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@Doc - Yeah, I am also trying to figure out what I want lit up inside as well. I might be looking at 2-3 different circuits, but wont be sure until I start getting my hands dirty with it. And I figure with the rear compartment needing the top half of the rear engine as well as putting in a plasma generator and machine spirit, I should have space back there for one of the circuits.

@Warboss - Thanks and feel free. I hope to get them painted this weekend and will be able to see how the texture on them comes out.



SUPPLY DROP!!!!

Here are the goodies I got from Cam's Bag of Coolness!




And yes, some of this stuff will be used immediately for this terrain project. Some of it was in dire need and I am so glad I got it, Thanks a ton Cam!!!! =D


And I also got this today from Walmart

Here I got some 1'x1' cork board tiles which will be my asphalt road. Then replaced my dead soldering iron for a new one and some new solder to pimp out this project. And some terrain paints I had run out of last project.

And lastly my fiber optic cables got here from China that I need for this project and for my Thunderhawk.

I ordered these two weeks after I ordered my rivets and the rivets still havent arrived from china. but they still got 3 weeks, I just hope they get here soon so I can make use of them.

Also about to put in an order for a ton of LEDs as my supply of them is getting low. And after tonite I got the next three nights off so I can finally get some more work done without having to be hyped up on coffee. =D

Cam sent you a foot? How macacbre. [top image]

You will find the supply drop to be endlessly useful. Lots of good stuff, and inspiration for other things. The rhinestone gems made great light fixtures in my last project, for example.

SUPPLY DROP

There ya go. 500 LEDs (100 Red, 100 Green, 100 Yellow, 100 Blue, 100 clear) as well as some heat shrink as I loathe electrical tape, it just seems so.....unprofessional.

Anyways, I can now finish wiring up everything for the Road Terrain piece as well as get started on my Thunderhawk.

WiP pics to come soon!

Not dead, just busy and had to decide: Groceries or Internet?


Work up to this point:


Completed tire spikes and ready for priming/painting





The board I decided to use that was cheap and effective was the back of a dry erase board. I attached the cork board with rubber cement and weathered it up as well as roughed up the edges a little. I wanted this road to appear to be fairly new, but not as if just recently paved either. I also tried to add some depth to the areas that will be grass by attaching some styrene to make it less flat. Flocking and such to come. Using Frog Tape I painted the lines onto the road, again, not weathering them too much so as to look like the road was made within the last year or so. It bled a little through the tape so a little clean up is needed.


The barricades are mostly done. I just need to get the reflectors painted and add some details in the painting.







The street lights are made up almost entirely of pens, using the tube and caps as well as that little end piece. These are almost ready for priming, just need to file off the little "made in china" spots on them. The circuits used for this will be two parrellel sets of LEDs, 4 white in one and 2 red/1blue in the other, which should eliminate my need of a resistor which so many guides insist on having. The whites, naturally are in streetlights while the other will be in the guard shack. The guard shack will also be making use of Fiber Optic cable so as to add more realism to various spots inside the shack as well as outside the shack. All lights will be controlled by a single switch located inside the air conditioning unit on the roof of the guard shack.

So, I am expecting to be done either Sunday night or Monday afternoon, weather and kids permitting.

Well, kinda late for the contest but hopefully still accepted. I sent PM to Red and hopefully it can still get in. Just with weather, kids home from fall break, promotion at work and my thinging it was due midnight tonite, just couldnt be helped.




Sorry, just with weather, kids home for fall break and getting promotion at work, I was late. And I thought it was due tonite at midnight. I hope I can still get in, if not, there is always next time.



SLIDESHOW
http://s1244.photobucket.com/user/IHasDonut/slideshow/Gaming%20Terrain/Completed%20Works/The%20Road




INDIVIDUALS

Looks brilliant bud. Love the detailing, the barricades look very convincing, nice touch with the lighting as well. Brilliant work.

Thanks. I went so far as to put some trash along the barricades too, some crumpled paper and that ever present plastic bag from Wal-Mart =D

With arrival of the legs, I finished all the cutting and drilling I needed for my fig. Here are the results. And I apologize for pic quality. I just got my Macro lens for my tablet and am still learning the use of it.

