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The hatch is magnificent. The reworked piece doesn't look weird; and I love the lift. Keep on the general goodness I think the barricades could do with a sandbag or two, but that's just me.

Skalk, sorry, all but one of mine were perfect size, but everything lose on it matched the other sets. Great looking hatch, is that from the Pegasus kit?

Skalk..look up the "vents and tunnels" rules, and see what a badass thing you've created! Now you just need several more. They can seriously change a game, and the portable nature means that you can move them around as needed.

@ graven- Thank you for the compliments. I really like the hatch. It's the 2nd one I have (the reworked piece is a hatch as well). The 'barricade' is simply a stack of crates. It can be used as cover but it's happenstance instead of intentional. I have a couple 'intentional' barricades ideas that I'll share once I have them started. Completely OT, but I've always wondered how the abbreviation 'graven' was chosen out of 'inmygravenimage'.

@ Theophony- No worries. Everything is different and it worked out anyway. I know what I did wrong and it'll be better next time. I'm really looking forward to this. I have the lift car ready and I think it'll look decent enough.

@ dstein- My Van Saar's have Vents as a territory and I know how they work on the game table in general, but I also know I need more of them.

No update right now. I spent a LOT of time doing hobby stuff last night and have some really cool stuff to share but didn't have time to get on Dakka so no pics uploaded. Will make that happen late tonight so be sure to check in tomorrow.

Lots of good stuff here Skalk, I really like your walkways. I never had much luck finding these great trestle/bridge parts in the UK.

 Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:
Completely OT, but I've always wondered how the abbreviation 'graven' was chosen out of 'inmygravenimage'.

I think I signed myself off once in a semi-alcoholic ramble as "Earl Graven of Image" and that got abbreviated.

Also, everyone's handle get's abbreviated in some form after a while, I find, not even consciously.

@ Bruticus- Thanks for the compliment, it's appreciated.

@ inmygravenimage- Ha.



Ok, decent update this time. First up is my 'show the cross braces' walkway. I cut down the unwanted flex of the bridge by adding some support beams:



Quite a long time ago when I bought the Land Raider for my Plague Marines I tore off the treads and was going to throw them away becasue there was no way I'd ever use them. But then said to myself "Self, keep these treads. You will use them for something someday". Someday has arrived.





Still WIP of course, but wanted to share the progress.

Next up is a blatant ripoff of a project Scarper has on his blog. Link to his is here at the bottom of the page.

Here's my version. I had a bridge started and I was going to make hand rails for it (this one from a few days ago):



But after seeing what Scarp had started I decided I had to have one so I started this:



Pretty basic, but then I added another tier:



Support braces:



Starting the platform and the gate frame:



Pegasus panel fits perfectly. This was on purpose, but I changed my mind about using a Pegasus panel (as you'll see later)



Full shots of what' has been built so far.



Here's what I'll be using for my gate.



In place, but it is functional so I can move it up and down:







Side shot:



Renewing my LoER membership:







Starting the platform access:



Rails that I cut off another model. Nice and quick repurpose here:







And leaving you for now with some scale shots:





More coming soon. I've already done more work since the last pic. Not sure why I didn't take any (that been happening a lot lately) but I'll have more to offer tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks for looking.

That is excellent. A great steal from a great source. I missed how the gat stays in the raised position though. Did I miss a pic?

Nice! Liking that gate-bridge. So much so, I can't think of anything to add.
The first bridge though, I do have a suggestion. The inside (underside) of the treads needs something... I know you said it's still WIP, that's fine, I Just thought I'd get in early. Maybe something just as simple as make it look concrete or go as far as to make it look like the back of the treads (but that would be tricky).

Good job though.

Seriously man, the visions that you have in your head and your capacity to realise them are frankly terrifying.

@ Theophony- You didn't miss anything, I just haven't got the work done yet. Guess I should have, See below fort an explanation.

@ Dr H- Hmm. Well... yeah. I'm going to have to rig something becasue I've already glued everything. I have an idea. Cool. I'll get on it tonight.

@ graven- I can't take a lot of credit for the initial idea, but I'll accept the compliment since the the execution is all mine.



The gate- it will have a winch (I haven't decided motorized or hand crank yet) that will raise and lower the gate. Something like this:



The fluff for this piece is that it is the only way in or out of a well-stocked and heavily guarded Trading Post. All of this will be on a 3rd level risers and I have huge plans for the Trading Post compound.

It should be handcranked with gears. Lots o gears. And rivets.

Dude! That rocks! It it very wastelandish too!

brilliant... simply (er... wrong word...that is by far not simple...) great!

@ Theophony- You'll like this update.

@ dstein- That's exactly what I'm going for!

@ Viktor- Glad you are liking this. I know it's the rivets.



I got some work done last night. I'm going to preset things out of order so I can keep some cohesiveness in the individual aspects of the overall model. That said, please ignore the changes I'm not profiling from pic to pic as it could cause some confusion. Ok?

Ha.

Anyway, here's a series of photos for the gate system and how I managed it. First I took a cog wheel from a 1/35 Soviet T-72 and drilled a hole in the support beams and the pulley so I could run a piece of plastic rod through, and I'll point out that once again I'm making use of the windfall supply drop dsteingass sent my way.



