The 'newbie project' started as a 'easiest to duplicate', but evolved into more of a nuanced decision. Dr H's work is clearly a step beyond 'newbie' per-se, but the good doctor laid out instructions on how to make the wooden planks from sprue, and everything is readily available to any newbie, as it consisted of a CD, cardstock, sprue, and basing materials. It is a great project for a newbie to tackle, to easily raise their modeling skills!
I am very much looking forward to compiling this into an article for Dakka. If anyone wants their entry to be excluded from the article, please let me know.
I will be contacting the winners via PM, as soon as I make up the bitz bag of love.
Thanks for all your amazing entries, and thanks to my judges Gitsplitta, Dsteingass, and Inmygravenimage!
Congratulations to the other winners and well done to all involved as together we produced a games-table filling quantity of quality terrain, from little more than recycled materials.
Thanks to Brian for a good competition that led to a very interesting, challenging, and enjoyable modelling project that I wouldn't have otherwise undertaken at this time.
and good job to the judges, as there was clearly some difficult decisions involved.
Well, congrat's to Camkierhi for the overall win - that's two in row for you mate... Also shout out to Solar Lion, Fango and Dr H for your wins
Thanks Brian for a challenging contest, feel free to use my build in any future article you put together, long may Dakka inspire newbies and oldies alike
Yakromunda is indeed a very cool site. I haven't even had a game yet but I still find the site useful. If your teaching someone and they are building their own gang you might want to start them on the GW printed version of Gang Recruitment. It's got less options so they can just choose something and go with it. I used that style of recruitment for my Infinimunda gang to ease myself into it, you don't get access to any special buffs and arguably that can give you a much stronger early gang.
Your Test of the Spirit is to descend into the Underhive, and recover as much Archaeotech as possible, over the course of nintey Hivedays. You have been assigned a retinue of menials and servitors, including a Calligraphus. As you are aware, you will be judged upon your return, to see if you are fit to enter the ranks of the Run Priests. Loss or destruction of Mechanicus property will be viewed...poorly.
Arch-Magos Sepherin, in his infinite wisdom, has also assigned a Ministorum Choir Drone to your retinue. We do not need to explain the...burden...this places upon you, nor do we need to explain the higher level of expectations. For whatever reason, you have been favored, Delgado Skaenlind.
Failure is not an option.
You are dismissed."
Gun Servitor Moxin (Gang Heavy)
"Criminal Moxin, you have been charged with fifteen counts of larceny, and two counts of murder in the first degree. Evendence has been congitated by the logitators, as provided by the Arbities of Precinct 11/13A. The evidence has been examined by Judge Seamus McGarr, and has proven to be accurate and correct.
By the laws of Necromunda, you are hereby handed over to the Adeptus Mechanicus for processing, in the hopes that you can be re-introduced into the hive as a functional and productive member of society.
In light of the evidence, no appeal will be accepted."
*GAVEL*
Gun Servitor 32415 (Gang Heavy)
"I live in a dream of light and shadow. I had a life, once. Wife. Kids. I worked in Fab 19, Underdeck two. I worked on a pipecasting line. I don't remember much else, aside from the pain. Pain is all I know, now. Sometimes I look at the mass of cables that replaced my right arm. Cables that can interface with weapons, technology. Sometimes, they let me share the pain. Sometimes, they let me carry little Tomas. Sometimes...sometimes...so... I am Servitor 32415, and sometimes I forget the pain."
Menial Gant Spillarii (Ganger)
<< //Start Calligritape 3,514.99 >> ++ Subject: Menial Gant Spillarii. Male. Recruited from Hive Level 77 LabHab 12 Block 58V. No enhancements. Field performance: adequate. Mental fortitude: adequate. Mechanicus Loyalty: Unproven. Assigned one (1) Servoskull Observer. Issued Fenrir-pattern autogun. Menial has made minor field adjustments expected of Necromundan irregulars, resulting in a 2.17 percent improvement in the weapon's accuracy. << //End Calligritape 3,514.99 >>
Menial Lexin Mantach (Ganger)
"I 'spose it's better'n being in a gang. Food's better, that's for sure. Sure, it is still recycled gakpaste, but you can tell the higher quality of gak, yanno? Maybe even some Spyrer Gak. It is hot, and they even throw some Snakewine at us. Ammo's good, and doesn't misfire, most of the time. 'course, I still scavenge what I can, and sometimes the stuff I find is...not so good. But they don't punish us like they would in a Gang. I don't 'spect I'll be one of them there Magoses anytime soon, but I've got a good life. Bettern' what I had before I was drafted in.
Menial Targ Pelonius (Ganger)
|O| Servoskull 984 -- Datalink Operational -- Recording |O| [Camera: A scene down a rusty hallway, pipes leaking steam and the occasional suspicious-looking ooze.] "Targ. Do you have the stuff?" "Yeah, yeah. I got what you wanted. Snuck it out of the stash right under their noses." "Hey, what is that thing hovering behind you?" "Man, man, don't worry. I took this servoskull's brainchip and re-wried it. Don't you worry, Gerald. My little friend here is totally under MY control. They don't suspect a thing." "Well, all right Targ. But if you screw us, we're coming for you." "Yeah, yeah. Do you want these chips, or what? I got someone willing to pay double for 'em, but you're my good friend, right? Yeah..."
