Thanks for looking in Theo- I think the first quarter to a new year is catch up time for everyone. I do appreciate your comments.

Tehnolog is very much a variable- some of their stuff looks as if it should be for pre-toddlers, then other is very sophisticated and highly detailed. I can't tell if the company is actually that peripatetic, or if the scattershot appearance of such varied items is the natural result of the West being very much a secondary market, and we see just the tail end of various production runs, long after they are out of fashion in Russia.

I found the videos on YouTube for Robogear quite interesting. My Russian isn't enough to follow everything, but I think I was getting the gist. Lots of DakkaDakka action anyway, universal language!

Unfortunately, there is not much of catching up on my side. I barely find 15 minutes to stick together a few bits of plastic, much less to browse forum, even my favorite threads here. Sorry. :(

Yeah, activity on DDakka comes and goes from day to day and month to month. But it has seemed particularly quiet recently.

I put it down to myself being a bit slower with updates than how I was when I first joined. Less regular updates always leads to less comments.
And I've noted some of my "regulars" from the early years taking long breaks from DDakka from time to time, which also leads to less comments, especially when they coincide.

I personally have less time to interact on DDakka regularly, as commenting can take a long time for me. Catching up on all the blogs I follow and just leaving a simple comment can eat up hours where I "should" be "working".
Therefore I tend to go through and comment on all the "recent" blog progress in one session, every now and then.
I do read everyone's posts as they come in though, and occasionally I'll chip in advice if I have it at that time.

We just have to plod along at our own pace, keep broadcasting our endeavours when we can and comment on other's when possible.

Thanks for looking in Wirecat, Doc- fully agree and understand. And didn't mean to sound like whinging. Case in point, after a spectacular burst of energy and motivation to weeks ago, I'm now just getting back into the swing of things after illness for mother, wife then self (overlapping, but not concurrent), work changes and 'technical difficulties' with the hot water heater. I am hoping to get some real progress tonight though. And you're right- if you don't post, folks have nothing to comment on.

When I made the remark about how quiet it was here on DakkaDakka though, what I really had in mind was the gallery pages. I always go through the 'This Week' gallery- run through the first two pages to make sure nothing new has come up for me to vote on and then head to the last page and work forward until I'm in familiar territory again. At peak creativity, we'll have 50-60 pages every day; Lately, we're lucky to break into the high 30's, some days.

While some are as productive as ever, or moreso (looking at _you_ philmorgan!) it seems generally that much of Dakka is catching its breath. Probably indicative of a new Renaissance preparing to come bursting over us all!

Thank you both for taking the time to leave comments.

I think Shadowspear?Shadespear? Whatever the new main box set, will bring people out soon enough. Also a lot of big push for getting things done for adepticon. Spring breaks are starting as well, so it might be a couple weeks/ post Easter when things get rolling again.

I'm sure you're right Theo- and I may be gauging the Dakka-verse by my own (limited) productivity. Which is fixin' to change.

Finished up the counts-as ganger heavy weapon gal. Here's pics, and I think I did a bit better with the lighting (Aziz- LIGHT!) although it still isn't ideal. And I really need to build a board for fancy picture taking.

This is "Lust Xenia" from the Heresy Labs Heresy Girls 1.0 kickstarter campaign. I really like these figures: they are a very glue-able resin, the detail is extraordinarily fine, the articulation is excellent and they are smokin' hot (shades of Pygmalion washing over me). And through the Kickstarter, I got them at an awesome price. He's got another coming out on 26 March- Imperial Assassin types amongst other things.













New things:
* Had another whack at doing eyes and more broadly, the face. I think this one is better, but more practice needed, in my own opinion
* I've never tried an Escher-type figure before, so getting to play with colors other than Standard Army was fun
* I've never tried to do a figure with so much skin flashing; fortunately, had White Dwarf Issue November 2017 as a guide
*Never tried to put so much detail into a weapon

So there it is. I'm excited to go on to other figures from the Heresy Girls 1.0 Kickstarter, but I've got a couple (okay, three) projects all underway at once first:

*The giant killer robot of death from Tehnolog
*The Hirst Arts Molds hillside fortified house with tower project
*My own personal 'contest' type project to build an AA gun out of nothing but non-kit bits and bobs floating around

Yes, all three are started. Yes, I've broken my standing rule about one thing at a time. And yes, the AA Gun is almost done!

More follows soonest.

That's some nice work on a nifty model. Kudos to you for using such bright colors--something I can't seem to do these days. Where did you get the police tape?

Totally going to steal the police tape idea

Hey Josh, Kid- thank you for looking in! The tape is 1/24 scale for model railroading, but as you can see seems to be well in scale for a 30mm figure. It's from a shop called HobbyLinc at this address: http://www.hobbylinc.com/cgi-bin/s8.cgi?str_s=police&p=2

And it's even on sale now for US$3.39 per 120 inch roll!

Insaniak found this stuff and I've finally had a chance to use a little bit!

Very cool , I used some of the plastic Easter basket liner rafia for police tape years ago. I know I have some in a box somewhere, then just used a fine point sharpie for the words.

Holy cow, Theo- that's a lot of precision work! I don't know if my hand was ever steady enough to write on something as thin as a piece of basket raffia. It's amazing what we can do when necessity dictates though- I had some fairly elaborate workarounds (I guess today they would be called 'hacks') when I was young and starting out because I was a) living in barracks and couldn't leave my stuff all spread out and b) had almost no money. I've gotten older and now I have a better modelling budget, but may be exercising it at the expense of the imagination I displayed earlier from pauper necessity!

