So without wasting any time on explanations, here are two WIP terrain projects I've had kicking around for a few years...trying to get the motivation to finish them up.
Questions, comments and critiques are strongly encouraged
Brilliant firebase. My favourite gw card building. You are doing it justice. Will you give it a similar paint job to the original? I'm surprised gw haven't made that as a plastic building? The slight alterations seem to work well!
Is the firebase a scratchbuild or is it the original with added detail? Looks great either way and is the one piece of 2nd ed scenery that I always wanted but never managed to get hold of. Seen a few pop up on ebay recently so maybe...
Valhalla130 wrote: Wow. Awesome stuff. I'd like to know how you made those bulkheads with the crossbeams.
I did that too, just took my electric mitre saw to the solid Necro Bulkheads , it's a sacrifice, but DAMN, does it look good!
How did you make the top surfaces? Scribed panels? or did you glue down individual panels? It's flawless!
What did you use for the lower walls behind the entrance section? (or is that what people are asking about with the solid X?)
Fantastic job so far man! I can't wait to see more.
@Zwan1One - That's one thing I haven't decided yet. My buddy Tyson embellished his Firebase and went with gray and rusty orange...I like the original scheme better, but I have a feeling I will go with something else. I am totally open to suggestions here!
@SilverMK2 - Thanks man, I have a feeling that posting my progress here on Dakka will get me motivated to see these to completion.
@Ruglud - Its all plastic card (some of it textured of course), styrene tubing/rod, and Necro bulkheads. Sadly, I cut up the original card to trace the patterns and panels, etc. There is a bit of wire on that control box, and the vent on top of the maintenance tower is wire mesh.
@Valhalla130 - I indeed cut up the solid Necro bulkheads to assemble the crossbeam textured walls. I've never been any good with a Dremel tool, so I used clippers and hobby knife to cut and shape everything.
@Vitruvian XVII - Thanks!
@Bruticus - Yes, sacrificed those bulkheads....Thanks, I got my bachelors degree in architecture at Cal Poly, SLO. 5 years of constant model building tends to help hone those skills!
@Galorn - Thanks, I need some help deciding how to paint these...
@dsteingass - You were right to recognize those crossbeams from the bulkheads. The floor panel surfaces are individually cut, puzzeled together, and glued down to a solid styrene sheet base. The edges have a slight bevel on them to accentuate the pattern. The base was cut into as well, and I have yet to build the housings for the hydraulic pistons that raise and lower the (eventually hazard striped) blast panels. Most of the wall panels are 2 to 3 layers of styrene, with the outer layer cut to the original pattern printed on the card walls, etc. I hand beveled the edges with an Xacto knife, so they aren't all perfectly straight on close inspection. The rivets are sliced from styrene rod...in hindsight, I think I should have used a smaller diameter...they are pretty beefy rivets!
Thanks everybody, I will post more pics as I make more forward progress. It has always been my dream to wire this thing up and put LED lights on the landing pad, and maybe a flashing red one up on an aerial on the tower. We'll see how ambitious I get...maybe I can be coerced into finally going through with it. As of yet, I don't have any electrical experience!
my only criticism is that some of the walls or floors are a bit flat, some additional support struts around the walls or railings/sandbags around the top would make them look more substantial, as would supporting beams underneath the flooring.
As for painting, I'd probably not try and replicate the original colours. Dark grey, rust, paint chips and hazard stripes is my favourite combination.
I can't believe it, but I'm going to have to disagree on the painting part, I think the original rust-streaked aged concrete mixed with that lovely 'Munda Blue steel look is best.
..And your rivets are PERFECT! -They should always be proportionate to the size of the construction.
I'll have to mull over the paint scheme for a while. In the mean time...I have to add the structure pattern to the slanted side bunker face, diagonal supports on several places where walls meet supported floors, the access 'boxes' under the blast panels on the landing pad along with pipes, hoses, wires, and the hydraulic pistons, and countless more rivets!
That Imperial Bastion terrain kit was one I started to scratchbuild, in fact the door on the slanted face of the bunker on my Firebase was salvaged from that attempt. I think I abandoned it because I decided, in the end, that it really should be scaled up a bit. I almost wanted to give it a big gate that allowed for maybe a predator or chimera to drive through...like it was an armored checkpoint leading into an demilitarized zone. I will eventually revisit that project. But first, I am inspired to get my Necromunda terrain 3Dified for our upcoming campaign...
Bruticus wrote: my only criticism is that some of the walls or floors are a bit flat, some additional support struts around the walls or railings/sandbags around the top would make them look more substantial, as would supporting beams underneath the flooring.
I agree Bruticus, especially the walls on the walkway and the floor that juts out to the tower from the main base. I will indeed add some thickness to them.
Ok, we're 2 weeks into our Necromunda campaign and my Escher gang is doing fairly well for itself. I've ordered a couple of alternate models made by Reaper as stand ins for some gangers and juves. So far, it's just Ozymandias, myself, and our friend Stephen...but we hope to get a few more on board soon.
Here are a few photos of the setup we had last weekend...
Automatically Appended Next Post: here's my collection of scatter terrain so far...gotta start getting some paint on this stuff...
Automatically Appended Next Post: I've also put my Firebase on hold as I keep bringing it to game night, and it never makes it on tot the Necromunda board. I've decided to start making plastic card versions of the Necromunda card terrain and some of the old studio models from the 90's. This is nothing new for those who frequent the P&M blogs here on Dakka...I've been inspired by some of the veterans in here, dSteingass in particular. So I decided to start off on the same piece that he did in his blog. This is my take on it...
Automatically Appended Next Post: here is how far I got to after spending the afternoon riveting!
As an architect aren't you more tempted to design your own buildings? I've never really understood the desire to replicate exisiting designs, even if you can make them look a whole lot better by making them 3d. I suppose one big benefit is it will be compatible with the card stuff, but then if that is the goal you may as well just buy more of the card stuff. Why not make new buildings but using the same design elements? Your model building skills are ridiculously good, was just hoping to see some new designs on the way.
E: as you posted the same time as me, that new pic is just amazingly well done. Very precise work. I wish I could buy ready made sheets with that sort of scribing and riviting already done, that's exactly the sort of detail work I don't have the patience for.
That's great. How do you get the straight lines on there? I'm pretty sure I know how to do the rivets now, but those look like they were machined that way.
That is awesome excellent stuff Fango! Much more detailed than mine! The riveting is fantastic! I hadn't yet discovered the beauty of my Chop-it tool for slicing mass-quantities of rivets yet when I did mine.
I think you are on a fantastic path here! Please keep up the excellent work!
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Valhalla130 wrote: That's great. How do you get the straight lines on there? I'm pretty sure I know how to do the rivets now, but those look like they were machined that way.
I'm guessing he just used a straightedge and a scribing tool. If you can draw a straight line with a pencil, it's pretty easy to scribe it too. When I built mine, I didn't yet have my proper scribing tool, and when you just use a dental pick, it creates a piling on the edge of the groove. A proper scribing tool actually peels that ribbon of plastic out rather than just push it to the side (like a plowed field). Fango's scribes are very clean and they all seem to have the right concave shape.
Automatically Appended Next Post: @Bruticus- we recreate the card terrain for a lot of reasons. Mostly because the card terrain gets worn out, and we are nostalgic for the old designs. Recreating it in plastic allows you to have that terrain that you love for a long time. More importantly though, The process of transcribing all those shapes, lines, and rivets to plastic teaches you that patience that you claim not to have, not to mention it increases your scratch-building skills exponentially.
I understand that it teaches skills, although I think Fango here has the skills pretty much mastered and I think you would learn skills and patience whatever you made. And I get that it lasts longer in plastic. I guess I just don't understand the nostalgia side of things then. I've got nothing against people recreating original scenery - it looks amazing and they were always quite functional designs - I would just also like to see that architecture degree put to use designing something new!
Anyway, people should make whatever they like so just ignore me!
Your own work is amazing Bruticus! That gives you credibility and makes whatever you say impossible to ignore There is just something exploratory and satisfying about taking the original flat 2D graphic designs that we have all loved for 20+ years and layering them in plastic. Nothing is as cool for me as when someone thinks it is the card stuff at first glance, then they look closer and realize it's all built up and 3D. We're not just recreating, we're fully realizing what it was always supposed to look like. if anything, I'm just trying to pry open your mind a bit my friend
NIce work Fango. If you get the chance I have a couple of questions. What thickness plastic sheet are you using? How do you cut such clean lines on the plastic?
Bruticus wrote:As an architect aren't you more tempted to design your own buildings? I've never really understood the desire to replicate exisiting designs, even if you can make them look a whole lot better by making them 3d. I suppose one big benefit is it will be compatible with the card stuff, but then if that is the goal you may as well just buy more of the card stuff. Why not make new buildings but using the same design elements? Your model building skills are ridiculously good, was just hoping to see some new designs on the way.
E: as you posted the same time as me, that new pic is just amazingly well done. Very precise work. I wish I could buy ready made sheets with that sort of scribing and riviting already done, that's exactly the sort of detail work I don't have the patience for.
Thanks for the praise Bruticus, I've taken a look at your Plog and gallery and I must say that what you have is most impressive!
I did get my degree in architecture, but alas, I am not an architect. I work at a software company designing GUIs and button icons. I graduated about a year after the economic, and subsequent real estate market crash here in the States...Sadly, its a mostly thankless and underpaid profession (compared to Doctors and Lawyers who also need to be licensed to practice and can be sued for making mistakes) unless you are someone like Frank Ghery or Norman Foster (whom also took a lifetime to get where they are). I picked architecture to study because I've always loved to draw and build models, and had a knack for spacial awareness...but really my dream job would be working for, say, WETA workshop making hyper realistic 'bigatures' for science fiction and fantasy films.
To answer your question though, I couldn't have said it better than Dave did below. It IS mostly for nostalgia and to bring to realization the full potential of what the original designs were...sacrificing some modularity, storability (is that a word?), and game-play functionality (ie, no more all-flat surfaces), in exchange for texture, hyper detail, and sheer coolness factor (IMHO). Also, my card stock is showing its age from wear and tear...several card panels now have creases, and or have the back edge of the paper peeling off.
I would like to know what your painting techniques are for your entropic, rusty, paint peeled look...and where you get your (closely) scaled vehicles from.
Ozymandias wrote:Looking good! Keep at it!
It'll make my victory over your Escher that much more pretty!
