Family Zombie Painting

The family that paints zombies together stays together. We decided to get some zombies painted over the holiday break.

My daughter is really getting into the spirit of things.

While we were painting I heard a weird noise outside. I went out and found a sheet of 3/4 inch styrofoam insulation laying in the front yard. Aparantly the gods were pleased with out painting and decided to gift us with terrain making materials. I let it set for about an hour then decided to put it in the garrage.

And here is out little zombie hoard. Just a small group so far to add to what we already have for our Resident Evil campaign. Four of these are from RAFM's modern Cuthulu line and three of them are from Reaper's Chronoscope line.

Spaceport 69 Depo 5

Well I'm finally getting a start on my Spaceport 69 project. I've collected several plastic meat trays because of their interesting shape. I've seen people try and make terrain out of similar plastic packages but they often try and use the package for the main part of the sturcture. That's not alway a bad thing when it's well pulled off but a lot of the time it just ends up looking like a painted bit of packaging on the table. I've decided to use them as roofs for the older more industrial buildings in the spaceport.

I'm building the buildings out of foam core. I'm trying to make all the buildings in this project as playable as possible so I'm making interiors for them. The best way to make interiors for buildings is to plan them out first.

After I finished the basic floor plan I picked out a few miniatures to see how they fit in the floor plan. I wanted to make sure I could get at least one figure on an average size base in every room.

After finishing the floor plans I planned out the front, back, and sides. This took a while but planning makes construction easier.

Of course it's always good to check with the experts. My son was giving me advice the whole time.

After I got the outside walls cut out I put the structure together using sticky tack. Sticky tack works great for this but don't leave it on too long or it could get harder to remove.

After I got everything cut out I used sticky tack again to put the entire building together. Of course there is a lot of detailing to do and painting before I can put the building together.

Here is a shot of the interior with a few minis inside. I left the inside walls a bit shorter so I could get to the minis in each room easier.

Next the detailing and painting.

Simple Complex: Part 2, Basic Paintjob.

Well I did a basic drybrush of grey over the black foamcore on my underground complex. I think it turned out pretty good since I am basically trying to go as generic as possible with these rooms to get maximum flexibility. I plan on building some more specific rooms in the future.

Of course I plan to add doors next.

Simple Complex

Well I've got some modern and Sci-Fi games I'm working on and I really wanted to do some game in some underground complexes. What I decided to do was make the basic set as simple as I could make it and also make it modular. By keeping it simple I can dress it up however I like and by making it modular I can get maximum flexibility out of it.

Here's what I came up with. This seven room complex is constructed from one 20x30 inch sheet of black foamcore. The basic complex after construction. I will be painting everything grey inside and outside the rooms. The hallway is just one 2 inch wide strip of foamcore and the end of the hallway is just a simple 2x2 inch square with a 1x2 inch rectangle glued to the back of it to hold it up.

The doorways are all 1x1.5 inch which is large enough to fit the average 28mm figure on a Games Workshop round infantry base. Of course figures with larger bases or exaggerated poses won't fit but it's easy enough to just set them on the other side of the door if need be.

And this is basically all I needed to put the complex together. A ruler; pencil, ex-acto knives, tacky glue. That's also all the foamcore I had left over.

These next two pictures show two different combinations. Keep in mind making new hallways is as simple as cutting 2 inch strips of foamcore.

I think I'm going to try to add to this complex 1 sheet of foamcore at a time. The sheets only cost a little less than $4.00 and perhaps another couple dollars worth of materials. Heck even if you didn't have anything to do this project with you could probably get all the materials and tools for less than $20.00.

Next update will be basic painting.

Miniature a Day 2009 day 3

Finished up this CSO Marshal from the Rezolution line. I'm probably use him in my Firefly games and perhaps in my Spaceport 69 setting.

Day: 3

Number of Minis: 4

Score: +1

Junk shop treasure.

I found these three Lledo di cast models at a local junk shop yesterday. From left to right 1936 Packard, 1934 Chevy Van, and some kind of Model T I think. Picked up the whole lot for $14.00 which is probably much better than I could have done on ebay.

I'm planning on stripping these guys and re-painting. The main problem is that unlike the ERTL trucks I have done in the past these trucks don't have screws holding them together. Instead they have peined over post. I'm pretty sure I can drill those out and them glue the models back together when I'm done.

I've found some great stuff at local junk shops over the years. Mid Missouri is full of them. They are often called Antique Malls or Flee Markets but they are just junk shops. If you have such establishments in your area check them out. You never know what you might be able to dig up. Just make sure you give yourself pleanty of browsing time.

