Gaming and painitng again.

Nothing much to report, but I am back in the swing of things (a bit.)
I'm currently painting and basing a bundle of wild West figures that have been sat around for ages, to be used with the old Avalon Hill game - GUNSLINGER. I'm still in need of a handful of filler figures, and have quite a few spare cowboys and indians (Revell) for swap purposes, if anybody has a couple of specialist bits.

Melee - I have played this a few times, created a small group of slightly experienced adventurers, ready for solo adventures such as Death Test and Grail Quest. I've also been building up and painting suitable scenery for that project.

Finally I have joined a group playtesting a new game which is a platoon sized fantasy battle game....More than that I don't know yet.

Not played SoBH for a while, nor have I played Traps & Treasures for a bit. Both of which I really ought to dig out and play again

Melee adventure

I've put together a short single building adventure to introduce my eldest son to Melee (The Fantasty Trip.) It starts off in a small room with a Lord telling you about his domain. In the side rooms are a gladiator / guard type fighter who will either aid or attack you depending on your approach to the lord. You then enter a large hall to confront a handful of orcs, a small caged room contains a bear, and a trapdoor that leads to a snake pit. A secret passage from there leads up to a store room with 3 barrels, which may contain a healig potion or posion. Then a room with a couple of treasure chests, and finally a large room with a gargoyle. There's also an open garden area, where goblins will appear....and they keep coming until you get back indoors. Nothing too complex, so I think it will work as a decent introduction.

Password

Once again, this has been left for way too long. so long I forgot my password again!!! As a reminder it's the black 2 wheeler.

My first Hirst bridge.

I've had the bridge mould in my collection for a while, but never got around to making one. Well, now I have and I think it's OK.

This first one is a fairly small bridge and not over the top with regards to ornaments, but it's practical. Once again it's based on a hex floor pattern for the Fantasy Trip - (specifically the Arthurian Legend - Grail Quest)


Because I was not using the actual base for the bridge road, leveliing it all up correctly was a bit of a sod, and as a result it's not perfect - it is however quite useable, which is the main thing.

Bruce suggests using a piece of card to stiffen the bridge floor, but I wanted a grubbier underside appearence, so i opted for a toilet paper / papermache affair. I think it's worked quite well, and as it is made with a fair amount of PVA glue, is actually a very sturdy finish.

and yes - It does look a bit like a frog :)

Characters, Creatures and the generation of names

OK - Back again.

Last night I based up a few creatures and am taking stock of what I have available and what I actually need.

I have 2 satisfactory dragons - A 4 hex from D&D Minis, a 7 hex which was originally from the Heroscape base set and a tiny single hex baby dragon which is also from D&D.

I have 3 giants and a troll (The giants are not huge, but are what I would consider realistically big compared to their 1/72 scale adversaries.) My current giants are from the mage knight and D&D range and have been re-based onto 3 hex plates.

with regards to regular sized foes, I am well stocked on skeletons, orcs, elves, dwarves thanks to Caesar Minis. For Hobgoblins I will be using the Dark Alliance Orcs I think. and my regular humans are from various sets by Italeri, Revell, Zeveda etc.etc. They range from virtually naked celts and egyptians through mail armoured right up to full plate armour knights. some chopping and sticking with greenstuff has enabled me to create suitable wizards and druids etc.

I think I could do with making a couple of priests, monks or clerics, and other non fighting figures, and could also do with a few more females.

So what else do I need?

Well - I have a small list, which I'm sure will grow.

2-3 wolves not sure where from yet.
Slimes - I think I know how to go about making these.
1 large brown bear - (probably the Celestial bear from D&D)
2 armed octupii???
- - To be continued!!!!!

Photo update. Modular Dungeon

Regulars on the Hirst Arts website, or TMP may well recognise these shots - I haven't done any more photos at the moment.

this first shot is a small wizards room. Figure is from the Caesar fantasy range, skeletons, but I have replaced the head with one of the hebrew warriors. The globe, telescope and book case are from Mega Minis - The rest of course is made using Hirst Arts and A&K studios moulds cast in Herculite 2.

