Cakeasaur!

Our local Games Workshop ids having a birthday party today, so we baked a cake...

The dinosaur itself is mazipan, painted with food colouring.

Building Skinktown (part 2)

I have now finished the buildings at the front, as these views show, they just need painting.

Construction was just the same as before for the rectangular buildings. The painted building in the centre of the lower image was made from a plastic container that some tennis balls were sold it, with half a ping pong ball stuck on top, with some carbon strips added. It was originally built free-standing, which is why it is already painted. I also cut it down in size to fit the scene.

The domed tower at the right of the upper image is a cardboard tube with half a ping pong ball on top, whilst the dome on the building beside it was cut from a polystyrene ball (packed of these can purchased from Amazon for not too much).

The building to the left of that was built from a plastic wine glass with the base removed, and a small ball on top.

Next stage will be painting...

Building Skinktown (part 1)

I am building a diorama for Warhammer figures; Skinktown. The building style will be part Moroccan, part Tattooine. It is designed so it could be used as a backdrop to a battle, on a 2' by 1' board, with a road in the centre to fit the existing battleboards. Eventually I will build a second one to go beside it, so we can have a 4' by 5' battlefield.

The basic form, then is a 2' by 1' board, 4mm plywood, just like the other boards, but with a similar vertical piece.

The shape of the land is formed with expanded polystyene, glued down with a hot glue gun. The plan is a road across the back, jumping a ravine on a bridge, with a second road descending from the left to the centre.

So there are two rows of buildings, those at the back in low relief. I built some rough prototypes of the building at the front to get in idea of how it would look, then started on the buildings at the back.

This one will go at the left, and is built of corrugated card from an old box. You can see how it has been cut to allow for the landscape at the right.

Here it is at a later stage, with an addition at the top right. Windows and doors have lintels (card from a cereal packet), the windows have meshes over them and the door is in place.

To give the walls texture, I painted on PVA glue and then liberally sprinkled on talc (I also filled in gaps in the corrugated card as much as possible too). Then the buildings were glued in place.

By the way, the sky was painted blue using a small roller; it gives a much more even finish than a brush; very important for sky.

In this image you can also see two of the prototypes for the foreground buildings.

Then I filled in gaps between the buildings with plaster. I used ready mixed plaster, a tub is only a pound from Poundland. Then it is all painted with white primer (the stuff you use on wood when decorating the house; it is relatively cheap and goes on any surface).

That is it so far. Next I will work on the building at the front.

A battlefield

We now have a battlefield!

The tiles and features have been described in previous posts. Each board is 2' square, and there are six laid out, though you can only see four properly.

Here is a battle in progress, ogres versus Seraphon.

We use the SCGT point system to ensure more-or-less equal sides. Ogres won!

Building Houses

I have built a couple of houses, one a ruin. i have gone for an adobe/desert vibe, inspired by images like these:

https://houseofqueeg.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/28mm-afghanistan-skirmish-wargaming-terrain-board/

http://www.tabletop-terrain.com/archives/2007/07/12/800/cairo-table-for-luggage-lost/

For one thing, a flat roof allows players to put models on them. I intend to build a small village, but for now, here are two isolated buildings:

Bronze Daemon?

My daughter has won a "Bronze Daemon" for her painting of a saurus knight. Details here:

https://www.facebook.com/GamesWorkshopPreston/photos/a.312882932060549.97507.213954711953372/1290824237599742/?type=3&theater

Building a battlefield

Starting to get a proper battlefield built here are a couple of images. The first is a simple hill. It is built from foamboard insulation, 5 cm thick. It is not nice stuff to work with; use in a well-ventilated area away from children. The rocks are bits of expanded polystyrene glues on. The slope and rocks are covered in plaster, the whole thing painted with primer paint.

The rocks wre painted with dilute black poster paint, which runs into the cracks to highlight the shadows. The rest was painted with green poster paint. I then spread sawdust, dyed with the same poster paint, over the top, glued with PVA.

The feature on the left is removable, and is the muck sponges mentioned in an earlier post.

This second board was made pretty much the same way, but with some bridge supports added (more foamboard with the sides covered in plaster). The stairs are just formed into the plaster, and the road is just black paint. The empty circle front right is where a scenery feature can be places.