Tools and Techniques: Making Rivets

I've been posting terrain tutorials for a while, but one of the things I tend to gloss over are the specific tools, and how they can be used to achieve different effects. There are also techniques like making foam stones and bricks that really deserve their own dedicated post. This is a new tutorial series called Tools and Techniques. Each post will focus on one tool or technique and how I use it in my scenery building process.

This week:

Making rivets with a Rotary Hand Sewing Punch

 

 

Terrain Showcase: Wild West Exodus Harbor

Welcome to the image gallery for the Wild West Exodus-themed harbor! This is a game board that I was commissioned to build for Warcradle Studios. It was on display in their booth at Gencon 2018, where it was used for demo games, and now I am able to present it here in all its glory. I kept a log of its construction, and you can view those posts under this link: Project Log: WWX Harbor, or via the same label in the sidebar.

 

Gearing up for the Legions of Nagash

The new Legions of Nagash battletome hits the stores this weekend. I've got mine pre-ordered, and I've been working on a few odds and ends to get my army ready for the new rules. I've been following the previews and leaks, so I have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

 

One of the army traits that has been previewed is the ability to place gravesites on the battlefield. All of the Legion armies can mark four gravesites– two need to be in the player's own territory, and the other two can be anywhere on the battlefield. The gravesites allow units within range to either heal D3 wounds, or to regenerate D3 wounds worth of models on Summonable units. They also allow those units to be set-up "in the grave" and, during the battle, a Hero near the site can summon that unit to the battlefield. ("Summonable" is a new keyword that applies to certain units like skeletons, dire wolves, grave guard, black knights, spirit hosts, etc.)

The roadside shrines and ruined shrines that I sell through my Skull Forge Scenics shop are perfect for representing these, so I painted up a few for my army:

 

 

The shrines are available at: www.skullforgescenics.etsy.com

I've also been working on more skeletons. My Red Guard skeletons have been topped off at two 30-man units, but since the maximum size is 40, I want the option to field two matching units, and that means 20 more skeletons.

 

 

I posted a blog about the process I use for converting these skeletons a few years ago. You can view that here.

 

 

Another project I finally put the lid on is my Morghasts' weapons. I painted the swords for the Harbingers so I can field the models with either option. It looks like the new warscrolls will allow the Morghast Harbingers and the Morghast Archai to field either or both weapon options. And there's an army trait in one of the legions that grants Morghasts an additional attack. I'll be looking forward to using Harbingers with their 18" charge range, armed with the high-rend, high damage halberds, and an additional attack with them! Sadly, I don't think there's a way to summon Morghasts anymore, so they'll have to slog it across the battlefield like everyone else.

 

 

I made a counter to represent my Tomb Scorpion when it's burrowed underground. I place this on the table near my general as a visual reminder that I need to surface the scorpion rather than forgetting about him until the end of the game.

 

The tail is magnetized so I can pop it off the marker and onto the model when it surfaces. A small pin beside the tail keeps it from spinning around.

 

 

Finally, I've made a bunch of wound counters for my Nighthaunt models. I used soul tokens from Warmachine:

 

I attached them to sticks for painting and then based them on coins.

 

 

 

The counters and wound markers also allow me to tick off the box on the hobby bingo card for building and painting accessories for my army.

 

'Til next time!

New Blighted Well, From Skull Forge Scenics

This Blighted Well from Skull Forge Scenics is a last-minute surprise for 2017, and the timing couldn't be better with the upcoming Nurgle releases for Warhammer Age of Sigmar!

 

 

 

My original plan was to release a Blighted Well, but I figured a "normal" well might appeal to a wider range of people and games, so I made a master casting of the basic well before "putrifying" it. The Blighted Well is overflowing with puss and giant maggot-worms. Woe betide anyone who falls in. (They will wish there was only a long-haired, creepy zombie-girl at the bottom!)

 

The blighted well is available for purchase HERE. Pick one up for your battlefield, and ring in the New Year with blessings of filth and decay!

 

The original Town Well is also available. I previewed this a couple weeks ago, but here is a painted example. This well may be old, but its water is still safe to drink!

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can purchase the Town Well and Blighted Well in my Skull Forge Scenics shop!
Skull Forge Scenics

Happy New Year!

Wargame Hobby Bingo, 2018

As 2017 draws to a close, it's time to set some goals for 2018. And for that, we need a new Hobby Bingo card: 

 

Well, well, well...

Today I put up a new product in my Skull Forge Scenics online store. This town well is the first of my "Ruins of the Ancient Realm" line of non-graveyard fantasy terrain. I kept it fairly generic, so it will fit with medieval fantasy games like Warhammer, Kings of War, or Warmachine, or old west games Like Wild West Exodus, or even similarly scaled historical games.

 

 

 

 

I wanted to make something with a broken shingled roof, and I'm really happy with the results. The initial castings came out great!

 

 

 

 

I'll post more pictures as soon as I get one painted up.

If you've been following my twitter feed, you'll know that I've also been working on my Adepta Sororitas kill team again for the new Shadow War league the shop is starting next week. Once they're finished, I'll be tackling some of the Primaris space marines from the starter set. I've also got a handful of figures for my Skaven Pestilens army, like the Plague Censor Bearers, which I might get to this year...

'Til next time!

Something Else Wicked Also Comes This Way

For Privateer Press Grymkin commission, I also made a few buildings. These were based on the existing structures on their city table, but broken open and overgrown with creepy trees.

 

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Privateer Press had commissioned me to build some Grymkin-themed terrain to go with their Iron Gauntlet table. If you attended their Lock and Load convention this year, you may have seen it, or even played a game on the board. Here's a look at some of pieces I made.

 

Odds and Ends

I was hoping to have a few more posts in October, but it turned out to be a month of working on a bunch of different projects here and there. In the end I was trying to finish Nagash in time for Halloween, but didn't quite make it. Maybe by the end of this week. In the meantime, here are some other odds and ends that I have been working on (or am still working on).

Deneghra Commission

This is a commission from a couple months back. The client wanted a conversion using the top half of Deneghra and the bottom half of a Rackham Equanimous Warrior. I attached the two halves and resculpted the midsection and the back of her robes to match the wispy, ethereal nature of the model.

 

 

 

 

 

Death Star Helmet

One of my friends asked me to decorate his son's corrective helmet. After a lot of back-and-forth messages about the design, they finally settled on a Star Wars theme, and I suggested the Death Star under construction to match the shape of the partial helmet.

 

 

 

 

 

Spirit Hosts

My Vampire Counts queue contains a lot of models with ethereal bits– Spirit hosts, the mount for the Mortis Engine, Hexwraiths, and the supports for the Mortarchs' Dread Abyssal and the Morghasts. I have been struggling to come up with a color scheme that I like and an easy way to paint it. I'm currently experimenting with various washes and shades and plan to post a tutorial when I'm finished.

 

 

 

Nagash

The big guy's body is completed and assembled. His skirt and base are coming along nicely, but it's such a tedious process working around all the fire trails to pick out the books, bones, and basing. It will be a relief when he's finally finished. Here's a peek:

 

 

'Til next time!