Terrain: Huge Pipes

The other day I started sorting through some boxes, and ran across some bits of drainpipe, which I had bought to use as smokestacks for a monitor some years ago. That project never got finished, so I decided to repurpose these elements as huge pipes for my Space Crusade/Aliens-style terrain. These bits have a footprint of 3" by 9". It strikes me I don't have a corner pieces, but also that I don't need to make something with any pipe in it. The bits that here hide the ends of these pipes will let me just make a box as a corner-piece. They'll probably be board-edge markers in any game I eventually get round to playing. These are just primitive WIP shots, and they'll look nice with a spot of paint on them. In unrelated news, Happy Birthday to me!

Star Fleet: Small Freighters and Something Smaller

These chaps are just bits of kits glued together, and layered with a spot of paint. The green-striped lad, being a bit smaller, will be an Armed Priority Transport or Armed Cutter. I probably should venture away from the comfort zone of bright primary colours for these lads. I'm typing this up in advance, as I'm in Wales on the day this will appear, and will be in Ireland come the night. Look forward to an illustrated post about my friends' wedding on my return! :)

Star Destroyers: Part 2

The rest of the shots of the Star Destroyers I've been working on of late. As mentioned before, I have two large store-bought models (of different sizes). These fellows will be standing in for the Gorns until such time as I get round to buying the proper models. Altogether, they give me one Dreadnought, one Heavy Battlecruiser, three Battlecruisers, four light cruisers, a scout variant of the same, and seven Destroyers. That lot comes to about 2,800 points, which is a nice little force.

Star Destroyers: Part 1

I popped into GW Hanley the other day and grabbed some grey paints. A little dry-brushing later and the Star Destroyers are pretty  much done. I've added some blue to the engines, and after these photos applied some numeral transfers to differentiate these fine instruments of Imperial vengeance. I'm moving on to work on a few freighters after this. Here's a WIP shot of everything under way, and then a few shots of each kind of Star Destroyer now completed. I'll pop up a few more shots next time I update.

Fluffy Little Fellows

A friend, who is a designer, was after some pictures of rabbits and guinea pigs the other week. So I present a few pictures of our little menagerie. Spot the rabbit has appeared here as a wee kitten, when he was a ball of fluff. He's just as adorable these days as ever. He's quite the most canine rabbit I've ever known. Come to the door and up he runs, begging for a treat. Sit in a chair and he'll run up and want to play. He's a darling. The two guinea pigs are Bold, who has a crested head, and Nerva or Nervy, who doesn't. Obviously, the former is braver than the latter. They're cheery little fellows, and less terrified of us these days than they used to be. Being guinea pigs, mind, they're always a bit terrified. Spot has an odd relationship with the guinea pigs, as he almost seems to think that they aren't real. We've had previous rabbit and guinea pig pairings where the smaller guinea pig bullied the bunny, elbowing his way to the food. We've had ones where they have got on splendidly or simply passably, but never one where the rabbit just ignored the little chaps. One of our pet theories, if you will pardon the expression, is that Spot believes that we humans and he are the same species, whereas the guinea pigs clearly aren't.

Strange Stations

I have seen some strange sights in the service stations around Birmingham. A few years ago I espied a Dalek on a trailer. Lamentably, I failed to take a photograph. A few weeks ago, en route to a wedding, I saw something fairly odd. The engine of a car had evidently caught fire, but the driver had managed to stop it getting so out of control as to consume the rest of the car. Weirdly, the car seemed just to be sitting there, and to have been sitting there for a little while. I was in something of a hurry, so I never did establish the full story. I just present to you the odd photograph I had time to take.

Dagger-shaped ships and something else that's just Super

The wee starships from last time are pretty much done now. I've all but omitted detailing their undersides, as they won't be visible. I've decided they will be proxies for the Gorns. I ran the numbers, and I could field about 2,800 points of ships, which is quite a goodly force. In the event of deciding to make some Mon Cal ships, I do have something to fight 'em with. I've left the details pretty minimal, and should get them undercoated today. While waiting for the Milliput to dry I also did a bit of work on a superheavy for 40K, which had been sitting unloved for a while. I added a bit of bulk to balance out the gun. It's the bit the officer's standing on. On the advice of a friend, I'm going to extend the rear of the vehicle somewhat. Well, that's how things are going at the minute. Hope all is well at your end, gentle reader.

Destroyers of Stars

Unfortunately, that sale of bunkers went less well than I hoped. Even decreasing the price didn't help. So they're back up again at a tenner apiece, P&P included, in the UK. If they don't shift at that price, they won't shift at any. Here's the listing if you do fancy a bunker for yourself or a friend. Christmas is approaching.

I was at a bit of a loose end the other day, so I had a fiddle with some plasticard, thinking of knocking up a few more ships for ACTA: Star Fleet. I initially thought I'd bang out something vaguely diamond-shaped, reminiscent of a Imperial ship from Star Wars. But what I ended up with didn't really work for me. It was too flat. I might end up salvaging it by claiming it's a recon variant, but I moved on to a second design. This time the ships was a three-dimensional diamond, and I quickly devised the basic shape, and knocked out three. While waiting for the glue to set, I decided to have a go at an easier to craft third variant made from some leftover bits from the second version. Having knocked up that basic shape for four ships, I decided I'd add a few lays to the upper parts of the ships to make them more closely resemble the built-up centres of Star Destroyers. It has all gone well so far. The remaining major elements are the engines, and the bridge together with neck. I have a good bit of plasticard tube which is the right size for the engines, so I just need to cut it properly. The bridge rhomboid and neck I am going to have a longer think about.

So I have a fair little fleet on the go here. There's Variant #1: the one-dimensional recon vessel, variant #2: three chunky diamonds, and variant #3: four slightly smaller diamonds. As well as these eight, I have two larger toys, probably from Micromachines or something. They're both larger than the models I have currently in hand, which is deliberate. The finely-detailed stuff I've bought can be the nice flagship versions, while the smaller ships are to be the bulk of the fleet. That said, they will doubtless do duty as everything from merchants to Gorns, and I may even concoct some rules for a Star Wars fleet. No transporters, naturally! Here are some photos of the work so far. The painted Star Destroyers are the bought ones. Enterprise and an IG officer are included for scale.