Terrain Tuesday

Well, the task of slapping together some more terrain has come to an end. I glued some ballast down, spray primed everything, and then laid down the real colors.

The Dust Tactics crates were just sprayed over with silver spray paint and then gone over with Tamiya Smoke. I figured that they wouldn't spend as much time outside as the chemical tanks, so I opted to make them look dirrty, but not so much rusty.

The tanks on the other hand are constantly exposed to the elements, so they needed to look as grungy and nasty as I could get them. A base coat of Warplock Bronze brushed over with Leadbelcher did the trick. I'll have a proper looking industrial site soon enough.

While I was in the middle of putting all this together I found that I had run out of wood glue. This stuff bonds amazingly well and holds the ballast I use to texture my terrain firmly in place, so this would not do at all. Off I ran to Michaels to refill my supplies.

While there I found some boxes. They were perfectly shaped to become some gigantic power sheds or something along those lines. No matter what they looked like buildings. I snatched two of them up, some hardboard rectangles to make bases for them, and some tiles of wood about the right size to become doors.

When I got home I assembled everything and rooted around my apartment. Eventually I found some GW cavalry bases to glue to the top to look like vents. I grabbed a couple of the plasticard tiles I have laying around and glued them to the doors I had created. Once dry it was ballast time, and then outside.

I found that I had a can of Army Painter green spray paint laying around from when I put together my Skaven army, so I decided that I wouldn't have yet another entirely metallic piece for my table. I hosed them down, douched up some of the areas with my usual rusty look, and voila! Yet another piece that jams up vision nicely. I'm still wondering if I should wash them with something to make them look beat up and to bring out the detail. I'll have to ponder that at work. I wasn't able to use any of these pieces terrain in my game against Demitra today since they were still drying, but I should be able to throw them down on the table tomorrow.

4x4

My newest creation.

No, today I really couldn't think of a title, so that's all you get.

I ran out to the fabric store today. I have come to the decision that if I'm going to bring terrain to play Infinity on to the store, I really ought to bring something to put it on. To that end I found this 100% recycled plastic felt. Feeling eco-friendly, I approached the counter at which they cut up said fabric for you, and I asked for a price check. Turns out the material was on sale for $2.99 per yard! Joy!!! This was a sign. reaching into my pocket I produced the stack of one dollar bills I had scrounged. Ten of them. The material, which was also the closest match to the color I paint my terrain, was affordable and just seemed to beckon to me. The right color, the right price, the right material. It was meant to be.

Since fabric is sold by the yard, I would have to do some chopping. I went ahead and got two yards of the stuff. After handing over the correct amount to the cashier, I practically skipped out to my car. I had a gaming mat.

Nothing quite like when a plan comes together.

When I arrived home I grabbed the nearest at hand tape measure, as well as a Sharpie, and set about measuring and marking. Next, the scissors. Unfortunately my scissors are... quite dull, and had a bit of an issue slicing through the felt, but perseverance paid off and I got through the trim down.

I laid my terrain down on the square and came to a horrifying realization. The terrain didn't match! The drybrushing just made the hills look too different. Now I needed a new plan.

I marched off to my room and grabbed the paint can from which I got all my drybrushing paint, and walked outside carrying it, the felt, and a paintbrush. after laying down my newly cut felt square on the porch, I set down my can of paint, took off the lid, and dipped in the brush. Wiping most of the excess off, I began dabbing the tip of the brush against the felt. This produced little spots all over the place, though at a glacial rate. I resolved that, no matter the time investment I would accomplish this mission. On hands and knees I dabbed and dabbed, for half an hour, and then finally stood up.

I don't mind telling you, I was pleased with the result as well as myself. This looked good.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to employ the mat, today is unlikely (I know, I'm already flaking out on Infinity after only one showing), but I have bigger concerns tonight. You see, we're having a wedding party (not so much a shower, as it's too close to the big day) and things are not quite ready to go despite it being in only three days! It's time for a pow-wow with the maid of honor to get things set for the upcoming festivities.

LOS blocking goodness.

I've also set about trying to rectify the (lacking) terrain situation. I have a bunch of junk laying around, so I gathered it up and started gluing it together. Looks like I'll have more chemical tanks in the near future. They're cheap to produce and they look good enough on the table. They also help break up line of sight nicely, especially the one on the left there.