Menial Bax (Ganger)
"This is my Great-Great-Grandfather's laspistol. He was drafted into the Necromunda Second Regiment, surviving many campaigns in the Emperor's Name, until he was sent home, crippled. This weapon has been passed down through my family, arriving in my hands on my 18th birthday. I have been selected to accompany the Aspirant into the hive. I will use my knowledge as my weapon, and my weapon as my light. The machine spirit within this laspistol gives me strength. For the Omnissiah."
Calligraphus Servitor Tixos (Juve)
<< //Start Calligritape 3,573.21 >> ++ Location: Hivelevel 114 ++ HabFab 218 ++ Block 17G ++ [Apsirant Delgado Skaenlind] "Today is a good day, my Retinue. We seek our destiny, here. According to the last Citizen's report, we may find hostile resistance here. Gun Servitors, you are directed to find high cover, and support the general advance. Menial Bax, you will accompany myself and the other Servitors. Menials Gant, Lexin and Targ, you will cover our advance on the ground, as well as conduct standard searches. Ensure that you have all completed the morning Litanies, and applied the grey unguent to your weapons. Report any equipment failures to me. You have your orders, move out on my signal."
Ministorum Choir Drone Aeriss (Juve)
Every third cycle, a number of children are selected by the Adeptus Mechanicus of the Primaris Hive. These children, chosen for their purity of voice, are biomechanically enhanced to enable them to sing at pitches far beyond human norms. If they survive the augmentation process, they are delivered to one of the Choirs of the Host, to bolster the Hive's psychic defenses. Occasionally, some of these Choir Drones are sent into the service of the Mechanicus itself, assighed to accompany and protect a given Magos. The addition of a Ministorum Choir Drone to a retinue is considered to be a significant mark on a Magos' career.
Love it, very fun fluff dude. Sounds like Targ's already been caught double crossing! What more can you expect in the Hive, eh?
Totally psyched to write fluff for my two new characters now, thanks!
P.S. 9 Gang Members? So have both the heavies got heavy weapons or is there a mix of extra equipment throughout the gang? Never mind, just checked the roster.
Yup, only nine. I decided to make a fluff-based gang, instead of a game-based one. My friend's gang has 14 members. So, I expect to get a fair and proper beating.
I think those 9 could serve you well. At 14 he must be running 6 or more Juves which aren't much of a threat until they get closer. If those Heavies have good positions and the dice gods are fair then you could really hit hard.
Necromunda is splashing up all over Dakka since September rolled in. Am I missing something?
I remember when I first picked my gang I was told Van Saar were by a fair margin the best gang due to the Tech skills. Is there any truth to that? I went with them anyway becuase it fitted my concept but I'd like to think that wasn't true, especially not using NCE.
And yes, pictures of your terrain please! You should have loads of inspiration from the competition, I hope there is lots of card and sprue being used.
There's several people running Necro, there's Inqusimunda going, and a general push toward people wanting:
- Smaller games that play faster than the 2+ hours of 6th edition 40K - More narrative in their games
- More fluff in their games
And probably a bit of backlash against GW dropping specialist games. People are 'rediscovering' Necromunda, and the site Yakromunda is a tremendous resource.
Additionally, there are games like Killzone and In The Emperor's Name that fulfill the same 'grim future' niche.
I really fancied getting the kids into all this, but the battles are just too long. I thought maybe Necro would be the answer. Sold my set about 6 years ago though, "ah well I will go buy on Ebay".....OMG the price people are asking for original box sets. £180. So I am up for suggestions. Only need the rule book. Or an alternative, will look up Killzone.
I am sure I can knock together a gaming table, I might be able to put together some terrain!!!!!!
If you use the "Community Edition", you only need:
d6's
Scatter Die
Artillery Die (From warhammer fantasy)
Standard 40K templates.
-------
Folks, sorry for my absence, my new job is really cranking down my free time, until I get settled in. A large workload was dumped on me. This is not a bad thing, just...very very busy.
Congrats to all the winners in the contest, and thanks again Brian for hosting it! Soccer season and Cub Scouts have kicked into full gear, so I haven't been on here in a week or so. I'm very proud of my best recycler award though! Now to get some work done on the 'Fire at Will' competition...
Dr.H, it is useful for taking large sheets of the free foam I get, into manageable chunks. I can also shave 2" foam into 1" foam, and a few other interesting tricks.
The main advantage is that it is the foam cutter equivalent of a scroll-saw or band saw. The wire is very stiff, VERY HOT, and allows you to rapidly cut down foam, do intricate cuts, etc.
Oh yeah, I knew that. I've seen little hand-held ones. I was expecting scale mountains or something...
Useful none-the-less and free foam is the best kind of foam.
Just make sure you're not using the scooter at the same time.