This shot from above shows the problem with facing. You cannot really tell exactly which side of the hex a figure is facing. Some figures it is more obvious than others, but the coloured spot method will resolve it for all figures.

Orcs in a wide passageway waiting to ambush a party of adventurers.


A small dining area - Obviously a good setting to instigate a punch up,with plenty of furnitur to hurl about or get in the way :)

No - Really I'm am working on my projects!!!

it seems that my most reent posts are by way of an apology for not doing anything, so you probably expect this to be the same. But NO!

I have started work on my modular dungeon for The Fantasy Trip. I have made several floor tiles and a few wall sections, although there is still a long way to go.

I've also worked out a system which I think may work for both figure ID purposes and to resolve the facing issue with miniatures.

For those who know the Fantasy Trip system from Metagaming, you will know it is based around Hexes for movement, and facing is important during battles as there is an advantage to taking an opponent from behind (ooer missus) or attacking from the side. it is therefore important to know exactly where the front face of a figure is. That is fine with the card board counters, because wherever the head is printed is assumed to be the front. The facing of a 1/72 mini though can be more open to interpretation. So - I have made a small white spot on the edge of the base Job done.

next problem is ID. The counters all have a letter printed on, the names are then chosen to start with that initial. I cannot paint clearly enough a letter that small - So I am putting a small coloured spot inside the facing spot. so now the character sheets will be ID'd somethign like this:

Goblin, archer, red. / Goblin, club, blue / Human, wizard, green / etc, etc.

We'll see how it works later.

Back casting again.

Well, OK. I ground to a bit of a halt, both on the model front, and ont he writing front. I've done a couple of minor bits and pieces, but nothing much for ages.

The Melee board is now fully painted, so I'll have to shoot a couple of pictures of that. I still haven't played a game on it though.

Nor have I played Song Of Blades & Heroes for quite some time, or anythign else for that matter. I've started putting together a few new buildings, as I sold my previous ones. No promises, but I'll try to update this again in the not too far distant.

Well - 2009 is well under way now. Both boys were relly hapy with their Hirst Arts castles, so that was time and effort well spent.

I havenow started a project for myself. The Fantasy Trip / Melee / Wizard arena for use with Deth Test 1&2. There is still quite a bit of work to be done to it, but it is certainly getting there.



I need to give it a nice paint job, and finish the outside area aroun dit, and it will be up and ready to play on.

TOP SECRET - Christmas Presents

Sorry I cannot post pictures of my latest 2 Hirst Arts builds at the moment. They are both Christmas presents. Both are, in my humble opinion, the best builds I have done to date. Each is a larg-ish, single roomed, single floored bulding with a 4" round tower. I did the first for a cousin, and when my wife saw it, she said I would have to build one for my eldest son as well..... I can see I will also have to make a smaller one for my younger son as well - But I need more plaster!

I will post pictures AFTER Christmas.

as well as the buildings, I am also painting a small unit of knights / men at arms, to go with each one - (Probably about a dozen 1/72 scale figures for each.)

Last night I was up till 1.am casting the final blocks required - I am however still a couple short, so will be doing a final cast at work this lunchtime. By the weekend I should be finished with the builds and can work on the painting.

Busy, busy, busy.

The Elven Hall - update

No pictures yet.

I have built up the basic layout, and glued the panels for the Elven Hall. It has curved walls at one end - (using quarter 4" tower mold.) and squared corners at the other end. This has a short extension to one side, which may or may not accomodate an external set of steps.

I've also re-based the ruined cottage (due tot he original card one warping). I've removed the secton of rubble and scraps, which can now be used anywhere. I've also painted the first coats onto the roof covering. It's all coming together quite well.

Ooooh - Pictures at last!

Yep - That's right. I have once again dusted off the camera to take a handful of shots.





