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Summer break plus COVID quarantine! Let's goooooo!

On the vague to-do list:

Finish painting 5 converted Ogryns
Build & paint 3 stock Bullgryns
Build & paint a Chimera (Bullgryn taxi)
Paint some HQ models for my Inquisitorial proxy army
Build & paint MDF towers and bridges
Build more rocky outcrops with twist trees (see above)
Return to Battle Sisters: Repentia, Sacresants, Morvenn Vahl, Retributers, Hospitaller

 MacPhail wrote:
I'm quite content with the outcome, and it's a good fit for this cycle's theme ("Biomes") in the LoER Hobby Challenge. Revisions for next time: I'll mix wire gauges as discussed above, I'll scale up about 25% to more easily fit models, and I'll try to pick up my efficiency. Ultimately I'd like to knock out 3 more of these, but taller and wider and faster.

MacPhail,

Very nice build of the tree and base.

Cheers,

CB

 MacPhail wrote:
Summer break plus COVID quarantine! Let's goooooo!

On the vague to-do list:

Finish painting 5 converted Ogryns
Build & paint 3 stock Bullgryns
Build & paint a Chimera (Bullgryn taxi)
Paint some HQ models for my Inquisitorial proxy army
Build & paint MDF towers and bridges
Build more rocky outcrops with twist trees (see above)
Return to Battle Sisters: Repentia, Sacresants, Morvenn Vahl, Retributers, Hospitaller

Hoping you can enjoy some hobby time!

Thanks Captain Brown, and thank you Syro, I did indeed. Here's an update of current progress:

I had bought a big (maybe medium, given how huge some kits are) order of MDF terrain kits back in 2018; the designer was Prometheum Forge (the beer can-based series) and the fulfillment was done by Every Little War. At the time I built and painted two horizontal fuel storage tanks, two towers, a bridge, and two walkways. I liked the looks of it, but I had trouble integrating it into table set-ups. The remainder has sat on my shelf ever since.

This cycle's League of Extraordinary Riveters Hobby Challenge theme is "Elevation," so I thought these were a good fit, plus I want to extend my urban terrain collection, they're taking up space, and my skills and aesthetics have developed since then. So here we go!

Here's the original towers+bridge+walkways combination (not shown: two fuel tanks). I have painted them green with gray cans and metallic girders (I was going for a sort of institutional green) and they've been featured in a bunch of my battle reports.
Here's what I'm going to add: another can tower (bottom left), another bridge section (bottom center), and another walkway (top left) to join the ones I already have AND two vertical tanks / watchtowers (top center), a triple-can storage silo (top right), and a bunch of ladders (bottom right). Since I had bought the original bunch of MDF together, I had also painted all the cans together, so at least that chore is done.
Next steps were to punch out and assemble the first batch for paint. The quick ones were the tower, bridge, and walkway. I got those built and painted in a single day.
The watchtowers with their spiral stairs were quite a bit harder. I got the first one built last night, and the second one (not pictured) today, so those and the triple-tank are now ready for paint. The fiddly little stair pieces were nearly the end of me. The first one gave me the runaround, but the second was more successful; both were slow and tedious.
The rain began before I could paint the second round, so I dug out some homemade transfer decals my friend Doug had made and given me. They'll help break up the faces of those big tanks and fit my frontier outpost theme. I've already got the first few mounted... more pics tomorrow.

Looks like a lot got done on that terrain

Yep, pushing hard to get these done. Here's today's progress... everything is mostly built, and I got most of the sub-assembly painting done that I'd planned. I wanted to get the patina and rust done on that huge volume of metal stairs and girders and ladders because I prefer sponges and I didn't want to make a mess of the cans. I also sponged some slight variations of color onto the tanks for depth, finished my transfer decals, and streaked some Agrax on them while it was easy to do so. I did manage to break one of the spiral stairs, so I mounted them on extra cans with rubber bands for strength. The paint sequence is as follows: sprayed with Leadbelcher, than stippled with Leadbelcher tinted with Mournfang Brown, then more stippling with Ryza Rust, and then selective washing with Agrax. Once they're assembled, I go back with Typhus Corrosion and Stormhost Silver to establish wear patterns and add some complexity.

The tanks look great. Even with the frustration of the stairs, it seems having MDF cut outs is much easier than cutting each step, rung, and railing out of chipboard like I decided to do.

Can't wait to shoot you off of them.

Thanks DJ! I got the expanded PVC sheets I ordered, so these will get their bases soon, which will really help hold those stairs together. I think I'll do one more round of weathering before assembly; the cans still look a little to stark and clean compared to the metal. Should have more progress to show by midweek.

I'm hitting pause on the MDF terrain for a few days to try to get some models ready for a game this weekend. Here's how the towers and tanks stand currently:


I'm trying to push my converted "Orkgryns" over the line, including bases, as I've already spend the upgrade points in our Crusade campaign for them. I've got most of the base colors down except for skin... I'm going to challenge myself to vary skin tones a bit. Then assembly and basing, and hopefully some detail work before the game.


I'm also trying to get some of my Inquisitorial retinue done. Greyfax has been close for a while, but the cape was vexing me. The other two are my proxies for Straken and Harker; they, plus Bullgryns, Ogryns, and Scions are the core of my Inquisition-themed Catachan army.

The WIP Orkgryn look fun and always good to see inquistorial elements getting done!

The new terrain is coming on well Mac. I’ve always enjoyed the aesthetic of the beer can tanks. They work well as bridge supports too.

The orkgryns look exciting, are they left over nob bodies with left over ogre heads? Good luck getting them ready for their battle