6mm Building Designs

As you can see in my previous posts, I have been building some 6mm forces and have played a few games using them.  I have made some terrain for those games and have a few more projects planned.

One item I am missing is buildings.  There are lots of great designs out there, but it seems that nearly all of them are in the UK or some other European country.  I am unable to find what I am looking for here in the US.  I don't have a problem buying from overseas, but shipping can get a bit pricey.

So I decided to see what I could do to change this.  My first step has been to get a 3D modeling program and see if I could make some building designs that would work.  In high school (many years ago) I took quite a few drafting classes.  Very little of it was on the computer and even less was 3D, but that training is helping me with this process.

I've put together a couple of basic building designs and some stand alone doors.  I will continue to play with these and see what I can come up with.  I want to make some designs that are clearly "alien", but human colony buildings and structures are going to be my first efforts.

Here are some examples of what I've come up with so far.

This one is the basic structure.  Good for an outpost or rows of habitats.

A little variation from the basic design.  

A bit larger building and I added a floor to add depth to the city.

I offset the design above to add more variety.

These doors have can be used to scratch build structures or to add doors to the buildings.  The round door will also work as a vent fan.

Let me know what you think?  How could I do these better?  What am I missing?  What would you like to see?

Epic 40K Space Marines - A work in progress

I have shown off my Epic Rhino upgrades to Predators and Razorbacks.  Now I want to show you some of the other units I have been working on.  No conversions with these, just fleshing out an army at this point.

These will primarily see the field of battle using Future War Commander, but I also want them to be usable for Epic 40K (and variants) and a modified version of Tomorrows War.

Overall Commander.  This may get a Rhino instead of the Razorback.

HQ section.

Another HQ Section

Land Speader

Dreadnought.  This will be used as an assault walker.

Chaos Dreadnought.  This will be used as a fire support walker.

Tactical Marine Squad

Terminator Squad

Assault Marine Squad.

I need to assemble more of all of these and I still have to put together some Devastator squads. To finish up I think the infantry will include 20 basic marine squads, 10 assault squads, 10 terminator squads, and 10 devastator squads.  Add to this the Rhinos and Razorbacks to transport all these troops, Predator tanks, Land Raiders, Land Speeders, and Dreadnoughts for support.

I like the look and when they are all based it will be a nicely uniformed force that can hit the field of battle and do some damage to the enemies of the Empire.

What do you think?  Anything I should add?

More Scratch Built Spaceships

I'm pretty sure that if you have been playing miniature games for more than a month, you have a pile of bits somewhere that you have saved for some future project.  I have lots of piles of bits.

I decided I wanted to see what i could do with some of those bits.  After digging around a bit I found some Ork arms and got my clippers and exacto knife.  After a little trial and error, this is what I came up with.

For my first try I took a chain saw choppa arm and a couple of regular choppa arms.

I trimmed off the ork arm and smoothed the surfaces that would be glued.

I used a little glue and drilled a hole for the stand and...Ta da.

Next up I took another chain saw choppa arm and 2 ax arms.

Same process of trimming and smoothing.

 Some more glue and another hole and another ship is finished.

 These are pretty clunky, but they look alright for a less advanced race like Orks.  When I put together a few more ships and add a little paint and and I will have the start of another fleet using bits that I've got laying around.

What do you think?  Any ideas for making larger ships to match these frigates?  Maybe use some parts from a kill kan or trukk?

Adding bases to my Epic 40k Space Marine Vehicles

I have been making some progress on painting up the GW Epic 40k Space Marines that I will be using for my games of Future War Commander, Epic 40K, and possibly a 6mm variant of Tomorrows war.  I like how they have turned out.

I decided to add bases to the vehicle models for a couple of reasons.  First, it will give the army an even more unified look.  I like my armies to look like they belong together.  The painting does that to some degree, but adding bases with similar details throughout the army really makes them unified.  Second, transportation will be easier.  The bases I am using are metallic, so I can put the models into a box with magnetic strips on the base and that will make moving these around easier.

I ordered bases from Wargame Accessories for this project.  Their bases are reasonably priced and work well for this scale.  There are lots of sizes available, so you should be able to find the right size for your projects.  The Rhinos, Razorbacks, and Predators below are based on 25mm x 25mm bases.

