An ancient carcass, drifting without rhyme or reason...

 But, enough about me, let's talk about the hobby! 😄

March has been a Battletech month, with me painting a mercenary group, including their dropship, and some buildings: 

I also printed an extra set of tokens as we turned out to run out rather fast of those during a 4-way test game, and painted some support vehicles.

After that, the hobby muse drew my attention towards Space Hulk. (Hence, the title of this post.)

Digging out my stash, I found I still had three corridor sections built, but unpainted. So these were up first.

Which put the total amount of finished pieces to this:

While I was painting these, I was printing and gathering more parts and building another set of 3 corridor sections. Looking at my finished pieces, and the hordes of amazing Necromunda terrain out there, I wanted to play with weathering and textures more. What I have made so far looks old, but well-maintained. Future sections will look more dilapidated and abandoned. 

I'm currently painting those three sections. I've started with a basic mottled metal on these, followed by varnish and chipping medium. After that I airbrushed the core colours of the walls and floors and finally I chipped these with lukewarm water and a stiff brush. You can see these steps below.

Next steps will be painting the various details, before going at it with oils and washes.

The textures are still quite minimal and subtle on these, but for future parts, I know I can go harder on the textured and crackle paints, and general detritus.

Once these three are painted, I only have 3 more corridor sections to go before finishing all the corridor sections for the first mission. After that, I really should start on the rooms. As these are often the focal points of the various maps, and often objectives of different missions, I'll need to put some more care and thought into those... Either way, I'm thoroughly enjoying myself working again on this long suffering project again. (I started working on my Space Hulk terrain set in  2007!!!)

Anyway, see you next time!

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!

Acclimating

 Still acclimating to being at home full time now. It still feels like time off at the moment. Apparently that feeling, plus the habitual tension from a work rythm are currently translating them in an urge to get stuff done in the hobby "before I have to get back to work". Which, for the foreseeable future, I don't have to, if ever...  Weird how the brain works like that.

So, I've been taking advantage of the nicer weather to get some terrain things done.

I've oil-washed and rusted the second of my Gallowdark floors: 

It ended up being more black and less ruddy/rusty than the previous one, but I'm okay with that. All that is left for this one is to airbrush in the glowing pools of toxic sludge with a nice neon green. 

Today, I spent the day putting my grout-plaster-sand mixture on the Necromunda upper platform and fixing it all in place with alcohol and watered down PVA:

These will get to sleep under the stars overnight, to dry and harden up. Tomorrow, I'll be glueing the mandatory mushrooms and some other small detritus onto them to make them fully ready for primer.

Can't wait to get this finished and shove all my Necromunda terrain onto a table, see what I have now and what I want/need to add.

Finally, I glued the Zone Mortalis tiles I had printed so far onto some 1'x'1 MDF, to start my 3'x3' Zone Mortalis board. I want the boards to look varied but still have at least one, preferably two tiles on each plate that have a surface that the columns and walls can grip onto. 

The printing of the remaining tiles and Zone Mortalis terrain will have to wait, as a friend commissioned me to print him a foam dart blaster. So that comes first.

While I'm still processing the loss of a job and new disability status, I'm thoroughly enjoying being able to build terrain again. The last two years all my energy had gone into work, trying to build up enough hours to keep my job, leaving me an exhausted husk outside of work hours. Working on terrain now is part of reclaiming my Modhail-ness. 

The weather will be expected dip back down over the next week, so I'll be getting back to painting for 15mm Badab War then.

See you all again soon!

Time "March"es on...

Well, this is it. The first week of no longer working due to disability (long covid)...  Still feels like vacation for now, but different at the same time.  I'm giving myself a few weeks to rest up, acclimate and process the new situation. While I miss my job and colleagues already, it also means no longer burning up all my available energy to make the minimum hours I needed for my contract. Hopefully I'll be able to hobby (and generally enjoy life) with more regularity again.

Speaking of hobby:
I'm currently finishing the Tyrant's Claw army, and just need to print the Minotaurs and I'll have 2 loyalist and 2 secessionist chapters once all is painted. I think I'll leave the project at that size for the time being. Partly because I don't really suspect I'll find more than 4 players, but also because I find myself getting a bit of "Marine Fatigue", mainly regarding having to support all the minis for printing. 
The weather is getting better, so terrain can get back on the menu soon.  I still need to oil weather the second of my Gallowdark floor board. And finish the texture, details etc. on my Necromunda elevated platform and the pillars to support it, so those can be painted. I also found an affordable source of 30x30cm/1x1' mdf squares, so I can experiment with some Zone Mortalis floor tiles, with modular walls to slot onto them. I've got enough to experiment with a 3'x3' table and maybe a pair of set piece/diorama tiles.

Been doing some comparisons as well, and I think the Zone Mortalis columns and walls can also serve for 15mm Badab War, I just need to make a second set of scale appropriate scatter items.  They can just represent larger, more imposing walls and corridors in spaceships or underground complexes.

Which only adds fuel to the fire of wanting to do a Zone Mortalis set...