Thanks Chris, I look forward to our game this Thursday...hopefully we can play on this piece!
Valhalla130 wrote:That's great. How do you get the straight lines on there? I'm pretty sure I know how to do the rivets now, but those look like they were machined that way.
Thanks Valhalla, the straight lines just require patience is all...the trick is to make several controlled slices (like scoring) but cut all the way through...also, realize that when you are cutting you are basically displacing that plastic by driving a sharp wedge into it. So if your knife is straight up and down, you will get edges that look like this: \ / But if you hold the knife at a slight angle away from the edge you want straight, you can get an edge profile more like this: | /
In addition, I use a handy tool called an L-square (and also a triangle square) to keep my cuts straight. If you have a bunch of cuts that you want to line up, make sure you do them all before moving your straight-edge tool.
dsteingass wrote:That is awesome excellent stuff Fango! Much more detailed than mine! The riveting is fantastic! I hadn't yet discovered the beauty of my Chop-it tool for slicing mass-quantities of rivets yet when I did mine.
I think you are on a fantastic path here! Please keep up the excellent work!
Thanks Dave, I am just slicing it off the end of a rod by rocking my Xacto up and down. The cut bits are rarely precisely the same size, or at the same angle...but being so small, its hard to tell the difference.
dsteingass wrote:I'm guessing he just used a straightedge and a scribing tool. If you can draw a straight line with a pencil, it's pretty easy to scribe it too. When I built mine, I didn't yet have my proper scribing tool, and when you just use a dental pick, it creates a piling on the edge of the groove. A proper scribing tool actually peels that ribbon of plastic out rather than just push it to the side (like a plowed field). Fango's scribes are very clean and they all seem to have the right concave shape.
Actually, I used the back edge of my Xacto, it does leave that little ribbon edge, which I carefully run the tip of my blade down nearly perpendicular to the scribe line. I'm sure there is a better way, or a better tool, that's just how I improvised...The landing pad near the top of this thread I actually cut out all the panels and sanded the edges...but that was way too much work.
Bruticus wrote:I understand that it teaches skills, although I think Fango here has the skills pretty much mastered and I think you would learn skills and patience whatever you made. And I get that it lasts longer in plastic. I guess I just don't understand the nostalgia side of things then. I've got nothing against people recreating original scenery - it looks amazing and they were always quite functional designs - I would just also like to see that architecture degree put to use designing something new!
Anyway, people should make whatever they like so just ignore me!
Actually, it hadn't even occurred to me to make anything completely original before completing all of the card terrain pieces. Tell you what, my very next piece will be an original one done in the same design language as the rest of the Studio Necromunda terrain. Can you help me with an idea? I've only just started playing Necromunda for the first time in about 17 years...With your experience, what kind of a structure do you think would compliment the rest of the terrain set in a way that offers unique line of sight and cover situations, would be fun to play on and looks super cool?
dsteingass wrote:Your own work is amazing Bruticus! That gives you credibility and makes whatever you say impossible to ignore There is just something exploratory and satisfying about taking the original flat 2D graphic designs that we have all loved for 20+ years and layering them in plastic. Nothing is as cool for me as when someone thinks it is the card stuff at first glance, then they look closer and realize it's all built up and 3D. We're not just recreating, we're fully realizing what it was always supposed to look like. if anything, I'm just trying to pry open your mind a bit my friend
I wholeheartedly agree with Dave here Bruticus, your input is extremely valuable!
whill4 wrote:NIce work Fango. If you get the chance I have a couple of questions. What thickness plastic sheet are you using? How do you cut such clean lines on the plastic?
Thanks Whill, I'm using what I had on hand which happens to be .03" high impact styrene. When I buy in bulk, I think I will go for .04" for just a little more rigidity. Scribe and snap will give you the straightest lines on an actual cut. See my comments above for some tips and tricks! Also, check out dsteingass' project blog here on Dakka for some really good modeling tips.
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Made a little more progress on this piece tonight. I need to finish up the raised areas around the perimeter, then add a few more rivets. Then its on to the bulkheads that this thing sits on top of. I hope to have the construction done by Wednesday night.
I did get my degree in architecture, but alas, I am not an architect. I work at a software company designing GUIs and button icons. I graduated about a year after the economic, and subsequent real estate market crash here in the States...Sadly, its a mostly thankless and underpaid profession (compared to Doctors and Lawyers who also need to be licensed to practice and can be sued for making mistakes) unless you are someone like Frank Ghery or Norman Foster (whom also took a lifetime to get where they are). I picked architecture to study because I've always loved to draw and build models, and had a knack for spacial awareness...but really my dream job would be working for, say, WETA workshop making hyper realistic 'bigatures' for science fiction and fantasy films.
I know a few people in similar situations and have seen their awesome architecture models at various displays - there is so much crossover between making architecture models and making necromunda scenery, half of these degree project models I just wanted to add a few skulls to and cover in rust, would be great scenery! That's what I was getting at really, it would be cool for someone to come along with that sort of skill-set and build something really interesting for necromunda, something beyond a random industrial building or random platforms with no obvious function. Maybe a ruined arbite precinct, noble housing, giant hab block...
I would like to know what your painting techniques are for your entropic, rusty, paint peeled look...and where you get your (closely) scaled vehicles from.
I've tried a few different ways for doing rust - and I don't claim to know the best way - but a good compromise between ease of use and a good result is: basecoat boltgun metal, wash with black ink or soot pigment, wash with dark (old) rust pigment, seal with pigment fixer, dab on bright (new) rust pigment (to keep the last layer of rust looking new, don't seal or varnish it, and apply it dry). I use Mig pigments. For areas of high corrosion add a texture first, my favourite way is to use a spray paint called Rust-oleum Aged Iron, but sand or anything would work too. For old paint try the crackle paints from Tim Holtz. A torn bit of sponge dabbing on dark grey for paint chips on bright colours works well, or bright metal for chips where appropriate.
Vehicles - Ramshackle (cheap), Antenocitis Workshop (expensive but awesome) and the toy cars (which are a bit small) are... I can't recall the brand, 1:43 I think.
With your experience, what kind of a structure do you think would compliment the rest of the terrain set in a way that offers unique line of sight and cover situations, would be fun to play on and looks super cool?
I'm not an expert or anything, but there are a few bits of terrain that work really well in games. Simple, multilevel platform towers that can act as hubs to connect walkways too are probably the best bit as they allow so much variation. Creating long corridors is also great, if you can make solid walled buildings that can be placed next to each other you get corridors that protect your dudes from snipers. The stock cardboard scenery is way too open, generally speaking you should be able to always be in partial cover and rarely in full cover on more than 2-3 sides. Once you get enough cover, games become much less of a shooting competition. Careful of making high up hard cover firing positions, especially if lots of people can deploy in them, you want to encourage people moving not camping. Ramps are not used enough despite giving +1 combat to the higher up person, which is quite a big deal. My favourite things are things that break up the flat surface of the board, elevation changes etc - 2 inches high works well for these so they can be climbed but still hidden behind. I think a really long, wide bridge would work great, basically giving a whole extra board level to play along and able to connect with walkways to other high points, my overpass sections are cool but maybe a bit small. Walkways are essential and should always have cover/railings otherwise no-one will use them as it is too dangerous. I like it when you can do a whole lap of the board without walking on the surface.
Bit long winded sorry!
These new bits are really great, if you could figure out a way to sell similar things to them that would be amazing.
What are your feelings on walkways...I have some great ideas for functional-looking walkways from RL industrial buildings, but to make them look right, they almost need to be permanently attached to the building. I know separate walkways give you more flexibility, but what about a mix of the two types?
Automatically Appended Next Post: This is why I love Dakka..When I built mine, I was one of the first that I know of, then you come along, get inspired by my attempt, and then go and raise the bar! That little extra vent is so small, yet so completely perfect for that piece! You work with angles and bevels on Plasticard in ways I have never even imagined possible. Is the raised L-shaped lip on the left solid or hollow? I can't tell.
Automatically Appended Next Post: @Bruticus- You'd be surprised how enjoyable it can be to duplicate something from a photograph or drawing, or video game in detail. A year ago this time, I'd never heard of the Fallout game series, today I am the only producer of 28mm Nuka Cola machines in the world
Dsteingass, I demand you recreate a walkway out of those pipes!!!
Well, not so much demand as think it would be really neat.
I can just imagine a ganger sneaking along those precarious pipes, water condensation making them slippery, as he angles for a better vantage point to fire into the opposing gang.
Wait a minute... I got lost in the threads! You're all posting in each others blogs!!! Whoever!, I demand/request/think it's really cool, to have a walkway made out of those pipes.
@ Bruticus - Thanks for the responses, I will definitely be trying some of your tips out. And thanks for the links, I knew about Antenocitis Workshop, but hadn't heard of Ramshackle, now I recognize some of their models.
bruticus wrote:These new bits are really great, if you could figure out a way to sell similar things to them that would be amazing.
Thanks, I have plans to eventually get some resin casting equipment (vacuum pump, pressure pot, etc), and would like to start selling custom made terrain bits and models (obviously not ones based on GWs designs)
dsteingass wrote:What are your feelings on walkways...I have some great ideas for functional-looking walkways from RL industrial buildings, but to make them look right, they almost need to be permanently attached to the building. I know separate walkways give you more flexibility, but what about a mix of the two types?
I havent yet decided how to tackle walkways, they need to look substantial enough in structure to hold up the people and gear...but that structure raises it off the buildings platforms, and then there is the connection problem....I have considered using magnets to make them flush AND modular, but then they are restricted to being perpendicular to the edge...I'd love to hear some of your great ideas on this.
dsteingass wrote:
This is why I love Dakka..When I built mine, I was one of the first that I know of, then you come along, get inspired by my attempt, and then go and raise the bar! That little extra vent is so small, yet so completely perfect for that piece! You work with angles and bevels on Plasticard in ways I have never even imagined possible. Is the raised L-shaped lip on the left solid or hollow? I can't tell.
Thanks for the kind words, yes, your project blog (and many others here on Dakka) have very much inspired me! The raised bits on the edge are indeed hollow, as can be seen here...
dsteingass wrote:@Bruticus- You'd be surprised how enjoyable it can be to duplicate something from a photograph or drawing, or video game in detail. A year ago this time, I'd never heard of the Fallout game series, today I am the only producer of 28mm Nuka Cola machines in the world
Indeed! I am seriously considering making some terrain based on Borderlands 2...including the guns/ammo/med vending machines.
