Working Through a Bottleneck

Over a couple of years, a lot of minis in need of various repairs (mostly rebasing, but also broken weapons and such) got stranded on my prepping station.

The many second-hand purchases I've made lately had me wondering how on Earth I should find the necessary space to handle he not-table-ready minis in order to get them ready for my Warlords of the 41st Millennium project.

Solution: Instead of pushing an ever-growing hill of unfinished busines in front of me, dig in, and get the work done!

The picture below is may pain(t) station - all the minis with white bases came directly from the prepping station, and a couple others had minor repairs done.

Imagine the clutter on the prepping station (below), when all those minis were there, too.

I expect to have the workspace (the green cutting mat) cleared over the next week or two - depending on, how often the weather permits working in the garden - I still have trees to cut up, and branches to cut down, before we can get full sun in the veggie garden.

My BIG Summer Project

I am finally (almost) done renovating the driveway.

This project has been running over three years, with most of the workload (and cost) this summer.

Phase 1: The asphalt ramp.
Done two years ago.

Phase 2: Filling out the hollow.
Last summer I got access to removing a lot of beach stones from a garden elsewhere in town, and this spring I helped a single mom emptying a large sand box.

Phase 3: Spreading granite chippings on the parking part of the driveway.
Late spring this year. While doing this, I decided to make some sort of edge on the two 'naked' sides of the part going to become a sun patio to keep the chippings in place and grass and weeds out.
Shortly after, someone in town wanted to get rid of a bunch of old 55cm x 55cm cement tiles.

Phase 4: Getting rid of the hedge.
My firewood pusher knows guys, and he has access to a mini excavator. My neighbour suggested  removing the hedge entirely instead of just digging a trench for the tile edge.

Phase 5: The cement tile edges.
This was really hard labour. Those tiles are heavy as hell, and difficult to handle for aligning.

Phase 6: Raising the driving lane to the back yard with earth.
As the local water plant has two wells in the far end of our back yard, they have right to access the back yard with their trucks for maintenance. Thus, I had to make sure that the tile edge is flush with the surface, otherwise the tiles may break when passed by a heavy vehicle.
The girls and I moved 8 m3 earth during last and this week.

Phase 7: Placing the granite post/column, and spreading granite chippings in the rest of the driveway. 
This was done today. Anna helped me getting the granite post placed and secured. After covering the last part of the driveway in chippings, I enjoyed a well-deserved can of beer on my new sun patio!

Phase 8: Filling up the sun patio part with granite chippings.
The final phase will stretch over the next couple of years, as granite chippings are not the cheapest material.
I have about ½ m3 left to spread out before pausing this project for now. I shall probably do that tomorrow.

All in all, I think I have spent about DKK 12,500 on the driveway, plus time, and petrol for driving a lot of trailer loads of stones and sand.

I think I have earned the right to a nice summer vacation, now!

Frodo's Quest: Hobbiton 101, WIP

As mentioned yesterday, I am painting some 3D printed smials for my 'Frodo's Quest' project. I am making progress, albeit a slow one, and I thought an update would be in place.

Yes, there are visible layer lines. No, I am not going to do anything about them; it is a terrain piece, and once the war horn is sounded, nobody will notice, anyway. Besides, I printed this quite a while ago, and I am achieving better quality these days, but that is no reason to let this go to waste, methinks.

I am going to acquire a static grass applicator just after this year's summer holidays (I wouldn't risk it being returned to the seller because it arrived while I was away and unable to pick it up), and put a nice lawn on the roof.

The Garden this Spring

The sewers all over thown are being renovated this summer, and the contractors asked for permission to use our backyard for redirecting soms drainage water while parts of the system were beinng worked on..

You do not see steam erupting from sewers every day!

We have an abundance of Forget-me-Nots behing the house and garage.

I got a load of cobblestones to finish (I hope) the lawn edging project this summer - but I also got some granite chippings for the driveway beside the garage, and that project kind of escalated, so I have not yet begun laying down the cobbles.

The driveway/parking space after spreading the first load of chippings.

Because of the blasted slugs and birds, we decided to put our strawberries in raised beds with nets. The slugs also killed(!) my horse radishes by constantly eating all the green parts of the plants, so we have gotten some new plants and planted them in a raised bed beside the veggie garden (to be seen in a later post).

Lea's confirmation was postponed to August, due to the Corona pandemic. We decided to give her one of her gifts in advance, as it would be a bit pointless to get a garden trampoline just in time for winter.

3D Printed: Stone Buildings

I finally got the Ulvheim stone buildings cleaned up and ready for painting. I have printed second storeys and roofs for both the 100% building and the 110% building, and I also printed trapdoors and ladders. This version is the 100% building.

