Warpwolf Stalker & NMM

Did some work on the WW Stalker.. my first ever attempt at NMM technique (non-metallic metal), which i used on the sword.  You can see on his armor i just went w/ regular metallic paints.  After seeing this picture, i've gone back and cleaned up the lower, shaded area of the blade and made the blend much smoother.

The blade is just black and white with various mixes to get the varying grays.  The gold detail work is a various mix of brown, orange, yellow, and white.  No science on this one, i just mixed to what felt like the right color to get the blend.



Pretty happy with how it came out for a first attempt at the technique.  I've seen tons of posts asking about how to do it, so i learned from their mistakes  .  I'm not super thrilled on the silver part of the sword, but don't really feel like redoing it and its good enough for table-top lol

Long overdue update

Its been forever since i've put an update in.. not because i haven't done anything, but mostly because I haven't done anything worth posting lol.  The FLGS has been running a Warmachine/Hordes league and so most of my free time has gone into playing matches rather than working on models.   Despite that, I have snuck in some time to get some modeling done, and I will be posting pics tonight.

Megalith is cut, reposed, greenstuffed, and based.  I just have a few more things left to sculpt and he'll be ready for primer.  He's been taking up all my time due to the extensive extra stuff i did to him.  WW Stalker, Druid Wilder proxy, and Blackclad Wayfarer are ready for paint.  Feral has seen no love, so i really need to finish his sculpting.  Also... I FINALLY got my back ordered Druids unit in, so those are almost ready to assemble.  Still have a few more bits to clean up the mould lines/flashing on them.  Also got some Swamp gobbers who're ready to be put together.

Its great having a FLGS in town again, and being able to play games at almost any time is awesome, but it really has slowed down the hobby work!

Edit:  Actually I did snap a couple of photos of megalith before i did any of the detail sculpting work.. just puttied in the holes left from the repose.. i'll get my latest up tonight which has more roots growing off, and details filled in on the plain green spots in these photos.

Infinity game - Yu-Jing vs. Haqqislam

Mike and I got a chance to play Infinity with the full rules did make it a lot more fun than our initial demo game.  Game has so many tactical options and is so balanced with the orders system it really comes down to who has better tactics rather some cheese uber unit/combo that crushes everything.   Everything has multiple counters, so this is a game where you can truely buy the models you like and have them all be viable competitively.

Battle report:

The shared border town of Shaqqfu-Jing suffered a 

devastating explosion today that left part of the town 

in ruins.  Traditional Islamii are being blamed for

the supposed  terrorist act, but rumors have surfaced 

reporting an  unauthorized SILK lab explosion 

causing the blast.  Haqqislamic troops were quickly 

deployed to eliminate the terrorist threat and

capture any "evidence" left behind.

Soon after a firefight erupted between the deployed 

Haqqislam and what appeared to be a Yu-Jing 

task force.  It is unclear what initially prompted the 

conflict, as the relations between the two nations

are generally peaceful in Shaqqfu-Jing.

The Yu-Jing forces systematically gunned down

the HI troops with frightening efficiency.   After the brief 

exchange, the orange army was seen positioned 

about blast's epicenter, rummaging through the 

rubble.   They appeared to leave empty handed.

This leaves one to wonder exactly what went down 

today in Shaqqfu-Jing?  Was this really a terrorist act 

or a governments attempt to shut down an illegal 

SILK lab gone bad?  Or was it a matter of destroying 

tech before it could be recovered by another faction?

You decide... more on this tonight at 10.

I won first turn and was able to secure some advanced defensive positions and lock down some firing lanes right off the bat.  Having 2-3 more orders available also gave me a big early game edge.  This was due to him having an expensive combat drop advance deploy troop (which don't generate any orders until they deploy).  Using these 2 advantages i was quickly popped 2 of his troopers and  widened the Order gap even further, and from there it was a matter of cleanup.  So yeah.. this game wasn't as even matched as our first two games lol.

