Build Something Small 2023 Challenge - Mine? Mine! Entry

 The 2nd of my entries for the Challenge will be a 28mm Mine entrance....but I'm not going for easy. I like making a bit more visually interesting, so....

I want a steeper bit of hill and a mine opening and a ramp or ladder up to it. And I have to stay inside a 15 x 15 cm square and max 25cm tall. The only thing pre made sofar is a bit of plastic rail (from a toyset I guess?) I found at the Goodwill years ago...finally it is time to put i to good use :)

My lazy sunday afternoon (besides, cooking, cleaning, laundry, folding, chasing afte the kids) and this is how it started saturday evening and where I am now. 

How it started

                                                                     Where I am now

Scrap wood from New Years Eve fireworks, everything pinned and glues with superglue and dowels where possibel for added strength. Need to cut a 15 x 15cm MDF base fot it, and the beams will be pinned into that as well so it is going nowhere. Spoil shute is ready, just need to add reinforcing beams between the legs. I expect a order or cork bark to arrive somewhere next week. 

Mine will be usefyl for 28mm Mid West COwboys era as well as Postapoc Fallout

WIP Walls (Killteam, Stargrave, Post Apoc, anything 28mm)

 Had a hobby night lastnight that was cancelled at the last moment, so donned the painting apron and went ahead with a quick (turned out to be not that quick) drybrush of all the walls I made, painted the metal parts and did the rust on everything. Next up is detailing, rubble, posters, and some more weathering. I'm really trying to get this all done in another 1-2 painting sessions. 

All made from foam, MDF bases and cocktailsticks for rebar, with some lights made and printed by Modhail tossed in. Nothing too fancy, base, some bits with a highlight color to break up all the grey, and detailing. Get it done man, get it done.....

So, speaking of houses the other day.....

 We had a chat and build evening on monday (the 11th) and after getting out one of my older builds to do more work....I wasn't feeling it, grabbed a sheet of left over rock hard foamboard and went to toen. I've been working on it for a hour or so every day since.

Open

Open shop space, doorway to a flight of stairs leading up (and going nowhere) and a balcony fit for 40mm based figures if I want. Pipes from the popular Chinese ones every scratchbuilder and their mother seems to use. Space in the back is open so I can add a LED or 2 for nice pictures (not with this phone though....)

Windows, for people who want to see.

Lift off roof being dryfitted (it's a wee bit snug)

Edges trimmed with card. Roof will stay bare so I can fit other stuff or extentions on it.

It's meant to be used in Necromunda and This is not a Test as part shop, part LOS blocker, semi ruined and dilapidated. I made a lift off roof for it, one of the shops is open so I can put stuff in it (and use the other one to store bits and bobs when not in use). I'm heavily inspired by Magpie and Old Lead and his excellent Blog and for the love of everything that is holy, I want to finish this one dammit. 

The basics for the doors fitted

Not sure where I was going with the block extention, but I need to search my bits boxes for some more vents. And dump tons of crap etc.

On this end the roof sags down on the left.....we'll just blame soggy ground (Measure 3 times, cut once and still fuck up.....thats me!). Once painted up, no one cares.... Commercial sign will go up above the door.

The back alley where you wouldn't want to be found dead, but most likely will be. This needs more detailing.

Not sure yet about colors, I have grey, natural green, red and a nice bone color in tubes and pots to work with (I'm not insance enough to be painting this up with GW paint pots, thank you very much)

Rusty old hog

Finished the first of the GW 40K bike wrecks, only took like....forever. Wheels will get recycled some way, they live in my bits box now. No papers or anything, thought it was good enough and I want to clear the table. Goes straight into my Inq28, Necromunda and Post Apocalyptic pile.

Oh, and 2 aluminium canisters, like the ones I keep hoarding in Fallout 4. From TT Combat I believe. To be put inside scenery at a later date.

Transformers!

