Confrontation Part IV: Plastic & Putty

Last time, I presented the heavily engineered mounting post that I crafted to support the metal knight & pegasus combination for this diorama. Any hope of suspending such a heavy, metal figure from a single point required a solid structure. This time, I will explore some of how I approached the dragon at the opposite end of the scene, as well as some of the initial rough terrain layout for the base.

First, and foremost, this base is going to use up a massive amount of Super Sculpey modeling clay. The material is easy to work with, cheaper than Green Stuff, and won't dry out, or set until I bake it. That means I have weeks to fiddle with it, and add detail before I run off to bake it. You can see the first few stone forms in the photo above, as well as the clear delineation between the little fired patch around the brass support post, and the fresh Sculpey.

Confrontation Part III: Engineering for Metal

It has been quite some time since I posted the last installment of this series. Even though I knew this would be a long one, I had not intended to go five months between updates! To provide a brief recap: I had assembled most of the parts of the dragon Narthrax, but the other participant in the scene was sadly lacking in readiness:

Since the, I have been trying to get the metal half of this duo assembled, so I could get back to blocking out and building the base that will support both of them.

And then an Army Happened

I have been playing DropZone Commander for slightly more than a year now, focusing primarily on the Shaltari army for that game. As is my usual pattern with war games, I got off to a good start on producing a painted army, but then stalled a bit, and never finished. This time around, I have been focusing on having at least one or two new models painted every time I play the game, and, over the months, an army just... sort of... accumulated.

More ROBOTS!

As if I needed more mecha minis, my Reaper CAV Kickstarter package arrived over the weekend, bringing me another batch of delightful plastic robot toys to paint and play with.

Unlike the white plastic of the original Bones series, and of the Alpha Strike early shipment that went out last year, the latest CAV plastics are molded in a solid grey color. I'm not sure I believe it makes an important difference for painting, but it sure makes photography easier for the unpainted version - Yes, painting on grey different than painting on white, but you can always apply a primer layer to change the start point.

Do it Yourself: Terrain Bonus Feature (2 of 2)

Last time, I detailed the build process and material I used to build a set of custom terrain boards for DropZone Commander. This time, I will complete the article by detailing the paint strategy I used to finish the boards, and get them ready for play.

Step one was to both prime and base coat each board. Because this is terrain, and not a competition miniature, I used the cheapest gray spray primer I could find at a local hime improvement store. In this case, it turned out to be a Rustoleum combination paint and primer, but anything should do.

Do it yourself: Terrain Bonus Feature (1 of 2)

One thing I left out of my review of 10mm terrain options was the option to build your own. I am not an experienced terrain building master, but I have picked up some techniques, and I like to think that I can produce some pretty good results, given the time and motivation.

I left this out of my review series for a simple reason: The quality of home-made terrain, and the effort required to get it ready, are entirely dependent on the skills of the builder, and, since I won't be shipping myself over to do your building for you, your results will vary wildly.

Enough Terrain! Paint a Figure!

In the midst of my mad dash to CaptainCon, I took a brief detour through the Reaper forum winter gift exchange to paint up a traditional miniature. My assigned exchange partner requested something that showcased Non-Metallic Metals, so I took on Reaper SKU #02551: Monique DeNoir. I thought her full-body armor and elegant cape would provide a good canvas to try.

Photo courtesy of Aaron G.

I used a combination of different NMM colors for this project. The most prominent was a deep brown/black scheme using Reaper Walnut Brown and Linen White. It was a fun experiment in a new NMM color formula for me. Up until this project, I feel like I was in a bit of a rut, using just the same steel and gold formulae over and over. (Of course, both of those feature here too.)

CaptainCon 2016 Wrap-up

On February 6th, we held our first local DropZone Commander tournament at CaptainCon 2016, in Warwick, RI. Even with a couple of last-minute  no-shows, we were able to muster five players (6 with me as organizer). I am prepared to call it a success, and look forward to the next one!

This was my second tournament, after Gencon, and the first I have organized myself. As I posted during the past weeks, I dedicated a great deal of time to preparing terrain for the event. The end result was four tables ready to go right at the start, with enough extra materials for at least one more, should the players materialize.

Ten Mil Terrain Wrap-up

After an unexpected month-long delay, caused by the mad race to CaptainCon, I thought I'd post my final thoughts on the ten millimeter terrain products I have been trying out. Although there are a few other options to look at, perhaps most notably N-scale railroad scenery, I think the three I have explored here provide a pretty good cross-section of the options on the market.

The above photo shows the tables we set up for the DropZone Commander tournament at CaptainCon. Our setup showcased a mix of Hawk, Blotz and 4Ground terrain options, as well as a little bit of home-made scenery, bodged together by yours truly. (More on that in a future post) Also featured, although not reviewed, were a set of 10mm urban F.A.T. Mats, from Frontline Games.

So, now that I have worked with all three brands, and used quite a few on actual gaming tables, what do I think of them? Read on for a comparative summary of my thoughts.