Nice work on that model Meer_Cat, are you expecting to get some games of Necromunda in, or like many of use just enjoying working on models? Also those three projects in the works sounds enjoyable, Im looking forward to your future posts.

Hi Syro! I'd love to get a game of Necromunda in, but for right now it's mostly to enjoy doing up a figure that is so different from what I usually work on. And I've got all these great Heresy Girl figures from the 1.0 and 1.2 campaigns that need doing up- I can easily put together a 'squad level skirmish group' to meet the Necromunda requirements, and I'm interested in researching the stats for a Kill Team- got a lot of half-Gothic/half-Viking girls (think: Raging Heroes Commissars meet Viking Berserker Shield Maiden Girl) that might make a good squad for that.

Mostly I want to get paint on plastic!

The Good Idea Fairy hit me over the head again tonight with an idea to take the divider from a double DVD case and make it into a small/light flyer landing pad....

More follows soonest!

Here's the next project- this one was a wild hair and not one of the three I had started simultaneously. I wanted to get rid of some of the good junk I've got piling up on my work desk, and always wanted to build a fixed mount, autonomous anti-aircraft gun system. So here is one with linked autocannon synchronized to produce inter-locking streams of fire at five kilometers.

The first thing was to find a nice, x-shaped piece of sprue the right diamter to form the base:



Clipped and trimmed neatly:





The rest of the base is made from the caps from some oral supplements we give our ponies (they come in a plunger type syringe, it tastes like apple and they love it) and some extra gear pieces from the defensive position competition:



The guns themselves are made from some scrap styrene tube and channel, the locking lip from a can of Old Bay spice, some expended glue tube caps and the disposable locking clip from something or other:



And here's how it looks glued up (the targeting radar dish is the cap from an old bottle of Citadel Wash and the traversing housing is the push button from a can of bug spray):







I'll primer it tonight and tomorrow I'll slap some paint on it. I'm debating whether to base it or not, probably will.

Thanks for looking in. More follows soonest!

Wow, that looks great! The pics make it look like it magically cam together really fast. In my experience that's never true, how long would you say that took you?

Now that is some good scrounging right there - the parts look like they were made for the project!

Thanks, Syro! Along with trying to use up junk on my desk, I also wanted to try to get this slapped together fairly quickly (especially for me- I tend to over-work things sometimes). For this, counting on my fingers and toes, I think I spent about two hours total so far. And, of course, it does still need to be painted. And for now, everything is pinned and superglued- I may have to use greenstuff if the glue doesn't hold.

Lot of fun so far though!


Thanks Kestrel! Sometimes the Bright Idea Fairy hits you, and the project just comes together. What truly was a serendipitous moment is when I found that cutting the spice tin plastic thingy in half made it fit exactly on both sides of the receiver of the gun, almost like it had been intended to go there all along.

Nice work on using up some of the acquired pile . A primer coat will make it look just like a kit from a box.

Good job. Good use of parts. Nice turret.

Excellent bud, really spot on.

Ability to see whole in a seemingly unrelated heap of parts - colden! Congratulations!

 Dr H wrote:
Good job. Good use of parts. Nice turret.

 Camkierhi wrote:
Excellent bud, really spot on.

Wirecat wrote:
Ability to see whole in a seemingly unrelated heap of parts - colden! Congratulations!

 Theophony wrote:
Nice work on using up some of the acquired pile . A primer coat will make it look just like a kit from a box.

Thank you Dr H, Cam, Theo and Wirecat! I'm having quite a lot of fun just playing with the bits (which my wife scornfully refers to as 'junk') on my work desk/bench. I already have another idea I want to try using a DVD divider as the platform for an aircraft pad along with some other gubbins. The Ganger Gunner was actually the first of three planned projects I got going at the same time, the killer robot is the second and it gets worked on as paint and things are drying on the AAA gun. I have to get serious about learning my airbrush, as I itnend to use a stencil similar to th work Big H did on his Tau to create a pattern on the robot's 'shroud/cowl/thingy'.

The gun has a spray coat of tan Rustoleum, some ersatz Agrax Earthshade wash and a couple of bits highlighted with gun metal grey (like Bolt Gun Metal) and just wants basing and a couple other dabs of paint and I'm calling it done.

And then the aircraft platform is no good without an aircraft, and I've got a Robogear Sprut lying about someplace here, and then there is still the wizard's cottage from the Hirst Arts molds, and more Heresy Girls to paint, and....

More follows soonest.

Hey Meer_Cat! Liking the work of that flak gun

Hey shas- great to her from you! And thanks for the kind words. This pile of junk was very fun to make, and I'm looking forward to thinning my desktop even more in the near future. This piece is nearly complete in its painting (not in these pictures, more coming shortly) and then just needs to be based. Thanks for looking in!

I didn't have a lot of time tonight, but wanted to get something done on the AAA gun towards finishing it off, so broke out a product I've had on hand for a while, waiting for a chance to use.