I mixed some wood glue with a little water to thin it down a bit.  Then spread the glue onto a base.  I then sprinkle the base with the talus.  Once this is dry I paint it a dark brown.  For the bases I use a cheap acrylic paint from the local hobby store.  Then dry brush the base with a light tan to make the detail stand out a bit.

Once that dries, I used super glue to attach the tank to the base.  Let dry and then I use the watered down wood glue and add a couple of blotches to each base then sprinkle on the flock.  Let that dry and then blotch on a little more watered down wood glue and sprinkle on a different flock.

You don't need to use two kinds of flock, but I like the look and it is an easy detail to add that looks pretty good on the finished models.

Below you can see some based Predators, Razorbacks and Rhinos.

I have assembled a few more tanks and hope they will be hitting the paint table soon.

What do you think?  Is the work necessary?  Do you base your 6mm vehicles?

Rock Your Glock at the Lincoln Izaak Walton League

I am the match director for the Rock Your Glock Match held at the Lincoln Izaak Walton League in Bennett, Nebraska.  We had our monthly match this past weekend (July 19th) and had a great time.  Sorry, no pictures from the match.

We had 108 guns sign up for the match.  Not our biggest turn out, but certainly in contention for it.

I would like to thank all of the competitors for coming out and specifically thank the ROs who volunteer their time to work the match.  It could not happen without their time and effort.  THANK YOU!!!

For those of you that aren't familiar with the match, let me give you a brief explanation.  This match is modeled after the Glock Shooting Sports Foundation matches.  The primary difference is we have more divisions and allow people to shoot guns that are not made by Glock.  We allow revolvers and 1911s which the GSSF matches don't have since Glock doesn't make these types of handguns.

The Plates:  We have a plate rack with 6 steel plates that are 8" in diameter.  This stage has 4 strings of fire.  In each string your goal is to shoot and knock down each of the plates.  The plate rack is set at 11 yards from the shooter.

The M:  This stage has 4 paper targets and 3 steel pepper poppers.  This stage has 3 strings of fire.  You will shoot each paper with 2 shots and knock down 1 steel in each string.  The paper targets are set at 7 and 15 yards, while the steel poppers are set at 11 yards from the shooter.

The 5 to 25:  This stage has 5 paper targets.  This stage also has 3 strings of fire.  You will shoot each paper with 2 shots in each string.  The targets are set at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 yards.

Scoring is a Time Plus system.  We track the time it takes you to shoot each string of fire and then add time based on penalties for shots that aren't in the A/B zone of the targets.

There is no moving in this match and you don't need to reload on the clock either which makes this a great match for shooters that are new to competitive shooting.  If you have never been and are interested in pistol competitions, I would encourage you to come check out our match or find a similar one near you.

I shot in the stock amateur division with my Springfield Armory XDM 9mm.  I finished in 6th place with a total time of 87.39.  Not great, but for me it is a pretty good showing.  My times added up to a total of 53.39 seconds and I had 34 seconds of penalty points.

I still have more work to do, but am significantly better than when I started.  I will continue training and working on improving my abilities.

Have you been to any matches lately?  What kind of shooting do you like?

15mm Walls - More terrain for the table

Several months ago, my friend Randy joined the 14/7 Membership Club from Acheson Creations.  The membership gives you a discount in their store.  He asked me if I wanted anything so I went to their website....and my answer was YES!

They have all kinds of great terrain that will work for many of the games that I play and in different scales and their prices are reasonable even without the membership discount.  I got the order and the items have sat in a corner of my garage waiting for some attention.

I open all the stuff up and washed it.  I just ran a sink full of warm water, added some dish soap and grabbed a brush.  With these all cleaned, I let them dry and then chose a few models to put some paint on.

I primed these with a white primer from the local auto parts store.  Next I used wood glue to apply some talus to the bases.  This is not a must, but I like the look.  I painted the base a dark brown and dry brushed it with a light tan.  For the wall itself I used a GW green wash (don't remember the exact color) and slopped on a coat.  And done.  After that dried, I added a few bits of graffiti.

I have just one complaint about these and that is there are no corners for these.  Not that big of a deal, but it would be nice if some were available.  Oh well, I guess that can be another project for me.

These walls will see the battlefield in my 15mm games of Future War Commander and Tomorrows War.  The would certainly work in 28mm games like 40k or Infinity as well.

