Update:6 TAR7AN Board.

It has been a couple of months since I last worked on the TAR7AN board. The reasons for the delay were two fold. Firstly as I originally wanted it for a show and that deadline passed I was not inclined get it done after the show. The second reason was that I was not happy with the position of the waterfall and was not sure how to rectify it.

But let me come to the waterfall in a while. As you can see I have now finished the water. It was all done with different layers of yacht varnish from Wilkinson's. I deliberately put it on thick and used a disposable brush to encourage it into the cracks, gullies and edges. You can get about 12 "Artist" brushes in the 99p store which are ideal for this. Small enough and cheap enough so you don't have to worry about them. I am happy with the result. The water is finished, but I will add some reeds (tufts) later, when I add the foliage to all the board.

OK the waterfall. To me and I am sure some of you it did not look right. It cascaded far to far from the cliff face. I therefore took it off and re shaped it. I also lost about 12mm from the bottom. This 12mm has made a lot of difference it has moved plummeting water closer to the cliff face my about 55mm. It did leave a "scar" on the board. This scar was both in colour under the varnish but also a ridge of varnish which had formed as I dripped the waterfall each day to build up a texture. The simple solution was to sit a large rock (Slate from the garden) over the top of the scar. Again more varnish was applied to build up the water level, but also to "glue" the rock into position. The bottom of the waterfall was painted white and light blue to represent the splash of water falling into water. Again more varnish was dripped on.  And with that I have settled on the final look of the waterfall. You know me by now when I say final look I don't mean it! like the still water foliage needs to be added and pebbles added to the top to seat the waterfall into the landscape better. At present it just sits on the top and a better solution will be found.

This rock that I mentioned above has a nice flat top and is very suitable for perching a figure on top. We both know that someone will and I like the idea of a more dangerous entry point onto the board. So by keeping the ideas open and fluid it has helped. If I had planned it from the start there is very little chance it would have come out this way. So I have created a better solution from what was a set back. Big thumbs up to me, I'm very happy with how that part has evolved.

The remaining pictures show slightly different views of the waterfall and water around the stepping stone rocks. Nothing is perfect but this board is now coming together. As mentioned above Foliage is the next step and that could either make or break the board so I will be proceeding with caution. For now though I will put the board into storage wrapped in cling-film to keep the dust of as I start gathering materials for the Broadside game 2014. The idea for that is now set and I hope to start painting a couple of sample figures between now and the weekend as it would be nice to take a sample to the club on Sunday.

Anyway that is a future project and I will be starting it very soon, both the figures and the terrain. But that is another blog post on another day. So until next time, thanks for looking and I should have some painted figures (maybe not the samples) ready in two days time.

All the best Clint

Waterfall started. (WIP)

It is clear that doing the waterfall for the TAR7AN board will take a while. I did not want the water to be clear and factory finished so I decided to "Texture" the water. To create the rippled water like effect I decided to drip yatch varnish on to the Perspex. I have to do one drop each day and allow the rest of the time for it to dry. It is now beginning to take up a more natural finish. At this stage I feel It is about half way there. Which will mean a few more weeks of dripping. 

That's it for today, very quick as I will be going to play a game with "Posties Rejects". Therefore the next post on this blog will most likely be a battle report. I have a few clues as to what we might be playing, but until I arrive I cannot be sure. The only thing I will predict is that Postie will put me in the thick of the action as he thinks I did not get too much of a game last time.

Ok folks hope to see you Tuesday. Have a god couple of days. All the Best Clint

Crocs and Trolleys.

As my self imposed "figure fast" draws to a close on Saturday I do not see myself heading into a "Figure Feast". So first up today is the second Croc from Michael over at 28mm Victorian Warfare who sent me them to flesh out my TAR7AN game, which I really do need to spend some more time finishing. I had one finished before so here is the second one as well, both together. So one very small step closer and again my thanks to the gentleman Michael. Thank you Sir very much appreciated.