First pics are of the off hand gun.


These show where the barrel was bored out and continues through to the hand.

Next up are the kneeling legs.


Here I had to bore through the legs and you can see a few spots where I went through too much (nothing a little liquid green stuff cant fix). Already ran the wire through them to where I hollowed out the hips to feed up to the LED in the chest. Hardest challenge here was to bore the holes in a way that had a max of a 45 degree angle otherwise the wire wouldnt go through. I wish I had some magnet wire as it is much thinner and could go through a 90 degree angle.

Here are the two halves of the chest.


Both halves have been hollowed out to allow room for the LED as well as heat shrink around it to prevent as much bleed out. Also enough room is needed to give the fiber optics room as I want to try to prevent having to melt 90 degree angles in them if possible. There will be three optics going up to the helm, one to the left arm and two to the right arm.

Here are the pics of the helm. I opted for the beaky helm as I thought it is more appropriate for this type of model.


The inside was hollowed out a much as I can to again prevent the need to make the fiber optics bend at 90 degrees. Both Eye slits and the little "thingy" on the top have been drilled. Once the fiber optic is ready to go in, I will mushroom the tips and shape them as needed to properly fit into each socket.

The Arms up next


The arms had to be separated from the hands in order to be able to thread the fiber optics through properly as well as bore everything cleanly.

Main hand gun



Here the barrel was bored out through to the hand. There is also a hole on the top of the gun as that is where the scope will attach (which I guess I forgot the pics for that). Both the barrel and scope will have fiber optics in it and will be mushroomed to fit the sockets well. Also, there is a small hole on the back of the gun as I plan to put a folding wire stock on it.

Gun barrel

And here is the gan with its elongated barrel with the flash suppressor/silencer.


And just a shot of some fiber optic strands =D




my debate now is do I want to prime all the pieces first, or assemble first? If I prime first, after running the fiber optics through, the fibers will be protected a bit from the CA glue. Either way, I have the next two days off and hope to start assembly tomorrow. I also got some work done on the base but didnt bring it to work with me tonite to take pics.

I hope Threadomancy is ok when it comes to my own P&M Blog.

Anyways. Sorry I have been gone so long. On top of a promotion at work and additional training, over time, holidays and general life crap getting in my way, I hope to be able to get back to being active here once again.

I also want to apologize to Gitsplitta. He sent me the marine legs I needed to make an entry for his Mantis Maker Competition last year. I never got a chance to get it completed with everything that came up. So, I am sorry dude for not completing the project. It is on the top of my list to complete this winter season so I will continue to work on that project if anything so you can see the end result I had planned.

On top of everything that had hit me and kept me away, I also got my mid-life crisis car about a year and a half early. Downside is I gotta rebuild it. I had acquired in the spring two 1969 Impala's with enough parts between the two to build one fully working and restored car. And now that the weather is starting to get cold, I am not going to want to be working outside as much. But so far I got the one stripped down to its frame and cleaned it up, rebuilt a transmission and rebuilt the engine. Every so often if I get a nice day here I will tinker on it a bit, but now is the time for modelling again.

So, I am back at least until the warm weather comes again. Sorry again to those I left hanging.

The terrain contest: Thought I would throw my hat in the ring since I got a month still.


I always wanted to make a well for my Anima Tactics terrain so that is what I will be making. Something like the below:




Will start working on it Thursday Evening and get pics uploaded.

Okay, got all my materials gathered for the terrain contest:

Wooden sticks - - pictured below
Popsicle sticks
Toothpicks
some twine
A worthless CD
and basing materials




Unfortunately, there is not much progress to post at this time. All I did tonite was some measurements, cutting and dry fitting stuff. Tomorrow I hope to start assembly =D





I also got some work done on my Mantis Warrior that I never got finished last year.

Here I attached the scope and barrel, with the fiber optic strand going through the scope. The end of it was mushroomed with some heat to make the end larger.


