Board work 5

It has been some time since I have done any work on the boards. 
Through the previous two years there has been some deterioration. Some larger pieces have fallen off, chips and so forth have lead to un-undercoated sections of the board.

So I bought two cans of spray paint and got some PVA glue out...

I started PVA-ing this board, over the exposed polystyrene sections:

While that was happening, as you can see from the other picture, I got another board out and resprayed it black over some exposed sections, then sprayed it 'cocoa bean' brown. 

That was the only brown they had, it hasn't shown up as a decent brown, but the next layer after this should be a mid -brown, then a much lighter brown, then flocking/etc... so the difference between the two can be overlooked for now.

Also the shadow lord took some paint and he is now mostly undercoated

Missed his sword completely, oops

This means that the boards will hopefully look a lot better during any future battles.

Until then

Fish

Board work 4

Well I finally decided to tuck into the third board

Although rather unlike the other two I glued patches of sand, not an entire board's worth.

Here it is:

I noticed that in the plans I designed a road system, which seems to have been replaced by huge amounts of sand OOPs :( .

I did a spraying session, which might have included orcs and some other terrain features, but the can ran out just before I finished spraying this board section. 
So one patch looks more sandy than black.

Definitely will have to get some more spray paint, for the final square of board, orcs, the Shadowlord and other terrain features.

Until then

Fish

Spraying session 3

Well, I decided against spaying single boards on their own, since it's....well....time consuming. But instead to do them two at a time,

Here's the two ready for spraying

And after

As predicted the uncovered areas of polystyrene melted away, more rapidly and deeper than anticipated.
Now all that's left to do is let them dry, then glue the surface for protection, and they should be ready for painting :) .

Well I used very little glue for both of the boards, about 2 and a quarter tubs of sand and I may consider buying some more spray paint, but I definitely need some more sand.

Anyway I've started to glue the surfaces as a protective layer.

Until then

Fish

Board work 3

Here's the second board in the process of glueing.
This one of the hilled boards:

This board has many more unsanded areas/bare patches, which will present a problem with spraying,
tomorrow the spraying should be done for the first two boards meaning it'll be almost done : D .

That concludes today's episode, for last week... : /.

Until then

Fish

Board work 2

Today was mostly unsuccessful but things may improve easily.

First I worked out how much glue/water was needed for each board, which given the first coat is at a 2:1, water to glue, ratio means that I needed 160ml of water and 80ml of glue (quite unrealistic).
So half-wingin it, I applied the glue to patches of the board, then spread sand about that patch.
Unfortunately the sand dried in patches, leaving 'wooden' looking ground in areas. To solve this I rubbed the sand freeing the lose bits, then re-applied a layer of glue with the freed bits of sand. That now looks like:

The low hill from a model's eye view

Supposed to be the rocky patch

I also noticed that the larger sand particles came to the edges. If this happens on every board, then I will not be as worried.

The next step is to spray black,
then apply the basecoats,
before applying the final paint,
And then the flocking and varnish to finish.

But before I get into painting, flocking and the likes after the black primer is applied I'll move on to the next board, until all four are done :) .

A smaller instalment this week, but I have been putting together a list of names ready for Gondor in flames!!

Until then

Fish

Modelling

Previously I ran out of plastic glue, so went out to get some. Along the way, and my primary intention of going out, I bought a litre of PVA glue for the battle board.
I hope this will be enough, since there was a 2 litre right beside it, which I decided against buying and doing some calculations:

Assuming a 1mm application height, and 1000cm3 of glue(1litre) also overall ratios equate to 6:6 = 1:1 glue to water.

therefore a max. volume of 2000cm3 (1000cm3 x 2)

2000cm3/0.1cm = area = 20000cm2

because I am covering a square board width = length

square root of 20000cm2 = 100 x (root)(2)

which is 141(-ish)cm either way.

the board is 48'' by 48'' = 121.9cm by 121.9cm

so the mixture should easily cover the board

Enough Maths, here's the modelled board:

Anyways, here's the modelling finished, or just more rocks added:

Where the two hilly boards meet

A small rocky patch

Another small rocky patch

A very tiny mound for the plain board

Will hopefully look better covered in sand

All being well I'll apply the sand tomorrow, then spray black then then another glue layer can be applied.

