Hevonen Imperial Utility Vehicle

 A quick update for today - this is a Hevonen Light Utility Vehicle for 40K. The art has a bunch of different Imperial-style vehicles for download and I really like the design because they all have a slight futuristic gothic feel without being overboard like most of GW's recent designs.

Since this was a test piece to see how it looked 'in the flesh', painting was very straightforward, done mostly with Tamiya and AK. Weathering is done with oils and enamels. Decals are just random stuff I pulled from the decal stash.

I highly recommend picking up Nfeyma's designs if you're looking for some understated vehicles for Grimdark terrain.

https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/hevonen-light-utility-vehicle

4Ground Shotgun Shack - Painted!

 Decided on a whim to paint up my 4Ground Shotgun Shack that had sat in a box for about 5 years now. Wanted to give it an old, weathered look, so I used acrylic washes and ink to give it an overall green tone. I also added a rubble foundation using vinyl spackling and gesso, a tarpaper roof made from black construction paper, window glass from acetate sheet, and a few torn drapes from soaked tissue paper.

Commission Project: Small Scale Islands

Hello again. After a long hiatus, I've finally been able to settle in and start some hobby work. This year has been filled with two house moves, changing states, a "pandemic", riots, lifestyle changes for my family, and just getting everything squared away with the new house. I will say, given everything that's happened, my family and I are in a good space and I hope yours is too. 


Thankfully, Fightin' Kentuckian was able to rouse me and refocus my skills with a commission, this time for two groups of islands - one representing tropical, and the other temperate (or subarctic) waters - for playing Warlord Games' Cruel Seas and Black Seas. The trick was to represent two very different climates without giving away scale differences between the two sets. For examples, I chose islands and features in the Caribbean and Baltic Seas. The Baltic is characterized by large weathered rocks, rocky "sandbars", and occasionally small clumps of woods where some tough seeds found a foothold. In contrast, the Caribbean is characterized by long low cays, mangroves, and high verdant hilly islands.


I started by cutting the bases using my scrollsaw set to 30 degrees - this bevels the edges toward the top (you just have to remember which side you're cutting!) making it easier to cut the insulation foam. Next, I mounted 1/2" thick foamboard on the cut pieces using Loctite General Purpose Adhesive (this comes in a tube and provides better grip and less warping than Liquid Nails) applied weight and let them cure for a full 48 hours. This helps prevent warping and gaps between the pieces. It's not foolproof, but it helps. Next I cut the terrain with a skinny utility knife, using the beveled edges as a guide. The hardest part was the sandy beaches, since they require a lower slope, that needed sanding with a dremel and more work to get the slope right. 

Once everything was cut, I sanded it down with 150 grit sandpaper and then applied spackling to remove any remaining gaps. After sanding once more, I began painting - the Baltic islands in cool colors (greys, etc.) and the Caribbean islands in warm colors (tans, browns, etc.). A lot of the key to getting terrain looking more "natural" is using a lot of different tones and colors and applying them via blending techniques (stippling, washes, etc.). I could do this with an airbrush, but I think the brush gives me more control and the finally look doesn't appear "airbrushed on" - a hard concept to convey, but you know that "look" when you see it. It also helps to add highlighting as elevation increases or terrain "dries out". You can see this in the Caribbean island sands especially - just like in nature, dry sand appears brighter than wet. 

Once painting was done, I applied multiple layers of flock, then static grass, then "flowers", then underbrush and sealed everything by spraying with scenery cement. As that dry, I cut the stands of woods. If you would like the technique,  I highly recommend checking out Grand Tactical Battle's scenery page - as I copied it from them. This was then inserted, glued, more underbrush was applied, and then sealed again with scenery cement. 

Since I don't have anything in this scale (especially not anything naval), I borrowed my son's Hot Wheels boat, which is nominally 5-6mm, to give you a better sense of scale.

That's it for now. What a way to get back into the swing of things. I should have more posts this month, as I have a bunch of half completed projects from last year to finish.