I've already started building terrain pieces for the tabletop gaming group I'm going to start up here in the space. Initial pieces have been flocked and painted, and are drying on the table behind me. Pics up in a bit, but I'm working on contacting contest winners, and getting their stuff to them.
I'm going to yet another cleanse/purge sequence, as I hone everything down to what *I* want to do...balanced by what I have TIME to do. I'm keeping the Minotaurs as an Apocalypse force, the AdMech Chaos for Funsies, and building out my IG as my primary army, knowing full well that the new IG codex is going to piss everyone off.
I'm pleased, however, that I was able to accurately predict the new vehicle.
The new Guard vehicle is a leman-russ variant with a hull-mounted heavy weapon instead of a turret, like the FW Laser destroyer, etc.
Pics are coming as soon as I finish getting the contest prizes out. Priorities.
--B.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Okay, while I'm working, you can have...work in progress pictures!
My new office/workspace:
And a ton of Necromunda bulkheads, with a variety of basecolors, all being dipped into a rusty metal mix. The lighter-colored ones have not been dipped yet.
I dunno, a mobile HW with AV 12 on all sides doesn't seem too bad, as long as it is cheaper points-wise than the battle cannon. Guard HW can win games if used properly.
Of course, all strategies require splitting your forces and at the minimum having a solid gunline for defense sprinkled with sacrificial units and topped with some deception or diversion tactic.
Cellphone camera ready doesn't quite capture this, but here's some of the bulkheads with rust weathering powders applied.
So, to wit:
Prime the bulkheads with brown spraypaint. I use Krylon Rusty Metal Primer.
Apply a lighter brown to the bulkhead with a large brush. you're "dappling" here, to get that peeled paint effect. you could also use the salt-and-hairspray technique here. I'm lazy.
Create a wash. I used the same paint I used to dapple, and added black to it, then watered it down. Dip, yes DIP each bulkhead into the wash, then stand it up to dry. This is important, you want the wash to fall naturally down the nooks and crannies.
After everything is dry, use your rust powders. Go in with the darker color first, then streak the lighter color of rust on top. Blend, brush, and play. Weathering powders are fun!
Seal with matte spray.
Important safety tip: I am using DIRT CHEAP ACRYLICS HERE. Big bottles that cost me $4.00 USD. Don't waste your good paints on tabletop terrain!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Okay, so. Having experimented with a number of base colors and powder applications, I can say this:
1) OVER SATURATE. The matte spray will dull everything. For competition purposes, you will need several applications of rust, and may need to resort to paint to get that final 'highlight'.
2) Rust on a dark background looks good....until you matte spray it. BAM, immediate loss of hue.
3) I tried light brown, dark brown, light grey, and silver. The effects after matte spray are best on the light grey, okay on the silver, and mostly gone on the shades of brown.
Here's the application process.
Base bulkhead, powders, and a soft brush. Consider reading makeup tutorials that work with eye shadows and blush.
Use a soft, feathery motion. Apply in circles, and make sure the powder is sticking to the surface. You do not want loose chalk/powder.
I figure I'm "short" about...6 to 10 bulkheads. But, I have a solid start of Necromunda and Outlanders terrain. The Iron Sector grows...
I need to glue everything together, add some fiddly details, build the various pipeworks, run a black or brown marker along the white edges of the cardboard, etc. etc. But, damn. This old terrain really DOES hold up, doesn't it?
Ahh, old skool card terrain, makes the heart skip a beat and brings a tear of reminiscence. I have the urge to break out my sets this weekend, time to give the kids a lesson in storyboard wargaming
Why, oh why, dear GW do you not produce or support this game anymore
It's been so long since I last worked on the Transporter, I've totally forgotten where I was, or what I was doing. Holy Halibut, I'm just staring at it, utterly lost.
This is the prototype. There are three of these being built. Yes, it is ugly, hasn't been puttied or sanded. But the proof of concept is sound, and the design works. This is an inverted gull-wing Waagh-Fought Korsair. Scourge of the skies.
Finally getting some actual organization into my new working space. I need some more banker's boxes, however.
Last night, my muse re-engaged, and I managed to start knocking out CD-based terrain dioramas. I have about a dozen of them primed, plus a crashed drop pod in a crater, two bridge/walkways, some of the honored imperium terrain, and some plastic cheapo construction vehicles I've been bashing about into ruins. Hey, weathering powders! Time to put more of that to good use. Oh, and Theo's bulkheads got a round of primer as well.
Organization-wise, I now have a bin of 'finished' terrain pieces, four banker's boxes of ongoing projects, and several now-empty-soon-to-be-filled-with-finished-terrain bins.
My worktable is clear, and I've started to tag-and-bag individual projects.
I've also found all of the contest giveaways, so those will be going out soon, along with some long-promised bitz to various people.
Wargaming only isn't a hard rule to follow really. That said it might be worth petitioning Lego to allow workbench shots since it's an important part of our hobby?
Nice to see(I caught a glimpse before it was removed) a nice tidy work area, I'll have to look into that for myself at some point.
