A quick update

 Hi folks,

Still working on the Arbites Patrol Skiff, I've made a successful test print of the main body. Some minor tweaks, but luckily all just cosmetic, to get bits looking a bit better. Still working on the turret itself and the turret and sponson weapons. Not the most exciting parts, so I'm stalling out a bit on those. 

I also got the Space Wolf helmet finished, bar the eyelenses.

And I grabbed some WIP 3d Space Hulk corridor sections from my long-suffering Space Hulk Project. This one was one of my first attempts to combine 3d printing (which wasn't a thing back when I started this project, it's that old!) with more traditional model building techniques. This one leans more heavily on 3d printing. 

Maybe I'll even finish the tiles needed for the first mission before the end of the decade...

Anyhow, I hope the summer is treating you well,

See you next time!

Time is an illusion...

 Hello again, time does seem to slip away from us, doesn't it?

I have been hobbying, but at a leisurely pace, and part of it digitally. My inspiration/drive has been all ove rthe place though.  And they say an image says more than a thousand words. So, lets get to the pictures, after the break:

Pondering a return to the Planet of the Dead, and of terrain.

 It's been a while, hasn't it. Long Covid has still got it's claws in me, limiting my ability to hobby, or to hobby and then write a blog post about it also..

I have been doing stuff, though, but slowly and often without pictures or posts; As when I have to choose between doing hobby, and documenting hobby, the doing wins out. The past month has been Fallout themed (because TV show, etc.). And I'm currently trying to find/maintain the time and energy to finish that table terrain set (I'm so close, just final touches and some scatter)!

But since this weekend, unsurprisingly, my mind wanders to the blasted hives of Necromunda again. Games Workshop's preview of the Malstrain Genestealers and eerie and alien Spyrers has got me excited about crumbling industrial edifices again. I was getting more and more disinterested in Games Workshop/Warhammer as a company and product line/sales model, but the grimdark, dank and wretched corners of the 40K setting do keep their appeal and fascination.

Anyway, enough ramble, on to the meat of this post:

I want to expand my Necromunda terrain.  I have some nice pieces I built over the years, but I don't yet have what I'd consider a complete or cohesive table. That and I've become increasingly dissatisfied with the lack of height and verticality of my terrain. I want to fix that, but that'll take some wearing of the old thinking cap. 

See, there are two main ways to play Necromunda. GW codified these as "Zone Mortalis" and "Sector Mechanicus" originally. Since then, added "Ash Wastes" and muddied the waters between Zone Mortalis and Sector Mechanicus... What do I mean by that? Well originally the definition was clear "Zone Mortalis" was very much 2D: combat in a warren of hallways and rooms, "Sector Mechanicus" was the 3D variant, with raised platforms and walkways at multiple levels. But then, GW addes a 3rd dimension to Zone Mortalis, by releasing kits that put walkways on top of the walls, and added extra floors and watchtowers...

Which means that if I talk about "Necromunda Terrain" I have to decide and define what I mean by that. And then I have to decide with path I want to take: Separate terrain pieces or modular tiles. Separate terrain pieces means more modularity, but offers less chances for integrating the terrain and making tableaux that showcase the setting. Both are desirable to me... Variation is the spice of life after all, but there is something so cool about having a small shantytown or a mushroom farm on your table.

I like both variants of Necromunda terrain, especially as the Zone Mortalis can also be co-opted for, say, Killteam Gallowdark or Space Hulk, and vice versa. I have several Gallowdark sets (to be built and painted), have my long-suffering Space Hulk project, and have plenty of stls to print Zone Mortalis style terrain. So I'm considering those needs met, or easily made such.

This leaves the Sector Mechanicus style terrain, or as I view it "Classic Necromunda Terrain" as it hearkens back to the old 90s cardboard Necromunda terrain and all the gorgeous Necromunda tables you see online.  This will be my focus for the upcoming build and paint cycle. 

What do I want to achieve?  More levels, and more interconnectedness than I have available now... One of my ideas is to build a few tall columns, with plenty of platforms and stairs/ladders, so lots of walkways can extend from them. I want them to have a flat top/small platform, so I can put a few together and either put walkways between them or put a larger platform between them to create a whole upper level to the table. I just need to figure out how high I want them. And how minis can move from the lower level to the upper level?  Holes in the plateau, perhaps? Or stairwells passing through? I could also just dangle a platform with a crane over the edge... 