Valhalla130 wrote:Dsteingass, I demand you recreate a walkway out of those pipes.
Well, not so much demand as think it would be really neat.
I can just imagine a ganger sneaking along those precarious pipes, water condensation making them slippery, as he angles for a better vantage point to fire into the opposing gang.
Wait a minute... I got lost in the threads! You're all posting in each others blogs!!! Whoever!, I demand/request/think it's really cool, to have a walkway made out of those pipes.
My next project will be a custom piece, and it shall include pipes not unlike the ones in that photo.
sennacherib wrote:Dude.
Looking great. I know that with your attention to detail this project is going to be awesome when you are finished with it dude.
Thanks for stopping by man! Your Death Guard are looking wicked disgusting (In a really good way)!
What about putting a semi circle on the end of the walkways? You could mount a magnet in the middle, and that would enable almost 180 degree rotation of the walkway (assuming you dont mind having the walkway jutting out onto the building a bit)
Did they forget how to make railings in the 40th millenium? I mean seriously, you can't go to an industrial site nowadays without seeing railings around everything. I guess OSHA didn't make it into the Imperium's beauracracy.
I would say you don't need to bother with magnets for walkways, it limits where you can attach them too much - even just looking at the firebase there are dozens of places where you might want to place a walkway.
Railings are a really good idea in Necromunda, falling from a walkway is far too dangerous. We house rule that a solid barrier prevents needed to check for falling on walkways, otherwise it is simply too risky to ever go above ground level!
Bruticus wrote: I would say you don't need to bother with magnets for walkways, it limits where you can attach them too much - even just looking at the firebase there are dozens of places where you might want to place a walkway.
I dont know, i reckon it could be really cool.
If you put magnetic or metal strips around all the platforms on buildings, and just had magnets on the walkways that would give you a lot of interchangeability. Would be a lot of effort though.
Vitruvian XVII wrote:What about putting a semi circle on the end of the walkways? You could mount a magnet in the middle, and that would enable almost 180 degree rotation of the walkway (assuming you dont mind having the walkway jutting out onto the building a bit)
I think you might be on to something with the semi-circular walkway ends...might try this out.
Sheep wrote:This is some truly bespoke terrain. The old designs are classics and bring a nostalgic tear to the eye of all veterans.
I can't wait to see them with paint.
Thanks Sheep! I'm afraid I will ruin it when I go to paint it! Still haven't decided on the original colors or something more natural.
Vitruvian XVII wrote:I drew a quick shcematic up on paint so my idea was easier to understand:
Cool idea! I may have to try something like this...maybe not on a pivot point as Bruticus points out the how limiting it would be, but perhaps without the magnet, or just have the magnet on the walkway and a metal strip on the underside of the floor.
Valhalla130 wrote:Did they forget how to make railings in the 40th millenium? I mean seriously, you can't go to an industrial site nowadays without seeing railings around everything. I guess OSHA didn't make it into the Imperium's beauracracy.
Bruticus wrote:I would say you don't need to bother with magnets for walkways, it limits where you can attach them too much - even just looking at the firebase there are dozens of places where you might want to place a walkway.
Railings are a really good idea in Necromunda, falling from a walkway is far too dangerous. We house rule that a solid barrier prevents needed to check for falling on walkways, otherwise it is simply too risky to ever go above ground level!
Valhalla130 wrote:Still, how many movie villains fall over railings into vats of chemicals to their DOOOOOOOOOOM?
Say... an industrial space with catwalks and vats of bubbling, frothing, multi-colored chemicals in them would look awesome.
Vitruvian XVII wrote:I dont know, i reckon it could be really cool.
If you put magnetic or metal strips around all the platforms on buildings, and just had magnets on the walkways that would give you a lot of interchangeability. Would be a lot of effort though.
dsteingass wrote:In the grim darkness of the 41st Millenium, there are no safety railings, there are only hazard stripes
Valhalla130 wrote:In the grim darkness of the 41st Millenium, there is falling to your DOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!
Valhalla130 wrote:Those are holy rivets. Blessed by the Emperor and the Machine God.
You guys are awesome I do like the idea for house rule for railings/barriers. I will have to run that by Ozymandias. So far, I've had several members of my gang suffer heinous wounds from falling off terrain. They are pretty much guaranteed to go out of action if they fall more than like 2 inches.
Some chemical vats or waste sumps to fall into are definitely on my to do list!
I had a fluffy idea awhile back. One forgotten Servitor, a Hazard stripe-painting servitor.. still functioning after Millennia down in a sealed off dome, every day he goes on his rounds, repainting all the stripes
Valhalla130 wrote:The problem of course, with chemical vats, is that the one guy falls in there and becomes the Joker and has to be repainted.
Holy Repetitive Rivets Batman!
"64 - HORRIBLE SCARS
The fighter recovers from his injuries but is left horribly disfigured. His scarred and distorted features inspire fear as described in the Advanced Rules section of the rulebook."
If I roll this as a serious injury, I am totally painting a joker face on that ganger!
dsteingass wrote:I had a fluffy idea awhile back. One forgotten Servitor, a Hazard stripe-painting servitor.. still functioning after Millennia down in a sealed off dome, every day he goes on his rounds, repainting all the stripes
I do like the idea for house rule for railings/barriers. I will have to run that by Ozymandias. So far, I've had several members of my gang suffer heinous wounds from falling off terrain. They are pretty much guaranteed to go out of action if they fall more than like 2 inches.
There was an official rule for a bit of terrain called an Armoured Bridge that said 'In addition, a fighter never needs to test for falling no matter where they are on the armoured bridge as there is always a railing, armour, cover, etc. for him to hold onto or dive behind.' - it seemed to me that this would really apply to any walkway with sufficient barriers to prevent falling. A simple railing might just let you re-roll your initiative test as you try to grab it, but a full wall or barrier should prevent falling. Necromunda already heavily favours shooting and walkways will just not be used when all it takes is a sniper forcing falling tests on everyone. Without a lot of scenery there are already very few reasons to use walkways - you are generally better off going along the ground, and then racing up a ladder to trap anyone on higher ground where they can't run away. Making walkways useful was pretty much my number one priority when making scenery. I mainly played close combat gangs!
The problem of course, with chemical vats, is that the one guy falls in there and becomes the Joker and has to be repainted.
There is a territory called Chemical Pit, if you roll snake eyes while working it, you fall in and get disfigured and then cause fear from then on. In my goliath gang I had several people fall in, at first I tried to model them but by the end of the campaign I had like 5 so gave up. Dunno if you can see in my gallery but one Goliath has a burned face while another wears a mask to hide his scars.
I had a fluffy idea awhile back. One forgotten Servitor, a Hazard stripe-painting servitor.. still functioning after Millennia down in a sealed off dome, every day he goes on his rounds, repainting all the stripes
I'm sure there is a WALL-E pun here somewhere.
Automatically Appended Next Post: oh by the way, that building looks great. That sort of thing but stackable would work well, with enough of a lip around the edge to connect walkways and the versatility to be placed anywhere, like on the firebase platform.
He must have had a huge stockpile of paint. But then again, what with typical Imperial beauracratic efficiency, they probably diverted a whole shipload of paint to that planet. That's why everyone died out but the servitor. They were meant to get food. Other colonists die out, servitor is left with a virtually unlimited supply of paint.
Bruticus wrote:
There was an official rule for a bit of terrain called an Armoured Bridge that said 'In addition, a fighter never needs to test for falling no matter where they are on the armoured bridge as there is always a railing, armour, cover, etc. for him to hold onto or dive behind.' - it seemed to me that this would really apply to any walkway with sufficient barriers to prevent falling. A simple railing might just let you re-roll your initiative test as you try to grab it, but a full wall or barrier should prevent falling. Necromunda already heavily favours shooting and walkways will just not be used when all it takes is a sniper forcing falling tests on everyone. Without a lot of scenery there are already very few reasons to use walkways - you are generally better off going along the ground, and then racing up a ladder to trap anyone on higher ground where they can't run away. Making walkways useful was pretty much my number one priority when making scenery. I mainly played close combat gangs!
I like the re-roll idea for railings too, I love the look of them on the terrain. I think I remember the armored bridge rule from Outlanders...the rust brown walkway with the fold up edges. That expansion had all the barriers too, I think they realized how dangerous those walkways were without cover, etc. after publishing the main game...
There is a territory called Chemical Pit, if you roll snake eyes while working it, you fall in and get disfigured and then cause fear from then on. In my goliath gang I had several people fall in, at first I tried to model them but by the end of the campaign I had like 5 so gave up. Dunno if you can see in my gallery but one Goliath has a burned face while another wears a mask to hide his scars.
I didnt roll that one up this time, but I do have a settlement which has given me a free Juve 3 game turns in a row! On top of that, my Ratling scout has found me a new territory 3 turns in a row as well! I think my luck will likely run out this next round and he'll run off, never to be heard from again!
I'm sure there is a WALL-E pun here somewhere.
Classic! I might just have to do that as an easter egg to one of my pieces...
oh by the way, that building looks great. That sort of thing but stackable would work well, with enough of a lip around the edge to connect walkways and the versatility to be placed anywhere, like on the firebase platform.
Thanks! I think I will make a few more like this then, with slight variation in structure and detail.
Valhalla130 wrote:He must have had a huge stockpile of paint. But then again, what with typical Imperial beauracratic efficiency, they probably diverted a whole shipload of paint to that planet. That's why everyone died out but the servitor. They were meant to get food. Other colonists die out, servitor is left with a virtually unlimited supply of paint.
And I way overthought that.
Nah, excellent imagination! (And totally something the bloated bureaucracy of the Imperium would end up doing!)
dsteingass wrote:I'm pretty sure, from my opponents, that Redemptionists, with flamers, rolling up vents and tunnels is nigh unstoppable
sounds nasty, I rolled up Vents...might have to get myself a heavy with a flamer...
YELLOWBLADES wrote:Very cool!
Thanks Blades!
Here are a few more progress pics...
I think the drybrushing looks horrible. I really need to get the airbrush out and lay down a base coat other than black, then dry brush and rust/weather from there....any advice would be MOST welcome!
I have to paint the top before sandwiching it and bottom together and skinning the sides with plastic card...otherwise I'll get paint all over the pipes...so I'm sorta stuck until I figure out a finish for this thing!
