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nerull wrote:I like how the big rig turned out too, very reminiscent of Fury Road. Bane and his crew make me want to get them at some point.

Cheers, Slime ooze the War Boy aesthetic so that's a pleasing comparison.
The Bane crew were fun to do, and good generic modern era Mercs/GI Joe style guys.

Gitsplitta wrote:Love the big rig graven. Looks right out of Mad Max! Those Bat Man figures really came out nicely. Clean and interesting to the eye. Nice.

Thanks buddy l enjoyed getting my cape on again

Well. What a surprise. My Big Rig won May's Gaslands contest! Dead chuffed. And lots of goodies as a prize, too. Several lovely armour plating and ram sets. Can't complain.

As for the long weekend generally

, well, Sunday was lost to Aladdin (unnecessary remake, frankly a bit crap) and getting the boy's Roman legionary costume done.

But! started some barriers, with random bits of leftover MDF and battered barrels (from Hayland Designs, that sponsored the contest, funnily enough).

More work on the murder bus.

Skin sails? Why not.

Some progress at last on the new Big Guns


Just about finished Osito

Need to fix his left eye, but that's all.

And on the Dreadball launcher, as me and the boys are playing some Ultimate.

Had a bonkers Bank Holiday of ultimate Dreadball with the boys. The Zees gave everyone the runaround, Barricade kept failing to slam successfully while the Teratons plodded about, Karadon ate an Yndij, and a rogue med-bot ran riot on the purch. In the end it went down to the last ball but the teratons failed to snatch victory from the Yndij!

Ultimate works really well with the kids, fewer models and actions means it was easier for them to keep track of what was going on. The launcher was pretty stable and sturdy (got knocked over by carelessness a couple of times) but marking the different scoring systems on it might be a useful aide memoire.

Next? Well #1 wants me to build and paint the Void Sirens (female human team) for him. Might do them purple in an attempt to draw in the wife ...
Graven

Sounds like lots of fun .

Your turret could also be used in Gaslands as a turret too .

The War Rig is an inspirational bit of madness. Purple Void Sirens sound like a good idea.

Good job all round.
Nice effects on the barricade.
Good progress on all the figures.
Top job on the big rig.
Like the Osito objective.
And anything else I missed upon catch-up.

Theophony wrote:Sounds like lots of fun .

Your turret could also be used in Gaslands as a turret too .

Oh, it was and yeah, why not? Although I still need to decide what's going on it, I'm drifting towards adverts, like vertical banner ads?

youwashock wrote:The War Rig is an inspirational bit of madness. Purple Void Sirens sound like a good idea.

I thank you. We spent a bit of time looking at them and came to the conclusion that, whilst great in regular DB, they'd be tough in Ultimate as they're a card-driven faction (fewer actions, fewer opportunities to generate cards). However, we sat and talked about what he wanted - Speed, at least average Skill and durability - and realised the Z'Zor (bugs) are perfect, as they're all naturally tougher than average (exoskeletons), faster-than average Strikers and Jacks slightly with above average speed that can generate bonus dice (a very good thing), and pretty average Skill (their Jacks scoring off 4+ on 1d6 or 1 of 2d6, Strikers typically looking for 1 5+ off 3d6). Plus they're already painted - result! Throw in a Striker MVP on transfer (from the Yndij, the team his brother plays ) and it's a rock solid team he's got. Void Sirens will get done, but the priority has slipped somewhat

Dr H wrote:Good job all round.
Nice effects on the barricade.
Good progress on all the figures.
Top job on the big rig.
Like the Osito objective.
And anything else I missed upon catch-up.

Um.
Thanks
Thanks
Thanks
Thanks
Thanks
Lol.

So second nerdmas (aka my birthday) is nigh, and think I'm going to treat myself to a bunch of star players for Dreadball. It's a fun and easy way to mix up the game, as well as get some variety in the models. After a bit rummaging I've tracked down half a dozen of the obscure, KS-exclusive ones I'm missing, a captain that's never been rereleased, plus 3 giants for just shy of £60, which given that the Kickstarter MVPs are generally a bugger to pick up is pretty decent (even regular MVPs go for £5 each minimum, if you're lucky).

On with Gaslands. Next Month's theme is Bikes.This might encourage me to paint some of the 10 I own
Meanwhile, The Wild Martian Rover is, I think, pretty much done. Or at least, I'm done with it.

Adding gs goggles and scarves to 15mm models was the end of me




For completeness sake, here's what I used:
2x HW Mars Rovers (base), Matchbox truck cab
Car repair mesh
Hayland Designs wooden armour/rams and Damaged Barrel
Mad Cars figures and bike chariot components
Dice Mechanic Games Harpoon and engine block (it's fore, at the base of the Fore Mast)
Kyamsil Designs undamaged Oil Barrel
X-Wing Flight stands
Skaven banners and shields (hubcaps)
Assorted chaos and ork vehicle upgrade bits

Yes, better pics needed, but I think it's there.

