Topic: Midaski's Meandering Multitudinous Machinations .... Arise

[GamesPoet]

Right - some new pics.

Firstly the pesky Oathmark Goblins


Not fully finished when I took this, but now they have the shields, and the bases have been done with filler (spackle).

An army is developing!

Then there is this Coachhouse I have been working on for ages. The building itself was done, apart from the roof, quite a while back.
However I decided it would be better if there was a courtyard for the archway to lead to, and so out came the Hirst Arts bricks, and a pair of scissors snipped out some flagstones.



I have undercoated the courtyard now, and it is on the paint table. 

I like this project a lot.  Are the Hirst Arts brick single casts?  And I like the multi-entrances to the courtyard, much more useable this way.

[Midaski]

Oh yes - the 3 entrances were especially with gameplay in mind.

I'm not sure whether to leave this thread in here, or transfer it to the B&P.

Originally I put it here as the thread was intended to be more about scenery and boards.

I suppose the question is whether I mix work on minis in here as well, or create another thread for figures?
Decisions, decisions.

[GamesPoet]

Well, it is likely that you know my answer already, but here it is anyway ... two threads are better than one!

[GamesPoet]

Also, beside my question above on the Hirst Art Molds, where are the stone slabs in the court yard coming from?

[Midaski]

The 'stone slabs' are cardboard - trimmed by my own fair hand.   

I save the backing card from notepads - makes excellent hobby material.

I think I will stay with the one thread at the moment as most of my efforts are likely to be scenery orientated in the near future.
Working on the premise that if I have nicely made and painted scenery then I will feel unable to put unpainted figures on the tabletop, compelling me to paint figures to use with it.

Nice theory - let's see how it works in practise.   

[Artobans Ghost]

Damn Mids!
That coachhouse rocks!  And the manor/chapel courtyard is outstanding! OUTSTANDING!

Your foam work walls and steps are crazy. Gives me more inspiration to move on Fort Stanley

[Midaski]

Your foam work walls and steps are crazy. Gives me more inspiration to move on Fort Stanley

Hmmm I wish.
It's not foam, but Hirst Arts bricks.

I bought several moulds from him a few years ago, and every now and then I have a moulding frenzy. I have various tubs and tins with alll sorts of bricks in them.
If you look on Page 1 you can see my dock and that is foam with bricks along the edge, and the cobbled flooring is another Hirst Arts mould.

[Artobans Ghost]

Your foam work walls and steps are crazy. Gives me more inspiration to move on Fort Stanley

Hmmm I wish.
It's not foam, but Hirst Arts bricks.

I bought several moulds from him a few years ago, and every now and then I have a moulding frenzy. I have various tubs and tins with alll sorts of bricks in them.
If you look on Page 1 you can see my dock and that is foam with bricks along the edge, and the cobbled flooring is another Hirst Arts mould.

You Mold them?!!
Awesome. Can you still get the moulds. I’ll form a full fledge construction outfit for my 2 villages and city 😺

[Midaski]

https://www.hirstarts.com/

[Artobans Ghost]

https://www.hirstarts.com/

Thanks!
Ordered 2 moulds already. 😺

[Naitsabes]

Good looking houses. The Renedra Stone Bases are neat, didn't know that sort of product existed. For the large manor where you had to fuse the bases, you must have used something else underneath for stability, right? I think I see something poking out in the picture.

[Midaski]

Good looking houses. The Renedra Stone Bases are neat, didn't know that sort of product existed. For the large manor where you had to fuse the bases, you must have used something else underneath for stability, right? I think I see something poking out in the picture.

Yes indeed - I used some 2mm MDF board. I use it for pretty much all of my scenery bases.

I thought I had made a mistake when I glued the bases to the board.
I had worked out the area for the piece, but didn't think about lining up the bases with each other.

However it turns out that they don't match up symmetrically, which is probably my only gripe about them.

Renedra also now make a timber plank version which I have bought a few of to experiment with.
I am wondering if they might work as upper floors in a home made building, or as the base for a cabin and you could have a ready made porch.

[GamesPoet]

The 'stone slabs' are cardboard - trimmed by my own fair hand.   

I save the backing card from notepads - makes excellent hobby material.

That is a lot of slab cutting. Impressive.  Seems like good use for those note card backings!

I think I will stay with the one thread at the moment as most of my efforts are likely to be scenery orientated in the near future.
Working on the premise that if I have nicely made and painted scenery then I will feel unable to put unpainted figures on the tabletop, compelling me to paint figures to use with it.

Nice theory - let's see how it works in practise. 

Well if this is going to be your construction thread, go for it.

[GamesPoet]

https://www.hirstarts.com/

Thanks!
Ordered 2 moulds already. 😺

I looked, was tempted, and have delayed, again.

[Midaski]

Carrying on from the Fortified Manors and Chapels builds, there are a load of walls and fences and 'bits' in the kits as well so I got creative with them as well.

These first two are proper 'fields' and I did them around the end of April/ beginning of May. As you can see I undercoated them with what I thought was 'brown', but seems to have dried a little redder. 





