Pink and Sparkly!

More progress on buildings.

I was thinking about how to texture the walls and remembered these:

Mikey picked up about a dozen jars many years ago for about 50 cents each and gave me a couple. After all this time the paint is still good so I slathered on the pink paint with abandon. It even has glitter in it. But not to worry, after a coating of brown latex you won't be able to tell.

Four buildings assembled and textured. The roof sections are reinforced with popsicle sticks to prevent warping.

I've also done over 100 inches of walls in varying heights including some breached sections. I used more popsicle sticks as bases and by overhanging the ends I could butt sections together to make corners instead of worrying about dedicated corner pieces.

I've used most of the pot of paint. But it goes on thick so I've been able to cover the edges of the foam core without the step of applying caulk or putty first.

Compounds WIP

Stopped thinking and perusing other people's work and started cutting this week.

I'll get a couple more assembled then I'll texture and paint all at once.

I'm stalled on the big grape hut in the background. I think it's too big, but I'm not sure how to make smaller vents. I may switch to wood and use a drill and file to cut the vents.

The buildings with the thatched lean-tos is inspired by one of the Silver Whistle's buildings. I'm not sure if you can see them, but I am trying to build some rock walls under the lean-tos with fish tank gravel.

RESULT!!

Some career advice from my Warrent Officer:

The jobs I interviewed for a few weeks back didn't pan out. They would have paid really well, but the shifts would have made keeping active with cadets challenging.

But earlier in the summer Wierdy-Beardy mentioned a friend who owns a small factory in town and he'd put in a good word for me.

"I'm not looking for anyone right now but maybe in the fall" says the friend.

"Ride out Ottaway (my temp job) for the summer and see how New Form (the friend of Wierdy-Beardy) shapes up  in the fall" says Mrs. Rabbitman wisely.

Weekend before last Wierdy-Beardy says his friend was looking for my resume and couldn't find it. I resubmit and Wierdy-Beardy takes a copy in person to put right in his hand.

So Thursday I had an interview plus another one at a different factory. Friday New Form calls back and can I come in for a second interview on Tuesday?

The second interview was a job offer starting at a few cents shy of what I'd worked up to at Schaeffler before that went sideways, plus it's straight days and weekends for myself.

I start Monday.

Irrigation Ditches

Now that the current stock of troops for my Canadians in the Panjwayi project are done I've been jonesing to get the terrain finished so I can put on a game!

One long section didn't make it into the layout

In the last two weeks I made 13 more sections of pot field, using up all my stocks of fake greenery and I finished the irrigation ditches. After coating the banks with glue and fine sand the sections were spray painted. The water was then painted a dark brown. I noticed some bald sections in the sand which I covered with some tan static grass.

I should add some trees along the ditch banks

A couple of the end cap sections had some cuts in the surface which I covered with tufts. Since the tufts were brown I coloured the tops with Games Workshop "Orc flesh wash" which is green naturally.

I sealed the ends with tape and then poured the Woodland Scenics "Water Effects Resin" the Madpadre gave me. Just to be cautious I gave it 48 hours to cure instead of 24. I then added green Woodland Scenics "coarse turf" in patches along the banks, covering any flaws. Pouring the resin was challenging, trying to get coverage but not let it get deeper than the recommended 1/8th inch thickness.

Inspired by pictures on the Silver Whistle blog and the Too Fat Lardies blog I made six foot bridges from match sticks and coffee stirrers. They are all movable. Painting started with a honey brown which was too bright. I weathered it with dove grey which was too pale. A brown ink wash was applied and then wiped off with a rag to get the final effect. Which was just right.

So now it's grape fields and huts, walls and a few compounds.

Sniper team

This week in between working on the pot fields, I finished the last of my Elheim figures, my sniper team from the battle group's I&R (Intelligence and Recce) platoon.

I'm not sure if ghillie suits were used much in Afghanistan, but that's the way these guys came, so I did a proper scenic base for them to add to the atmosphere.

Taliban view

Although I imagine they are an off table support option in Fighting Season. But they look cool.

Tea time!

It's no secret that tea is my drug of choice. So when Artizan released this fellow for their North West Frontier line, I had to get him.

I finally got this version of General Sir Pelham Gronville Wooster at his ease painted up this past week.

The building is a gift from Pasha Dan. It is a resin aquarium piece but also makes a great tomb/palace/whathaveyou for the Frontier.

Saturday Night on the Road to Damascus

Last night Pasha Dan was over to try out a scenario he is thinking of for Hotlead 2016 next March.

It's an ancient Roman variation on his massively popular multi-sided Pulp adventure trust me games with hidden agendas, bribery and back-stabbing. But this time with pila and sword instead of Tommy guns.

We had the local cohort (me) holding a bandit chief, waiting for the convoy with the pay for my troops which would take the prisoner back to Palmyra. There were some gladiators on a tear looking for loot. A local noble hoping to exploit things for private gain. Another local merchant wanting revenge on the prisoner. The bandit chief's gang wanting to break him out. Hilarious hijinks ensue in this desert hive of scum and villainy. With more players he could add another 2 or 3 groups into the mix.

Dan set up quite an extensive town (reusing a lot of his colonial buildings), featuring a mix of Miniature Building Authority, a plastic Italeri kit, a repainted  souvenir, towers from an old toy pirates game, foam core buildings and some buildings carved out of the dense foam used for flower arranging (including the Fort) plus resin aquarium pieces.

Just another day in Canis Minor

"You pesky kids keep out of my amphorae!"

"Thanks folks, we'll be here all week! Try the fish."

After a bit of initial circling things got nasty when the bandits made a try for the pay chests.

Gladiators sally out to find trouble

Local merchant arrives seeking revenge

Pay convoy and escort

One of my patrols returns from the desert to reinforce the convoy

Bandits ambush the pay convoy!

And grab the camel with the pay chests!

But the bandit got a scorpion bolt from the fort through his shoulders and the rest of the bandits got cut down trying to flee into the alley

Gladiators ambush local equestrian

Merchant has shot down the prisoner after I handed him over to the convoy, now we face off in the street

Gladiators and equestrian's guards face off after exchanging a lot of blood

With the bandit chief dead we called the game and discussed who had been able to achieve  their objectives and what sort of excusing reports and angry letters would be getting sent to the governor.

Dan has been running these games for years. We met many many years ago when he was running a similar game at MIGSCON (when it was in it's heydays at the Hamilton Holiday Inn) and I was also commanding the dromedary troops chasing a bnadit chief.