I have about 20 of these walls.  Below you can see some photos of the finished product.

I will probably use different colors as I paint up more of these, but the style will stay the same.  I do want to add more graffiti and slogans.

Anyone have some anti-establishment slogans that I can put on here?  Where might I find some inspiration for that kind of thing?

More Fields with crops

In an earlier blog post (Fields with crops) I showed you some fields that I made for use on my battlefields.

I have been working on adding more options for my agricultural workers and thought I would share the results with you.

I have added 4 variants.  All use the same carpet that I got at my local home improvement store.  It is sold by the foot and is 24" wide (I think).  I cut the carpet into 4"x4" and 4"x8" sections.  You can use whatever size you like, but I think these sizes work well for me.

Variant 1:  I just ran a bead of glue down the raised line and then sprinkled basic green flock onto the glue.  I ran about 4 inches of glue and then sprinkled, 4 inches, then sprinkled, etc.

You can see all 4 variants here with a unit of Razorbacks.

Varient 2:  I did the same thing, but with a brown static grass this time.  You can use whatever color you like.  I will probably do some with green static grass soon.

Varient 3:  I got some Woodland Scenics clump foilage for cheap.  It is the autumn colors, so there is yellow, red and two shades of orange in the bag I got.  I broke these into small pieces and glued them to the carpet.

Varient 4:  Same stuff as before, but I used larger clumps this time.  This could be more mature plants than the smaller variant or a different plant if you use different colors.  The larger clumps also are better at breaking up visibility depending on the scale you will be using these for.

Some Earth Force Marines from Rebel Minis advancing through a field. (variant 4)

All of these fields can be used in 6mm, 15mm, or 28mm games.  I play mostly sci-fi so I don't care about the oddly colored plants.  If you are more historically minded, then just stick to the greens and browns for your crops.

I hope this gives you some good ideas for your game table.

What else might make good crops?  Any great ideas for cheap supplies for more fields?

Scratch Built Spaceships

I love spaceships.  I can't get enough of them.  I own a rather large collection.  But, I could always add a few more to the fleet, right.

A while ago, my friend Doug showed me some scratch built ships he was working on.  It inspired me to try my hand at making my own.  These are not great, but it just shows what can be done with some bits and bobbles laying around.

I started with some basic ideas and just played around.  Sorry about the pictures.  These were taken before I got my new phone.

Parts for frigate.

Finished frigates.

Cruiser Parts

Basic shape for cruisers.  Note the beveled edges.

Finished cruiser

Rear shot of cruiser

Parts for 2nd frigate design

2nd frigate finished

Beginning design for battleship

Battleship finished.  It is a little off balance.

A different angle of the battleship

Painted battlegroup

Painted battlegroup

The paint job on these guys is nothing fancy.  I have always wondered why space ships have such elaborate paint schemes.  In my mind (nothing based upon realitiy) I don't see why you need to paint a ship that only floats around in a vacuum.  You don't have to worry about corrosion.  So I just painted the windows, and engine exhaust ports on these.  Maybe not flashy, but it works for me.

What do you think?  Have you built your own ships?  What do you use?  How elaborate are your ships?

Epic 40K - Great Find

One of the gentlemen at my local game shop heard I have been playing with Epic 40K stuff lately.  He told me that he had some old epic stuff and wondered if I was interested.

I told him to let me see what he had and I would let him know.  This is what he showed me.

4 Ork Mega Gargants

3 Eldar Titans, 21 metal Eldar Tanks, several walkers, 30ish plastic falcons and an Avatar.

12 old Land Raiders, 20ish Rhinos, some bike and misc infantry, and 30-40 Ork battlewagons, 

Lots of misc ork stuff.  There are a lot of metal models in here.  There are 6 skullhammers on the top shelf.

9 complete Gargants plus a Mega Gargant that was converted into a smaller one.

The paint on these will take some work to remove, but overall this was a great find.  I got it all for a song.

With this being added to my already ridiculously large collection, I think I have enough to keep me busy for quite a while now and I really don't know how I could use all of this anyway.  I just wish this had included some Leman Russes and Chimeras.  Oh well.  I guess I will have to be happy with what I have.

I might have to make some of this available to my fellow Epic enthusiasts.  Anyone looking for anything to add to their collection?