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Steam Wars – Unexpected Painting 

Anyone reading this blog may notice that I have had no real focus of late (maybe that should be ‘ever’…) Lately it has been more noticeable as we have not been playing as often, and I don’t have a list of new rulebooks to read or try out either.

Even the old faithful games like Dust Tactics have been on hold somewhat.  Is it down to a lull in the market, the usual winter slowdown, or maybe my own busy life?  Whatever it is the butterfly like flitting from project to project is likely to continue for a while yet.

The painting table got a surprise lately. Before Xmas I wanted to get some more of my Steam Wars Navy forces painted, I needed them to be ready for a big game we had planned.  I never got round to painting anything back then but now, without a game in sight, I find myself back painting Ironclad Steam Tanks.

Along with the excellent tanks, Ironclad Miniatures have also allowed me to buy some other rather nice items.  This field gun was bought online about 12 months ago I think, along with some extra steam tank turrets that I picked up to ‘up gun’ some of my existing vehicles.

Not all steam powered vehicles are tanks you know.  An army needs logistical support as well.  As either a troop carrier, supply truck or tow, after a new paintjob this Matchbox steam truck fits in very well with the force.

And I can always play it as a gun truck if all else fails.  If I do manage to get the last of the Ironclad tanks finished I will have 4 tanks, each with alternate turret options, that will need to be profiled up before I can use them in any upcoming Steam Wars games.

These bits should get finished over the next few days/ weeks if all goes well…

At The End Of The Graveyard Shift 

So, the problems with the Garden of Morr are behind me…  All the parts are now finished and it can be set up as a graveyard, or gothic walled garden, if I don’t use the mausoleums.

I had a couple of MDF squares a while back that I added some Renedra tombstones to.  Adding an evil old tree from a Horrorclix starter set finishes one of these squares off nicely. The colour of the dry grass is a little stark but I can dull that down later if required.

Its game ready but may get some further highlights or washes along the way to weather the newer bits and fit them in with the originally painted parts.  I remain convinced that there are far too many skulls on this set  🙂 but it is a GW set I guess.

Overall I am pleased with this.  Even after my slight mistakes.

Those mistakes are not overtly obvious, and could add to any game they are used in, if used as easier entry points to the scenery.

If nothing else it will act as a reminder to me.  A reminder to be more patient when I am in the shed and to pay more attention to what I am doing…

A Few Words About Patience. A Few Words About Attention. A Tale Of Plastic And Heat. 

After painting up a piece of scenery last time that would not be featuring in our current games, I decided to try to get something new done for the table, that would be able to feature.  I went rummaging in the shed and dug out another ‘old project’ that was started in early 2014 if I recall correctly.  Parts of it feature in photos from about that time but it never got completely finished as other projects took over and distracted me.

The project that has languished, half finished, is the old Games Workshop, Garden of Morr, graveyard set.  I have used the finished parts of this in many games and really like it, even if it has a few to many skulls on show for my usual tastes. The stone walls and Mausoleums were done a long time ago, but the rest never progressed past the undercoated stage.

The bases got started a while back, but a rough dry brushing isn’t quite enough to call them finished.

The iron railings were undercoated (I bought a few more of these on eBay to expand the set further if I recall).  They were already undercoated so got a heavy and rough dry brushing this week, along with the railings getting some silver to boot.  A quick ink wash to darken the lower parts of the pieces and we were well on the way to being done.

That’s when it started to go wrong…

I have never been very patient.  No, that’s not true, I am VERY patient with people as my work life demands this.  Sadly that patience does not extend to my painting.

Time is always short and, when I am in the shed, I want to get on to the next thing as soon as I can.  Usually I have a couple of projects on the go, to switch between, when things are drying.  At other times I have used a small fan heater to blow dry models a batch at a time.

The fan does a fine job.  Except when you put things a little too close or forget that they are there… Or both…

Obviously most plastics and resin are heat sensitive. I often find this is useful when I need to reposition or bend items back into shape.  Then there are the times when the heat tries to shrink the plastic back to its original shape…

Thin railings do not last long if you don’t check on them.

Even the thicker plastic of the posts tend to move when forgotten about for an hour or so… I would like to say I was called away on important business but I wasn’t. I stepped into the house to make a cup of tea, and got distracted…

4 out of 8 of these sets of railing are now warped like this.  Its only the ends that were closest to the fan thankfully.  Their bases did not warp, so all still stand up nicely, and can be used.

