Bushido: Finished Koi Pond

Because why the hell not. The first part of this is here.

The only fail here were the lily pads made out of paper napkin, dyed in green paint. The resin over-penetrated the lily pads, turning them translucent which actually looks kind of cool though impractical for people associating them with what they are. Also, I got greedy and decided to not pour in two layers to add "height" to the swimming fish and elected for one whole pour. After the pour I added moss into the stone work and also covered any resin that crept during curing. Did you know Envirotex creeps through gaps and even up planes as it cures? Now you know.

So, I koied the koi out of this koiing koi. Koi yeah.

Pics from the build plus notes:

Painting this here damn thug pond

Adding foliage

Silicone caulk to anchor the plants. It will dry clear and be invisible down in the resin.

Drying caulk.

Clear as a... clear thing

These are terrible fishes

At first the turtle was on the rock but I figured that that would cut down on the space models could stand upon.. So, turtle went into the water.

Don't be koi.

Make a turtle noise now, outloud.

Mixing the moss for application

You can see the resin that crept up out of the pond into the cracks of the rocks.

Adding the moss

Down to flock

 

Star Wars X Wing: Highjacked Decimator

Sometimes you paint the engine glow on a new ship just in time to see your 10 year old son get inspired by that, take your new ship, run it against you and proceed to destroy you with it.

WIP: Bushido Koi Pond

Just a fast update on a Koi pond I am making for Bushido (& Strange Aeons I guess). This started as a CD, which I loved thrashing up with steel wool to give adhesion a better surface. The hole had a piece of painters tape over it then texture on top. I textured it inside and out then painted it all. The blocks are Hirst Arts castings from molds I own. The reeds were cut and trimmed and attached with clear caulk which has dried in the pic above. That is a better way to anchor these things for the resin pours. It won't show up visually or react to the resin, kills some areas where bubbles may form in the undercuts and stays flexible even as the resin heats up and then contracts. The reeds were from some aquarium plants I picked up.

I sculpted fish and a turtle out of green stuff. I cut out lily pads from paper napkins, using the embosed details to give them some texture. I then soaked them in green paint/water wash and set to dry on cardboard. The plan is to do one initial deeper tinted pour with some fish in that layer, then a clearer pour at the top with one or two more fish at that layer. Lilly pads go on top and the turtle will ride a rock, chilling.

I'll post up more as I go.

Hardened Valhallan Vets: Kitbash (and Forge World scanner and GW Objectives)

Here are some Hardened Vets I recently made for an event I couldn't attend. Awesome.

These guys are a kitbash of GW Cadian arms, lasguns and metal SM meltas plus some Maxmini torsos that I built backwards so they became what looks like chest rigs facing forward. I had to trim the collars off to make room for the Pig Iron Colony Militia heads and greenstuff neck/cloth.

All models needed neck sculpting to give the new head purchase and blend cosmetically

Of the chest pouches and weapons there was much trimming and filing where weapons met the chest as well filling voids with sculpted greentstuff. Torsos were positioned first and either pinned or just gap filled with greenstuff.  The legs are Maxmini Greatcoat legs as well.

The heavy flamer is part AM unit from sprue married to SM flamer with brass rods and a tank/rebreather on the side as a pump/primer. Most of the packs are Pig Iron, as are some pouches.

The Sgt. is an older GW tank commander with the head removed and replaced with a Pig Iron head. His left hand was removed and replaced with a gripped fist from the side of a flamer on the AM Cadian sprue. I fit a las pistol on there from the older IG tank sprue, I think.

Overall, I really like how they came out though the casts on the legs were probably the worst I've seen on models, maybe ever. Had I noticed that  I may have even chucked them but as it was I put in time and made them passable thanks to a round rasp and Led Zepp on Spotify. These vets scale well with my Valhallans though they trend the slightest bit smaller (hence the extra kit to bulk them up).

