Monday, 29 February 2016
Saurian Teaser
I hope by the time you read this I am not being savaged by a cold. I had last week off work, which was very helpful in getting Dad's present finished. Naturally, having to that point avoided the deadly cold which had been slaying (well, inconveniencing) people in this locale since just before Christmas, I succumbed. Anyway, today's teaser is much less tantalising than the last one: dinosaurs!
Thursday, 25 February 2016
Brown Teaser Explained!
So what was I playing at by posting a picture of a brown car on a brown board? I was making a model railway for my Dad's birthday. I'm too technologically inept to have worked out how on Earth to wire it up properly, though I spent several hours in failed attempts, reading online tutorials and watching a few Youtube videos. It all seemed perfectly simple. It wasn't. The construction was much easier. I made an initial error by applying green grass onto bare brown-painted board, and expecting it to look like grass, but after that everything went swimmingly. The board is deliberately a hodgepodge of different elements. There are some plastic buildings from Granddad's old layout in Stockport, a few buildings I've assembled and painted just for this, several card structures that I ransacked Dad's old layout for, and figures I've painted recently with acrylics, and ones painted in the 1960s with Humbrol. In short, a mixture of wargaming and model railway terrain, miniatures, kits and paints was employed.
He used to have a huge layout that took up most of the attic. Several years ago he removed it to transfer a large quantity of books onto shelves up there, and subsequently I carved out a little wargaming empire, too. I deliberately set up the tunnel to hide the disappearance of the track, that way, if he chooses, we can expand the board with another 4' by 4' section. Anyway, that is what I was up to. He seems pleased with it, and we're all happy I managed to keep it under my hat! Enjoy the pictures. A couple show the construction process in the attic, and then its current location downstairs.
He used to have a huge layout that took up most of the attic. Several years ago he removed it to transfer a large quantity of books onto shelves up there, and subsequently I carved out a little wargaming empire, too. I deliberately set up the tunnel to hide the disappearance of the track, that way, if he chooses, we can expand the board with another 4' by 4' section. Anyway, that is what I was up to. He seems pleased with it, and we're all happy I managed to keep it under my hat! Enjoy the pictures. A couple show the construction process in the attic, and then its current location downstairs.
Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Terrain Tutorial: Mausoleum - Part 2
I'm having the week off work. Usually, this would allow me to get a lot done. However, I accurately predicted that the cold which has lain low friends and family (and perfect strangers) for weeks on end would get me. Luckily for you, I finished the Mausoleum several days ago.
In case you missed the first half, it's here. As before, the pictures here are labelled 1-2, so even if Blogger decides to hide or lose them, you should be able to follow the narrative. I seem to have forgotten to photograph the work on the doors, but they are easy to describe. I cut a rectangle of 1mm thick plasticard, and cut a rectangle out from it, leaving a lip of 5mm. Inside I placed some balsa, trimmed to size, and scribed it to make it seem like a double door. I inserted those brass pins you used to find securing collections of papers in aeons gone by. I ought to have paid closer attention, as I later realised they were not symmetrical. Oops.
Right, next I got to work on making a pediment for the tomb. To be on the safe side, I cut some paper templates first, and then, having decided they were the right size, duplicated them in plasticard. I used 2mm thick plasticard for the triangular structure. You can see the measurements (in millimeters) marked on the pieces in Pics. 1-3. I used small bits of Lego as internal supports to ensure sturdy right angles. The Lego was secured with superglue, the plasticard with polystyrene cement.
I'd decided the pillars needed a little something at the bottom, so I cut out small square bases for them from balsa, gluing the bases to the original balsa, then the columns to them and the face of the building, framing the doorway. I cut the handle off the reverse of a Lego shield, and added it in the middle of the pediment to break up the empty space. Pics. 4-5.
I applied dilute filler over most of the building (not the doors) to give some surface texture, then undercoated it all in blue. I would continue to use small bit of blue in the painting to suggest cold. This was mentioned in the original magazine article that inspired me to make this piece. Then I applied a layer of blue-grey. Pics. 6-8. When I came to detail the stonework, I discovered that my filling and painting had rendered nearly invisible the delineations between bricks and slabs, and so used some blue ink to reverse that. The doors got a reddish brown, and a couple of coats of washes, while the brass elements had brass, green washes and gold drybrushes. I painted the ground dark brown, and added a few patches of grass, as though plants were just starting to recolonise the lost city after the thaw. Pics. 9-12. A Great War Miniatures British officer is present for scale. I hope you found this tutorial useful.
In case you missed the first half, it's here. As before, the pictures here are labelled 1-2, so even if Blogger decides to hide or lose them, you should be able to follow the narrative. I seem to have forgotten to photograph the work on the doors, but they are easy to describe. I cut a rectangle of 1mm thick plasticard, and cut a rectangle out from it, leaving a lip of 5mm. Inside I placed some balsa, trimmed to size, and scribed it to make it seem like a double door. I inserted those brass pins you used to find securing collections of papers in aeons gone by. I ought to have paid closer attention, as I later realised they were not symmetrical. Oops.
Right, next I got to work on making a pediment for the tomb. To be on the safe side, I cut some paper templates first, and then, having decided they were the right size, duplicated them in plasticard. I used 2mm thick plasticard for the triangular structure. You can see the measurements (in millimeters) marked on the pieces in Pics. 1-3. I used small bits of Lego as internal supports to ensure sturdy right angles. The Lego was secured with superglue, the plasticard with polystyrene cement.
I'd decided the pillars needed a little something at the bottom, so I cut out small square bases for them from balsa, gluing the bases to the original balsa, then the columns to them and the face of the building, framing the doorway. I cut the handle off the reverse of a Lego shield, and added it in the middle of the pediment to break up the empty space. Pics. 4-5.
I applied dilute filler over most of the building (not the doors) to give some surface texture, then undercoated it all in blue. I would continue to use small bit of blue in the painting to suggest cold. This was mentioned in the original magazine article that inspired me to make this piece. Then I applied a layer of blue-grey. Pics. 6-8. When I came to detail the stonework, I discovered that my filling and painting had rendered nearly invisible the delineations between bricks and slabs, and so used some blue ink to reverse that. The doors got a reddish brown, and a couple of coats of washes, while the brass elements had brass, green washes and gold drybrushes. I painted the ground dark brown, and added a few patches of grass, as though plants were just starting to recolonise the lost city after the thaw. Pics. 9-12. A Great War Miniatures British officer is present for scale. I hope you found this tutorial useful.
Monday, 22 February 2016
Brown Teaser
A big brown board with a little brown model car. What does this mean? All will be revealed in a few days.
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