If you have an airbrush, definitely don't drybrush those flat panels, use the airbrush to apply a gradient and give it a wash, use some pigments and you will be set. Drybrushing looks really messy on flat surfaces, really only works to bring out the detail on highly textured areas like gravel or concrete.
Another alternative is to use the salt weathering method - basecoat brown/rust with the airbrush, spray with weak hairspray (sometimes using water works too), sprinkle some salt on where you want rust, airbrush a base colour over the top (say grey) and when dry, dissolve/scrape off the salt with a wet, stiff brush. This method works great for large plain areas as it will add a lot of visual interest.
Thanks for the advice Bruticus. I have an 18 month old girl that has free reign of the kitchen where my desk is (so all hobby related stuff gets put up and away between sessions) and she loves to get into everything! If she can reach it, its getting played with and likely taken somewhere else. Her new favorite thing to do is climb up on my chair when I get up (even just to clean my water cup)...and then she can reach twice as much! AND our garage has no sink for cleaning my airbrush....so it doesn't get used very often (Or at all yet, got it for my birthday in October). It just becomes a hassle, I've been thinking about bringing it up and using it out on the balcony/patio outside out kitchen sliding glass door...but this would have to be done when the little rascal is napping or its just not practical. One day we'll have a house where I can set up my work station in a garage with a sink, etc. Maybe I can work something out with my wife this weekend to get some time alone to bust out the airbrush!
I want to use it for more than just basecoating. Although, so far, the idea of basecoating my Imperial Fists with it has been wondrous. I still need to do that.
Valhalla130 wrote: Maybe it's the pics, but I think it looks pretty good. It looks like it may have been blue at one point, but has gotten very grimy since.
Thanks for the kind words Val, I think I'm going to try the salt weathering thing...for this type of terrain, it seems apropos.
Valhalla130 wrote: And what do you mean by "lay a gradient" with the airbrush?
yeah I find my airbrush a lot of hassle, it doesn't really mesh with my way of working which is more spontaneous/messy. If you plan out what colours you will be using you can probably get away with next to no cleaning though - for example: spray dark brown rust across 3 bits of scenery, add a bit of orange to the mix and spray some bits for tonal variation in the rust, run some water or windsceen cleaner through the brush as a quick rinse, apply hairspray/salt, spray dark grey over everything, add some white to the mix, spray light grey over from above or in the center of panels to create a colour gradient/bit of tonal variation. Then clean properly.
Just like the gradient you have from blue to black on your scenery, but airbrushes can do this more smoothly.
Didn't work on the piece last night as Thursday is our game night. I ended up facing Ozymandias again and ended up overwhelming him with numbers...He had only 9 guys (even with the hired ratskin) to my 13. So that, coupled with his inability to roll a wound on just about any one he hit pretty much sealed the deal. One of the ladies he did take out ended up getting captured, so on top of the 6 bonus points all his guys got simply for stepping on the battlefield with me, he made out with a nice chunk of cash in exchange for the prisoner.
Depending on whether or not its raining this weekend, I'm going to try to break out the airbrush and see if I cant get this thing finished. I still have a little more riveting to do yet. and a few details to add to one of the walls. Hopefully I will be on to my next project by Sunday.
Yeah, I wanted something suitably gross. Plus, I plan to make a nasty sewage sump terrain piece to throw in the middle of our board for most games.
Automatically Appended Next Post: The GW studio campaign in the 90s called their main settlement area 'Glory Hole'...I don't think that name is suitable any longer...
Yeah, I forgot mention you wrote that excellent fluff piece I put in the newsletter
Since there isnt enought room for all that great descriptive writing in every newsletter, we should compile it all somewhere...maybe post it in its entirety up in this blog. Can't wait to see some of Manson's Raiders...er, Cult of Personality all painted up!
To be completely honest, the only substantial investment in Necromunda is time and materials for terrain (Which can be used in 40k games as well!), and allot of guys on here just recycle old children's toys, cereal box card, and other forms of consumer goods packaging. For a gang you need like 8 models...and a few more to add on as you gang grows. Mine is at 13 now (including a hired Ratskin Scout), and I feel like thats as large as it needs to get before becoming too unwieldy and expensive (in game credits-wise) to run.
If you have a guard army, then you likely already have a few models you can use/convert to gangers. If I hadnt bought these Escher models 18 some odd years ago, I likely would have converted models myself...in fact I have 3 or 4 reaper models on their way from TheWarstore as I type this (meaning, you dont need the official models).
Ozymandias converted all of his Cawdor gangers out of Chaos Cultists from the Dark Vengeance box set.
Edit: Oh, and the rules are a free download on the GW website.
Fango wrote: Yeah, I forgot mention you wrote that excellent fluff piece I put in the newsletter
Since there isnt enought room for all that great descriptive writing in every newsletter, we should compile it all somewhere...maybe post it in its entirety up in this blog. Can't wait to see some of Manson's Raiders...er, Cult of Personality all painted up!
There's been some excellent threads about rebuilding the old GW cardboard terrains, and this one is of the same quality!
Your firebase makes me jealous!
Wait-up though - you have a Cawdor gang and the leader is Manson? Snap... My Cawdor gang is led by Manson - used to be Koresh but he got killed in the first ever Necromunda game I played and Manson took over as the Alpha male...
Ruglud wrote: The gingerbread firebase is inspired...
Wait-up though - you have a Cawdor gang and the leader is Manson? Snap... My Cawdor gang is led by Manson - used to be Koresh but he got killed in the first ever Necromunda game I played and Manson took over as the Alpha male...
Yeah, I also have a jones, moon, etc. All my gang members are named after cult leaders. When Manson was captured, I was 'this' close to starting a new gang, led by Koresh...
Yeah, I also have a jones, moon, etc. All my gang members are named after cult leaders. When Manson was captured, I was 'this' close to starting a new gang, led by Koresh...
Yep, that's pretty much what I did with names, although mainly mass murderers:
Thanks for all the comments guys, hope you enjoyed my 'gingerbread' firebase interlude...
Here is another progress update on my Necromunda terrain scratch build...
On Sunday I airbrushed the gray over the bad drybrush i did a few days ago. Then I took Bruticus' advice and looked up a rust painting tutorial here on Dakka...and just sorta went at it. I still have more details to do, but mainly I wanted to get the bit around the pipes done so that I could sandwich the top and base together and start skinning the sides with plastic card.
Maybe the gangers need to be a little careful on those grates. Those look like they could collapse under too much weight! Great rust on those. I'll have to bookmark that link.
That's great! Now just use the airbrush to fill in around the rust/scrapes. I never need a sink to clean my airbrush. Just a trash can, windex, and paper towels.
Nice rust, it looks really good and is a HUGE improvement over the previous paint job (and the original cardboard colour scheme). I am not 100% sure about the black-lined silver parts because it seems to me like those bits - where the paint has chipped off revealing the bare metal - would be the most rusted and I am not sure how it would come about that there would be bare, clean metal on some parts while everywhere else is rusted. I also think that pigments are the way to go with rust just for ease of use and the slight texture apart from anything. Oh and do some hazard stripes, not Necromunda without them!
Edit: Oh, and the rules are a free download on the GW website.
It's much better to use the Community Edition rules, they can be found on Yakromunda (the best Necromunda resource, try their gang roster system if you haven't already, such a time saver).
@Ruglud - Thanks man, I just cut a piece of a dish sponge and followed the tutorial in my link above.
@Mephistoles - Thanks, I do want it to look good. I'm hoping to eventually have a whole set of terrain built and painted to this standard.
@Valhalla - Yeah, I might have gone too far in the rust and decay! Still, I'm surprised at how easy it was to make it look decent just by following that 'tute.'
@dsteingass - Thanks Dave! Although I'm not sure what you mean by fill in around the rust... I read somewhere that windex can do bad things to the finish on some of the interior parts to an airbrush...maybe I'm just being paranoid. I have an old Iwata HP-B (not the 'Plus') and I think it needs a new needle/fluid nozzle...but I think they changed the thread on the fluid nozzle for the HP-B plus...and no longer carry parts for the older model. Anyone in the know have any info on this?
@Bruticus - thanks for the comments and crits. I'll try to tone down the exposed metal bits, or go back over them with some pigment powders...and we will definitely be seeing some hazard stripes soon. And thanks for the link to Yakromunda, no affiliation with Yakface at all?
This is great stuff Reminding me of our great Necromunda campaign back in school. Necromunda is still one of my favorite settings, but I doubt I can find someone to play with atm.
You're reading posts by lunatics afraid of their tool. It's designed to handle enamels and stinky petroleum-based solvents, there is no scientific chemical reason why ammonia would harm chrome-plated nickel. It's hokum. seals and O-rings wear out on all airbrushes. I use Badger because they always stand by their products, and are close to me in Chicago, ILL. I'm familiar with Badger, and one model of Paasche, the ancient VL. I'm afraid I've only ever touched an Iwata in the store. I'll find a picture of what I mean by filling in, stand by
Ozymandias wrote:Looking great! Any more detail work on the sides?
Yes, made some progress this morning actually, pic coming shortly...progress overall has been slow this week, just haven't had the 'me' time that I would have liked.
TaWaaagh wrote:This is great stuff Reminding me of our great Necromunda campaign back in school. Necromunda is still one of my favorite settings, but I doubt I can find someone to play with atm.
That's the tough part...though, because of the low model count, and the fast game times its easier to convince someone to try it out with you...vs starting another army-sized miniatures game. Sometimes all it takes is people watching other people playing a game to get them interested...
Ozymandias wrote:Yeah, right now our campaign is just three people, but we are slowly growing interest and hope to have 2-3 more players in the net few weeks.
Talked to Matt today, he said he's totally down, maybe next week Thursday?
dsteingass wrote:You're reading posts by lunatics afraid of their tool. It's designed to handle enamels and stinky petroleum-based solvents, there is no scientific chemical reason why ammonia would harm chrome-plated nickel. It's hokum. seals and O-rings wear out on all airbrushes. I use Badger because they always stand by their products, and are close to me in Chicago, ILL. I'm familiar with Badger, and one model of Paasche, the ancient VL. I'm afraid I've only ever touched an Iwata in the store. I'll find a picture of what I mean by filling in, stand by
I will definitely be running some Windex through it then...Standing by...
Automatically Appended Next Post: Here's a quick update pic...added some more details to one of the sides...just need some more rivets, and I can get this thing finished and painted.