Miniature a Day 2009 day 2

Painted up a couple of Sligg Soldiers from Reaper's Chronoscope line. These guys were a blast to paint. This pair will be working with Kirby McDowell as crew of the Skip Tracker in my Spaceport 69 project.

Just a couple more details about my mini a day goal. I'll track the progress like this:

Day: 2
Number of minis:3
Score: +1

Also unlike last time I'm going to be posting the mini I finished on the prior day and not the one I finished up that day. This way I'll have time to varnish and photograph the mini.

Miniature a Day 2009

Well I'm going to try my miniature a day project again. I'll see how far I get this time. I'm going to give myself a chance to get ahead and miss a day if I've got enough miniatures painted to cover it.

Anyway here is my first mini. Kirby Mcdowell from Reaper's Chronoscope line.

Not my bet work but it's a start.

The "Skip Tracker"

Today I finished another ship for my Saceport 69 project. It's the "Skip Tracker" a ship owned by bounty hunter Kirby McDowell and his two Sligg partners.

I purchased the toy this ship is based on a couple years ago at Walmart. It's part of a line of 3 inch action figures called "The Corps". I added my own landing gear from craft sticks and plastic bits from plastic model kits. In order to change the scale of the ship to appear 28mm I put a strip of plastic over the front of the toy's cockpit to scale it down into a front window of the shuttle craft. I also added a hatch made from light cardboard to the side of the ship. After that I painted it up. I still have a bit of touch up to do and varnishing but the ship is pretty much done.

And here is Kirby McDowell and his Sligg partners ready to be painted themselves. That's my next project.

I know I didn't show much WIP on this one but I'm planning on building at least a couple more ships based on this toy so stay tuned for some more detailed builds.

Spaceport 69

Spaceport 69 is my new home brew Savage World setting. It's also going to be a miniature and terrain project. My plan is to make it a living project. Each building I build for the project will proceed on a logical timeline. The first building will be the spaceport hub, the next perhaps a canteena or hotel. The timeline will also fit into the setting time line. The first few adventures will center around the hub then when the next building/business is built it will be incorporated into the setting timeline and added to the adventures. This way the terrain project will grow as the setting grows. Each building and spaceship I build for the project will also get a crew/staff of NPCs and miniatures to represent them.

I'm going to start building the main part of the spaceport first. The Virgin Galactic hub. The spaceport itself will be a kind of truck stop in space. The setting itself will be 100-200 years in the future and will be based on current history. I thought using Virgin Galactic as the original corporate sponsors for the spaceport would at a tie to real world history and give a feeling of a more realistic future. All the buildings will be playable inside and out so my goal is to make them seem futuristic without making the construction too complicated.



I've been collecting various space ship toys and models over the last few years with the intention of making a spaceport for them. Here is a shot of some of my ships in various stages of completion. These ships will represent either permanent residents of the spaceport or frequent visitors. I'm planning on adding a couple larger ships, about twice the size of the bigger ships shown here.

So that's the project. I plan to get a good start on it in the next couple months then I'll be adding new elements in the future as I'm able to get them done.

Sci-Fi Cargo Containers from Coke caps.

Well I came up with a little project today. Last night my wife came home with a bunch of caps from Coke bottles she got from work. They all have a code or something you can enter into some on-line contest. When she was done she asked me if I thought we could make some kind of terrain out of them. I picked up town of them and stuck the rims together and it looked a bit like some kind of chemical barrel or cargo container. I made a few today. Nine out of her lids and three from two litre bottles.

These are the kinds of caps I used from the little 20oz bottles.

Here they are glued together with super glue.

Some 28mm minis for scale refference.

Basecoated with an olive green spray paint.

Drybrushed.

I added some hazard signes I got from this location: http://www.toposolitario.com/workshop/infinity_miniaturas/signals_n_panels.pdf

And here is the final results with a basic wash of dark burnt umber and some different colored sludge for a bit more color and detail on some of the containers.

Ramdom Stuff update

I found these two plasticville buildings at a local junk shop for on $5.00. They are a little rough but nothing that can't be repaired. I'm sure they will come in handy when I get around to doing a zombie town someday.

I finished this Reaper Miniature "Mathias the Twisted" today. I plan to use him in an up comming B.M.A.P. episode. He was fun to paint but I did a bit of a rush job. Still I think it's table top worthy.