Shinto Temple Complex, Part Deux

Another month, another temple complex commission but this time for Fall-In. To be honest, I can't say there's much different here than the last one I did for Fighting Kentuckian, though there were some changes in color tone. Oddly, I also had issues with my vinyl filler material adhering to the wood - whether that had something to do with my filler or this batch of wood, I have no idea.

The walls this time are a flat off-white finish, while all the red lacquer is built up from multiple layers of Tamiya paints. I started by undercoating all the pieces in Flat Red, then added areas of shadow and highlight by adding in Purple and Orange respectively, and finally applied multiple coats of Red to really bring out a depth of color. Natural wood was done by using long strokes of various shades of tans, browns, and beiges running with the grain. Once given a light, slightly diluted coat of a mid-tone tan, this melds the colors and produces an effect that looks vaguely similar to wood. The pantile roofs were airbrushed with Tamiya Flat Black, then given multiple layers of a 50/50 mix of Tamiya OD Green and Dark Green, and finally highlighted with Olive Green. To give everything a more used look, I added Vallejo European Dirt Wash along the edges of roofs, along walls, and on upper horizontal surfaces.

The "stone" texture is achieved by applying multiple layers of gesso with a stabbing motion of the brush. Unfortunately, the base being MDF means that you have to apply a lot of gesso, but once that's dry it provides a nice rough texture without destroying any texture on the MDF itself. For example, on the gate and bell tower bases, there were lines showing the edges of the stone tiles. As the gesso shrinks, it does fill these lines, but taking a sharp Xacto blade and rescribing them was simple and didn't destroy the gesso either. Once dry, I applied multiple shades of medium through light grey paint, edge highlighting with almost pure white.

Shinto Temple Complex Commission

Recently I was contacted by the "Fightin' Kentuckian" to assemble and paint a small Shinto temple complex from Things From the Basement. He wanted a nice, clean look reminiscent of the product photos on their website and I dove right in with my usual gusto for terrain (several times he actually had to hold me back from going completely overboard adding little details and heavy weathering).

Having never assembled TftB MDF kits, I wasn't sure what to expect but I found them to be pleasant kits to work with. There are a lot of cleverly hidden joins, which meant less filling and sanding than I'm used to with other MDF kits. The "pantile roofs" are provided and cut from half sections of cardboard, sliced on the bias so that they bend to accommodate the curvature of the Asian-style rooflines. I particularly enjoyed making the small stone lanterns - these are kinds of tiny ornamental details I really like seeing in real life and on the tabletop - as they went together easily with a interlocking mortise-and-tenon assembly that required little to no glue.

Once all the sub assemblies were together, I went about painting everything. The walls are a pure satin finish white, while all the red lacquer is built up from multiple layers of Reaper Purple into Vallejo Flat Red. Black lacquer wood was done with a pre black basecoat, then successive highlights of Dark Pavement, then drybrushing (following the "grain" of the wood) with light grey and a little golden brown on the edges. Natural wood is done in a similar fashion but using beige and tan. The pantile roofs were airbrushed with Tamiya Flat Black, then given multiple layers of a 50/50 mix of Tamiya OD Green and Flat Black.

The "stone" texture is achieved by applying multiple layers of gesso with a stabbing motion of the brush. Unfortunately, the base being MDF means that you have to apply a lot of gesso, but once that's dry it provides a nice rough texture without destroying any texture on the MDF itself. For example, on the gate and bell tower bases, there were lines showing the edges of the stone tiles. As the gesso shrinks, it does fill these lines, but taking a sharp Xacto blade and rescribing them was simple and didn't destroy the gesso either. Once dry, I applied multiple shades of medium through light grey paint, edge highlighting with almost pure white. To tone down the transitions and give the stone a "dusty", ultra flat finish, I then washed it with Secret Weapon Concrete wash and applied some Vallejo Dirt wash around the base of each vertical piece.

El Alamien Table Updated!

