140/100 - A Pile of Garbage

Man...what a week.  I had this great idea for some scatter terrain for my Batman tables at The Sword and Brush.  I was really pumped about it, planned it thoroughly, felt it was coming together...and I end up with a pile of garbage...which was exactly what I was going for!

Awhile back I made some test mini-garbage bags out of pieces of real garbage bags.  I found them again as I was packing up the terrain.  I had some extra time before the event (thanks to my wife for helping burn through the buildings and trees!).  I "assembly-lined" a whole heap of mini garbage bags (I never did a total but I am confident it is somewhere between 100-120).

I also had some extra wooden stir sticks that I had painted up to cover the windows on the buildings.  So I put them to use by splitting them and buildings some wooden pallets.

The real trick was trying to figure out how to attach the garbage bags to a base.  I had originally tried PVA glue and super glue.  Neither of which worked.  I then tried plastic cement.  No effect.  I then tried a hot glue gun, and it worked very well (except all the spider web-like-strands I had to pull off).  

I tried putting them on some old square monster bases from GW (I have so many I am just trying to find a project for them now!).  It did not look quite right, too uniformed for a pile of trash I think.  In the end I used some randomly cut shapes out of a sheet of plastic card.  

I took some of the terrain I made and put together a test table that will be used at the tournament, it doesn't look too bad.  

 

For the amount of work and the cost of the material, this was a very effective terrain project.  But I am now done for terrain for awhile.  I am already for the BMG tournament at the Sword and Brush this Saturday!

Kevin

87/100 - Gotham City is Expanding!

Sword and Brush will soon be upon us!  But the buildings for the BMG tournament are officially done!  I was able to burn through the last seven.  Once again my helpful wife lent a hand, which made the tedious bits (like drawing out the corner strips and making the doors) go by so much faster.

I went for some two-tier buildings (slightly smaller then the original ones I made), and some L shaped buildings (helps breakup the rectangles).  I did add some wood frames to some of the more prominent posters on each building.  I wanted to give the impression that these were legitimate advertisements, while the other posters where just stuck up by anyone.  I got a lot of the posters from the Batman Support group on Facebook, but I also made some myself by searching Google for other images and resized them. 

I then went back and used the airbrush to paint some Riddle ?, Joker Smiley Faces and HAHAHA to all 12 buildings.  My free hand with the airbrush is not the greatest, but it was good practice for brush control. 

 

I am getting really excited to see all the terrain on the tables, and some amazing games being played with them!  Less then two weeks!

Kevin

80/100 - Gotham is Shady AF!

I kept telling Chris and Jay not to expand into Gotham, that place is riddled with crime!

With Sword and Brush only three weeks away I have been hard at work!  I am trying to get another dozen buildings made for the BMG tournament I am running on the Saturday.  It feels like every waking moment (minus the time while my child is awake) is being spent on making terrain (this is not hyperbole).  My very supportive wife has even jumped in to lend a hand!

We are making good progress.  I was able to finish 3 medium buildings and 2 smaller buildings.  I based them off the original foam core buildings I made a few years back.  Changed the size, shape and added some new details (like store signs).

I wanted to add some more smaller scatter terrain to the tables.  That was why I painted 18 cars last week.  This week it was trees.  But trees don't just grow out of the concrete in Gotham (unless a certain botanist is around).  So I made some stone framed tree beds to place along the streets.  They should add some interesting ping rolls and add some nice atmosphere. 

Finally this week I was able to build the last two boxes for my Plastic Craft Games Dark Carnival set; the Big Top Stage and the Circus Entrance.  I really love the plastic card terrain.  It is fairly easy to build and looks great when it is done.

I got the next 7 buildings drawn out and ready to cut, but that will be tomorrow job!

Kevin   

63/100 - Fleet of Sport Cars

I too a few weeks off from my hobbies to go on vacation.  When I got back I was looking forward to working on some Batman models that have been sitting on my desk for a while.  However it soon dawned on me that the Sword and Brush event is only a few weeks away! (at the Holiday Inn Toronto Airport East, on September 8-9).