That's what I do when it isn't wargaming related. As I say, I see a case for workbench shots in the gallery though. If they aren't allowed just fire up a thread in Nuts and Bolts and see what Lego says.
I loves me some Secret Weapon Minis. I placed an order, a couple items did not ship. FAST customer response, missing items are on the way.
Also, I picked up one of their 6x6 vehicle hulls. You can see that the master was 3d printed, but they did the smoothing out part that Mongoose skipped. The casting is crisp, and very easy to put together. Photos incoming.
Automatically Appended Next Post: So, in my quest to 'branch out', I am slowly buying up vehicles that are not GW. This will be especially important when you remember I am working on my own set of tabletop minis rules.
PICTURES.
Parts:
Hull top:
Hull Bottom: (Note: hull bottom is the chassis and two sideframes for the wheels.)
Assembled: (Chassis comes with a drop-in gun, and a..thingy. Flamer maybe? Anyways, easy to swap)
Rhino side comparison:
Rhino width comparison:
I like it. The vehicle went together easy. If I buy more, I'll certainly put some green stuff to help secure the wheels more firmly. I did not buy the turret, as I want to see what GW turrets look like. Now, if I could only find my entire Imperial Guard army...
--B.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Two more, some turret comparisons. The turret rings on the 6x6 do NOT match up with GWSM turrets.
January's issue of FineScale Modeler has a nice article on an easy way to file down turret rings on kits to accept aftermarket turrets. Were they marketed specifically to accept GW turrets?
No, definitely not. I'm just documenting my way through various kits, to show how easy/hard they are to use with GW, and whatever other systems are out there. As soon as I find my IG boxes, I'll do a Chimera comparison.
Dr H wrote: Interesting. Works with the missile launcher.
Looking at the pic closer it looks too big for the launcher. There's space between the launcher part and the ring well. In combat debris could get in there and your day up by slowing or stopping the turret transversing.
Well yeah, it will require modification to fit.
But I meant in terms of looks, it looks like a missile launcher vehicle (also with the wheels, as a missile launcher is more likely to be taking roads than going cross country.).
Below is a picture dump of the Ramshackle Games Rhebok APC, including comparions to a standard Rhino chassis. I chose the 'wheeled' version.
I got it on a Kickstarter, the Retail Cost of this kit is 20 GBP or (roughly) $35 USD.
The good:
Excellent customer service. My APC got lost in the mail, they sent me a replacement.
Many, many 'option parts', to customize the look of the APC. Hatches, headlights, stowage.
Many, many 'weapon options' to match pretty much any vehicle out there.
The option for bully bars or a large prow/plow.
While clearly not DESIGNED for magnetization, it was trivial to do such. I could have magnetized almost every option.
The bad:
The resin is that really brittle and deadly stuff. Wear a mask. WEAR A MASK.
The turret with weapon options are an existing Ramshackle Games kit. Whomever is doing the actual casting has gotten very sloppy. I had to cut and file away large amount of flash on every part, and since it is the very brittle resin, it doesn't take well to this process.
The APC kit itself also suffered from flash and poor casting practices. Many many bubbles, voids and other issues solvable with pressure or vibration casting.
Due to the construction/casting, there's a good extra half pound of resin in this kit, which is utterly unnecessary. This increases the shipping cost.
Utterly impossible to do any form of interior detailing. All hatches are solid-cast into the body, and cannot be made to open without incredible effort.
The ugly:
The main body parts are not formed well, the back half is a full 1/8" wider than the front, thus making it impossible for the two track/wheel support frames to lay flat against the sides of the vehicle. In general, you're going to need a lot of putty, if you want to deal with the voids and issues.
An epic amount of failing, filling, sanding and trimming must be done to put the kit together. This puts this kit firmly into the "Garage Resin" category, as opposed to a professional or pro-am casting.
The wheels. Oh, God, the wheels.
Comparison-wise, this beast is wider and taller thank a Rhino chassis. It is wider than a Chimera. It is shorter than both. The turret ring does not match 40K turrets. The wheeled version has no side doors/hatches, but the tracked version does. However, the tracked version makes the kit look like a Leman Russ, not a Rhino.
It would be very good for an Arbites Precinct Force.
Overall, I have to give the kit a "C", or three entrenching tools out of five.
Looks kinda neat as a stand-alone but I'm not sure it fits with 40k very well. The amount of work you put in to make it servicable is laudable... but nothing I'd want to do. My time is worth something, at least to me. To bad it's clearly not worth anything to the manufacturer of this vehicle.
What Git and WM said. it might work with other sci-fi games. 40 K not so much unless you wann turn it into a Ork looted tank. Then you spending a lot to just mess it up.
I have had a similar experience with Ramshackle. Big solid pieces where one side is full of voids. That one side is also concave to the point that I had to build it up with plastic card just to get the pieces to mate. Attaching the wheels was a horrible experience since it doesn't drill well or cut easily.
That said I do like the look of the finished result and it fits in well to a post-apoc world RPG I was doing.
