Getting Setup

So I've gotten all my gunna moved into my new digs.  Now I'm getting unpacked and set up to get some more terrain and miniatures completed.  My workbench remains largely unchanged in terms of projects.

Xi

...Complications

So the end of April finds me in new lodgings: my brother's shed.  This is fine; I've expected it for a bit.  My job was seasonal, so when I get laid off finally there was a fallout with the roommates over a miscommunication.  So my move was accelerated.

Living in a Shed
Pros:
Its wired for electric
Its warm-ish
Its dry
I can convert it!

Cons:
It currently lacks a door...
Its still got a grip of crap to move out

So I need to do some work.  But if you do a Google search for 'Ultra Small Living Space' you can see what I have in mind.  I'll  post a couple pics when I get home tonight, mostly of the construction of the screen door.

Cheers!
-Xi

Reinforcements... and Bitz

Got a note in the post, package has arrived, need to go sign for it.  Went yesterday afternoon and picked up some bitz from Puppetswar: specifically the Tox Guard Officer Heads and the Bionics kit.  I also received the bitz ordered from Maxmini, the Bionics kit.  The quality of these are about on par with Forgeworld.  The level of detail is definitely on par.  Finally. I got 20 of the 1998 IG Stormtroopers, sculpted by Mark Bedford.  I know they're dated, and I know that some people much prefer the Kasrkin models, but I love these ones.  These are in my top ten GW sculpts.

I'll get some pics up this weekend.

Setbacks

So for the most part, things progress.  Yesterday, not so much.  I got everything ready for the first half pour for the window sections of my terrain tile project, as well as prepping some bases for reproduction.  I skipped an essential step in the process, though, and poured the silicone without first coating the outside of my mould boxes with Mod Podge... Silicone everywhere.  So that puts pretty much everything on hold until I can afford more silicone.  On to the bases... Not painting the finished bases with a coating of the same Mod Podge that should have covered my mould boxes caused the silicone to adhere around the sand and cork on my bases and when I peeled them from the mould, lots of the surface detail came off.

An interesting thing, I made a to do list and knocked out pretty much everything on it.  I should have had prep moulds broken down into a bit more detail, then I would have realized I was skipping stages.

...and Army in Progress

At one point in time I had around 20000 pts of Imperial forces, along with roughly 5000 pts of Traitors and Xenos.  Now, not so much.  I'm working to bring what I have back up to fighting fit, as evidenced by yet another nifty chart.

Most of my army is painted and based.  The few bits that aren't painted and are allocated are the subject of this post.  Firstly, a theme of my army is the Commissariat.  To represent this, my army will be lead by Commissar Yarrick.  I've got a Cadian/ Steel Legion force, planned to be married irrevocably in forthcoming fluff.

Anyways, some reinforcements from Forgeworld via FeeBay:

Finecast Yarrick, and Forgeworld Death Korps Commissar.  I realize at this point that Yarrick isn't represented on the above diagram...  I'll fix it later.

More Commissars.  The one on the right has a custom sculpted long coat.

A couple melta troopers.  The one on the right is a flamer with a piece of a CoD tile detail as the nozzle.  The Forgeworld melta trooper with hostile environment kit was a rough bit of cast. too.  I gave him a Purity Seal in one place to ease sculpting requirements.

Next up is some more Forgeworld hostile environment troops.  They will be converted into Storm Troopers, much in the fashion of the following:

This is as far as I've gotten on the army so far.  I'm waiting on some bitz from MaxMini, Blight Wheel, and Puppets War at the moment, so I'll be working on the terrain tile project, as well as the Storm Troops, not to mention all the figs that are nearing completion.

-Xi

Terrain Finished...

Okay here is the finished product of the Craters and Barricades Project.  But first, some WIP shots:

Sand, cork, and sprue added.

Two coats of Delta black later, then dry brushed with Gliddeon paint & primer in one.  I got two sample pots, seen here, which will cover my table and provide uniform colour match across my board.

The styrofoam ruin with DAP skim and Sculpy sandbags.

Here are the complete craters.  The barricades are DAP and styrofoam with sand, cork, and sprue rubble.  The tank traps and reinforcing steel is H channel from Evergreen, and the trench wall is .020 sheet styrene from the same, gouged with a broken #11 blade to get the wood grain.

I have accomplished a critical step: my terrain matches my basing, seen above.

I've got news on the hobby front, too, but that will have to wait for another post... But in the mean time here is a teaser:

Cheers!
-Xi

Craters & Barricades: Update

Okay, firstly: Thanks for all the support!  I've got some followers, now, which is great!  I'll keep the content flowing.