I also have plans to raid Michaels in the near-ish future in order to grab some random bits and bobs. The wood I use as a base for my terrain is from that store, and it's cheap, so I may as well grab some more. Plus I can grab some things like little boxes and maybe even some palm trees or something along those lines. I'll be able to slap all that stuff together in an assortment of interesting ways and hopefully produce some quality terrain to help further obscure minis as they move up the board.

Oh, by the way, for those of you counting:
Exactly one month from today I'll be getting hitched. More and more weird, but not in a bad way.

Before The Rain: X-Wing Mat 2

Another really quick one- this time my second mat for X-Wing. I went to town a little more on this one. The spiral galaxy didn't come out quite right, but I doubt anybody will complain.

Now if FFG will ever release another wave of minis for this game. With Dust gone they've got no excuse for dragging their heels- short of wanting to kill the game.

X-Wing Hope Holdout- Gaming Mat 1

Today's project required a bit less focus. Today I worked up a game mat for X-Wing. It's pretty much impossible to find an opponent around here (granted, I haven't really gauged Demitra's interest too much), but I needed a distraction. My next mat (I have one more) will be a big blue nebula. I like Gale Force 9's "I swear it's not the Death Star" mat, but this is just plain cheaper. Plus it gives me something to do. Now onward to painting the next piece of felt!

More Progress, Plus Spears!

Well, my painting question was answered by the Gaming Gods. Looking down the "Coming Attractions" list on the right there, I suddenly remembered that I has a building from Dust that needed a lick or two of paint. While rooting around in my gaming closet trying to find it, I came across what little AT-43 terrain I had remaining after the Great Gaming Purge of a couple days ago. The storage containers, while slick, needed to have all the AT-43 references removed from them, so into the painting cue they went. I started by doing a little tweaking of the Dust building, adding some pieces of plasticard to look like the building's roof had collapsed:

From there, I added a touch of ballast here and there to look like rubble collected on the roof:

And finally, outside to paint. I started with mu usual Rust-Oleum automotive primer, a step which I totally forgot to take a photo of. From there, I lightly sprayed the structure with Army Painter's Skeleton Bone paint, resulting in this:

I haven't decided what I'm going to do with the building from here. I have some wood stain somewhere (I think) that could be slathered across the model. That may or may not look slick. I'll have to think on it.

While that was drying, I sprayed the AT-43 crates with the Krylon silver spray paint I have laying around. Once dry, I hit it with Tamiya Smoke. Upon reflection, I think the pieces could use a drybrushing, so I guess they're not quite done yet.

Finally, and the reason my terrain projects are not quite finished, my spears from the Wargames Foundry arrived today! About dang time. At least my Amazon army is fully assembled now.

The spears look pretty good on the minis, and unlike the ones from the original packaging these won't snap at a glance.

That's all there is to report right now. Now off to drybrush those crates and find that stain (assuming I didn't pitch it).

Boards Finished

This is another one that consists more of pictures than text. I just really wanted to throw up pictures of the final product despite the likelihood I'll throw up pictures of the board in use soon.

...And there you have it. Hopefully the Quar will show up in the mail today. I'm starting to get annoyed that they're not here yet. I'll be really annoyed if the minis I bought from Kabuki Models show up before the Zombiesmith order does.

Victory Over The Hills!

That's right, the hills are done and ready for action. A little Elmer's Glue-All on the bald spots, as well as here and there, and adding various colors of static grass and flock, and there you have it. I may be adding patches of grass to my boards soon (assuming I can get newspaper to lay under them to catch any excess) so that everything will match up. Until then I'll be plotting my next project. I just don't know what that is yet. Since I'm selling off my Malifaux stuff this Monday, maybe it'll be some Dust stuff in a week or so. Only time will tell.

Hills Progress- Almost Done

Well, the rest of the day yesterday (everything up until the rather violent thunderstorm) was spent finishing up the hills. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out, despite missing a couple patches of color.

I followed the usual terrain recipe. once the hills had dried to their base boards, I covered them with glue. Part way through the process I ran out of wood glue, so I turned to Elmer's Glue-All. This stuff has never failed me before, it's just not my first pick for terrain. One at a time I slathered them with glue, then sprinkled them with ballast.