I like Ramshackle stuff, bought lots from them in the past. I do think there should be a disclaimer on the site along the lines of 'it's very cheap but it is VERY ramshackle' because the kits are never going to fit together well. I think you are best off gluing them with some thick epoxy (think I glued mine with a hot glue gun actually) and just accepting that you will get a beat up looking vehicle at the end of it, but if you are OK with a beat up looking vehicle then it's a great range.
If I had the money I would buy most of their vehicles for use as derelict vehicle scenery, but not sure I would use many of their vehicles as game pieces.
I feel a need to buy kits and assemble an article. Not only 'options for 40k' but also a discussion of the kits and manufacturers themselves. Quality, customer service, etc.
Okay, here's the SWM APC and the Ramshackle APC, with a Chimera Turret AND a Leman-Russ turret. No, none of these work with the turret rings on the vehicles, but the Rhebok is reasonably close. The 6x6 would need an entirely new turret ring mount built to accept 40K turrets.
It would be best to build from scratch, or kitbash appropriate WYSIWYG turret/weapon combos.
It's nice to see honest opinions on the alternative options for models and just to see what the alternatives are. Keep it up Brian.
I really feel that a full article needs to be written, there are so many options out there now. I'm not sure I want to shell out for everything (like squads) so I may put out a call.
I SOUND THE LEAGUE HORN!
Or something.
We have enough people, and I have editing skills, to just PLASTER all of the new, cool stuff into an honest article here on Dakka.
Briancj wrote: I really feel that a full article needs to be written, there are so many options out there now.
Sounds like a good plan.
I'm not sure I want to shell out for everything (like squads) so I may put out a call.
Yeah, considering you are trying to cut down on the plastic collection, buying more things is probably not the greatest plan.
I SOUND THE LEAGUE HORN!
Or something.
We have enough people, and I have editing skills, to just PLASTER all of the new, cool stuff into an honest article here on Dakka.
--B.
Sadly, I can't really help. Unless you want to know about a selection of Airfix/etc. (mainly aircraft) models that I've built over the last 20-odd years... (read; not very useful). Should I have something of use, I'll let you know.
I suspect, for the most part, that I am going to call upon people who have already purchased, to write about their experiences, and get some product comparison shots. We'll discuss 40K compatibility, and then talk about other games.
I think, together, we can build a real resource for the community.
Nah, the Ramshackle will work, different variant pattern Chimera comes to mind. The question is how much does it cost compare to a GW Chimera/Rhino kit?
Both the Ramshackle kit and the SWM kit come with all of their turret options. The SWM turret alone is $19.99 USD, and only comes with one weapon. GW kits come with all codex weapon options.
Both the Ramshackle kit and the SWM kit come with all of their turret options. The SWM turret alone is $19.99 USD, and only comes with one weapon. GW kits come with all codex weapon options.
I think you really should compare it against a razorback or predator too, since your comparing the price WITH a turret, and the rhino doesn't come with one.
SWM 6x6 (no turret): $29.99 USD
Space Marine Rhino: $37.25 USD
Notes:
Both the Ramshackle kit and the SWM kit come with all of their turret options. The SWM turret alone is $19.99 USD, and only comes with one weapon. GW kits come with all codex weapon options for the given vehicle.
Shipping is not discussed, as your mileage will vary.
I really am surprised that you had so many problems with the Ramshackle Games vehicle kits. Curtis over at Ramshackle games has always prided himself on his quality control AND his customer service. I've made some pretty great looking vehicles and bits of terrain over the years using near-perfect "mis-casts" that I buy by the kilogram*. Sometimes I have to look very, very hard indeed to figure out why a given piece was thrown in the mis-cast pile.
Edit: To avoid any confusion, I thought I'd better clarify by pointing out that he sells his mis-casts to folks like me who like to make lot's of post-apoc scenery for their games. Every time I buy a 1kg box of mis-casts, it's pretty much guaranteed that I'll be able to put together at least one great looking vehicle from the bits I'm sent, not to mention stuff like generators, sub-stations, junk piles, wheel barricades etc. His actual vehicle kits make great scenery as well and are well worth a look for anyone who fields a Ork army in particular.
I'm planning on picking up a few of his vehicles and bikers next year for a Genestealer Cult army project as well.
They certainly do - and from the comments you're not the only one who has had problems recently. It's just got me scratching my head, that's all. I'm wondering if he's started to outsource his casting? Or maybe he can't be as stringent as he used to be for some reason? Think I'll fire off a few discrete emails and see what's going down. If I come up with an explanation I'll let you all know.
(responds to League horn) I agree, an Article would be very good to have! Let me know what I can do to help. Personally, I enjoy the extra pain-in-the-ass work of kits like that, but only when I get them free as review samples. For that kind of money, I wouldn't though.
Well the Puppet's war models came to about 50bucks a pop, Making them more FW like prices, still cheaper than some comparably sized FW kits but here, next to the GW Chimera kit
So, I wanted to make a junk pile. But not just a pile of bits, something with a STORY. Skalk's rules were 'no dioramas', but I still feel that putting some thought into the piece would help me build something with FEELING. I also saw some other wips, and knew I wanted to stay true to what I felt was the core of the contest. A junk pile. JUNK. PILE. Not a prefabbed bit with some stuff, not a crane, not a dead robot.