Catch of the week, traded for the cargo part of a 1/25 scale truck trailer. It's a load of round parts, steel beams and these 3 guys.

Great big transformers, that will do for TNT and Gaslands alike. Just need individual, but matching basing so I can slot them together of keep them seperate. I want to get these painted asap.

It will most likely be my last catch as well. Some stuff is still en route to me, but my hobbyfunds are all dried up atm. I've been shoving most of the proceeds of the sales back into my bankaccount but with both of us on benefits and expenses that are bigger then our mutual income, it is a uphill battle and decided I will stop purchasing stuff untill Crisis. So no orders for new mini's, no more new secondhand plastic and preferably cut down on my trips to the second hand stores.

The bright spark in all this is that I have found a place that would like me as an intern for 2-3 days a week for 2 maybe 3 months and maybe a job after that, who knows. I don't start till late August though.

...which gives me more then enough time for our 2 week holiday and time to clear out more stuff up for sale and get some more work done on comissions as those are needed to pay for the hobby for the time being. Also, I have tons of kits to keep me busy for the time being so spending money on that should not be a priority at all.

And thx to this Blog, Lead Legeonaries, I'm now pretty convinced I can make a shantytown easily enough using the foamcutter and cast off foam to make blocks to build the huts on for a shantytown. His work looks lovely and I will enjoy copying it.

On a personal note, some minor changes/events: My girls turned 4 yesterday and we kept the party pretty low key as we didn't have much spare cash after putting most of into a single gift for the girls.....a nice big pink trampoline with safety net etc. And they love it! And for me personally, while my knee still hurts as always, I've been having a lot less resistance while walking and cycling and I'm pretty chuffed about it. It's also been 4 weeks now since I last drank any sort of softdrink, and I now just drink bubbly or regular water and my health has improved a lot. A tone more energy, no more urges for late night snacking, and a general better feeling. Just lovely :)

The only issue ai have atm if that my focus has gone to shit. I'm just building as I feel like, with no clear goal, and I want to change that. I've set up a painting challenge on my Dutch Battlegroup page (2x Recce unit in August) to get some focus, plus I should be working on creating more Gaslands industrial scenery, and just keep the rest low key and not on a priority list.

And that is it for today. Tomorrow is the last day in daycare for my girls so we are having a small party at school, for which Kim and I got very creative. Just need to make some last minute things in the morning and then we are set.

Jumping from branch to branch

Finished building 2 metres of Spanish Riders

Now to do some paint tests on the wood and metal spare bits to see which works best, but that is for next week.

Spent some time on my new iron horse I picked up today second hand. Busted tail light, busted saddle and a loose steeringwheel. Put on a new saddle and taillight, oiled everything, tightend all the screws. Will give it a good cleaning with the girls on sunday, then hunt for a backseat so I can take the girls for a ride with Kim on her bike. Will ask my dad to give it a proper look to see if I missed anything though. And no, there is nothing wrong with my old bike, but that is a male model (so the high bar) and I've been feeling increased pain lately in my right leg and hip from lifting my leg over the bike to hop on, as well as extra strain on my damaged knee and spine. No need to all of that with this "mommy bike" (it's a "daddy bike" now.)

Just need to find a way to keep the crate in place I've always had on my steering wheel as the extra stowage space is very welcome. And to clean and sell my old bike to break even as much as possible to make up for the purchase of this bike.

And yes, I call it a bike. Not a bicycle.....

And jumping onto the next branch, todays mistery find at the goodwill store was this funnel device......I have no idea what it is or what it did other then funneling something, but it has now become a industial rock grinder for Necroumda, This is not a Test Industrial area, and as a turnning point for Gaslands. It is big and non descript enough for all of that.

I cut off the prongs from the underside, gave it a new base and I will paint it all rusted up, and when done, glue some granite chips in the inside.

