Resurfacing, a Mine Entrance and a Construction Project

Forgive me hobbyists, for I have sinned. It's been over a month since my last submission...

Excuses? Yes, work has amped-up, there is that, but in fact it's more about the wonderful spring weather we've been having that's stolen me away from the hobby desk. While our winters in the Canadian prairies can be brutal, the other three seasons can be glorious, and when this happens the paints, brushes and figures play second-fiddle to the dogs, deck and yard stuff. 

Nonetheless, while I've been shamefully absent from posting to the blog, I've still managed to keep involved in a few hobby-like things. 

First, this protected mine entrance for my Siege of Malta project. 

During the siege, the Ottomans made very clever use of sappers who dug shafts and mines in order to collapse the island's outer defenses. I thought this would provide a nice  centerpiece for a scenario where the defenders sally out to try to disrupt the besiegers.

This is a one piece vac-formed terrain piece from Vatican Enterprises (previously Hudson & Allen).

The other hobby project, one that has been absorbing a lot of my spare time, has been the planning for the construction of a hobby-studio on our property.

Having a dedicated gaming space has been a long-held dream of mine. Our home, while very comfortable, is limited in its layout in providing a dedicated space for gaming and hobby stuff. I typically host games on our dining room table (with all the frantic game preparations and laborious tear-downs that entails), and my hobby storage is limited to where I can find nooks and crannies around the house to squirrel things away. 

One scenario had us looking for a new place which could accommodate our various wants and needs, but we found the search next to impossible as we've grown quite attached to our existing home and were reluctant to leave our neighbourhood. So the resulting compromise was to construct a structure on our property that could serve as an additional space for games and hobbies. So we contracted a wonderful designer who took in my various ideas and provided a few concepts for us to work from. Below is the one we went with.

A few views from the architectural plans of the proposed hobby studio.

It's a bit of a Q-Ship really. For the purposes of getting a building permit and local tax assessment the structure has been declared as a 'detached single-car garage', which it certainly is, but in reality the interior will be kitted-out for full-on hobby geekery (i.e. loads of shelving, figure storage and a decent sized game table). With us living in Canada this project involves lots of infrastructure considerations like heating, cooling, venting, vapour barriers, water drainage, property line setbacks, the works. It's really like building a separate mini-house.

One of its best features is that it features a 12' bank of glass sliding doors which will overlook our deck and garden. This will provide lots of light and give us a nice place to step out have a drink or two during games. 

Anyway, the building site has been cleared and we're just awaiting the city's go-ahead to begin foundation work and construction. To say I'm very excited would be an understatement. My plan is to have the basic structure up and enclosed by autumn with the finishing work to be wrapped up next spring. Wish me luck!

Curt