AK-47 "Animal" Group Build - Expanding the cannery

Next to Canned Fish we will now sell Canned Squid as well, with extra ink in each can, cause we can. Only for Wadiyans of course. 


As Erik just said:"Calamari-inna-Can! Food, paint and eco-friendly O-rings"

WIP power line poles for Zona Alfa

 Technically something I've had in my WIP box for ages, but in parts and unbuilt.

1/35 Italeri Power Line Poles glued together and liquid plastic slop added to fill the seams and removed the insulators. Took a 40x40 base and glued a square washer on them but just off center so I could drill a hole for the toothpick to go through. I cut sections of the smaller kind of firearrow and drilled those for the toothpick, and glued them on the bases with superglue. I took zero care to alingn them at exactly 90 degrees. It's a shithole overthere. This will be a set of 12 which should be more than enough. 

Tomorrow add wall filler to cover the base and metal and let that set, and sand the poles smooth. I'll be using the crossbars that has the insulators on a metal pole (cause more fun to weather).

Once these are done I'll make the same set of 12 for WW2, so less weathering and more splinter damage. 

Then the set I have the parts for for 15mm as well as that is one I have postponed for ages as well. 

LAF BSC 2026 "Wheel" - Crane done. Now comes the rest.....

 Calling the crane done. Johann standing as a size reference. Yes, she is a big girl!

My dinner table is a disaster zone, so tomorrow clean up so I can do the next set of drawings and vacume a gazillion small bits of wood from the floor. 

 My estimated time for the crane build was 3 weeks, same for the cargoes. I'm actually 1 week ahead which is nice for a change. 1 week per cargo is doable, and then paint all of them combined so I'm ready ahead of time.....cause I have a lot of other things to do, like take a ton of photo's of all of the 20mm stuff I need to sell. Ugh. 

LAF BSC 2026 "Wheel" - Wheely good now

I managed to add extra support inside so it now turns as it should, without a wobble or magnets. Pressure fitting wood for the win. Used scrap MDF rounds from the scrap box for the rollers, then used lollypop sticks for the guides. 

Keeping parts seperate for now will help with painting.

Tomorrow fine-tuning of the angle of the wheel and adding most of the iron banding.

Extra strength, but these will trimmed back to about 1-2 mm before painting.

Justifying the reason whey I have a MDF scraps box.

Lollypot sticks added, and those got sanded down so it sits flush with the crane beam.

Slowly getting there...

LAF BSC 2026 "Wheel" - Wood gets longer and stronger

 After a long hard day installing another cabinet and prepping my display cases for pick up tomorrow (as I sold them) I fell asleep on the couch till SJors rang the doorbell for hobby night. Oops.

Tonight I used up all of the fireworks wood I had left, so I need to search my attic for the remaining stash to finish this. The balsa I have won't cut it as they are way too thin.

But progress is good.

LAF BSC 2026 "Wheel" - Wood gets nailed

 I've been spending a bit of time every day snipping the heads off of dress pins. This is very taxing on my hands so I do about 20 or so and then call it a day and insert them in the desired places.

Right now I have made a platform and nailed that and got the main beam glued up, as well ad the crane arm laminated but not yet stripped or sanded. Need to do some more eyeballing to see how tall I really want it to be. 

 Recycle kids! The future crane arm, double thickness wood now. 

LAF BSC 2026 "Wheel" - More Wood

 Glued and pinned more wood together to get the basic frame together and started adding the iron bands (aka card and pins) and that will take a bit. Once that is done I'll work on the platform and the top of the crane, and after that tie in the wheel. 

It's a real bodgejob but it works. 

Old Fireworks for the win. And yes, I can't cut a straight edge to save my life....

....but we are getting there. Ignore the wheel. It thought it was Obi Wan and wanted to have the high ground. 

LAF BSC 2026 "Wheel" - Get Wood

 Stripped the last tape from the roll and used my trusty The Chopper to cut swizzle sticks to size. Clad the roll with it, inside and out, and after drying sanded the sides smooth-ish. Made 2 crosses for the axle to go through and glued those on by 1,5 eye. It sorta works, but I never intended this to be a working crane anyway so no problem. 

Making the cross in the most high tech way possible

 

Mega Hamster Death Wheel!

With the side trim added.

Next up is putting pencil to paper to get the measurements for the support frame, and check how I can make it a turntable if I ever want to put it on the top of a building. Ok, I will need to build a building for it, but it is the thought that counts...

LAF BSC 2026 "Wheel" - Let's get it on!

 First thing to build is the wheel. I've looked at scratchbuilding the wheen, 3D printing it and what not. , then took a step back and looked at how others did it. 

The humble beginnings. A roll of pretty useless sticky tape with the right width, a wooden rod for the center and a thicker bit of balsa for the support. I'll use coffee stirrers for the outside and inside planks, glue those in place, sand the sides and then work on the sides of the wheel. 

Well, that is the plan anyway.

Finish it! -15/28mm Sci-Fi Cargo made from toy car wheels

 Date started: Around September 2024 I think.

Built, based and partialled painted and then dumped in a box after a cleaning run. These are 4 wheels I ripped off of small car toy cause they are a nice hard plastic and look container-y.

Now finished. May many more follow. Incidentally this also another 50 Cent Challenge finished!

