ARC Fleet Grav APC - Painted and first bits of Red Planet terrain

I was up with a crazy round of insomnia the other day, and it finally gave me a chance to slap some paint on the awesome ARC Fleet Grav APC from Critical Mass Games.

I also thought I'd sneak in a couple of the 'Red Planet' terrain pieces I was working on too.  I still have a few squads of infantry to work on, but I think they will be waiting until next week.

Anyhoo, here are the shots, let me know what you think!

-R

Getting ready for Tomorrows War...

As soon as I heard Ambush Alley Games was working on a Sci-fi title I was sold.  I've been scouring the interwhebs looking for 15mm scifi figs, and inspiration for terrain.

I'll be mounting 1" Pink foam sheets mounted on 1/2" MDF, which will be textured and sealed with Kel-Seal. I'll be using a technique similar to that Black Primer Paint used on his Scrapyard table.

Separately I also ordered a Sponk, and some Parasachnid's along with a Burrow and Lair from Khurasan, some 15mm Sci-fi Buildings and accessories from GZG

The Parasachnid's are going to do double duty in a 'Startship Troopers' style project I have in mind, as well as being denizens of the "Red Planet". The Sponk however... he is going to be a giant crab monster, living on the Red Planet.  My roomie gave me the idea of making him a 'tunneler', so I'm going to model a big crater to represent the pit he leaves behind when he lands on the table.  He's going to be tons of fun!

Can't wait to get out of work and run over to Home Depot and D&J Hobbies for the last of my supplies so I can get cranking tonight.

 

Woodland Scenics Ballast Update: This stuff is FINE

My bags of Woodland Scenics Ballast arrived today, and it looks like I'm going to need to order a bag of 'Coarse' as well, as the Medium Ballast is a bit finer then I expected.

Even so I'm really excited about getting home and gluing some of this stuff down to some bases and getting started.

Not satisfied with my bases...

In an effort to change the way I'm basing my figs, I just ordered some Woodland Scenics Ballast from our friends over at Hobbylinc to use. I ordered both Fine, and Medium bags of their Dark Brown and Iron Ore Ballast. I'm thinking about using the Dark Brown on my WW2 figs, and the Iron or on my Sci-fi figs.

Dark Brown Ballast


Iron Ore Ballast

JR Miniatures #1524, "1/2 Timbered Thatch House" painted.

One step closer in the completion of my 'Watching Jerry' board. JR Miniatures #1524

I'm too tired to write more about it, but it came out fantastically!

Below are a couple shots I took on top of one of the new Cellfoam hills I made.

-R

Cellfoam 88

Today one of the chaps at another of my FLGS, D&J Hobbies turned me onto a white foam product from Midwest Product Co called Cellfoam 88.



Cellfoam is stiffer then the white ball Styrofoam, and while not quite as stiff as pink foam, it's good enough to get the job done. It comes in various thicknesses (3mm, 5mm, and 10mm) and in convenient sizes as well. Seeing as how I was about to buy 5 feet of pink foam that was really too thick for the 15mm hills I wanted to make, this stuff was a godsend.

The first hills I'm making are are in between steps, but when the PVA Sealer dries and I slap some paint on them I'll take more pix, and be sure to get the finished ones up here as well!

-R

JR Miniatures #1531, "Walled Estate in Ruins" painted for 'Watching Jerry'

Last night I put my nose to the grindstone and cranked out JR Miniatures #1531, "Walled Estate in Ruins" for my 'Watching Jerry' table. While I'm sure I could have put a bit more time into it I'm not disappointed in the way it came out. P3 paints over black primer, a Games Workshop Devlin mud wash, and another drybrush, glue some sand down, add flock... PRESTO!

If I'm lucky I'll be able to finish the other two buildings, and enough Germans by Sunday to use for a practice game!

JR Minitures, the Unboxing

Well my order from JR Miniatures arrived today. I tried to wait until I got home to open it up, I really did... however I failed :)

Everything arrived well packaged and other then the trees (not pictured) which I didn't particularly care fore, everything looks great. Great value too!

Normandy Farm House #1521
1/2 Timbered Thatch House #1524
Walled Estate in Ruins #1531

Finished Hedges

After using a glue-gun to affix the scrub pads to the craft sticks, applied sand and sprayed black.

I used all Formula P3 paints (from Privateer Press). The ground was basecoated with Battlefield Brown, and drybrushed with Bloodstone. The hedges used a Iosan Green base, with a light Necrotite Green highlight.

I applied a mix of flock and static grass to the bases as well, and hit them with a matte varnish to seal the deal.

Hedges, round 1.

The first step in my Force on Force table project (after ordering the figs I will need) was to start on my Hedges. This scenario is going to require a LOT of them, so I really wanted to be able to make some nice looking ones quickly and cheaply.

This isn't the flock I'll be using, it's pretty close to what I'll be using on the table. I used a glue gun, scrubbing pads, and pop-cycle sticks, just like the lads over at the League of Ordinary Gamers suggested.

Anyhoo, here is the prototype...

My foray into the world of 15mm wargaming begins.

Earlier this week, I picked up a copy of Ambush Alley: Force on Force from Ambush Alley games. I had picked up the original PDF a while back and remember being really impressed. I've really wanted to do some WW2 and modern gaming, and don't want to spend a fortune on a new set of figs, so 15mm seemed like the right choice for me.

My first 15mm project is going to be to build a table for the first WW2 Scenario listed in the Force on Force rulebook.

Today I ordered the British Commando Platoon from Flames of War/Battlefront, along with the Quartermasters Paint Set, and the British Paint Set from our friends over at The War Store.

I also ordered the Normandy Farm House (#1521), 1/2 Timbered Thatch House (#1524) and the Walled Estate in Ruins (#1531) from Jr Miniatures.

Lastly I picked up supplies from a local craft store to make my hedges as the scenario (Which takes place in Normandy) requires a LOT of them.

I'm going to experiment with a few different ways of making hedges next week, and will post the results.

-R