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been out of touch lately, the post-Adepticon modeling slump added to some health issues made getting things finished a little tough. Now that's over, I thought I'd share the updated El Alamein table I've been working for my birthday! Some of you may have seen the old table at the Adepticon Bolt Action tournaments - I even played on it the first round of Doubles - and decided to change a few things.

I took some extra cobblestone roads and repainted them, adding some short dead grass tufts along the edges in an attempt to mimic the crushed gravel roads that were quickly laid down along the Africa coast as the armies vied for position. I also took out the quonset huts and the larger crate stacks in favor of some modular crates from Tabletop Scenics and some grain sack stacks to represent the supply dump around the train station itself.

In an attempt to add visual appeal to the desert half of the table, I added a crashed Italian plane and some removeable barbed wire. I had an ancient 1/48 Smer Reggaine R2000 monoplane I threw together over a couple of sittings, doing some AA damage, and adding a simple base. The barbed wire obstacles are just 24ga steel wire woven together, clipped into 6" long sections, and spray painted. Since they are moveable, they can be formed into squares to represent minefields, positioned in depth, or removed if an AFV or engineer team destroys them. In an attempt to liven up the otherwise drab appearance of the dunes and plateau, I added some more dead grass and low groundcover.

Some of you may note that this table appears slightly cluttered and you wouldn't be wrong - the mat itself is actually 7x4, so I can add another foot of length for larger games without sacrificing much cover and concealment.

El Alamein Table

Full disclosure - I had no real interest in starting a North Africa table and had actually just sold my 15mm NA table a couple of months ago. I don't even own any desert armies, in either 28 or 15mm! But, things just came together and here I am with a North Africa table for local Bolt Action events. This is a strong departure from my normally dense tables, as I really wanted to emphasize the almost featureless expanse of the desert surrounding the Alamein train station itself.

I had actually started work on the dunes earlier this summer with the intent of using them for Gaslands, in sort of a post-apocalyptic Wastelands table. They're spare off-cuts of pink foamboard from previous projects that were cut to shape, sanded, and then textured. I wanted to get a "flowing" feel to each dune, with a gently sloped windward side and and steeply sloped leeward side to provide a more "natural" feel to the table itself. While it's hard to tell from the pictures, the dunes do provide some measure of cover and the higher dunes block LOS for most infantry and troops on the "ground".

The first piece of terrain that helped push me towards a 28mm desert table was Warlord's Desert Table scenery box I won at a tournament early this year. Overall, the set itself is useful, if rather uninspired for the advanced modeler. The star of that set are these excellent resin ruined wall pieces. I really enjoy the look of them and, being separate pieces, they enjoy a good amount of flexibility in arrangement. Here I've made them into a small walled enclosure or heavily ruined building site.

Years ago, I had made two very large rocky hills for Flames of War. I was never really satisfied with how they turned out (or how big they were), so they never saw much use. One was eventually damaged in a move but the other living on in a dusty box. I hate to see terrain sit unused - I would rather sell old terrain and let someone else enjoy it, than have it be neglected in my own extensive terrain collection. So I repurposed this piece to serve as a representation of the high ground to the south of the station, giving it a thorough repaint, and some new flocking. I used a lot of different spray paints and drybrushing to build up a depth of color.

Last, but really the entire reason this became the El Alamein battlefield was finding an amazing deal on Sarissa's El Alamein Station kit. I love Sarissa's kits (the majority of my Seelowe/Channel Islands table are Sarissa's "Europe At War" building line) and this was no exception. The rail line is about 5' long but VERY delicate (so be sure to take extra care when painting the trestles before gluing on the rails, one of my pieces snapped off about 2" from the end). The train cars are great and, when I have a little more in the hobby budget, I'd like to add one of their steam engines as well.