Here you see the ruined second storey. I really like how it is designed so that the stairs still leads to the remains of the upper level.

This is the 110% version.

And here it is with another ruined upper level. The stairs still work!

I expect Ulolkish to take them home with him tomorrow and then soonish give a shout whether he considers the 110% print fitting, or if I should print an even bigger version before going completely to town printing ruins.

Repairing a Rogue Trader Era Space Marine Scout

When I dug out the Dark Angels I painted for In the Emperor's Name some years ago, much to my chagrin I found that a sniper rifle barrel was broken.

I am going to attempt to superglue it in place, but if that fails, I shall have to drill a shallow hole for the barrel to sit in.

Again, my Citadel Assembly Handle is coming to my aid, and it is actually fast becoming one of my standard go-to solutions for any kind of fiddly repair job - a sound purchase, as it turns out.

You will notice that I have added a rubber band - it is because the springs, or whatever it pulling the vise/clamp together around the mini's base, are not quite tight enough for smaller bases, but the rubber band is an easy and cheap way to mend that.

Rebasing a Mordor Troll WIP

I did not paint this big fella; he was part of one of the big lots I bought several years ago, but now that we are playing Age of Fantasy Skirmish, he is likely to see some action with my Mordor Orcs, so I thought it wise to get him based on a large washer for added transportability (stability when transported in a box with a magnetic sheet at the bottom).

Moria Goblin Warband WIP

As mentioned, I am re-basing some Moria Goblins for an Age of Fantasy Skirmish hunting party.

This metal gobbo (not painted by myself) is going to be the Boss of the party, while the spear wielding pests shown below are 1/3 of the rabble I am going to have in the warband (I painted the three clad in brown rags, not the other ones).

There will be another group of spear warriors, two groups of sword warriors, and one group of archers, in addition to the Cave Troll I posted yesterday.

The Boss and the Cave Troll are probably the only figures I shall have more or less ready for Thursday, but I have plenty of painted goblins still on slottas to fill the ranks of the troglodytes for now.

They Have a Cave Troll!

For Thursday, when I have an appointment with Emil for playing Age of Fantasy Skirmish, I am re-basing this Cave Troll to use as support for my Moria Goblins.

Emil is going to command a Gondor patrol lead by Boromir, so I thought I might need to pack a bit of punch for the encounter, as Boromir and the Knight of Dol Amroth would otherwise surely just cut a swathe through the Goblin ranks.

I may not be able to finish the process in time, as I have to attend classes the next couple of days, but I think I should be able to at least get the base base-coated and covered in sand, so it will have to do as it is for that particular game.

I am also re-basing some Goblins, but I do not expect to use other than the Boss (metal) Goblin - the rest of the hunting party must stay on their slottas for now, while I work on another batch to take their place.

One Page Rules: Grimdark Firefight Patrol WIP

Face the wrath of the Angels of Death, if you dare!

I have dug out and dusted off some RT01 plastic beakies (Corvus Armour) Space Marines for playing One Page Rules Grimdark Firefight.

I started painting, and based these, many years ago, but Warhammer 40.000 never really got to me as a game, although I have always loved the setting. Now, however, I think that I may actually get a few models finished (I also rebase them on washers instead of the slotta-plinths).

When looking at this picture, I realized that the Devastator Marine had slipped backwards on his base when I positioned him for the photo, so I just rectified that.

When these are ready (150 points) it is time for 200 points worth of Genestealers - I think I have also finally decided on a paint scheme for my 'stealers/Tyranids; the one I started using about 10 years ago never really grew on me, but now I have a fairly good idea about a quick-paint method that should both look good, and allow me to get some finished models on the table in a relatively short time.

3D-Printed: Rohan Settlement WIP

120%

I have not done much hobby stuff over the weekend - it was work weekend, and the garden allotted most of my spare time.

But the printer has been busy, as I am experimenting with upscaling Terrain4Print's Small Fantasy Viking House.

As you may recall (otherwise you can check below), I did not find the inherent size of the model convincing for 28mm miniatures, as the doorway stands below  the height of the shoulders of most minis.

Thus, I did a 120% upscaled version, which you can see to the left. It is better, but if that Royal Guard were to enter, he would still have to crouch quite a lot!

I would like the (most of) my buildings to actually look like something the minis could be living in, so I had to make another test. Luckily, my printer had nothing better to do this weekend, so as long as there was PLA on the spool, I could just knock myself out.

The 100% Version

130%

My third print was scaled up by 130% instead, and although I am almost there with that, I think that I shall print a 140% version, before deciding on the size for printing the larger house offered by Terrain4Print.