Secondly: I've got some pictures to be loaded later tonight of current progress.  The pieces featured have had sand, cork, plaster, and sprue applied and then basecoated with Delta flat black.  The original plan was to give them all a first and second coat last night, to make sure there were no white bits of plaster showing through the basecoat.  Unfortunately, it went first coat, couch... as I passed out while waiting for paint to dry.  So this morning before departing to Babylon, I sat down and watched Looney Tunes with my roommate, and applied a watered coat of Delta flat black.  Tonight when I get home again, I'll drybrush the first two layers of colour.

Watch this space!

Terrain in Progress

So here is what I'm working on currently in regard to my board.  I'll get it all built, then mix one batch of base coat colour, and apply it all at once.  I'm currently working on a set of fences, a gate to go with, a couple craters, and some foam and DAP ruins.  These are all based on MDF that I got at Home Depot.  I had them cut off 2' of a 4'x8' panel, giving me a 4'x6' table top and 2'x4' section to divide up into terrain.  I then measured out all I needed and it came out something like this...

Now I'm working with the Gate, Fences, and Craters & Barricades right now.  Here are some pictures of what I'm working on; but first a list of tools and materials.

Tools and Materials
xacto knife
Xuron cutters
box cutter
drill
superglue
accelerator
floral wire
MDF
aluminium mesh
sharpie pen
DAP wall filler
styrofoam
terrain tiles
H bar styrene
hot glue gun

 DISCLAIMER: I cut myself all the time.  Don't do that.  It hurts, you can end up in the emergency room at 0130, or you can kill the nerve connection to a fingertip.  Cut away from yourself and wear safety glasses.  You only get two eyes and depth perception means a lot more to you than you think...  Oh and superglue and accelerator can cause chemical burns if you aren't careful with your chemicals.

Fences
I based everything on the MDF as its sectioned up.  I've got to tell you, I've worked on most of this before, so this is a second run.  I made the fence posts out of bamboo skewers, and the fence itself out of aluminium craft mesh, attached with floral wire.

I've got four done, and four more in the works. I'm also putting together a gate section that I can add to seclude access to parts of the board or just an ECP for an enclosure.

Craters and Barricades
Here again everything is based on MDF.  I cut the shapes out of the board using my xacto.  I don't use a Dremel since the material is so soft; the rotary tool abrades it away to rapidly.  I cut out triangles of various geometry and hot glued them onto bases roughly sized to the 3" template and the 5" template.  The irregular triangles are then coated with a heavy layer of DAP which can then be shaped, to an extent.  The larger crater has a section of ruin that is made from foam shaped with an xacto and then coated thinly with DAP.

The ruins here are much the same, styrofoam coated thinly with DAP.  I plan to fill the center of the wall section with a pile of sand bags.

The final section is the most involved, it includes foam shaped and coated again, as well as some carefully distressed resin terrain tile pieces.

Terrain Tile Project
This is one of my most ambitious projects to date, I won't lie.  This is something that I hope will turn resin into gold, so to speak.  I'm working on a set of custom resin terrain tiles that are compatible with some current manufacturers ranges.

Here are the masters.

Here are the first reproductions, that are being transformed into window sections for further reproduction.

And that is that, for now.  I'm glad I've gotten up a nice post with some serious hobby content.  I'm going to be pushing ahead on finishing these pieces, then move on to the terrain tile project.  I will also be exploring resin bases for my army, as well as a display board, as well as the army itself.

Cheers,
Xi

Terrain for Hippos.. wait, what?

So I found this site and I have to admit that initially I snubbed it.  Then I came across it again, and looked past the cartoony graphic and the moar cartoony speech bubbles...  There is some excellent information contained within the 50+ 'Ishoos' that have been posted so far.  I'd recommend this to all levels of terrain maker. Even if there is no new pieces, there may be techniques you've never considered.

Also on the subject of terrain, a big shout out to Andy Slater and the members at Terragenesis!  I've been a member of this forum for literally years.  There is always a contest running and while there are no cash/shiny prizes, there is the distinction of pushing yourself to create at the next level.

Easter Basket Giveaway

I found this over on Sippin on Paint Water.  Follow their blog (which I do and its worth it), get a shot at the prize.  Repost on your blog, get another shot.  There is a third shot you can qualify for, paint a mini like an egg or paint an egg like a mini, then send a pic to the address listed in the link above.

Work Bench of a Madman

Here is a brief glimpse of what I've currently got in the works. A couple junior commissars, a pair of converted storm troopers, a platoon commander, and a converted melta gunner. Also, some terrain in progress.  Soon I'll post up my list, along with pictures of what I've got done.

Open for Blogging!

Here we are, new year, new blog.  I'm a tech support professional with an unhealthy addiction to the 40k hobby.  I'm an accomplished terrain builder, as well as a decent painter.  Watch this space for projects and tips.  I plan to update this blog at least once a month.  I'd like to try and update at least once a week.  Between finishing an Imperial Guard army and building a whole new gaming table, I shouldn't have any problems generating hobby content for my followers.

-Xi