Here are the materials I used to make a custom base for the gun: A door knob wall protector (the circular disc that is to be the base itself- $2 at Walmart), some greenstuff, my mirror greenstuff rolling surface, some shaping tools and LOTS of water:



And a Basius Max pad:







These pads are two-sided- one usually shows the theme intact, the other in a ruined state. They are a hard resin and quite solid. The idea is you roll up some greenstuff, put it on the top of the base, press it hard against whatever section of the pad you want to use and presto- instant textured custom base for your figure. Naturally, I should have started by trying this on a 25mm or 30mm base, but I needed the gun system _tonight_, so learned how on it. The wall protector is 80mm in diameter, so it was a handful for a newbie to learn on. For one thing, I couldn't squash a ball of greenstuff down under it evenly- I had to roll the greenstuff out into a pancake and fit it under the base and then press. It was also a bear to get back off again, without stretching and distorting the pattern pressed into the greenstuff. However, anything worth doing is worth over-doing. So, several attempts and a lot of water later, I think it came out not too bad:









I've already smoothed out most of the creases you see in the last two pictures- it's amazing how much detail I catch in a photo that I don't see looking directly at the piece, even under magnification! And I used my standard go-to for excess greenstuff: made a bundled tarp and a small bedroll:



So, things learned:

I think the Basius pads are pretty good- I have two, the Sanctuary that I used here and the Urban one (I might purchase a couple more- they've got a couple dozen styles out)
Smaller bases are easier to cover than larger, I think
These should paint up pretty nicely when cured, and no need for additional sand, pebbles or flocking (unless I want to or I need to hide my mistakes)

More follows soonest.

I'm not used to the concept of a hard resin mold, sorry to hear it was kind of a pain to work with. Sounds like you have to remove the greenstuff before it cures? Will it ruin the mold if it sets in there? I like the way the base turned out, and I always love the tarps and bed rolls you make from greenstuff.

Thanks Syro!

I didn't mean to leave the impression I wasn't happy with the Basius Max mold- I think they're great and offer a lot of potential for different uses. But I surely set myself a steep learning curve using an 80mm disc as my first attempt to use one! Here's the link to the 'how to' on the kickstarter page- kind of clever how they did it, really:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/984996675/basius-max

I keep using the term 'mold', but really it's more like a press form, like kids have for Play-do and things. The intent is to remove the pressed greenstuff with the base, so that the greenstuff can be trimmed to exactly match the base circumference and when it dries, sticks.

Something you said though made me think and then prick up my ears- I'm wondering if instead of lubricating the mold with water, if I used light oil, like when we make molds out of greenstuff itself (take an impression) and when hardened press greenstuff in and let it cure, and then pop it out. I may try that. I know something that may have made things a bit harder last night was that I got water on the surface of the base, which made the greenstuff not stick as well, so there's that.

I just need to try more bases (maybe a 30mm, this time)!

Cool, I hope trying new ways with the mold goes well for you. But I like you're idea of a light oil. I've always been tempted to spray a mold with WD40, what works very well for me (When not using silicone molds) is using petroleum jelly on the mold, I have a dedicated paint brush for getting in the tiny areas of a mold. I think it's really great that you think of any setback or difficulty as just a learning experience. Keep up the great work

If I'd just take the time to practice first, the learning curves mightn't be so steep!

Instead of greenstuff I use a 2 part gray putty called Apoxie-sculpt with for my bases. I find it doesn't stick to the Basius pads as well (though I use some water too).

It definitely takes some practice to use though.

Thanks ScarletRose! I actually have some of that on hand- almost used it as well, but decided my greenstuff was closer to drying out. I do like these pads though, and have a lot of figures to base to get better at using them.

Any time I do molding/press-molding, I use some form of surface prep, to make it easier to de-mold.

Things are looking good!

--B.

Stone trippin' B- true dat.

So, the AAA gun and its base are wrapped up.

After using the Basius Max press mold to form the custom textured cover for the base, I hit it with primer:



A base coat of cheap acrylic craft store tan paint:



A wash of ersatz Agrax Earthshade:



Painted the places where the pavers had broken and soil was pushing through cheap acrylic Yellow Ochre, washed in genuine Reikland Fleshshade and then drybrushed a teeny bit of Yellow Ochre back on top (needed a touch of color, everything else is desert-y, which- don't get me wrong- is very accurate, but very boring):



Added some grass tufts and what are supposed to be water bottles, or beers cans (they're resistors off that sound card I chopped up for the Athena a couple of years ago):



Added the gun:



And some expended brass (these are the same glass cylinder beads from the tracked SPAAG I did awhile ago):





And there you go- the finished gun and base:





This sticker is about 3/8 inch square and I found it in the pocket of a new pair of trousers of mine- it's the guys that quality control checked them leaving the factory. I wanted a decal or something to break up the tan of the maneuver housing, so I glued it on. The joke is, the Q36 used to be the designator for a counter-battery artillery radar- it was designed to track incoming artillery shells, reverse plot their trajectory and almost instantly provide data to a battery of guns just waiting to fire a mission to suppress or destroy the enemy guns that had just fired (I don't think it's in service any longer). So, this must be the Pan Atmospheric Aviation Suppression System, complete with on-board QC-36 target acquisition radar!



And that's all she wrote, folks:



I had a ton of fun putting this together- from the bits scrounge for the parts, to using the Basius Max molds for the first time, to using a lot more colors than I usually do on the base, a hoot the whole time.

I also got a fair amount done on the killer robot of death- pics of that are going to show up next, and I have to get cracking learning my air brush so I can use the stencil I bought and finish this gizmo up. I still have one other project started (the wizard's cottage) and ideas for two more already!

More follows soonest.

Nice work with the base and the paint job.great finish to a great build

Now go shoot down some drones!

That's quite a fancy and well thought out base. Both it and the AA gun are beautiful, nice work. I'm still blown away by how great you made that gun from all the random stuff it started as.

Thank you Theo, Brian and Syro- it means a lot having people not just look in, but take the time to comment as well; it is much appreciated. I got to try some new things, learned a lot and have new things I want to try (if I can just remember them when the right time comes!).

