Got a bit more work done.

Had two hours this morning to work on the Vardo.  Did some cabinetry. 

Hope you like.
Snitchy sends.

WIP Vardo

I figured that I would do something that was a bit different.  I wanted to do a wagon or two that could be used as scatter terrain on the field.  After looking at laser cut kits I decided that they did not have enough detail. 

I started researching Gypsy Vardos on the internets and found a bunch of interesting photos. 

  After a couple of sketches I started.  The base material is card stock.  I framed it out with coffee stirrers.  The green stuff details are made using insta mold to make a press mold.  I still have to do the cabinetry in the interior and work on the actual wagon portion but I am happy with two afternoons worth of work. 

 Hope you like

Snitchy sends.

Corn Fields

Acquiring and building fields has been a bit of an obsession of mine for quite some time.  Many of the game tables that I have come across have had fences defining where fields should go on the tabletop but lacked the actual crops.  My boards replicated this problem and it always seemed visually wrong to me. A farm with no crops or a ranch with no animals.  My first foray was to build large scale doormat fields that are usually seen on the 15mm boards.  That worked after a fashion, but when I had to sell all of my terrain prior to my move I decided that I would make something a bit more realistic for my 28/32mm tabletop.

 I had the opportunity to pick up some JTT O scale corn from Hobby Lobby before I left.  I should actually say a lot of O scale corn.  The local Hobby Lobby said that the whole line was being removed from their stores and they were all on sale for over half off.  Each pack contained 32 stalks and normally sold for $8.00.  After waiting a week for my order, I picked up fifteen packs at $3.00 a piece. Turns out it was just enough to finish three bases.  I based them on plasticard shapes and painted the groundwork prior to drilling a hole for each stalk. 

 I did three bases in all.  Two in rounded triangular shapes and one in a rounded rectangle.  The plan is that they will fit within a walled/hedged/fenced area that will ultimately define the edges of the field.  

  It is hard to see the field boundries when they are base to base. 

 I still have to attach felt to the bottom of the templates with spray adhesive and do a bit of highlighting on the stalks with a brighter green.  So far I am pretty happy with the results. 

 Hope you like.

Snitchy sends.

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.