zaterdag 16 oktober 2021

Ravenfeast

 Last night, I was invited by Lars Schieving for a quick introductory game of Ravenfeast.


The game was new to both of us, so it was mainly trying out the mechanisms.

Basically it was about two rival Viking warbands trying to bash eachother's skulls in

I would like to say that I won due to my formidable tactical skills, but that would be overlooking the many lucky dice rolls, which led to a slow but steady attrition of the opposing forces.

My biggest mistake was the placment of the archers: I put them in the center, but since for some odd reason they can move only half the distance of the other figures, they found themselves without a clear line of site on any target early in the game. Not quite sure what my best option would be.

Ful points for Lars Schieving for proving the excellently painted 40mm figures, though I still wonder why my birskr was wearing a diaper.





der why my birskr was wearing a diaper.

donderdag 19 augustus 2021

Two tent structures

 Looking at my pioneer settlement Coffey Gulch so far, I figured it to be a bit short of normal small modest housing, so I decided to round things off with two more dwellings, wooden frame but still with canvas only, no wooden walls or roofs yet.

The basic frames were quite simple.


Roof beams done.


For canvas I used regular printing paper again, not treated in any way.


Acrylic paint in a discoloured look.


Dirty wash with diluted brown acrylic, and done.



zondag 15 augustus 2021

Wild West beer tent

 Originally, I had intended the second tent roofed building to be a beer tent, a pop-up saloon, if you'd want to call it that. However, the more I worked on it, the more I figured it to be too small for that purpose - so I added a better sized one.

Quite unsurprising, I started with the floor.


The walls were added.


Roof beams in place.


Instead of tissue paper like I used on previous buildings, I went with regular printer paper.


Like with the tissue, I gave the roof a wash with diluted PVA glue, but it made so little difference I'll skip that step next time.


Dirty acrylic paint applied for that lived-in look.


Brown diluted acrylic paint wash as weathering. A beer sign, and I called it done.



vrijdag 13 augustus 2021

Wild West supplies store

Coffey Gulch, my Wild West pioneer settlement, needed a store.

Wild West pioneer buildings often went through three stages: tent, fake fronted tent, and completely wooden structure. For this project I went with the middle stage.


I have a supply of rough cut 3,5mm wooden "beams," ideally suited for model buildings.
The floor is made out of coffee stirrers.
The front wall is styreen, with matchstick window and door frames. 


The completed basic structure.



Finding the right slapped on paint look took some trying.


The "Supplies" store sign was printed with Word, and glued on styrene.
The floor was dirtied whuile I could still get to it.


A styrene edge made the sign more realistic.


More attempts to get the front colours right.





The roof was covered with (unused) tissue.


I gave the tissue canvas a wash with diluted white wood glue to both strengthen it and give it a more worn look.


Roof painted with broken white acrylic paint.


A final wash with diluted brown acrylic.



Simple materials, simple sketch, but I ended up with a nice addition to my wargames table.


woensdag 11 augustus 2021

Tent roofed building B

 The second tent roofed building for either the newcomers section of Coffeyville, my still under construction Western town, or the pioneer settlement Coffey Gulch.

This one is identical to model A, only this one is a bit more comfortable with a wooden floor.

Here the floor and the side frames have been done.


Next, the end frames were done.


The whole put together, with plank cladding added.


Even though it would be smart to dirty the floor before the canvas was added, I still did so.


Tissue canvas, given a bit more strength by treating it with diluted white wood glue. 


The acrylic paint for the canvas was giving a bit of a tint, so it wouldn't be too white.


A bit of weathering, and done.



Tent roofed building A

 I still have to finish my Western town Coffeyville, but naturally that didn't stop me from adding something that might look to the uneducated eye as a new project.

Pioneers in the Wild West often started with tent roofed buildings, which at a later time might be finished off with planks.

I'm planning a series of these structures, which could be used as a newcomers section to Coffeyville, or as the pioneer settlement of Coffey Gulch.

This example is just about the simplest version, without a wooden floor.

A bit of inspiration:


First step, the basic frame.


The frame with roof beams added.


Planks added to the lower half ot the walls.


The roof was covered with tissue paper, here it had already been treated with diluted white wood glue for added strength.


The "canvas" painted.


White was a bit too white for having been outside in all weather, so I gave the whole structure a wash. 


More similar but not identical buidings will be added.


woensdag 28 juli 2021

Resistance encampment

 An overview pic of the completed resistance encampment.

As stated elsewhere, this project was mainly conjecture - this is what I feel a partisan encampment could have looked like, and in my opinion it looks the part.

From left to right: HQ, shelter and ammo bunker.


Please check the individual posts for details of the structures.


Resistance ammo bunker

 To round off my World War II resistance encampment I decided to build an ammo bunker.

Not sure if resistance camps had one, but if they didn't they ought to.

Naturally, I went with one built wih locally available materials: logs and earth.

The basic structure was as so often is the case styrene, but that will be hidden from the public view soon.


The logs were barbeque skewers. I stock those in several varieties, this was the medium thickness kind.


Chalk paint as primer works well with acrylic washes.


The stucture dug in and kinda bomb-proofed with my usal mix of sand and diluted white wood glue - a mix that dries rock hard within a day or two. 


Brown acrylic wash applied.


Landscaping painted. In tyhis pic it was still wet, it turned out without glossy spots.