27/02/2017

Aphids!

I recently had a couple of VSF commissions to do in the form of two Aphid class aeronefs. I do like a bit of VSF from time to time and these were a perfect chance to scratch the itch. They were for separate clients but I thought that doing them at the same time would work best; and it did, up until I dropped a heavy box on them as they were on my desk...

Needless to say, there were several choice words, a bit of stomping about and a feeling of 'bugger it'. Nevertheless, I carried on with them (after a while) and got them completed :-)

There's not many wip pics I'm afraid and the one below is before the box drop but basically the main deck is lasered acrylic and wood veneer, the under-frame was lasered acrylic along with the cabin on top. The white and triangle parts are for the under structure and were lasered from a material called rowmark, which is a hybrid of styrene and acrylic.


For the painting , the vast majority was sprayed as it gives a cleaner finish than brushing and the weathering tends to look better. The colour scheme was taken from images of Aphid nefs on the net and both were for British use.

The flight bases were just acrylic rod inserted in an acrylic tube stuck on a large, oval base. The rod is removable to ease transport. The guns were magnetised to allow removal if they get destroyed and the prop and flag pole are also removable.

Finished pictures of both are below but I have potentially got another one to make and I reckon I'll take some more comprehensive wip pics for a future post :-)









ttfn

25/02/2017

Turbolaser

I tend to have a problem wherein I build things that are bigger than I really need and this is no exception. It's a turbolaser from the Star Wars universe.

It's not film accurate because if it were I'd still be making it but it's supposed to be a smaller version, hence the single barrel.

The main construction was from some scrap 5mm acrylic sheet from work (a dodgy colour that won't get used for anything) then clad in 1mm styrene sheet with gubbins added to taste. It stands about 550mm tall and is around 180mm square at the base. The three parts are separate ans the top can rotate but unfortunately the gun barrel doesn't go up and down which was a slight mistake on my part (gluing it a bit too well).

It's undercoated but still needs weathering etc before it'll be complete.I'm also going to look at doing a slightly different top that's been converted into a flight control centre so it could be used in our games in Mos Vegas as space traffic control :-)

















ttfn

23/02/2017

Scarif

Continuing the Star Wars theme and the fact that I really, really love Rogue One I decided to make some Scarif terrain.

Basically using the Maldives for inspiration (as that's where it was filmed) and utilising some old palm trees from work I got going.

The bases are 2mm hardboard with chamferd edges and then coated in fine sand (pretty much the same method as my other Star Wars terrain), painted with textured wall paint and then washed with watered down brown ink.

The growies are a selection of whatever I had at the time but I'll have to buy some more if I'm to make other bits (which I no doubt will do). There's enough room between the separate foliage clusters to get figures through.

The larger rocks were carved from blue foam, sanded down and then given a liberal coating of the textured wall paint. Small pebbles were used around the edges. They were then sprayed with a mix of greys from light to dark from the top down and washed with a black/brown ink, again from the top down. The base process was then applied and a couple of choice bits of vegetation were added.










I will at some point soon be making a simple landing pad and bunker entrance similar to the one in the film. Watch this space..

ttfn

21/02/2017

So, where to begin...

STAR WARS!!

And why not :-)

Since my time away I've made plenty of terrain and painted figures for our Star Wars games, mainly inspired by The Force Awakens but of course with the release of Rogue One (my favorite Star Wars film so far) that has helped as well.

On to some pictures.

First off are some shots of the Mos Vegas layout so far. I've still got a fair few buildings I want to do for it but this is enough to just about fill a 4x4 table for a decent game.








I've also been busy with the new Bandai kits and although I think I've said it before, these things are a dream. They are push fit but in a good way, very cleverly designed.









And then we have the figures. They are 99% Wizards of the Coast bendy plastics with ink washes and highlight touch ups. Not my best work certainly but they more than fit the bill as the rules are rather bloody and quick.

Rebels...



Imperials...



Scum and Villainy...


And some droids :-)



ttfn