PureBlood Warpwolf (Part 1)

Got some progress on this guy a few weeks ago, but have forgotten to keep up with the gaming blog.  The lichen greenery isn't going to stay, at least not in its current form.. i was just mocking up some greenery to get an idea of what i wanted to do with it.   This was my first beast i tested the top down light gray primer to preshade/highlight the model.  I'm going to start doing this with my models that will have some lighter/brighter colors.  Keeps the advantage of black primer with a little of the advantage of white primer while blocking out the shading/highlights for me ahead of time.   Hopefully it saves me a bunch of time over the gnarlhorn.

Stone Keeper - Shifting Stones UA (Part 1)

Did a little work on my stonekeeper this weekend.  Got him put together and some ideas formulating for a base. I really love this model, so i want its base to do it justice.  My idea is to have him levitating with some rocks floating beneath him sculpted with GreenStuff and foam (wire hidden by vines and foliage).  Want him to be kind of hidden in a forest to signify his stealth ability.  A stony protrusion from a lush forest ground (lichen, vines, grass and mossy flock), and a tree (leaves done up with lichen, flock, and clump foliage).

Here's the mockup without any of the greenery or sculpting put on yet.

Battle Report - Cygnar vs Circle Orboros

This region had once been settled by peaceful farmers and workers.  The river and surrounding lands were a lush natural resource... that had all changed on a fateful day 1 year ago to this day.  Savage beasts and men poured in from the forest, killing with reckless abandon and smashing the structures of civilization to ruin.  Hence forth, this land would be a bounty for civilization to partake of no longer... it belonged to "them".  The mysterious black cladded pagans who culled the beasts into their warpath.

After the farmers and workers were driven out, the druids of orboros erected a stone monolith upon a very specific spot.  An intersection of two powerful leylines lay beneath the earth, right on the edge of the forest.  This sacrificial stonework would allow them to tap into it through offerings to the Devouring Wurm.   And so the blackclads protected their sacred site from that day forward.

One year later, a Cygnarian army looked to reclaim these lands, led by Commander Stryker himself.  The pagan savages would be defeated and forced to see their sacred monolith shattered.   The hiss of steam and rumbling iron upon earth echoed throughout the countryside as the battlegroup of an ironclad, charger, and lancer marched toward the ruins.

The always alert and watchful Circle, had noticed their approach from miles away and had already assembled a force led by the Stormwrath, Krueger.  Using the power of the monolith to amplify his call, he reached out to the most savage beasts of nature.  A feral warpwolf and a Gorax.  The presence of either would make even the bravest of men reconsider, let alone both together.  Not Krueger though, his power over beast was absolute, and these two were at his bidding.   At the stormlord's side, a master of stone magic levitated inside a triad of squat obelisk-shaped stones, intricately carved with runes.  Krueger sent the keeper and his stones to advanced positions ahead of the battlegroup to prepare their magic.

Krueger watched from beyond the monolith as the enemy took up their positions, centered between the ruined structures.  Wanting to secure the highground before they could establish a strong firing position, he imbued the feral with the power of lightning, causing tendrils of it to lick about from his claws. He then forced his will upon the Feral, driving him to race with all speed around the forest towards the hill, keeping him out of range and site of the Cygnarians.  He then called upon the power of the wind, conjuring a whirling gust of wind that encompassed his area of control as he took up position directly behind the great monolith.  The gorax was commanded to secure the forest entrance, while the stonekeeper shepard' his stones forward in a wide, flat formation.
[Krueger cast lightning tendrils on Feral, cast deflection, moved foward 6".  Feral warped for speed and ran 16" around the forest towards the cliff-faced hill, then riled.  Gorax ran forward, setting up between the monolith and the forest.  Shifting stones and keeper shifted forward 8"]

The veteran commander caught the subtle hints of movement and was quick to react, dispatching his lancer off to the left flank to contest the highground while the other two hulks of iron push foward to secure the center, taking cover behind the ruined wall.
Lancer ran to the top table edge.  Ironclad and Charger took up center positions behind cover of 1" wall.  Striker moved up.