I'd be remiss to not mention the station itself. I'll be honest - on the dry fit build, I was a little disappointed by how plain it all was. However, I assembled the entire station and used some of the spare cardboard sheets to "bulk out" the bottom portion of the exterior walls. This added a nice transition and sense of depth that the kit lacks. I then filled in the joints with spackle and gave the entire structure three coats (!) of gesso, giving it a textured and durable finish. I again used a lot of different spray paints and drybrushing to give it a depth of color quickly. To finish it off, I painted on the English and Arabic signs, added a few of the always helpful pickle barrels, and glued on some British propaganda posters in the vestibule. From pictures, the station at the time appears almost brand new, likely due to the dry climate, so I avoided a lot of weathering besides some drybrush streaking on the roof.

To finish off, I added some leftover crate stacks from my Necromunda Freight Hub table and bought a cheap Twin flat sheet at Walmart for $6 that I spraypainted....to give it a depth of color.

A lot of players will probably disregard this table as being plain but, that was always the intention. The El Alamein battlefield itself is, for the most part, scrubby featureless desert so there is a toss-up decision for the gamer to either go completely historically accurate (and likely end up a death trap for gamers) or anachronistic (and likely end up not resembling the area at all). I feel like this table sits somewhere in the middle - it combines features that are largely miles apart in actual groundscale to ensure a balanced play, while also staying true to the "spirit" of the battle itself.

Tutorial: Early 20th century Urban Barricades

In the increasingly urbanized conflicts that the enveloped the world after World War 1, troops often found themselves with little to no cover or concealment in the broad thoroughfares, plazas, and parks that had come to dominate the civil planning of cities after the crowded conditions of medieval Europe. In response, many assembled and scrounged whatever they could to provide protection against enemy fire and prevent enemy troops from maneuvering quickly in the form of barricades. In this tutorial, I'll show you how to easily assemble three common barricade types. But first, let's take a look at some historical inspiration...

Materials

• 2-3mm MDF
• 1/2" to 2" thick Foamboard 
• Balsa, Basswood or other scale lumber in planks, square, and round 
• Pre-mixed vinyl spackle
• Sand, gravel, and assorted rubble
• 1/48 and/or 1/56 scale bricks (I prefer Pegasus Hobbies' small red brick)
• Paints (black, greys, and browns are prevalent with reds, red-brown, tans, and yellow being less so)
• Dry pigments (optional)
• Glaze or pigment medium (optional)
• Greenstuff (optional)
• Craft wood shapes (small pickle barrels, circles, etc. - optional)
• Old or broken 1/48 or 1/56 softskin vehicles, civilian vehicles, farm/construction implement (Lledo, DeAgostini, and Ertl "Vintage Vehicles" work well)
• Bits and gubbinz (optional)

Rubble Pile Barricades

One form of barricade was a simple breastwork, formed by pushing or dumping large quantities of rubble into a slope, backed with lumber boards. In heavily-bombed cities, this barricade was fairly easy to assemble, but was non-existent in cities that had not suffered bombing or shelling.

1. Cut a rectangular piece of MDF measuring 6" x 1.5". Along ONE of the long edges, bevel with a dremel or piece of sandpaper (be sure to wear a dust mask or respirator).

2. Cut a piece of 1/2" or 3/4" insulation board measuring 6" x (a bit under) 1.5". Using a utility knife, carefully cut the board lengthwise at a 45 degree angle, so you're left with two sloping pieces.

3. Glue the sloped board on to the MDF with the slope facing the beveled edge (see below), weigh it down, and let dry thoroughly . You may need to clean the board up slightly so the transition between MDF and insulation isn't too apparent. It's OK if there's a slight difference, as this will be covered in rubble, but the pieces should be mostly flush.

4. Measure out and cut enough wood strips to cover the back and sides of the barricade (see below). The sides can stick out slightly towards the top.

