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.

UPDATE:
New scenery additions



and knight workshop



The board so far


and the train so far:


ORIGINAL: After a 4 years hiatus from the hobby, I am back painting and finally have my own hobby room (after 20 years of waiting!) and space for a full 6x4ft gaming table. In 2016 I entered Armies on parade with my Blood Angels for the first time and really enjoyed making the display board and associated scenery; I'm not a great painter but am fairly decent at the scenery side of things and I managed to win to my surprise. So, four years later I have decided to dedicate some time to making a much larger version of my AOP board for gaming on.

A photo of the Armies on parade board, which the gaming table will share elements with


It is going to be themed around an imperial bunker build into a hillside with an BA shrine accessed via a walkway on one side and then a ruined city build between two hills on the other side. I am storing the board upright so will be keeping it as flat as possible with seperate scenery that will slot in place (this also means I can add to the board with new scenery elements in the future).

I have cut down a larger ply board to 6 x 4 foot and bought some 1/2 thick upholstery foam for using on the board. I have also bought 2 inch thick foam for use as the hills and larger scenery elements. I have laid out the foam on the board with the spaces for the modular scenery elements.



I have also started work on some trees, both as a wooded area and as separate trees that can be placed anywhere

Quick update. I have made a trial run on the tree leaves/tops and I'm not entirely convinced. They look better than the pre-made stuff I have as the scale is much better but I think I need to use thicker form with a looser texture so I have ordered some to see how that goes. I will probably end up using these somewhere so they aren't wasted.






I also made the structure for the larger bunker/workshop inside a hill, I cut out a hole for the vehicle entrance and a smaller hole where the walkway will go.



I have also decided I am going to try and add some kind of train to the board. I am planning to have it go from the bunker through a few hills and then end up in the ruined town on the other side of the board. I have ordered a caterpillar train from eBay so will see how it goes; it is a bit large so I am planning on cutting it down a bit and then adding some armoured elements.

Those trees look quite good, brave of you to go for an actual leafed forest rather than the much easier dead forest.

 Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll wrote:
Those trees look quite good, brave of you to go for an actual leafed forest rather than the much easier dead forest.

Thanks, yeah starting to regret it a bit! I have finished the other trees now and added some more flocking and it is starting to look better.

Gonna be hard to reach any minis that are in the depths of the forest though!

 Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll wrote:
Gonna be hard to reach any minis that are in the depths of the forest though!

Yeah! I left the back a bit more open and the canopy is higher in the middle so you can just about reach in (If it proves to be too annoying I will add magnets to the middle trees.)

Just a quick update today. I have ordered a bunch of stuff so haven't had much to do really, but most of it arrived yesterday and I have been setting it all up.

The model train I bought arrived and it all works so that's good (I completely forgot I had put in a best offer on another set, so I have another one on the way, although I think I will need more straight pieces than are in the set I have now, so it may be for the best.)

I cut a hole in the bunker structure for the train entrance and it is a good fit for the loco so that worked out quite well. You can see the scale next to a land raider and I would say it is about right, if a little tall (from what I remember land raiders are real size of around 13 feet, so that puts the loco at around 21 feet compared to 16 foot for diesels in our universe.). I am planning on taking off the body and cutting it down a tad. I also have an old baneblade sponsons sprue and some plasticard to make the body so the rest of the toy elements will be covered up and it will add some width.

I have been working on bits here and there for the board, and have just about finished putting the train together.



Here it is with an old grey knights rhino in transport mode.



My ideas are to incorporate the train into gameplay in various ways, for example by having one player try and get the train to the bunker to start up the power by using the pipes (so the defenses can be used) and so on.

A quick trial of painting the tracks, compared with the bare track.

I love it when people use these trains on their boards! Good luck getting it converted and in to place

 gobert wrote:
I love it when people use these trains on their boards! Good luck getting it converted and in to place

Thanks, hopefully it will all fit without any issues!