Seeing the enemy's plan play out, Krueger forced the Warpwolf deeper into their flank.  As the beast took position at the base of the highground, it instinctively warped its body to form a tougher hide and bony armor.  The gorax's savagery was kept in check as Krueger sent it to skirt the forest edge and protect that flank, staying within the shadows of the trees.  The shifting Stones once again shifted to improve their position, expanding out the triangular formation to encompass a larger area.  Krueger needing a better vantage took to the sky and flew from his hiding spot to skirt the tree tops.  He whipped up another whirl of wind to deflect any ranged attacks.
[i]Krueger upkeep lightning tendrils on Feral.  Feral warped armor and moved into base with the high-ground piece.  Gorax moved forward, ending w/ just the tip of his base in the forest for concealment.  Krueger cast skyborne and deflection, then flew forward into the forest[/i]

Stryker, worried that his flank would not hold against the fast-approaching warpwolf, ordered his jacks to reposition and pull towards the highground.  He imbued the charger with a powerful sniping magic, giving it a supernatural aim and positioned himself near the ruined building.   The charger unleashed a powerful blast from its dual cannon, but failed to injure the feral who had the cover of earth and Krueger's storm wind as well as his protective armor warping.  The ironclad lumbered forward and readied itself for the incoming onslaught.
[i]striker cast snipe on charger, moved forward (might have shot at feral but dont' remember exactly.)[/i]

In seeing the enemy's reactive manuever from his sky vantage, Krueger wasted little time in capitalizing.  He flew forward then called out ancient words to the darkening sky.  Suddenly a swirling black cloud dipped down from the sky in a vortex!  The tornado snatched up the Ironclad and launched it through the air, letting the hulk crash land in a vulnerable prone position!  The fall caused major structural damage to the 'jack. The shifting stones combined their magic to teleport the Gorax forward into a flanking position on the other side, then Krueger urged the feral to unleash its full fury upon the exposed Ironclad.  The beast charged in, lightning tendrils still desperately grasping for a conduit.  The ferocity of the beast was unmatched as its claws melted through the iron armor like butter, ripping it to shreds, giving the lightning its much desired conduit!  Arcs leaped from the scrapped jack into the nearby Charger, giving it a bit of a jolt!
[i] Krueger's tornado rolled incredible and dealt like 13 damage thru armor, the feral's charge finished it off, getting a little extra electro-leap damage on the charger[/i]

Stryker, seeing the dire situation unfold, burst into action!  With Krueger's wind wall down, he focused his will into the Lancer, channeling a rumbling earthquake spell through its arc-node!  The feral was unable to hold its ground and fell prone!  The commander ordered the Charger to unleash a devastating volley of cannon fire into the feral beast while taking his own pistol shots.  The lancer followed suit and charged in to skewer the Feral from its backside! The beast's bones were shattered and flesh battered leaving it will no spirit or mind to fight, but it still stood, heaving for every breath.
[i]Bad dice rolls on damage prevented zac from having an excellent retalliation allowing the feral to live (with 4 health dots and no mind or spirit).[/i]

Next turn, the stonekeeper failed to hit with his Rock Hammer.  Krueger healed the feral for 2, reviving its mind and spirit, then moved forward and chain lightning'd the Charger.  It did decent damage to the 'jack and chained into Stryker for a few points of damage.  the Gorax used his animus primal then charged the Charger and scrapped it.  The feral forced to regenerate and I forgot to shake the prone effect on my feral so he spent his turn standing up and changing his facing to avoid back strikes.  The stones shifted to form a protective screen for Krueger.

Zac then regained his honor with some good dice rolls and went slice 'n dice mode with stryker on the feral in melee combat.  Stryker pwnd his face! And popped his feat giving everything +5 armor!  The lancer then ran to move into position on Krueger's side of the high ground, putting a dangerous threat on the warlock's exposed flank.

My turn... The gorax auto frenzied, but had nothing in range and no charge targets.. it advanced towards the closest (stryker) and ended its activation.  Realizing i couldn't hurt anything with all his stuff having +5 armor, i retreated.  Stones ported Krueger back behind the forest and he camped fury (since gorax generated 0 and feral was dead), i was in dire need of all i could get.

Zac spent his next turn repositioning his lancer back with his warcaster, and sending said 'caster to kill the Gorax, again in melee combat.  Apparently he doesn't fall into the category of men mentioned at the beginning of this battle report about being afraid of the most savage of savage beasts!  He slayed the beast using all 6 focus.

