It has been refreshing to be able to dedicate a little more time to hobby recently.
After tidying the man-cave getting a little more point on my Insursion 3D Board, I dusted off a few more 'nice -to-have items on my 'to-do' list and it was encouraging to be able to see some immediate progress. However, despite it being placed on the main stage on the workbench, it would be all too easy to 'just do a bit of something else' and let the big project slip a little more.
When I set out to make the Inscursion 3D Board one of my goals was in simple terms, to make it really pretty. It was never going to be a quick project, but I did want to challenge myself a little and put to use the skills I've developed whilst making display boards for JJD UK.
I've always been impressed with the display games at Wargames Shows and, in most cases, it is the detail in them that makes the difference.
To that end I wanted to include cracked slabs, access panels, blood splats, oil cans and oil spills and other debris to provide points of interest and give the individual rooms or areas within the board a lived in feel.
There's a quite a bit to go yet, however I'm very pleased with the way it feels like it is coming together now. Here's a few of my favourite areas so far.
Combination of card and cork tiles or various sizes.
Cork tiles with flocked fungi/mold
Card floor tiles with flocked growth
Generator room.
Generator room access panel detail.
Combination of clean and damaged card and cork floor tiles.
As stated in my previous post I used an airbrush to help with the look of my Outbreak City roads. The roads were the second attempt at using an airbrush. Here is my first.
Generic 28mm Ruins - Made for 40K, LOTR & Zombies
Every Day is a School Day When I joined the blogosphere at the beginning of this year it was clear how much incredible talent there was around and how much we can learn from all the gamers, painters, modellers, customizers and bloggers in the community.
A big part of starting this blog was to develop new skills under the watchful eyes of a discerning audience. We all like to look at the shiny things we see in magazines and on commercial websites, but what does it really take to achieve the look and feel of those pieces for ourselves?
A school friend of mine, Jude, recently became interested in the hobby again after an absence of around 20 years. His ability to pick up his hobby tools and leap into the fray again at such a high standard is, quite frankly, astounding. Here’s an example of some of his recent work. Once again, consider the 20 year absence from the hobby. Jealous, me? Well, just a little.
Jude's ForgeWorld Demon Prince - Superb.
Why an Airbrush? During a recent get-together we talked about making custom terrain to pro-modelling standards. He immediately asked “Do you have an airbrush?” My answer was no. After all, it’s one of those expensive gadgets that only people with subscriptions to military modelling know how to use, they take ages to set up and clean, mixing paint is a nightmare and you need a huge compressor which is really noisy, certainly no use when the kids have gone to bed. All myths! Whilst that might have been true 10-15 years ago. Today it is a very different story.
Five minutes later he’d set his one up, given a quick demo and I was having a go. What can I say? I was hooked from my first ‘pfffshhhht’. “Where can I get one?” I asked.
2 days later my first airbrush arrived. I picked up the cheapest bundle I could find which included 2 airbrushes and a compressor. The verdict?
The cheapest Airbrush I could get on e(vil)Bay. £80 all in.
The Verdict For anyone who makes war games terrain (quite a few of us), buildings or vehicles it is a highly recommended investment. The airbrush is simple to use, easy to clean, quick to set up or dismantle and the compressor is actually quite quiet and only runs when it needs to, stop spraying for a few seconds and it stops running.I’ve purchased a little acrylic mixing medium and some ionised water for cleaning (you shouldn't use tap water) and that’s that.
The Result Here’s the rest of those generic 28mm ruins that I recently gave the airbrush treatment to. It was my first attempt at using the airbrush and after initially spending so much time on these (they were dry-brushed copiously to before I started) I was pretty nervous. I’m pleased with how they turned out and can’t wait to use the airbrush on future projects.
Put acrylic mixing medium in the cup.
Add umber acrylic paint.
Mix in some black. Spray slowly and evenly.
Increase the paint slowly by pulling the lever back.
More Airbrushing Tips
Matt from Too Much Unpainted Lead discovered this little gem from RubbishInRubbishOut in which Viv shows us, with the right medium, you can even put house-paint through your airbrush. It is an awesome channel from one of the Battle Bunker TV guys and well worth checking out, if you've not already done so, and you make, or want to, make your own terrain.