Final branch of the day is that I received my Lancer Miniatures order, but I want to discuss some parts of it with them before I do a review. The overall quality is very good, with only 1 minor issue and 1 issue of me not agreeing with the sculpting quality of a set I've ordered. But fast reply, fast turn around and fast delivery will make me come back soon.

Meanwhile, I grabbed a PSC Carrier from the attic to convert with a 25mm French Cannon for the DAK, and I'm looking at the box with spare aircraft wheels that could come in handy for one of these....

Yeah, I know, scatter brain.

Now I'm off to bed, cause tomorrow I'm going to Militracks in Overloon.
Militracks 2017

I've got a job! Yeah, about that..... :(

Got a phonecall this morning from Iris, my job agency coach. She informed me she had received a vague email from the company that is going to hire me. Well, make that WAS going to hire me. Quoting economical circumstances, they have decided to put the job on hold for the time being.

Iris is more then a bit upset (as am I) as she has put a lot of effort into it, all the paperwork is done and was to be signed this week by the 3 of us. But no. Iris is also quite upset that all her communications have been with the company president and now all of a sudden a employee is emailing this without a real explanation.

So yeah.....shit.

<sigh> I took some painkillers for the knee, discussed this with Kim as I was visibly quite upset, took the afternoon off and just returned from my final First Aid training day (exams next week). I volunteerd to do a test exam (day could not get any worse, right?) I only managed to forget to remove the ring and watch of a 2nd degree burned hand and accidentally held a victims hand when he had just spilled lye over his arm and hand. But you don't flunk on that kind of stuff and I won't make those 2 mistakes next week. I really want to pass this exam, not just for my resume but for myself and Kim and the kids, if something ever happens.

Tomorrow, a new day, a fresh start, and we will carry on with the Quest for Work! TM


Anyway, we are here for the hobby stuff. Been burning through my stuff (not literally) on monday, managed to cut the amount of junk on the gaming table in half, removed half the junk from my first cabinet and sorted out what can be sold off (most) and what not (very little). So progress is being made. Also, I received some trade stuff and decided that in the future, starting now, anything I get that I want to use myself, gets cleaned, based and sanded asap. That way I'm not online hunting for new stuff and working with what I got.

So, in no particular order:

Did the Renedra Ramshackle Barn and American Farmhouse 1750-1900 I had in my stash for a while now, glued all the windows shut, fixed the roof and based them on 3 or 4mm MDF (took this picture) and just finished sanding the edges. General cleanup tomorrow. It's aimed at 28mm TNT, but will do for Cowboy games and ACW skirmish f I ever get that far.

I got these 2nd hand, I just stuck them to their bases and changed the cobblestone one on the left to the same sand one as the rest. Captives for 28mm TNT or any other game that needs prisoners/hostages/sacrifices.

I've bought a second hand lot of 20mm VC and NVA, just based and fillerd them, sanding tomorrow when everything has set hard and is trimmed on the sides. The lot came with the grey Liberation Models K63 APC on the right (missing its gun), I washed, cleaned and trimmed that to fit today. The yellow one is a Red Star one I just removed from the bag, cleaned, heated and bent back into shape, and is now ready for basing and a new gun. The 3 painted ones (including 1 command/medical version) are gifts from Chris. Also need to be cleaned, based and a ggun. They are for my (2nd) Iraqi army for Iran-Iraq and the Gulf War. The Liberation one is marginally bigger in size and has some different details, but nothing major and will make a nice platoon CO ride I guess.

The VC and NVA need sand and good cleaning of any mould lines, and I wanted to convert the NVA into VC by sanding down the sun hat until Piers reminded me that they woudl work perfectly a Main Force VC. So that saves me the work for that.

Also, I need to grab from my weapons bin, a MG-34, a PIAT and a MP40 for the VC as weapons.....some conversions are in order.

All of the Partisans I received have been based, fillered and sanded. Removing of mouldlines is up this week, and then see who needs a head swap, conversion, GS work etc. Also build 2 light AT guns for them (which will do double duty with my Russians).