A good May, in the end,
Graven

'Lo
A nice, quiet weekend with not an enormous amount to show - lots of child juggling, as ever.
I did however add some rusty detailing to the previous Muscle Car (in the middle of pic):

Nothing major, just around the wheel arches. As ever, paint schemes evolve.

Started adding various bits of scrap plastic to the DBU launcher:


More stable now. Nearly there.

Did my younger lad a wee trophy to celebrate his victory in Ultimate over myself and his brother:

He can use this as his score tracker for Ultimate, or generally.

And finished up the barrel barriers for Gaslands:


Back on the top of Pitch Upgrades, I've been playing with ideas for Subs Benches:

Just to sit at the side of the pitch. You really need 4 slots - subs, and 1/2/3 turns of Injury.
Clockwise from the Top, they would be:
1) Painted into quarters
2) Barrier to indicate Sub/Injury side
3) Other/different floor material
Fairly large, but standard based, Dreadball figure for scale purposes.
Thoughts?

Anon,
Graven

looks like the guy I saw laid out in that slot .

Great work on the tower giving it some depth as well.

 Theophony wrote:
looks like the guy I saw laid out in that slot .

Great work on the tower giving it some depth as well.

Cheers!
Speaking of towers...

Turns out I'm also making a dice tower.


Ideally I want it to support the weight of the Dreadball announcers

The back of the announcers' booth also has the dreadball logo on it, so this version uses that too.
Thoughts?

Man, that big rig and sailing ship are fabulous. I'm going to have to put Fury Road on for my next movies & models session. Really excellent work.

Wonderful progress graven. Your creativity with random objects is inspiring.

MacPhail wrote:Man, that big rig and sailing ship are fabulous. I'm going to have to put Fury Road on for my next movies & models session. Really excellent work.

Many thanks. It's always good to have random stuff on for inspiration. There's loads of great rat-rod videos on Youtube, I find that's a great start.

Gitsplitta wrote:Wonderful progress graven. Your creativity with random objects is inspiring.

Lol cheers I am pretty random.

Newly acquired MVPs arrived:

Huzzah, etc. Nice to have a bunch of the obscure MVPs, and the Captain for the Chromium Chargers, which as a team I have in bits: they are transforming players, starting as one position, then changing as needed mid game. Might paint them as Decepticons, maybe lime green with purple accents, classic Constructicons. Blame nerdfest09's Tau.

Meanwhile, further progress on the tower.

To make the angles solid I'm using Deadzone corner struts, such as the one in front. It amuses me enormously that I'm using nicely detailed bits on the interior in a way that will never be seen (though it's perfectly possible that some will also appear in the exterior detailing process).

Reduced the height, and did a test toss. Worked well... so well, that only 2 of the 5 dice thrown stayed in the tray needs a better tray lip.

And just checking Elmer and Dodds for size. They'll remain removable, so it works as a piece of 40k/Gaslands terrain also. There will definitely be a ladder up the side to that low platform. Despite this being for a LoeR contest, I have no qualms about using bits from kits. As far as I'm concerned, if I've scrounged it from my bits box, it's fair game. After all, the bits of Technolog on the side of the launcher add plenty of depth and detail, so why shouldn't I add them to this too? Maintaining visual coherence, and that. I have some railroading parts that [i]may[ii] () have come from Briancj which will add some decorous detailing also, as well as a satellite dish scavenged from a Millennium Falcon (new trilogy).

It may get an outing this Saturday for our excursion to Stirling, though I'd prefer it to have some primer on by then. I *have* to paint the threat zones on the Z'Zor - apart from anything, the Strikers and Jacks are almost indistinguishable (it's all about the wing casing).

Gaslands? Well, not really feeling the bikes yet, as I'm not quite in the zone with paint scheme. BIkes are best for Idris, really too squishy for other factions, and I've neither settled on a scheme for Idris (it's the Cult of Speed mob) nor much feel like painting unconverted models
Onwards,
Graven

I must be crazy.

In order to raise my own game somewhat, I'm going to try to do something a bit extra with the launcher: I have raided the wife's old cake supplies (Food for Thought indeed ) and found a balloon light LED plus casing, and also scavenged 3 tiny tiny tiny lr41 batteries from a broken robopet. Had to clean the old leaked batteries out, but seems to be working ok.

Also, I've hurriedly edged the bases of the Z'Zor, and slapped a quick prime on the dice tower. So everything is now usable and set for tomorrow!