Here I replaced the wire going through the legs with magnet wire. Much thinner and easier to work with.


Here I began working on the switch and battery assembly under the fig.





And please bear with me on picture quality. I got a macro lens attachment for my table and/or phone and havent had much time to experiment with it. I am sure the pics will get better in time.



Edit: delete repetitious pics from last year post already above this post.

Man that outpost is a cool piece of terrain.

Good progress on the Mantis Warrior.

EDC

Got a lot of work done tonite. I am trying to make this piece as though it were truely being made in the past, where things like nails and such were expensive and wooden plugs were used.






Here is a good close up of the plugs. Here I used the pin vise with a large bit and plugged the holes with toothpicks.


Needed to put a support in for the overhead arm.


Here is where I attached the support as well as finished the lip around the well.


For the pulley, I hollowed out a toothpick and ran a thread through it. This can be tied to the overhead arm and act as the pulled for the bucket. The twine I have looks a bit big for this scale so I may resort to thread for it all. Just gotta see after I attach it.


Then I got the roof pieces assembled








So all I have left now is to paint it, attach the roof, base it and rig up a bucket. SO far all materials except the "rope" and base are wood. =D





As for the Mantis warrior, I got some good progress done.

I got the battery installed and the wires under the base all soldered.


Here I am testing the work I have done as the LED is only just wired up, not yet soldered.


And here is where everything is trimmed down and soldered, still working and still good to go.



I also got some work done on the arms as I got to be cautious when working with CA glue and fiber optic strands. They dont like each other much.


More to come!

Well, didnt get a whole lot done today, but here is where I am at so far:

And I promise to get better lighting on the final pictures!









And began thinking about the base this will be put on and some little details I can add to it. How about a wooden rake?

Waiting for it to dry so I can cut off the excess and add the handle.



As for the Mantis warrior, I only got some minor glue work done tonite, nothing picture worthy.

Had other projects occupy my the last two days, but managed to slip some work into that time.


The bucket....

Used a pin vise to drill a hole through most of the wooden dowel.

Completed

The used a hobby knife to hollow the rest of the bucket out and carve in the "plank" lines.


And there is the completed rake.



So once I resolve my "rope" issue I can get the roof glued on and then begin the basing.




Now for the Mantis Warrior update.


This is some very thick plasticard that will be used as a partial wall on the base.


And here he is with both arms attached. Tested the fiber optic strands. They do light up, but not very brightly. I think part if it is the mushrooming technique used on the ends of the strands so next try I will see if maybe I can either get thicker strands or use multiples.

Next I will work on hiding the switch =D

Been busy a bit, but managed to get some work done.


Prepared the ammo box to be used to cover and hide the switch so that the magnet keeps it in place.



Started using green stuff on one of the shoulder pads so I can detail the Mantis Icon. For the other side I intend to use the should that has the multiple "bumps" on it, if I can find one. I know I had some in the bits boxes, just gotta find them.



Here I got the head attached as well as the collapse-able gun stock.



And here we are with the light on. The light does come through to the scope, but it is very very faint and is slightly noticeable in the dark. Since this is my first time running fiber optic through a fig, I will take the result as a success lol I am also not sure if I want to green stuff the collar around the neck or keep it where it looks like it is lit up too.

Really impressed by the approach to making the well. It's looking really great.

Mantis Warrior looks good as well.

EDC

Thanks!


Here is the paint scheme I will be aiming for.


Just need to find that shoulder in the 20+ pounds of bits I have lol

Managed to get about 15 minutes into my Mantis Warrior tonite. =(



Got the shoulders attached as well as the magnetic box to cover the switch done. Was also able to find the shoulder pad I was looking for in about 10 minutes =D


Cant really see the green stuff on the shoulder in this pic =(


Started to texture the "wall" that will be on the base behind the marine.


I am hoping to get this guy primed this weekend so I can begin the painting on him.

Mega impressive work, brilliant detailing.

MW is brilliant.

Got the mantis warrior primed and ready to start painting





Also took some pics of my work space, but they came out really dark. Probably shoulda turned both monitors on to get more light.