It's funny you mention drones, Brian- as an oversized drone or undersized flyer does feature in the next 'get rid of stuff lying on my desk' project. Which will come immediately following the completion of the Killer Robot of Death and the Wizard's cottage- maybe. If I don't get impatient first.

Lots of things to try out coming up!

More follows soonest.

Great job, well done. Really effective base and the guns look spot on.

There is a joy and pride in making something for your self. Not just a kit, a made from scratch kit, with odds and ends that don't fit until you work your magic. Brilliant bud.

Thanks very much Cam- that means a lot from a guy who is noted for building things from component atoms and moving forward from there. It is nice to be able to say sometimes that from the ground up- "it's mine". I did cheat on one item though (the original rule to myself being 'no gubbins or parts from kits') and that is the radio pack on the pack of the traversing housing from Robogear! Other than that, I stayed fairly true to the original intent. And in the 1st Ranger Battalion, the motto was 'if you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'. And if you get caught, you ain't tryin' hard enough.

More follows soonest.

Actually, skin-tone pink makes a very good base for many kinds of stone and sand. Plus, being a light color it can be made more varied with a lot of browns and yellows without them looking really out of place. Even whites... Since You are planning so much ahead, You can paint on some shadows where static grass tufts will be placed. Just make them deeper than Agrax. Smoke diluted with water?

Very good AA setup!

Thanks for the tips, Wirecat- I'm definitely trying them on the project after the killer robot (going for metallic chromatics on that one)! But either the wizard's cottage or the landing pad or both are going to be set in a desert-y terrain, and have good broad bases to play with, so I'm in.

Good job finishing off the AA gun. Looking nice.

Well, you know, I DO have a camera watching you...

Thanks Doc!

Brian- that camera is the best goad to getting work done I know of!

Here's a WIP pic of the "Defender" (aka: the Killer Robot of Death):



I know I said this was next, and work _is_ getting done along with the other projects, but I feel another itch to scratch coming on, this time something along the lines of a coastal defense artillery piece in a disappearing gun mount, but set up along the lines of a low-planetary orbit defense gun- to be named The Cyclobs.

We'll see what really gets finished next- more follows soonest.

That coastal defense style gun sounds cool, I'm looking forward to it whether it comes before or after the killer robot.

You know my Ordinatus is gently mocking your puny not-quite-to-orbit 'gun', right? Right.

--B.

"Yes, Golgotha, you're still the biggest. There, there. Let's have some ice cream."

No worries mate- that's the great thing about the Empire: if this one doesn't reach you, the next one will for sure!

OK, the killer robot of death (aka: The Guardian) is done, here's pics:









This is a Tehnolog kit, I think I gave US$6 each for two of them a few months back (or years, at the rate I work). The whole thing press fitted together so well it didn't need any glue. I added some to the shroud, just in case, but it really was okay without. New things tried/learned:

* Used my airbrush and a stencil to try to do the hexagon outline 'street-fighting' camo pattern (the model really wasn't well suited to it, but ya gotta start somewhere)
* Used pre-thinned, metallic inks to do the camo (mixed feelings here, it actually came out how I wanted- just not sure what I wanted is what I want, y'know?)
* The heat-distortion on the muzzles of the blasters/lasers/BFGs needs to be applied in more uniform bands to be realistic, and is better applied to a longer,barrel
* I tried to use more 'mechanicus' metallic colors, fewer of my strengths which are 'infantry hidin' colors' like browns, greens and greys
* Tried to avoid just slopping washes around- it's very effective for reallly grubby grunt-types (hey- I R1 !) but not so good for 'mechnicus'
* Having said that, I _really_ like how the treads came out

Here are some size comparison shots, starting with a Leman Russ:



And with some Oldhammer Imperial Guard metal figures:



And finally- just for fun- with an assemblage of various figures from different manufacturers including Games Workshop, Wargames Factory, Heresy Labs, Dreamforge Games Raging Heroes and Kromlech. I figure they're like some Rod Serling Twilight Zone epsiode- all drawn to this one place, at this one time, for some unknown purpose. Really, this mob might make a Rogue Trader explorer team- you've got a leader, a medic, couple of heavy weapons, heavy assualt infantry, scout, etc, even a bagpiper:



Tried to do better with the lighting- still have to build a light box.

Next up:

The Wizard Cottage and/or

The Flight Landing Pad and/or

The Low Orbit Defense Cannon

More follows soonest

Meer_Cat,

I vote for the Flight Landing Pad.

There are some really old rogue trader Guardsmen and women in from of that Killer Robot.

Cheers,

CB

I love that Tehnolog kit. May have to get some. Nice paint job!

Thank you, Johnny! I learned a lot trying things on this project, and already have ideas for trying out on the second one. The Robogear/Tehnolog stuff is amazing- they really offer a lot of different things. In looking at the pics though, I see that I did the 'heat distortion' colors in reverse order- the sepia should be closest to the muzzle, then the purple wash and then the blue (I think, I'll have to watch the Warhammer TV video again!)

Thank you, Captain- the landing pad it is! I may be working on the wizard's cottage a bit as I go, since I'm going to be casting some parts from my Hirst Arts pipeline and small robot molds, might as well also cast some parts for the cottage. Besides, the pieces have been hogging the best spot on my kitchen counter for almost a month now- time to do something with them or pack them out of the way.