Not ruined, but not good.  at least we can house rule that climbing through the gaps will be easier than jumping over the intact railings.

New Shop Open For Business, Almost!

So, the little shop I added to the collection has now had some attention.  Its had the usual paint job of artist inks and black sprayed roof.  This matches the other Sarissa Precision CityBlock buildings in the town so will look nice next to them on a table.

Oddly we are not playing games that feature these buildings (pirates tend not to frequent the shops in my Victorianesque town) so I guess it will have to wait a while before it gets used in a game.

I have not given it a sign as yet. Not quite sure what shop type it will eventually become.

I have added a white front that can be repainted as required if I ever make up my mind.

The awning helps to make it more generic (and hides the actual shop sign anyway).  I have pondered adding a decorated/ scroll work sign to the awning itself, but am confident that I have NOT got the skill to do this by hand.

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Something like the above would be nice with a brand or name like ‘Miggins Fine Sausages’ (just an example)…

Not sure how to do this yet, but those fine fellows at The Lead Adventure Forum have been helpful with a number of ideas.  I have taken some of that advice and now have, on order, a sheet of waterslide printer paper.  When I finalise a design, I will try printing it out and apply it.  It has been suggested that a satin or matt sealing spray will hide the more glossy look of the decal and help it blend in.

Doors have been painted since these photos as well, so all that is left is the signage then it can go away for a few weeks until our pirate phase falters.

Unless our next gaming distraction goes further out west and those pesky cowboys come to a very different looking town.

Distracted By Treasure – A Pirate Tale

Before Xmas Coronasan and I were discussing genres that we have not used recently.  We have played a few games of Fantasy, Sci-fi, Weird World War and Modern conflicts as well as plenty of Steam Wars.  Its been a while since we played any Pirate or Western (Cowboy) games.

So to set that straight we planned for a few games based, at first, on that wonderful world of Pirates…  We own between us a number of rule sets including: ‘Legends Of The High Seas’ by Warhammer Historical, and the Osprey rule set ‘On The Seven Seas’.

We also each have a copy of Cutlass! by Black Scorpion.  This is a Skirmish game that works well with just a handful of miniatures so would be a good start point for us to get back into the pirate spirit with.

We both have enough pirates to play most of these games (which was one reason we decided to play). It was hoped that by playing with these figures we would not be distracted from our other projects.

As ever that didn’t happen.  I still managed to find a few unpainted fellows that would benefit from a little attention.  3 men and their cannon had languished, alone in a drawer, for the last few years so were snatched up and quickly painted up to get them ready for duty.

I am always amazed by the difference a coat of dark tone wash has to my figures.  Hiding my poor painting and my even poorer colour choices 🙂

Picking out details that I hadn’t even seen.

For some reason I had based my older pirates using an odd mix of colours and materials so did my best to replicate that look.

Like I said, I don’t know why they got based this way…  But I now don’t own any unpainted pirates. If only I could say that for some of the other genres…

More Shiney Robots, From Mars…

While I was painting lots of robots up (Terminator Endoskeletons) I managed to finish up a few more mechanical men.  This time it was some of the Spartan Games Covenant Of Antarctica Automata.  These guys are multipart metal figures with separate legs, arms, heads and bodies.  In fact they come in so many parts that they take 7 hands and 2 toes to hold together while you try to get some super glue activator spray on them using your chin.

If you don’t believe me ask anyone else who has put some together.  Only fool hardy folks buy a second or third box of these chaps…

Easy enough to paint without too much effort.  But by the time I had them together and painted I had had about as much as I could take of silver coloured men.  Again the bases were done in red Martian cracked earth which means they will become part of my Martian Steam Wars army.  They may also be used in Rogue Stars as that Sci-fi look would fit both games.

These 2 squads of 5 robots brings my Martian robot total up to a rather surprising, 6 squads of armed robots, and I hadn’t even noticed that I had started a new army.

Terminators, From Mars… I’ll Be Back 

So, the Terminators are done.  Strange how some projects get done quicker than others.  My strong liking of these figures helped somewhat.  I suspect that the 3 colour paintjob also helped get them done so quickly. Looking at them, I probably spent more time on their bases than on the figures themselves.