Well,
As hoped, had a fantastic day of Dreadball action. First game of Ultimate, my eldest and I taught 2 lads at the store to play and they beat us (with a little help from a faulty scoreboard!), 2nd game myself, erithromycin and metropolis had all sorts of event chaos, incompetent MVPs, points up and down, until my eldest snuck a victory at the end of the final turn! He celebrated by buying a team all of his own (Kalyshi). And then - home to find Dreadball goodies from far (trophy for winning contest and Alpha Simian - Giant Ape) and near (Night Terror- Giant rat - Krastavor - giant spider - and giant floating weapon platforms). Plus a deadzone giant mutant for even more custom Giant action!

As you can perhaps tell, Dreadball Ultimate - with its Giants - is our new jam. For fast, hilarious play that combines board and mini tactics, it's just spot on. For example, at one point a (generally rather poor) Goblin jack deftly threw the ball to the crazy-good, expensive star player he'd hired for the match - who fumbled the catch, leading the ball to bounce, scatter and improbably the self-same goblin caught it again (fans went wild, naturally); to redeem himself, the star player legged up the field, caught the goblin's second attempt at a throw, then rolled 3 dice to score... (needing a single 3+ on one die) and rolled 3 ones It was epic.

My Zee's, incidentally, were pretty useless all day, repeatedly tripping over their own feet - but loads of fun.
Didn't get a chance to use the dice tower, though it is coming along

Liking the falcon's dish on it.
And oddly, started some classic metal BMG

Old promo Red Hood and dkr Ollie with kryptonite arrows.
Why not eh?
Graven

Just out of curiosity, how old are your boys?

My girls are 6 and just starting to get the idea of how games work, waiting for turns etc.

The boys are 9 and nearly 12. We started them with Catan and Talisman at that age, both worked well. Hey! That's my Fish! is also another excellent one with little ones.

My kids 16,14,14 still have no interest in games, except the occasional (every 6 months or so ) game of Zombicide.

Dice tower is coming along nicely. I also see a nice Pringle’s can not being repurposed yet on the table......tell him to eat quicker .

More loot is always good loot .

 Theophony wrote:
My kids 16,14,14 still have no interest in games, except the occasional (every 6 months or so ) game of Zombicide.

Dice tower is coming along nicely. I also see a nice Pringle’s can not being repurposed yet on the table......tell him to eat quicker .

More loot is always good loot .

Yeah there is a need for an token bag

So, onwards!

What have I not used in this build yet?

Sprue! The mightiest of ingredients. Blue trans hex base for the led, might as well use that sprue for something:

It also flashes The holes punched out will get covered over, but not fully, so a little light comes through there too.

And progress on the tower, harvesting more crud.


Coming along nicely Just needs barrier across the front and on the platform. I had debated more detailing on the sides but I don't want to overdo it. My plan, vaguely, is to sponge the whole thing to try to achieve a sort of concrete effect. Thoughts?
Best
Graven

Well, I think the different components are now done, and primed as well:


Some zenithal priming on the building also. Not something I often do. I added a couple of extra jeejaws to it, the lightsaber handles as funnel-pipe things, just for a bit of extra variation. Chopped up some mantic barriers and recombined them to add rails. I've also made a couple of sin bins/injury benches for Dreadball, as I was on a roll (sadly not a buttered roll, as that would be more edible). They're not really part of the contest entry per se just part of the "set" of upgrading my Dreadball stuff to make it more kid-friendly (they find the lack of injury benches printed on the Ultimate mat really confusing). So now that painting proper can commence, these are my final WIP pics. See you at the other end of the contest gang!

Talking of contests, I've worked out what I'm doing for the Gaslands bike contest: Vesperados!

God, they're tiny.
They're absolutely lovely models, so I don't really want to heavily mod them. Instead, I'm working on the bases:

There will be 3 of these. I have vague memories of some manga with psychos on yellow vespas. Unfortunately, this has now determined the colour for my Idris team: [color=yellow]YELLOW[/color=yellow]

Tootling along,
Graven

Love the Dreadball scenics - and the death truck turned out really well too!

That's very special graven. Wonderful creativity!

kestral wrote:Love the Dreadball scenics - and the death truck turned out really well too!

Many thanks amigo.

Gitsplitta wrote:That's very special graven. Wonderful creativity!

It's certainly ... crazy. Thanks my friend.

So... 9 years of this nonsense.
Goodness me. Thanks for sticking around, thanks for joining in the fun, thanks for being here for me.
So what's next?
Well, working continues on the LoeR Food for Thought contest. I've tried to interpret this month's challenge in several different ways.
1) Firstly, most simply, the use of smoothie boxes
2) Then, the fact that it's being used to make a ... roll ()
3) And lastly, it's going to be covered in posters, some sci-fi food related, others just... Easter Eggs which should give folk plenty of Food for thought


This is stage 1. More posters to follow!

