Back of Beyond - terrain pieces

 A couple of new pieces this week which will be needed for an upcoming game . 

First up a scratch build of a coal bunker . I cut down a piece of A5 2mm MDF for the base . The basic frame is made from balsa sheets cut and glued together . This is sprayed a dark grey and drybrushed . To fill the space I used some kitchen towel soaked in PVA with some black paint added . Once dried I added some scale coal available from Jarvis stuck on with the blackened PVA solution. 

 

Next is a trench strongpoint . This is from the Ironclad 28mm resin terrain which is now back in full availability and production at Pendraken . https://www.pendraken.co.uk/ironclad-miniatures

  

A pretty simple job . Sprayed dark brown overall then using Tan earth for a heavy drybrush and a white mix highlight. The wood in the trench is done a dark grey and highlighted . The sandbags were done a beige brown and highlighted . A bit of static grass added . 

That’s all for now 

Back of Beyond - The Black Sea sailors

 This weeks completion is the lads of “Torpedo Odessa”. A unit of Black Sea sailors - again from Copplestone .

Really enjoyed painting these guys 

 

I have also worked on their boat . I had the good guys from the Pendraken laser room make me up MD`f hull shapes that were clamped together to make a hull about 300mm long . I already had some armament from the paddle steamer model which is magnetised so I only needed to add some of that to enable to swap over .

I am waiting for the command set turning up for these and have designed a suitable flag 

I left it with a simple open superstructure for now . The captain , cox and wheel were all from Ironclad 

I have added tubing to take flag and a main mast that are removable to make it useable for various nations and also easier to store . 

6 layers of full hull , with two extra on the front .

Once it was glued together it was sealed with PVA and primed with an acrylic / polyurethane primer .

A simple paint job after that . 

The funnel is made from a large metal air intake from the Ironclad stuff .

 

I have more naval weaponry on order , including torpedo launchers . I have also commissioned mark 2 longer wider , more detailed supersctrucre etc as a result if the learning with this one . 

Catch Up time

Its been a very busy couple of months since the wind down of the winter painting challenge with lots going , so its about time I caught up here. The works on the man cave are into their final phase, and with the impending finishing of the other upper room refurbishment we are doing it will be time to look as game table options.

In the mean time work has started on a couple of things . Having a game coming up at Partizan has pushed me to get on with the Military Railway. I had picked up a toy train set by "Teemsterz" which was labelled as 1/55th scale - they are still available on Amazon and e-bay for a few more.. I found it in the local post office just before Xmas it cost £3.50 - so I bought two sets. I have butchered  one carriage to make a flat bed one , and added some plasticard to armour the loco part. The rails and sleepers are proper model railway On30 track i sourced form my previous Cowboy project which looks the part. While the model does not sit on the rail rather over it I think it will work ok. If not i will shorten the axles if need be.

I need to do something about a coal tender as it did not come with one..

The original inspiration for it - need to make some construction crews too 

Undercoating done...

I have also decided to finalise my basing on the skirmish stands for the Sudan into permanent stands rather then single figures in sabot trays - so the Mahdists have been completed.

Next up is some progress on the upcoming 10mm ACW group project with my first Union troops painted. There are a few of us painting units for a first game hopefully in June/July.

 and the next lot started

A few new purchases from the "didn't go to Salute" spending..

 Lets see where this ends up ...

And finally , as part of the tidy up work going on I found my sets of Eagle and Dixie cards by Colombia Games, so decided to get Deepcut Studios make me a bespoke playing mat in mousemat material . Its 22x34 inches and I am very pleased with the result

So there you go - its been busy! If you are at Partizan , pop by and say hello..

Terrain - Part 4 - Finished.

The main 2 foot square sections are now completed. From the base dark brown they were given an all over dry brush of light stone colour to lighten the base a little before applying the next greens. I had a paint mixed at the DIY store as I could not find a green off the shelf to my liking - It was a Dulux Woodland Fern 1. This looks to my eye a very grass green colour. This was drybrushed fairly heavily across all the boards, but not too much to obliterate the browns showing beneath, this was left to dry overnight. The roads were given a heavy covering of the sandstone colour. Next up was adding a yellow highlight to green - this was a Dulux lemon pie colour , lightly applied a number of times to the main green area. The roads were given a lighter brush with a colour called natural calico.

The rocky areas were brushed with the natural calico, and the river was coloured with a middle blue, and again lightly brushed with the calico colour to pick out some of the plaster detail that had been brushed to give a water effect earlier.

The final bit was to to add a colour called buttercup yellow to the green areas in places.