At the top is my newer fountain, whihc appears to be reasonably realistic water tight. I have filled it 3 times due to shrinkage, but it appears to have settled to a good level now. My original fountinan which is the last photo was not so watertight, and the original filling was lost out of the bottom. I then sealed it with PVA glue and tried again. This one is stil settling and has a further 4 fills I hope that this is the last one.

I have started working on my Elven Hall. This is the 2 end panels, but I have changed my mind from doing curved sides, to sticking with straight walls. Very much a work in progress.




Finally, last night I put the covering over the Goblin encampment. (No photos' yet.) This is a ruined cottage base, with sundry sticks and twigs making up a rough framework roof. Finally covered in kitchen towel soaked in a PVA / water mix, hopefully this will represent animal skins / leather / or similar found roofing material.

I have been trying to work out the best way of doing this for a while, and the inspiration came from the Hirst Arts community where they have been discussing the best way of making windmill sails.

I think once it is painted it will work.

UPDATE ON The Fountain

OK...OK. I know it looks as if the only thing I have done with Hirst Arts blocks at the moment is make this fountain....Well, in some repects that is true.

It is the first item I have that is a water feature, so the first opportunity to use the Woodland Scenics Realistic Water.

The bottle does suggest that ther may be some shrinkage, and boy were they right. It is also very important to note the following PLEASE ENSURE that there are no small gaps in whatever you are pouring the water effect into!. My first fountain did have a couple of tiny holes, and all the fluid just ran straight out! The second version I had sealed with PVA Glue, so the single part fluid stayed in place. However, the shrinkage on the first filling did give more the effect of a rather thick coat of varnish than a fountain filled with water. I have since sealed the first fountain, and filled both the more times. The results are now looking far more the way I had anticipated.

the fishing line streams with a little coating of water work well, and the slight magnification caused by the nice clear water is an excellent effect which would not be possible by painting techniques. So although not quite as straight forward as initially thought, this stuff works OK.

I hope to add a couple of photos soon.

More terrain pieces made.

No pictures today though.... Sorry.

I took out all the cast pieces last night, to make a copy of the fountian I have up for sale. That has come out looking really nice, so I'm looking forward to painting it.

I let Ryan rummage through the blocks, take out whatever he wanted and build a set of ruins himself. Some time over the weekend we may try to paint it. Design wise it looks really good, and would certainly make a fitting piece of terrain in many games. He really thinks about where elements are going, and why they are going there. (It may not be the way I would do something myself, but that is after all the whole point.)

I've also started a small ruined building which will form the basis for my goblin encampment. I think a collection of natural twigs and matchsticks etc will form a suitable framework over the stonework, then I will have to experiment with making durable coverings.

Finally I have assembled the front section to my elven great house. I think that will turn out to be my largest structure (even though I have only fully planned small segments for front and rear of the building,a nd have a vague idea of how the side turrets should be). At this stage I have no idea how I want to tackle the roof!

What colour should GOBLINS be?

The Caesar Goblins have arrived. I still think the Orcs are the best from this collection, but the Goblins are pretty good. Originally I had planned to make my goblin flesh green, the same as the orcs, but having seen them, and noticing that a couple of the poses would work very well as orc children playing - I was left with a dilema.

I'd like to paint a few of the goblins as Orc Children, playing with a ball, or with a stick, I might even use a little imagination and green stuff to make other suitable 'toys'.

This however presents a problem. That being, how to differentiate between orc children and goblin adult warriors.

I'm considering painting the goblins grey, light brown or possibly even blue? But would welcome any views. Perhaps a different shade of green?????

I will also be doing a couple of them red, to make them into little devil / imp type creatures.

Architecture for the Races.

I first started thinking about this when I ordered the pack of Goblins from Caesar miniatures. I already had a rough idea of the styel of buildings I wanted for dwarves and orcs. I'd sketched out a few basics in my mind for Elves, but was stumped when it came to Goblins - SO - I put the question to those good folks at TMP, to see what they thought.

The response was fantastic, and I now have a good idea how I want to go about modelling a Goblin settlement.