Obviously these are not at all related to the crocs, except that they might be considered as articulated if coupled together. These are very well priced at £5 for the set. Ainsty Castings.  (the link will take you to the right page.) On the Ainsty site these trolley Cart train is painted silver. While I did like the silver look as being very science fiction or Spy-Fi I wanted these to stand out on the table top and yet still fit into either setting. As a result I went for a bright yellow main colour with a series of red, brown and a very very dilute black washes. The black applied only into the joins on the cylinder tanks but quite heavy on the grey trolley bases. Given the boldness of the cylinder tanks I settled on a simple grey for the wheeled bases which carry the cylinders as I wanted the tanks to be the focus and not the wheeled bases. I have no immediate use for them but in any science fiction setting or scale I am sure they will get some game action. As we all know cover is cover and a welcome  addition in pretty much on every tabletop game. I must say for the price these really are a good addition and I am strongly considering getting more.

Thanks for reading today. Next update will be on Sunday. So until later take care have fun and blog like crazy! All the best Clint.

Paint it BROWN!!!!!

Yes I am aware that I have over painted the whole board with a brown paint. It was a deliberate act as some cement was accidently sprinkled (not by me but what can you do) on it and was refusing to shift easily. I like to think of it as a positive step though and not a negative. Now that it is all painted with brown acrylic paint (the type you can get at "The Works" 2 for £5) the board is sealed and should any further mishaps take place should be easier to deal with.  Although it is patchy on the grass, this will get a coat or two of green so not to worry at this stage.

So having gotten past the fact that I am re-painting what has changed. Well in the second picture you can clearly see the stepping stones which cross the water edge and link the board to the river. Each one is large enough to carry a 28mm figure.These were simple pieces of slate that some people use in there gardens between flowers to discourage weeds. I managed to pick them up from the gutter following that big storm we had last week having been washed out of their respective front gardens. Waste not want not! I looked high and low but could not find any Araldite so have settled for Evostick Impact adhesive to fix them in place. Let's be blunt once the varnish is around them they should not move, not even a smidgen!.

It is a shame that the layers of paint have started to texture the bottom of the river bed, but I feel confident that pouring the varnish and not brushing it will hide those very nicely. As pouring the Varnish was always the plan this is of little real consequence. In other words I'll BODGE it!

The last two pictures show the subterranean temple entrance. I have kept it crude and unsophisticated simply to reflect the primitive nature that I wish this pulp set of villains to portray. It is not meant in any way to reflect the craftsmanship of other cultures around the world, but merely a piece of set dressing. Some of the plaster I was using has gotten onto the face of the temple, but I can live with that. and I don't think it detracts too much from the idea. Or maybe they need a few work slaves to chisel this off and get a better temple. the last slaves having died and been eaten. Who know!

So at this stage I feel that all the major construction has been completed. Which means that I should be able to start painting it up to a finished level hopefully by the end of the week. I will change the doorways to the huts, but not the roofs again that is something I will try to get done this week as well. So by Next Saturday I can show how the board has progressed.

I hope to do my next blog post on Tuesday. So until then take care and enjoy what's left of the weekend. Best wishes Clint.

TAR7An Board update 3.

 Slowly slowly catchy money! It may only be that thinks it has been slow progress the last couple of days, but here is what I have done.

The fist thing that stands out is that I have started to colour the board up. (Yes I still have to build the temple entrance and remake the huts.) The river now has a series of blues and greens which give it some depth and I am just about ready to think about the waterfall being coloured and textured and given several coat of varnish. I have sourced the stepping stones and when I find some araldite they will be painted and added. at that stage I will add a lighter blue green section so it appears shallow around the stones. I hope to be at that stage when I do my next board update.

I know I keep saying it's going slow, most of that is an apathy attack and me not being willing to do much in the heat. Yes I am a wimp!

Elsewhere on the board I have added sand, plaster PVA and paint  to give the main area a firm and solid texture, which will get painted as grass and dirt to match the figures bases and the bases on the huts. Still a lot to tidy up but it is now starting, very slowly, to take form and give some idea of what it will look like when finished.

That is today's very quick update club day tomorrow so expect an AAR on Monday. So until then take care don't stay too long in the sun and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Best wishes Clint

Villianous Cast.

