Saturday, October 30, 2010

Strongpoints, part 3

I received some more of the roof pieces from wyrmholehobbies, an eBay bits seller.  Quite reasonable at $6 for 8 pieces plus shipping  and it helped me create the further effect with the lower level "doublewide" that I wanted to do.  I just like to mix it up a bit and give folks choice when they're using stuff for setting up a game.  The work the White Dwarf team did with the bastions and COD buildings on the back of the latest (Dark Eldar release) issue makes me drool and go crazy. But I shall stay my hand from my wallet cos it's almost Christmas and wives like presents too.  And I don't like sleeping on the couch.

Usually the bastion pieces are pretty easy to glue together.  The lower level pieces lock together side by side no problem.  The tower pieces , I imagine exhibit the same small limitation I found with the roof bits. To assemble them side by side I had to cut a small piece off, then put a small piece of sprue in the back to hold them together.  Like so.


I just used a pieec of sprue, as I said.  And cut it down and filed it flat.  Still doesn't look THAT great.  I'm not looking for a seamless finish here, as they're just supposed to be stamped, pre-fabricated plascrete buildings. Or some such thing.  I bought a tube of Tamiya's white putty from an LGS.  It's consistency is like toothpaste, but not grainy - not as grainy as Squadron Green Putty, which while useful and sands down nicely once it's dry, can be quite brittle.  I filled in the gap, so:


Let that dry, sanded it flat and did the thing with the assembly. Sprayed it with the Soviet Armour and drybrushed with the GW Rotting Flesh as per usual.  I painted up the floor panels using the same method as last time and  here you can see another configuration of the current project. 


Yes, that's my son's tactical marine from the Alpha Legion.  He's okay, he's a loyalist just waiting for the articificers to repaint his armour in the Blackshield way.  Or IS he a loyalist...?



Links
Imperial Hobbies, Richmond BC (where I got the putty from)
Wyrmholehobbies - eBay bits provider. 

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Strongpoints, part 2

Finally! Something to show you all.  I got the first strongpoint finished, with the exception of the communication array things.  I'll do them later.  Those'll be nice objective markers, but that's about it to me.  I finished the first one about two weeks ago, but took them to the club's storage at the FLGS and forgot about photographing them.  D'oh.

For my first attempt at weathering, I'm happy.  The longer aegis defense lines were weathered with that damned awful GW stippling brush.  I've decided that I hate it.  They took forever to get the paint to stipple anywhere near like how I wanted it, and it was still too thick for my taste.  Then I got out an old blue GW drybrush and the Forgeworld Black Soot weathering powder.  I basically stippled the powder into place on the blast marks with the drybrush.  Easy.  Filled the holes with badab black.  Fixed it in place with Dullcote.  I did notice that the dullcote tended to make the powder... run? a little.  Perhaps I was applying it too heavily.


 

 

The Guns That Never Get Used, as I like to call them turned out better than I expected.  I basecoated the "metal" portions of the weapons with Charadon Granite then drybrushed BGM and washed with Badab Black. Not too shabby.  The drums on the autocannons were based with Iyanden Darksun, drubrushed with Dwark Bronze and washed with good old Devlan Mud. 

 

I have started constructing the other Strongpoint. I wanted to make it like the "doublewide" bastion that is part of the winning entry in GW's recent scenery contest for the Realm Of Battle board.  The only thing I didn't like about that building was that there was no door out to the lower... mezzanine? Where the Chapter Masters drink their root beer and watch the battle?  So I took the side tower section and cut off the firing slot for the heavy bolter and glued on a door that I'd cut out of a piece from the Imperial Sector building set. I don't think it fits in precisely with the style of the building, but it serves to show its purpose.


I built this second bastion to be modular also - it did involve buying bits from eBay for completion's sake.  Should I choose to, I can remove the tower section, disassemble it and just build one single floor doublewide bastion.  I bought more parapet sections from a bits seller on the eBays so I can just have that pop onto the doublewide section as required. The floors are removable and will be fitted to "work" as required. I glued the large doors to either end. Makes sense. 

 

Spot the oops in the picture on the right.  Oh alright I'll tell you.  I glued the panels with the firing slots adjacent to each other on the upper tower section, rather than opposite each other.  Luckily the plastic cement allows a fair chunk of drying time so I was able to pry the section apart and correct it.

For those curious, here's a closeup of the lower section with the Flames Of War spraypaint applied.  The coverage is good and it's not too thick, but as I said you need to take care when getting it into the nooks and crannies so you don't overdo it.



Other guns and such will be glued on when I next work on this building.  I really MUST finish my Damocles Rhino.
Honestly...

Links!
Forsaken Games, New Westminster BC (the club's FLGS and charming host)
Imperial Hobbies, Richmond BC (where I got the paint from)
The Army Painter's spray can line
Flames Of War spray can line