I was asked to run the BMG tournament at the event so I need to make some more terrain and fast!  I am currently working on half a dozen buildings.  While the glue was drying (and the baby was sleeping) I plugged away at some cars.

I found a set of three sports cars at the dollar store that are a fairly good size for BMG.  The cars already came with a candy colour coats, so I just painted some headlights and break-lights.  I also popped out the interiors and gave them a quick airbrush.

Not my best work or the best models, but you really cant argue with the cost!

Up next; buildings, building, and more buildings...

45/100 - The Eyeball Man

I finished that last member of my Joker's Elite Cosplayers crew from the Suicide Squad box set.  I originally planned to paint the Eyeball Man first.  I tired to use the airbrush to paint the orange prison jump suit.  It did not turn out very well so I did a page one rewrite on the model.

During the second attempt, using the airbrush, I started with a coat of Rhinox Hide GW (dark brown).  I followed this with a layer of Dubai Brown S75, sprayed at a 40 degree angle to the model.  I then sprayed Birch S75 directly to the top (straight down) over the model.  When this was dry I did several light coats of Orange Fire GA over the whole model.  It is not prefect but it was my first attempt at zenithal highlighting with a glaze, all done with the airbrush.  I will definitely try this method again. 

I really like the Eyeball Man in game play.  His stat line is OK for a mid-range henchman. It is his weapon and traits that make him stand out.  His carbine is medium range, rate of fire 5 dealing one blood damage.  However it also has assault 3 (rate of fire 3 while moving).  I like weapons that are effective stationary as well as on the move (love the Joker Shotgun henchman!).

He does have "Cyclops", which gives him a -1 to hit if the target is over 8 inches away.  This penalty can be countered with his "OCD" trait.  If he targets only a single model with all of his attacks he gains +1 to hit.  So if you fire at a single target within 8 inches you are at a net bonus of +1 to hit!  If he finds himself in combat with an opponent, he can back up and fire with 3 shots, dealing one blood damage, with a +1 to hit.

This is the complete crew all done.  It was good to finally clear it from the queue.  This was the first project that I have fully completed using the airbrush on each model.  I don't think that the quality of the paint job is any better then what I usually do, but it was a hell of a lot faster.  I got all 6 models done is around 2 weeks!

I am going to take a bit of a break from Batman minis for a bit (all through Deathstroke might find his way onto my painting table sooner rather then later).  I very good friend of mine, Josh, sent some more undead minions my way for my Age of Sigmar Army.  I have 20 Grave Guard ready to go!

Kevin

44/100 - The Panda Man

I finished up another member of my Cosplayers this week, the Panda Man.  This was arguably everyone's favorite model out of the Suicide Squad set.  Got to love a guy in a Panda costume with a sniper rifle.  This is also happens to be one of the best riffles in the game.  It does 2 blood and 1 stun damage, rate of fire 3, unlimited range, scope (re-roll one attack die) and Silencer (cannot be dodged).  I was hoping he was going to do well in his first game...this was not to be the case. 

We were playing an old scenario from last edition with random deployment.  Panda Man started the game in contact with Riddler's henchmen Knuckles and Ravager.  Even with Joker nearby and trying to help out, Panda Man did not make it out of the first round alive...

I painted the black on the panda suit in the same fashion as the suits on the Grin Twins (gray scale with the airbrush, followed by glazing with Inktense Black).  I wanted to texture the white parts of the suit a bit and give it the appearance of fur.  So as I layered up from the light grey to white, I stippled the paint with my brush (instead of brushing it on smooth). 

With so much black and white on the model I did not want to do a dark gunmetal rifle.  I Joker would have something more military grade, so I painted it the same way (with the camo pattern) that I painted my German tanks for Flames of War.

The big blue eyes also help break up the white and black.  If only every model had eyes this big!

One model left for the Cosplayers, the Eyeball Man.