You may note in the picture that there were a couple of spots the glue didn't reach, and therefore the ballast did not adhere. This was only a minor annoyance to me, as the temperature outside was, let's say oppressive. I continued forward on my quest to finish these terrain pieces which have tormented me for the last few weeks.

A coat of brown paint later. Now you really can't tell that there are patches where I missed a little texture

Finally, the drybrush. I was kind of foolish and photographed them on my carpet, but at this point I had finished cleaning up outside, and I wasn't really keen on stepping out into the oven that was Fairfax City yesterday. Hopefully you can see everything just fine. I missed a couple of spots with paint, so I'm going to be covering them with flock and static grass tomorrow (probably tomorrow). I can't wait to break out these bad boys on Tuesday.

Hill Progress!

After a bit of a bummer (getting out of Malifaux) and a bit of elation (getting an offer on the minis) I ran over to my parents' house to borrow my Dad's jigsaw.

Locked and loaded.

I was able to clean up the bases for the hills, cutting them down to size. They were a bit rough around the edges...

Inverted, blurry, and low-resolution. I'm sorry.

...so I cleaned them up with a rasp and a file. Now they're drying in a stack on my painting table.

Yep, I'm a biology major.

So, forward progress on the hills. In a few hours I'll texture them, then paint.

Terrain Mania Continues!!!

Lacking any miniatures to paint at present, my focus has turned to terrain. I say you can never have too much variety in your terrain box(es), so I have been scrounging every unfinished project I can get my hands on and, well, finishing them. The theme of today was tank traps. I've had some lying around forever, so I figured I'd slap some paint on them and get them ready for play. I started by spray painting a bunch of old plastic Games Workshop tank traps I had laying around silver. After that I hit them with Tamiya Smoke, and set them aside to dry. Once they were ready I noticed that some of the traps have a hard time staying upright. This prompted me to scurry off to the craft store to acquire some wood! I went ahead and grabbed a few extra pieces to glue rocks to, as should I want to put together a desert board rock formations will be vital to provide cover to the forces involved.

Once home I glued the tank traps as well as assorted rocks to the wood I had just purchased.

Following that I slapped down some wood glue on the bases and coated them with ballast.

Once the wood glue had dried (an hour or two later, I was kind of overly generous with the glue) I layed down a layer of brown paint over the terrain pieces. The bases of the tank traps got as neat a coat as I could manage with the rather sub-par brush I was wielding, and the entirety of the rock formations were base coated.

Again being a touch generous with this layer (you would have thought I'd have learned) i waited a few hours for the brown to dry. Playing a lot of King of Fighters XIII helped quite a bit here. Once the bases finally were done, I drybrushed them with khaki paint.

Mission accomplished. I've got a few more pieces of terrain ready for action, and my board is getting closer and closer to having enough sci-fi terrain. This stuff will be useful in both 40k and (maybe) Dust Warfare. I'll be picking up some SSU stuff for Dust assuming somebody out there wants to buy a whole bunch of MalifauX minis cheap.

In related news, my poor hills still languish in uncompletedness by my window sill. I need to get in touch with my dad to borrow his jigsaw to finish those bases. Until then, this will be their state:

Breaking Radio Silence: Lots of Progress

It's been a while, eh? Not that I've been lounging around, no, quite the opposite! First thing's first; my Zombiesmith grey aliens. Well, actually they're more the classic "little green men", but the point is now they have a ride. The UFO is known as the "Area 51 Flying Saucer, but I forget who made it. If you know please comment and I'll give the manufacturer their proper credit.

Now I'd like to find a skirmish game to use them with. Especially against the women from Venus I found a while ago.

Unfortunately the glue I used to attach the windows fogged them over. It's an annoyance, but not worth buying another kit.

My next project (and the one consuming most of my time) is the expansion of my new board. The original is starting to show its age and now is the time to upgrade. I started the project with gluing some trees I had lying around that I originally bought for 15mm gaming to some Games Workshop titan bases. The trees were far too big to be used in either Hordes of the Things or Song of Blades and Heroes, so they were pressed into service on my new board.

I then covered the bases with medium railroad ballast using Elmer's Wood Glue. Let me tell you, this stuff works wonders. I've yet to have anything I attached using this stuff come apart, and it goes on easily with a brush and a little water.