Very quick update today. I have mostly painted the engine and flatbed now and I have started to base the game board. It is slow going to base it all, but once that is done things can move a tad quicker.



and a close up of the engine



I am in the process of attaching the track to the board so will have a photo of the train on it's maiden voyage soon.

I really like seeing trains for this sort of thing too, it's looking nice and imperialish now!

 amazingturtles wrote:
I really like seeing trains for this sort of thing too, it's looking nice and imperialish now!

Thanks, yeah I have always enjoyed seeing trains in a 40k setting!




Automatically Appended Next Post:
I have just about finished the train now and taken it for the maiden voyage.



Here it is with the pilot (not yet attached) and the transport flatbed.


The engine


I am waiting on some humbrol paint to arrive to touch up a few places (especially around the windows) and have a few other bits to sort as well.

It already looks amazing! I hope you upload a video somewhere of the train running. Great stuff!

 gobert wrote:
It already looks amazing! I hope you upload a video somewhere of the train running. Great stuff!

Thanks! I have uploaded a very short clip to twitter, but I'm still working on fixing the track to the board so will upload a better clip when it's done(hopefully this weekend). I'll probably make a post on the showcase forum when it's all done.

That is a great start to the board. Looks like it will be lots of fun to play. I think you are right to keep it so you can swap bits in and out in future too.

I really like all the little details on the finished train, the gun emplacement and the barrels stand out well while looking like a part of the original.

Fifty wrote:That is a great start to the board. Looks like it will be lots of fun to play. I think you are right to keep it so you can swap bits in and out in future too.

Thanks! it will be mainly just two of us playing on it so hopefully the modular elements will help to keep it fresh.

amazingturtles wrote:I really like all the little details on the finished train, the gun emplacement and the barrels stand out well while looking like a part of the original.

Thanks, I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. When it first arrived I was worried with the size but it seems to have worked quite well.

I have uploaded a very short video to twitter of the train running, I will eventually take a longer video of the full run but for now this will do!
https://twitter.com/Matthew40kguy/status/1302964798569820161

Just a quick update. I have started to flock the board and have been working on a few different modular elements.


I have made a ruined rhino piece that slots onto the board in between the road sections (inspired by the old GW scenery piece). I managed to pick up a rhino for a few pounds on ebay that was advertised as very poor condition. While taking it apart I realised that there was nothing wrong with it so I was tempted to keep it intact, but I already have a rather large pile to get on with so cut it up before I could change my mind.



I have flocked most of the base now with the ground material, I used a mix of woodland scenics and javis stuff that I had lying around and bought some new turfing material. Stupidly when testing the basing material on some foam I used full strength PVA that dried quickly, then I watered it down for the main board and it is taking an age to dry; but, when it does I have lots of different tufts and stones to add on to give it some depth. I also have some other bits to add (such as a crashed drop pod).



It's quite a bit darker in real life, but the photo gives a general approximation. Out of shot on the right is the small ruined city area and bunker on the left.

Train looks fanatastic dude!

I've got 2 of the same trains which will be getting 40kified soon. Great inspiration!

The video looks pretty cool! The destroyed rhino is coming along nicely. I could see the inspiration straight away!

DiscoKing wrote:Train looks fanatastic dude!

I've got 2 of the same trains which will be getting 40kified soon. Great inspiration!

Thanks! I stumbled across a blog post 40k trains with the cat model having never seen them before, but have since seen another version of it on dakka so just in case you haven't seen it worth checking it out (40k armoured train project p&m blog).

gobert wrote:The video looks pretty cool! The destroyed rhino is coming along nicely. I could see the inspiration straight away!

Thanks, hopefully will have a longer version up soon. I always loved the rhino part of the GW scenery but the rest never fit in with my table schemes so happy to finally have my own version of it.

Not much to update today, but have pretty much finished the rhino scenery piece. I went a bit crazy with the "ruined" part and decided the rhino has been there for many years.



