little more.