Arrow Sign Warnings for Gaslands, 40K, Post Apoc etc (28mm)

 These were made as a custom order at Pat's Lasercuttings and paid for by my own money back in October 2021. As usual, took me a while to get going and get shit finished. (basically I found the box while sorting stuff to sell, sat down cause it was warm today and the laundry was running anyway, and finished it all in one go)

Size reference pic:

15mm (well, more 20mm tbh) Grav Van and 28mm GW figure for size reference

I ordered and painted 12 of each direction.Twas a nice afternoon spent and another item scratched off the WIP list. I left the backs plain, no posters or anything. K.I.S.S. and all that.

Clean and ready to be dirtied up

Propaganda

 For my 20mm AK-47 / Middle East / Gaslands scenery collection. Just a bit of humor on a dreary day, speedbuild, from delivery of the lasercut kit to finished in a mere 2 days (it's like Kessel run fast for me). Pretty happy, now on with the next bits. 

Finishing a old build of a 50 cent challenge (gaslands wreck)

 Took me long enough.

Remember this? Gaslands wreck Only took another 2 years, oh well.

 

It's done. Will work for gaslands,  modern combat zones, Stalker and Post Apoc tbh. Nothing special but great for background shots.

 

 

Gaslands Biker

Picked up 2 sets of the new Gaslands sprues at Crisis, and this is the first biker built and painted. Nothing earthshattering, small conversion with a Matchbox PaK40 gunshield and a old plastic Vickers from the Matchbox SAS set, and a blanket roll from the same set. And 3 other small bits on the exhaust and the gunsight. Decals are from the Revell 1/144 A-10 Warthog.

Slapping on paint, then watching it dry.

The farm is making nice progress, most of the bases are ready to accept the fine dust I will use for basing. The MiG-21 I made is fully painted, decalled and currently coated in gloss, and will get a second coat of varnish tomorrow, and should be ready for show and tell in the evening. The Ork freighter had the last puttywork done and is ready for primer tomorrow, it will be a testpaint for the Ork Battleship. I've based a car for Gaslands, and added some bobbins to make it more interesting. I magnetised 2 more MiG-21s (no idea why, maybe equip one as a air defence, and the second, just rocket pods? I have no idea how the granulity will be for Northag.

Now, in all of this I'm working on one piece at a time till I can't go any further (due to drying paint, glue or putty) and then grabbing the next piece I'm working on. Keeps it interesting, and should help me with getting more done, in all scales.

So, in comes the box of sprues of Chaos Cultists I picked up last week, and started converting one single mini into a Savlar Chem Dog.....for no other reason than that he looks the part after giving him a new head, new gun and new leg, plus some puttywork.

 

Puttywork should be solid tomorrow, then add a valve to his back canister and some gizmo in the back of his headto tie in the tubing. No real reason to make him other than wanting a few generic NPC's/Baddies for Inq28/Necromunda.

 

Even with 10 kilos of die cast cars in the attic, I could not pass up this one in the Goodwill store for 25 cents, ripped off the wing like tail thing, added a small tank and added a Ork shoota barrel to the front. It is ready to be primd tomorrow, is for Gaslands, and I will not start a new car till this one is finished, like the other stuff. I hope to get more stuff done by starting an item for a project and not making a new one till the first one is actually finished. It does mean I will have several models on the g, but try to stick to 1-2 items per project. 

Will it work? I dunno, one way to find out, I suppose. Hands effing hurt, and to mention the watching paint dry bit from the headline, I did the last coat on the backdoor, and the first coat on the kitchen for my kids school.. Just wish the damn flies would stop their Kamikazi attacks on drying paint <sigh>.

Now, to put my hands on ice, and get some sleep.

Gaslands wreck - before the gazillion washes, tipping and dust. (basically a 50 cent challenge)

Not much to see....picked a car out of the bag, one of the many bought over the year. Based it, added some spare roadwheels and bits. Left it. Picked it up again for the holiday.

The idea is a Gaslands car that hit...."something" during a race as burned out completely. No team colours left. armour plate on the side and rear windows, a oil or smoke tank on the back with some kind of dropper underneath. This car was meant to lead. And now it is dead.

