Ship Ahoy!

So far I have managed to get 5 ships painted, and intend to paint another 5 this afternoon. Here are a couple of snaps of them on the partially finished boards. These ships are 2400th scale, a smaller scale than most people use for this era. However this compact and bijou ness allows me to hide the fact that I know NOTHING about the rigging of ships. yes I know it involves ropes and block and tackles and knots and things like that, but if you asked me to rig a model ship I would be stumped. So this smaller scale lets me avoid the issue. Yippeee!

These ships are about done, bar so tweaking and no doubt some repairs when they go to the club tomorrow. I look forward to being proven wrong. I have tried to keep to what I believe are the correct colours of the period. I tend to think of the ships being a mixture of Yellow and Black. The yellow seems to have been any and all shades of yellow from a light "lemon" to a dark "Ochre, while the Black could actually be a dark grey. I am told that the captain of the ship was responsible for paying for the paint so no universal colour scheme or pattern was established. However I am also informed that the Royal Navy would supply yellow and black paint free of charge, which is why we tend to think of the Nelson Checked wooded walls. That being the case I have one red ship and the others are is different yellows and blacks. As such They look alright. And I'm definitely not going to be too concerned about the colours selected while sticking to what I have been told.

So this afternoon I will have to paint 6 more ships, read the rules make a wind direction counter. (This can be static). In most battles of this period the wind direction and intensity did not change so once set for the battle so it will stay as set.
As you can see in this last Photograph the ships are quite small and given that the effective range of there guns is a mere 6" perhaps I can get away with a smaller board.

That's it for today, thanks for looking have a great weekend (in the sleet snow and rain....and that's just so far this morning). All the best Clint

More WIP BBIB Boards

 As you can see a little more done on the land boards for BBIB show game for Broadside. All I have really done since last time is neaten them up and add some colour. Which is a very English understated way of saying repainted everything completely.
Starting with the beaches I dry brushed two lighter shades of the sand colour, lightening with white and a very small touch of yellow each time. The yellow is powerful so really be very gentle with it. I then dry brushed the cliffs with the same tomes to make it match in. The green for the grass was straight from a tube of acrylic from "the works" discount book shop (2 for £5 so very good value for money). Again this was dry bushed to simulate a texture. I was a bit heavy handed in places but I have more to do on the land so any mistakes will be rectified in subsequent treatments. Again I used both white and Yellow, but now with considerably more yellow than white to hi-light the texture of the builders sand.
I did drop some paint onto the land section of a different colour (beach colour as it happens). But this is a happy accident as I have painted it into a more "regular" shape than the splatter and the area will grow into a field on the finished headland. It is important for me to take this sort of approach and not try to make it look perfect. Accidents happen to us all and it's sometimes best to just roll with them.



Together as a river mouth



Together as a peninsular

I also thought to show you the two sea shore boards together so that it was clear that they would look ok next to each other either as an estuary or cove or inlet or as a headland or peninsular. being able to move them around is important to me as it gives a far greater use from the boards than just one set up. The estuary is particularly of use as it allows for blockade running scenarios where the ships have either to leave the river moth or to enter it which give a strong reason for a battle. Of which there are a number of historical examples.

 Overall I am very happy with the result so far. Obviously there is more to do so it is just another WIP post today but I thought it was worth showing the progress. Thanks for following my progress and I hope to have more to show on Saturday, maybe even some ships!!!! (I know how to tease you!). Have a good couple of days all the best Clint.

Land ahoy

 

These two pictures show the next step in creating the boards, adding texture. Still a long way to go, but they are coming along at a pace I am happy with. Let me be blunt and say none of the colours or textures you will see on any pictures will be how the boards are finished. But later I hope there will be a "Rolf Harris" moment when it all comes together at the end. (Well let's hope so!) All the texture is, is "builders sand" (the cheapest sand I can buy) applied through a sieve onto all the areas that I want to add some form of ground texture. The sand is attached using a combination of Resin W (PVA wood glue) water and paint (a mix of ready mixed poster from a toy shop and acrylic for the book discount store "the Works". Using just poster paint would have been easier but the colour would then "bleed" through onto other colours applied over the top. Needless to say wait a few days for it to dry. In this instance I painted it first thing Saturday morning before going to Reject Central for the game.