Looks good. I am not sure what yakface is but Yakromunda is probably the best forum for Necromunda, not least because it has all the rules collected and it has the utterly essential online gang management tool, can't live without it now. Here's my Van Saars by way of example
@fango - what the hell man your terrain making skills are off the chart, i have never played necromunda before but i used to play dark heresy with models n it seem kinda the same might have to start playing it.
kencotter wrote: @fango - what the hell man your terrain making skills are off the chart, i have never played necromunda before but i used to play dark heresy with models n it seem kinda the same might have to start playing it.
and make me some skaven terrain lol
Thanks for the kudos Ken, definitely try it out if you get the chance!
I will likely get to some Skaven terrain eventually, that is my main Warhammer Fantasy army.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Here are a couple more progress pics of my current piece...I am officially way past due on this one...fortunately, just paint left....Rivets are done! Oh, and I put the wire harness up top too. Wires are from a Cat 5 cable...
Sweetness in a box! That looks great! The wires, the plasticared in multi levels and the recessed pipes, this thing really has depth to it that so much terrain lacks.
SilverMK2 wrote:The rust effect really makes that pop. I love all the little details you have as well in the 3D design of the structures.
Thanks Silver, now I just need to weather the rest of the base (and the wires)
Mephistoles1 wrote:Sweetness in a box! That looks great! The wires, the plasticared in multi levels and the recessed pipes, this thing really has depth to it that so much terrain lacks.
I'm glad you like it, I've got some more projects in the works...
MauS wrote:I think with all that rust the wires would be weathered too. Looking good so far.
Definitely. Haven't got as far as that yet. I hit the top with some testors dullcoat, so weathering washes, etc will stick to the wires etc.
Galorn wrote:That looks awesome dude! Makes me want to try and start up a necro league now...
You totally should. It's a blast and a half. Check out Yakromunda.com for a thriving Necromunda community and a great web-based gang management system.
I've even a way for a couple of weeks, but I haven't been completely idle. We saw the Hobbit, and my 8 yr old son got the Escape From Goblin Town box for Xmas. He and i have been prepping the goblins and terrain (pics below).
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Automatically Appended Next Post: The last pic shows 3 different test washes, left one is Gryphone Sepia, middle one is Devlin Mud and Baal Red, fought one is Baal Red on its own. What does everyone think? We also went and grabbed all the paints used to paint the goblins in the GW iPad painting guide for Escape from Goblin Town...we are going to try painting one up using the guide next to see if it's worth the time VS a wash and highlight.
I will make sure to post a progress pic when We get to the poo bucket(s)
Automatically Appended Next Post: It's not much, but here's an update to my Necromunda terrain piece after a black primer coat and airbrushing the base gray.
Looking great, can't wait to see it in action on Thursday.
For the goblins, a mix of both the sepia and devlan mud washes (i.e. some washed with sepia, some mud) would provide a nice mix amongst the goblin units.
You should check out AncientSociety's venerable blog that has just resurfaced from the depths of the forum, he has a tutorial on making these ramshackle barriers out of bits of sprue. Plus it is a cool blog.
I also got the ipad app, believe it or not, with all my paints, I am STILL 17 colors short of what I need! LOL Did you notice the app speaks nothing of black primer vs. white primer, but it's obvious they used black for Thorin's company and white for the goblins.
@Bruticus - Thanks for the hint, I looked it up and commented in his thread....oh, and I'm entering the new Scenery Contest
@Dave - I did notice that...not overly impressed with it considering the $25 price tag! Also, thats an impressive array of colors you have, as I have a hunch they managed to sneak just about every color pot in their paint range into that painting guide...had to buy 7 colors for the goblins alone!
Do I rate a membership in the League yet? or do I need a few thousand more rivets logged in my p&m blog first
On another note, with the impending release of the Dark Angels this weekend...my nostalgic sensibilities got me to dig out my Dark Angels collection and rummage through it (and also pre-order the codex along with a few of the new plastic kits). Now, before you cry "Booo! stick to one project already you nincompoop!" please remember that I have 1. Severe gamer ADD (actually have taken medication for Adult Attention Deficit Disorder) and 2. Started my Warhammer 40k obsession way back in 1990 with the purchase of 'Deathwing' (The first expansion to the first edition of Space Hulk)...the fluff and artwork in those rulebooks got me hooked and I started collecting my first 40K army then and there. (Dark Angels for those who cant see where I am going with this).
Do I have to justify my scattered and non-committal behavior here in my project blog?....no. Do I feel the need to anyway?...sadly, yes :(
Aaaaand on to a progress pic of some scouts I started messing with. I'm going for the original 'Native American' theme for my army and have been giving these metal guys haircuts (and ponytails in some cases) and oh, look, a head swap too. I'm relieved to find out that Dark Angels Scouts are no longer contending with Deathwing Terminators and Dreadnoughts as elites choices in the new Force Org chart (where they annoyingly sat for the past 8 years or so...grumble..) and thus will make a regular appearance in any future army lists I build.
@Bruticus - LOL...dont tell anyone, I'm slowly building up a Dark Angels and Tau force for Epic....I never tried it when it was out originally, but I hear NetEpic is the best system out there now. Trouble is finding people to play it with around here...
Here's a couple progress pics of my first layer of rust/weathering. Still need to go brown and orange.
Fango, by the power invested in me by the League of Extraordinary Riveters, I hereby present you your banner.
[
Automatically Appended Next Post: btw..on page 68 the colors are mis-labeled, I think it should be Loren Forest basecoat and nurgling green highlight instead of both beig Dryad bark (which is olive-grey), also for $25 you'd think they could spell their own colors right!! the thing is full of typos
if you take it fango i welcome you too in the league of extraordinary riveteers! i´ve been lurking your thread for quite some time...too much in awe of your work to actually add anything yet
dsteingass wrote: Fango, by the power invested in me by the League of Extraordinary Riveters, I hereby present you your banner.
[
I humbly accept this membership badge as a right of passage and a testament of my past and present dedication to plastering as many rivets as humanly possible over as many of my projects as I can.
@Ozymandias - Thanks! I will get that hatch handle on this weekend and finish up the rust....then its on to the barrier I was working on...and some actual work on my Escher girls!
@Dave - I noticed that too...I'm actually pretty offended that I paid so much for this and they couldn't even be bothered to edit it.
@Vik - Thanks man, I'm a big fan of your work. That means allot!
Here is a pick of some of my girls on MAS tech bases....only have 5 so far...have 15 more on backorder from Neal at Thewarstore.
Some minor weapon swaps on the left. I hope to get some paint on these ladies before our game next Thursday. Also....have to assemble some Infinity Nomads for my first 150 pt demo game next Thursday as well...got my first box of remotes in the mail the other day, they look like a pain to assemble (Lots of pinning in my future) so wish me luck!
From left to Right, that's Baby Doll, Michonne, Vasquez, Andrea, and Maggie...Baby Doll curb stomped a Hive Scum that Ozy's gang hired in our game last night, which earned her a +1 WS advance (and a sword upgrade) but also got taken out, suffering a horrible infected wound which will make her miss the next 2 games...Vasquez dropped 3 Cawdor gangers, including Ozy's heavy in the same game, making her the MVP of the night. Ultimately, I lost the game on my first bottle check, turn 3 pr 4 (cant remember). Rolled a 9...my leader has an 8...Maggie has 9 LD, but she aint the leader, so dems da breaks!
So, sorry for the 6 months of silence. We had our third kid and thing just kinda got hectic around here!
Not that I will have a ton of time to devote to this thread...but I do want to update it periodically. I will post soon with some project updates and photos. My hobby ADD is in full swing and I'm torn between several ongoing projects all at once...including but not limited to: Necromunda, Epic 40k, Battlefleet Gothic, 40K, Warhammer Quest, Infinity, Zombicide, Space Hulk, and now I am getting gear to try my hand at some resin casting!
I've been so busy with RL stuff...our 3rd child is now going on 5 months, our 2-year old (aptly nicknamed 'destructo') is fully testing every ounce of my wife's and my patience, and its a constant battle trying to get my 9-year old son to do anything but play Minecraft and watch Youtube videos about Minecraft! Serve that with a slice of two jobs and top it off with my hobby ADD (and inability to stay focused on one project through to completion) has me stretched fairly thin as of late. Despite all of this, I have been inspired to enter Briancj's recycled terrain contest last minute! I must be mad because the entries are due this Sunday at midnight, which gives me exactly 3 evenings to gather materials, create a concept, execute the concept, and paint it!
Thanks Vik...I ended up submitting a few minutes late due to my iphone camera photo of it uploaded upside-down. The time I took to flip the photo, then re-upload it and link it in the forum post sent me past the deadline. Ah well, I'm fairly happy with the results...this is probably the fastest and cheapest piece of terrain I've built to date...
Here is a shot with a few base colors and a gryphonne Sepia wash...
I need to get our latest issue of Necromunda Chronicle finished and get it up here. Then its time to finish that barricade from a few posts back (and about 6 months delayed). After that, I will be working on the next LoER terrain competition - "Fire at Will" (Gun Emplacement). I have a concept in mind for a pretty cool Necromunda themed piece...sort of an automated security checkpoint...perhaps set up by the Enforcers on territory that fell into the domain of one of the gang's turf. I will start with some concept sketches...
Automatically Appended Next Post: Just for those that were not following Briancj's contest thread...
I made this piece to fit in with my Necromunda terrain collection, but it could easily be used in any 25mm to 32mm game with a post-apocalyptic setting (as there are no specific details that tie it into one 'world,' yet!), or with 40K proper. The roof is almost exactly the same height as a standard Necromunda bulkhead, and the two back edges of the roof are straight and at least 3 inches long...so it should work nicely as a bridge transition piece for level 1 platforms in the Necromunda card terrain collection. I'm a big fan of the Borderlands games so you may see some design influences from there as well.
I added a Gryphonne Sepia wash to most of the metal and red areas...amazing what a little wash will do. Pic over in my P&M blog...but it was done after the deadline, so disregard for judging.