Lots of stuff to consider and designs and ideas to ponder on.

Another month, another report.

 Hello again,

Let's see what I've been up to this past month, shall we?

I've done some more on the Fallout project: 

 

 

Still a fair bit to do on this project, but it seems to have petered out for the moment. I'll get back to it in a bit, I guess.

A commission 3d print and an invitation to a Rogue Trader RPG set me on the course of  Battlefleet Gothic once more.

This time I wanted to do some 1:10000 scale display models:

 

A size comparison: A Sword Escort, vs Starhawk Bomber, Fury Fighter, Aquila Lander and Arvus Lighter (back to front)

 

A Cruiser at 1:10000 scale. I won't be printing one of those for a while!!! 

The large scale escorts, together with a print of the Eiffel Tower and Enterprise D, to give a sense of size and scale.

And with Brother Forscale to give an idea of the model size.

I hope to basecoat these three the coming weekend.

I also printed a rough and ready Aquila Lander, to use as terrain and or an objective for Killteam/Necromunda/Inq28 games:

Not my cleanest print, or assembly, but great for a run-down "army surplus" type craft.

Next up, more big boys, but this time in proper BFG scale: Glorianas for my Imperial and Chaos fleet. These were created by Soul Forge Studios, who do excellent 3d printing files through their Patreon and MyMiniFactory. 

Yes, that small thing in front of it is a regular size Battlefleet Gothic Cruiser...

Time for another gear shift, this time towards Crimson Skies.

First I printed some planes:

 

 

Years ago, I had bought two Zeppelins, with the intention to convert them for Crimson Skies. But I never quite found a satisfactory way to model the engine nacelles and broadside cannons... But hey, I have a resin printer now, and know a bit of Fusion360!

 

And that solved a nearly two decades old modelling conundrum!  Now to just decide the colour scheme for them...

That's it, see you next time!

Catching up over the summer

 Hi folks, 

Here I am again. 😄 With travel abroad and camping scuppered due to Covid I had to entertain myself in a different way over the summer holiday. Luckily (?) I'm always virtually drowning in projects and things to do...

So, here are the fruits of this summer's labours:

 

First up: The big one, the Necromunda terrain project (still ongoing, btw). Here's what I built over the past few weeks:

This a collection of all the Necromunda terrain I have built so far.The new additions I built over the summer are (from left to right): The large Synthstill/destiller column, the bucket elevator, the old power reacter (partially hidden behind the nuclear waste silo), and the Necromunda dice tower.

Below you can see the reactor and the dice tower front and centre: These two items are fully 3d printed items, the two other ones are a mix of traditional terrain building techniques and materials and 3d printed parts. I really like the results I can get with this mixed approach.

I had a lot of fun building these and experimenting with new techniques (using a sand/tile grout mix for the basing and texuring of dirt and rust. Using AK interactive streaking grime and generally building in a more free-form and messy approach.)

But ofcourse, this table is nowhere near filled. I built more, but didn't get around to painting it, before work had to start again:

Sets of walkways, as well as a corpse-starch processing plant on a raised platform. (And as I type this, I realise I totally forgot to add my toxic pools to these photos! D'oh!)

 Hopefully I can get these painted over the next few weekends...

And now as to why I didn't get these painted during my vacation...

Ghost of Tsushima was released. And while I don't own a Playstation, seeing the enthusiastic responses from people, as well a playthrough by a friendly streamer got my love for (gaming in) medieval/mythological Japan again. Which prompted me to finally finish a 90mm samurai model I had lingering in paint in progress for months now:

She isn't still 100% finished, as the base still needs grass and tufts etc. added to it.

And I had to 3d print and paint this fun thing, couldn't help myself...

I maybe could have spent some time sanding out the print lines, but it was a spur of the moment thing, and they are a lot less noticeable in real life. I'm just waiting for the oil paint in the recesses to dry, and then I can varnish it and add the cords to wear it.

 

See you all next time!