The next stage (once dry) is to seal the texture. At this stage I have started to add the first indications of colour. This is only an under-painting colour and will not be the finished layer. It does serve to indicate to me where any painting problems will occur further down the line but is so roughly applied that it is just to make sure that the sand used to texture the boards will not shake loose.

As a couple of people wanted me to put a ship in for scale I have done so,. This ship is a 50 gun 3rd Rate Ship of the Line. The smallest Ship of the line I possess It was randomly selected from the selection on my painting table that are primed and that I will start to paint later today ready for a game on Sunday. I hope to have them done in time as It will be the first time most if not all the club players will get to try the rules I like out.  These ships at 1/2400th scale are small the base size is 20mm x 40mm which does make them look insignificant on the boards (see final picture) I have mixed feelings about that. Bigger ships would look more impressive, but is it all about trying to impress people, or showing them what they could do themselves. Alan Abbey of the Milton Hundred Wargames club and author of the rules started playing with those cardboard "Pirate ships" that you had to pop out and assemble. (Yes I have some as well.) But has now managed to acquire some 1/700th scale ships which when painted and rigged will no doubt look fabulous, and is definitely a step forward from the cardboard ones but I quite like the look of the smaller ships, it makes the sea seem more in scale.

That's my news for today.
 Thanks for reading have a great day and I'll blog again in 2 days time.

Best wishes Clint.

Nine big chaps in one Big shed!

AS regular readers will know I had a day out yesterday visiting the "Posties Rejects" in order to play a game. Before turning up I knew it was Napoleonic and a follow on from their previous game and was advised to read the AAR on various Reject blogs. Being honest, I looked at the pictures and read about 1/2 of it as who really enjoys the homework side of the hobby? Anyway Postie had sorted out the sides and I was given 2 units of cavalry and one of horse artillery, already set up in position on the table. Not complaining and to be honest quite happy with what I got, even If I would have deployed it differently. Still you get what you get and you don't get upset. I will only talk in this AAR about my very slim section of the battlefield as there were 5 bloggers present. Brian ( His Blog Here), Ray (His Blog here) myself and Surgit (Possibly spelt wrong sorry mate) comprised the Allied forces about 3-5 miles from Brussels. While Fran (It's all lies) Smiffy, Big Lee (A possibly less jaundiced view from the nasty French side here, but it's still all lies) and Ian made up the wretched French forces of the despicable dictator. (feel free to Boo and Hiss them each time they are mentioned for they are the enemy). Both Brian and myself were the newbies not really knowing the people or the rules at all but that's Ok we trust Ray and Postie. While it was clear to some of the players that my lack of starting forces would mean I would have some reinforcements I had no way of knowing that so I assumed that what I started with was what I would have all day. Anyway I was under orders to hold my position, so I did not move or manoeuvre at all for the first few turns.  This second Pic shows the centre of the board and therefore my left flank, commanded by Ray (our glorious leader).
So as mentioned I held my position while Surgit with much elan sent his cavalry forward and managed to get a couple of charges in. But everything He charged ran away which did leave hiom exposed and vulnerable, but it did slow the French advance. As he was exposed I moved my horse out ready to charge any French (boo hiss Boo!) Cavalry who would have charged them. Being honest I was a turn to late but still the thought was there. My horse returned to my start line the following turn as Surgit's cavalry were dispatched. Not an easy task it would appear for the close infantry firing into their rear and Flank as Ian rolled the dice and the gods favoured Surgit.

As the nasty garlic eaters approached I was fortunate to get a few good shots in with the horse artillery. Only one shot of this unit failed to cause a casualty the whole game so definitely worth having on the field of battle. While it did not do a huge amount of damage I would imagine the opponents were discouraged by it at the very least..... If only they'd shown it! After a few turns my reinforcements turned up. As mentioned above I did not know they were coming. It did take them 4 turns to get into position but still beggars can't be choosers.

Here is the obligatory and contractual picture of the opponents on the day, everyone a Reject! Yes that's a lot of troops they have all formed up and aiming at Ray, Brian Surgit and myself, but mostly at Ray whom they seemed to want to target.