Just didnt take pics of all the stuff under my desk. I got more boxes with armies waiting to be painted, boxes of bits, 2 tool boxes and 2 milk crates full of misc supplies. Barely have room to stretch my legs out lol.






Automatically Appended Next Post:
Got the Mantis Warrior base coated and a wash applied to the armor. Thought I would upload the pic while I wait.




And even with the macro lens it came up blurry. Gonna have to play around some more with it.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Better?

RE-POSTED FROM MANTIS WARRIOR THREAD


Well, A year late which I am sure is a record, but here is my entry for the Mantis Competition 2.
Again, so sorry for not having gotten this completed. And still trying to work on taking better pics.
Would appreciate the same critiques you gave the other entrants that were ON TIME. LOL



Despite being separated from his unit, the lone mantis warrior must continue his mission against his enemy. To assault his enemies head on would be suicide, but to constantly harass them and destroy their supplies would help his comrades in other locations. Crouching down in the ruins and preparing his implemented explosives, he hears a sound nearby. Can he quickly dispatch any enemies that come across his location and still destroy the supply dump before having to move on to another location to continue his strikes?



Here are all the other angles



As for the LoER Terrain Contest: Got Wood, I am almost done. Just adding some fine detail work to it and will be able to post pics, possibly by the end of the weekend. =D

MW looks stunning shame he is a bit lare for the deadline. Would have given us a good run for the money. Brilliant work.

Looking forward to your comp entry. Excellent details

What kind of camera are you using, if you tell us the type we maybe now how to improve the settings

Generic Android tablet with kitkat4.4

I also have an attachable macro lens that fits over the camera lens on the tablet.

 GamesEtc wrote:
Generic Android tablet with kitkat4.4

I also have an attachable macro lens that fits over the camera lens on the tablet.

Guess that is the problem, seems like they used a cheap camera sensor. do you have enough ambient light?

well, if you look at the last two pics above....

The last one is just with the overhead light in my bedroom combined with my computer screen.

The one above it is the same except that my mag lamp was on and over the fig by about a foot.

I used the paper in hopes of getting better lighting on the fig.

And iirc the camera on this tablet is 2 megapixel. Link below
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JUZY33Q?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

Matching background colour to the subject can really help these cameras. They don't like too much contrast. So try a more neutral background. And try for lighting, as mentioned, it is important. if your light is a bit harsh, try a sheet of toilet paper between it and subject. be careful of fire risk! I have a piece taped in front of my camera flash to defuse the harshness.

Well, I submitted the pics of my Well for the LoER Terrain contest. 2 weeks early at that!!!!! Last time I did something it was a year late!
Anyways, I will post all the pics of the well here once Vic gets them posted with the other entrants in the contest.


So now that those two projects are done, I need to figure something else to do for the next couple of weeks and since it is getting colder outside, no more working on my truck or my project car until spring.

1. I got a fairly large lizardman army that I have been wanting to get painted and sell.

2. I got a bunch of Sisters that need painting as well as scratch building some APCs for them as I dont want to use Rhinos for them.

3. I got a FW Thunderhawk that I am adding extra detail to as well as LEDs and other cool effects.

4. My Angels Sanguine are only about 1/3 painted and the other 2/3 are a bland white.

5. I have 3 platoons and a crap load of guard tanks to get painted so I can sell them off too (Going Digital Camo on them all).

6. A massive Tau army that is maybe 1/10 painted and the other 9/10 are also a bland white.

7. Got about 20 Anima Tactics figs in various states of painting.

8. Got a fair amount of Orks for my son that need painting.

9. Got some other figs to work on just because I thought they would look good with LEDs.

10. Got about 20 pounds of bits to sort and put up for sale on my website.

11. Want to make some terrain pieces for the Lizardmen army to sell off with them.

12. Or spend some time playing ESO.


So what to do????

Well that lot should last you til christmas!

No good asking me, I am bias. You sit down with the boy and paint his orks, obviously.

Mind you intreged by thoughts of SoB transport.