So much to do, and suddenly a lot more time (jay..... :( ) so hey.

How one 50 cent toy gives you a ton of scenery.

I like second hand markets / (online) shops. (tbh maybe a bit too much!) I have a list of things in my head that I am looking for and if I see a need for a item, either to be replaced soon as it's almost worn, or something that makes things easier in the kitchen or otherwise, I'll put it on a mental list. Since you never know when you will find it it can be a bit of hit/miss, but hey.

Last week I was making my tour looking for suitable bits for Gaslands, TNT etc and I picked up this:

 50 cents for a farm piece. Way too big for 28mm on it's own. But if we break it down.....

5 inches long, 2 inches wide and tall, this is a pretty big item in 28mm, let alone 20mm. But base it, maybe replace the top covers with something round, paint it rusty and it fits in.

Wheel hubs, 1 inc wide. Makes for great space ship engines, or lean them against rubble and paint them rusty. Nr 4 is lost, broke apart while removing it from the wheel. Oh well.

I like kids toys rubbery tires as they tend to be the type that seems to last forever, compared to model makers stuff. Hotglued the first to a MDF base, and epoxied the rest on top so these are not going anywhere. 2 inches tall, pretty huge, great cover for 28mm figures, massive cover for 20mm, and the tires don't look out of place in either scale - I mean massive tractor tires anyone? Will do fine in Gaslands as well as a road marker of sorts, or even for the finish line. I'm not intending to paint this one....I'll just cover it in pigment, brush most off and fix the rest, job done (as to how exactly going to do that without making a awfull mess.....now that is something I need to work on).

Just put the axles in a rubble pile and paint them rusty.

The frame....some interesting shapes, cut into pieces and paint rusty, jobs a good un.

I have no idea where the 2 black front bits went. :D I swear I had them on the table 5 minutes ago.....but those too, just clean, put on a rubble pile and paint rusty.

50 cents well spent I'd say.

My orders from Sarissa Precision Ltd and TT Combat - a review

A few posts back I said I wanted to use MDF for my TNT board, so I ordered up a few things. Directly from Sarissa Precision Ltd, and the TT Combat stuff through my preferred Ebay.co.uk shop, the Trolltrader.

Both were ordered on the 17th of August, both sending a order confirmation by email. Trolltrader sent me a shipping confirmation the same day, Sarissa sent me one on the 23rd of August. The TT Combat order arrived on the 24th, the Sarissa one yesterday on the 30th. The TT Combat order was sent in one box, which arrived ship shape, the Sarissa one in 2 boxes, one of which arrived banged up on every corner.

I've seen this plenty of times in my previous job when items are packed with room left in the box, so it can bang around and either break free of the box or break itself. There was only some thin loose plastic put on top to fill it visually and that just won't cut it. So the box took the brunt of it. Oddly enough the contents of the smaller box had been taped to the bottom so they would not move around, so they know this can be a problem? There was nothing wrong with the contents though, everything nicely shrinkwrapped and no banged corners.

For this review I will start with the TT Combat stuff first.

I ordered the Bus Stop (5,95 Pounds), Construction Office (3,95 Pounds)  and Subway Entrance (4,95 Pounds). I paid 4,72 Pounds in shipping. Total order cost was 19,57 Pounds.

The Bus Stop

In the pack is a cover sheet with the code, name and finished product, a 2-sided instructions sheet, a thin piece of lasercut cardboard and a lasercut sheet of MDF with 2 acryllic inserts. Both cut sheets seemed to be well laid out, with no waste of space. The bench looks a bit flimsy being just a thin piece of cardboard but it is supported on both end and in the middle, and I like the fact it has been designed to stand up as is, without the need for a base, so it should blend in on your table with no problem at all. The acryllic inserts were a bit of a surprise as I had thought all the glass areas were open. This will make it easier to add posters or graffiti. There seems to be a lt of thought put in this, with a pole with a timetable to a map with the routes. Quite good I say!