With the feat wore off, Krueger got crafty...  he cut himself for 2 fury to max out, then advanced 6" to get a good linear angle on the Lancer and Styker.  He cast tornado and took a gamble didn't boost to hit, needing a 7.  It hit with an 8(!!) and threw the lancer back 3"!  The perfect amount i needed to LAND on Stryker and knock him down!! 1" less and no stryker.  1" more and no stryker!  It was THAT close!  ehehhe.  So with striker and lancer prone, the stone keeper advanced and lobbed a rock hammer at them... AoE 3 POW 14... boom.  Ended the poor warcaster's life and Circle's sacred monolith remained protected.


AWESOME game zac!  It was really back and forth (dice gods were with me tonight lol) and if i hadn't gotten that super lucky 3" throw, i probably would have been done, cause i had no beasts left for fury, and my shifting stones aren't much for fighting...  This game taught me the huge value of knockdown abilities... your earthquake is pretty nasty, especially with arc nodes.  Tornado is quickly becoming one of my favorite spells, tossing jacks around and setting up nice auto-hit charges :D   That terrain setup was really enjoyable i thought as well.. nice and symmetrical (for the most part) game-play wise, but different in aesthetic.  trees vs ruined buildings

Feral Warpwolf (Part 1)

Haven't gotten much done on Circle Orboros army lately, mostly because i've been busy trying to plan out some terrain building (i'm on a mission and will be blogging progress on this).  Also, i've got 2 Infinity starters i've been tinkering with.  That said.. I do have an update.. My feral warpwolf is nearing completion on the modeling side of things.  Just need to finish the greenstuffing and the base (which i have a really cool idea for).

My idea is to have him hunched over a ripped up body, posed to look like he's guarding his fresh kill, looking up as an intruder approaches, and he's quite pissed about it. I plan to beef up the arms and legs a bit as well.

Here's my progress:

I brough his left arm way down, giving him a much more natural and hunched over look.  

 Here's the other side.  This arm i brought out a bit and it will be holding a ripped off head, complete with blood spine!  I still need to rotate his awkward wrist position clockwise a bit, to fully eliminate the "ghey pose" and adjust the fingers to be grasping the spine/head bit.  You can see the head bit in the bottom right of the pic.

And here's a close up of the head bit.  I pinned a paper clip in that will be modeled and bent to resemble a spine.  This head is perfect since its hair is whooshed back and its mouth is open in a scream.  That will give me the easy effect of a horrifying death and dangling hair.

Ok, had to edit in a quick update... Really wanted to get the first chunk of meat down on one of his arms so i did.. here it is.. muscles aren't quite fully sculpted, as i need this first chunk to dry first, then i can tie it all together and blend it smooth, cover join w/ fur, etc.  

I had a sort of epiphany sculpting this.. as i'm still really new at this i have much to learn... I realized sculpting whole pieces at once is near impossible because you have nothing solid to "push" the greenstuff against.. just more squishy putty that ruins your overall shape.  So I tried a "blocking out" method artists use when drawing.  What you see is basically an upside down teardrop for the basic shoulder shape, then 3 ovals stuck on and roughly shaped to the shape of the anterior, medial, and posterior deltoids (shoulder muscles).  When this is dry and solid, i'll be able to put down a fresh layer of GreenStuff, pull the bottom tips of the deltoids together to form their normal join between the tricep and biceps, and the blend the shapes together and get rid of any unwanted lines. I also need to put a little bit of putty on the tricep to beef that out a little to correctly proportion the rest of his arm and bring that part of it together.

Updates - Infinity & Hordes

Couple updates tonight... As some of you may know, i bought a couple starter boxes for Infinity by Corvus Bell.  Its a cyberpunk scifi skirmish game with really neat rules that makes for incredibly dynamic and interesting play.  All thanks to beastsofwar.com featuring Infinity with their "Infinity Week".  Anyway... I bought the Yu-Jing and PanOceania starter boxes and downloaded all the rules (which are free to download!).  I had a helluva time deciding even on 2 armies as every faction has badass models that i wanted.. but alas, i had to settle on 2.