Anyway, just some waffle. Hopefully I can post some progress pictures next time!

See you then!

More Musings on Necromundan Environs

 I'm still figuring out the how and what of my (hopefully) imminent Necromunda terrain building and painting spree.

As I said in my previous post, I want to make a number of taller terrain pieces, that will allow me to add some more verticality and upper levels to my Necromunda table.  I'm thinking of building some "tower-like" terrain that can act as risers to support higher level walkways on the table, or maybe even a larger platform that acts as a full extra layer to the game/table.

But, if I were to go that route, how tall should these towers be? The obvious, initial, thought was to make these one foot high. But then I started thinking (uh-oh!) and comparing sizes:

-A Zone Mortalis wall piece is ~6 cm tall (if you average out the height of the risers that allow room for platforms)

-A Sector Mechanicus walkway is ~12.5cm tall

-A Gallowdark wall piece is ~6cm tall.

-The classic 90s Necromunda Bulkheads are ~7.5 cm tall

Looking at this measurement, and accepting that the old Necromunda bulkheads will be the odd one out, it seems that a height about 24-25cm would allow the best compatibility with the various forms of "official" terrain.  Now guess how tall a Pringles can is... 😉

So I guess height is sorted, now to get some inspiration for style and shape. 

I think I want to make a shanty tower, climbing up a derelict pipe or something. Maybe with enough of a platform on top that a second tower can be put on top.  Lots of platforms and walkways to allow passage around and up and down the column, with areas for walkways to hook up to.

Then I just need 2-3 other ideas for colums to support a second level. And some higher towers/terrain to allow traversal between the levels/layers. 

Random though as I'm typing: Maybe I can design/3d print some sort of bayonet-locking connector, that allows me to either put endcaps or platforms, or even the second tower layer securely onto these risers?

Something more to ponder...

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.

Hello again. (Insert funny reference to the passing of time here)

Well, hello. We meet again. Again a short recap of what I've been up to. I'm nearing completion of the 3d printed set of Gallowdark Terrain. Which means that is finished for now, until I find files for the parts from the new expansions. So, for the time being, if I do more Gallowdark terrain, it will be the official stuff (more on that later). For variation, alongside the Gallowdark set, I've also finally painted the Samurai Village I've had in storage for a couple of years:

I've been doing some painting on my Space Hulk Terminators, but ran out of steam before I could finish them. I did make some nice progress on my Space Hulk terrain set, though, spurred on by the Gallowdark frenzy:

So, that's the "tech" for doors and bulkheads sorted. Through the open door/bulkhead you can also see who I intend to approach my Space Hulk terrain in the future: No more painstakingly handcrafting repetitive items, but 3D modeling/file-bashing and printing those, and then add the additional touches and details through kitbashing and scratchbuilding.

I also found a source for larger containers of Dirty Down Rust, as I expect to use a fair bit of that in the future:

The left one is the standard 25ml one that you can find in more and more hobby stores. The right one is the 250ml one I found at a store specializing in weathering and aging products for stage and movie props. They even had Dirty Down Rust in 400ml spray cans!

And finally, the Space Hulk milestome I'm most happy about: 3D Blip markers!  The tops are adapted from an existing file, and I modeled the bases myself. The tops were printed in clear resin and then given a thorough gloss varnish. The bases simply primed black, the numbers/letters painted in white and airbrushed over with a fluor paint. Here's the results: 

Sadly, I forgot to take pics of the regular green blips before I safely stored them all away...

In the set are all the blips I need to play any edition of Space Hulk. :) 

As a sidestep, I painted two sets of Ironhead Armour for the Iron Kingdoms RPG:

One of the Ironheads was 3d printed, I modeled a boiler, firebox and chimney onto what was originally a Steel Golem model.

Since I had some leftovers of the red and green resin for the Space Hulk blip tokens, I also printed some Space Hulk fauna, just for fun and maybe some special scenarios: 

In that picture you can also see a hint of what I'm currently up to...

While I had intended to keep going on the Gallowdark and Space Hulk projects, due to having to interrupt hobbying for two weeks because of a stubborn cold I lost steam. 

Just around the time that Games Workshop had their Warhammer Fest and teased Adeptus Titanicus maybe getting infantry and non-titan vehicles... Which I personally found more exciting than 40k 10th edition. So yeah, I started figuring out how to get my own low-cost titans (see the tiny reaver) in the background of the above pic. And having Titans on the brain again, I also took the large 28mm lad out of storage. It's now fully magnetized and primed, ready to get painted over the coming sunny weeks.

As I said, I'd be coming back to Gallowdark in this post: I may not be able to get the complete set. As I said in an earlier post, Gallowdark was my last automatic must-buy from GW for the foreseeable future. And if you've seen the discussions on social media this weekend, you may have guessed why: I missed out on the woefully understocked pre-order. I may, just may have a chance with an independent game store, but I'm waiting to hear back from them whether or not they'll get the supply they ordered or if GW short-stocks them again...

More news next time!