List of materials...
concrete walls- Huggies diaper box cardboard corrugated metal sheeting - cardboard box from Costco crackers assortment rubble - Huggies cardboard and chopped up bits of sprue generator thingy on roof - old orange 3-prong to 2-prong plug converter from junk drawer wire - bits of wire from junk drawer vent pipe - discarded pen casing vent pipe cover - cut off the top of an old scented marker cap roof hatch - lid of GW paint pot shanty wall, door, raised details on door and wall - Trader Joes organic peanut butter crackers box card round vent casing - cut from top of red Target pharmacy prescription Rx bottle slats in vent - Trader Joes organic peanut butter crackers box card glue- LocTite super glue from Home Depot, old bottle, nearly dried up...dispenser had to be cut away to get the remaining glue out! old empty wire spool - sewing machine bobbin cable pipe in ground - spacer from an 'under cabinet mounting kit' for an iHome radio (in the junk drawer) base - old CD base texture - beach sand from local beach mixed with coarser dirt/sand from yard base texture adhesive - Elmers 'PVA' glue spray primer - .99 cent flat black spray from Home Depot, nearly empty can filler for thick cardboard edges - last of a nearly dried out bottle of liquid green stuff paint - Adeptus Battle Grey, Khorne Red, Boltgun Metal, Steel Legion Drab
Great use of the target bottle top , I had saved up so many of those when I worked there and filled our prescriptions there. I was going to use h bottles for toes on a Titan. They just looked the part to me. Glad your back, I understand how the real world operates and how young un's kill the hobby life for a few years. It gets better eventually. I can't wait till they get involved with the modeling aspect so we have more in common than the retro cartoons (you know the ones from when we were kids )
I hope brian still accepts your entry nevertheless...as this is a perfect entry that teaches us one thing for sure...: you can start late, but when you concentrate you can produce something that looks as awesome as this!
Ok, so with the New Year and everyone coming up with resolutions and the like...I've decided to pick back up my Skaven project. And since I don't update my Project Blog often enough...I figured I would just toss it in here...What do you all think?
Should I keep this Plog strictly 40K/Necromunda themed and start a new Fantasy Plog...or, instead of trying to maintain both, should I keep my Plog generic and post all of my crazy ADD fueled projects in one space?
We are starting an escalation league and after 4 weeks we will be rolling it right into a Blood in the Badlands campaign. I'd like to chronicle the journey here on Dakka to get some much-needed moral support and encouragement...as well as helpful comments and criticisms on my work.
Since my last project post, lets see...lets recap.
My Mighty Empires map was left in a friend's truck on a hot summer day and melted... :(
Then, GW blew up the Old World and discontinued Warhammer Fantasy Battles... :(
Then, they launched Warhammer: Age of Sigmar...
and re-booted Warhammer Quest! Yay!
...and brought back my beloved Genestealer Cult army with a full range of models and a shiny codex!
Then they rendered my codex obsolete by releasing 8th ed 40K! Which, I must admit was quite an improvement to the game overall.
Then they went and re-booted Necromunda! Holy cow!
and now we've seen 4 of the original gangs released, the Cawdor teased, and only Delaque yet to be revealed. AND, there are hints of much more Necromunda goodness to come!
Finally, Adeptus Titanicus is getting a re-boot release this fall, and I couldn't be more excited about that! (More competition for my limited hobby focus and attention)
I'm loving everything about Games Workshop these days!
Part of the reason for my diminished hobby time and apparent disappearance from the face of the earth was due to my three kids growing and needing lots of my attention...soccer practice, and games, dance classes and recitals, school activities, softball, the list goes on!
All of that mixed in with my two jobs and home renovations (yeah, bought and moved into a new home about 3 years ago!), haven't left me with much time to just sit down to build and paint models...nor share them here with all of you.
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Now that summer vacation has hit, softball and dance season is over, my daughters are now 5 and 7, and so are a 'bit' more self-reliant these days....I I find myself with a little bit of time on the weekends that I can spend selfishly working on my hobby...and so, here is my current project!
Maelstrom's Edge Hab-Block
So, as some of you may be aware, Dakka's own Maelstrom's Edge game was launched a few years back on Kickstarter and the game has seen some fairly regular releases since, adding a new faction and several resin add-ons for the existing factions. Released at the same time as the starter box 'Battle for Zycanthus' was the following terrain sprue, meant for embellishing sci-fi structures...
Some very exceptional talent from right here on Dakka was commissioned to create some studio terrain for the game, using this cool terrain sprue. One of the pieces was this Hab-Block container/trailer unit...
I've attempted to create one of these and document it so that fans can recreate this awesome piece of terrain for their own games. Currently, I am working on a set of templates for the structure bits, and eventually this will end up as a build tutorial on The Comm Guild community blog.
This build will require just one (1) MEdge terrain sprue, and I ended up using (at least part of) all but two pieces. First off, I've trimmed off all of the bits that will be needed for the terrain piece and photographed them here...
then, I cut and trimmed some of the parts to create this subset...
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Next, I had to make some estimates based on the size of the parts and where they were positioned on the Hab-Block in the photo...and start to measure and cut some of the structure bits from foamcore...
Good to see you back on, and at least with a little hobby time. The prep and work on that hab block looks exhausting. Looking good so far, looking forward to seeing more.
Thanks Syro, it was a little crazy, but I’m making templates so other people attempting this build won’t have to spend all that time measuring everything out.
Here are a few more shots of the progress on the Hab-Block build.
Last two sides attached, and the other end cap.
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The foam base for the corner runs, sprayed black on the inside.
Fantastic build there Fango. I may have to see about sourcing some of those ME sprues. I’ve loved their Broken releases so far, but the core box leaves me feeling meh as the styles in it just don’t hit any chord with me.
Thanks Theo, yeah the Broken stuff is pretty cool. They just released some new SecDef troops for the Epirian faction, which are some of their best figures yet. (Full disclosure: I do some graphic design and concept art for Spiral Arm Studios).
Here's some more progress on the Hab-Block build...
reverse side...
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Cutting a 45 degree angle on this bit of plastic card...
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Dry-fit, measure/mark, and cut...
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Bevel the end of the these bits to fit between the corner runs...
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Adding the terrain sprue bits and detailing the ends of those corner runs...
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Add details to the other end...
Aaaand, build nearly complete. Just need to add a few bits of interestingly shaped bits of cut plastic-card and some rivets!
After that, I need to build the AirCon unit, and a base for the whole thing...
That's really cool that you work with spiral arm studios, Fango. Also random question, but how are you taking those pictures when there are two hands in the photo? Timer, someone else taking them, or something else/
Syro_ wrote: That's really cool that you work with spiral arm studios, Fango. Also random question, but how are you taking those pictures when there are two hands in the photo? Timer, someone else taking them, or something else/
He rolled doubles on the skills chart and being an free agent of chaos got to choose a mutation (extra hands that’s 3 thumbs up on three different hands ). It’s an extra gift right after his exceptional creativity.
Well done Fango. I saw the SecDef figs previewed about a week ago. Very nice.
Ok, so I’ve decided to take this project blog a little more seriously...to use it to chronicle the small wins in my monumental effort to complete all of my Miniature gaming projects (of which there are many....waaaay too many). I’ve been making an effort to check in on other’s blogs and offer encouragement, praise, and/or critiques, and pledge to make an update to my own at Least once a week. Ideally, I get in my 1 hour a night to make some steady progress, but with 3 kids and 2.5 jobs, that might not be realistic...and I want this to be a motivator, not a constant reminder that I can’t make any notable progress.
In the next couple of days, I’ll be updating my OP on page one to add some info based on Gitsplitta’s great P&M Blogging advice...and I’ll be creating a summary list (with links, as content gets added) of all of my ongoing projects (my Vault of Shame, if you will). This will allow visitors to check out specific projects, and maybe offer me a reality check as to what I can realistically expect to accomplish given the amount of time I have to dedicate to this hobby (read, obsession) of mine.
To start, I’ve pencilled out a list, just from memory, of what projects I have currently in my Vault of Shame....I invite you all to join me on this quest for completion...I may not even get close to getting everything completed, but at least it I can enjoy the process and maybe learn a little about myself along the way.
I wish you the best of luck Fango. That is a monumental list to try to tackle. On the bright side, if you've been checking a lot of other blogs, you've probably noticed the unwritten rule that if you don't have way to many miniature wargaming projects to try to complete, then you're doing it wrong
When I get home in a month, I'll try to join you in this quest for completion. Keep us posted
@Syro_ - Thanks for the kind words of encouragement! I look forward to seeing your progress as well
@Sgt Oddball - Believe the hype! I've linked a couple of reviews / how to play videos below if you want to get a more in depth look.
Stuffed Fables
I actually got this board game a few months back, pretty much right after it first hit the shelves. Since then, I've painted MOST of the figures, taking a few shots with my iPhone along the way, but for some reason never got around to posting them up here.
My impetus for getting and painting the minis for this game was to get my two daughters involved in some miniatures board gaming (and just maybe, in the future, they might pick up an interest in some of the other miniatures games that I collect and play). I don't get to hobby, or play, nearly as much as I would like, so finding games that I can enjoy while spending quality time with my family is HUGE. We've only got this to the table twice so far... Aubrey is 7 and has pretty severe ADHD...so getting her to sit still and focus for very long is a challenge. My other daughter, Autumn, is 5. She doesn't fidget and bounce and get distracted as much as her older sister, but her age limits her engagement in this a little...
I'm not an expert game reviewer, so I wont go too much farther in to describing it, other than the figures are cute and charming, and super fun to paint (especially if you have little ones to share the game with). The game boards (there are many), are actually pages in the book (its spiral bound and the pages are a durable almost plastic finish), and sit opposite the story and scenario details for that given mission/quest. Eric Summerer from the Dice Tower network has a very in-depth review with his two small boys, and Rodney Smith from the Watch it Played channel on Youtube goes over the mechanics in detail...they even hired him to do the official tutorials for certain game mechanics that are linked via QR codes printed in the book near the places those mechanics come in to play.
Let me know what you think! Without further ado, here are some photos...
Automatically Appended Next Post: Short term to-do list in priority order (we'll see how much I can tackle this weekend):
Make 'cratered' trench section for Syro_
Finish Hab-Block terrain build and finalize the templates.
Finish painting Stuffed Fables...this COULD be my first completed project!
Start painting my Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse survivors (and maybe some of the zombies too).
Clean and assemble my Tzaangor Shaman, a couple more Skyfires, and some Tzaangors.
Start working on some Silver Tower themed bases for my Tzeentch AoS figures.
Sketch up some fence/barricade ideas for a rural farmhouse (LoER terrain competition)
Convert (at Least) 1 Hot Wheels car for Gaslands (25 can value) for private Gaslands event on July 28th
Just a quick detour from my own posts, I have to share some images of my buddy Greg's Drowned Earth project. This is a game that was recently Kickstarted and successfully delivered.