Junk. Pile.
When I was younger, my friend David and I used to crawl through a few junkyards, including one behind the University we attended. In addition to all the tech junk, there were sections of overgrown everything. You really had to watch your step, lest you need a tetanus shot, yanno?
So, that got me thinking about overgrown wastelands, old imperial outposts, and what would I use this terrain piece for? Well, now I have an idea. But how to challenge myself?
No pre-fab parts. Nothing. Not a single thing. Stuff I could find, lying around. And, do it in a day. It turns out I did it in about three hours. Stupid life.
Well, working in a 40,000 square foot makerspace, I knew I could find stuff for days and days. So, let's make this harder...and EASIER for people who might want to ALSO make junk terrain. Let's go for a walk.
So I did. I even took video, which I need to clean up and post.
Now I have a pile of part.s.
I took the bits, and then some scrap styrene to make a barrel. I like barrels, and it wasn't hard to make one. I'll try to put a tutorial together, as I intend to make and cast a bunch up. Barrels are fun! Short explanation: Take a plastruct cylinder, heat it up a bit, push it down causing it to bow out. Fill the ends, and use an xacto knife to carve in details. A bit of thin card makes barrel bands, and a bit of green stuff tubing or thing card for the ropes. I used green stuff, but I should have twisted it more, to get that rope texture. Lessons learned!
So, I laid pieces out, using a '303' marker as the basis of some lost Imperial Outpost, with marked parts piles. I was thinking about adding a monkey...but I ran out of time.
I wanted to leave room for lots of grass, so I could show that everything had been there awhile. I started by priming brown, and then going in with detail brushes to paint in rust, colors, and details. I used a bit of paint-rust technique, laying down some boltgun metal, bordered by black, then some brown for rust. The blue panel, I painted only in the center, leaving the edges brown and ready for rust. Striped the pipe and did some hazard stripes on the scab-red...thing. The single skull got bronzed flesh, then bleached bone.
After that dried, I went in with a brown ink wash, to take down the various things, as well as 'theme' everything under a single color. This is very important. So, in spite of a scab red thing and a bronze thing and a black and yellow striped pipe and a blue panel and half a vehicle axle, and... it is all tied together with the wash.
Finally, I went in with two sets of weathering powder, a 'dark rust' and a brighter orange rust. Dark first, then orange on top for the more exposed items. We're on a lush planet, here, so there's LOTS of rust. A bit of black to bring out the 303 on the marker, some touchups, and done.
Finally, I 'planted' tufts of Woodland Scenics grass, and used static grass for flocking the remaining open areas.
In spite of having less time to work on this than I wanted (three hours as opposed to eight), I really enjoyed this contest. I hope I have shown, here, that even a new player can get cool looking terrain, without having the bitz box most 'experienced' (old) players do.
"303...What does it MEAN?!?"
Okay, I used ONE pre-fab thing, and that's a GW scenic dread base. Because it was allowed, and made my life that much easier.
BIG HUGE THANKS to Skalk for running the contest. I know how much work this is, and the fact that he's willing to run ANOTHER is...amazing.
Once again, the League has stepped up to show that good-looking terrain is within everyone's budget!
Nice junk. Like the addition of grass to give it the overgrown look.
Your video is certainly worth the 5 point bonus for found junk.
The possibilities in your workshop are as endless as the workshop appears itself. Nice.
More excellent Junk, dakka is overflowing with the stuff it seems The grass tufts really set it off, are these Woodland Scenics tufts or paint brush bristles?
Briancj wrote: Would someone please come over and blow my brains out, so my misery can finally end?
I'm only 2.5 hrs away, sorry I didn't see this sooner.
Briancj wrote: The resin is that really brittle and deadly stuff. Wear a mask. WEAR A MASK.
Wait- you mean they aren't made out of, you know, vitamins and stuff?
That is really horrible casting for a model that could be so wicked cool. I want to pick up something like that for my PDF Watchmen but I think I'll hold off until the early adopters stop jumping off bridges.
Progress is being made on the ThunderStormHawk. I've reached a point where I'm done putting greeblies onto open sections of plasticard, and now I'm closing up holes, putting on doors, and dealing with the cockpit.
I am not overly happy with my grippy arms, I think I should have made them shorter. But, frankly, I want this project DONE.
Playing with spraypaint and Minwax stain. Have learned many things. Might even be happy with the results. Won't know for an hour or so. Stupid drying times.
Well, the stain needed to dry overnight, but here's a batch of UTTERLY RANDOM PROGRESS PHOTOS taken last night, before I headed home after a day of productivity.
Great looking work..... REALLY enjoying the Chimera Bunker/barricade last stand defence! Looks great! If i ever get any of my own projects finished i will keep this in the vault as an idea!