To have a break from the board I have been putting together my first ever squad of primaris marines (hellblasters) and I think I prefer putting the firstborn models together as they are easier to give more individuality to. Also, I used to glue the guns in place after priming so I could paint the chest more easily and that is not as easy with these guys; I do like the models though and looking forward to painting them to add to my BA.

Small update today. I have decided to add a train station at one end of the board rather than the ruined city. After dry fitting the city it seemed quite boring and didn't really fit with the board, I don't have a huge amount of building pieces so I would have had to buy a new kit to add some height; instead I decided to add a platform and associated station, and then have a walkway that leads off to one side of the board. Hopefully this will allow for more interesting gameplay.

I am part way though sorting it all out, but it looks roughly like this (I have some walkways that go from the platform to a raised platform on the left).


I have also been working on a few signs for the platform, and have designed a logo of sorts for "imperial rail" (just a mix of various imperial symbols). I have yet to neaten it up, but it's quite tiny so looks better in real life.

I have just about finished the train station now, just a few small details to sort out.

Here is the layout with the train


The ticket machine, complete with obligatory discarded tickets.


and here is an assault marine getting a bit confused with the timetable


I have also given an area lighting effect a go, I haven't tried this before and I'm not 100% on the effect but it's okay for now.

I am about 50% done on the board now so I'll probably just update the blog when it is complete to save keep talking to myself!

For now, some photos of the board as it is. I have finished some standalone trees that can be put wherever, they look pretty decent in real life but I will likely try some other designs when everything else is done.

Here is the board as is, I haven't really started on the bunker that is inside the hill yet and have not done any detailing on the hills at all.


I have yet to sort out the fit of the little tree area to cover the gaps. The bit with the pipes is just an idea at the moment so I will see how that goes.


This is an defensive platform for the bunker side of the board (there is a similar set up on the other side). The hill on top of the bunker is either accessed by a hatch on the hill or via the ladders that lead to the platform.


and that's it for now! I am putting the board away for the moment and will be working on the modular elements.

Hey A&W, sorry you’re feeling unloved! I meant to comment on the ticket machine post. The tickets strewn on the floor are a cool touch, someone must’ve run away mid order as some Orks came on to the platform! The OSL looks to have come out well too.

The board overall is shaping up well, but it bugs me that the AA gun is hiding behind a cliff. If it were slightly lower than the cliff top and able to shoot over at all azimuths it’d be a more believable position. Than again it’s 40k so it’s probably on an elevator!

Good luck progressing it further

Yes, awesome work!!!! Love the details and the beefiness of the engine. What a spectacular spectacle it will be when finished as it is already superb.

gobert wrote:Hey A&W, sorry you’re feeling unloved! I meant to comment on the ticket machine post. The tickets strewn on the floor are a cool touch, someone must’ve run away mid order as some Orks came on to the platform! The OSL looks to have come out well too.

The board overall is shaping up well, but it bugs me that the AA gun is hiding behind a cliff. If it were slightly lower than the cliff top and able to shoot over at all azimuths it’d be a more believable position. Than again it’s 40k so it’s probably on an elevator!

Good luck progressing it further

Oh it's fine, it was a bit tongue in cheek as I don't want to keep adding posts with not much to say and it all get a bit lost in the ether!

I like to think that the ticket machine has a machine spirit AI by mistake that occasionally spits out tickets to remind people.

Now you mention it the gun is in a weird position. Originally I was just planning a hidden observation platform but thought some kind of aa gun could work there. I will try it a bit further along where the cliff is lower and it has a better view of the airspace.

MDSW wrote:Yes, awesome work!!!! Love the details and the beefiness of the engine. What a spectacular spectacle it will be when finished as it is already superb.

Thanks! I'm pretty happy with it so far, I am going to add something to the largest grass field as it is looking a bit barren.

Angels&Wolves wrote:


Thanks! I'm pretty happy with it so far, I am going to add something to the largest grass field as it is looking a bit barren.

Maybe a burnt out enemy tank??