There are of course also the other bits - the launcher, the injury benches, and if I can get it organised a Trophy (which doubles as a score tracker), harvested from an old, old Easter toy long ago .

For Gaslands, we have a bit more work on the Vesperados:

Seriously going down a Bumblebee route with the Idris at this point.

But I wouldn't be doing my Blog if there weren't a bit of Batman on here, so here's Oliver Queen from DKR:

Man, those are some eyebrows. Face looks a bit goofy at magnification. Ah well. 30ft rule and all that
And The Red Hood (pre-Joker Joker) is coming along. Lovely model, so glad to have finally got one (it's the original BMG promo). Pics soon on that, tidying up the base.

This is also a poignant time of year. Coming up on 9th anniversary of little one going into hospital for open heart as a newborn. The chat and the support here was a veritable lifeline.

So here's to many more dakkas, my friends,
Graven

I love how the dice tower turned out Graven, a lot of thought went into why you added all the posters. Also the Vesperados crack me up, very clever name and concept

Love the OCP sign on the scoreboard , “You have ten seconds to comply!”

Glowing baseball bat is excellent work nice OSL.

Syro_ wrote:I love how the dice tower turned out Graven, a lot of thought went into why you added all the posters. Also the Vesperados crack me up, very clever name and concept

Cheers, more to follow, below.
Yeah doing the Bumblebee look on a whole team will kill me, but never mind...

Theophony wrote:Love the OCP sign on the scoreboard , “You have ten seconds to comply!”

Glowing baseball bat is excellent work nice OSL.

See that's it exactly! Plenty to look for. It's a Kryptonite arrow, actually, but thanks nonetheless

Got a lovely, lovely early birthday present from Metropolis:

That's a 4x4 deepcut death race mat, that is. Bloody glorious.

More generally, a good weekend was had. There was cake, beer, meat, pastry, etc. Whilst there was no nerd gifting, there was some geekery (a Lando Calrissian Pop! and various other Star Wars gifting) and a rather fabulous flamingo tie.

I did make considerable progress on the Dreadball stuff. The dug-outs:

These now need blood splatter and a means to indicate injury level (1,2,3). I need another couple to make a set for yellow and blue (because these are the different colours of ultimate team token we use - base set home and visitor are always white and red). However, I'm pretty happy with these, for now, at least.

Started work on the commentators for the box.

And fun with the logo.

The launcher is done... Maybe?

LEDs on!



And the tower is nearly there.

It's had colours and the beginnings of Osl added, followed by more sponge weathering, tags and streaking.

Next, more Osl glow? Maybe more tags?

As mentioned the other day, this is the 9th anniversary of my then-newborn going into hospital for emergency care, resulting in open-heart surgery a week later. Eternally grateful for the support of my fellow dakkanauts, in times such as that and generally when, such at present, head's a bit of a mess. Despite there only being a couple of weeks left in the term, it's dragging, and there's the simple fact that it is unlikely to be any better after the summer. Still, we try to soldier on.

Only forwards,
Graven.

Some quality terrain work there, that dice tower is looking really good already!

Atlas HO scale deck girder bridge.

Paradigm wrote:Some quality terrain work there, that dice tower is looking really good already!

Briancj wrote:Atlas HO scale deck girder bridge.

It's good to use the random crud folk send me

Stay strong, man.

Those posters are the coolest thing I will see today. And now thanks to Theo, I want KM to license and make a Kevin Matchstick model.

thanks brother. On both counts.

I realise I didn't explain why I've bothered to paint the back of the Db commentators (1) means i can use it as a sign when the tower is in use for, say, Gaslands and (2) because it's there

Couldn't get to sleep last night. Came up with a couple of ideas, notably how to do the dug-outs:

So a blood splatter for each injury level. I'm still tempted to put some sort of divider between the 3 and the 2 but we'll see how this setup works practically.


Bit more on the commentators:

Only having done them have I realised their skin matches the dB logo They're actually really nice figs. I'm so used to nasty mantic restic that it's good to see one of their sculpts in resinous detail.

Red Hood promo done:

Lovely fig. Feel I've done it (in)justice.

I do like a cape.

Next: to finish the tower + commentators, and then... Vesperados! After that? Maybe a return to papa Lots of dreadball MVPs lurking on my desk just now, too, as well as a fudge-load of potter and other KM,

You could leave the commentators for Gaslands and just say they are the Martians . Especially since they turned out so nice.

Red hood looks cool