First, just let me say, painting models or model construction is a 'enjoyable learning curve'
as far as I am concerned! I find the whole process of producing scenery for
Bloodbowl and Mordheim very rewarding. Every time I build a dugout I am returning
to that learning curve again, trying to improve the design of my previous modelling
effort. I don't consider the following method to be the definitive dugout design and so
any constructive criticism or feedback for improvement will be gladly received....

How to Build a Blood Bowl Dugout (Innerspin1 method)

At this particular time, I am building two dugouts; one is to be auctioned for charity at
Thrudbowl in July 2008 (www.Thrudbowl.com),



shown at an early stage to illustrate the basic shape of the frame. The other dugout I have in
production is a bit more experimental, for my Orc team, at Poo Bowl in January 2008, and this
is the one that I will be building here. The basic design is the same in both; I use templates
cut from foamcard to build a basic building's shell and cover the finished shell with my choice of
design. The Thrudbowl dugout frame is dressed with plasticard for a stone effect. The Poo Bowl dugout
is exactly the same design using wooden coffee stirrers for girder type walls and wooden flooring effect.

The materials required:
Foamcard A3 size
Plasticard (embossed wall design) or Wood Strips (coffee stirrers for flooring and walls)
Balsa Wood (Various shapes and thickness)
GW Flock and 2.5 square model bases and a cavalry base
PVA and Super Glue
Thin cardboard and magnetic sheet and bits box (for optional furnishings)

In the beginning there is a plan....



All my measurements are in centimetres, as you can see there are ten template pieces, a
base, 2 sidewalls, 4 internal walls, one back wall and 2 front walls. Notice the back wall
sits behind the base and the 2 sidewalls go on top of it at either side, this will give an
overall uniform height size of 5.5cm.

I also have a general overview plan of the entire model.



At the front will be the turn and re-roll markings, to the side of these are marked where the
bases of the sidewalls will be and then a 5mm gap all the way round between the markings and
the wall. Pinpoint precision isn't important here, because the 2.5mm square bases that make the
raised markings are eventually flocked and this will roughen their finish anyway. I mark an area
for the coach to stand on (cavalry base) along the same line as the re-rolls. There is a 1cm gap between
the re-roll markers and turn markers to allow the turn numbers/signs to fit between them.

The base dictates the overall size of the dugout. I use 5mm thick, A3 size foam card; this makes multiple
measurements and calculations easier to work out. Using the entire width of one end of the card literally
'cuts down on my cutting', and gives me a nice,squared machine cut base to work up from.

Now I have transferred the measurements from the paper directley onto the A3 sheet of foamcard.



Now with a very dangerous knife I cut out all the pieces. I saved any left over pieces for later accessories



It's time to think about the base. Because I know the length of the walls, I can mark on the base exactly where
the base of the walls will be; therefore I can lay a wood flooring between the lines marked. There are 3 rooms: Reserves
area, Recovery room and Dead room. The Reserves area is open at the front to give easy access to models and better
viewing of some of the dugout decor. I usually build the entire foamcard frame before adding the plasticard or wood splint
covering, but for this example I have changed the order for your, easier construction viewing.



The splints are cut to 2mm larger than the wall they are covering, then finished with a further angled cut with pliers.
Each wall is clad both sides with the wood splints. The splints and the foamcard are 5mm approx. wide, so stopping one splint
short (and a couple of millimetres for the thickness of a splint) at the end of a connecting wall, will mean walls and
cladding will fit uniformly together. Some experimentation is recommended here! The two sidewalls have splints overhanging
by 5mm on the outside, so that when they are attached to the base the sidewall external splints will cover the exposed side of
the base. The walls are capped off with another wood splint laid between the walls, to cover the final exposed foamcard edge.





Everything is sprayed black...including my hands.



The pieces were painted both sides, in alternating team colours, along each splint.



To decorate the dugout I used the new foundation paints from GW. The entire model is basically highlighted then given ???a bashing???
with mithril silver drybrushed scratches and washes of flesh wash all over. You can now let your imagination run wild with the
furnishings. I basically stick to a bench, modelled in the Reserves area, bloody table in the Recovery room and a coffin or two in
the Dead room, all made from balsa. On this model I am also adding a scoreboard for the first time. The frame is balsa wood with
magnets to secure the numbers (I will keep the numbers stored/magnetised to my metal dice tin lid). The team name (New Dork Gruntz)
and their logo/sign are attached to the other front wall. I also quite like adding a flag, associating the team with the tournament I
am attending, as a nice ???fluff touch???.









The front of the base is flocked a couple times with GW flock, and then the raised area is dry-brushed with Bubonic Brown and then
Bleached Bone. The surrounding area is given a wash of flesh wash to emphasis those markers and add some interesting tones into the grass.
The marker numbers are simply cut down wood splints attached to a triangle of thicker card on one side and painted, then super glued onto
the grass. The remaining pictures show the finished item and some decor details.

I hope this article has given some Bloodbowl coaches the incentive to put down their block dice for a couple of days and turn their hand
to designing the scenery that surrounds their pitches instead. The cost of materials used is very minimal, less than £10.00 GBP. A
personalised pitch and surrounding scenery can add even more fun and interest to your games. There is plenty more additions that could
be made to the dugouts illustratrated here, your only restriction is your imagination and the need to keep floor space clear in the rooms
for your unfortunate players. Please visit my website at www.innerspin1.com for more pics and videos!