Martian cracked earth bases tie them in with the existing forces. When I get time to paint up some of the Martian Tripods I might even get a game or two in.

The Terminator Crawlers were even quicker as they didn’t even get bases.

2 squads of 5 Endoskeletons and 1 squad of 5 Crawlers (likely to be used as replacement figures if I can talk Coronasan into ruling the endoskeletons up as difficult to kill).

Cheap easy and looking good even with my poor painting skills.

Terminators, From Mars…

Since Xmas, the guys at Warlord Games have been putting on a lot of sales… Many have passed me by with no interest at all.  One was so good it would have been silly to refuse!

Their Terminator Genisys game was discounted for a few weeks from £70 to £20. Its still on sale (at the time of writing this) at £35 so remains good value.

27 plastic figures and 1 metal for £20, can’t be sniffed at, and you get the rules and other bits, like dice, as well.

For me the £20 was spent especially for 10 Terminator Endoskeletons (with very big guns) and 5 Terminator Crawlers (just need some rules writing to use them in Steam Wars now – Coronasan over to you!)

Yes, they are not very Steampunk. Yes, they are so recognisable that they couldn’t be anything else but Terminators. Yes, they are too heavily armed for Steam Wars.

I don’t care…  They will get red, cracked Martian earth, bases and be used in my Martian Forces. Somehow they will fit.

Why?  Because I like them…

 

 

Weathering While The Weather Is Bad

With the addition of the Small Shop from Sarissa Precision shown previously, I realised that I had 4 buildings now sat unpainted on a shelf.  In fact all together they no longer fitted on the shelf. Something had to be done, or at least started…

So, instead of finishing off the small shop as I had planned I started all the others…  At once…  Why plan these things when unplanned actions lead to so much discovery…  (Must stop using so may … Its starting to look like the blog is covered with rabbit droppings…)

The smallest and most detailed is a Charlie Foxtrot Stables that I picked up with the useful advice that spray painting with grey then white (from differing angles) would give me a base coat while retaining most of the detail.

It worked well, so I tried it again on the second building. This was the Cricket Pavilion by Warbases.  Both these buildings are designed to represent wooden huts which I picture as being as whitewashed and weathered.  So that’s what I went for.

Both came out ok. I probably need to add more detail and pick out some areas with some colour as the white look is quite stark.  Some weathering to the lower half of the building added some colour variation but I need to look at what colour to darken that staining to as I think I need to go over the lowest planks with something to represent their damper foundations.  Maybe some moss or grass at ground level would help finish them.

The third building is the Grand Library from TTcombat.  This was built just after Xmas so has been painted quicker than most things in the shed.  I went for a slightly different approach here and like the finish so far.  Lots more to do though…

Grey then white allowed the detail to show up.  Then, a light spraying of the grey to the lowest edges with most of the spray focussed off the building and on the base board it was stood on.  Some more dilute ink washing helped to bring that shadow effect up further.  Again more detail is needed. Doors and steps in a contrasting colour maybe.

Now that they are all started, lets see how long it takes me to finish these off…

Harbour Update – Thoughts Of Cranes

So as the varied and mixed projects go on in the shed, with no clear focus or purpose, my mind turns again to the to do list, and the Harbour that is still not any further along.

When last seen, it was paved but not painted and I had an idea that it would be usable in a number of historical settings.  So, to bring it up to the modern age, the timber frames wound need to go and a selection of my more modern warehouses and buildings would be needed to set the scene.

All modern harbours now rely much less on physical man power to load and unload their cargo, so a crane would be nice…

Coronasan has beaten me to this and bought himself a very nice container hauling crane from TTcombat.  His may just be slightly too modern for my tastes as the Victorian town might find this hard to blend in with…

Something like the one I saw on Facebook recently would be great.  It appeared to be purpose built to go with the other scenery and I suspected it was likely to have been scratch built when I first came across it.

But then I saw this…

eBay, as always, came through and I now have my own ‘Cranky The Crane’ and it came to me for less than a tenner.

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Mine was sadly cracked at the base so off that came and a spare set of pavements replaced that small inconvenience.

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All I need to do now is rip his face off and lose the handle.  A project likely to get done in the next weeks (months or years may be more realistic…)