The Subway Entrance

 In this pack is a cover sheet with the code, name and finished product, no instruction sheet and 1 medium and 1 small sheet of lasercut MDF. Again the sheet is pretty much full of parts. It looks simple enough to go together without any problems, and should look nice in any 1920's, Modern or Post Apoc table, as either a point of interest, a spawnpoint or a escape route. Happy with this one!

The Construction Office

In this pack is a coversheet with the code, name and finished product, no instruction sheet and 1 medium sized sheet of lasercut MDF. This is a really versatile building, with a door and window on one side, and 2 windows on the other. It is labelled as a Contruction Office, but with some signage on top it could be a check-in counter for my trailerpark, or a booth for some Carnival rides, a Border Guard checkpoint and give me some time and I'll make up some more uses for this. Will fit any Modern table really. The roof, if you don't glue it, should come off nicely so you can stuff inside as well, which is a nice option. The sheck itself is standing on 3 raised legs which might be an issue if you move it around a lot, but adding a form fitting base should negate that problem. Cheapest of the lot, and well worth picking up if you are making an order and have a few spare Pounds in the bank.

Next up, Sarissa Productions Ltd.

I ordered the Retro Americana Bundle #2 (67,50 Pounds for a pack of 6 trailers, this gives you a 7,50 Pounds saving to buying them seperate), the Children's Playground (7,50 Pounds) and the Park Bench Set (5 Pounds). Shipping is a fixed fee of 2,50 Pounds worldwide. The total cost for this order was 82,50 Pounds.

The Retro Americana Bundle #2 (which consists of 6x Residential Trailers)

In this pack is a coversheet that doubles as a instructions sheet printed on the back, 4 sheets of lasercut MDF, 1 sheet of cardboard (well, matboard) and 2 pcs of clear acrylic. The sheets are well layed out, though there are some empty spaces that could have been filled with something like lasercut pink flamingoes, the instructions easy enough and this is actually a pretty big piece of scenery. The trailer alone is 24x8 cm's.
What I don't like is the overly large base, as this kit does not need that (Caveat: I belong to the "School of minimal to no basing"), the trailer can stand on it's own, it just adds weight and will need to be flocked with sand or astroturf to blend in with the table. Sure, you don't pay much for shipping so the extra weight bit is a bit moot, but leave it out and save a bit on costs? The 2 top windws are a nice toutch, the matboard sunshades I have doubts if they will survive frequent handling. Filling in the openings with some left over bits of wood or cardboard will create variation if you build more then one (as in this case, 6). There is plenty of space inside for figures or scenery or objectives. You should have no problem lifting off the roof if you would like to do so.

The Children's Playground

In this pack we have one cover sheet, with the instructions printed on the back, 2 pieces of lasercut MDF and 1 small bit of matboard. As you can see, both MDF sheets have wasted space. Basing wise, I see some odd choices. The roundabout (please correct me if this is not the correct term) has a very large round base. I've never visited any playground which has such a large bit of concrete underneath. We just use astroturf or rubber tiles, so I will not be using that base and just glue it down to a washer that fits nicely underneath the roundabout. It is very well put together though, it looks like a real one (not that you can find these around here anymore, Health and Safety has them replaced with versions with bars all around the outside to prevent kids from being ejected at high speed. Lawsuits, funerals, etc). The See-Saw suffers from Basus Maximus too, again not needed, a small base should support it well enough. The Swing. The one thing that does need a base, lean on this a bit by accident and you'll break a leg easily. A misplaced elbow, dice at speed, plenty of rougness on the table that happens by accident and this just wont cut it. But it has no base.....:(  The tireswing is a nice toutch, but I'll cut the tires in half and glue them underneath either end of the See Saw to cushion the blow. Too many kids front teeth flying without them :). I think the wasted space on the sheet could have been easily filled with one or two Spring Riders (we call em Wip Kip) for a minor, if any, cost increase.