The landing pad would be nothing without a flyer, so here are the pieces for a Robogear Condor kit cleaned up:



Here they are partially assembled and primered:



I'll do it with the canopy closed and blacked out- it'll give me a chance to try some of the techniques I've seen here on DakkaDakka for painting the canopy panels using blacks, blues and silver-greys. I'm going to have to fabricate my own landing gear as well- wheels, skids or struts, as the kit doesn't have any- it came with a very nice flying stand which I'm going to repurpose for a Chibi Pony Superhero project for my wife

Here are some of the components I'll be using for the landing platform itself:



You can see the double DVD holder, the white plastic is the drywall corner stuff I used on my LOER project for decking and the syringes are for an oral supplement for our Shetland pony rescues (it tastes like apple and they love it).

I'll also have the chance to try my hand at illuminating the structure with LEDs- for street lights and landing lights both. I have some components and just have to settle on a battery pack and then do the math so I get the number of bulbs and resistors right for the volts I'm going to push.

I may even get really motivated and do a couple of ground crew servicing the Condor to complete the scene! (Gotta get on ebay though, and get some more Cadian bits- I'm running out).

Thank you all for looking in, and more follows soonest!

What Cadian bits do you need? I have a small pile.

Love the killer robot, thanks for the scale shot as it’s much bigger than I thought it would be.

The condor looks very promising.

Good work stretching yourself with new skills, I need to do that too.

I really like the killer robot. The group.shots also look neat.

On the other hand... Where do.you rescue shetland ponies.from? And why do they need rescuing?

 Briancj wrote:
What Cadian bits do you need? I have a small pile.

Hi briancj! Thank you for looking in. I don't have any specific needs- just like having a variety of legs, torsos, arms and heads on hand to throw something together when needed. In the past, I've cobbled up basically straight from the box type figures for things like the ammo handlers on the Phaethon. Now that I'm starting to experiment with greenstuff, the basic Cadian body parts will form the basic figure, while I'll start trying to modify the kit and armor some with putty. I've still some bits on hand myself, enough for a bit, but I'll start scoping the el cheapo auctions on eBay for a score!

 Theophony wrote:
Love the killer robot, thanks for the scale shot as it’s much bigger than I thought it would be.

The condor looks very promising.

Good work stretching yourself with new skills, I need to do that too.

Thanks, Theo! Yep, the Tehnolog robot is a big beast- even I didn't realize how bulky (I knew it was tall) until I took the comparison shot. It reminds me of the machine Skynet took over in the third Terminator movie, only even a little bigger, I think. I don't really like the look of the blue and gold face- may redo those in more metallic grey colors, and dim the eyes a bit. And definitely must redo the gun muzzles!

 Flinty wrote:
I really like the killer robot. The group.shots also look neat.

On the other hand... Where do you rescue Shetland ponies from? And why do they need rescuing?

Thanks, Flinty! I wanted a shot with infantry to show the height of the robot- it was really a bit of whimsy to grab one of each of the several manufacturers I've painted up and stick them together- I didn't realize I had so many.

In a nutshell, my wife has always had horses- started to ride when she was three, I think. As we're getting older we've deliberately moved more into taking care of ponies- the equipment is lighter, the cost of feed is significantly less and they are darn smart. We got into rescuing Shetlands primarily because where we are there are a lot of horse facilities (farms, breeders, trainers) but almost no one who is set up for smaller equines. You really can't mix them together with full-size horses in open pastures and paddocks- the little ones think they are just as big as everyone else and they won't back down. And ponies shouldn't have too much grass graze- if any- as it is, it's too rich for them and they can easily founder and/or colic.

The sources for our rescues are usually word of mouth- people see a little guy out in a huge pasture with big guys, often limping from preliminary founder. We'll visit and offer to take the animal away and try to recover them or humanely put them down if it is too advanced. Usually the pony belonged to a kid, the kid grew up and now there is no one to give ti all the care it needs- and they can't just be turned out like a big horse- their instincts are very different.

Unfortunately, some people shouldn't be allowed to have goldfish. Some of our rescues get referred to us by the SPCA or the police; they've been forcibly remved from homes where there just aren't any facilities and they're suffering badly. We literally got one handed to us by the State Troopers that had been gotten as a birthday present for a kid, but the family lived in a development with a backyard that was about five yards deep and ten yards wide. The pony had no little shed, no shelter at all. There was a scraggly tree, and the family figured the little pony could eat the grass, and hide under the tree when it rained or snowed. It didn't take long for the yard to turn to mud, they didn't know what to feed it, they had no way of removing the manure, the teeth hadn't been floated in so long that it cold barely chew and the hooves were so long untrimmed that they had grown into a condition called 'Persian Slipper', where the toes have grown out so much it curls up in front and they have difficulty walking.

I believe that animals should live more or less domestically as they do in the wild- our base herd of four live outside year round, for instance. But on stone dust paddock that gets policed twice a day for manure and they each have their own little shelter. That's the permanent herd, the ones no one else will ever want because of their physical and mental quirks and special needs. The others that come through have stalls in the barn and when we get a new one in we feed it back up to normal weight and work on restoring its trust in people. We do a lot of in-hand work, leading it arund and getting it to want to work with people again. Some few never do, but most come around in a few weeks or months. They naturally want to work with people and be part of a herd. When they're ready, we teach them how to pull a cart, to give them sense of purpose, make it easier to keep up with exercising them and to make them more attractive to fostering or adoption by other homes. We work quite closely with three big horse rescues in the area that have the means of vetting potential adopters, and we take ponies from them all the time to rehabilitate.