Lo Brian. Having seen the pictures you posted in the thread about Predator interiors I realised that I hadn't gone over the first half of your blog.
I have now.
Great work. Table looks great, nice colour combo's going on. T'Hawk is looking amazing, BTW what colour scheme you going for on that one? Now going to have to go over your work, sorry been a while since I looked in.
Congrats on the win BTW, that was a great comp by SKalk.
The truck is a toy truck I found in a dollar store, came with a trailer (seen) and some other cheap plastic 'construction' vehicles, which I am 40k-ify-ing.
Awesome work on the table , and I hadn't seen the progress on the flyer, great job there too. And while sneaking is going on to steal your terrain you better go answer the front door .
I'm not a Big fan of theirs ever since I got he super heavy walker and the issues from that. Plus most of their kits seemed amateurish compared to others like zinge, or anvil.
There are 2mm gaps everywhere, the sidewalls do not match up with the chassis, the top roof is 4mm too wide, there are fingerprints in the casting master which show up in the pieces... the list just goes on.
If you got a bad cast, much like FW, it's a pain the hole. Also I found it less than obvious how the bloody thing goes together - I got Warsmith (who as Hits_the_spot designed the kit) to send me instructions!
But they are taking on GW and winning, kind of shows how bad GW is right now doesn't it? Sorry you got a bad kit, my superheavy walker came with broken parts and missing pieces. They sent the missing pieces and let me know that it was a known issue, but didn't backtrack past orders unless they were contacted by the buyers. The broken parts they told me "tough luck" and I had to fix them myself.
I just had one of the best games of Warhammer 40K of my life. IG versus Necrons. No spamming, no net lists, no tournament-list beatdowns. Just a fun, fluffy, bring what you want game, with epic smack talk, and plenty of hot dice action.
Oh, and boneless chicken wings and waffle fries. Because it's all about The Chickening.
Briancj wrote: I just had one of the best games of Warhammer 40K of my life. IG versus Necrons. No spamming, no net lists, no tournament-list beatdowns. Just a fun, fluffy, bring what you want game, with epic smack talk, and plenty of hot dice action.
Oh, and boneless chicken wings and waffle fries. Because it's all about The Chickening.
So I just Finished all 80+ pages in a day and a half. I must say, phenomenal work on every thing. The Ordanatus, the conversions on everything, just wow. Love the IG stuff as well as all the terrain. Brian you are an inspiration. Keep up the good work.
1) Waiting for the Not-Imperial-Guard codex to come out has put the stop order on ALL of my modelling. I need this damn thing to come out, so I can see what I need to ditch and purge. I'm already pissed about the loss of artillery options, and other bs like chimeras going *UP* in cost.
Of course the chimera has gone up in price, they've sold enough of those and want people to see the taurox as being such a good value that they'll splurge and buy dozens of that thing.
Also, the whole making every squad that has a chance to do real damage to 5 guys with one special or heavy weapon, add another 5 guys to get another weapon, is so bland and blah! Glad I am not using the Taurox, but to use the Wyvern, I would have to use that new 49.50 codex with the silly name
I have been spending a goodly amount of time learning about digital fabrication. I am fortunate enough to be in a place where all the software, tools, and teach are available to me at a very low cost, or even free (like this loan).
The image of of a "Cupcake CNC", one of the first commercial kit 3d printers available. Compared to what's available now, it is very primitive, with a tiny printing bed. But, in theory, it still works.
I paid $10 MORE for this version of the Imperial Guard (feth you, IMPERIAL GUARD) codex.
I got over a dozen unit entries LESS.
I got LESS fluff.
I got LESS options.
Stormtroopers (again, don't even start) got LESS cool. Missions were cool.
Yes, it is nice to have a Tank Commander, sure it is amusing that you can take 6 Leman Russ as HQ, but is there a rule, like other codexii, to use "something that is not a troop" as troops? No.
Tauroxes suck. Don't even pretend.
NOT A SINGLE UNIT WITH INTERCEPTOR (Flyers don't count, they're flyers) IN THE ENTIRE GOD-DAMN CODEX.
---
The only thing I am happy for is that by taking such a nerf bat to the gonads, the last hangers-on will jump off of the IG bandwagon, leaving only the faithful.
Force organization chart thrown out of the window.
The last and more blatantly attempt to sell more big crappy miniatures (as even suggested in the the article itself!!!! O.O)
Goodbye Warhammer 40.000, it's been nice knowing you....
I don't even know :/
I get to play once or twice a year, give or take, so I dont have a very firm grasp on the game... But I cant help but feel an overwhelming dread for this... "thing".
I may not be comprehending it correctly, but the unbound army thing seems ridiculous... Absolutely stupid. "You know that one thing in your army that is really good but you only ever take one of? TAKE AN ARMY OF THEM NOW!"
New mission types and the Psychic phase sound like they'll be a bunch of chores, too...
As if the rules werent already half-busted :/
I dont have have a good feeling about this.
All I can say is that this is the worst time I could see something like this considering I decided to get back into the hobby after a long hiatus from actually gaming. Looks like I'll be trying to organize some old 5th edition tournaments locally.
