Crisis 2024 loot

 Took a trip to Crisis 2024, together with the girls. They managed to keep themselves going for over 3 hours, colour me impressed. They each got a Primaris Marine so we will paint that the next weekend they are over. Emma even bought a blister of Dolphins....cause she likes Dolphins. Best reason I'd say.

It was nice to talk to the old guard, people I had not seen in a long time. The new place looks great, spacious. Plenty of vendors, even if there were a few cancellations that dropped the entry fee down from 12 to 10 Euros. Quite a bit of choice but not nearly as much as the old Crisis, but I wasn't expecting that. A lot of gaming tables but not crowded at all. Nice variety too.

My purchase goal for the day was 28mm scenery for Stalker, 28mm trees and nothing 15mm. Well.....that dind't quite pan out. 

• Scavengers II for Stargrave/Stalker, had my eye on this one for a while. 

• Silver Bayonet Carpathia and vampires, the Forest Witch and a blister of Cultists. These were from a pre order I made, on the show I saw hardly any SB stuff.  Only 1 seller had a few warbands that I could see, and he had no sales/discount. Saw quite a few plastic army boxes suitable for them but buying a 30 euro box with 40 troops of which you need just a few.... (says the man who routinely buys boxes for just that reason)
•  Gravestones....as I can't find my bag
• Tents....for a Stalker camp. 
• Large scrap piles from Kraken Wargames at 50% off.  For my Postapoc collection. They had some nice bags of barricades as well, but even at 50% off these were expensive....and I think I prefer to make my own anyway. Eventually.
  

I found no 28mm scenery for Stalker that I liked. Some printed stuff, but with (for me) too prominent lines. The MDF choices were limited to mostly Western and what I already have. Foam I can make my own. Trees, I only saw the same stuff. Plastic stem, reindeer moss for the shape and coated with flock. Not my thing. 

Well, 15mm then.

• 40% off on PSC kits if I'd buy 5 kits. You always need trucks, more AT guns are always useful, if only for the towed versions and a box of 38(t) for my future. Pity that yet again, no Russian trucks to be found anywhere.
• 40% discount on all Nam stuff at one shop, seller was kind enough to discount it even more to 5 euros per blister when I took his entire stock of T-34M's....cause I love the T-34 with starfish roadwheels. I want a small stash so I can build them for Iraq, the PLO, AK-47 etc. I doubt Battlefront will ever release these in plastic.....but a man can dream

No where near my usual amount, half of it is just for stock now, the other half I can get working on next week.

After that a quick trip to a Delhaize supermarket to get the kids some Eclairs (not for me, I got pickled flavoured crisps and a big bottle of French herbes cause I'm weird like that - crisps for eating and harbs as forest floor scatter) and then gassed up the car with some much needed and much cheaper Belgian gas and went home again. Spent almost 4 hours driving back and forth, including the traffic jams due to work on the Belgian roads. Like war, that also never changes.

Kids are beat, I'm beat, and a lovely day of nothing tomorrow.

Mixed messages

 Quiet evening doing some decalwork, and suddenly you think.....what message am I sending?

The right tool for the right job.

 I picked up and assembled a jig for my dremel. Drilling almost 1000 holes by hand would kill me otherwise. And none of them would be straight either! 

Concept test - concrete post perimeter fence for Stalker

 While I was cutting holes in bases for the 15mm fences I was looking at some of the wooden bits in big box of wood stuff, and suddenly had a epiphany. Glue 2 of them together and they resemble those old fashioned concrete posts I'm used to seeing at various factory and defence locations.

So, while I was working anyway, a bit of glue, a spare base and some time later....

10 inch base. Nothing is fixed so it is a bit wobbly, but you get the idea. Nice and imposing, quick to build in a factory line,waste is absolutely minimal. You can replace the wire with cut fly screen if that is your thing, or hang that metal gauze stuff from it. I'm thinking of adding a roll of concertina barbed wire on top.

I think I will make a tutorial for this, easy as it is, and I think I have a way of making these in 15mm as well, so that is even better.

Guardhouse for S.T.A.L.K.E.R

 First up...I'm dead on my feet. Decided I was tired of making stuff 3/4 of the way and letting it die.

So I started something yesterday, on a whim, by picking up the Sarissa Precision N136 Guard House / Bike Shelter.

Reference so you know what it is supposed to look like.

I converted it (last year I think?) after picking up 3. 1 for Stalker, 1 for a (Post Apoc) Motel check in and I completely forgot what the third was for.

The conversion, if you could call it that, was purely replacing the brick columns with flare sticks (from New Years eve) and trimming down the awning into a much smaller and slightly tilted one, and covering the roof nubs with a sheet of cardboard like always.

Then left it for 6-12 months ( I guess?) and came back to it to see the roof very, very warped. So grabbed the foamcutter and card and made a new, angled roof. Fully reversable if I want to. After that I added a star to the facing wall, and used the railings I removed from the 15mm Factory Chimney building as gates. If you are wondering why the side is open, in my planning I'll be adding a concrete wall on the side  (part of the 3-4 metres of concrete wall I have to make....jay for the foamcutter). Not visible in those pics is the length of chain I picked up and glued in place to lock the gate. My punch was used to make a round bit for the "lock".

Yesterday I grabbed the cheap craft paints that are a bit chalky as I find those to work great with MDF, and made sure I got it all to the monochrome stage and did the basics in (to me anyway) Russian Blue, painted the Red Star. And for the heck of it, painted the inside in dual colour as well. And that is where I left it yesterday.

 Today, my coach cancelled as she had a new client that was a bit of a handfull, so I suddenly had a lot of free time (kids are at Kim's today as well). Which takes me back to the beginning, why not finish the model today? I need to learn the art of less is more, and I want to get stuff done as I want to game, dammit.

And so I began. It took me about 5 hours in total, 1 hour of that just for the glazing. it may not look it to you, but this is what I would call Wargaming standard (mine anyway) as I could have done and added so, so much more. But I'm now of the opinion I could go at it for another 5 hours....but no one will notice (except me). So here you have it, the Guard House for the Research Complex for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Hope you like it. It took immense constraint to keep myself focussed (jay for Autism) to get it done, but I did it and I'm over the moon so to speak. I can still do it, I pushed myself over the edge and it is done. Now a 2 day break to rest my hands and clear my head, and a little bit of light painting on friday I think.

No 3D printed parts were used in the making of this model, just good old fashioned card, glue and blood. And yes, cutting all the glazing was fun.

Quickbuild - 15mm Fishing boat WIP Part 2

 Well....primed it ready to be painted tonight, but my donor mentioned it did not look boaty enough. All right, I got this. A toothpick or 2, copper wire and some UV resin later...

Boaty McBoatface!

Quickbuild - 15mm Fishingboat WIP

 Was chatting to a friend online tonight and told him I had refound one of his gifts. Had a brainwave then and there, turn it into a fishing boat. Some gauze, beads,  and 5ml of super glue later.... Quickest build by me in years.

Amazing shit picture for your frustration added

 Ship is one of those cheap basic plastic ones like I used on the Iraqi patrolboat. I will not add a base as I have a big river now (will be debasing the Iraqi boat when I fix the MG that has broken). Tomorrow use some putty to fill in the holes on the beads, and give it a respray in gray, and try to get it fully painted by the end of the weekend so I have another scenery piece for 15mm done. Planning on a painted hull African style, blue netting, orange floats, and plenty of weathering.