Attack these blocks!

('Attack the block', great film, btw.)

I'm very happy with the MDF wave of scenery options available to today's gamer. Here's a look at the 15mm block of flats from Gamecraft Miniatures, and how I paint them up.

Disclaimer: Gamecraft sends a lolly/ sweet/ candy with their packages, that doesn't bias my opinion of them at all... :-)

First, assemble your kit.* I use Selleys Aquadhere, any PVA would do. The MDF is laser cut and sits together squarely, they feel really solid and indestructible (they almost are- I stood on one and it sustained significant damage... still gameable, though!). The building comes with a floor (i.e. not four free-standing walls), which adds to the rigidity and squareness.

I spray the inside with Army Painter Leather Brown to give a bit of depth through the windows. And it's quicker than painting.

I glue on a piece of 1mm sheet styrene under my buildings to give it a slight lip around- this is my personal aesthetic choice to help 'blend' the terrain and the board. Then I use some Polyfilla Large Cracks to plaster over the joints- not 100% necessary as they're minimal, but it works for me.

I paint them with Dulux Design Stone textured paint in the European Stone tint. This is the same colour I've painted my desert baseboards.

2L goes a long way...

Then I glue sand around the basing lip.

The building gets a wash with Woodland Scenics C1217 Cement, and the sand gets a wash with C1221 Raw Umber. When dry, the whole thing is heavily drybrushed with Jo Sonja's Background Colour 'Cashmere'.

Top level is unwashed; bottom level is washed and drybrushed.

Flock the base to taste, and- voila!

Repeat for as many floors as necessary. I've left the roof the same colour for now, what do you think?

Highrise or two-storey- very versatile

The building is a blank canvas- you could easily spruce it up with a few key accessories (windowsills, posters, drainpipes, graffiti, AC units, antennas, balconies, landing pads, battle damage, brickwork... not to mention the interior!).

Coming soon: more Gamecraft buildings!

*Actually first: inhale the aroma of burnt wood as you open the packet... mmm...

Lord of the Ring- Dwarves

I love the concept of the war between the goblins and the dwarves- bitter generations of hatred, desperate fighting in the dark and gloom, all unheard of by the wider world as it goes on beneath their feet. I was fortunate to get one of the LotR Dwarf Battle boxes a few years ago, but only painted the figures sporadically. I’ve picked up a few extra second hand figures along the way. Because I painted these at different times there are subtle variations in colour, and not-so-subtle variations in the care given to the painting! The earlier ones are more carefully painted, the later ones reflect the frustrated rush to just get them finished.

Dwarves!

 Here they are- I went for a not-too-rich colour scheme, with not so much gold bling and a simple blue/ cream palette to offset my goblins’ red/ green. Sand and model railway ballast was PVA’d to the base, painted black, and drybrushed.

Warriors with shield

 I was never really happy with the creator’s design for a round shield with three rivets, and went for a very plain paintjob on the shield. Maybe the dwarves use them to identify friend from foe in the dark, maybe they are meant to resemble the sun or moon…

Warriors with two-handed axes

Warriors with short bows

Rangers with long bows

Rangers with throwing axes

Rangers with two-handed axes

Iron Guard

Standard bearer

Captain with shield

I carefully split this dwarf captain’s fingers so he is looking a little Churchillian… if I was really keen I’d have added a shield to his back.

Captain

Ballista

  Khazad Guard get the lion’s share of the gold in my force, but I don’t have many figures- I have several whose axes were snapped before I got my hands on them.

Khazad Guard

 Dwarf adventurers- I gave them pure white rather than cream.

Murin and Drar

 I had a spare Gimli, and I tied him into the rest of the force via his cloak.

Gimli, son of Gloin

 

 

Truth be told, I've never really got them out and had a good large game with all of them.

Still to paint, don’t know when…:

• Dain
• 12 Dwarf Rangers

Diecast vehicles for 15mm moderns

I found these in the shops today. The top three are my pictures, and have an Irishserb HMMWV and some WIP Peter Pig militia on 20mm washers for scale:

Matchbox Rocket Launcher- ?fantasy vehicle, scale unclear. Rotating and elevating launcher with removable rockets, moving tracks, opening hatch, rotating MG. My google-fu failed me in finding any pictures. This will be a great objective for games.

Matchbox M1A1. Scale 1:90. Rotating turret, Elevating gun, rotating MG, opening hatch. Has been released previously under different paintjobs.

Siku TPz Fuchs 1:94. Rotating and somewhat chunky MG. Very cool vehicle, itching for a repaint.

My first paintjobs

Aged about 12, I was so proud of these. Humbrol enamels, oh the horror. Luckily I didn't need to paint the uniforms as the plastic was the right colour! Unfortunately, they were confiscated by my teacher for the rest of the year.

Airfix 1:72 Afrika Korps

Blood Bowl Lizardmen

My latest Blood Bowl team, which will get an outing this weekend if possible. Starting roster five saurus, 6 skinks, 3 rerolls, apothecary, 1 FF.

I've had the idea for the team for a few years, but did nothing about it until I got some cheap skinks at MOAB 2011. I rounded out with some Saurus from a bits-order via Ebay, and a Kroxigor from Mind Games in Melbourne. I did some terrible green-stuffing for straps (my greenstuff is old and almost unworkable, that's my excuse) to hold on the shoulder pads from Impact!, which are excellent for BB conversions. A simple and quick paint job, which I think is quite effective.

I'm thinking of calling them the 'Skink Bomb', but I'd be interested in your ideas. They'll have silly aztec-incan names (Poliputaketlon, Inyafaz, Chiqentika etc), and I'm looking for a jungle-lizard-dinosaur-latino name, preferably some kind of pun.

Homemade SAGA dice

Just a quick post today on some homemade SAGA dice. Stickers and coloured felt pens- the colours make it really easy to tell what's going on.

Anglo-Danish

Viking

Incidentally, why does SAGA have capital letters?

15mm Scud Hunters/ Bravo Two Zero

I'm back! These are from CP Models, sculpted by Whiff Whaff.

'Last man back doesn't get a publishing deal'

The set consists of eight separate sculpts depicting the famous 'Bravo Two Zero' patrol of the 1991 Gulf War. They are armed as the actual SAS patrol was, with four M16/ M203s and four Minimis. One of the figures has a LAW, one is throwing a grenade, and one is bareheaded with a filthy Special Forces porno 'stache. The real selling point for me is the massive bergen each trooper is carrying.

I painted the figures based on the tailgate photo of B20, showing DPM trousers and a pale tan smock.

Other SAS, showing smock

This was my first attempt at DPM, and I'm not entirely happy with it. The boots don't look quite right either. I am, however, very happy with the way the weapons turned out. The figures have a pleasing bulk to them, and a creative painter could use them for arctic scenarios.

Size comparison with Peter Pig

 

If you haven't read 'Bravo Two Zero', do yourself a favour and pick it up. It may play somewhat loose with the truth, but 'Andy McNab' is a great storyteller. The book's success heralded a tsunami of SAS books.

There is also a 1998 telemovie starring Sean Bean, which was actually better than I had anticipated.