Compared with 15mm

Compared to 28mm

LAF BSC 2026 "Wheel" - The Idea

 And we have another competition. Theme is "wheel"

Timelines (all times are midnight Pacific Standard Time of that day stated - yes my timezone means you get an extra 8 hours you lucky European sods)

• Start Time - Feb 1st
• Last Registration Day - March 1st NEW Extended registration limit
• Construction Completed - March 31st
• Painted Photos Due - April 7th
• Voting Begins - April 15th(ish)

Perfectly doable I say. Well, at least if I don't get sicker then I already am that is. But let's be positive :)

After going over my options I think it is time I make something for Mordheim again, it's been a while. As Mordheim is also a port, I think one of these is in order.

That way I can make a nice dent in my Balsa collection as well, and it is easy to plan into sections. The wheel, the frame and the crane part. And now to put that idea to paper. 

Generic Mossy Rocks finished!

I made these ages ago for Gorka Morka out of foam blocks, MDF bases and cheap filler, primed them and then....nothing for years. Painted them grey a few weeks ago, got them out this afternoon while the girls were doing homework and wanted to get them done today.

 

 And finish them I did. Completely knackered now. The moss green turned out to be brighter than expected, but it's good like this. Yes, I could spend more hours in making stuff "better" but stuff unfinished is not hitting my table, now is it? 

I've kept it as generic as possible, so it wil work for basically any of the 28mm periods I have stuff for. Just the way we like it, ey?

Leaves same as always with my die punch, but this time added a drop of colour and wash instead of just wash. 

It will work fine for Zona Alfa

Or any kind of Fantasy setting, like Verrotwood

Warbases Brick Garage Electrical work

 A bit of soldering wire, scrap card and MDF and enough superglue to make you cry.

30 minutes well spent and a little 3D effect added to a otherwise flat kit. 

BSSCF2025 - Deadline tomorrow, better get cracking!

 Quite a bit to so, but I needed another teaser pic for the LAF.

BSSCF2025 - The (off) White House

 And that is the last pic of the whole building for now. Hope to get most of it done by the end of the weekend so I can focus on other builds and do the final detailing on my leasure. 

Calling it a bukake house might be the wrong thing for a fertility clinic.....

BSSCF2025 - Sign me up!

 After a nice week with the girls and focussing on family time, the final details for the house.

Magnetised two 15x30mm MDF bases from my bases box so I can make a Afrikan and a Vietnamese sign, added a card square for the streetsign and fixed up the chimney. And that is it, she is ready for priming. 

 

BSSCF2025 - Nest Egg

 Decided to forgo electrical work and add more nests. Bird and eggs are oversized to help with painting, and the Storch nest will get extra foliage once painted. 

 

Bacon Buddies

 Pig pen for Nam and AK-47 (though pork in a Islamic country.....yeah, let's ignore that bit)

15mm pigs from Peter Pig, scrap MDF base, some matches, ribbed card and plastic H0 Faller fencing, cut down a bit to fit in better with 15mm. My first time trying out wet mud and earth paste from AK that I picked up for The Last War. Works like a treat I say. Not much else to say, need to make a few more village items, but maybe better to focus on a few figgies now.

AK47 Monumental Build - the start

 Another build for the AK Group.

Starting Monday 7th of April and running till Sunday 18th of May 20:00 GMT, giving you a full 6 weeks to plan, get kit or grab stuff from the bin, and build.

 The Theme will be Monument(al).

This can be for a won battle, your Dear Leader, the casualties from last years Black Friday Sale, your call. Heck, it can be a desecrated one of your favourite opponent if you like. Go wild!

Two rules:

* Base size (up to) 15cm / 6 Inches square.

* Picture of finished model with ruler in front of the base.

Not limited to 15mm scale btw, as I know not everyone uses that scale. So if you are for 3mm, 6mm, 10mm, 12mm, 20mm, 28mm, 1/35, go right ahead! Also no limit on the number of entries, though you might want to group them together if you make multiple.

 

Once your entry is done, make a post about it that includes 1 pic with a ruler in front of the base. Back story isn't a must, but as always, highly appreciated! Be creative.

Voting will be done by all of the members (a poll that will run for a week after), and I'm still trying to sort out some sort of prize.

Nothing as large as last time, I only just pulled my thumb out after finding a kit and fudging around with some ideas.

 

1 block of wood cut in 1/3rd and 2/3rd, glued together, coverd with wall filler and sanded for that concrete look, and based on 9x9 cm base from some scrap MDF.

Happy feet.

I'm aiming for usability in 15mm as well as 28mm for (maybe) future games in a Banarepublic country.
Plus a Dictator needs something Megalomanic, so.....

Radiation Signs

 A long, long time ago I made these in 20mm, then destroyed all by accident when the lids depressed down into the box. Considering the time spent with decalsheets, plasticcard and braswire I was a bit gutted. A couple of weeks ago I found myself going over some of the colour prints I have with lots of signs on them and wanted to give it a go, but cheaper and quicker.

20mm round MDF base, drill a hole, glue in a toothpick. Snip  off the pointy bit and smooth the underside of the base. Use a scalpel to slant the edges, add glue and sprinkle sand. Let dry, preferably not for 3 weeks like I did :P Snip the top to the required length and use a scalpel to get a nice flat surface where you want the sign. Cut out signs ( I use colour laserprints as those don't run and are very durable on regular print paper), add supeglue to the post and stick on the sign. Use a pointy toothpick to smear the excess superglue all over the back of the sign, this hardens the paper to make it really durable.

Then paint and weather to your desired needs.

Inexpensive to make and quick to replace if they have accidents.