I finished cleaning and assembling the Yu-Jing set tonight:

I hope to add to this soon with Ninja's, shinobi, more ninja's with sniper rifles, and rebels on crotch rockets lol.

My PanO is still in the box (other than the quickstart demo game i did with @nemesiscafe).

Now for my Hordes/Circle Orboros updates..   I actually got a bit done today, at least everything i had set for a daily goal.   That is, cleaning up all the flashing/mould lines and washing the following:  Megalith, WW Stalker, Nuala the Huntress, and the Stone Keeper.  Tomorrow they will be ready to assemble and convert.

Megalith is getting some pretty hefty converting.  Most of his joints are getting cut and reassembled/puttied to give him a more imposing presence... instead of the <insert funny megalith pic here>.

Stalker i haven't quite decided, but i think for him i'm going to angle his sword a bit more horizontally and add a decapitated body in his open hand, the severed head on the base, and use a epoxy/paint trick to get a messy gore look.

Stone Keeper... i love this model and it has so much potential to be even more awesome.  Gonna make up a base for him to look like he's kinda like an earth bender, with his outstretched hand erecting stone from the earth around him.

Nuala isn't getting any special treatment... just no inspiration with her model.  Its ok, but nothing to get excited and write home about.

Gnarlhorn Satyr (Part 5)

Been awhile since i put an update up... haven't made a whole ton of progress on my army.  I have all but finished the gnarlhorn though.  All that's left is to seal/varnish him and finish the base with some flock/grass/lichen.   Here's the finished paint job.  Unfortunately my phone camera washed out a lot of the contrast and you can't see the dark shadows and bright highlights, but you get the general idea.

Gnarlhorn Satyr (Part 4) and Kromac Update

Ok.. tonight i spent most of my time working on my foam trays.. but i did get a little painting done.  I started laying down some of the metallics on my gnarlhorn's armor, and i started practicing the layering technique on the blues on both gnarly and Kromac.   The blends are smoother on the gnarlhorn, but the highlights are kindy funky (random light sources? lol).  Gonna hafta fix those...

As you can see i haven't finished painting all the metallics.. half of him still needs done.  What you see here is VGC gunmetal with black ink.  I'll highlight up with plain gunmetal and some chainmail into silver/glazemedium.  His textured hair regions are still a big sore spot with me.  Haven't quite got the color i want yet, still experimenting.. i finally found an image on google that perfectly depicts the color i want.. orangutan.jpg (the goatee).  Some of the kind folks @ ppforums gave me some tips on getting that color so i'll try that tomorrow perhaps.

KROMAC!!!

Kromacs blends aren't quite as smooth, but they look much more natural.   The only parts of him i've painted is the blue parts.  The rest was painted by someone else, but i plan on painting over most of it.  Or at least touching it up.. was too lazy to strip the whole model, and besides.. it was actually a pretty good paint job.. i'll just enhance it up a little :D

Wet Palettes.. freakin awesome!

So i saw this tip linked in a few places (brushthralls was the first place), and people seemed to be praising wet palettes and they seemed really easy to make.. so what the hell.  I gave it a shot.

Just take a privateer press blister package, cut the foam to fit into the bottom of the "bowl", then fill about 3/4 way full with water (just below the top of the foam).  Cut out a piece of parchment paper to the same size as the foam, get it wet, lay it flat on the foam and that's it... you have a wet palette.  The best part is, the blister is already made to snap shut, so you can seal it up and use it later.  I've had paint on mine for 2 days now, and its still wet and very much usable!

This saves a TON of paint!!  And, it keeps your paints nice and wet so you don't have to worry about rethinning, adding retarder, more water, getting clumps, etc.  You will occasionally have to add more water to keep the parchment sticking to it and damp.  You'll know when you need to add more water cause it will dry up and start curling up on you.  You'll know its too much water if your paint just bleeds everywhere and is unusable.  The picture above was taken after its been sitting for a day.  You can see the corners curling up, but the middle is still damp and the paint is still wet :)

Gnarlhorn Satyr (Part 3)

Didn't get much done on him.. just a couple coats of the blue armor inlay to finish that basecoat.  The raised parts of the armor I plan on doing with Chainmail VGC and highlighting up... unless i magically get good at NMM before i get to that part lol.