Here are some Reaper Wraiths from the Warlord line I finished yesterday. I love these sculpts. Some of the best wraiths I've ever seen. I just realized how "Gothic" the B.M.A.P. game is getting. Hmmmm "Gothic Pulp".

Major Projects for 2009

Well I've figured out my major projects for 2009. I'm planning on doing three major projects with both terrain and miniatures spending two months on each project and leaving two months in between to work on minor projects and to finish up additional bits of major ones.

Forest of Mystery: February/March

The Forest of Mystery will be a multi genre forest project. In addition to more trees and bushes and the like I also plan to make monoliths, megalithic structures, stone circles, monster caves, monster's and fairy folk, and various animals.

The Sands of Time: June/July

The Sands of time will be a multi genre Egyptian adventure project. I plan to build a pyramid and tomb complexes as well as a small Egyptian town and an oasis. I also plan to paint several Egyptian theamed monsters like mummies, giant scorpians, and avatars and servants of the egyptian gods.

Out on the Rim: October/November

Out on the Rim will be a generic sci-fi space port located on a desolate rim world. I hope to have at least three light to medium freighters and six or more shuttles and fighters as well as support vehicals of various types. All of the inhabitants will be either human or droid because I want to use this space port for many different settings. Each ship will have a crew and there will also be maintence crew, a security force, a staff, a cantina with employees, and a few other interesting characters.

Those are my major projects for 2009. I will also have a few minor and ongoing projects that I will detail later.

GW Grave Guard WIP 1

Well I picked up these plastic grave guard from the local game store today. Got em for about $22.00 with a bit of a discount. They are really nice figures but not for the novice. They are quite fiddly to put together but the results are quite a bit nicer than most of GWs plastic sets. I got these guys for my B.M.A.P. pulp adventure game but I'm doing them up so I can use them later in a Vampire Counts army.

It took me a few hours to assemble them although I was watching movies and even playing World of Warcraft at the time. I need to have these guys and a few other minis done by the end of this week for a B.M.A.P. game so I'm going to use the combination basecote/wash/drybrush/highlight technique I used on the cultist from Pulp Figures that I posted in my last post. With any luck I'll be done with them by Monday night at the latest.

Just another note. The blue stuff on their bases is light card stock I cut from a 12 pack of soda. I often use it for making a broken tile floor.

La Confrérie de La Mort Rouge

Well I actually did a project in the last few days pretty much start to finish. I painted up 10 Cultist from Bob Murch's Pulp Figures line as La Confrérie de La Mort Rouge (The Brotherhood of the Red Death) for my B.M.A.P. pulp game. These are pretty rushed paint jobs but I like the way they came out.

Freikorps Squad 2

Well I started working on my 2nd squad for my German Freikorps army. I'm pretty happy with the way it's turning out. I'm about 89% done with the base colors and I should have the wash on by the end of the day. I think they will look good next to my finished unit. After this I have a light assault unit and a Maxim machine gun unit to finish. I'd like to have one more regular squad and one or two more machine gun squads then I'd like to get some armored cars and tanks together for them as well as some trucks and light artilery. I think I'm going to go with mostly captured Mark IVs and Whippits for tanks and some captured armored cars as well.

Sister Sisters.

Well I'm trying to get my Sisters of Battle.... er.... um..... Witch Hunters army done to play 40k at the local shops and such because that's pretty much all anyone plays. I've had most of these models for years but I've added a few recently. These Sisters are from the Order of the Iron Rose my own custom convent. So far they are comming along. At the rate I'm going I'll have about 1000 points done in a couple weeks. Now if I could only get that motivated on my other projects. Sadly it's a lot easier to stay motivated when you know you can actually find people to play the game with than when your trying to get people interested in something new or different.

Here's the Cannoness. She's nearly done. I'm going for a character leve table top look on this fig. Nothing special. In fact I'm trying to paint my army too a "good" standard and intentionally trying not to spend too much time on them. I need to scale back on the quality for bigger projects.

Here's my old Mark I Immolater. I decided to use the green that I'm using on the inside of the sister's tabbards as my main tank color. I think it looks snazzy. This tank will get a umber wash and highlights and details of course.

Squad Alpha is tabletop ready. I think I did an ok job matching the armor though it's not perfect. The new models are what most of my army will look like anyway. They are the ones with the static grass. Eventually I'll re-work the bases on the older models and give them a bit more highlighting but for now that's going to have to wait.

Squad Beta is comming along. I've only got a few hours in them so far. When painting squads I try to start with the big areas then work to the smaller areas that way the steps get shorter and shorter.