Next I took a file and I routed out the wheel to make a channel and put my chain in place.





Here's a pic of the winch. it's not glued in place yet, this is just a visual mock-up to illustrate what the final product will look like:



For the gate I used a shackle and I think it worked out really well. I'll be adding a rigging clamp to finish it.





An overall shot w/ everything loosely connected:



Here's a mix of things that all come together. I put some more work into the platform structure. The fluff for this bridge is that it is the security checkpoint for the only entrance in and out of a Trading Post. For security reasons the gate is closed by default and the only time is is raised is when traffic is moving in and out. As an extra precaution there is a secondary gate that is lowered in the rear of the walkway when the main gate is opened.

Here's the front-facing wall as a 'heavy cover' firing point.



I decided to have the option of this being a gun emplacement as well, so I make this:



And put it here. It is completely removable.





Dakka Dakka, indeed. No doubt this sight would deter your average Hiver from rushing the gate. Note that in this pic neither of the gates are closed. You can almost hear the guard taunting someone, "No, really dude, go for it! I fraggin' dare ya! Come on! Do it! Whoooo!"



Here's the rear security gate I mentioned:



A shot of the checkpoint as it will (mostly) look when fully functional (missing a few things but it gives you an idea).



I also decided the checkpoint needed super-heavy floodlights to make sure they could see into the darkness of the Underhive. I started w/ the lights from a (Land Raider? not sure) and put them on some cut-down Pegasus Hobbies power plant columns.



I made a frame for the lights that (to me) look a bit like stadium lights:





Added the power cable and swivel. It doesn't actually swivel and NO I AM NOT GOING TO ADD LED so please please please do not mention it. And just to be clear, I'm not going to do it with 'light bulbs' strung on the ceiling of the checkpoint walkway. Yes I did think about it. I'm not doing it.



I couldn't find a 4th bulb so I decided to make a damaged socket instead. It doesn't show well in this picture but I do have a ruined filament in the socket:



Intentionally wonky. I'm also going to add bullet holes or some other visible damage. I didn't do it before these pics as the glue is still drying:



What it may look like when done (but only one showing, will be 2)



And last shot for the day, everything coming along nicely. I'm almost done with the initial build. Next comes paint, and then finally all sorts of bitz like trash, etc. It'll be on par with this:



More coming as soon as I have something to offer, which will be soon.

Your right I like this update. The coolness is the shear magnitude of it. You went for all the extra details. I especially lik the blown out lightbulb.

I think the only possible thing missing is a guy in a cage dangling from the side. Perhaps he forgot the password (his favorite color), or he was caught trying to shortchange the toll bridge fee.

If you do do lights in the future check out poweredplay.net

That looks great, I think your skills are really improving. Perhaps you could keep the security lights separate on their own little bases, then you could position them around depending on your layout

I love it!! cant wait to see more.
love the portcullis and the stairs.

The term "mad genius" comes to mind.

Looking really good.
Really like the pulley and winch.
and the lights (nice touch on adding a filament)

Looking forward to more progress.

wow... the chain looks the bee´s knees...

be sure it is not the rivtes alone... the rivtes brought me here... but your love for detail keep me ...riveted

floodlights... amazing!!!

Brilliant idea really does look like a piece from the rulebook

Then you're doing it right!
Dood, that orange tube looks familiar
You're making me feel like a proud papa!

Amazing. Brilliant work.

Looks great buddy! Clever work with the chain and pully system. I'm not official back to painting and modeling yet but your newest pieces are giving me the itch!

Keep up the great work!

@ Theophony- I did think about a guy in a gibbet because it would look scary and possibly deter those of weaker constitution, but the stench would be overwhelming and make life suck for the guards. Those guys have it hard enough already as it is.

@ Bruticus- That is an outstanding idea! So much so that I did it. See later in the post.

@ Styrofoam04- Hey, decent seeing you around again. Thank you for the compliment, and more is coming soon.

@ Gitsplitta- Yes, I know, I know . Thankfully I use my powers for 'good'.

@ Dr H- The pulley and winch system are what will really sell this idea (especially now, see below), and it forces 'scale perspective' quite well.

@ Vik- It's all about the rivets. I'm offering this piece as my LoER membership renewal.

@ Llamahead- Thank you. I have a feeling I'm going to regret this piece about 3/4 through, but I'll be very happy with it upon completion.

@ dstein- You'll see more and more of your old stuff now that I'm doing Necromunda terrain. I'm not a huge fan of 40K scratch build because I can't match the Imperial Sector stuff, but Necromunda has always been scratch build for me, so I'm feeling right at home with it and the only limitation is my imagination and skill level.

@ Camkierhi- Thank you. I checked your gallery, nice work on those Plague Marines.

@ madmartykmf- If there is anything that I can do to pull you back into modeling you know I'll do it. Looks like I'm going to ramp up my efforts and keep poking at you.



