Category: workbench

HMS King John, Ruler Class Battleship

I gave the HMS King John, Ruler Class Battleship for Dystopian Wars a basecoat of Citadel Base: Mechanicus Standard Grey.

What I have been finding is that my painting is not covering the model and I am not sure if it is my painting (in other words my eyesight) or whether it’s the paint shrinking. Looking over the model I think it might need a bit of a second coat.

Reflections on the Ork Big Trakk

I have been thinking about going through my Ork models and getting them finished and painted. I seem to have stalled and got distracted by Flames of War and Dystopian Wars (and Doctor Who) and haven’t really painted any Orks for ages.

One model that has only got as far as an undercoat was my Forge World Big Trakk. Looking back at the last update on this model (in 2011) it was apparent I was having undercoating problems with a fair few of my Ork models.

Eventually I hope it might look similar to this finished model that I photographed at Games Day 2009.

Ork Big Trakk with Big Lobba.
Ork Big Trakk with Big Lobba

I would like to get a dusty dirty look and I have the Forge World weathering powders somewhere in my collection of paints and inks.

Adding Foliage

Canadian Sherman Tank

I have been thinking about adding some foliage as camouflage to my Flames of War models (once I have finished painting them). Looking at photographs of real tanks, such as the Canadian Sherman Tank in Italy above, there is certainly no one way to do this.

One consideration when modelling in 15mm, is that though the true reason for adding foliage is to camouflage the tank. I do think you can add too much foliage, which may be authentic and realistic in real life, may look “weird” on a 15mm model. It may look like a moving bush or tree, rather than a tank with added foliage camouflage. Part of that reason is that in real life the tank when stationary needs to appear to be hidden, but once moving it would be obvious it was a vehicle with foliage on it. In 15mm the models do not move by their own power, so it can look “weird”.

So next question, how do you model foliage on your 15mm models?

King John – Ruler Class Battleship

I finished painting King Richard III and used it in a few games. The first of my reinforcements for my Kingdom of Britannia naval forces is another Ruler Class Battleship, called King John. Having constructed the model I gave it a white undercoat.

Unlike my other Battleship, this one only has three turrets, but does have a shield generator.

As I have said in previous posts I am not a huge fan of the Kingdom of Britannia ship designs, say compared to the FSA or the Prussian Empire. I just imagined them to be sleeker and more menacing. The Prussians certainly have that kind of look.

SMS Scharnhorst

I have started to paint the second of my Spartan Games Prussian Empire Dreadnoughts.

I finished the first, SMS Blücher and will be painting this model in a similar fashion. I decided early on to use the same turret layout as my first Dreadnought and not use generators. I did wash the model first to remove any mould lubricant.

I then gave the model a white undercoat using Citadel Skull White spray.

SMS Scharnhorst

I also affixed the model to an old plastic blister using a hot glue gun to make it easier to paint.

I’ve named this ship, SMS Scharnhorst, after Gerhard von Scharnhorst, he was Chief of the Prussian General Staff, noted for his writings, his reform of the Prussian army and his leadership during the Napoleonic Wars. Blücher who was an army Field Marshall, is whom the Blücher class Dreadnoughts are named after, I have decided that the first of my dreadnoughts will be the SMS Blücher. Generally ships in the same class are named in a similar vein, so the first of the class is the SMS Blücher, this dreadnought will also be named after an army general, in this case Scharnhorst.

Painting the Roof

Though I have used my Sarissa Precision Old West 25mm Buildings in game of Legends of the Old West, I think they could do with some extra work to add more detail. I would certainly like to add some weathering, but I would also like the paint the roof tiles on the shack.

What I am not sure about is how to paint the tiles and not paint out the etching that defines the tiles. What sort of process and paints should I be using? Should I use inks or a wash? Will thinned paint cover the etching? Should I paint each tile individually?

What process are you using to paint your laser etched buildings?

4Ground 15mm Semi Detached Houses

As well as the 4Ground Hotel I blogged about a few days ago,  I also had the semi-detached houses.

Northwest European semi-detached houses, one house rendered green the other is white, these are ideal buildings for any 15mm gaming table.

The back is very similar to the front. Like the 4Ground hotel, the kit comes with very clear and easy to follow instructions.

Like the hotel these went together quite easily, though I had a few issues putting the roof together. I am going to add some details, such as glazing for the windows and posters on the walls. As with the hotel the instructions includes some 15mm scale posters.

Cybermen

Cybermen were a “race” of cybernetically augmented humanoids. They varied greatly in design, with different factions throughout time and space. The two major groups, from which all other known versions derived, were the Mondasian Cybermen, which originated on the planet Mondas – Earth’s twin planet in the Doctor’s Universe – and the Cybermen created by Cybus Industries, which originated on Earth in an alternate universe.

They attacked Earth on many occassions, providing a lot of potential for gaming scenarios.

These are the Harlequin Miniatures Cybermen from the 1990s. They are the classic era style Cybermen who fought the 4th Doctor onwards. After giving them a white undercoat, I painted a basecoat of Citadel BoltGun Metal.

The next stage will be a black wash to bring out the detail.