Only Fools and Ambulls... or: Market stalls, a handy how-to guide.

As part of my ongoing Port Imperiale project, I wanted to build a bustling marketplace for contraband as a centrepiece for the settlement. I wanted it to basically be a sci-fi version of a mediaeval market, so it needs to be chaotic, and above all, look crowded and busy.

I was going to buy some of the many laser-cut mdf offerings, but decided to have a look through my bits boxes and see if I could scratchbuild anything easily. It was then that I found something that made it very easy indeed.





So, what was it that I used? These:

They're Peco LK-756 'Windows and frames', specifically the outer frames, which are perfect for each end of a market stall. You can get a pack of these for £8 online, and that contains 8 frames, so a stall costs £2 each and a bit of plasticard.

So, what do I need to make these stalls?

Well, a pack of these:

Some textured, corrugated plasticard sheet, a bit of strip, and some plain plasticard:

Creating them is the simplest thing in the world, just cut off a piece of the strip at the same width as the side frames, and glue it in place about 15mm from the floor on each side, then cut out a rectangle of plain plasticard (about 45mm x 30mm), to create the sales table, and fix that in place too:  

You can then cut the corrugated sheet to form both sides of the roof, which also serves to strengthen the structure, and there you go, one market stall:

Then, you'll need a bits box, something like this: 

to create the stall contents themselves. Go wild, use all the random crap you get on sprues to fill them with junk. I've gone with a meat stall and a knife shop, so far: 

All of the meat: 

And knives...

I've mounted these on similar sized pieces of plasticard so they just sit on the stall table, both for ease of painting, but also so they can be removed from the stalls completely if needed. 

So there you go, really simple market stalls, no fuss: 

I've also done a bunch of crates full of contraband, which really is just junk from the bits box, in some random plastic boxes I had knocking around:

The pallets you can see were made by utilising laser cut mdf pieces (from the excellent Grumpy Old Tin web shop), and then assembled with stolen coffee stirrers from your favourite tax avoiding drinks emporium. (Hint: It rhymes with 'BarStucks'). 

They look spot on, and my plan is to have all sorts of junk piled on them to use as cover in-game. 

Next job is to get them all painted!