Monday, February 27, 2012

The Humvees arrive, courtesy of Irishserb!

Howdy folks!

Well, my two humvees arrived in the mail today!

I got them from Irishserb, who makes resin vehicles in 15mm.  I had seen a few of his pieces and they looked awful cool... so I figured why not?  I bought two humvees with the tub looking turrets, and they came with some extra weapons as well, which was super cool!

Anyway... I'll get them all washed up, assembled, and undercoated soon... I would figure they'll be quick paints.

More coming soon!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

15mm Modern US Infantry - finished!


Ah ha!

My 15mm Modern US infantry are done!

They were based on very small buttons, which were then built up with plaster and sanded (although in retrospect, I wish I had used finer sand).  They were then undercoated with a tan spray I picked up at Home Depot, and then painted; black for the weapons, a few shades for the camo, and so on.  I gave them a quick dip in a Minwax wood varnish, then matted and based!

Just FYI, the radio antennas are made of a single brush hair from a house painting brush... they turned out pretty good.  Oh, and yes, I am aware that the goggles actually have their covers on... but I liked the look of them painted better:)

One later note; I think I have to repaint the javelins, as a friend pointed out they are never black, but almost always olive drab.

I am happy with the minis (which come from Rebel Minis) except for one exception; the guy armed with the M203 (middle row far right) clearly doesn't match the rest and looks sculpted for another collection.  It is irritating... every time I look at him it bothers me:(  Oh well.

Anyway... there they are!  Back to buildings!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Food


Hey all!

Thought I'd share a few recent shots of food I've eaten!

Above you can see a tray of sliders, catered for the Superbowl!  Actually, it was just the wife and I... however, she decided she wanted to FEAST, and so we got sliders and chicken fingers from a really tasty burger place.  It was awesome.

Below is a paella I made a few nights ago... I was limited in what I could put in it as the wife is on a very strict diet as we try to find what food is causing a nasty allergic reaction in my little boy, but it was still delicious.

The plate, btw, is plastic and great.  Not microwave safe, but still fantastic.  Plus, it totally matches our actual Deruta stuff!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

All the 15mm Modern buildings assembled!

Here they are, all done!

Still a lot of work to do:)

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Gamecraft Miniatures buildings


Hey all!

Well, as regular readers of this blog know, I've started in on a new project; a 15mm modern collection.

I've never been a guy who was really into the moderns.  However, I've seen a few really neat collections recently that got me interested... and then I happened to see the new Gamecraft Miniatures MDF Middle Eastern buildings... and voila!

I ordered a whole bunch of buildings (and then, like any easy customer does, I promptly email the owner Allen and asked to add to my original order... I am a pain in the ass... ) to make up a small middle eastern city.  I went with the laser cut MDF buildings, although he also has resin buildings and foam core.

They are just a really fantastic little product.  They come in little plastic baggies with each bag featuring a full kit for a building.  I ordered only the removable roof buildings; I want the interiors accessible.  They do also have ones with the roof secured in place.  The buildings fit together very easily, with little tabs and a touch of glue.  I also got a set of interior walls from them; I wanted the insides playable, after all.  The interior walls fit together very nicely.  I even picked up a few sets of stairs, that are a bit of a pain to put together (one step at a time!) but are just awesome little pieces.

One note; you could TOTALLY use them with basically no work done; some even have bullet holes pocked through them, and exposed bricks.  I would say you would just want to give the ends of the tabs a little rub or two with sandpaper to get rid of the darker color and you could absolutely use them as is.

I did have two small issues, one of which was resolved almost instantly (and the second of which will likely also be.)  I did order some rather delicate balconies to put on the buildings, but unfortunately about half of them came a bit broken.  I shot Allen a quick email and he immediately responded with an apology and explanation (must have used a softer piece of wood) and that he'd send me another set the very next day.  He was super, super nice about it.  Unfortunately I JUST unpacked the whole order (a week or two after it arrived) and noticed one piece missing.  I am sure Allen will take care of it.