As no one had at this stage their name on the wall of Shame Fran gave me that dubious honour. For which I am very pleased as at least I know I left my mark. Should I visit them again I will attempt to get it written up as many times in a day as I possibly can and try to set some kind of record! Rejects you have been warned!

Surgit's reinforcements arrived directly behind my troops. The French guard Cavalry also turned up on the opposite corner ready to do unpleasant things to me, you could smell them coming for miles the dirty so and so's (booo!) so I moved my troops to the right and Surgit took my position and rushed to support Ray in the centre. Big lee used his horse artillery on my skirmishes to no effect so I returned the favour and my rifle armed skirmishers wiped his artillery out. (Ner! to you Lee.). Ian took exception and took my horse artillery down to half strength and then killed a stand of my skirmish line. (The only real losses I suffered in the game.) My light foot artillery (having just got into position) took a lucky shot at Big Lee's Cavalry managed to inflict a luck casualty and as his divisional commander was attached lee then rolled a 1 on the d20 and forever that little bit of Belgium will be forever French to a depth of 6 feet!

Despite a valiant defence of the town by Ray's Dutch militia, as the last picture will show, Check those dice scores! Smiffy fired his guns into the town and falling masonry killed Rays supreme commander and our centre collapsed in a rout.

As mentioned at the very beginning this AAR is only concerned with my very small section of the battle field. I would strongly recommend reading the other bloggers reports for a more accurate and less partisan view of what actually happened. But please take everything typed with an Irish accent with a large pinch of salt. I say that having not read it but in anticipation!

Conclusion: Well the observant will have noted the Rejects Logo on the right of the page as ray has given both me and Brian permission to use it on our blogs. You may take this to mean that I did enjoy the day. There are a number of game innovations that I will be introducing to the Rainham club. (Rainham club please be aware of this). Dice rolling throughout the day slightly favoured the Allies but when it mattered it deserted us completely so I can't even blame the dice this time although I no doubt will at a later date. I have been invited back and would choose to go if the time is right. I also hope to see the Rejects come down for a quick game at the Rainham club.  They've had that offer for over a year so I am no longer holding my breathe.

Very finally Postie very kindly gave me a gift which I will no doubt photograph and post on the blog later this week

Thanks for reading this AAR. Please check the other bloggers (listed above) to get their view of the day or if you have come from their blogs I hope you enjoyed this and will post another blog on Tuesday.

Best wishes Clint

Waiting for Paint to Dry.

 
 


The different shades of tan on the land sections of the boards to the right show different levels of dryness of the boards. A wordy way of saying that the boards have not quite dried out yet.  At this stage I have carved out the cliffs and for the most part I am happy with the results except where It has crumbled and needs to be made again. 








It's still a long way from being perfect, but hopefully the close up will show that they are meant to be cliffs and not just "dollops!"

Unfortunately the boards are not perfect fits, but I can and will work round that and get them closer than they are now. But for now I am concentrating on the land masses. The Paint should dry by this evening so I anticipate starting the next step (ground texture and beach texture) either late today or on Sunday, depending on the weather. I have worked out how I will do trees, but until I get scale pinned down I am still open on how I will make some buildings. You would hope that I would have scale pinned down long before I had gotten this stage. I have two choices either the more traditional 1200th scale or the less common 2400th scale. I am waiting for my 1200th scale ships to come back home and then see how many I have of them and in what condition. I also have some 2400th scale ships which are now primed and sitting on my paint table. 1200th scale would look better but until I get them back I will work on the smaller scale. Just incase he somehow "forgets" to give them back!!! And even if he does then I will have to re-paint and no doubt re-rig them so it might be easier to stick with the smaller scale and be done with it. The other advantage of the smaller scale is that the cliffs will look more substantial and therefor impressive. Time will tell.

This picture shows where part of the cliff has crumbled. AT this stage I have dropped some filler (among professional modelmakers Filler of different kinds is known as "Plod"). So this cliff section has been plodded and once dry I will re asses the situation. I could either re surface the cliff in this area or go with the situation and adapt the cliff and cover the error with some form of foliage. This is my preferred option as the cliff is not a prescriptive cliff of an exact coastline. This gives me far greater lee way with how It can look when finished. So we'll call this a "happy accident" and no one other than blog readers will ever know the difference.

