Interbloggum

Oh, it's that time again. A blogpost. Sadly it's been far too long since the last one, but that bout of vertigo lasted for about a month, not counting "residual bouts". Since then I've mainly tried to catch up on schoolwork, working on improving grades to increase my shot at getting into University... well not a bad reason really. Sadly this has led to a neglected hobby side of my life (That and Saints Row 4, Total War: Rome 2 and several Humble Bundles..). Now, this is not a bad thing, the table will be finished as soon as I am able to. It does somewhat haunt me not to have it complete by now, and I really want to get some playtime on top of it.

So, it wouldn't be a blogpost without some pictures in it, would it? Not having much time for hobby related stuff, all I really got painted was my Hyperion that I've mentioned previously (don't worry, a spoiler picture will be in this blogpost though, might get a more detailed one later if I ever run out of ideas).

Main thing for this one..well, always introduce the main thing in the third "act" right? I found my desk to be in quite a state of disrepair after such inactivity. It had to be upgraded. Dull, I know, but here are some pictures.


This...well.. This is basically just a pile of stuff. I admit that it was my fault it looked like that.

Also, the lighting was horrendous.

Unspecified time spent cleaning later.

So this is actually what my desk looks like?

Since I've done a somewhat proper thing, for once, I bought some decent lamps and proper lightbulbs. Sadly I also put the stuff back.....

My eyes, my beautiful eyes...the light.

If you've come this far, there will be a reward. No, not cookies. No, not money either, sorry. It's just an image of my Hyperion, Mr Sparkle. Close to finished and not photographed properly but... Why not really?

"Hurr, me stop puny bridge, me stomp puny stream"

And now, disregarding Professor Song's advice, I am actually going to give out a spoiler. The Doctor is actually call................. Ehm. A picture of my next project. A smaller table for RPGs, at a start for the end of a planned Iron Kingdoms Role Playing Game campaing. It will also be adaptable for most other systems if needed.

This will also be a semi-recycling project. More of this in a future post or two.

Without further ado, I give you all. The Legend of the Sixth Horse!

Stay tuned (figuratively, since it might take a week or two) for the epic conclusion of:

Summer Bo(a)redom 3: The Reckoning

Summer Bo(a)redom 3: The Reckoning - Part 1

Due to a recent bout of vertigo accompanied by nausea and migraines, this update will be short on text but still include some nice images as an update to where the table's "at". Part 1 will cover the main painting of the board while Part 2 will cover detailing and the final touches.

If you remember the last table update, we stopped when the table was entirely covered in a black basecoat so, on we go.

First we start off with making the board look either like a current-gen FPS (sans the chest high walls for now..) or a WH40k table. Not really what I had in mind so... Bring on some colour.

This one really screams SPACE MARINES, ATTACK

A couple of colours got blocked out and laying the base for the colourscheme, and the greens some highlights.

After a couple of additional layers and a wash or two (depending on what was needed) by a "secret wash", also known as a mix of PVA-glue, water, black acrylic paint and a drop of two of washing-up liquid, the table got brought indoors.

Time to show that the square isn't just a plain greyish blob as it looks like on the above picture, I took a separate one on it alone (after washing and some highlights though).

More details might get added when finalizing the table

Below, the table before water effects and further detailing. The mud, grass and the path is more or less done by this stage, save for some additional details that's needed on the path itself.

Following two images are basically the same from a different angle. Colours are a bit off due to lighting when they were taken, but hopefully the swamp-bit and the stream looks a better. The time it takes for water effects to dry is really lovely.

Next time, a bridge will have been added, some details sorted and water effects hopefully all dried.

And hopefully it won't take seven or so hours to do a blogpost due to vertigo!

And now for something completely different..

..Despite the title of this blogpost I must admit that you, dear reader, suffer no higher than average risk of in this very moment of being slapped with a fish. This blogpost will deal with the beginning of another project, still connected to the terrain side of the hobby. It will be a waystation/repair/construction post for my Protectorate of Menoth army for Warmachine. Not sure if it will ever see tabletime since it will turn out fairly on the large side, but as a custom scenario objective or just to look good are also aspects to take into considerations. Sadly I got working before I decided to take any pictures for a blog, I did start a while back before my first post even got posted. But as they say, there's no time like the present and show people you've started something might even get me to finish it in decent enough time.

Inspiration for a larger house of this kind came from me once obtaining a plastic stand for pliers and with no real space, nor any larger amount of pliers these days I thought..Hey, nifty base for a house. A scavenging hunt around the apartment netted me a wooden board 25x25 cm shaped like a square to act as a base. It might be a bit on the thick side if you look at the images, but there's a reason it will work out in the end, but that'll be in a future post.

I had to cut away part of the rods to make the house fit on the board, approximately 6cm got removed. After that they were stuck together with tape just to see if everything matched up before work continued.

Phone grade picture quality, yum!

 Now, since I forgot to take a great deal of pictures at the beginning of this project...I now present you, a jump in time until one of the walls has been (with the help of cocktail/toothpicks) dryfitted to the building. Ah the versatility of foamboard.