Overall, I HIGHLY recommend the Gamecraft buildings.  They are awesome looking, go together super easy, and cheap.  The guys there are also super easy to work with and very nice:)

One last note; Allen includes a few pieces of candy in each order.  I got some Smarties and a toffee.  I know it is silly, but I love those little touches!:)

Friday, February 17, 2012

Go ahead... Google "25mm chateau"... I'll wait


Hah!  The first few links that show up with that search are my blog!:D

That makes me smile:)

And remember; the chateau is still for sale!

Monday, February 13, 2012

First 15mm Modern American done!




All done!

I am basically okay with how he turned out.  I think I should have used a finer sand for the base (nuts) but otherwise I am happy with him.

Thoughts?

Sunday, February 12, 2012

15mm Modern US infantry WIP


Howdy all!

Well, I am close to finished with these guys... the new uniforms, in which EVERYTHING is the same camo colors, makes these guys a piece of cake to finish!

I do have one guy who is not pictured who is my proof-of-concept guy... the dip is drying on him, but once he is done I'll share!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

More Modern stuff done!


Howdy all!

Work continues on the 15mm moderns!

Got a few things done... put together a pair of buildings first.  One is a two story (I have a few of these) and the other is a one story (many more of these!)  I also did some steps... not the most fun kit to put together, but it isn't too tough if you are careful and look at a photo for guidance.

I also put together a bunch of interior furniture... the two benches and table on the left will go in the building with the stairs, which will also be getting a dome and serving as my mosque.  I am going to distribute the rest of the chairs, tables, and sofas through the other buildings.  I don't do them in realistic numbers because the bases of the figures makes that impossible to do if you want the interiors to be playable.

More coming as I work!

First Modern buildings done!


Well, it is coming along!

Here are the first two buildings, basically finished except for some detailing and such.

I painted them with a sand paint, and then with a khaki housepaint.  It is the same paint that I'll be using as the highlight for the desert itself (you can see it on the base of the palms).  Then I gave them a light white highlight to help pick up some of the details.

I had to do a bit of sanding of the floors and roof in order to allow them to slip into place a bit more easily.  The big building got a tiny bit of warping as well, once painted, so again a bit of sanding was called for.  I also needed to add little boxes to the top of each roof so they could be lifted off... could be hatches for a ladder or something similar:)

The insides are also done.  I wanted them to be very simple, but good for gaming.  All I did was do some rugs on some of the floors, and then made up some rough table stand-ins and chair stand-ins.  I painted them black and gave them two brown highlights to pick up some detail.  I had to place them a bit spread apart, because I want infantry to be able to be put in any spot.  I did put them in places where they would offer some cover to troops behind them, and give the idea of some furniture.

Friday, February 10, 2012

First photos of the 15mm Moderns collection!


Just put together a pair of buildings, based up the American infantry, and basecoated the base of the palms... and wanted to get a first few shots just to show the starting points!:)

You can see my interiors as well, in their first step.  The small building has an interior too.  The only tricky part so far?  Figuring out how to take off the roof when you give it a floor!  Hence the hatches and such!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Some amazing dioramas


Howdy all!

Thought I'd share one or two photos from some magazines my father in law brought by for me... he has a friend who does some diorama making, and thought I'd enjoy flipping through them!





Saturday, February 4, 2012

Food


Hmmm... a sandwich I made for the wife and I for dinner a couple of weeks ago during the football game.  A big hero made of a fresh load of ciabatta, with spiced ham, capicola, salami, provolone, fresh mozzarella, a head of iceberg lettuce all shredded, some sliced onion, tomatoes, oil and vinegar, all complimented with a huge bowl of chips.  It is hard to appreciate the sheer size of this sandwich in the photo:)

Market stalls made for the 15mm Middle East moderns


Hey all!

Well, the wife and baby are out of town (huzzah!) so I finally got some time to myself.  My buddy stopped by to play video games and talk shop, and while he was here I figured I'd take advantage of his astute model building and do a little work for the 15mm moderns!

So, I have the buildings and trees coming (and some humvees courtesy of IrishSerb... more on that later) but I figured I still need a few more levels "down" of scenery and detail... things like street barricades and the like.  We tackled some market stalls, the likes of which you might see in a Middle Eastern bazar. The tables were the perfect finishing touch.  Now I need to prime them and paint them, and they'll be ready to roll!

BTW, I have a system for the game I am making that I thought up... I'll post more about it later, but I think it is pretty neat:)