Greg has been trying to convince me to buy in to this game. He went all in on the KS and has done some amazing scratch built terrain for his Drowned Earth board, and for now, just has his girlfriend to play it with him. I have so many projects going, I just cant justify starting a new one....especially with Adeptus Titanicus coming next month.
Anyway,he keeps sharing his amazing progress shots and I have to admit he's wearing me down...
Here are some shots of his table and some of his minis... Let me know what you all think. Have you heard of this game? Anyone else playing it?
I watched the KS! But in the end my $$$ is pulled in so many directions. I think the reason I skipped it was it was a company I had never heard of and hadn’t seen anyone talking about it before hand. I’ll have to give it another look since I’m seeing actual models in the real world now.
@Sgt. Oddball - Yeah, Greg does some pretty nice scratch-built terrain.
@Theo - I know how that is, I’ve missed out on a couple of Kickstarters due to lack of funds at the time...Zombicide: Black Plague - Green Horde, and Deep Madness were two of the ones I pledge a dollar for and wasn’t able to free up the funds for in the end. I’m currently trying to eBay stuff to pay for the Hellboy Boardgame Mantic just ran on KS. Definitely check out Drowned Earth, the sculpts are pretty amazing, and I think they are available in spin cast white metal, or in resin for a premium price.
Gaslands
I’ve been trying to narrow down to the one car I’ll be taking to that event on the 28th...which one should I make my first Gaslands conversion?
Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse
My survivor crew: Everyday Hero, Firefighter, Rescue Worker, Good Samaritan 1 (flashlight), Good Samaritan 2 (scoped rifle), and Sarge.
I got some painting done on these guys... none of them are finished yet...but getting there. I need to have them done by this weekend.
Had to do a can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup in this guy’s pack!
The whole gang, nearly done
What do you all think so far? I’m still torn on whether or not I should cut of their integral disk bases and mount them to 25mm rounds.
Still working on that short term to-do list, I’ll append it with notes, likely in the morning.
What’s your recipe for your blacks? Mine always look like garbage.
Also at the event for Gaslands are you using perks for affiliations. If so will you be Mishkin,Mizashi(wrong I know but I don’t have the book in front of me) or one of the others. Depending on the race type would lead to some advantages, but I think the high handling cars generally have an advantage because of maneuvering. If it’s just a death race then go for all out speed for the extra movement. That being said I like the green one for overall customizing as it has the scoop windows and looks like a flatter roof as well as a large hood to mount stuff too.
Gah! I failed at my 1 hour a night pledge this past week already!
I've been working on my 1:1 residential house model quite a bit, which has cut down by hobby time in other scales significantly... :(
The upside is I'm refilling the brownie points jar, and increasing the resale value of my home!
@Theo. - For the black on my shotgun-toting survivor, I primed with a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Black and White primer using my airbrush. Then I laid down a slightly thinned layer of Abaddon Black all over the shirt. Then I went straight to light grey to pick out the high points of the folds in the fabric,,,Mechanicus Standard Grey, and I think I may have gone in with Celestra Grey for some of the higher points.Finally, I hit the whole shirt with a liberal coat of Nuln Oil. Gotta love those washes/glazes. Talent in a bottle I tell ya!
@Sgt. Oddball - Thanks! As much as I love that Chevelle, In the end I went with the Charger...I've been inspired to paint it up like the Union version of the Dukes of Hazard car...The General Grant! Blue, with the Stars and Stripes on the roof...some tanks on the back (ala road warrior) and a giant machine gun on the hood....maybe some additional armor plating for good measure...we'll see how far I can get on it.
I have a feeling you are checking back for progress on my MEdge build and I promise I will have an update on that soon.
Here's a few shots of my 1:1 tub/shower surround install...
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Also, spent SEVERAL HOURS putting this 4Ground house together for Last Days...literally every window has 5 parts...the acetate sheet for the glass, the frame and mullions for the exterior, the moveable part of the window on the exterior, the frame for the interior, the trim for the exterior...that doesn't include the shutters...which I haven't gotten to yet. >:O
interior shot below... (sorry for the sideways shot)
No photo evidence, but i did get a bunch of Tzeentch models cleaned/assembled the weekend before last, and the days leading up to my first AoS game last Thursday.
Lot's more to clean and build... and I want to make Silver Tower themed bases...using this set as a starting point...so that makes this project a little more drawn out and time consuming!
I lost my first Path to Glory game (just!) to the Stormcast player in the group...MVPs were the Skyfires!
So...list update...
Make 'cratered' trench section for Syro_
Finish Hab-Block terrain build and finalize the templates.
Finish painting Stuffed Fables...this COULD be my first completed project!
Start painting my Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse survivors (and maybe some of the zombies too).
nearly done with my survivors!
Clean and assemble my Tzaangor Shaman, a couple more Skyfires, and some Tzaangors.
done!
Start working on some Silver Tower themed bases for my Tzeentch AoS figures.
Found some 3d models of bases to print and cast, but may want to make a few more designs...
Sketch up some fence/barricade ideas for a rural farmhouse (LoER terrain competition)
Convert (at Least) 1 Hot Wheels car for Gaslands (25 can value) for private Gaslands event on July 28th
I haven't tried Sarissa kits either, so I cant make an honest comparison, but for the money, the detail on these 4Ground kits is phenomenal. They've got a whole line of western/frontier town themed kits that I'd love to eventually get for Malifaux...but I'm not playing Malifaux much these days...
On a side note...related to my project posts above...I made a major backslide in progress of reducing the size of my Vault of Shame...
I grabbed a Tzaangor box from the FLGS last week, and the box of Tzaangors I ordered from Miniature Market Thursday before last, finally arrived at my office today along with the Malign Sorcery box...so, add 20 Tzaangors and 17 endless spells to my Pile-O-Unpainted-Models...sigh.
Ok, I got all of my Malign Sorcery Endless Spells assembled...they were fun to build and cleaned went together relatively quickly. That Purple Sun and the Chompy spells are HUGE!
Also for Age of Sigmar, I got these amazing objective markers put together and ready to paint. I'm in love with this kit and every objective model has a plethora of detail and character. These are going to be really fun to paint up and will look awesome on the table.
I also nearly completed my 4Ground house kit for Last Days...just need to stick on the shutters
I didn't get any hobby time in last night, as I had a drawing to do for my 2nd job...but I made some progress on my book club book (audio) while I worked on that...so, all in all, a productive evening!
Today I did a little more research on making digital 3d objects, so I can start working on my Silver Tower themed bases. Please chime in if you have experience with this, I'd love to hear about your process and what software/tools you use! Also, does anyone know what angle the bevel is on the GW bases?
Tonight I plan to get a little painting in while my wife is off at her book club meeting...we'll see how much I can knock out.
youwashock wrote: Seeing things like Confrontation, Kingdom Death, and Man O War on your to-do list has me excited to see your progress. Best of luck!
Thanks! I’m really gonna need it! I’ll try to post some progress for those games soon as well. It’s always more motivating to work on a project if I’ve got interested visitors cheering me on
Ok. Made a little progress on the bombed trench section for Syro_
Next I need to add some styrofoambits for the trench and crater walls...
Automatically Appended Next Post: Ok, added some foam structure for the crater, and went ahead and plastered over it.
@ Kid - Thanks! Still loads to do on it...a little nervous as it’s my first time tiling a tub surround...
@ Theo - yeah, it was tha material I had on hand...what do you use these days for covering and texturing organic bits of terrain? Mostly stick to carved foam and/or built up cork? I’m definitely open to advice and suggestions!
Quick update here...a bit late, as I actually did this work on Sunday...got some painting progress done on some of my Age of Sigmar objectives and endless spells.
Post apocalyptic park with gazebo that reminds me of the Music Man . Excellent layout . Vallejo makes a few textures like that one. Others are more like rock and lava, but all the jars are huge compared to GW pots for not too much more than 2-3 texture pots from GW you get 7-8 times as much.
@Sgt. Oddball - Last Days is super fun. It can be terrain intensive, as most skirmish games tend to be, but you only need a handful of figures per side.
@Theo - Thanks!
Major milestone here...I finished painting all of the figures for Stuffed Fables! My FIRST completed miniatures project! Here's a shot of the last few that I finished painting today...I'll make a separate post with the whole set and link it to my first post under completed projects. Super stoked.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Ok, I played a few more games of Last Days since I last updated here...and I ended up recruiting two more survivors, a Firefighter - Ash Burnside, and a soldier - John McClane (I was considering using Snake Plissken, but decided on the former in the end). Figures shown below...my next goal is to get these guys painted up.
Next up are some cars I picked up at Target for $6 each that look just right with my Last Days figures and terrain...
Thanks, guys! It does feel good to knock something out...I need more wins to keep up the momentum!
I'm really enjoying Last Days, but am disappointed with how the integrated bases look on my survivor models (from Zombicide). So I've decided to do some custom bases on them...mostly street and sidewalk themed.
I've mixed up some Apoxie Sculpt and applied it to the tops of about a dozen GW 25mm bases. To flatten out the putty to a relatively even smooth finish, I've taken a stainless steel spatula, got it wet, and pressed the putty covered base top to it.
Then I waited for them to cure a little and carefully went around the edges with an Xacto knife. I'll clean them up a bit more with the knife and some sandpaper when they are fully cured...after that, I can start etching in the concrete seams and cracks.
Fango, the crater is looking great. You really put a lot of work into using the same materials and techniques that I used for my trench system. It should match up really nicely
The sidewalk bases are looking good too. I can't remember if I said this already, but I like that you are still going the extra mile to convert and improve your models even though you are working to get through your backlog. I hope you don't mind that I'm going to give a shout out to your blog, in reference to trying to get more of my collection finished and painted the way you are doing.
Hey all, it's been a while, I know... I haven't stopped hobby-ing, just haven't made the time to update about it here.
First up, Last Days:
I made some progress on my CH53 'escape vehicle'...
and made some tokens...(token design by Greg Cherry, I just printed, cut, and stuck them to the clear acrylic bottlecap stickers.)
Next, I got some more of the Blacksite MDF kits built for my Last Days table...
And some scatter, objectives, and barriers from various sources...
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Next up, I magnetized the bejezus out of my Reaver for Adeptus Titanicus...
And started to get a set of knights together as well...
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Next up, I started working on my Dracula's America posse...
Skinwalker tribe from Dead Man’s Hand and with bear and wolves from Otherworld Miniatures...
And here's Greg Cherry's Dark Confederacy posse...