Until then

Fish

Sand dunes and salty air

I managed to get a large bag of sand, only problem, one accidental slit and two days of rain had caused it to become thoroughly soaked, I converted some of the sand into tubs and waited for it to dry.

While that was happening I glued the hills to the boards:

Small update this time since I have been completing summer assignments. But hopefully next time all the green stuff and rocks will be placed, ready for the sand layer to be put down :)

Until then

Fish

Scenes from Middle earth

Here's some plastic terrain that I got from Ebay buyings, I thought of doing it like the Battle games in Middle-Earth magazine 54(?) suggested. Anyways, here they be:

The smaller two pieces are own bases because it allows for extra mobility of terrain pieces, and I couldn't think of what else to do with them.


Now the elusive objective markers:

The Shield is 'supposed' to represent the shield of the free peoples.
If you're wondering what the shiny purply-bluey-greeny rock things are. It's silicon carbide that I got from Bridport on holiday, it costs about £2 and you get 100g of unbreakable rocks (unless you get out a hammer, or there's a thin piece). It's not very themed for middle earth but even Sauron would be intrigued, or I hope so at least. 

"This pretty mineral is a compound of Silicon and Carbon and although usually man made, occurs naturally as the extremely rare mineral Moissanite. This can be found in minute quantities in certain types of meteorites." 












To the battleboard! Since I finally managed to make a hot-wire cutter, which I had a need for many jobs, that I couldn't find any more once I'd made the thing.

Of those I set to carve up the polystyrene pieces that made the future hills of middle-earth. Firstly the lone hill, to be placed in the centre of one of the boards.
After cutting:

After sanding down:

This was the starter pieces, so I could get used to my new cutter :), Overall turned out well, a few glitches but not bad.
Then first corner pieces after cutting:

After Sanding down:

The corner pieces are much more difficult than I imagined, they have to match with the other piece, on both sides. Also you would have noticed there are three levels gather than four, again I changed my mind. The gradient of the slope would have been too great to be like a hill.
And the final Corner pieces:

After sanding down:

I suppose this corner is a lot easier to cut because it was designed to be rockier so the slope didn't have to be a gentle slope.


After this the other things to complete this board are: Glueing hills, etc.; Modelling rocks and bumps; adding sand to everything; Spray black; Painting, Flocking. And then done!! 6 more things to do, and I've only done three things :( .


Well that leaves nothing to say, I'm off to compose and play out the 5th and 6th the final rounds of the tournament. A lot can still happen in the final stages of the tourney. 


Until then

Fish

Update

Sooner than expected.
I Managed to acquire some batteries for some photos. 


So Here are the pictures of the hills so far. 

I decided to only have four layers of Polystyrene rather that the original six. This makes for easier storage and more gradual slopes on the hills. 

Hill with four layers.

Hill with six Layers.

Also The plans for the board. Each square represents 4" meaning 48"x48" or 4'x4' in total gaming area.

And by 'Fort' I mean with ruined walls and a gate on top of the hill. This does make the board too themed in a way, so the plan is to make the wall sections and gate removable so it looks like an ordinary hill =) when the they're not there.

I've started on the low(ish) hill.

With these two layers, one will be 12" in diameter and the second 6". The idea is to have a gradual assent to the 'summit' 

The next stages for the board are sculpting the hills into a 'hill'-like shape, gluing it down, and sanding the surface.

And finally

The Painted Warriors of Minas Tirith.

Archers

Swordsmen

Spearmen

Still many more models in the backlog to paint, Rangers of Gondor, Theodred, Morannon orcs, and some Guard of the fountain Court.

Until then

Fish