Rock/s and Roll

I created some more rock piles/rocky/rough ground (rocks made from cellu-clay), stands of vegetation that can stand in for elephant grass (long grass-like plastic aquarium plants), and based some old conifers to add to my old tree stands. All bases were cut from mdf board.

The vehicle is a steam tank I made from a plastic Mott's applesauce container (molded to look like half a barrel), some mdf board and pine wood, a dowel, a wooden peg from the craft store (for the smokestack), a button, some gears, a washer, and a plastic stick from some old toy (for the gun barrel). Here are some closer shots with a 28mm Foundry figure for size comparison.

The top and bottom are not glued together, but have a dowel and hole so the top can be rotated.

As far as gaming goes, I've mostly been playing boardgames and card games this summer, games such as Wrath of Ashardalon and the Lord of the Rings card game, as they can be played solo as and when time and energy allow.

Jungle Terrain

I haven't been totally idle on the gaming front. I have a number of miniatures on the painting desk, which I will post pictures of as I finish them, and lots more in the queue. In the meantime, here is some terrain I have been working on in preparation for the Exploration of Afrodesia.

The various trees are made from wire twisted together for the trunks, branched out in the case of the one tree. With plastic or cloth foliage from aquarium plants or craft plants affixed to the trunks by wrapping wire or twine around the trunks. Then stuck to small pieces of mdf board, with a coating of gray "celluclay" around the trunks and on the bases. Celluclay is a sort of paper pulp that you mix with water. It's pretty lumpy, so not much good for fine sculpting, but great for tree trunks, rough ground, cliff edges, and for making rocks like the boulders in some of these pieces. More painting still to do on them, and probably some flocking.

Some Day...

It was a hot and dusty day as the column moved up the valley, interrupting a flock of vultures feeding on a carcass.

Meanwhile, distant figures on a mountain shadow the column.

A closer look at the tribesmen.

And, on another continent, a new acquisition for the zoo. These brown zebras, known as Quaggas, are fairly common in Africa. Maybe some day we will acquire another one so we can have a mating pair.

All figures are from Foundry. The mountain is made from some of my last scraps of 1/8 inch thick mdf board, inspired by Major-General Rederring's cardboard mountains. See http://www.zeitcom.com/majgen/index.html for more. If you've never visited and you're doing Colonial gaming it's well worth stopping by, even though it's been years since it's been updated. I have no affiliation with the site or the group.
The mountain was my first attempt, as a sort of proof of concept. After I put it all together I realize the pieces I used between are a little narrower than my mini bases. Fortunately because of the shapes I can still fit minis on most of the spots. I'm not sure about the paint job. I wanted to keep it simple and a bit abstract/toy-like.
Comments appreciated. Thanks!

Milling Around

My latest building project - the old stone mill. Could make for a good defensive position on the river. Made from mdf board and other bits of wood. The river sections are also made from mdf board, with the river and banks painted on. I like the way my painted road sections look so I decided to try the same with river sections. Unfortunately this just about exhausts my supply of 1/8 thick mdf board and no one seems to sell it around where I live any more. They tell me they don't sell enough of it so they don't carry it any more. They won't seem to order a couple of pieces either.

The mill lifts off leaving a stone foundation that can represent a small stone jetty.

p.s. While killing time at the bookstore today (a dangerous thing for me to do! ha ha) I picked up the Dover reprint of Winston Churchill's "The Story of the Malakand Field Force", thinking it might be good inspiration for some Colonial games some day.

New Construction

Recently I tried my hand at constructing some new buildings. The fronts and backs are made from mdf board (I think that's what it's called in the US anyway; not sure about the UK or other places. It's the soft stuff, smooth on both sides. Easy to cut and sand.) The sides are made from 3 inch wide pine boards. The building in the middle is the first one of these I made, which I completed as a sort of "proof of concept". The doors and windows are drawn on in pen and then painted. The base is separate so the buildings can stand on their own if I like.

The building on the left shows how I "clamp" them while the glue is drying, around a framework of legos, with hair bands to hold it all in place. That building also has an arch cut into it.

These 3 are all 3 inches deep by 4 inches wide and can hold 8 infantry figures.

The bridge on the right was one I made last year. The one on the left is a new one in progress - made with lessons learned from the first one.

More Civic Improvements

Not getting many minis painted lately, but I have been working on bits of terrain.
Here's an "old school" inspired bridge I made from mdf board. The middle "legs" are cut a little shorter so the bridge rests flat on the table.
Experimenting with making cobblestone roads, just for a different look from plain dirt roads. The cobbles are drawn on with ink, and painted in various shades of gray.

Transportation Improvements

Here in the Soweiter League we have been working on improving the transportation networks. The first phase of this is a set of roads. These are all of the ones I have made so far, but I have more material for more pieces. I cut the pieces out of thin mdf board, which I find easy to work with if not the sturdiest material. Then I painted the roads with 3 shades of brown craft paint and the edges with 3 shades of green craft paint. At this stage I think they look pretty good and I'm thinking I won't flock them, at least for now.
So far I have made a number of straight pieces (some slightly wavy as you can see), a couple of corner curvess and a couple of T intersections. I plan to make at least a couple more corners and a 4-way crossroads. Does anyone else who uses road sections have other/additional shapes they find useful? I do plan to make a bridge or 2 soon, probably ones that can just be laid over my existing river sections and link up to the roads sections.

I like the painted look enough I'm considering scrapping my old river sections at some point and making new rivers just like the road pieces (or not :) ), along with a gaming table top. I'm also tempted to make some Grantian buildings along the lines of those seen in the Grand Duchy of Stollen or Lead Gardens (although it's not like I'm running short of ideas for projects!).

Be that as it may, any advice on useful road pieces is welcome. Thanks!