Our base herd pull carts, carriages and agricultural implements. We can cut our own hay, windrow it and make it into miniature bales- all with pony power! They fight for the chanc eto go out when they see us with the harness.

We are also accredited with our State Board of Medicine and the Veteran Affairs Bureau to help with equine therapy for PTSD sufferers- combat vets, abused children and spouses. They respond very well to horses and especially our little guys. At the end of the day, no matter how powerful a horse may appear, they need to be part of a herd, they're lost without a partner, and people who have themselves had a very rough time can sense that need and respond strongly to it.

All in all, we've helped rehabilitate and place around 17 horses and ponies. A big advantage to ponies is, when they step on your foot- it only hurts, it doesn't splinter!

Thanks all for looking in and listening to my spiel. More follows soonest.

Wow, very cool. As a child we had horses and a pasture, but due to finances they went to our cousins when I was about 9 or 10. They had herds and fields. Never had any little Shetland ponies though.

People in a development buying a Shetland?.......it’s like the stories you here of people with exotic cats like tigers, too bad the pony couldn’t eat them .

It's not for lack of trying- our little guys are quite determined in using their chompers. The tie-in for modeling, is our little guys are the models for the Chibi Ponies that I did earlier, and will be the platform for the next lot, which are going to be superheroes (Super-Pony, Spider, Pony, Wonder-Pony and probably Electric-Pony (Electra). I'm already doing requests for folks who would like a Chibi of their horse or pony- they send a photo to my wife, who nags me. It is a lot of fun, but I'm running out of Tehnolog Chibi Ponies. I bought up what I could find when the missus liked the first lot so well, but they're getting hard to find on eBay now. I still have a dozen or so, and that may be enough.

Wire-cat is on the wire, watching and twitching with impatience.

Thanks Wirecat- I hope to have some WIP Pics a little later tonight!

Update for today (not sure when I'll get more pics up):

I've been busy the last couple of days, getting a lot done on several different things. First up, the actual flying/landing pad part of the project. I've decided that the vignette is going to be a 'rapid delivery service' diorama, with a small air freight delivery service that has seen more prosperous days and an aging Condor light-fighter adapted for small but valuable cargo delivery. The office will be a cobbled together shack under the pad itself, and repair/maintenance gear will be spotted about.

Here's the CD case that will form the basis of the landing pad, I've trimmed out part of the knobbly bits that hold a CD in place as they stick up to high:



But I've saved the bits for some other project because they are arrowhead shaped- you never know when you'll need something like that:



Here's the underside girders in place:



And the underlayment for the top side landing pad mesh (the knobbly bits that remain were making the mesh lumpy, so I had to raise it up a bit):



In related news, here's some more work done on the Condor:



And a crate barricade that came free from the store on Etsy where I got the laser cannons and such- this will be stacked outside the door to the office, forlornly waiting its turn to be delivered:



And I'm also casting up more pieces for the wizard's cottage, plus some pipe sections for this diorama (I'd forgotten I had the Hiirst Arts 5/8 inch pipe mold):



I'm gluing the landing pad mesh (which is made from plastic canvas left over from the Phaethon project) to the landing pad frame, which in retrospect is a mistake- I should have painted the frame and the mesh up separately, it would have been a lot easier. Live and learn.

More follows soonest.

All looking interesting.

Thanks much, Doc- it's been a productive few weeks for me!

Dont stop then! Good luck, Meer_Cat, You're on the roll!

Still rolling hot, Wirecat- here's an update for the last couple of days:

Missile pods for the Condor are assembled and basecoated (because delivery flyers have missile pods, you know):



These will get dinged up and weathered some, the rockets will get detailed and one pod will have a hot cable wired to the hard point, because the integral arming circuit is bad....

The undelivered cargo crates are base coated and the canopy 'Perspex' is fitted and glued in:



The big bit, completed just tonight, is the landing carriage for the Condor. This was built out a piece at a time (too many weird angles for me to calculate and measure and get it right) and built up into the rack and then the skids were added:







I didn't plan to add the skids at first- but the darn thing was too heavy towards the tail. I tried adding weight (dime coins) into the cockpit itself, but couldn't fit enough weight. So, I added the skids and it worked fine- no extra counter-weight needed. And I like the look better with them.

Because the landing pad is so small, it's clearly intended for VTOL aircraft, which means I need to add a ducted fan under the fuselage aft of the engine housing, to simulate a vertical take off capability. Once at altitude, the jet stream is ducted out the back of the jet pods, instead of down, and the turbofans in front must act as compressors to supercharge the airflow- or something.

Thanks for looking in, your comments, observations and suggestions are always welcome.

More follows soonest!

Looking great Meer_Cat, keep up this amazing turn over of progress if you can, it's fun for the rest of us.

The extra labor you put into the landing gear really paid off .

That is looking seriously nice sir, brilliant work.

Thanks for looking in Cam, Theo, Syro- and for the kind words!

Got a lot of puttering done tonight, little things that lead to bigger things worth showing in pictures. One thing I will share tonight is this:



I used plastic canvas for the 'no-slip' surface on the landing pad, and these are some of the off-cuts/trimmings. I read somewhere here on Dakka about one of you guys (maybe JohnnyHell?) trimming the stubs from plastic canvas to make rivets. I couldn't find my tiny sequins, so I tried it- you can see the addition on the trim strip on the nose of the Condor on the right. Not gorgeous, but actually looks pretty good at a distance of a foot or more. I need to trim them smaller, thinner, so they look more realistic.