Another closer view of the area in question. As mentioned above it's not the desired result, but I hope to turn it into a feature rather than worry about it.

Barring accidents, mishaps and problems with British Rail I should be going to visit the Rejects tomorrow for a game. Needless to say I and no doubt Fran, Big Lee, Ray and I am told the Lead Legion (whom I am don't think I know yet) will all do our own AAR of the battle. To be honest I have very little idea what to expect but as all the guys are quite personable (for a given and set value of personable) I do anticipate quite a good day. I am told it will be a Napoleonic battle organised by Postie. Napoleonic's are really not me period of choice but I can roll bad dice for any set of rules or wargames period so I am not expecting it to go my way at all. However one does not travel to the Rejects home turf expecting to win, but more to witness the banter (erhm... I mean, the slagging of each other off). Let's hope I'm not disappointed!

That's it for today, feel free to wish me luck for tomorrow and the Rejects. Have a good weekend and look forward to the AAr on Sunday (assuming I have recovered from the ordeal!)

BUF Armoured Car

Despite the weather, and not being able to do any work on the seascape boards up the garage I have not been totally idle. Although I was not able to undercoat anything new I did manage to re-paint a very old 20mm vehicle. Given that it had not been touched for about 20 years it was not in too bad a shape. Nothing needed repairing, just repainting and basing so all in all was a very swift job.  As you can see it is in British Union of Fascist (BUF) colours standard army green with a black accent colour, in this case turret. Thunderbolt flashes are also added to the turret just to make sure there is no mistaking.

The weather has brightened up today so I hope to be able to get some more terrain building done this afternoon. Or more realistically see what has gone wrong since last time. If I am lucky and nothing has gone wrong I can start on the beaches and land masses. But until I go and check who knows!!

That's it for today. Very quick I know, thanks for reading and I'll try to have something more substantial on Friday. All the best Clint

Snow day!

Foe several reasons I was only at the club for a very short time yesterday. Feeling poorly but making a swift recovery, Mothers Day and needing to cook a meal for a large family gathering, and the rugby was on all conspired to me being mostly absent for the day. Which in many ways was a shame but you can't always do everything so perhaps you just have to do your best. Anyway here are a couple of very quick snaps of a game Tim and Graham were playing. As you can see it's ACW and in 20mm. The game started as a cavalry encounter but as I was leaving infantry had started to arrive.

Luckily before I went to the club yesterday morning I did a little work up the shed on the seascape boards. I say luckily as it is snowing today and I don't fancy working in a building with NO heating. Which means there may be little to show particularly if it does not come out how I want it to.

The other problem with it snowing is that I cannot use any spray primers to undercoat anything to paint later in the week. So until the snow stops I am in limbo wargames wise. Oh dear what a shame. but I suspect things will come to pass.

That's it for today. All the best Clint

Painting the Sea.

As you can see I have started to paint the seascape boards. Rather than paint the sea a single blue I will and have been using 2 different blues. To this end I have used a wet on wet technique firstly by adding patches of one colour and then before the paint is dry applying a different shade, again in patches. I continued to patch paint each board and blend the blues together where they abut.

Two coats were applied in this manner. Although I suspect a third and possibly a fourth coat might be required. The board to the right has two coats, but at some places the board can still be seen beneath. This method of painting, I hope, will give the boards a more dynamic and vibrant feel to the sea. Whereas painting the boards in a single tone might give a very "flat" finish more suitable for an interior wall than a seascape. While not deliberately trying to leave brush makes nor am I trying to banish them, which is why I am using a brush in preference to a roller.. At this stage they will give the boars a very slight texture and as such I have endeavoured to keep all the movements in one direction on the main boards.

The same method of painting has also been carried out on the two coastline boards with sufficient gap for a "beach" to be added later. I have tried to keep the lightest shade of blues closest to the shoreline and with an additional coat will reinforce the light colour. Care was taken to make sure all the boards had the same shade of blue at all the edges so that all the boards will fit together without it looking "odd"! On these two boards I have for the most part tried to follow the coastline with my brush strokes except at the very edges where I have used straight brush stokes so they will fit with the main boards.

