2 0 1 8 - 0 7 - 2 1

[Battletech]¶
Gladiator¶

In our running Battle Tech Campaign, we managed to salvage our first Clan Mechs, BjÃ¶rn will be running a Gladiator from now on.

The base is from Warbases, with a magnet inserted.

Published 2018-07-21 21:36:07

1/285 | BattleTech | Harbingers of Defeat | Iron Wind Metals | Warbases

All posts for this project: newest first | oldest first.

[Battletech]¶
Thor¶

In our running Battle Tech Campaign, we managed to salvage our first Clan Mechs, I will be running a Thor from now on.

The base is from Warbases, with a magnet inserted.

Published 2018-07-21 21:36:07

1/285 | BattleTech | Harbingers of Defeat | Iron Wind Metals | Warbases

All posts for this project: newest first | oldest first.

[Tool]¶
Paint Station¶

I already us a paint station from HobbyZone at home, now when I was looking for one to replace the one I built myself for my lunch break paintings in my office, I went for another one from HobbyZone, this time the medium sized one; the large one would not have fit in the file cabinet in my office.

As with the first, I did not only glue it, I also inserted some nails for added stability. Underneath, I again glued felt pads. I used my trusty Lego angle to help in the construction.

I did drill holes first, but I still got some cracking of the MDF when inserting the nails.

I now filled the cracks with PVA glue, which does not hide the cracks, but should prevent further cracking and keep the stability of the corners.

Published 2018-07-21 21:13:07

HobbyZone

[BattleTech]¶
Defender Mark II¶

Another project pending, one Norman is waiting for for over a year now... well...

The guy that produces these wants to stop production, so Norman got three more before they are gone. Luckily, the first is only primed, so I can paint the four as a batch, ensuring colour continuity across them (you need to see the bright side of the long project duration :-) ).

Published 2018-07-21 20:55:07

1/285 | BattleTech | Commission | THK-Design

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2 0 1 8 - 0 7 - 1 9

[Kickstarter]¶
TerrainCrate¶

More stuff to paint arrived, the Mantic terrain Kickstarter. Very useful stuff for all kind of settings.

Published 2018-07-19 18:48:07

28mm | Kickstarter | Mantic Games

2 0 1 8 - 0 7 - 1 8

[Tool]¶
Mold Stabilizers¶

I bought the rock molds from Woodland Scenics some time ago. The casts are very nice, but the casting ist not. The molds need to be balanced somehow to not spill the poured plaster before it can cure, so after the first few casts I decided I needed a solution for that.

I build boxes from Lego,

cutting some of the silicone away where the edges were not straight.

I then sprayed foam insulation onto the molds, with the aim to cut the back straight afterwards. I sprayed way too much, though.

The insight did not cure correctly, so when I removed the foam the next day, it continued to cure and expand into the area the mold should sit... not good. Also, the not fully cured foam was quite sticky on the silicone.

For the second try, I sprayed much less foam, which still was more than enough.

Unfortunately it turned out, that the foam shrunk while curing, bending the outward edges upward - so the mold did not sit flat anymore on the stabilizer...

In the third attempd, I built boxes from cardboard, placed them on baking paper,

and poured cheep DIY store plaster mixed with some teddy bear stuffing I had bought some time ago for such a purpose on the molds.

I did not fill the boxes to the top with this mixture,

using pure plaster for the top part to get a smoother surface.

When the plaster was mostly dry, I bevelled the edges and rubbed off the still wet card board.

The molds were easy to remove,

and place back on.

As I usually spill plaster while pouring, I clad the stabilizers in baking paper so that the pouring cannot connect to and bond with the stabilizer.

Published 2018-07-18 20:46:07

Woodland Scenics

[Song of Fork and Heroes]¶
Mythical Agyptian Palm Groves¶

The fronds were all of a single colour at this stage. The highlights I wanted to apply only after the fronds were mounted; so after gluing them in place I covered the rest of the models and bases with tissue.

I then sprayed a mid green and finally sparsely a light green.

To simulate the fibres often seen with palmes and to hide where the fronds connect to the stem, I used a plant liner made from coconut fibres.

I then clamped the fibres in place,

trying to cover as much as possible of the joints.

Finally I twisted the strands at the top. After drenching them with watered PVA glue and letting it dry, I cut them to shape.

For the pond, I applied 'still water' from Vallejo, but that dried quite dull. It is probably more suited to small puddles on bases than such large bodies of water. So finally I applied gloss varnish with a pipette in about a 2mm layer.

And here they are:

Remember the first post, where I planned the bases so they all fit into one box? Yeah, nice idea... unfortunately I did not consider the bulk of the trees which exceed the bases quite a bid. So in the end I had to use two boxes for storage.