 A birds-eye view of the board at an early stage. Layout of work is drawn and written in Swedish since... I never thought to make this project a blogpost.

Glue gun, you lovely thing. The opposite side of the one we've already covered got sorted, a larger, industrial-sized door got installed and..glue applied. Disregard the dirty dishes in the background, building a house takes precedent over chores!

 Question: What do one use empty plastic salt containers for? Throw them away? NO! Tank for storing Menoth's Fury of course! Minor work has been done to the sides of the building itself, surface roughed up before masking tape and glue got applied to make a surface better suited for wood paneling (more on this in a future post!).

More groundwork complete (hehe funny since...no not even a funny pun). Blisterfoam and cardboard as the base for the platform for the tank. The cobbles on the ground are double sided adhesive foam I..appropriated.

I did say I lacked quite a bit when it came to taking photographs, did I not? Well here's a jump for you all. Detailing for the sides of the house. A door and a window! The window is the result of a saw-skill assignment for when I studied to become a silversmith once (school didn't take but it gave me some nifty stuff and skills). The glass for the window is made up of regular blister plastic. Door is McDonald's coffee stirrers mounted on a cardboard backing and with a cardboard frame. Obviously all cups of coffee comes with 30 coffee stirrers.

Will most probably get time to paint Ruins of Eversael, my Retribution of Scyrah gameboard this weekend, so.. Stay tuned.

Summer Bo(a)redom 2: The Inconclusive Sequel - Director's Cut

So, this post is more or less just to flesh out the previous one, and give a new ending to it keeping with the movie-theme. Having a "Director's Cut" is basically my way of cheating the self imposed 3 post limit on the gaming board and the last post left a lot to be shown. 

 First up is a picture I posted on a forum as a teaser. It is just showing off some detailing on the board, the bridge across the stream and the start of the pathway/road.

And yes, that IS a broken belt-buckle that forms the bridge.

Following will be two images of the textured board, quite similar from different angles. The area in the upper left quadrant where the green foam is showing through is recieving a marshy look and the chaulky white look upon the sand is a layer of sealant* to keep the sand on the board.

*sealant is just a glorified way of saying PVA glue and water...

On to the next. A covering layer of black basecoat has been applied. Watered down paint to increase flow requiring more than one layer, but it is an even coat now, ready to recieve paint in the near future.

The square has had some detailing done to it as well. Some cobbles has started to sink into the ground and the wild will slowly, ever so slowly, reclaim civilisation.

Stay tuned, tickets for the Exhilarating Conclusion will go on sale in the near future!

Summer Bo(a)redom 2: The Inconclusive Sequel

Hi and welcome to another installment of the blog. Wait, what is that you say? A blogpost this soon after the other one? Well every hit summer blockbuster needs a sequel, and as the second installment of a trilogy, it will be interesting but inconclusive. Given recent success of concepts including weather anomalies, sharks and plain old Bad Lizard versus Giant robot-movies I am sad to say that this blog will not be like that. Robots will probably be included at some point in the future.

Some work has been made on the table by this point, stick with me and read on!

The topography of the table is starting to take shape. The stream is there and... Just disregard the mess in the upper right corner, that will be sorted later.

Also included in this photo is a sneak peek of my Battle Mages.

 After the table got painted with thinned down layers of PVA glue to sort the surface of the foam, it was time for some wall filler to sort the gradient on the sloping parts. It's the really lightweight kind, thankfully. I don't want to end up with a table weighing the equivalent of a small car.

A second layer of filler was laid down after this photo was taken to make the gradient better.

So, the filler had to dry, and what was a man to do with the boredom that instigated? Well, I did mention a square, did I not? Well, let's bring out some tools, foamboard and... hours to spare.

Symbol laid down using a stencil, cobblestones laid down using custom tool and.... Hours of work

Alot more flagstones completed and.. Placings for eventual statues laid down

And here we go. Flagstones for this part completed. 3 kinds... Sure was fun.

 So, filler is all dry and nice, time to get back to work on the board and not just parts of it. The square was glued down prior to the photo got taken. I decided to cover most of the board with fine grit sand to give it some tooth when painting. Just need get to it and finish covering the board.

Note: There will be more work done to the square as well. No filler work yet and it needs more cobblestones.

TO
BE
CONTINUED

Summer Bo(a)redom: A table is born

Another blogpost, another groan-worthy blog title. This time we're taking a step away from the miniatures themselves and goes into recycling the left-overs from the project I had last summer, putting in new floors in my apartment. I thought it was about time to get a dedicated board to game on, and reading the Retribution of Scyrah force book for Warmachine I happened upon something inspirational. Privateer Press do these lovely bits of fiction in those books, and this bit got my mind spinning. The cult leaders of Eversael brining the city to ruins when they go too far and subsequentely gets... ehm. stomped. I mean, stopped. So, here's a table based on the Ruins of said city, somewhere on the outskirts. The Ruins of Eversael.