Also, it's hard to see, but I left one of the 'rivet strips' intact- didn't cut the stubs off. To me, that looks a fair impression of a belt of bolter or stubber ammunition. I may mess around with something, another scratch-built machine gun, and see what I can do with it.

Started another project tonight- it'll be a 'middle of nowhere' water pumping station when finished. It's a proof-of-concept terrain piece for the pipe sections I've been casting, and lets me use up some more 'precious junk' floating around on my shelves.

Thanks for looking in, more follows soonest.

Meer_Cat,

Interesting idea on the launch pad.

Cheers,

CB

Thanks, Captain! I'm following your HMCS Chilliwack project with great avidity.

Just one quick pic tonight- I've gotten a lot of detail work done over the last couple days and pretty soon will be close enough to final assembly that intermediate pics won't have much point other than to spoil the grand reveal, so here's a general idea of what the finished project will look like:



I do still intend to have a white beacon light mounted on a high mast, an elevator (lift, for my cousins across the sea) for moving personnel and cargo up and down from the pad and red and green landing lights- plus a metric crap-ton of additional detail. Because, as I frequently say, if it's worth doing, IT'S WORTH OVERDOING!

Oh, also finished gluing up the pipes for the desert pumping station and detailing the pump house itself. Found an older Bitspudlo Eldar wannabe Farseer on a jetbike, so I started deflashing that- although it is a fairly clean kit. Other than that, nothing much.

Impressive. Most impressive! Some lifts/raising platforms on the side?

just needs a way up/.down added?

Wirecat, shas, you're both thinking in unison!

Yep, I'm picturing a small, square personnel lift at one end (for those hoighty-toighty pilot types) and a broader, 'shelf' lift on one side (picture the elevator on the side of an aircraft carrier) for cargo. Work ran long today (will all week- I'm on the platform teaching) but I'm hoping to get some work in tonight that will advance the project some.

Thanks for looking in, and for the advice!

Platform looks good and I like the idea for the lifts, especially the hoity toity lift .

I've got some definite ideas on ho the lifts are going to fit on- I need some time to get the platform supports fixed onto the base, so that everything is sturdy first. This has been a tough week, but I should get some time in soon and get this project moving again. I'm only on the platform teaching one day next week- but for two different classes.

Still going to try to have working LED landing lights, too.

I often think about adding lights then think they will barely get used in reality so why bother, just do a little OSL painting and that will do.

I did a lift on a piece a while back and did it by sticking a strip of magnetic stuff up the wall and put some magnets in the platform, performed well and meant you could easily move the platform.

All looking great bud, you really are making some great stuff, lots of inspiration.

Thanks Cam!

With the landing lights, it more to try it out, than I think I will ever use it. But if I learn a bit of soldering (I used to do some, need to re-acquire the skill) and wiring and work the formulas for voltage, resistors and LEDs- I might use them on something else that _does_ need them.

I think I remember your project involving a lift- I may have to rethink my approach to incorporate the magnets so they are more useful for gaming.

So many things to try- so little time!

Thanks for looking in!

The wedding I cleaned up from last night had some strings of micro LED lights that are battery powered. I’ve seen them at HobbyLobby, I think they’d be a great use for scale models.

Platform and craft looking good.

Thank you Theo, Doc!

I'd read an article on using old Christmas light strings for the same effect, and considered going that route. But my Dad was an Interior Communications Electrician in the Navy during the Korean War, I was soldering things together at age 11. So for this one, at least, I'm going to solder my own circuits and see what happens.


Besides, you get 8 billion resistors for a buck, and if you cut the wire leads off, they look remarkably like energy drink cans, Red Bull and the like!

"Let no bit go wasted" The Monks of Eternal Scavenge

More follows soonest. I have another class this week coming, but it is only two days and is mostly office briefs to new chums- very little actual instruction or facilitation from me, so I hope to have some time to get some real work done. I'm at the point where a lot of the sub-assemblies are finished, and the whole big thing is getting ready to emerge from the chaos of my work bench.

Sheesh! Lots of little steps getting done, but not up to major assembly yet. Here's a couple of pics:

This will be the 'office' for the delivery company- obviously inspired by Clanmac's Junktown. Insaniak gave out the company website for the mdf containers and I made the front windows and door from styrene strip. The 'air conditioner' is a casting from Hirst Arts Robot molds. The louvers on the back are Lego shutters purchased on ebay (saw that trick somewhere here on Dakka too):







These next pieces have been fun so far. The mobile welding rig is another kitbash from Hirst Arts Robots mold. The 'jet turbine engine' will be hanging from a chain hoist and is made from:

- the 'squirter' part of a shampoo mechanism (a' la Flinty)
- a water bottle cap
- the trigger safeties from aerosol bug bombs
- styrene cut to be the turbine vanes (as like Klaus, Alaricuk and JohnnyHell, just not as precise)
- a pony supplement paste syringe cap




I'll arrange for some internal integuments to be visible through open maintenance hatch, probably some wires spilling out.

The fun step coming up is breaking out the airbrush to get some base colors on the container office, the Condor flyer and jet engine. Then it's assembly and lots of washes to get the shine off the spray painted grey supports and platform. Going to have to cut a stencil so I can get a landing number painted (and then weathered) onto the platform. I've got elevators to build also. Plus a lot more scatter around to (as Doc H informs us) 'help tell the story'.

I've been collaterally building a piping test piece too- that is now all cast and partly glued up and base painted. Needs Bolt Gun washes and some other weathering and is mostly done. Pictures shortly.

