Forest test

Just a quick post with some photos.  I have made two forest stands as a test to see how I am going to proceed with my actual tabletop terrain.  I wanted the forest to look like it was not only a stand of trees but difficult terrain too.  The center is removable to leave a template. All four types of represented trees are home made and I added some small home made plants and vegetation too to test how well they could be seen and what the overall presentation would look like.  I know that I need to work on the lower level groundwork to represent the dead stuff.  Please let me know what you think.
Snitchy sends.

Lobster Pots

I have seen many posts on multiple forums requesting information on how to build dockside terrain.  I figured I would try my hand at this by making some crab pots.  My first attempt was a disaster because I tried to do them in scale with 32mm figures.  They were structurally so unsound that they collapsed while I was working on them.  My solution was to scale up slightly and make them a bit beefier than they would be in real life.  They are not horribly out of scale and at tabletop gaming ranges the eye should miss the discrepancy. 

A couple of things first:

I reinforced all points of this build with superglue after the PVA/white glue dried.

I glazed the gauze with superglue to make it hard after the build was complete. To glade drop some superglue onto the surface and blow the excess off and let dry. 

Materials:

Coffee stirrers

Gauze

Self-adhering metal ducting tape

Paper (I used graph because it is was easier to cut)

PVA/white Glue

Super glue

Tools:

Hobby knife

Razor blade

File

Ruler

Scissors

 

Base:

The base is basically a pallet made of many individual slats.  Since I am an American I will use inches.  The long slats are roughly 1/8 X 1/8 X 1 inches and some variation with not matter.  The three short slats in the middle are 3/16 X 1/8 X ½ inch.  It is best to start by gluing one long slat to three short slats to define the edge of the pallet.  Then add more slats with space in between to finish the top.  The bottom only has three long slats.  See image below. 

Top:

The top is pretty straightforward.  Stick a piece of Metal ducting tape to some paper and glaze the paper surface with superglue to give it more strength.  Once this has dried cut strips of paper and tape 1/8 inch wide by 1 ¼ inch long.  Glue the paper side of three of these to one long slat and let set.  Glue another long slat to the other end and let those set.  Use a pencil or other suitable mandrel to shape the metal side of the tape in a loose U shape.  Superglue this to the long side of a pallet with the slat facing out.  Glue down the other side to the opposite side of the pallet and then add the remaining slats. 

The netting: 

Cut a square roughly 1 ½ on each side of gauze.  Superglue the netting to the open face of one of your lobster pots.  Once set trim the edges with scissors, hobby knife or cigarette lighter to remove the excess from the edges.  And repeat on the other side. 

This is the basic pot.  You can add more detail to make it fairly realistic but at table top level it will be missed. 

Hope you like.

Snitchy sends.

Farting Around

On several of the boards where I regularly post on, the topic of seafront based terrain has come up.  I decided to see what I could do.  So far I have made three lobster pots as a test piece.  I will post a how to in the next week or so so watch this space.  They are pictured with Rhupert the one def piper of Ord for scale.  The PVA is still wet in the images so the white will go away.  I hope you like.

 

Snitchy sends. 

Made it.

Finally immigrated over to the UK.  Now to look for a job.  Took a week to get over the jet lag but I am doing fine now.  Family is doing well and we are just waiting for the last shipment of property from the states.
Snitchy sends. 

Gargantuan

For Warmahordes I play both Mercs and Crocks.  Unfortunately they do not make a gargantuan for the crocks.  I stumbled upon this sarcosuchus on Shapeways. 

The measurements looked right so I ordered one.  The crock turned out to be just the right size to fit into a cut out 120mm base.  When I received it the whole thing was hollow, so I back filled the model with plaster.  Then I added the rope supports for the howdah and bulked up the sides so it looked like the ropes were taught.   Here are a couple of pics with Bloody Barnabus for scale.

I wanted the howdah and mortar to look like they were scavenged.  I constructed the howdah to look like the ripped out wall from a barn or deck of a ship.  Then I constructed the mortar from plastic tubing and green stuff.  I used a hot pin head to distress the surface and chipped the barrel.  I tied it down to the surface of the howdah  and added a green stuff sandbag to support the back. 

Here it is in place. 

So far I was lucky enough to find a used Bloody Barnabus to convert into the driver.  Lots of cutting and now some re-building.  I have a witch doctor on order to add in as a gunner. 

Let me know what you think.
Snitchy sends.




 

Finally!

Received my visa today!  I will be joining my wife and daughter sometime next month.  Only took eighteen months to meet the criteria and move countries!  Sorry but I had to brag.
Snitchy sends.

Hairspray weathering test

I decided to try the hairspray weathering technique on the barn.  Once the initial weathering was complete, I spray sealed the build, and then applied cheap hairspray.  Then I re-sprayed the building white.  Next I used water and tooth picks to distress the individual planks.  I am on the fence about the application of this technique with acrylics becasue the water made it past the underlying spray sealed layer and took the acrylic weathering off.  It did chip the top layer properly, and after I re-highlighted the build it looks OK.  What do you think?  Sorry for the poor picture quality.  All I have right now is an ipod. 

Snitchy sends.