Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

 MacPhail wrote:

Captain Brown wrote:
MacPhail,

For mine I simply primed them black, then a gloss black for strength and some durability, then another flat black spray, and finally a dry brush of white representing the ash.

For your more complete trees, a spray of brown added in a random pattern would lighten them more than the ones I did. Mine also had almost no branches left.

Thanks for the insights. I went and found some picks of your in your gallery, they look great. How were they in game play? Did it take you a while to stop knocking the whole area terrain piece over and dumping the models? That's my biggest concern, and yours look taller than mine.

Mine are just plug-in plastic trees from a train store. So you can pull them out as needed and replace once the vehicle has rolled through.

We have not had any accidents with models flying it that is what you are worried about. Just a finger on each side to brace as you pull (make certain your magnets are not super strong).

You have also placed many of yours at the edge of the terrain, so you might only have to pull out one for a tank crossing.

Pure Sisters forever!

Cheers,

CB

Yikes, what a month! Two sick kids, wrapping up a semester, and no time for hobbies. I finally got the trees based and glued down for painting... I'll spray them with layers of gray, white, and black, then try to wash them with a light brown mix from a spray bottle.



To get there I had to tidy up the bench, which had gotten submerged by a variety of other projects, scrap materials, and trash. So here's that space, looking better than average:

I got the trees sprayed (gray, white, and black from different angles), washed (a thin mix of water, umber pigment, and flow aid), and the bases detailed (a little hand painting plus a drybrush). I'll finish the bases tonight (ink wash and clean up) and I'll be ready to start magnetizing.

I'll grab another photo tonight... generally I'm pleased. They look much as they did unpainted, but brighter and more uniform. I think they'll stand out nicely against my dark table.

Your bench is unnaturally clean. It’s just not right.

 Nevelon wrote:
Your bench is unnaturally clean. It’s just not right.

I should've done the before and after... it had gotten so I couldn't work, at least not on a project on the scale of 16 spindly, top-heavy trees.

Speaking of... the paint is pretty much done. I need to glue on some autumn leaves and sponge on a little bit of contrasting color on the rim of the base, but that will be done in bulk with a bunch of other bases at some point in the future. For now they just need magnets and they're done.

Well, I finally got a game in on my laboriously renovated Realms of Battle table tiles. The final touch was the trees I've been working on, and I have to say I'm pretty happy with them. I still need to magnetize them, but they look much as I'd hoped they would, and they're not terrible to play around (a little annoying). I'm also pretty pleased with the scratch-built pond (still needing water effects). Here's a few photos of the board we set up for a Sororitas vs. Necrons matchup (BatRep in the Sisters Tactica).

Doesn't it feel good to play on/with salvaged goods?

Great work there with the scenery! Can't wait to see a game up and running over this

 IGtR= wrote:
Great work there with the scenery! Can't wait to see a game up and running over this

Happy to provide:

Initial deployment: Sororitas vs. Dark Angels


I exploded his Knight, but it dealt 38 mortal wounds (the white dice in the pic) in its death throes.


There was a climactic battle between Celestine and Belial.


My previous matchup had been against Necrons. Initial deployment.


After a critical turn: the Wraiths are starting to roll up my left flank, but the Retributers have just dropped a dozen casualties on a Warrior unit.


I love this MDF + beer can scenery, and this seemed like a cool way to set the scene...





Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Briancj wrote:
Doesn't it feel good to play on/with salvaged goods?

Yep, and not just the Realms of Battle boards... I also drank all the beer for the MDF scenery kits. More recycling!

Please do not attempt to recycle the beer.

I got the trees magnetized tonight... tomorrow will be the big test as to whether the force of the magnet is too strong, too weak, or right about what I'd hoped. Do a test piece? Nah...

I also mounted up three paint stirrers worth of bases, everything I need to finish basing this army and start in on some classic Imperial Guard and Inquisition models. The big project will be new flight bases for the Seraphim... 20+ of them. I bought some 3mm acrylic rod, but it will mean drilling out the models a bit more. I have plenty of bases, but I'll have to drill them out as well to mount the rod, and then find some way to stabilize it, perhaps with cork 'rocks' and other terrain.

More progress and photos tomorrow, most likely.

Here are 40+ bases ready to texture, paint, and detail. The larger ones with cork "rock" risers will get the acrylic rod to hold the Seraphim... probably with a thick washer underneath, too. The others are for the last of my unpainted Sisters who will feature a reversed color scheme (yet to be painted) of green armor and white robes in order to run as a different Order.

Progress... cork rocks mounted to the flying bases, holes drilled, and ballast applied. The only catch was that I hadn't expected everything to fall of the paint stirrers when I drilled them, but obviously I should've seen that coming. That's more for the spray/paint/drybrush/wash sequences anyway, so I'll just need to glue them back on tonight. Once I texture the 25mm bases I'll be ready for paint. A bold volunteer came along to test them out... she's been redone with the 3mm acrylic rod, which I hope will be quite a bit stronger than the old flight bases.

Looking good!

MacPhail,

Great Battle Report.

Nice to see the trees worked...or did they after magnetizing?

For my Seraphim that came off their original pewter mounts I used thicker brass rod and they have never failed after multiple games and accidents.

Cheers,

CB

Thanks, y'all.