I am also printing some palisades, and the platform above the gate is printing as I write this.

The palisades are modular, and the files include a pin for assembling the pieces, but I had to scale it up to 105% to get a snug fit, so you may want to print a test or two if you start printing the palisades.

I am waiting for my filament pusher to get a re-stock (should happen next week), as I am running out of some of the filaments I am using (I prefer the light grey PLA for gaming models, as the details pop better than with other colours), but I shall be printing some more palisade pieces (including some 90 degree corners), until I run out of brown and grey stuff - then I shall allow myself to let the printer be employed for non-gaming purposes for a while.

3D Printed: Stone Townhouse

 Another design by Terrain4Print is the Ulvheim series A building and ruins on Thingiverse.

My first print of the intact version (with remixed upper storey and roof by Talismancer ) was at 100%, but I think it is a tiny bit too small for 'heroic' 28mm minis.

Thus, I am now printing another one at 110%, and you can see the first result at the bottom of this post (I am almost out of that Slate Grey PLA, and it is out of stock at my filament pusher's webstore, so I am taking a break from these buildings).

As can be seen below, both storeys have a nice level of interior details, and I plan to print some furniture to add to the gaming experience of having this kind of housing populating a town/city table.

Ulolkish and I have agreed to do 3D printed city/town/ruins scenery as a joint project; I print and clean up the pieces, and he paints at least half of them, and we can then have a large set of the stuff to use between us (we live only 11 kilometers apart, so it is a matter of less than ½ hour to fetch a big box by car).

I recently had some trouble with my CR10S, and as a consequence I have been printing with a bit too little retaction, causing some stringing. While this can be easily removed, I am going to play around with the settings to see if I can avoid it completely - like I am now again returning to use a skirt for bed adhesion instead of a brim, as the latter means more cleaning up to do before the pieces can be painted.

I have not yet printed the trap door for the roof, but I guess I may be doing that later today in some dark brown filament I have running on the printer at the moment.

Here are all the pieces of the first building.

To the right and below you can see the ground floor printed at 110%.

I think it fits the GW Skelly better, as it looks like he could actually pass under the door arch without banging his skull against it.

I shall, of course, still use the first one, but I am certain that I shall print further buildings at the slightly larger size!

Over the next couple of days, I am going to print a larger version of the 'Fantasy Viking' Rohan house, and also some palisades for protecting those Rohan settlements from Wild Men and Uruk-Hai raiders! And, of course, as mentined, a roof trapdoor for the Ulvheim building.

A Growing Contingent of Archers

I now have enough rebased Skeleton Archers to form two points of bow-armed warriors for SAGA Age of Magic. As I am soon also going to try out One Page Rules Age of Fantasy, I can have five 3-man groups out of these (and as I have two more, not in the pic, actually six groups in all), should I need that many.

The next couple of days, I have to finish a job application and prepare the appendices (I may get it completed tomorrow), and until it is done, I shall not have much hobby time, but I have another four models to rebase so that I can field two full units for God of Battles (and also 3 points for SAGA, to also be organized into two units of 12, including the Leader and Standard Bearer models).

It is quite nice to do units without having a set deadline for their use - does not feel as stressful that way 😁

3D-Printed: Edoras House WIP

As part of my cross-games Rohan project, I thought it was time to get some Rohan themed building into the mix.

This building is Terrain4Prints's Smaller Fantasy Viking House from Thingiverse. I think it is a tad on the small side for 28mm minis, so the next one I shall print at 120%, and see if that fits my taste better.

I shall, of course, still paint and use this, as variation is the salt of the earth, anyway.

Skeleton Archer Unit WIP

I managed to squeeze a bit of hobby time in today, so got the two broken models repaired, and rebased another four, bringing the archers up to 12 models - just enough for a God of Battles unit, and 1½ point of warriors for SAGA Age of Magic, for example.

I intend to get another 12 archers rebased, and then 12 warriors, before I start painting them (but I may start putting filler on some of the bases, soon, as I want to be able get some three-archer groups ready for OPR Age of Fantasy Skirmish rather soonish, which I intend to use as an introduction to fantasy wargaming for Emil.

Skeleton Archers WIP

The only work I have done on these until now is the rebasing. Part of a large Khemri job lot I purchased a couple of years back, they have been sitting idly in my Necropolis (large cardboard crate with unused Undead plastic), but with SAGA Age of Magic now almost ready to be played, and with My God of Battles Lords of Undeath in need of some ranged support, and the fantasy version of Mortal Gods 'Mythic' probably coming out later this year, now it is time to do something about it.