Wow! What an update! Your last days table looks like it will be a lot of fun to play on, I like those kits you're putting together. And man that's a pile of barricades and scatter. Are you expecting to play some games of Titanicus any time soon?
That's quite an eye-watering list there on the first page! I don't envy the quantity, although I do kinda envy the variety, there's an awful lot of cool interesting stuff in there!
Ok... yeah, it's been a while. Things have been real busy IRL! I haven't had much time to hobby lately...kids' extracurriculars like sports, dance, etc, have been taking up lots of time, along with my two jobs...plus, I've been doing some more graphic design work for Maelstrom's Edge, and managed to meet up with the team at Salute this year. The team is currently in the middle of MEdge V2 design and playtesting, as well as ramping up for all of the development that goes into releasing a new version of the game! I've got a few hobby projects lined up for that game which I'll be showcasing here soon, after I deliver a few more retail box designs.
In the near term, I felt like I needed to get my hands dirty with some terrain building...and committed to a couple of deadlines to light a fire under my rear-end to get a fantasy themed terrain project done. So, I've signed up to co-run Relicblade at our local games convention (at the end of June), and joined the current Dakka LoER terrain competition (which ends in July). The terrain project is based around a round ruined tower in a swamp inspired by this drawing from Sean Sutter's new Volgelands expansion book that is currently being delivered to KS backers:
To meet the 'food' theme of the LoER terrain competition, my tower base will resemble an 8" round layer cake...just imagine all the mud is chocolate ganache. I also want this terrain build to be modular, so I can configure the parts of the tower in different ways and use them at table edges and corners depending on my current whims and fancy. In order to do this with a round tower logically, I divided it into 4 equal 'pie' slices and then make sure the edges of the rest of the terrain match up regardless of configuration...challenging! Here are my concept sketches on how this will work.
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I also wanted to have the muddy soil and sand slope right into the table, so I decided to use styrene plasticard for the bases, and got some 1' thick rigid insulation foam from Home Depot for the tower. Initial progress photos below...
Looks like you've already put in a good amount of time on the tower, Fango. It's good to see you back. I'm looking forward to where your tower goes from here.
Thanks Syro, it's nice to be able to get lost in a build again. Here's a few more progress shots to catch up to the post I put in the contest thread...
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Sgt. Oddball wrote: Looks like you've been busy! Table looks very characterful there.
Thanks Sarge! Sorry this response is so late, I appreciate your feedback! I'm so sporadic on my hobby activity, I don't always take the time to slow down and read everyone's comments and respond. I still need to apply your feedback to my MEdge container Hab build and get an updated set of instructions back out to you!
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Syro_ wrote: Wow! What an update! Your last days table looks like it will be a lot of fun to play on, I like those kits you're putting together. And man that's a pile of barricades and scatter. Are you expecting to play some games of Titanicus any time soon?
Thanks Syro! Last Days IS a blast to play on a table full of great terrain and scatter. Ash Barker will be publishing an expansion to the game introducing seasons, more refuge types, more survivor types, more salvaged equipment/weapons, and rules for new zombie types..So I expect to jump back in to Last Days head first when that drops.
...and yes, Blacksite makes some great MDF kits! I'm working a little behind the scenes with them, testing a few new prototypes and even doing some test conversions of some of their kits to 15mm. Nothing I can talk about specifically, but lots of great things coming from Blacksite Studio soon, as they just purchased and installed two brand new industrial laser cutting machines, effectively doubling their potential output.
As far as Titanicus is concerned, I haven't touched it much since I made that update...as I got pulled back to IRL drama again...and to be honest, there are no other people locally that bought into the game and want to play it regularly, so my motivation to work on that project has flagged while I prioritize stuff for games people here ARE playing. Still, it looks like a great game and I do hope to get it to the table eventually.
Thanks again for your comments and feedback!
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ZoBo wrote: That's quite an eye-watering list there on the first page! I don't envy the quantity, although I do kinda envy the variety, there's an awful lot of cool interesting stuff in there!
I'll definitely be following along from now on
Thanks ZoBo, yeah, variety is the spice of life! With my hobby ADD, Id burn out pretty fast if I was stuck with just one or two projects. And yes, at the same time, the backlog is daunting and demoralizing at times. I plan to keep chipping away at it though!
Ok, so 6 months have passed since my last PLOG update...and my Shelf of Opportunity (from the Paint All the Minis posdacst...I'm trying to put a positive spin on the 'Vault of Shame' moniker) has only grown...with very little progress made on completing existing projects...but I haven't been idle.
Since June, I've added Star Wars: Legion (Empire and Seperatists) Warcry (Starter and Corvus Cabal), Necromunda: Dark Uprising, and Marvel: Crisis Protocol.
The biggest news is I've joined the 3D Printing revolution and in the past few months have procured an Anycubic Photon MSLA resin printer, and an Ender 3 FDM printer.
With the Photon, I've mostly been printing assets for Fallout:: Wasteland Warfare...and the Ender 3 has been pumping out Star Wars terrain and a few Fantasy buildings I plan to use for Rangers of Shadow Deep and any other generic fantasy game they might look good in.
All that being said, the pile of projects is a little overwhelming...So I've made a pledge to stop buying new minis and games in 2020...this includes Kickstarters (the exception being Sean Sutter's annual Relicblade KS).
I will be focusing on projects and minis I currently own in an effort to chisel away at my backlog...with a goal of 350 minis painted in 2020! I'll attempt to log my progress here, on Instagram and various FB groups I follow..but ultimately everything will show up in here at some point.
Since the New Year, I've already slapped paint on the heroes and villains in the Marvel: Crisis Protocol starter set and have Hulk and MODOK assembled and ready for paint...so I think I'm off to a decent start. I'll post some photos of my 3D prints and my recently painted minis in future posts as they are on my phone.
Thanks Theo! Central coast...I'm near Hwy 101 about half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Ok, where to start...well, ok, I mentioned I painted some Marvel Crisis Protocol in my last post...so I appended that post with a few progress images. See above.
Where to next...well, I ran a Relicblade event as well as a Dracula's America event at PolyCon over the summer and here are the photos from that...
Ok, so I've decided to come up with some sort of priority plan to knock some of these projects out...I've picked 3 games that I am currently enjoying and have related unfinished projects.
Game 1 - Marvel: Crisis Protocol
Game 2 - Star Wars: Legion
Game 3 - Warcry
I'm going to try to focus on these projects to completion before getting distracted by others...I picked three because I know myself and my attention span tends to wander (which must be painfully obvious to anyone reading this plog, lol)...I'm just narrowing the field in which that happens (or attempting to anyhow).
So this past weekend I did some more prep and priming on my Imperial army for Legion, and even got the movement widgets painted up...I'm thinking about painting the little dots red or green...what do you think?
Camkierhi wrote:Lovely read through here, best of luck with the targets for 2020.
Off to investigate Relicblade and Draculas' America....
Thanks Cam, both are really fun skirmish games. The creator of Relicblade is pretty much a one man show...Sean Sutter has a background in comics and illustration and just decided one day to mix his two passions (art and wargaming). He concepted and designed everything himself, game rules, background fluff, miniature design, illustrations, inking and coloring, book layout, web design, and digital sculpting. The only thing he outsources is the metal casting, and the actual printing of the books and cards. Its a fun little fantasy skirmish game with lots of heart. Fast-paced, and super fun.
Theophony wrote:Man, focus is overrated .
I guess if you get a chance to play that helps to focus attention. With no games being played by me I just paint what is demanding attention the most.
Your Crisis Protocol figures are looking great, but that range ruler you made is awesome sauce.
Thanks Theo, now to do the other ones....and get paint on Hulk and M.O.D.O.K.
I have not had much time to hobby this week, but I still have a ton to share from the last few months or so...so here's a collection of photos I took from my adventures into 3D printing...
First up, my MSLA resin printer, the Anycubic Photon...I went hog-wild when I first got this, printing STLs mostly Fallout related from Thingiverse...(There's also a little Star Wars, Hellboy, Necromunda, and Epic 40K)
A couple of Protectrons and various gubbins...
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Adding supports in the slicer software...
Printed...
Supports trimmed and cleaned...
Another full buildplate's-worth of Fallout bits and bobs, including a Fusion Generator, Protectron pod, a jukebox, part of a Pulowski Preservation Chamber, and an Imperial Security Droid (for Star Wars Legion)...
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Slicer, pre-print...
Printed and UV curing...
Poor K2-SO...alas, his STL was a hollow mesh, and not designed to be printed at 32mm scale...ah well, FFG has announced an official one recently, so no huge loss.
Supports removed and cleaned up...posed with the Protectron lid on the pod, and the robots from the previous print...
Even more Fallout stuff...
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A Mr. Handy fuel canister and a bed...#11 x-acto for scale!...
A motorcycle...may have scaled this a little small...
Nuka Cola bottles and caps, a set of bobbleheads, and a wall intercom, again, knife for scale...
A couple of completed Pulowski Preservation Chambers...one with a working door!...
Some of the scatter spray-painted gray, there's some lockers in there, a turret, a cash register, a cinderblock, a couple of RobCo computer terminals, and a power armor casualty objective marker...
Here's a Chryslus station wagon...
Spoiler:
And the official Modiphius Chryslus Coupe STL from DriveThru RPG...
Spoiler:
Fresh off the printer with supports...
Group shot after primer with official Modiphius resin Corvega, and FDM printed (and heavily post-processed) Pick-R-Up...(there's a Zone Mortalis pillar in there too for some reason)
Speaking of Zone Mortalis...here's the pillar before support removal.
Here's a Visitor bust for the Fallout Boardgame...STL from Thingiverse.
Some Epic 40K stuff...
Thunderhawk...
6mm Storm Troopers...
Some Land Speeders and attack bikes...
And...some more Star Wars droids...
That catches me up to present on resin prints...next post will showcase some of my FDM prints from my Ender 3.
I really need to look into 3D printing. Was all that GW stuff (speeders and bikes) 28mm or smaller. I know nothing about Fallout, but the cars look cool.
It was very fun seeing the Fallout stuff, I love those games. As for painting the dots red or green, is it the dots surrounded by the thick black boarder? Red always looks good with black in my opinion. What are those pieces for? If they are movement based maybe green instead?
I do like the idea for house rule for railings/barriers. I will have to run that by Ozymandias. So far, I've had several members of my gang suffer heinous wounds from falling off terrain. They are pretty much guaranteed to go out of action if they fall more than like 2 inches.
