Terrain is everything - Vent Tower pt 2. EUREKA!

A lot of brain power has been employed over the last few weeks trying to solve the problem of the roof of the 'Vent Tower'. Surprisingly the solution was to stick to the initial sketch. Of course the problem with that was that I'd made the floor plate only just big enough to fit four figures and there would be no room for walls as foamcard thickness of 5mm (x4 all the way round) was sufficient to stop the miniatures fitting up top.

Additionally, going without walls looked a bit stupid, like that scene from Family Guy Blue Harvest. Sure, in the 41st Millenium, Health & Safety isn't big on the Imperium's agenda but seriously your not going to put a guard rail at the top of the building?... aah-hah! A guard rail BING!

So I went back to the sketch and thought to use granny grating as a barrier, thin enough to not take up too much room and transparent enough tto still retain the lines of the building and still provide some measure of architectural reality in stopping folks falling off the top.

So, here we have the floor plate with four pieces of flower decorators wire bent and shaped to add support to the corner pieces. The floor plate has notches cut into it, but not the last bit of card that the corner pieces can also be supported by and glued to. The last picture of the 3 shows the pieces dry fit into their position.

Typically the next set of pics seem to have missed out quite a bit but as you can see I've put in place the granny grating guard rail and removed sections of it to make it even less obstructive. I went for a chest height but having played around in Photoshop in the third picture, I think a waist height would be better and less intrusive to the design and easier to position figures. As you can see four figures fit quite nicely and the fifth would shoot from the firing position of the door. Can't imagine four Termagant up here though, but then again the Imperium does haven't to abide by diversity laws and accommodate for Xenos!

Here's a shot of the roof so I can try and break down what went on between the first three shots and the second set. Black mounting card was positioned in the two corners butting up to the corner spires. The spires were glued in place. I cut granny grating for the floor and removed a base sized circle in the corner with the spire that has a bit of wall to protect those coming out of the hatch. A slotta-base was glued in place and a hatch from an old model American Wild West Locomotive was poly-cemented as the hatch. I'm sure a simple disc of card would suffice here, I'll have to add one into the STC when I get round to it but as you can see this bit's going to be a right pain to describe. Railings where glued in place, I've still to use sandwich bag wires to tie them in place, but that'll happen after the PVA dries.

Now, afterall the worries about retaining the lines of the building I've actually bulked out the roof silhouette. The vertical stripes on the building had to have some sort of ledge above them. If the ledge was too thin it would have looked odd. Fortunately I had some bits of black mounting card that had been doubled up. These were stepped at the corners with the wire support and cut diagonally to butt up at the spire corners and amazingly it's made a pretty damn good fit.

Lastly another Photoshop edit to confirm whether chest height or waist height for the gurad rail would be best and I think the answer is self evident. Oh, and lastly a reminder of what the sketch was and it's pretty close.

But wait, didn't I say I was going to put Heavy Bolter sponsons on this? Well yes I did, but I couldn't get it to work properly, however this roof comes with a piece of square foamcard the exact size of the interior hole of the tower walls attached underneath to hold it in place. This roof will be removable and I'm looking to add an alternative roof section with a similar 'plug fit' that covers at least another two floors, possibly more. In which case there'll definitely not be enough room for four up top so it will support two and I will look to fit the sponsons and fire ports on the additional floors. I wonder how tall I can make this?

Epic Space Marines part 10. - Ultramarines part 6. The whole shebang!

It's been a while and I know you missed them but here's the last of my Epic Ultramarine photos, though couriously I didn't take one with them all in one shot, still there's plenty to drool over if your and Epic fanboy.

   

Assault squad on the left, loving the white shoulder pads on the tac squad in the second row.

Termies, Chaplain and Medic hold the centre [no doubt backed up by the big guns of the Vindicators].

Robots and Whirlwinds support the right flank.

Robots, Predators, Bikes and Mole Mortars support the left flank.

Cheers for sticking with it. Still some unpainted titans left to come when I get round to photgraphing them.

Terrain is everything - Honoured Imperium pt2.

Progress has been pretty swift with this set, not that you'll notice because these updates will be spread out over the next few weeks. Anyway, what a difference 'knowing how to do something' makes to a project. My Red Planet basing is making this a doddle and not only that an appealing prospect, something my non-starter of a Dark Angels project illustrates.

So far everything has had it's Red Oxide primer put on. The Hycote spray is really good, my Simoniz conked out within about one second so it was a good job I picked some up. It's coverage is really good a flatter finish than the Hycote, even more Satin than Matt. Each part has then been dry-brushed with copious amounts of Vermilion Art Acrylic.

