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DJJazzyJeff
Thanks mate! not joining us this round?
Ruglud
Good to see you back!
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Progress
AHA! Secrete weapon test finally coming to life! BEHOLD! Floating Vegetation Frame!


Though cave could do with some mushrooms on the inside

Oh, I'll be joining. I haven't started yet, though. I'm using my hobby time to work on my entry for the monthly challenge. I might have bit off more than I can chew there.

 DJJazzyJeff wrote:
Oh, I'll be joining. I haven't started yet, though. I'm using my hobby time to work on my entry for the monthly challenge. I might have bit off more than I can chew there.

Cool! Cuz I was bout to say you should Jump in !

Progress
so the idea is to create a real 3D grass texture with an alpha channel! ...
or a grass texture that is with a transparent background.

So this textured "mat" could be draped over any surface creating grass terrain anywhere-ish WITH the original surface showing through the said grass texture "mat".
Basically I want plants standing by them selves not attached to any piece o terrain, or seem like they are growing by them selves naturally

I noticed that some of rather large moss pieces nothing more but tubes and could be placed upright using little "pins"
Rolled some pins outof GrayStuff, though softer pins should be better than toothpicks

Pins cut in half and glued onto the frame

Piece of a moss glued on the the pin








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Hey everyone,

Amazing projects! I'll post personalized feedback this weekend if I can, but I'm super impressed, and theres a couple of entries in the bag already. I got a little sidetracked with some life management (teaching middle school in person and virtually at the same time, plus some family medical crises that required travel... these are strange times!). But I'm all in on this contest and will post updates ASAP!

Mac

Mac worry not, we are in no hurry
Take care of important things first!

Progress -
I think this be the last update image for the cave as it is getting close to the final look.
Attaching finished grass texture to the cave.
I can already see that "floating vegetation" test was a success. The only adjustment for future would be a randomized string frame to glue things too, like a string NET with a random pattern preferably without strait lines would be absolutely perfect.



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Ohgod I just realized, (teaching middle school)
It must be a complete nightmare!

Okay, let's get up to date on this amazing work!

First, one entrant asked about video accompanying an entry. I think that's probably fine... in my experience, there has been no upper limit on images, only the six-photo minimum. If I take that to mean "be as visual as you want to be" then it's an easy fit. A GIF or short video showing the impact of cleverly placed magnets, hinges, interactive components, or optical illusions, or a long panning shot or flyover to give a sense of scale seem totally appropriate. Please keep the post-production to a minimum and resist the urge to add visual effects, music, or audio commentary... let the images of your creation speak for themselves.

Also, in the spirit of clearing the decks of old projects, having multiple items in your entry is fine, but they will need to be treated as a single entry. This might limit maximum scores on the rubric in areas where a unified design and consistent implementation of techniques is called for, but in general I have no issue with an entry composed of multiple smaller pieces.

Okay, on to the projects! Starting roughly where I left off a page ago...

DJJazzyJeff: Glad you're back! Your Gaslands table was one of several large, ambitious projects from past rounds that I reflected on as I crafted this theme. I see your point about basing for 40k... I'd offer the same suggestion about foamed PVC I gave to 416_Spacewolves above. It's cheap, easy to work with, and establishes the model's limits without massively expanding its footprint.

Captain Brown: Leave it to a veteran hobbyist to turn around an entry in the first few weeks of the contest! I'm excited to see the OSL on those plasma coils as your project approaches completion. Great effect!

Arakasi: Good to see the Klinik Trukk taking shape! Your bench is looking like an actual Ork scrapyard with all those piles for sprue sitting around... just not quite rusty enough. It strikes me that your finished shape might be a good fit for the new 40k terrain rules in terms of having (at least potentially) a good LoS blocking profile, a fairly uniform height, and only as much of a base/footprint as you choose.

Nevelon: How's it going with that foam cutter? This farm isn't going to battle itself!

Syro: I had you in mind as well when I crafted this theme-- it's because of geography that your business is unfinished, so feel free to launch a new project if it helps you stay connected to the hobby from a distance. If you choose to sit this one out, we'll still value your insights as we go!

Meer_Cat: I'm glad we get to nudge you back toward the shelves of shame... what's it going to be?

Ruglud: You're keeping us all in suspense...

416_Spacewolves: Looks like you found a good base for your crashed speeder, and the texture looks like it will take paint really nicely. I find myself wondering how recently it crashed... will it be ancient and rusty with vegetation growing out of it, or relatively new with battle damage and soot?

Mothsniper: Really cool, innovative work. The foam texture is nicely done... are you heating a dental tool in a candle for those fine cracks? I also like how the blocks aren't quite flush with each other. That will throw some cool shadows, with or without LEDs. The weed-and-moss mat is a wild idea, but you're making it work. Nice job, both on the building and on the photos and documentation.


Okay, sorry again for my absence and apologies if I missed anyone. We're coming up on the end of the month and the one-third mark for this round. Everyone throw down some weekend hobbying if you can and then post some progress pics next week. Keep up the great work!