 Well apart from the Big game hunter and the Lioness, which was the post before last, this is my villainous cast of cannibals. Apart from the Priestess they are all from Foundry. 7 male figures all wearing masks and armed with either bows or with shields and spears. These were an EBay purchase some years ago but I have freshened up the paint job and re-based them to match in with the Tarzan figures. While the shields do match, all the spears are different, simply because when I bought them none were provided. Thus they have a very mix and match expression.

 I have matched the mask on the Priestesses staff to the warriors to create a feeling that they all belong together. I'm quite happy with the effect both theatrical and in keeping with a pulp TAR7AN setting.

 The shields are not decorated, being simple browns with a black/brown wash over the top. I did not want the shields to clash with the masks which should be the most menacing part of the figure.

One figure does not have a shield (I ran out) so instead carries a severed head. Needles s to say this figure is the tribal Headman. In game terms he will be a normal film extra but with the bonus of a leadership skill. The skill will allow him to activate an extra figure who is lose by. In other words he can issue an order to the other warriors. The two archers have no quivers so we shall have to assume they carry them in their hands.

The same Archers with the priestess.

 And this cake was made yesterday for work. Coffee and Walnut. Not drinking coffee I have not tasted it, but when I cut it in half to add the fresh cream it was a very nice texture and I could see the walnuts have were scattered evenly throughout.








So that's it for today. Thanks for reading, hope you found something of interest even if it was just to think "Oh Cake!"

All the best and I hope to post again in 2 days time.

All the best Clint.

Board Update 2.

 Opposite is the area I will build the temple entrance. Having made a few sketches I am now ready to start on it. I shall say no more about it at present except to confirm that it will have a dark doorway into the rock face. All the work should be in 3mm Grey board and Mounting board and will be attached to the cliff and base section of the board.

 Here we can see the overhang for the waterfall from the right hand side. It has taken 3 coats of plaster and some polystyrene blocks  to get it to jut that far out.

 Also from the left and side. The dark green gully is where the waterfall will flow. (I expect you had already figured that out. ) I think I will need one more skim coat of plaster to go on when the actual waterfall is in place. But for now I think the cliff is finished in construction. I say in construction as I still need to give it a coat of watered down PVA to seal it. And then to painty the whole thing to get a better look to the terrain board.







The last picture today shows the waterfall in position. The Perspex is covered in cling film for protection and is in no way finished. You can also just make out the small crocodile cave at the waterfall base has changed shape and is now slightly less regular in appearance. My next steps will be to acquire some stepping stones and also to  coat the main area with a mixture of PVA, Plaster Paint and Sand in order to give the whole thing some texture.

The heat and general stickiness is restricting my ability to finish to much as I am dripping even when I stand still. (Which is not pleasant for me or anyone else who's close by!)

The Thunder and lightning (Fork Lightning by the way) has done very little to reduce humidity, but was quite the loudest thunderstorm I have ever heard last night and has kept me awake since 4am.....

Next time however I hope to have my "Cannibals" done. So more painting joy on the way. Thanks for reading. Take care and hope to see you on Thursday. All the best Clint

My old Orc Village. Suitable for TAR7AN?

 I raked out my old 25+ years old Orc Village to see if it would fit with the TAR7AN Board. There is one more, but that made it look far too crowded and this or fewer looked right to me.

I don't have to do very much work on them to re vitalise them. A couple of roves to reattach for example and a few chips to paint over. I will not get overly picky and point out they all have wooden doors which is totally unauthentic although I may change them in the near future. Not sure yet.



 They are about the right size scale and shape so I don't think it worth the time expense and effort to buy or make more. Even as I type this I am thinking of changing the doors and a quick repaint. So nothing is off the table. It was just a thought that I desired to explore, by getting these relics out again.


So as they came out of the storage locker I thought it worthwhile to take a couple of shots of them on the board to highlight what I am thinking.



So a little extra blog post today, thanks for reading. I hope all is well with you and a normal post schedule resumes tomorrow.

All the best Clint.

African Evil Priestess, Croc and Lioness walk into a bar,

 The title just sounded like the start of a joke so I added "walked into a bar". There was no drink involved, honest. A little last night, but nothing this morning!