Here you can see how the statue was kept separate so I could undercoat the Marine Matt Black [yes that famous one]. As you can see the drybrushing has caught the shoes. The funny thing is all of these models are kind of being painted in the opposite to the suggested GW tutorials, they work on the model then paint the ground. However, as I know the ground is going to require a fair bit of dry-brushing I didn't want to paint the 'item' then mess it up as evidenced below. Of course any dry-brushing later on may well mess up my RedPlanet FX, but we'll have to wait and see on that score...

WFB - Empire Halflings

There was a recent post on BoLS regarding 'power gaming' and the various types of power gamer. I know I'm one but the sort that looks at the best stats and says I'll have one [or many] of them. When it came to archers in my Empire army there was only one choice Hobbits Halflings! Somehow I managed to source 10 of these fellas. I'm certain of the history of some but the remainder I've just no idea where they came from.

I'm also totally unsure of my colour scheme blue and pink?! What was I thinking, but they are kind of pretty. Anyway here's the line up...

Much like the Flagellants/militia they all have a bit of character. First up is some chap stuffing his face with a rather orange chicken drumstick. The next three are Hobbits, they're from the original Citadel Miniatures Fellowship of the Ring box set, which I had. So here we have Merry, Frodo and Pippin. Sam has gone missing along with Gandalf, Legolas, Boromir, Aragorn and Gimli. Bill the pony however is in my bits box. Last of the five is the low-level hero of the unit. This is my favorite Halfling, he looks so cool in his little chainmail outfit and shield on his back.

This five are less impressive, just a bunch of halflings, however the second from left is one of my earliest miniatures. You may notice he's quite tall for such a little gue, that's because he actually came with his own base. You can see the gravel is quite a mound due to the lead base that actually says halfling on it underneath. This guy came in a two pack with another halfling, balding, in a cooks apron and a little dagger though I'm not sure where he ended up.

The only other thing missing from this bunch is my Champion - an Elector , Elder of the Moot! This was a Blood Bowl Halfling put into a sitting position with a lance and mounted on a Giant Scorpion! I'll fish it out for his day in the sun at some point but I think it's missing a few legs and only ever got undercoated.

UPDATE - since found 'Proud Foot', the Halfling with the integral base second from the left and a number of his bretheren here:

http://www.solegends.com/citc/c11halflings.htm

"bin Trago's"

"A'right me'luvver, I'll be with you dreckly!" As I mentioned the other day I attended a funeral the other week. This is a bit of an odd post, so please bare with me. It's historical indulgence, a eulogy, and a tenuous hobby treat.

The funeral was for my both my sons Godfather. When I was at University [93-97] I stayed with three families throughout my time in Cornwall [one of the families I stayed with was during work placement in London]. The second family I stayed with the longest and as they had a son who was around my age I eventually became more than just a lodger during my stay. Sadly he was killed in a car accident in 1996 and the memories invested in the house his parents lived in was too much so they moved and I ended up looking after myself for the first time in my four years studying.

Anyway I never forgot their kindness and generosity in welcoming me into their home and when my wife became pregnant we asked them both to be Godparents for the 'nipper' and when we were expecting the second child they became Godparents again for the 'nu-nipper'. In all that time they've travelled the 350 miles from Cornwall to Lancashire a few times and we've been down on holiday a couple. Sadly the boys Godfather became ill recently and despite having a heart defibrillator fitted complications set in and he passed away on the 16th of Feb. So we endeavoured to attend the funeral and it was decided that I'd go down on the coach just like I did when I was going backwards and forwards to uni.

It's a 10 hour journey from Liverpool to Falmouth and there's now two coaches a day instead of one but I was feeling many emotions as I travelled to my second home. Not least the sadness of the occasion but also the reminiscing of the journey. The times we've been down since we've driven, so it was a very different feeling. I travelled all day Sunday and the funeral was on the Monday. My sons Godfather had specifically requested no black and although it was terribly sad the colour on show did lift spirits. Beforehand I'd chosen to walk along the beach to collect my thoughts, instead of staring at the walls in my B&B. The weather was glorious, a marked change since the previous week and when he was laid to rest two Air Force jets flew past on a training run.

Afterwards we went back to a nearby hotel for refreshments and I met up with the landlord and landlady of the first family I stayed with, who were close friends of my kids Godparents and then I had a chat with the undertaker and his wife, who were also close friends of my kids Godparents and also the landlord and landlady of the flat I rented in my final year. It sounds odd but it was nice, all things considered, and full of memories of happier times.