Park Bench Set

I'll be frank (as usual). I don't like it. A coversheet that doubles as instruction sheet, a piece of MDF and a piece of Matboard.. The base is matboard (which you have to blend in with your terrain unless you want to tell everyone it is based on a concrete plinth, or cut it down a lot), in which you insert the 2 nicely ornamental sides, and then you glue the seat and back to that. If you don't want to use the big base you will end up with something that has little lateral stability. As the MDF sheet has a lot of wasted space (again) it would have been nice to have 2 MDF beams added, one on the base, one underneath the seating, for more strength and easy blending with your table as it can be a stand alone piece then. I have no faith in the matboard adding strength as just picking it up made it bend quite a bit. I will be returning this one as I think (well, know) I can buy a better product elsewhere.

There you have it. I'm happy with most of it, some layouts I question and it's been ages since I last returned a product, but I'm really not happy with those Benches (I had hoped they would be able to stand withou the base but it does not seem so).

Leave a reply if you liked the review, or disagree, of generally feel like replying. Final note of the day, all of the items you see in this review have been paid for with my own money, no freebies were asked or given. 

Now to build, basecoat and paint the lot as fast as possible so to finish the TNT demo table.

New MDF pieces for TNT have arrived

I had a few distractions today. I woke up fully energized (have not felt that way in months) and after breakfast I just started clearing stuff in my room by myself. Lights low, shutters and door closed. My mother in law passed by to have a chat with Kim and wish me well, and was amazed at the progress I have made this week (and the enormous mountain of stuff on my gaming table). Sticking to the simple rules, drawing lines and finishing those parts, and not fretting when it is not working is making a big difference.....for now. I now have to teach myself to do this every day, and the closer I get to having a clean room, the easier it will be to stick to it. And if I do have an off day, so be it. There is always another, and doing a bit each day is much easier then doing 90 minutes of work in a day.

This must all sound like something completely logical to you, the reader, but to my brain, it is not. Ever since leaving my parents house at 17, I've never had a daily cleaning routine that I could stick to for more then a few days, before drifting back into chaos. I'm not saying it will be different now, or easier, but I'm trying my best. And Kim is backing me up 100%

Well, my morning ended with this:

No more junk under either desk, nor on any part of the floor for that matter. PC desk fully cleaned, the stack of books are books I'm selling off (if anyone wants a cookbook by various British chefs? Mostly Gordon Ramsay in this case). As you can see the painting desk still looks Hiroshima, used as a dumping ground.

Put up a temporary recycling centre for all the plastic, paper and other. Gotta do my part!

Meanwhile, I have 3 problem areas on the list to be cleared. My painting table, the small cabinet on my right with all of the new arrivals and other assorted crap, and the gaming table.

Yes, about that........gaming table :)  But the same principle, Draw a line. Sort, throw away, sell or keep. Clean. Next line.

So....after consulting with Delta Dog he asked me to clean the gaming table first, with the logic that I look at the painting table as the main prize. Fair enough.

I took the rest of the afternoon off as it is 32 degrees here and I'm happy here in my darkend, closed room. Kim left early for a barbie with her sister, one that I declined as I'm lacking people skills now even more then usual :)

But, with progress slow but steady, I was happily surprised to see a package for me on the doormat, with the first 3...well, 2 pieces for the This is not a Test table at Poldercon (the third being more city orientated). UK to me in 1 week, nice :)

The subway sentrance is for later, I'll only need one of the bus stops now but I'll build both at the same time, and the costruction office, which will be the check in booth. I already have some Fallout PC's, I just need to make/buy/beg/borrow a suitable table to go with it. But that can come after it is done and is not perse neccesary for the table either.

I'm not doing anything with these or my 3mm city right now though. I'm really nervous, and my eyes are all over the place (not literally) and it is extremely hard to focus my mind. Since I feel it is not safe for me to drive anywhere I'm just staying put.

