Picking up those brushes again.

Hi and welcome to the occasional mutterings of Dave Doc, a military modeller and some time gamer. Gaming and model making has given me a real education, History & Geography(obvious really), Artistry, Politics, Economics, Logistics, Project Management -you try building miniature armies without the last 3.

I will use the blog to record my creations & the odd occasion I actually do some gaming.

I have always been inspired by the aesthetic side of gaming. Playing on well constructed terrain using excellently painted units is always a joy.

Sunday, 14 July 2013

Who?

Who I hear you say.. Of course I am sure you know the Doctor.




This was a special request from Andrew so i am sure he will be happy to see this chap. It's the Heresy Miniatures "Nerdlord II". Well the town is need of a new doctor.
In case you were wondering where his transport is:-




Taking advantage of the "heatwave" I also decided to knock off the first of the adobe buildings. The church of "St Miguel" for the cowboy adventures south of the Rio Grande. Welcome to the start of "St Serinidad"












It is a Sarissa Precision laser cut MDF piece. I have however completed it with a proper shingle roof - simplicity itself - available for Warbases in a pre cut A4 sheet for £2. It also has a coating of ready mix tie grout to give a proper abode effect. I found a use for all those spare clear individual trifle pots reserved by Mrs D and made window panes as well.
I shall get some better shots later this week.
There has been more work on the next part of the mine, while I wait for some bits to arrive. The second A3 board has been started, and the first has had more colour and drybrushing applied.




I have worked out a plan for lighting ,so just need to order some bits n bobs as well for that.

Sunday, 7 July 2013

The Mine - part 1

Taking advantage of the warm dry spell, I have been working outside on the mine. The first part is assembled and is a mix of the Ainsty set and scratch build area made from 4mm balsa sections, and 1.5mm for various bits of planking.












It is all mounted on an A3 section ( for ease of storage and transport) of foam board to try and keep the weight down a bit. Two tunnels exit at mid points of the sides to allow them to join up to the next sections , and to allow some variation in overall construction and layout for games. In my mind I see this as 8 A3 sections done on possibly two levels, so it's going to take a while to get to that.

All the pieces and extra scratch made sections were stuck to the baseboard , gaps filled with ready mixed tile grout, and then everything has has a wash with a 50/50 water/PVA mix to give added strength. Once dried its has a coat of a brown emulsion.

Next stage is sorting out a wiring plan for LED's and/or fibre optics etc i think, new problems and modelling challenges to solve which i am looking forward to. Ideally i want to be able to light each section as it is explored. Also i need to order some more bits n bobs from Ainsty - cheap this project won't be by he look of it. However it will be used not only for Old West, but also Pirates , and Pulp games and anything else it might fit in with.

I need to source some miners - or better still some duel purpose construction crew i can use for the railroad as well, time for a poke around on LAF I think.

I was going to properly plan all this out , but I am just going to roll with it and see where it goes and solve the problems as they come. Mad I know , but I am enjoying it!

Saturday, 6 July 2013

The "Serenity Mineral Co"

So here we have the start of a new part of the town of Serenity. It's the gold mine, originally founded by a lone prospector , Josiah Trethaway, one of the large number of Cornish who left the county in the 19th century on the back of the decline in Tin mining to seek their fortune in the New World. Local town Legend has it there is still some buried treasure to be claimed deep in the vast caverns of the mine.

So here we have the first elements, courtesy of Ainsty Castings , Yakkum Mines - Gold Mine set. I will need to get hold of some bits, and scratch build some as well - I also want to add in some little extra's like some fibre optic lighting circuit to represent candles, oil lamps etc.




So what do you get in the box?





Lots of bits! All are nicely cast, some need a little filing , but other than that ready to go , once washed.










Of course it will also be suitable for lots of other periods as well.

Having run games at the last few shows (and being invited to more) I thought it time to move up a little on the presentation front for the game, and have added a new display sign for the table.




So after 10 minutes on photoshop, and few more on google I ordered this A3 banner sign from Display Signs Direct.