As I had a couple of days in Cornwall I had some time on my hands and the choice of staring at the walls or a town steeped in memories and a University open for ex-students to wander up and down hoping to bump into current students and harp on about 'the good old days' was any easy decision. Thankfully I didn't harass any students, I had a nip round the ornamental gardens and took my usual route over to town and the first shop on my way - Trago Mills. It's been between 7 and 14 years since I've been in this treasure trove of craft goods, household supplies, furniture, DIY and gardening and I was desperate to see if anything has changed. I've mentioned Tragos before and I love it, I can't believe it's not spread further than Devon and Cornwall. I could see it doing well all over the country. Anyway, I couldn't help but check to see if they had any of that car body repair mesh and although it wasn't quite the bargain I'd got before, it was practically in the same place and 1 sheet for 99p seemed like a fair price. The Matt Black and Red Oxide spray primers for £2.49 were a bargain! So I had to get some. Thankfully it was the right decision as when I got back home and started the Honoured Imperium scenery I ran out of both att Black and Red Oxide spray primers. "Proper job!"

Old Skool Dark Angel Scouts

I promised photo's of this guy way back when. Finally he's got his day in the sunshine, or underneath an angle-poise lamp if you'll excuse the photography.

So this is one of the Advance Space Crusade scouts. I think the rules turned up in a White Dwarf and the were relatively cheap and they got pretty much all the usual upgrades so I wanted to give them Power Shields. Back then there were multiple saving throws, for armour cover and force fields. So if this guy was in hard cover he'd get pretty much three saves [I think] I added thte power shield for even more safety.

To do this I chopped off the combat blade, got a standard WFB shield. This was painted blue inside. Then I got circular bits of aluminium car body repair mesh and bent it round the shield with a suitable 'force' looking orange to yellow paint job. This was stuck to the hand with a las-gun barrel as the shield handle and some suitable electronic circuitry painted on the back.

As conversions go I think this is awful, I have fond memories of it but it's pants, lets be honest. Still I wouldn't change a thing and it's rubbishness can at least be shared.

Terrain is everything - Honoured Imperium pt1.

It was my Birthday the other day but it was a very mixed event as I had to travel away from home for a funeral, I'll touch on that in another post. But I did end up with three birthdays. On the Friday before my birthday I got home and the house was decorated and I got to open my presents. Then on the Saturday my mate Pete came round and we had a bit of a celebration too and then when I returned from Cornwall there was yet more presents. This time I got Dawn of War 2 and my Sister-in-Law did the right thing and looked on my Amazon wish list and got me Honoured Imperium and one of the Dark Angel Heresy books. Quite a nerd haul!

Anyway I was really excited about the Honoured Imperium set so I took some pictures, at night so thats why the colours are a bit flakey. Here's the box...

Here's the three pieces, although it's really two and a half. Saying that the statue and the broken Aquila are quite impressive in size!

The Aquila is the biggest piece with that centre triangle of the body as a separate piece you have to glue into place. This is a real solid piece of plastic with support ridges underneath. I'm pretty sure it'd support my weight if I stood on it [or maybe not...]. They will obviously be Red Planet based but I'm looking to pick out the Aquila with a sandstone [bleached bone] colour. It should help tie in the 'nids and Deathwing nicely.

Next up the star attraction. This guy is awesome and the spcific reason I wanted the Honored Imperium scenery set. I'll be trying to emulate b.smoove at a Gentleman's Ones awesome Verdigris tutorial. It was seeing that green and imagining it on my Red Planet that got me all kinds of excited. The body is all glued together at theis point except for attaching it to the feet. The base will be primed with Red Oxide and the statue will be Matt Black.

Lastly, the extra bit, because lets be honest this looks a bit pathetic to the other pieces. Sad though because it's actually a pretty cool piece in situ, partiuclarly when you've got Marines shooting through the round window. I could imagine that if you had a box of similar ruined pieces these would make a nice set. Of course you could probably make the same sort of pieces from the building kit this is based on but if that was the case then why make this piece anyway? Surely GW could have come up with another small sprue filler that would better honour the Imperium? Anyway I think I'll just stick to Red Planet FX on this, maybe bick out some details, not sure. To deviate too much from the rest of my scenery would be a mistake I think.

PS I also got given a Dremmel-like multi-tool from Aldi that will help with some of my modelling, though quite what I have planned yet I don't know...