Firstly let me say I will post some better snaps when the whole villainous cast is assembled so please be patient. These should however give you a pretty good idea, even if some of the detail is a little blurry on the Evil African Priestess. What the photos will do is show colour and scale, so plenty to think about.

Starting with the priestess. She is a Reaper Casting and need not be African, she could quite easily be Polynesian or Indian. I however took heed of the mask on the staff and decided that a dark skin tone would suit best especially for TAR7AN.  Again as with the Jane figure I did look at doing her clothing as a leopard skin but decided not to give myself a migraine and wimped out! Yeah I know I should have tried to push myself but some days you just don't feel like it. She has a mixture of Gold and Silver Jewellery both on her person and on the staff which shows up nicely against the dark skin. I decided on Pink (not Magenta) adornments to her legs and the staff only because they just looked right and for no other reason. I will admit I did try orange first but it left me feeling "Mheh!" Where as I like the pink, personal choice and nothing more. The mask on the staff was always going to be red and white as it fits in with some of my masked natives, More of them in a later post.
The Crocodile is from Michael at 28mmvictorianwarfare and was a very straight forward figure to paint. Mostly just a base coat and a few dry brushed highlights. I do not see this as being part of the villainous cast, more a natural hazard come terrain feature. When they arrived they were somewhat larger than I anticipated which is to say they are in scale and I was thinking that they should be smaller. At least with them (only one painted as yet) I suspect the players will stick to the water crossing points and not try to swim anywhere!

And finally if TAR7AN can have gorillas it makes it only fair to include a lioness (from Foundry Gladiators range!) as a pet of the Evil Priestess. Mind you if the Priestess likes animals she's probably not all that evil! It was one of those figures that has been knocking about for a while so I am glad to get it done. I think I have a few more, but I have no idea where. The face came out a little bit Disney-esqe but having looked at Lions faces for about 15 minutes this morning I am happy with the result. I have grown to love the cartoon aspect of the lioness despite my earlier misgivings.

That's it for today. Probably a board update on Tuesday as the overhang for the waterfall is now taking shape. I have also sketched out some ideas for a jungle ruin (It's not my excuse for playing Farscape 3 honest) which will go on the other side of the board to the waterfall. I will keep it simple with an entrance going into the cliff face.

SO until Tuesday. Thanks for looking, enjoy the rest of the weekend and take care you!

Tarzan Board Update 2

Firstly thanks for the suggestions last time. Following the suggestions that I needed some water features, (ahhh Charlie Dimmoak) and that a pool with stepping stones and a waterfall was the way to go I leaped into action with the speed of a Sloth on "Mogadon". Every self respecting waterfall needs a cave underneath it so grabbing a 22mm spade bit and an electric drill I added one, as you can see. It looked a little two regular at this stage so I slapped a bit more plaster on.

 Slightly better I thought, but still too artificial looking. So I set at it with a chisel. Those reading ahead can start smirking now as lo and behold the inevitable happened and the plaster on the left hand side of the cave decided to detach itself and crumble. Grrrrrh! A set back, but not a disaster. And I can when in a better mood fix that in a matter of 10 minutes or so. Which means It's on the list when I finish writing this up. So when I blog board update 3 you will see it has all been taken care of.



Next came the tricky idea of a waterfall. As gamers we are always going to want to be able to move figures behind it. Running it straight down the plaster cliff would have been easier for sure, but easy was not in my vocabulary yesterday so a three D waterfall that figures could get behind sounded perfect. And so the idea is and that's the snag. Idea great reality is much harder to achieve. But I'm working on it! The idea is to take a 1.8mm thick strip of clear Perspex to act as the water flow. As you can see I have notched out a section of the cliff at the top which snuggly holds the Perspex in place at one end. I did try to notch the chip board bas at the other end but gave up very rapidly and now have a hole to fill and get smooth as it will represent water and no one like holes in their water! Obviously bare naked Perspex is not going to give the look and feel I want and while might look like a waterfall in abstract, will not do for what I want so there will need to be a lot more work on it.