Another early night for me. I might draw a line on the gaming table and sort it. Or I may not.

Where I am at with the This is not a Test (TNT) demo for Poldercon 2017

Over a little less then 6 months Poldercon is up, and I have not made the progress I wanted to. I´ve noticed, and this is nothing new, that I prefer to start and finish something in one night (excluding varnishing) as in my current state of mind I have a lot of trouble focussing. This works fine with smaller scale stuff, not so well with larher items unless I do just one thing.

Call me bad, lazy or anything like that, I just lose interest really quickly in one particular item of the bigger plot (not all the time though).

So, TNT. I've decided to move away (for now) from making a full ruined city and make something more manageable on a 90x90 table, that can also double as a table for Modhails zombies, Supernatural stuff like Big Trouble in Little China or Chtullu. I've been working a lot recently with lasercut products, be it MDF or Cardboard, and I like it, and I have sold a lot of stuff (wouter, including some of your old stuff, thanks again!), so I have some funds.

I've decided to go for a trailer park. I've painted a 15mm trailer before and that turned out ok. I've been spending the last few weeks looking at options (resin, MDF, thick card) and availability, put some hard thought into what I wanted to spend etc, and settled for the following map.

Since the aim here is to spike a pre-War water heater, I've given that centre stage. I've made a conceptual design of a 4 booth and 8 booth shower, with room for the water heater in the middle. C = car, T = trailer. The red lines are fences. The trailers I picked up from Sarissa Precision Ltd, they have an offer for a bundle of 6 trailers for a reduced price and 2,50 Pounds flat free shipping worldwide, and they come reccomended by friends. I've added some park benches as scatter to the order, as well as a Children's Playground. There goes 80 Pounds. The other parts come from TT Combat. Initially I had my focus on them, to make 2 rows of Brownstones and a centre street, but (for now) that costs too much. Through Trolltrader on Ebay I purchased the Bus Stop, the Construction Office as a stand in for my reception desk, and the Subway Entrance (not for this game) so goodbye another 20 Pounds. Cars I have plenty, just need to finish a few more. Fences won't be a problem as I have my mighty The Chopper and plenty of basing material, so I just need to measure stuff for a bit and get cutting. The Pool I'd like to have cut by a Evin, custom size, 3 layers of MDF (2mm Base, 2x 2mm thickness walk area, 2 pool stairs, maybe a springboard, with the baseplate painted glossy black/brown for the water with plenty of fixed (newspapers, leaves) and non fixed (skeleton on a air cushion, bike handle, both based on 1mm plasticcard) debris. The rest of the MDF used can be filled with more bases, 2 birds with one stone. All of this based on my Concrete floor mat.

The Sign.....I can't decide on a name yet. Shady Acres being the standard one, but Heavenly Haven is nice (for you Dredd fans). Shape wise there are tons of options to choose from, but I see no problems there ordering this from Patrick/Evin. Anyone have any nice name ideas?

Final detailing will most likely be a mixed order from Black Cat Bases (I have a substantial gift coupon from them that I want to cash in) and bits and pieces from Delta Dog. He's a gifted sculpter who does a lot of 28mm Fallout stuff, and a Aspie like myself, and after a brainstorming session earlier this week we decided we must have plastic flamingoes. He'll do the printing and moulding, I'll do the buying of quite a few of those as well as other items like a Nuka Cola machine and smaller items. I'll need a bunch of letterboxes too, now that I think of it.

While those items arrive (just the MDF bits I mean) I can spend all of my attention to the 3mm Berlin/Stalingrad table, and tomorrow I should receive a medium sized box full of corner pieces and city block bases, so I can glue down what I have and get cracking with the rest of them.

Also, I need to sell more stuff :) And clean this hellhole. Other then that, just dandy. Shrink next week, can't wait :)