The last photo shows a single board slightly closer and at a higher angle. You can see where I have sourced the blue paint as well as the other materials. Two large tubes of blue paint, clearly seen in the photograph are from "The Works" and should be sufficient for the whole project with plenty to spare for use on other later projects Also in evidence is my palette (an old soup bowl) and the paint brush which was part of a set from the 99p store. So you can see everything is accomplished on a limited budget. As time progresses I hope to turn this board into a small fishing village with a protected harbour not sufficiently large for a frigate let alone a ship of the line. Only time will tell if this comes to pass.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading and I will blog again on Monday. All the best Clint.

What on Earth's going on with me?

That is of course a Rhetorical question! As according to the Psychologists I am currently working with I'm "quite Normal"! Yes it was a surprise to me as well.

What I am really saying is that I have changed my plans for the Broadside game for a third time. Let me explain. The first game was going to be WW1 East Africa, but I lost interest! The second game was going to be A Very British Civil War. I am still interested in doing this but at 20mm scale I can't see any way of making this a stand out game. We all go to shows and there is ALWAYS a 20mm WW2 game, some of them very good indeed. The problem would come from my point of view in making the terrain to the right standard in the time and with both my resources and budget and still have the game look sufficiently good to look like a show game, and not just a normal club game. So last week I informed my club that I just would not have it ready in time. I hated admitting defeat, but I was not going to stress myself out over my hobby, which I should be doing for fun and enjoyment. So we will still do some VBCW but as club games.

Given that time was running out and recognising what I could and could not achieve on my own with a limited budget and resources I have had a drastic re-think. Working from the terrain up I thought about what would be simple to make, Snow, Desert, Sea and Sky sprung to mind. I plumped for sea, as it would be the most versatile and it would not depend on "flying stands".

So seascapes it would be. The top picture shows my quick roughing out of the shoreline. There will be 2 shore line boards with landfall in only one corner. They are arranged such that they might marry up together should they need or remain separate as the situation dictates. The two double length boards (2'x4') will be left blank of any land masses but may have either an indication of shoals and shallows and maybe a free standing island but that is yet to be determined. Using a very old eclectic carving knife, don't use a new one you will get it blunt and will get an ear bashing. Car boot sales (garage sales or Flea markets) will start in this region very soon, about the end of the month and for a very modest fee I shall get a belter (sharper) one. Personally I find them great for shaping polystyrene and as long as you are sensible and always cut away from yourself there is little chance of danger. But just be careful and make sure there is no small things (2 or 4 legged) which are likely to distract you.

I find it easiest to cut the outline out first. Once this was done for both quarters it is a simple matter of angling the electric carving knife at successively lower angles to create the contours. With luck you should be able to discern that in the picture to the right. This is a very quick process but you must be careful where you hold the polystyrene as you don't want your fingers near a power tool specifically designed for cutting meat! Do not expect the cuts to be perfect or to exactly match your plan drawn on the boards. I will admit that I was over eager and had to re cut one quarter but this step does only take a few moments so if you have sufficient materials is no major setback. Once you are happy with the size and shape they were attached in place on the 2 small (2'x2') boards by PVA white wood glue. Regular readers will no doubt remember my fondness for PVA as it is technically a resin (ResinW should anyone really want to get pernicaty). This is where I have left them over night drying. I have placed a firm weight on their tops to hold them in place and to "force" the two surfaces together.

Ok that's the stage I am at with the terrain, but that is of course only part of the game. The rules we shall be using will be Blood Bilge and Iron Balls (BBIB) as I really do like these rules they have an eighties vibe to them and detail each ships capabilities as individuals. A second reason for using these rules is that I have contacted the published and have been informed that they would be willing top "Sponsor" the game. The sponsorship is to take the form of some free rule sets for the club as opposed to any financial incentives. As wargamers free sets of rules are never to be sniffed at so I am happy with that. I shall discuss figures at a later date as I am waiting for some ships to arrive.

 I hasten to reinforce the fact that VBCW is not dead in the water (no pun intended, but I'll take it). It will be an active club game, just not a show game.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading and if the weather and temperature holds I should get this finished in reasonable time. I must say I am quite excited by this change in direction and am looking forward to the next few stages. I hope you are having as good a day as myself. Talk to you later, all the best Clint!