5. Add some thicker strips of wood vertically at the corners and halfway along each edge to represent supports

6. To prevent vehicles and tanks from simply driving over the slope, workers would take railroad ties or thick wooden beams and jam them into the rubble, jutting out at angles and reinforced by the weight of the rubble on top of them. To represent this, cut or break off 1-2" long pieces of thick wood rod (either square or rectangular, I used 1/2" x 1/4" inch basswood), sharpen one end, put a small dab of glue on the point, and shove it into the foamboard at odd angles. Don't overdo it - the beams and ties were heavy and it would have been time-consuming to place many on each barricade. 

7. Cover the slope with a mixture of 50% spackle/25% glue/25% paint and sprinkle your rubble mixture on. Be sure to include bricks if you have them. Allow to dry thoroughly (at least overnight is best).

8. Once dry, simply paint the rubble itself. The wood can be stained with washes or diluted paint.


Rubble "Cribs"

Another form of barricade was the "crib" or box. This was used heavily by the Germans after mid-1944. It required a lot of manpower, time, and materials to construct, so - as far as I can tell - doesn't seemed to have been used outside of Germany itself.

1. Cut a rectangular piece of MDF measuring 6" x 1.5"

2. Cut a rectangular piece of 2" foamboard with enough space to accommodate the dowels, this is going to require some math. For my cribs, I used 1/4" square wooden dowels which seemed to be about the right size for 28mm. Since I needed to place pieces of dowels on either side, that would mean I had to subtract 1/2" from both sides (0.25 x 2 = 0.50), so my foamboard measured 5.5" x 1". Glue the foamboard to the base, weigh it down, and let dry thoroughly.

3. Measure out and cut enough pieces of wooden dowel to form the walls of the crib. As the pieces are stacking in alternating rows (remember building with Lincoln Logs as kid?), you will need some pieces measuring the full length and width of the base itself, and some measuring the length and width of the foamboard. Before gluing it down, be sure to dry fit the pieces to ensure they look right - it's okay if some pieces are slightly too long or too short, these barricades were assembled in haste! You can also make them any height you wish - there are some pictures showing cribs that were used as breastworks and many more showing cribs taller than the height of a grown man.

Once you have decided on the height of your cribs, make the top of the wood with a pencil and then use a utility knife to cut the foamboard BELOW this line, with a sloped towards the edges. Glue on the wooden dowels and allow to dry.

4. Once dry, cover the slope with a mixture of 50% spackle/25% glue/25% paint and sprinkle your rubble mixture on. Be sure to include bricks if you have them. Allow to dry thoroughly (at least overnight is best).

5. Once dry, simply paint the rubble itself. The wood can be stained with washes or diluted paint.

Bric-A-Brac or "Random Crap" Barricades

The most numerous example of urban barricades were those assembled from random items, including things such as streetcars and vehicles filled with rubble, paving stones, cable reels, rolls of newsprint, furniture, barrels, crates, sandbags....if it was large enough to provide some measure of cover and concealment, it's likely to have been thrown into a barricade at some point. Barricades like this pre-date the 20th century as well, being widely used during the French Revolution and (most famously) at the Battle of Rorke's Drift. By WW2 though, they needed to be able to withstand heavy caliber ammunition and tracked vehicles so, when lighter items were used, they were often filled with rubble, bricks, and stone and reinforced by placing heavy timbers or railroad ties into the ground behind them.

I could easily write instructions on how to precisely make a random barricade, but most of the fun is finding examples and assembling them yourself. Below are four of my completed barricades (as well as those listed above). As you can see, I used some old broken vehicles, some "pickle barrel" wooden shapes, 1/48 fuel drums, lasercut MDF squares (leftovers from some Sarissa buildings), bricks, etc.

Sandbags can be easily made by rolling out strips of epoxy putty, cutting them into equal pieces, and squashing them down in ordered rows. Cable reels can be made using a piece of circular wooden dowel as the center with two circular MDF bases sandwiched on either side. If you break, incorrectly assemble, or badly paint a vehicle, this is the perfect excuse to use it - just be sure to fill soft-skinned or civilian vehicles with rubble.

Whatever you do, just be sure your figures can see over the barricade in most places!