This blue was a mix of  VGC stormy blue and VGC imperial blue.  Matches pretty good to P3's dark blue.

Still trying to decide what color i'm going to do his fur/hair in.. I'd really like to blend it into a brown-orange-black scheme you see on some goats, with black horns, but not sure that color will go with my flesh color.  Black would look best, but i'm so set on black horns, not sure if i'd have enough contrast doing both in black.

Undecided on the loincloth as well... black and blue is my army's theme.. i'm either going to do black with a blue gem, or blue with an orange gem.  Orange looks awesome with blue and black and i think i'm gonna tie in oranges to my models for more contrast and pop.  Only on very subtle things tho.. like that tiny belt gem.. parts of weapons..

Anyway.. here's the pics:

Small Update: Practicing layers on highlights (pKrueger)

Just a small update before bed.  I got a chance to practice my layering technique on krueg's blue parts tonight.  It was fun, and offers a lot more control and realism over drybrushing.  Pics below.. Not bad, but i think I need a bit more color depth to the layers.  All my highlights look almost the same color, even tho i progressed up adding more white to the mixture with each layer, and applied in smaller spots to the brightest point.  Or at least that's what i tried to do lol.  One nice thing about posting these pictures, is the super zoomed view lets me see a close up view of where i should be putting highlights, and where i shouldn't.  I need to get one of those super magifiers for when i'm painting....  I always notice the wrong placement of highlights on these pics, but not while i'm painting!! details are too small! lol

Gnarlhorn Satyr (Part 2)

Ok, got the gnarlhorn's flesh basecoat and shading done.  I'll do the highlights after i get everything else basecoated.  Don't wanna have to redo the whole process if i mess up on the armor/surrounding pieces.  The more i work on this guy, the more he's becoming my favorite Circle model.  He's so badass looking, and i love the pose i have him in.

Here's my progress

As always, now that i see the super close up pictures, i see some areas i need to fix.  Probably hit those up tomorrow.  Few areas that need a couple more layers of shading applied

Making my own foam trays (Part 1)

In a grand effort to save a bunch of cash as well as get better, more customized trays for my troops, I have started a project... Build my own foam troop transport trays.  I will be sizing them for Sabol Designs Army Transport bags, as I am getting a very lucrative deal on their new "Armored Company" bag.  32" of foam space in that bad boy!!

So i have received my arse load of foam for pennies on the dollar, and its really good stuff.  I think i actually like it better than Battlefoam's foam.  For the base piece, i'm using some 1/4" hi density blue foam.

And... after a day's work, i have finished my prototype tray.  It turned out pretty good despite the "roughness" of it... i learned alot in the process as well, and have noted a few improvements to make on the next ones.  Most notably, I decided that measuring, drawing lines, and cutting foam without a template sucked balls.  So I went to Lowes and had them cut me a piece of wood to size, which only cost $4.50... as you'll see from the pics, the pieces i cut without the template are much rougher.  Thankfully i wised up after the first tray.

Materials list:
-large roll of 1" foam
-large sheet of 1/4" high density foam
-utility knife (want a blade at least as thick as your thickest tray, for me this is 4")
-13x7.5 piece of wood to serve as a tray template*
-foam adhesive spray (i'm using 3M's)*
-tacky glue
-xacto knife
-cardboard (if you want to make templates)
-cutting mat (a good surface to cut your foam on)

Note:  Starred* items are only needed if you're cutting out your own trays from bulk foam.  This would have been much faster/easier with foam sheets in the thickness for your trays.  Fabric stores will often have this for you.  I was not able to get foam worthy of a tray in sizes i wanted, so i got 1" foam roll that i had to cut and adhere the layers together.  It was also significantly cheaper this way. 

Here's the process..

1.) Cutting out the foam trays and bases into 13x7.5 pieces.  Put cutting mat under the foam to be cut, place your wood template on top, line up your utility knife flush against the wood and slowly begin your cut.  I found the best method for me was a stabbing, saw-motion type cut.  This reduced almost all tearing and helped keep the blade flush against the template for a nice straight cut.  The high density foam cuts much easier, and you can just press your blade through and run a normal line cut.  Sorry, no pics of this step.

