'nids part 387 - Terrain is everything - 3D printed capillary towers - TO DONE! 🔴⚪

Afternoon #Warhammer Community I've been #PaintingWarhammer on the 3D printed capillary towers. As the project came to an end I was lax again in keeping track of timing. I did record the red fleshy highlights though.

Red highlights 1, was 68 minutes. Red highlights 2. was 50 minutes. I didn't keep track of anything else.

Further highlights, shading, matt varnish, gloss varnish and Tamiya Clear Red X-27 followed. Really happy with the final result, but I ummed and ahhed for quite along time over the 'value' in hobby points. 

The biggest spires are as big as an Imperial Knight but are they worth 20 points each? I figured the two of them were worth 20 points The medium ones are they 10 points each? If so they're effectively the same value as the big ones. I did think not to worry about it and it balances out only giving the big ones 20 points. But in the end I valued them at 5 points each and the small ones at 2 points each.

Add the 5 point Terrain bonus and the entire suite of towers was valued at 39 points. The MESBG terrain was 80 points [plus 5]. This does feel like half the amount of effort, maybe a little more... 🤷What do you think?

A Great Big Chrome Stamp of Approval adding to my spreadsheet this is worth 39 points [plus 5 bonus terrain points]. Therefore, this brings me up to 289 points for the season so far.

And against the white background. Probably could have done to add a Termagant in for scale but forgot.

Battle Record - Bolt Action 21/05/26

Afternoon and wearer back to our usual Thursday night at Otty's shed we to play Bolt Action with the SAS Rogue Heroes from WWII. This time it's just Ben, Otty and I.

Because Liam ended up in hospital. He's OK, but he's having some medical investigations at the moment and we're hoping for a swift recovery so he can be back gaming as soon as possible.

We played on, it's what he would have wanted! 😜

The illuminated fireballs are so much fun. Again, I can't remember much of what happened.

I think both recent games had me alternating between the most lucky dice rolls to the most unlucky.

Similar to MESBG though there was a lot of amazing hits, that I couldn't convert to causing wounds.

But, there were definitely some amazing cups of tea! Otty's brew skills hit the spot that's for sure.

Busy next week so no games for me. I'll see these guys in a fortnight.

Battle Record - Bolt Action 14/05/26

Afternoon and we are back to our usual Thursday night at Otty's shed we to play Bolt Action with the SAS Rogue Heroes from WWII. I haven't had time for blogging so this is weeks later and unsurprisingly I've no recollection of the game. But luckily that's why started these 'records', rather than reports. 

This is to acknowledge we played, had fun and enjoyed the company of good friends.

All on amazing tables, with fantastic armies built and painted by us.

We scratch that creative itch and then bring it to Otty's Hobby Shed to share it.

And just look how good it looks!

There is just something about these WWII figures and scenes that just look cinematic in a way 40k and Star Wars just can't

Even with the amazing dynamic action poses in 40k, these simple soldiers somehow look like something out of Band of Brothers [just in a different setting].

I love the game and love getting to hang out with these guys.

Shed of the Year 2026

Afternoon #Warhammer Community straight off the bat with that clickbait headline, we haven't won. But we have entered Otty's Hobby Shed 2.0 in the Readers' Sheds, Shed of the Year contest 2026.

It's featured a lot on the blog as that's where we now play regularly.

But we've shown its construction while we were still using Shed 1.0. 

With the input and effort of many we helped Otty make this masterpiece of hobby greatness.

Scott may not have got to game in it but he will always be part of its construction.

Otty had high standards, this wasn't just bigger version of shed 1.0 it was in another league for functionality AND comfort. 

Attention to detail rather than leaving things rough and ready.

A custom gaming table cobbled together from various existing tables but with loads of storage.

And then loads more storage for figures and terrain.

I realised too late last year we should have entered and I've since been waiting for this year's competition and we've at least thrown our hat in the ring. It's a tough category - 'pub/entertainment'. There are obviously a lot of well decorated shed pubs, as well as home cinemas and entertainment spaces. Our uniqueness among the more mainstream approaches might be our strength, together with the scratchbuilt nature and it's continued support for us as a group. We have fun but it's not just getting drunk. I think the winners will be decided by a judging panel, I don't think there are public votes. But the great thing is that if you don't win you can enter again! So, whatever happens we'll continue to showcase Otty's Hobby Shed to inspire others and remember our friends.

Otty's Hobby Shed 2.0, Pub/Entertainment, Lancashire owned by Sheddie Chris Otterburn & Friends | #shedoftheyear

Battle Record - Bolt Action 10/05/26

Afternoon and as we missed our usual Thursday night at Otty's shed we rainchecked to play Bolt Action on the Sunday with the SAS Rogue Heroes from WWII. Now we started at 5pm, but I didn't take many pics so don't get your hopes up.

The game was a rollercoaster, with a sandstorm hitting as we started [in turn 3 of an ongoing game]. So many of the units were pinned due to the weather. Any shooting that happened struggled to hit with the reduced visibility and cover. My dice rolling was very poor, which got a turns full of abuse. Turn four and it swung the other way, with my dice on fire, culminating in Ben and Liam wanting to pack in and go home. Despite the paddy they played on and the Italians were poorly positioned with very few infantry left [needed to secure objectives]. My dice flipped again and the SAS swung a convincing victory.

Once again the lesson learned is the game is not over until it is over. There is no point claiming defeat from just a bad turn because the Italians in the last two turns were struggling to be in the right places to hold their objectives. Too many pin markers and failed order rolls preventing them from running around the board snapping them up in the final turns.

Having packed it up we started a new Star Wars Legion game on the 'Geonosis' board. Some mistakes were made on my board extensions. I never did a black wash on them before drybrushing so they're very different and will need fixing. But as we only put two units on the board before we had to call it a night I didn't take any pictures. We'll catch up next week.

'nids part 386 - Terrain is everything - 3D printed capillary towers - Chitin highlights 2

Afternoon #Warhammer Community I've been #PaintingWarhammer on the 3D printed capillary towers. Honestly, I've been busy, although it has been somewhat tedious. There's not a huge amount to show because the highlights and dots are all done. I've been doing some other projects inbetween to avoid burnout, but I can't really share those yet. The Cerastus Knights do have hinged hatches though! I continued to keep track of how long it took me to paint the striations. 

• Big tower 1: striations 105 minutes + dots 55 minutes = 160 minutes
• Big tower 2: striations 113 minutes + dots 66 minutes = 179 minutes
• Medium tower 1: striations 64 minutes + dots 32 minutes = 96 minutes
• Medium tower 2: striations 48 minutes + dots 28 minutes = 76 minutes
• Medium tower 3: striations 59 minutes + dots 25 minutes = 84 minutes
• Small tower 1: striations 28 minutes + dots 20 minutes = 48 minutes
• Small tower 2:  striations 36 minutes + dots 22 minutes = 58 minutes

That's a grand total of 701 minutes, or 11 hours and 41 minutes on these 2nd highlights alone!  I then did the 2nd bone highlights with the big ones taking about 34 minutes, the medium 22 and the small 15. Another 179 minutes [3 hours]. 😳

But, there is only the red fleshy bits left to do now [plus matt and gloss varnishes]. You can already see I've put some thinned red between the chitin plates to look like it's raw between them. It also helps define each plate. I've also highlighted the red with both Vallejo Game Extra Opaque Heavy Red and then Mephiston Red. The stretched bit will be highlighted again up to white specular highlights similar to my Tyranid Void Shield Generator fleshy bits. Then the textured bit will have more shading added, which will be enhanced by the Tamiya Clear Red X-27. Nearly done, but you can see just how much effort it has taken.