Since I wanted a fairly open but still characterful game board it is slightly gradiented to give the illusion of rolling hills, or at least that is the plan.

Materials used: Wood glue, Snap-fit floorboards, wooden corner beads, foam underlay.

First up we have the concept scetches I made with my tablet.

First draft. Never was too happy about these two.

What I finally settled on. No worries, the water wont hinder normal play... Overly much.

Here we have the floorboards and wooden corner beads that will make up the main part of the board itself.

Even though they are pictured in the image, neither the cans of liquid nor the tank of LPG for the grill are part of the build!

 After gluing the boards together two by two (there were six boards in total), this is where I almost lost my marbles (groan) I weighed all of them down to get a smooth fit while the glue dried.

Time to appply the wooden beads to the table, adding a bunch of stability, flair, dazzling elegance and...eh. No just stability and making the edge of the table less rough when handled.

 When the glue had dried the table was ready for the next step. It was brought back to the shade and it was time to lay down the first layers of foam.

The warping in this picture is an optical illusion. It's acctually fairly even in real life. For something made by me.

  

After the first layer and a half had been glued down, I drew the general shape of the table that will be as laid out in the scetch. The square is made separately in foamboard and will be added at a way later stage.

 Since these pictures were taken and edited there have been more work done on the table, and another update might be possible to expect soon enough. This sure is an interesting project to make, I just need to decide how decrepit it will look in the end.

'Til next time.
(And I really should settle for one or two sizes for images...)

Completing my Repent(er)ance before I get Wracked...

Well, this is good times ahead, acctually finishing a project I started! (In March.......) My Protectorate of Menoth Repenter is done! Since I did the prudent thing and actually somewhat kept photo documentation of the painting process I'll hand out the highlights. And now, you one to two enraptured readers, BRING ON THE FIRE.

Basecolours laid down, several thinned layers of Menoth White Base forms the "body" of the miniature (Ah Formula P3 paints, how I love thee. Privateer Press line of paint is quite decent.). Brown as a basecoat for the gold and  Formula P3 Pig Iron for the steel bits.

The reworked flail in action. Acctually most of the arm had to be rebuilt to change the pose properly, and make it look better,

 And then we come to the hot stuff (I can almost hear the groans now), the flame. The flame was slathered with a thinned down Sunburst Yellow from the old Citadel paint line. Several layers needed. The important bit here was not total coverage, but a need to fill the recesses to make the base of the fire that will be gradually built up from here on (no guide will be in this post though. Mainly since there are better guides out there than I can provide).

 After the second stage of white is laid down, Menoth White Highlight with a drop or two of Morrow White blended into it at the end to create the final highlight and complete the white part. The rest of the miniature got completed after this photo. The final pose of the miniature is also visible in this photo. Like the flail-bearing arm, the flamethrower-wielding arm had to be rebuilt some as well.

 And below, three pictures of the completed Repenter. The photos are lacking, mainly since I shot them early morning on my balcony without a lightbox or any kind of set-up. I do think the flame turned out fairly decent tho!

Also, no worries. The flame arm is removable to aid in gaming.

//Nevindar

Stuck in the mud, a basic update..

Today we'll start off where we ended the last blogpost. I'm suffering a desperate lack of greenstuff, or any kind of putty really, which is why the Repenter yet again will be on the backburner, for a couple of days more at least. 

So, what now then? Well, after happening upon quite a decent amount of store credit, I did the prudent thing and reinvested it and got quite a substantial reinforcement for my Retribution of Scyrah army for Warmachine. Not least of it all the Hyperion colossal. And a beast this big deserves a base to match, and here is the first steps of my base, as a follow-up on the last blog.

 Starting off with defining the basic shape of the stream with foamboard, then marking out the general shapes of the path, bridge and where the Hyperion will be located.

 After the basic shape is laid down, it's time to add some definition to the base. Since the bank of the stream will be soft mud, combined with the fact that a colossal is quite heavy, I decided to make it look like it was sinking down a bit into the ground. I sloped off the road, outer edges and the edges facing the stream.

Then I decided, while laying out the mud and road with wall filler, mixed with sand for texture, to add even more weight to the base, hence the three "pockets" of lead shot. At this stage one can start to see the general idea of the base more clearly.

Side view of the base, just to get a more 3D view of it all instead of only top-down. A note on wall filler: Make sure you don't apply it too thickly, it won't dry satisfactorily and might become really brittle/dust.

 And the scetch did call for a bridge right, well, here's the start of it. foamboard cut to shape which will get a decking of.....McDonalds coffee stirrers...I mean... Balsa wood, honestly.

 And below is where we stand today. the base work of the base (yeah properly formulated sentence here..) Basecoats of paints, small "islands" in the stream, mud clinging to the banks. More wallfiller was also added at this stage, mainly to enhance the look of mud displaced by the weight of the Hyperion. The base will have to be mostly finished before the bridge goes on, hence why it is missing from this picture.

 Hopefully we'll go back to normal, Repenter-based schedule in the next blogpost, depending on my luck at foraging for greenstuff....

//Nevindar