And so it begins

Despite having a heavy cold, (NO sympathy please), I have been working up the shed. Only a couple of hours but some progress has been made. As you can see in the photo I have supplemented the 2 foot square boards with 2 double sized (2'x4') boards. (I have 2 more small boards not shown and set aside for later use on different projects).

 There is a reason for this which will become evident as work continues. This gives us a 4 foot by 6 foot playing surface. Alan (the main Broadside organiser) has agreed that we can have as large an area as we need so I might well ask for an additional 2 foot length, not for terrain, but for dice rolling, model placement and for any literature we may produce as a club, for the game. By literature I do not mean great works of storytelling prowess that would be stretching it far to far, but club leaflets and meeting dates a little about the rules and the game and the background if you have been to a few shows you'll know what I mean.

The next stage is to plan out what terrain is needed and where on the boards it will go. I have decided to keep it as simple as I can as that will give me a chance to get it finished. Additionally I will want the boards to be as versatile as possible. There was a club game at Broadside last year some 8 feet by 12 feet only capable of one configuration. I am not knocking this approach, but as a small club with very limited resources I think it's better that we at least attempt to get as much use of any built terrain as we possibly can.

Looking carefully in the background you can see the moon boards and top left corner the past table which I have started to convert into Circus Minimus! I have only mentioned those terrain projects to let you know they have not at all been forgotten about. The moon boards were twisting and warping so a few months of lying flat will probably help them straighten out.

On an unrelated note I have been invited to attend a game with "Posties Rejects" in about 10 days time (16th March). I am actually looking forward to it and have offered to bring something edible. (Yes it's a bribe! ). As yet I have not decided if Sweet or Savoury is the way to go.
 Ray has informed me I will be on his side against Mr Angry (aka Fran) and  Big Lee as a consequence I have informed Ray that we shall keep anything edible our side of the table. I just don't have enough time to make some very rough "Poitin" but I don't want anyone getting too rowdy so I won't this time!

That's it for today with luck more again on Thursday!
All the best Clint.

One off game idea

      I mentioned a one off game idea to Karl (Crooked Dice) and he was kind enough to give me a free figure of a "fembot" as it has a robot mask head. So here is my first attempt to replicate the classic film "West World" onto the table top.  I have tried to recreate the Yul Bryner gunfighter. Unfortunately I could not get an exact copy of the figure so instead went for one I had already. It is a foundry figure from their "wild west Cowboy" range. I did not have a figure that was wearing a shirt without a waist coat. Yes I know that this one is wearing a "firemans" shirt which is different from the film. So we have to accept the figure is representational and not a definitive copy. (I did look for one at Cavalier but came up short). The thing to bear in mind is that it is the idea which makes the game and not the detail of the figure.  Despite the fact that the picture was taken in natural light it has come out very dark. I accept that the figure is painted in dark greys and dark browns but even so it has still the best of the bunch and still far to dark. Oh well!!

West World was of course written by Michael Crichton who then adapted and re-wrote the story which later became "Jurassic Park". While there are similarities there are also differences but they are both about "Theme Parks" which go horribly wrong and try to kill the people there on vacation.  I would recommend the film if you have not seen it. Yes it is dated and it shows, but it is still worth looking at.

So where does that put us with a game? In the film Yul Brynor is the only real nasty trying to kill the star. But that need not be the case in a game. The first time the star and co-star (who dies) encounter robots that have gone wrong is when a rattlesnake bites one of them. Obviously this should not happen, "Health and Safety " would freak! In a game setting however it would be better to have several robots trying to kill the players. At this stage it is only the germ of an idea but I think it has legs as a one of club game as we already have all the terrain and figures we would need, Unless of course I can scrounge more robot heads.

That's it for this week. It all starts again on Tuesday. Thanks for reading and I hope you like the idea. All the best Clint.

                                                                                       

1 New 3 Re-paints

 Well as you can see I have managed to repaint three more figures from the white spray can fiasco. In addition I finished another Hasslefree zombie hunter. So four figures finished this week, which considering I have been on Annual leave is really not a lot. I shall try to do better next week. Not really a lot more to say today so I shall keep it short.

I'll post again on Sunday (I hope) so until then take care of yourself and those who are close to you. All the best Clint