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Army progress: deadline, next weekend
Nov. 2nd, 2013 10:09 amPainting of Treebeard (an ancient Giant figure) to add to the Trees army isn't going too well. Maybe I should try dong it when I'm awake and thinking straight, but at the moment, the colours aren't giving the effect I want, the brush keeps slipping, and it just isn't working. I'm also looking at the detail of the figure, and wondering whether things like the boots are really a good idea. Maybe I'll abandon this one, and pick something different. Might even scratch-build a Tree, I've done that before.
Spiders of Mirkwood, as of this morning, have all the textured bases done and drying, including the tree armatures for the Lurkers . I'll add webs to them (black thread and varnish, I think), glue the spider models on the other bases, then go round dry-brushing and flocking where needed.
The basing compound, as usual, I made myself. Wood glue mixed with old poster paint to get the colour (browny-black), then mixed with a lot of No More Cracks (polyfilla equivalent). Got all the bases covered, wondered what I could usefully do with the spare, then realised I hadn't even started thinking about the stronghold. The remaining basing compound would become unusable in a few minutes.... this is a hordes-based army... grabbed the stronghold from the Chess army for a quick size check, compared with the Very Useful Box I'd planned on using for the army as a whole, and cut out a bit more of the mounting board I'd used to make the bases, a centimetre under the perfect Hordes stronghold (which leaves deployment space for 1 rank in front of itself, and means future recycled Hordes start as far forward as possible), A few ready-made trees came from the Stash, super-glued on to the base, and the remaining basing compound just covered it nicely. Visiting it later, though, I see I've run into a repeat of an old problem with strongholds - the card warped under the slight dampness of the basing compound :( At least I'd caught it before it dried, and I've clamped a plastic ruler over the top and down onto a bit of wood. It'll dry flat, though whether it also dries with a plastic ruler irretrievably stuck to the scenery remains to be seen. I may have to prune the trees a bit to get the stronghold into the required box, too.
Spiders of Mirkwood, as of this morning, have all the textured bases done and drying, including the tree armatures for the Lurkers . I'll add webs to them (black thread and varnish, I think), glue the spider models on the other bases, then go round dry-brushing and flocking where needed.
The basing compound, as usual, I made myself. Wood glue mixed with old poster paint to get the colour (browny-black), then mixed with a lot of No More Cracks (polyfilla equivalent). Got all the bases covered, wondered what I could usefully do with the spare, then realised I hadn't even started thinking about the stronghold. The remaining basing compound would become unusable in a few minutes.... this is a hordes-based army... grabbed the stronghold from the Chess army for a quick size check, compared with the Very Useful Box I'd planned on using for the army as a whole, and cut out a bit more of the mounting board I'd used to make the bases, a centimetre under the perfect Hordes stronghold (which leaves deployment space for 1 rank in front of itself, and means future recycled Hordes start as far forward as possible), A few ready-made trees came from the Stash, super-glued on to the base, and the remaining basing compound just covered it nicely. Visiting it later, though, I see I've run into a repeat of an old problem with strongholds - the card warped under the slight dampness of the basing compound :( At least I'd caught it before it dried, and I've clamped a plastic ruler over the top and down onto a bit of wood. It'll dry flat, though whether it also dries with a plastic ruler irretrievably stuck to the scenery remains to be seen. I may have to prune the trees a bit to get the stronghold into the required box, too.