It is pretty rough now, just basic stippling of a few mixed colours to get the basics. Now it is time for wash after wash after wash......then detailing and dust.

Glorious German Panzer! (No, it's not)

Almost done with the L3/33 now. Still have not found the baggy with the buckets, but did find some AB figures in my stash and this assault gun commander was perfect for the tankette. So I cut him in half. I now have a figure that is worth more then the tank it is in. Go figure.

I just finished basing and sanding my entire Iraqi YW-531 collection in the back. As soon as I can trade or buy guns for them and filled the remaining holes, they can go into the painting drawer.

Also, adding more useless beutecrap to my collection, these have just arrived.

The creme de la creme, ready to harass US Paratroops in Normandy (and get shot to pieces in the process). I'm making 4 runners (2 grey, 2 yellow) and the 5th one will be a burnt wreck.

And then there are these guys, courtesy of cheap Chinese imports, Easter Island heads

These are a tough rubber/resin kind of product, They come 4 in a row, but I cut them all apart and rebased them. Some have mould lines, and I scraped a few off, but will most likely not bother with the rest. They are for Frostgrave:Ghost Archipellago or any other Pulp jungle setting I'd want to use. Ignore the Mistery Machine though, that's for Gaslands, needs new hubs, dirt, armour on the glass and some kind of weapon.... A few bigger heads (10cm plus tall) should arrive tomorrow.

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

Past and Presents

First up: thx guys. I appreciate your comments on the previous post, it means a lot to me. I'm looking forward to my new job, I hope to sign the paperwork next week to finalise everything. Scared shitless, but hey.

Hobbywise, I'm really pushing myself. I received 2nd hand Britannia WW2 japanese, dug out my lot of once bought Taliban, unpacked my latest order from Grubby tanks of 2 bags of Soviet and Yugoslav partisans and cleaning, sanding and basing the lot of them. I just want to get them all cleaned and based before my new job starts.

 Partisan all based and sanded, Japanese all based up and ready for filler on the bases, and some Taliban already sanded. I'm using mostly 1 euro cents, but the comms unit and the HMG are getting 2nd choice MDF bases....I can always drill in a hole later to mount a magnet.

 Ol cast Britannia tank (but even that has a few bubbles on the running gear that I need to fix) and my first fully based HMGs. Crew is seperate for casualty removal.

 Taliban waiting their turn for filler and sand.

Everything I fillered tonight, now in the process of adding sand, all Taliban that one, including some Tier 1's.

And in the mail yesterday, a gift, stickers for the Gaslands dice:

...so I put my blank dice to good use. Now to build more cars.

So far I've found 3 interested locals, trying to arrange a date soon for a playtest. Good for motivation.

Also good for motivation was this....a local chap was selling over 100 kits in one go, I sent him a wanted list and I managed to get almost everything I wanted, bar 5 kits.

4 T-72M1's for my Republican Guard, 1 T-55 for a roadside, wheelless wreck that I will make as generic as possible, M60A3 for reasons, Anti tank on=bstalces for Normandy, Caesar SiG-33 for my germans, Zil-157 for use as a civillian truck, US 2,5 ton truck in a bag on top.....most likely a late war captured one for my Germans, more boxes of bombs, racks and gunpods, 2 boxes of 105mm British Light Field Guns, for again, reasons,  and several ICM kits, some to become civives, others to become command and militia vehicles. I have another big box to pick up next week, trading old GW tat for that. Also in the mail is a 1/720 Prinz Eugen (to get proper naval artillery support for a future Kurland book perhaps?), a 1/700 Japanese Destroyer for reasons and finally, my first Revell T-55 which will be modded quite a bit.

So busy, so much to do but really enjoying myself. Stay tuned for more!

"In the (Merchant) Navy" and some excessive brainstorming

This week I have been doing a lot of thinking (not neccesarely the smartest thing for me to do) about a few things, so I wanted to blow off some steam by making a Narco/Terrorist OH-6 with rocketpods. Oh boy, did that go wrong.....very thin plastic so it kept warping, very poor fit even after cleaning, and when I had drilled the hole for the flight base plug and surrounded that with Milliput to keep everything place the 2 halves refused to fit properly and the glue seemed to do nothing other then melt the plastic, but it just would not stick. Then I tried superglue and it only got worse. When I got in to my work space this morning I looked at it once and I could cry....the halves had come apart (again) and the top had set, but crooked.  Lot's of sanding and filler will be needed before this thing will ever become presentable. One of them days I guess.