To bring positive to the gakshow that is this announcement, but we finally have a way to settle the cheese eating hyper competitive neckbeards. OH you want to bring stupid stuff that doesn't belong here? Well you can go play Unbound. You want to adhere to the stuff in your codex? You come over here to battle-forged land.
I said it to a few choice friends, but it appears that 40k has become HeroClix... strange I was seeing trends with HeroClix that made me think of GW and 40k...
We all still have our 6th ed books and can carry on with what we have. Kinda bummed with the change but, guess I will be stuck in 6 for a long while unless a new starter box is offered and I get a load of new minis to go with a new tiny rule book. Do not despair our hobby will not die. We must just endure and adapt and simply gather our buddies to continue with our own chosen rule set.
The new Psychic phase sounds a great deal like Fantasy, which I actually like.
I totally concur on the "sell more giant, expensive models!" strategy, though... Unfortunate. The thing I have hated most about the games I have played recently is the spamming of Vendettas, or Wave Serpents, or Riptides, or whatever. Now it sounds like that will be even more of the norm, and a further departure from realistic warfare.
pantheralegionnaire wrote: The new Psychic phase sounds a great deal like Fantasy, which I actually like.
I totally concur on the "sell more giant, expensive models!" strategy, though... Unfortunate. The thing I have hated most about the games I have played recently is the spamming of Vendettas, or Wave Serpents, or Riptides, or whatever. Now it sounds like that will be even more of the norm, and a further departure from realistic warfare.
My issue with the WHFB-esque psychic phase is that Fantasy is currently ballsed up because magic has been reduced to "just throw as many dice as you can and hope for double sixes." Which frankly isn't fun to play against when your opponent's little level 1 wizard throws something that just eats a fifth of your army without being able to defend against it...
I think Alf's nailed it, actually. I was quite looking forward to a "rolling" ruleset; the psychic phase, whilst something I think is not necessarily a bad idea (heck, I play GKs), throws this out of the window. As for the Unbound thing, well, nobody plays Type I MTG, but it's out there for idiots with a fudge load of cash. It really depends what happens to allies and/or if FO charts are more restrictive, I suspect the tournament environment might actually become more competitive and less nerfy.
I have a copy of Adeptus Miliatarum on the way, if I do not liek the book, I may stick woth the 5th ed codex as my guys are supposed to be a bit rogue, and also way off int the Boonies, made more realistic sitting in a trailer park on a hill overlooking a "holler" in West friggin' Virginia, pretty view, barely decent gaming options here! IF I had a car of my own, I would have to commute to the store over in Princeton to game.
I am, actually, exceptionally pleased with the current state of 40K. We've come full circle, back to the 40K of my youth, and I'm giddy with excitement.
As for the Taurox, we have been given the equivalent of the US army's deuce-and-a-half. It is cheap, and will make a dandy conversion target for supply trucks, ambulances, objective points in scenarios, etc. etc.
And I don't have to USE the butt-ugly model, because there's plenty of 1:48th scale trucks out there in the world.
Until they provide a 9/9/9 vehicle template, I'm going with the cheap-ass Taurox for my Field Ambulance and Engineering supply trucks. I may even make a new field kitchen. YOU JUST DO NOT KNOW WHAT I AM CAPABLE OF.
Briancj wrote: Until they provide a 9/9/9 vehicle template, I'm going with the cheap-ass Taurox for my Field Ambulance and Engineering supply trucks. I may even make a new field kitchen. YOU JUST DO NOT KNOW WHAT I AM CAPABLE OF.
Go ahead then ! I'll gladly behold what you come up with !
I am rebuilding my old full Praetorian Army. This is a "Boots* On The Ground" army, without a single vehicle. I may allow Sentinels, as those are "Classic Praetorian", and I own, like, a dozen of the new ones.
Troops will be a mix of old GW Mordian/Praetorian, Col. Gravis' Colonial Empire, and Victoria Lamb's Victorian Guard.
The Army will be pure Imperial Guard, single source, utilizing a single detachment, built around a core of Rough Riders and Bullgryns. Someone gave me a VERY BAD IDEA for modeling themed Bullgryns, and I am going to run with it once I am finished with the Rough Riders.
I will continue with my Winter Army theme, and my original 'lost world' background, as to keep me from having to repaint a ton of vehicles.
This is also a tabletop army, so I am being less-than-perfect with mold lines and gaps on the horses. BECAUSE THEY SUCK, and I have so many miniatures to assemble and paint, I have to go with the three foot rule for everything.
Briancj wrote: His customer support is still A+++ in my book. Maybe he got killed by his Kickstarter, and had to 'hire' help who aren't as good.
I do all the work myself, so sorry if some of the quality is not up to expectation. However, I try to reflect the quality by pricing it fairly. Remember, the prices on ramshackle games models INCLUDE world wide shipping....
Anyway, great review. I really like the detailed comparisons. Very cool. Great photos too. ANy issues with miscasts or sub stamndard parts PLEASE contact me for replacements.
#O! 
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