Huge update this time, in four different sections. I've been way more focused on modeling than I have been posting, and I've been modeling projects in between projects on top of projects. Go go go go go go!!! There's a lot of stuff going on and it might be too much for one post but I'm doing it anyway. You might want to go get a snack or something before you settle into this update. Go on, I'll wait for you to get back.

*waiting patiently*

Ok, all set? Good. On to the update.

First up is the platform that donated the railings for the Checkpoint and the cap that used on one of the hatches. Here's the stuff I took from it:

Railings:



Hatch:



Here's what they both came from:



I had to cut the railings off so I could get models on the platforms on each level since the 20mm bases would not fit with railings on:



And I had to take the cap off for this:



That's a project that is coming on the not-so-distant future, but I have a lot of other stuff to get done first.

Moving on to stuff I'm working on, here's an update on the checkpoint:

So back to the awesome idea Bruticus had, I set out to make it happen. First step was grab a couple 40mm bases. I had considered 60mm but decined for two reasons- (1) the lights would have less flexibility for use in smaller spaces, and (2) I don't have any 60mm bases.



This the bottom piece. Cut to size and insert magnet.



Next is to scrape out the top base so the magnet would fit. Please excuse the sloppy chop job I did on the bottom base. I was more 'results' orientated than precision work. I really should play an Ork army again.



And a completed base w/ magnet hidden inside:





These are the platforms I added to the checkpoint so the lights had somewhere to go:



Here they are in place:



And here they are magnetized. They are rugged and do not come off w/o intentional effort. I used powerful magnets (the checkpoint is upside down):



After putting things together in a mock-up again I realized there was a problem w/ the pulley system- it hung down way too much:



...and would make it annoying to move models around in:



So I did some more work to the pulley system. Here I've built a new pulley and two a brackets that will support the pulley:







This is how the new system looks. Notice the greatly improved head space. Also notice the orange couplers. They are cut from plastic rod that dsteingass sent to me.



Build complete! Here's a 360 series of how the model is looking overall:









Time for paint. Basic black undercoat awaiting an insane amount of detail work:



And then hobby ADD strikes! Seeing the bridge made me think (once again) how materials were distrubited through the Underhive and remembered that model that I've had since I was in VA. The original top piece was sacrified to my daughter, and I kept the bottom. I think it went to Warzome / Martian Chronicles but I can't remember and I couldn't fine it online.

I also had some wheels left over from that train tanker I bought a few years ago. The idea came together so fast that it also made my head hurt:



I'm thinking of it as a remote controlled crawler with a headlight and two carts of supplies:







I put a lot of work into the design. Check out the functional cart coupling!







It's not finished but it's come along quickly and will make for a really cool scenario. Guilders are moving important supplies to a settlement...



Yup. Lots of possibilities.

I'll finish up with my most recent walkway. I stated this a couple posts ago. I've completed it now and it looks perfect within the collection I have. Upon seeing the pics right now I realized I need to run a sepia wash over the railings, but the rest is solid.

Here I'm using plastic rod from... wait for it... dsteingass! I'm hoping to use up everything he sent in this project..



Paint followed shortly after the glue dried:



And here it is done. Looking pretty awesome if I do say so myself. Yep, that one is right up to par with everything else, simply perfect!









...then my son walked into the room, looked at my bridge, and said "what's it going to look like when it is finished?" I told him that it was finished, and he looked at me with such genuine disappointment. He handed it back to me and said in a very serious and flat voice 'no, it's not'. Ashamed, I set back to work on it. What was really cool is that he hung out w/ me the entire time, and was talking to me about the game and the setting. He pointed out some things he did not like, such as rust being the majority of the model. Then said that from what he understands, the Underhive is that it is a multilayer civilization and that newer stuff could be mixed in with older stuff, and that different metals decay at different rates so not everything has to look completely rusted.

Such an astute lad.







..and here it is in our most recent game of Necromunda. It fits in perfectly:



That's it for now. I'll have more work done to share soon.

Thanks for looking!

 Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:
the only limitation is my imagination and skill level.

You just negated these comments with this metric asston of amazing updates!
1. imagination has no limit, it is infinite. -Didn't you watch Mr. Rogers as a kid?
2. skills are always continually improving, every time you cut plastic, or glue a rivet, your skills improve!
3. Your son is a smart kid!

Epic update skalk! Your son gets bonus points for reminding you to paint he hazard stripes.

Th extra pulley on the chain is a great call. I didn't even think about it, but he again it is just another hazard in the underhive.

Gibbet idea was to be a warning to others. H doesn't have to b dead, he could just be unhappy. Could also be a hazing ritual for new juves. Hang them out over the sump to attract a spider, then make him grab I and eat it.

Hee hee hazard stripes!

Your son was right! And has been WELL TRAINED IN THE NATURE OF THE UNDERHIVE.

All kinds of awesome there.

The toll bridge looks great. New winch system is perfect, just the sort of thing that would be done after someone saying "I'm getting fed up of walking into this chain...". Good job on the lights as well.

and wow, that's a big crane on the top of that tower.

The little robotic crawler and it's trailers are brilliant. Good work on the coupling.

and the bridge, lol that boy of your's has a bright future.
Good work on the hazard stripes.