In addition to the above mentioned games, I have recently downloaded One Page Rules' Age of Fantasy Skirmish, and I  also have a hunch that I may have to get Warlords of Erehwon. 😏

One of the skellies lost an arm in the process, I shall have to poly cement it back on tomorrow, and I also got a wee tad overzealous with the Dremel, and cut of 1/4 of a bow on the last of these first eight archers; I think I shall just cut off the hand, and glue the hand form a spare archer arm on instead.

The observant reader will have noticed something new behind the Skeletons - it is also a work in progress, and I should have something to show tomorrow!

3D-Printed: Camp & Baggage WIP

My CR10S S3 has been busy making some Camp & Baggage the last week.

The large Black Pavilion of course is the field habitation of my Necromancer,.
It can be found HERE

The Oseberg tents can be used for various purposes.

The file is to be had HERE

The first two printed have been sprayed with Army Painter Skeleton Bone and had the A-frames basecoated - I intend to do a little more work on them before each game they are to appear on the table.

The crates and the barrel are both from a Delving Decor Dwarven set - found on Thingiverse just like the tents.

I have not had time to sit down to clean up and assemble the Renedra Saxon tents - I shall reveal the reason in my next post.

Copplestone Ngoni Female Archers WIP

One of my long-term projects is painting some forces for Congo, and to that end I purchased some mixed Copplestone Africans quite a while ago.

As I also want to play some Paleo Diet in Africa, I thought I would add some archers to the spear-armed Zulus I painted back in 2016 (time flies!); I have four Zulu riflemen almost ready for primer, but I do not wish to use firearms in Paleo Diet.

It also struck me that I can work on an African warband for SAGA Age of Magic, and thus keep myself motivated for getting some minis painted from time to time.

This batch I intend to use for small breaks from Rohirrim, whenever I need some change, but I hope to get the eight Royal Guards painted fairly soon, as I need them to have a 'pure' six-points Rohan warband (and Age of Magic seems to use larger warbands than 'historical' SAGA does, so I shall see myself adding some riders to the mix this summer, too).

SAGA: Age of Magic and Anglo-Saxon Stand-ins WIP

Here is some of the stuff I have been working on this week. Metal galore!

After a long hiatus induced by stress caused by the news of my workplace shutting down this spring, thus leaving me unemployed if I cannot secure one of the fewer jobs offered by the replacement for the 'asylum' I was watching at night, I have decided to pull myself together and get back into some fantasy and historical gaming.

About a year ago, I prepped and based the first of these Royal Guards to paint up for my Rohan/Anglo-Saxon SAGA warband, and I am now aiming to get them painted up before the summer holidays (garden/work/job-search permitting).

Eight Guards give me two points of Hearthguard for SAGAj, and as soon as I add two leaders and two standard bearers, I have two units for God of Battles (and three points of Hearthguard).

I expect to use my Rohan warband, both for 'historical' games, using 1st Ed., and fantasy games to which end, yesterday I ordered SAGA 2nd Ed. and the Age of Magic 'worldbook' from North Star.

I am also contemplating to have a look at Warlords of Erehwon, as a possible transition point between SAGA and God of Battles; it seems to be playable with forces from about the size of SAGA warbands and larger.

When I have completed the Rohan warband for Age of Magic (and I do intend to add some riders), including painting a Gandalf to act as their Sorceror, I think I shall have a go at some Haradrim - Ulolkish also has some of those, and we could join up to get a playable warband ready within a relatively short time (I already painted a warband for Battle Companies years back, and I can build on that).

Well, as usual my head is spinning with plans when I start up (or reboot) a project, but at least this time I do not start from scratch, and that increases the probability for success.

This time, though, I can promise that the blog updates will come a bit more frequently over the next couple of months than has been the case since Christmas. As I am actually making progress, I now have something to write about, so stay tuned for more of my ramblings!

Some More WIP Stuff...

I am rebasing some minis I painted a very long time ago (hence the dubious paintjobs on some of them) for various purposes, as I now want to use them for Sellswords & Spellslingers.

The Heresy Vampire below has lived a haunted life - first he lost his head, and then, recently he had a metal bear fall on him, damaging the paint on his left sleeve, so in addition to finishing his new base I have to reconstruct the paintjob...

This bunch is waiting for a black undercoat, but I am not going spray them, until I have finished painting that blasted female Barbarian for Lea's Sellswords & Spellslingers party!

With my current mojo and speed, I shall probably not paint more than one or two minis before 2019 - unless I focus on models I can speed-paint with block'n'wash or drybrushes. December is a bitch to get through when working every second weekend, and still having kids around, methinks...