More follows soonest.

Looking good there sir, nice mix of bits and interested to see how you go with the painting.

Liking the “office” looking forward to see what it turns out like with paint on. The mobile welding rig is a great idea too.

Thanks for looking in Cam, Alaricuk!

I got a first layer of paint on the shipping container last night, using the new airbrush. I'm still getting used to it, and how to thin the paint properly, etc, so want to have another go tonight. I'm still puzzling the best way to fasten the 'support pillars' (made from the supplement syringes) to the wooden base- I'm thinking that I'll roughout where everything goes, drill a hole and insert a flathead drywall screw through the bottom, so it sticks up through the base and work a blob of greenstuff around the screw and fit the tube down over it- that should dry out nice and steady! It has to be a strong bond, because there will be a fair amount of superstructure stuck on top....

More follows soonest!

Wonderful mix-n-match recipe here, Meer_Cat. Should be good after paint has brought it all together!

Good work. Nice little container-shack.

 Meer_Cat wrote:
... Plus a lot more scatter around to (as Doc H informs us) 'help tell the story'...

As your doctor I advise you to tell a story.

That shack is nice! can't wait to see it painted up

Good evening all and thank you for looking in- I'm sorry I haven't been as active here lately as I would have liked to have been!

Wirecat wrote:
Wonderful mix-n-match recipe here, Meer_Cat. Should be good after paint has brought it all together!

Thank you Wirecat! I've added some more gewgaws to the turbine engine and it and several other pieces (to include the servitor/mechanic that will be tinkering with it) are lined up ready to spray paint- I just need an unoccupied minute to do so! As Napoleon messaged to Ney- marching away from the battlefield at Quatre Bras to support the Emperor at Waterloo- "ask me for anything except time!"

 Dr H wrote:
Good work. Nice little container-shack.

 Meer_Cat wrote:
... Plus a lot more scatter around to (as Doc H informs us) 'help tell the story'...

As your doctor I advise you to tell a story.

Thanks Doc! And I _always_ follow doctor's orders!

 shasolenzabi wrote:
That shack is nice! can't wait to see it painted up

Thanks Shas! It's good to have you stop in and comment, and good to see you back on the boards generally- you've got some great stuff going on.

Here is a shot (using my phone, I forgot my little camera at the farm this past weekend) of a project that I've been running concurrently with the flying pad/delivery service build. I'd normally have waited to post anything until I had more to show of the whole project, but I am _very_ pleased with how these pipes came out, so wanted to share with you all.

The pipes themselves are cast from dental plaster using Hirst Arts mold #320. They are for a small project that I think I've mentioned here before of a 'desert pumping station'. The project is a platform for learning things about using my airbrush, and wow! what a difference from the techniques I regularly use with brushes!

I primered these white and then basecoated them with copper (the same craft store, $1 a bottle copper I used in the LOER competition a few months ago- just needed liberal amounts of flow-enhancer). The airbrush applied the coat much more smoothly, thinner and more sparingly of paint than I could have done with a brush. I then airbrushed on a very dark grey (craft paint again) at all the joins and flanges to form the base of the corrosion/oxidation look I wanted. I then airbrushed the dark turqouis-ish green-blue onto the dark flat grey, but lighter and lesser. Last, I drybrushed an even lighter shade of blue-green base turquois to act as highlights. Like I said, I'm extremely pleased with how it came out, but it is well known that I am a) biased and b) half-blind. What do you guys think?



More follows soonest- the desert pumping station is almost ready to start gluing things down to the base board!

Those are sweet looking pipes, some light colored like a green/gray for verdigris may be called for depending on how old the pipes are supposed to be in your terrain. Just an idea is all.

I think you're right Shas- too much bright, shiny copper showing through.

I hit the main pipe lengths with another coat of dark grey, then a coat of the turquois using the airbrush, to tone down the shine some. I didn't airbrush on the lightest color turquois so that the oxidation at the joints would stand out more.

Here's new pics (apologies for the lighting):







The pipes are tacked into place on their base, which is granite flecked grey with weathering dirt rubbed in on top and they are in pretty much the final layout arrangment. Really, the only piece I plan to add is the pump shed itself, with its satellite uplink.

Thoughts? Constructive criticism greatly appreciated.

Looks pretty good, can't wait for the shed!

(UK modeling is all about the sheds.)

Meer_Cat,

Love the little office and the parts from all sorts of sources.

Cheers,

CB

New pipes are better at being old. But - copper, if You really want them to be copper, is one of the most colorful metals around. It gets brown and green with age, white with corroding elements, blue and red when repeatedly heated. Dusting things down is a good all-round recipe, but... You could try many things pretending them to be coppery.

Thank you Briancj, CB and Wirecat!

True, copper gotta copperate- the chameleon of the metallic world. I've had to clean enough of it in my life to have a better idea of al the colors it can display as it oxidizes, but it's amazing how tunnel-visioned I can get with the 'I saw it this way in some Dakka photo, and that's the way I'm going to try to get it to look!'.

I think part of it at the moment are is the limits on my painting time- it's hard to want to try to experiment- and potentially re-prime and start over- when it takes forever to finish something.

On the other hand, my skills with the airbrush- the original point of the exercise- are an order of magnitude better than they were (anything added to 'zero' is an order of magnitude, right?) when I started. My understanding of thinning/flow enhancing, flow and pressure balance and precision painting versus 'fogging' is much greater. I'm not up to doing the belt buckles on my IG guys yet, but working towards it!

Thanks for looking in- more follows soonest!