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Author Topic: Bison's Tales of Hobby Crafting  (Read 56222 times)

bob48

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Reply #90 on: October 12, 2021, 01:29:29 PM
I've been here a couple of times in the past;

https://tynesidewargames.co.uk/wherewhen.html

And these are the guys who organise the yearly event we normally attend, although not for the last couple of years obviously.

https://sites.google.com/site/borderreiverswargamessociety/Home

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'


Bison

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Reply #91 on: October 12, 2021, 01:44:11 PM
I have literally played and visited stores all over the U.S. and I have never really seen anything similar to what people from the UK post regarding game clubs.

Triangle Simulation Society here is pretty close, but they don't have a regular space the way most UK clubs do

It’s funny how we often lament the “decline” of historical wargaming. However it seems, in the US, we do not organize in any meaningful way to perpetuate it locally. I guess we have really relegated ourselves to houses and very limited social networks.



Bison

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Reply #92 on: October 13, 2021, 11:08:20 PM
Funny thing about embracing the full spectrum of miniatures wargaming hobby is the amount of time you spend doing everything but playing a game. The past month my time has mostly been spent painting orcs. As a result, I have put off building some much needed terrain and reading the rules for ME SBG again. Such is life I suppose. And to be honest, I quite enjoy it.

However, the past two evenings I have been researching rules for ancients. Moving into a historical system to build and paint is my next project after I finish painting up the Middle Earth miniatures and the newly acquired Warcry set. I think the two systems I am most considering are Warhammer Ancient Battles and Swordpoint. WAB is problematic to purchase do to it being OOP. Swordpoint seems like a decent successor system to WAB with a great catalogue of era army books that are still in print and not too expensive. I would like Hittite and Early Egyptian chariot armies, Peloponnesian War Greeks, or Punic War armies. I have 15mm Rome and Carthage forces but I am not overly keen on working with metal figures. We shall see but first I need to decide on a system and figure out the basing requirements.

No point to the post other than hobby life is good with more than enough things to occupy my time.



Martok

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Reply #93 on: October 14, 2021, 01:38:13 AM
Sounds like you have a fair bit to consider -- which is not a bad thing.  :) 


"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Bison

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Reply #94 on: October 17, 2021, 02:21:52 PM
I took UCG's advice and kept the Army of the Dead painting very simple. I primed them with a light grey Vallejo primer and used Citadel paints for the actual paint job. Base coat is Corax White and Coelia Greenshade provided the color. Deciding whether or not I want to go back and do a light dry brush with either Corax White or perhaps very light mix of green into the white. I may just leave them as is because I kind of like the effect as is but perhaps a little too dark. Of course, I totally forgot about their shields so I will need to go back to paint and glue them to the models.
« Last Edit: October 17, 2021, 02:55:26 PM by Bison »



Undercovergeek

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Reply #95 on: October 17, 2021, 02:27:21 PM
Looking great - I think I went back with a dry brush of terminatus stone



Bison

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Reply #96 on: October 17, 2021, 02:36:43 PM
A Tale of Three Basing Schemes...

I have never really based my miniatures before. I painted the figure and then usually just painted the base a dark grey or black. They work just fine and perhaps better for RPG sessions with no elaborate basing. However, I think wargame miniatures look much better with some sort of basing to tie the miniature into the battle field. Except snow basing. I have hated every single example of snow effects I have seen online. They always look out of place. Green field and these dodgy dudes running around with patches of white. Anyway I digress...

I have amassed a small collection of basing materials to do the work. KISS is the ongoing premise. I just want to get the armies to the table looking decent.

And so I turned to two easily available product lines at the local game shops. Army Painter and Citadel for fake grass, rocks, tuffs, and technical paints to produce textured ground covers. A small sample of the Army Painter products is below. Now I get why people chose to go the industrial bulk sized products but frankly the little tubs from Army Painter are great for storage and there is very good variety for the various grass and tuffs. Also I love the cork rocks. They are great and very easy to work with while modeling.
« Last Edit: October 17, 2021, 02:54:16 PM by Bison »



Bison

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Reply #97 on: October 17, 2021, 02:40:13 PM
Being a bit indecisive on the route I wanted to go I picked out three minis from the RPG collection to test some bases. The orc fighter and wizard are painted by yours truly several years ago and are from the Wizkids Deep Cuts line. The fighter came from a pre-painted box of D&D minis I bought about 2 decades ago. Anyway some variation of these will be used for the ME SBG Orcs and Rohan warriors. I think I may look for a grey rock effect for the Army of the Dead.
« Last Edit: October 17, 2021, 02:57:29 PM by Bison »



Bison

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Reply #98 on: October 17, 2021, 02:45:13 PM
The orc is based using Citadel Stirland Battlemire, a cork rock painted and dry brushed, a few of the small cork rocks, and the Battlefield Step Grass.

I really thought the Citadel paint would have more texture. But it's really intended to be a muddy effect and did not respond to dry brushing to pull out texture. I think I could shape it more but it work great to hide the pre-molded base of the mini. The tuft is a stepland grass I think.



Bison

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Reply #99 on: October 17, 2021, 02:47:47 PM
The wizard base uses Citadel Agrellan Badlands which I really like the cracking effect a lot. However, it's pretty a very light color. I may look for a slightly darker technical paint. The tufts are stepgrass again. Really going for a scrub brush desert look.



Bison

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Reply #100 on: October 17, 2021, 02:50:20 PM
Finally the fighter base is just the small battlefield cork rock, battlefield grass, and a plains shrub tuff. Simple. I forgot to paint the base brown and did not fully put down a good layer of glue but the touch up works for the two to three foot away rule.



Bison

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Reply #101 on: October 17, 2021, 02:53:51 PM
Looking great - I think I went back with a dry brush of terminatus stone

Thanks. It was honestly nice to have something simple to paint. I will have to look to see if I have a Vallejo equivalent. I did like working with the Corax White more so than the Vallejo white I have. It had better consistency. My Vallejo is a bit too watery and can leave a very chalky finish.



thecommandtent

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Reply #102 on: October 17, 2021, 08:41:04 PM
Good stuff!



Bison

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Reply #103 on: October 18, 2021, 12:06:47 AM
Sounds like you have a fair bit to consider -- which is not a bad thing.  :)

I found a cheap copy of the Warhammer Ancient Battles and the Ancient Armies rulebooks. So I have committed to an initial ruleset...I would be afraid of being made to sleep on the couch for my impulse shopping spree. However, I fall asleep on the Lazy Boy all the time. So punishment or no punishment my sleeping habits will at least remain the same.  ;D

The biggest issue eventually will be figuring out how the ranks and base sizes work out. It seems like Black Powder the rules are pretty non-committal in this regard.



Bison

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Reply #104 on: October 18, 2021, 12:07:24 AM
Good stuff!

Git' ye to the paint table and do some crafting!