Next outside for a coat of brown paint. The stuff I use is as close as I could find to Vallejo "Earth" at Wal-Mart. I know, boo hiss for supporting a "big box store", but there's just not a mom and pop hardware store around here.

After the paint dried I drybrushed the closest color I could find to "Khaki" over the bases. This approach has given me a board that looks much closer to a desert than I had originally cared for, but over time the color has grown on me. Besides, the original game this stuff was assembled for is MalifauX. If that game doesn't take place in a desert no game does.

I kind of miss playing MalifauX, but oh, well. More eBay fodder for if I get into Dust Warfare. I do however once again digress.

I also went through and repainted my original forest templates from my first board. There was already static grass on the boards which kind of made them look a touch sub-optimal. I'm not sure if these are going to make the final cut. I'm leaning toward yes as I just don't want to go through and cut out more templates. You see, Demitra's jigsaw is a touch, well he uses the term "classic". This means the blade is dull and you have to push it with both hands in order to get it to cut. As I like my fingers where they are, I don't think we'll be utilizing that particular tool any time soon. In fact, that particular tool has stalled our current "making hills so that the table isn't totally flat and boring" project. I'll have more on that in a later post, but just know that they're in the works.

Next it was on to expanding the board from its original 4'x4' size to 6'x4' so that games like Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, and maybe one day Dust can be played on it. This job, while the easiest, would prove to be by far the most time consuming. The boards (made of MDF- ask for it at your local hardware store if you don't know what it is) were first covered in wood glue. You'll need to thin it out a very little bit to get it to go on evenly. Once that's accomplished, sprinkle your railroad ballast over the board, making sure to coat the whole thing. Now the boring bit; leave it alone for several hours to dry. I suggest playing video games during this time. Once the glue is set, go over it with your base paint using a paint roller like you'd use for your walls. This makes sure the paint both goes on fast and evenly. Now it's time for more waiting. The paint must be given plenty of time to dry, or the next step will only make a mess.

Grab your can of paint you intend to use as a highlight and a large paintbrush. Like painting your house large. A cheapo one will do the job just fine, as you're about to destroy it. Drybrush the table. be sure you get a good, even covering. This will keep your table from looking all streaky (like a few of mine do). As I said before, this will probably destroy your brush, so don.t invest in a good one. In fact, the stiffer bristles of cheap brushes actually help this part.

That's it, you now have a fully painted table!

You may, as I have done with this 3'x3' table, wish to add patches of static grass and/or flock of varying shapes and sizes to the finished board. Be sure to attach this with Elmer's Glue-All as wood glue will turn everything yellow.

One final thing:

The long wait is finally over. just a couple of days ago my Candy and Cola miniature for Super Dungeon Explore arrived. Again, finally. The wait time and total lack of communication on the part of Sodapop Miniatures was totally unacceptable. At least I eventually got my miniature.

Well, here she is! all painted up and ready to whack some Kobolds.

Now to wait for the weather to break (the humidity is nightmarish) so I can varnish her.

Another Two-Fer, This Time: Terrain

As I sit here pondering the idea of a 40k escalation "League" (if you can call two people a league) I have come to a conclusion. My current 6'x4' table is simply out of date. I have a desert themed table that would look much better, and has a lot more line-of-sight blocking terrain. This, of course, leads me to a couple of problems.

One- I need two more 2'x2' squares to make the table out of.
Two- I need more fine ballast to texture the boards.
Three- I may need to buy new paint. Mine has been in storage since early fall, and I'm sue re all the pigment has settled to the bottom. What I'm not sure about is being able to re-mix the paints without making a gigantic mess somewhere in / near the apartment.
Four- I need a new paint roller. Or at least the spongy bit that goes over it. I'm sure Wal*Mart has one, it's just another thing on my terrain building checklist.

More terrain would be even better, as I'm not so sure I have enough terrain to fill up a quarter of a 6'x4' table, but if not I'm pretty close.

Once the two other board sections are / would be done, I('d) need to flock and Static Grass the sections, as right now they're bare.

This project would need to be put off until the snow stops around here any way and the temperature is a bearable state for some time.

This is a project I'd love to jump on, but weather and space constraints keep getting in the way. Don't think for a second though that this is over- My MalifauX / Warmachine boards and terrain components will not go to waste!