So time to add some buildings & toys to it!

The main boards have been left probaby with more green than i had first planned , but then this will alow these to be used for other settings and collections. I will also be doing some more dusty terrain for the Sudan project next too , so I will be looking to make use of that for this collection as well.

The final layout of buildings  will differ as there is still the the middle 1 foot wide sections to complete which will have the towns main street and also carry the the rail line. As these boards are small enough to be completed in the normal work room rather than the garage I will complete these over the winter.

These have been a pretty simple project - with little extra work on the base boards , such as carving rivers, and hill sections - more of that with the Sudan project. 

 

Terrain -part 3 -WIP

Having left things to dry out fully for a couple of days it was time to take advantage of the warm day again yesterday, and get outside in the warmth. I applied some rocks made from cat litter to the river section, and to some of the hill edges - just to break things up a bit. Then I did an all over surface wash of thin plaster mix to harden the surface up. This was left to dry in the sun for a few hours.  For the main areas -not the road/trails -  I applied PVA slightly thinned 50/50 with water and sprinkled on my sand/ballast mix, this has been left to dry fully now for at least 24 hours.

Next was to apply the plaster work to the roads/trails and add some wheel ruts - do this as the plaster has started to harden by drawing a pencil, skewer etc into - make sure they join at any board intersections though. - and leave to harden fully overnight. Next day I gave the road areas a thin PVA wash to give more strength to the plaster. and then allow to dry . Hard work done now it's time for paint

I painted the sides of the polystyrene and the bottom of the MDF which will fully seal it, let it dry. Then using a SANDTEX FINE (masonary paint), bitter chocolate colour to cover the main areas. This added extra texture as well - which will be needed when it comes to drybrushing the lighter colours.  I then used a lighter cocoa bean colour emulsion on the roads and trails - looks grey on the photos but that is the light tonight it dries different too.

So this is now being left to dry for 24 hrs , before applying greens and then further highlights.


                               

Terrain - part 2 - WIP

It's been a great weekend for terrain making, with probably the warmest days of the summer here by far - means the glue sets quickly!

So I had headed out into the garden to make a start. First up was to seal the MDF with a thin coat of neat PVA put on with a small roller. This cuts down on the dust from the stuff , and stops moisture absorption - which causes things to warp. I will give the finished result a thin coat of emulsion as well later. In the breeze and warmth the PVA took about an hour to dry off.

Next spread PVA as before over one side and affix the polystyrene.

I covered it with a piece of MDF and then added something heavy to press it down for a few minutes initially. Ice Cream sandwich anyone?

Repeat ......
Repeat.....
etc.

Now as Ray and Fran were not available I had to find something else to stack on top of the various layers. Of course you all have a bandsaw to hand don't you?- you don't.. Tish call yourself wargamers..

I piled things up as they came off the prodiuction line and at the end added extra weights - I knew those dumbbells would come in useful for something.

These were left overnight on a nice flat surface AKA the kitchen floor - Mr's D was not best pleased at my choice of location. - Memo to self must try harder to find somewhere better or at least pretend to find somewhere else next time.

So full of exictiment this morning I "volunteered" to make the breakfast. While it was cooking I laid them out on the dining room table (covered of course!) just to check alignment - all nice and flat and square! spot on.

Next job is to the strengthen the edges. So I ran masking tape around the sides, then an extra layer with half across the top and sides, any that had a bit of corner damge had extra masking tape put on.

This is pressed down using a small roller  to press out any wrinkles and make sure it is attached all ok. This covers any bits of holes and dents etc. No Mr's D - just because i have been in the deocrating tools box does not mean one will be doing any soon!

 Once this was done the masking tape had a layer of neat PVA appled and left to harden.

The basic road net was drawn on with a marker pen. What did the Romans do for us - roads - straight ones. So I will bend and wiggle these a little once the road plaster is applied.

Now you may notice a little problem with the bottom left board. Thanks to a strong stray gust of wind yesterday while dealing with last board it blew it away and smashed a corner of the last piece. So i am turning this piece into a river edge section with the road running down to the river at "Blue River Canyon"  - I will make a new section later - but waste not want not.

I have added a few small raised areas from foamboard and run some plaster around the edges to smooth them (there is more work to do here yet)- just ordinary powder plaster wall filler.

So that is the main 2 foot square boards well on the way and the hard bits done. I have the middle section of 2 foot by 6 inches (or may be now a foot having looking at it) to do later which will have the railroad added to it.

Next job with these is to add plaster/pva/texture to main areas, and texture the roads - let it  dry and then its  ready  for painting