The auspex/master VOX or whatever is Forge World, thrown together at the last minute on a whim, thinking it's be an asset in the game, objective or just nice scenery.

Finally, I mounted the GW objective markers that hold dice onto bases and painted them up.  I boiled the programming outta these servo skulls to soften the plastic and re-bend them to actually grip dice.

That's all the 40k I got for now. Up next some Star Wars X Wing miniatures repaints and some Bushido Ito clan!

Bushido: Completed Objective Markers

I made these for Bushido. The Tourny Pack calls for a series of objective circles as well as 6 small based and 2 large based markers. The small markers are craft store wooden bits on magnets, attached to a small base. At one point I was under the impression that I needed to make these rotate to show the status of who controls them. Watching a game, I saw players simply turn the front of the marker to face the controlling player's board edge. Doh. Oh well.

The large based markers are 2 Feng Shui dogs I picked up off of Amazon for US$10 and mounted on large bases. All told, a few nights of work here from undercoat, some drybrushing layers, sponge painting, washes then a custom moss recipe of moss made out of basing flock, water, Mod Podge glue and a dab of green paint. The kanji are just technical pen and a lousy Westerner's hand. Sorry Japan!

Bushido: WIP Temple Bushi and Finished Objective Stones

Just a fast WIP on the Ito Clan I am painting now, a Temple Bushi.

Chiyo is on the table right now and she's underway, even as I wrap up some details on him. I am toying with the idea of cobra skin on his lapels. We'll see.

Also, I finished 3 of the 6 small objective markers recommended by the Tournament Pack. These are wood, magnets, paint, technical pen and a homemade moss (which dries rock hard but looks soft).

Robotech RPG Tactics, Bushido, Strange Aeons and Forge World

Seriously, you can't tell how big the box is. It would hold a tomcat.

I am supposed to be getting ready for a 40k Apocalypse game in January but... but... Kickstarter! My copy of Robotech RPG Tactics landed with what seems to be 400 eleventeen sprues of Wave 1 mecha plus cards, rulebook, dice, counters, decals and Gloval knows what else. My buddy Pete describes this as a slow-grow effort at his house. I'd have to agree. Totally going transparent bases with these, a first for me... looking at you, Litko. First impressions are good though the ruleset really does seem to be a child of litigation, where the parents (Harmony Gold and Palladium) settled on making this game but not making it a "miniature" game even though that's exactly what it is (it's detailed game pieces, NOT miniatures). That aside, the ruleset is interesting in mechanic, a hybrid of a few systems. I'm giving the stink eye towards it's army building guidelines and that some sprues were damaged in transit. That said, I've seen a lot worse. Big ups to my buddy Pete for fronting this until I could sign the adoption papers, this will be fun. For the record, the first game I ever made on my own, with written rules and playtesting, was a Robotech game using Matchbox, Orgus and Revell models plus wooden blocks for buildings. Yup, the buildings took damage. So this is a Homecoming of sorts.

At the same damn time as this large box invading my house, I jumped into Bushido, with some insanely beautiful miniatures. Actually, maybe too beautiful? I am not sure that everyone will go in for the intricate and beautifully delicate figs despite the just-as-beautifully elegant low model count rules. I went Ito Clan and I'm painting them now, eschewing all other obligations, including some Top-Secret Lurker stuff I started for Strange Aeons. Seriously, check out Bushido if you like movies like Ninja Scroll, the Avatar cartoon or almost anything Jet Lee flew through sideways.

Here's a few objective counters I made for Bushido as a warm up. I needed to work out a mossy vine recipe and stone paint scheme. Nailed it!

Finally, I'm waiting for some jeweler's saw blades that hopefully will make it through the impending Nor' Easter/Thanksgiving Slingshot Catapult/Clothesline. We'll see but I know Philly ain't Buffalo so we should be fine. Once they get here I'll be building a Forge World Avenger for my buddy Lovell.

Speaking of full plates...

Happy Thanksgiving to all my US peeps and peace to everyone else.