Hi, folks.
After loooong time I'm in.

I finished one of my "old" work 18.9.2020 (I start it when CoviD come into Europe), only today I came here and see this contest.

Soo a bit history first:
All the time looking for nice idea for terrain pieces, what will burn spark of creator in me.
Last one was idea for specific terrain. Something EPIC. A Monument of glory with statue. I see some time ago, that is possible to find some promising statue files on share servers.(thingverse for example)
So I found this



It looks promising, so I continue




After cleaning it looks this way








Sorry, I don't have photo from build base, I use highdensity polystyrene with printed walls from second photo.

First time trying use some propaganda posters.





When I basecoat it, it looks like this -









after this it was classic story about painting, washing and drybrushing. Glue posters, add some trees, bushes.
If you looks back in competetion, same setups.
Finished photos I will send MacPhail.

Wow. What an incredible post.. can't wait to see the final product, Tek!

I especially like the "What to Cut with which Knife" poster.
Excellent work! Can't wait to see the finished piece.

So I’ve not forgotten I said I’d do this, I’m just slow, lazy, and easily distracted. With the weather getting more grey and rainy, I realized I needed to get to foam cutting. The ventilation blows in my apartment (pun intended) so I needed to do it out on the balcony. Preferably during a season where that’s not going to be miserable. So I made it outside and cut a few hills.


First time with the new cutter. Previous one was a wire cutter (which I loaned to a coworker who broke it). This one was more of a wand. Although it does have a wire attachment. It cut a bit different. More stringy residue, which is going to be based on heat I’m guessing. Also a lot of melted glop I needed to clean up off the cutter. Next time I might try the wire. Anyway, passable results. I do have some ancient spackle/filler I’m thinking of coating the hills with. Then glue and flock.

Last time I had the rattle cans out I primed the crates. Lots of visible print lines, and one of them was on high quality. Need to learn to use my printer better. I’m dithering between painting them an army olive drab, or just basic grey. And then adding some ID markings, maybe a gang sign. Undecided on that last bit. I want them to look weathered, but with those print lines, not sure how washes or drybrushing is going to work.

Thanks 416_
Finished pics have MacPhail in PM.

A good start Nevalon.I enjoyed reading your post

I always enjoy these competitions but have never quite got around to joining in before. This seems like a fitting one to rectify that.

The time has come for me to finally finish the river I started over a year ago. Having become dissatisfied with using strips of blue paper as rivers on my table I decided I was going to make a resin river. It would be modular with lots of pieces so I could have a different river course in every battle, and I'd put little fish and plants embedded in the resin. How hard could it be?

Turns out it's pretty hard when you don't know what you're doing. I got my first riverbed section painted up but failed to properly seal it so when I poured the resin it ended up draining out the river and flowing majestically across my work table. Then I realised I'd made another silly mistake and rather than using normal filler on some pieces I'd used anti-mold bathroom filler...which absolutely will not take paint.

Frustrated I took a break from the project, I always meant to come back to it, but then things got busier at work, and then my son was born, and the sad pieces of unfinished river ended up sitting on a shelf gathering dust. But I've learned from my mistakes, I have a marginally better idea of what I'm doing and I'm gonna persevere with this so that when the current global pandemic is over and I'm playing games again I can lay down that mighty river of my dreams.

My inauspicious starting point:

Let's keep this thead active. So some bunch of photos from me.

I've been a bit quiet.... too quiet... but I have managed a little more work on the Klinik.


Here I line up the base of the side wall. The plan is for the sides to be removable - for painting and photography - so the paper clips respresent the "slot in" pinning points.


Attempting to glue the side frame square with what I have available.


Two front walls pinned in place and a third being glued square.


Three front walls pinned in place and the fourth being glued square.

Catchya,
Arakasi

Test piece done and first pour on the larger pieces. Resin is fun.

Not sure if this thread is dead, but in the spirit of the challenge I shall persevere regardless...

@Orsino: I really like how your modular river is turning out. It will look great on the table.

Nice work Orsino.

To all: 3 weeks left. Go,go,go make finished your unfinishied business

Friends, I'm really sorry to have dropped off as I have... I had meant to be a much louder cheerleader for your awesome efforts than I have. I got double-slammed by the professional (figuring out how to teach middle school during a pandemic) and the personal (my mom passing a couple of weeks ago) and Dakka just fell off the list. I LOVE this contest, worked hard to get to the top of it, and really hoped to help push it forward. I've just been scrambling lately with planning and grading for school, and all the organizing and financial/legal stuff that comes with a family loss. I'm super bummed, but I want to rally these last few weeks. I absolutely will collect and judge all the entries and render a winner to carry on the contest. Before I've even gone back to recap the posts I've missed, I wanted to let y'all know I'm still around!

~Mac


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Okay, picking up from my last post several weeks back...

Tek, what an awesome project! I like the blend of 3D printing, designing your own components, and working with printed posters. It looks like all three approaches are getting integrated pretty nicely... I'll have to go check my PMs. Nice work!