I will also be taking on board the idea of making up ruined shells of building to build makeshift structures such as those above onto,and of course caves. (Caves would entail much larger terrain boards than i can currently manage or store though!!!

Here are a couple of very rough layout ideas for elf architecture windows and doors.




This is an idea I had for a possible orc structure.



This is how I envisage the differing styles of architecture.

DWARVEN
well built, squat structures. Built to be robust and practical, but not adorned with much in the way of decoration. I like the idea of broad arched doors and windows, simple squared walls and everythign being generally well built to serve a purpose.

ELVEN
I consider elves to be artistic and elegant, so want to portray that in their buildings. Equally well built, but with slender windows with elegant decorative arches - Perhaps some with unusual shapes. Buildings to be as attractive as they are practical, maybe more so.

ORCISH
I prefer the idea of Orcs being very much like humans (as described in The Fantasy Trip). I would consider them to be a little clumsy and savage, but still capable of building permanent stone homes. I would see thier style as being somewhat hostile, so the idea of rough un-inviting doorways would work. I think that Orcs would use ornamentation to disuade visitors. The buildings should be sturdy and stable, but not particulalry well or carefully built, and adorned with those little touches that make it unattractive.

Any views would be welcome.

The short lookout tower - complete

.....well, OK, not completley complete! - These pictures are prior to base painting and flocking. BUT, I'm not overly keen on the way the base and flock have turned out, so will probably do that again.





Last night was a 'casting' night, as I am running low on blocks. I need to do another night of casting, then leave them for a couple of nights to dry, and hopefully should get a couple more structures under way this weekend.

I got some realistic water plus some clear fishing line the other day, and want to fill one of the fountains and add a water flow. However, as I have put my original fountain up for sale on E-bay, I cannot mess about with that - (Just in case it all goes horribly wrong!)I have therefoe set aside another set to make the fountain again. Of course if the first one doesn't sell, I can mess about with that to my hearts content.

First couple of structures for sale.

I've put a couple of these buildings up for auction on E-bay. It's a vicious circle. I want to make enough to buy more Herculite, and possibly some new moulds. I'd like to buy a set of Egyptian moulds next time round.......and of course the remaining Fieldstone moulds.

Dwarf House

Water Fountain

Believe it or not, I'm actually hoping these don't sell at the moment. Mainly because I now have a bottle of realistic water, which I'm really looking forward to playing with. BUT, I don't want to end up ruining this piece half-way through an auction, then have to say to the buyer - "Sorry mate, I've gone and totally screwed it up. You can't have it."

That kind of thig only leads to bad comments - whichever way it goes:

"That's OK, send it to me anyway"...... "Oh yes, you're right, it is shit, please accept this negative feedback for your trouble." OR "So you won't send it to me, I bet it's really good, and you just want to keep it for yourself, or sell it to somebody else for a better price. Please accept this negative feedback for your honesty".

SO, I won't be messing about with it.

I have cast up almost enough blocks to make a new one, but even so, they won't be fully dried for a while, and then I will have to make and paint it all again.

The dwarf house I just want to play with!

Dwarf House completed + New fountain.

Well, over the weekend I painted all my existing buildings. I also built and painted a fountain and round barricade (Which has now become part of the larger ruin / building.)





This is the painted dwarf dwelling.




This is the water fountain. It should become a dungeon feature, with a potentially valuable gold centre piece - (However, I'd be wary of any water in it, just look at the green residue under the water line!) - I still need to sort out some clear water type resin.

A New Building - Or extension to the last?

On Wednesday night I assembeld my second Hirst Arts Building. It took me until 1am, and gave me the sort of headaches I am sure were suffered by whoever invented the Borg Warner Automatic Gearbox!!!





It is a larger structure than my first attempt. It is also destructable. That is, there are removable sections, so that during the course of a game, the building walls can be breached, eventually rendering it to a ruin.

Originally it was designed as a stand-alone building. However while comparing the two buildings, it soon became clear that the first one works very well as a second storey for this new addition.




Next step of course is to paint the buildings, and texture any roof / ground surfaces.