To cut the perspex I simply used a "Stanley Knife" and a steel rule as I do not have any power tools that I can use that would not shatter the Perspex. Obviously that is not the ideal solution but given some time and effort it will work. Scoring and snapping works better if working on small sections but for a length of 12 inches It would in my experience be very likely to shatter. To get the bend I simply heated the Perspex with a paint stripper heat gun and bent it into shape. In order to get figures underneath along with the required hand to move them I have had to project the water out quite a long way. so I may go back and add some more rocks and cliff at the top section I will see how I feel later today or tomorrow.
And that is the problem with retro-fitting an idea. Still it is a very good idea and worth the effort I think. Despite the fact that I will probably have to remake the whole section of the cliff.




 Elsewhere I have covered the polystyrene edges where the water will go to create a rock shelf . Not very clear in the picture, but at least it gives a clue. I have also created this rocky effect on one of the other edges which is not visible on the pics today but you will notice on the final reveal.

So that should give you an idea of where I am with this board and where I intend to make some adjustments. I will continue to move the board on as well as paint a few more figures for it. Talking of Figures I would like to say a public thanks to Michael at  28mmvictorianwarfare for furnishing me with a pair of 28mm crocs! One of which is on the paint table at the moment, the other is waiting to see how it's friend turns out! Two crocs on this size board is MORE than enough I would think and will definitely put bathers off!

Despite the fact that not a lot if showing, quite a bit of progress has been maid. I hope to have the start of the Villainous cast ready for Sunday so until then Take care keep cool and try to avoid sun-stroke! All the best Clint.

Lord of the Jungle.



 Well here are my versions of "TAR&AN" Good cast. I'll sort out the stats for them all later. Not making excuses but I did find them very hard to paint. All the figures are from NorthStar  and are well cast and well proportioned, a little too well proportioned if I am honest and as such the muscle definition is not as easy to pick out as one would enjoy to paint. Then again you know what bad craftsmen say about their tools. Four figures in a pack, Tarzan, Jane, Boy and Cheetah. And very nice for the price they are too.

Starting with Tarzan armed with his typical hunting knife his hair covers half of his face which I found difficult to get too much expression on and he has ended up looking startled! With Just a loin cloth and a single feather the bulk of the figure is an exercise in blending skin tone and defining his muscles. Being honest he was the second hardest figure in the pack to paint. but given the 2 foot rule he will look very pleasing on the table top.

Jane by contrast was the most fun to paint. I did have to repaint her clothes as I did try to make a leopard skin pattern first time out and it all went horribly wrong. Again she caries a knife but no other equipment, not even a feather. The TV version of Jane is with dark curly hair, yet the films have her a blonde. So I went for a natural looking brown colour, as the blonde look would have made the figure too light in tone in my opinion. She could also be used as "Sheena Queen of the Jungle" or in a pre-history game as could Tarzan.

 Boy was by far the hardest to paint. But I am not sure I will actually be using him in the scenario so I am not worried about that. The reasons he was harder to paint is that his muscles should be less well defined as he is younger and still growing. Yet when painted that way he just looked anaemic stood next to Tarzan and Jane. It is interesting to note that Boy is usually just called "Boy" in most encounters but does have a couple of other names depending on who the script writer was. So I will just stick with the name "Boy as it is the most usual.

Lastly but not leastly "Cheetah" the staple side-kick to Tarzan in most TV productions, presumably because Chimpanzees are easier to control and take direction better than Gorillas! This was an easy paint job, especially by comparison. Having looked at several pages of Google images of chips I went for pink skin rather than black again for contrast. The big open mouth is packed with teeth, you are forgiven for looking at the picture and thinking he had been drinking milk, ready to give anyone who threatens Tarzan et al a nasty bite. You are forgiven if you thought he had been drinking milk from looking at the picture, I may have to give them a dirty brown was to dull them a little.

And Finally a group shot of what I think will be the whole of the Heroic cast for the TAR7AN game. This gives you a very good idea how large the Gorillas are in contrast to the chimp.

I shall now start the Villainous Cast and hope to have them finished by this time next week.

I shall try to do a bit more work on the board today and tomorrow and if it progresses well I'll do an update on Friday. Thanks for reading, have a good couple of days and I hope to see you again on Friday. Until then take care and enjoy whatever the weather brings you. Cheers Clint