2.)  Adhere the 1" sheets together to make one solid tray.  My first tray is going to be 2" thick, so i took 2 sheets and used the 3M foam spray on both sides and stuck them together.  In the pics below you can see the layers.  My first attempt was a bit rough, again due to not using a template to cut, and not quite knowing how to use the spray adhesive (you can see some overspray on the sides).

3.)  Planning model layout and templates.  I started out by making cardboard templates by tracing around the model with a pen then cut out w/ xacto knife.  I later came to realize it works much better just setting the models on the foam and cutting around them.  Not so much wasted space and a lot less effort than cutting and drawing around templates.

3.)  Cutting out the models' holes.  For this i used a similar method as cutting out the trays.  Start slow with a stabbing motion until you work the utility knife all the way through to the bottom.  Once you reach the bottom, continue to "saw" around the model/template until you've completed the cut.  I then smushed the foam down and test fit the model to its hole and went on to the next one.  This helped me keep a sense of spacing and ensure my cuts fit.

4.)  Gluing the base to the tray.   This was another learning experience for me.. Because the spray adhesive requires both sides to be sprayed I had to think about how to do this part without getting glue inside the holes.  Don't want glue sticking to my paint jobs after all!  So i figured I would plug the bottom of the holes with the cutout pieces of foam, then just spray the whole thing, spray the base tray, then quickly pull out the plugs, then stick the pieces together... well this worked great until i realized that there was now foam glue at the bottom of each hole, because i sprayed the entire base.  (insert 4 letter word here!).

The only solution i could think of, is to use some Tacky glue and just apply it around the holes.  This should be fine as i've seen a few guides for making troop trays that recommend tacky glue.  We'll see on the next one i guess lol.   This screwup actually ended up not being so bad afterall.. once the foam adhesive had dried, there's almost no tackiness left to it, and since my models will be standing up on their base, no big deal.

5.)  Once the foam pieces are glued together, you need to let them fully dry over night with some weight compressing them together to ensure a full even bond.  I got a board and set a box full of glassware on top of it.  Next morning it was fully dry and STUCK.  Would take a lot of force to pull the foam layers apart, which is a good thing.

6.)  Fill with models!

Customized fit for models to stand on their bases.  Perfect!  I hate laying my models on their paint jobs (even with clear coats for protection).  The tray is very sturdy as well, thanks to the hi-density foam base piece.  They don't bend/sag down at all when you hold them.

A few of the holes look a little big for the models, but that's because they have pieces i still need to glue on, or they are just a filler model because i don't have the right one put together yet.  That empty spot in the middle was because i cut the hole above it too big on accident (dog was being anoying) and it didn't leave room for the one i had planned to go below it (grr).

So there you have it... pretty easy process once you figure out a few of the tricky parts.  My subsequent trays should turn out a lot cleaner and professional looking, and be done much quicker.  Hopefully this helps out some people who are looking to make their own troop trays.

Mohsar the Desertwalker (part 1)

I got my favorite caster, Mohsar, primed and ready to paint.  I wanted to do something cool for his base to show just how epic this Circle Orboros omnipotent really is... but i couldn't really think of anything outside the normal boring stuff... that is until this afternoon.

This afternoon I got a sample of some hi-density foam today from someone i'm looking at buying some bulk foam to make my own version of battlefoam trays.  They are getting rid of it SUPER CHEAP so despite not being good for miniature trays i thought i could make some cool terrain out of it.  Then it hit me.. cut a out a rough pillar and base Mohsar on a pillar of rocksalt..  I thought it sounded pretty epic considering Mohsar's bread and butter spell is Pillar of Salt..

So a rough cut test run of Mohsar on his pillar of salt:

And here are some examples of how i would try to paint it:

Anyone have any suggestions on how to pull off painting anything like the above?  I'm sure ideally there's probably a better material than hi-dens foam for this... like salt rock... lol.. but i don't really wanna hafta go buy anything else and i wanna use this foam for something lol.

New additons to the hobby area

Just wanted to post up a pic of my new additions.. Ottlite lamp that was 40% off and my paint carousel. Sorry for the blurry pic..