Yesterday I had a go with most of the remaining bits, and they are a bit more ramshackle.




The latter one I'm not over happy with - not sure whether to saw off the excess base board or break it up and have another go?
I have some Renedra wattle fencing but the scale is different. I might just see if I get an idea to enhance it.
I bodged some fenceposts out of sprue for a couple of misaligned joints, and a bit of texturing might help hide the worst of the joins at ground level.

In the meantime I am working on the tents you can see in the background - once I get an answer to how they would have been laid out in an army camp. 

[GamesPoet]

I see there's a load of half painted minis in that one picture.  Looks like I'm not the only one who has many multiple projects happening.

And sort of reminds me of my currently unfinished mounted crossbows, although mine are at least table ready.









 

[Midaski]

Ha

There is a regiment of 20 Kislev Swordsmen there - admittedly some in need of repair, but all painted back in 2006 for the Dutch GT.
There are also another 10 or so I think that are partially done that I made up later to expand the unit for later editions.

I had them out last December when I came back from the Eurobash all enthused to get a 6th Edition army ready for a tournament at the end of March that Fr1day was running.
Before the lockdown came along. 

[GamesPoet]

Your Kislev are wearing a lot of black.









 

[Artobans Ghost]

I’m loving those fenced in boards. I want em! Want em!

[GamesPoet]

By the way, I like the idea of having some enclosed pieces of scenery like that.

I have all those same pieces from the walls kit GW was selling years ago, plus haven't done up the ones from the walled manor house kit yet.  With the walls kit I cut some of them in half to get stones to go with stones, and wattle or wood to go with theirs, but them I use them as individual pieces to make whatever is needed at the time of their use.

[Midaski]

By the way, I like the idea of having some enclosed pieces of scenery like that.

I have all those same pieces from the walls kit GW was selling years ago, plus haven't done up the ones from the walled manor house kit yet.  With the walls kit I cut some of them in half to get stones to go with stones, and wattle or wood to go with theirs, but them I use them as individual pieces to make whatever is needed at the time of their use.

Well I imagine I will use them alongside the Manor, but spaced apart so that there is a track between them for troops or wagons to move.
I may put animals in them grazing, or I might get something to 'drop in' to make it look like a crop is growing - who knows?
The scruffier ones - well the further away from the Manor the more ramshackle they get. 

I too have some individual wall pieces that I can use for extra walls, but the trouble with them is they easily get knocked out of position which annoys me.
I have considered some sort of sticky tack to hold them in place more.

My ideal will be to have a small town or village covering my 4x4 table.
The Manor and then a variety of buildings along with fields and some woods, and maybe a stream - more in tune with a warband or skirmish game rather than the pitched battle.

I can get a 7' x 4' board across my Shen wall to wall, but I will have to crawl underneath to get to the other side - increasingly less appeal as my body ages. 

[Jmash]

Very much enjoying the enclosed fields (both pristine and ramshackle versions). 

I have always been gutted that I never got my hands on a fortified manor or any of the other scenery sets for that matter, walls, chapel, guard tower etc. I don't have a battlefield to furnish but just always liked the idea of having some terrain to add a bit of atmosphere to my army when they eventually get finished and (hopefully) displayed. Maybe even get some nice snaps of them in their true environment.

I've dabbled with the idea of splashing out on some of the old Forgeworld buildings. Maybe someday...

[Midaski]

Been working on some Renedra Tents and after a bit of research and thought as to usage I have cut some bases and set them up so I can use them in either a large camp or as individual units for a skirmish or adventuring game.



Each size of the tents has a base with 2 or 3 on it as well as individual bases. The idea to suit gaming is that there is generally a 25mm gap between the tents

I also took a hobby knife to some sprue off-cuts shaving them down to make them look like fence posts and some cross struts to fill a hole in the fencing on my last scruffy field posted earlier.
Very simple but I am quite pleased with the result.
The wheel catches the eye and I don't think you notice my bodge job alongside it. 



Finally I posted some pics of some 'trees/bushes' I have been working on in the 100 Days thread after it came up on Zoom last Saturday, but this is the wok table in my Shen currently.

It's actually the underside of my 4' square gaming table with a brown paint for use as an alternative to the other sea side for a more arid scenario, but it is just a little bit covered with various things I am working on.

[Zygmund]

Your work has completely taken over your table. Ouch. 

I'd love to have so much space! I practically never get to do larger terrain pieces because of the lack of workspace. Envious.

-Z

[GamesPoet]

I like the tent village!  The fence fix looks like a fence fix, and that isn't a bad thing.

Your 4'x4'  gaming table reminds me of mind slowly being talken over by miniature projects.  I have extended my 5'x7' game table with my grqandmother's 4'x 1 1/2' plus I tacked on an old desk top at the end as well.  I've now rigged up the sewing table with a an end table placed on top of it for putting a camera to use for Zoom gaming, and the desk top turned into table extension is serving as a project organizer, and terrain making placement spot.