The magnetic trees did work... I wish they were about 30-40% stronger, but there's only a couple that let go much sooner than I'd like. Most have roughly the amount of give I was looking for.

Sidelined this week with a sick kiddo... maybe more progress next week. I'm at least trying to get the Seraphim based before a game in 2 weeks.

Got the bases textured and re-mounted on paint stirrers.Unfortunately it's 40 degrees and snowing here in Colorado, so I'll need to choose my painting opportunity carefully. This will cover all of the Seraphim, plus a few stragglers from the army, and hopefully enough left over that I can do the odd character conversion that will surely emerge from CA18's beta codex.

I feel your pain with the temps, being from Finland.

It's very tedious job to work on 40bases, I greet you with respect for doing so. Gonna do any tufts, or will be barren wasteland type of thing?

Ilgoth wrote:
I feel your pain with the temps, being from Finland.

It's very tedious job to work on 40bases, I greet you with respect for doing so. Gonna do any tufts, or will be barren wasteland type of thing?

I'd say respect goes to people who base as they go... I let painted models stand around on little pucks of plain plastic for months and then finally get disgisted with myself and do this. But thanks! There will be tufts and some rusting industrial wreckage. Page 3 of this thread has some more examples. I'll be able to do more with the flying bases because there's no need for feet. The 25mm infantry bases will necessarily be pretty simple.

The base of my Penitent Engine standing on a finished terrain piece gives a good idea.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
I got the painting. washing, and drybrushing done late tonight. They're really only about halfway done, as they still need the bevel done in earth tones to match my board, and some dry leaves and rusted metal added here and there. But they're done enough for the important step of mounting the Seraphim... which involves drilling out the mounting point to 3mm. That has to happen in time for a game next week.

 MacPhail wrote:
Thanks, y'all.

The magnetic trees did work... I wish they were about 30-40% stronger, but there's only a couple that let go much sooner than I'd like. Most have roughly the amount of give I was looking for.

Can you add some thin metal to improve the grip of the magnets?

Just a thought.

CB

Captain Brown wrote:

 MacPhail wrote:
Thanks, y'all.

The magnetic trees did work... I wish they were about 30-40% stronger, but there's only a couple that let go much sooner than I'd like. Most have roughly the amount of give I was looking for.

Can you add some thin metal to improve the grip of the magnets?

Just a thought.

CB

There's actually room under the base for another magnet or two as long as I'm careful with polarity.

Nearly done now, and chasing the deadline for Saturday's game. I added the grass, leaves, and rusted metal tonight. Next I'll re-drill the Seraphim to 3mm and cut the acrylic rod, then secure them with a blob of green stuff below. I plan to paint the bevel in swampy brown to match my table and to contrast with the rocks, and also to add washers on the underside for weight, but both of those may wait until after this week game.

MacPhail,

Good luck on making your deadline.

Cheers,

CB

Thanks, y'all. Captain, I think I've made it. Still some touch-up paint needed in places, and I'll be surprised if something doesn't break tomorrow, but I think I'll be able to deploy a properly based army.

The drilling was a hassle, but not too terrible. it came at the cost of 8 jump packs and 2 inferno pistols in need of repair. A 1/8" bit was a pretty good match for the 3mm acrylic rod.





Just in time, here's 10x Seraphim packing 4x Hand Flamers for tomorrow's game.

Huzzah for fully painted battle reports!

And you are a braver man than I for drilling all those Seraphs. I brick it every time I have to drill anything in metal as it can all go so horribly wrong.

Thanks! I'm pretty pleased with the way they came out.

I got started on some matching thematic bases for my home table. I did a pretty deep dive into the bits box and came up with three Imperial supply drops and three Sororitas shrines. I managed to scrounge six banners to mount objective numbers on, too. Probably halfway built, then detailed bases and paint.

Nice. Custom objective are always on my “things I should do, but never do” list

I'm pretty pleased with this set done in two long sittings. I'll probably get them based tomorrow and then add them to the painting queue.


Plus I found this AA gun I built for an Aegis Defense Line. Are those still a thing?

ADLs are still a thing. I think they were in one of the indexes, but also in CA17. 8th did unkind things to them rules-wise, and I doubt they are worth taking. But technically still there.

Nice work on that one, looks pretty cool.

I don’t know what it is about those banners, but I feel that they need some crows or vultures hanging out waiting on the crossbars. Objective markers must be like the fast food joints of the carrion world. Dead bodies in 6 turns or less, or your money back!

I got the base colors down on the objective markers... not sure about that green on the web gear, I think I'm missing a hue. Going to try just drybrushing them all over in light gray, then differentiating the washes.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Nevelon wrote:
ADLs are still a thing. I think they were in one of the indexes, but also in CA17. 8th did unkind things to them rules-wise, and I doubt they are worth taking. But technically still there.

Nice work on that one, looks pretty cool.

I don’t know what it is about those banners, but I feel that they need some crows or vultures hanging out waiting on the crossbars. Objective markers must be like the fast food joints of the carrion world. Dead bodies in 6 turns or less, or your money back!

Too bad about the ADL, I'm kind of on a terrain kick lately and would totally build one to accompany this gun if they were any good.

I actually fabricated a dead body on a stick for one of my Simulacra, just a crossbar and some zombie bits. I've seen some resin ones around too marketed as trophies for knights and dress. That would have been a sweet unifying theme...