Anyways, that is not what this post is about.

I follow quite a few blogs, some post frequently, others.....not so much.  Atm my focus is on games I can play with my existing collection and games I can play with a minimum amount of figures. In that vein, and because I rediscovered my 1/3000th fleet a while back, I've been looking at the Schnell Rules for Schnell Boote (thx to Jim ). The rules look simple enough, and when I last looked at Navwar they still sell quite a few torpedoboats that can be useful.

Wow, I sure did paint a lot of ships, didn't I?

Mostly post 80's tankers in this lot, a couple of conversions and some sunken/sinking ships. They are good to go as they are, other then that I will be removing the nametags by cutting them off and stcking a label on the underside. I've noticed I find nametags in that way too visible and when I use datacards with a picture of the ship on it, they are not neccesary.

A real mish-mash of cargo ships, military ships and various other items. Again, remove (or paint over) the tabs, relabel on the underside and they are good to go. I'll just need some more tugs, cutters, small merchants and barges before I can get to work on MTB's. Anyway, they have their own laballed drawer now so when I have time, I'll get on it.

Now, the excessive thinking part.

I'll be ignoring the 28mm elephant in the room and focussing purely on the 20mm one. I like scenery. I like making scenery. How can I make the most of the storage space that I have without making specific scenery for every single environment/war I'm interested in?

It's easier then you think. (Keep in mind that my perspective is a attractive table with little details that don't get in the way of the game but enhance it. It's the exact opposite of most Warmachine/40K tables, which are a affront to my eyes with a green pooltable cloth, a house, a mountain and some trees if you are lucky.). Ok, what do you see in almost every warzone since WW1? Wrecks, oil drums, barbed wire, roadblocks, debris, dead stuff, craters, and more recently, unfinished concrete buildings. Keep the basing to a minimum (like I always do) and generic colour wise and I should have no trouble fitting everything in.

So, after yesterdays failure, I decided to do something my Aspergers makes me perfect for......build the same damned thing over and over.

Crappy plastic ones from the Academy vehicles kit, topped with dirt for dirt filled oil drums. 4 crappy plastic ones from the Hasegawa Japanese truck but not as crappy as the other ones so they are ok. Both types ned to be sanded down for sprue lines. The yellow-ish oild drums top left are from 12 years ago when I got into this Historical hobby from a Ebay vendor (one of my first purchases) and they are actually knock offs (I had no idea back then) and a bit bubbly but they will work fine. The top right ones is a box of a dozen I got half off at a sale last year. I have loads more resin knock offs somewhere as well as a box of originals, and I'll use those when I will make battlefield specific markers, like ones with a roadsign for instance.

And that's it for today. I was supposed to turn in around 22:00 and it's now just shy of 02:00, so ....yeah....oops.

Smell the fresh country air!

Well, maybe not....

Again, heavily leaning on what Jimbibbly makes, mine is  a tad wider but it works, a Japanese outhouse.I think I will make a another one, these take very little effort and can be found in the fields as well.

The big building is fighting me all the way atm (hence I put it aside and made an outhouse).

 Needs woodpanneling, maybe another window on the lower floor? Extra sanding on the roof to make the roof shape fit better. We'll get there.

Front is almost finished, but also needs a window on the top somewhere? Doordetails have to be done too.

And here be dragons! 50 cents for the pair, both (lightly) damaged, so I based them and they will do nicely for Frostgrave of dungeoneering or a cultist hideout. Just needs some sand and other base details.

And lastly, with my apolagies for the terrible picture, a small idol carved in some sort of stone (it didn't look like resin) after cleaning dirt off of it. Based it, will do nicely as a African/South American idol, covered with moss, plants and grasses. Should do fine for 20mm and 28mm alike, and great for Pulp.

I'm now downloading and editing posters and fliers suitable for Gaslands to put up on billboards that I will be massproducing soon.....eating up a lot of time but as always, the look supports the game.