A May Mixture...

Introduction

I'm supposed to be writing an All Things Zombie battle report, but I'm procrastinating.  Battle reports are a lot of effort!  Instead, here's a bunch of oddments that I'm working on or have just finished...

Frostgrave

The Golem

This guy is a Reaper Bones golem; I intend to use him as a large construct for Frostgrave.  He is certainly large: that's a 40mm base on which he is standing!

This was a very easy model to paint.  I used a pale grey base coat with gold bands and fittings, all covered with a black wash.  Once that was dry, I added some colour to make the eyes glow and that was it!  A cheap, simple model, but I think he's quite effective.

More Ruins

I recently ordered a fair quantity of MDF ruins from Blotz.  The package arrived promptly and I spent part of a couple of evenings gluing it all together.  Now comes the tricky part, though!  I intend to mount these permanently on building-sized bases; the picture above shows one possible configuration that would give 3 separate ruined houses of roughly equal size.  But obviously there are other ways in which this could be done.

Once glued together, I plan to add more detail to the bases so as to make these a bit more "lived in" (although that's not really the best turn of phrase for abandoned structures, is it?).  But that's where I'm having difficulties: how to turn these base pieces into plausible, but still playable, ruined buildings.  Hmm...

Super Dungeon Explore

Not so long ago, I discovered that buysend.com has a fair number of Super Dungeon Explore sets available at a very reasonable price.  I've now bought more of these than I should and I still have the best part of 2 complete warbands to paint up.  Here are some heroes and villains that I've finished recently:

Dragon Blade

This hero comes from the Kobold warband set "The Claws of the Wyrm".  It's not clear from the short description on the packaging whether he's an elven hero with a magic sword or a kobold hero with a magic elven sword.  Either way, he's growing on me...

Candy and Cola

Candy is something of a mascot for Soda Pop Miniatures.  In this incarnation, she has (some) armour and a large sword.  She's always accompanied by her pet, a 3-tailed squirrel-thing called Cola.

Nyan Nyan

Nyan Nyan is another hero, though in this case she looks as if she'd be more at home at a pyjama party.  She's dressed up in a tiger costume and wears a pair of oversized gauntlets equipped with large talons.  Very odd...

Captain R

Finally, here's an evil mini-boss: Captain R.  He's an undead pirate captain - I really don't know where they get these ideas!  Most of the front of him is beard and face, whilst most of the back is coat.  He's carrying quite an array of weaponry, as might be expected.

Conclusion

I'm a bit surprised to see that all these models are for either Frostgrave or Super Dungeon Explore, as it doesn't feel to me that I've been concentrating solely on these two games recently.  Indeed, my painting table is full of stuff for Pulp Alley, Saga and Congo right now.  Perhaps I'll show some of them soon - right after I write up the ATZ game I should have produced last weekend!

28mm Terrain: The Greenhouse

Introduction

It's been quite a while since I built and showed any terrain.  Indeed, I'm not a great terrain builder - I tend to prefer to paint figures - but it is necessary for when we play games!

The Greenhouse

Here's a small piece that I finished recently:

The greenhouse kit is produced by Blotz and comes with the outer shell and 2 full-length workbenches.  I've added glazing cut from clear plastic food packaging and a base made from a scrap of MDF.

You can see some interior details through the windows.  As well as a single workbench (I felt it was too full if I used both benches from the kit), this greenhouse contains some seed trays and a large potted plant.

  Since this is a model that I've built for wargames, the greenhouse does come off its base.  As well as allowing you a much better view of the inside, there is also space to place several figures.

For the record, the seed trays are adapted from a Supreme Littleness shallow box, whilst the plant and the plant pot are cheap model railroad products from Chinese companies.

Conclusion

I'm pleased with the way this outbuilding has turned out, though I think it could do with a lot more clutter (sacks of compost, trowels or other tools, a watering can, stacks of unused flower pots and the like).  Of course, there is always a tension between realistic detail and suitability for use in games.  Too much detail and the model will be vulnerable to damage & will probably not have anywhere to place figures.  Too little detail and it won't engage the player's imaginations in the desired way.

No, the real problem here is that I cannot use this piece in isolation.  It cries out to be placed in a realistic setting.  For example, such a greenhouse might be found in the property of a serious amateur horticulturist or as part of a commercial market garden.  And I haven't thought that far ahead & don't have plans to build any of the necessary surroundings...