Nevelon... better race the winter weather! The cold is setting in here in Colorado too, so I hope you got plenty of basecoating done to carry you thought the winter. How's it going out on The Farm?

Orsino, I love the river! Early in my 40k days my buddies and I did a river of MDF banks mounted on 2' x 2' pressboard. It was the giant tiles rather than the river that were modular, but we had a lot of variations, and oh boy was that stuff heavy. Your river is far, far better than ours was... nice work on the resin!

Arakasi, the Klinik needs to roll out on time, otherwise da Boyz won't get patched up in the field! What's next... some deck plating? Let everyone know if you need anything, and remember the Orks is always bangin' stuff together at the last minute.

Great job, everyone... not just on your individual projects, but on keeping the energy up in my absence. Go, team, go!

So sorry for your loss, MacPhail. You already said you have no time for anything, but we should get together and have our little plastic and metal toys try to kill each other. Might be a nice relief from the struggles of real life.

I'm in for this challenge, need to get myself moving, though.
I'm going to be building a pumping station, in a state of disrepair.

Here's what will amount to the main building, with some pipes running out into the ground.


This picture is upside down, but it's just some foam supports for the main pipe.


Here's the pipe in action, up on supports.

and more here.


It's going to be fairly long. Haven't exactly decided what to do at the end. I'm thinking it'll turn down and go underground from there.
Lot's of room underneath to hide units in 40k
Plenty of spaces to drive cars through in Gaslands. Also, plenty of supports to slam into while you're attempting to drive through.

The fallen piece in the middle is going to have dirt/etc. built up against it so it can act as a jump in Gaslands.

What's a post-apocalyptic death race without hair-raising stunts, after all? Gotta give the audience what they want to see.

Keep on at it everyone, your projects are looking great. Getting down to the wire!

Macphail, I am so very sorry to hear about your mom passing away. That is so terrible to be going through. Hang in there.

Still attempting to get this in - hopefully the detailing work will be faster than the frame...


Da Klinik - frame complete...

Catchya,
Arakasi

Thanks for the kind words, and for the awesome projects! DJ, that thing will be huge! I love the collapsed section. Arakasi, go-go-go! Now that I can see the shape of it I'm imagining how it come together. Is that the tractor for it in the background?

Very little progress, but here is an update anyway. I made the structure taller so I could attach a coupling for the main pipe. Cut and glued some zip ties for a little bit of texture. I have some other bits to attach that I took out of an old printer that I disassembled. And, I did some weathering and bullet holes in the foam supports. Going to paint those up, hopefully tomorrow, and work on the piping.

This is going to be my last update for a while, I'm going to spend the next week sitting in the woods, drinking beer, and trying to shoot a deer. Though, I do suppose I'll have more luck with the latter if I do those things in a different order. It will be a nice break, but it will make finishing on time nearly impossible. I suppose my business may remain unfinished, but I'm far enough along and motivated enough to finish it.

Forgive the insane clutter on the desk. It's a macrocosm of what it's like inside my head these days.

The jump is turning out. I received some feedback on my p&m blog and will probably make the inside of the pipe the jump. It doesn't quite fit a matchbox car, especially on modded with guns, etc., but the rule of cool can certainly accommodate that.



Some weathering on the broken edge of the main pipe. A section doesn't just collapse without good reason to.



I guess this thing was at one point automated, so sme radio towers and antennae are in order.



Ans some little pipe work on the back side. A drining straw kit is responsible for the content of this message.



Good luck to everyone as we approach the finish line.

Go team go! I hope the holiday (depending on where you are) creates a little extra opportunity to build, paint, etc. Give me an update on your progress and we'll navigate any accommodations need in the final turns. The last thing I want is for unfinished business to remain unfinished, so let's work together to get a good number of projects over the line.

DJ, looking good! Good luck on the deer hunt, and get those finishing touches done!

Had to do an extra pour on a couple of pieces after I'd painted the riverbanks but might just scrape the deadline.

 MacPhail wrote:
Arakasi, go-go-go! Now that I can see the shape of it I'm imagining how it come together. Is that the tractor for it in the background?

No, that's just a Battlewagon for sizing purposes

It is with great disappointment that I need to bail out, again. I'm not going to come anywhere near close to making it. I have, once again, broken Rule #6 - "Bear in mind the deadline and don't bite off more than you can chew." I look forward to absolving myself next round.

Where I got to on the Klinik:


Catchya,
Arakasi

I know we've budged a bit on deadlines before, so I'm making a command decision here (and I'd made up my mind to do so BEFORE the last two posts). I'm going to extend the deadline by two weeks to December 15... in the spirit of finishing up Unfinished Business, I'd very much like to get these projects over the line.

I'm also in a position where even if you got me your projects in the next two days, I wouldn't have a chance to look at them for at least two weeks... teaching middle school online consumes all my attention, and school's out on the 18th. If I'm not going to use that time, you should. SO... get those fabulous photos into my PMs by the end of the day on 12/15, and I'll get them scored and commented and turned around by the holidays.

Thanks for your flexibility and awesome hobby efforts!