Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => Workbench => "Build Something" Archiv => Topic started by: Vanvlak on April 06, 2021, 04:39:05 PM
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In the last year I started a couple of threads which went nowhere and nothing else - I have been absent for a long while.
I chose what should be a fun and easy project - I might have already identified all the bits too.
This will definitely be on a planet which is not Earth. The idea started out as a jungle, but the actual surface set me thinking, and there is something I might use to make this a field instead - an alien equivalent of the typical film-scene tall cornfield with people running around completely hidden from each other; except in my case they won't be running as it would not count as difficult terrain!
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Sounds like a fun idea :)
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Sounds like a fun idea :)
That's what I'm hoping - at least fun enough to keep me working on it. I find myself with less and less time to work on models, so choosing something fun helps.
I'm also going for a simple build, which however just got a teensy little more complicated than planned..... it dawned on me that plugging in a load of identical aquarium plants would fall foul of the rules, as it's just a collection of manufactured products (however weirdly painted they would be).
So instead it's not the field which will make the terrain difficult, but an infestation. I also have a bit I 'recovered' (no, I was not trawling bins again) which I would really like to include, although it scarcely fits the theme. For now...
The jungle idea I had toyed with is out (for now).
My original idea was a junkyard, but I assembled that years ago (still not painted!), and it was an exercise in clearing out bits I would not use for anything else which I am not keen to repeat!
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So, are you a 'Bin Raker' come 'Skip Diver' too? lol
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Guilty as charged :D
I'll post a pic later in the week of the scrapyard - it's just a pile of junk really, glued, sprayed and going nowhere until they're painted - but definitely dangerous!
As for the infestation: the idea behind it is probably plagiarised from the red weed from The War of the Worlds.
The execution is going to be very different. So anything but red weed. Except it might be red.
This is the best part of the competition - looking for bits :D
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lol We can start 'B.R.A.C' here then, the 'Bin Rakers Anonymous Club'
I'd sign up, only I lost my pen in that last skip.
I can see just how very much that would prove to be 'Difficult Terrain'. It could hinder or harm through all manner of reasonings, of which you can set the stage for in it's manner of doing 'hinder or harm' by whatever you say it to be or do, &, in any place, anywhere.
Especially if it ------- a ----- -----. ;D
cheers.
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I remembered something lurking in the cellar, so I went back to field from infested field - and if I don't find the lurker, just naming it field doesn't mean it can't be invested: the more open description gives me more leeway.
@Clach Uma - you might not get to see the infestation after all, but even if I go for a boring regular field, I'll try to include a tiny infestation, ready to spread.
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:D
It was actually an old plastic lawn effect mat!
And the tiny bit infected stuff will be there all right. Obviously if the mat thing doesn't work out, the invasion will take over the field again....
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As promised - a pic of the junkyard model I had worked on years ago, still needs texturing and paint.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QRkjkyhh1e8/YHLTwJjLuxI/AAAAAAAABH0/vTemeRjbKV0g8HY_FW-i3sMSFPxtV_JpwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/IMG_5574.JPG)
As for the 2021 entry, a pic of the potential bits - I will not use all of these, choosing some will exclde the others. And inevitably, additional stuff will be added.
A general view of stuff:
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R67vQg1lMi4/YHLT1JpgQ-I/AAAAAAAABII/qu4uIfPjIcU8oKfGEpVBwHMLSsdtY9kYwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/IMG_5576.JPG)
Potential plant bits - these are aquarium plants of course:
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P6udTYmBwf0/YHLT1HfqNjI/AAAAAAAABIE/u0RmgtPoV3ErLR1UT0RdZ4FSHlGzLIkSQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/IMG_5577.JPG)
More aquarium stuff - filter components:
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VrZDOLSzRKc/YHLTwdVM-4I/AAAAAAAABH8/EMdxudd-Xt8rNF_v-rN7DktWselDcCP6wCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/IMG_5575.JPG)
Another type of aquarium filter, together with a rolled up single strip of material from an old vertical blind:
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JJOT_SXO-Vs/YHLT1t7L3mI/AAAAAAAABIM/XEhKXkCHRN8Bi_WVGHf6ylK3VOT85wPKwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/IMG_5578.JPG)
The rescued artificial turf sort of mat:
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BmuqmdSmW08/YHLTxgkcanI/AAAAAAAABIA/b1QUcboE3UgEuYbEfiEJvK2s05CvnB34QCLcBGAsYHQ/w426-h640/IMG_5573.JPG)
Now I just have to sort things out and decide on a design. The only 100% certainties are that (1) it will be on a 12" x 12" modular board, like the junkyard shown above; and (2) some degree of infestation will be included.
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And here is what it looks like so far.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JMmoWWMyzr0/YHMDfoxkT2I/AAAAAAAABIg/b7Nnr2KtHmkngXgbSfBXfgF8so-SOswhgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_5579.JPG)
At the top is a ploughed field with a floodlight structure collapsed on it.
At lower left is a hydroponics tank - this will suffer some damage too later on.
At bottom left is a small row of plants - or at least shoots.
And at right is an enclosure of sorts. They keep stuff in there. We don't talk about it much.
I still have to pick and choose and construct the plants themselves of course, and design the appearance of the path between the tank and the enclosure.
I will tackle the project as a series of small projects:
1) the ploughed field
2) the collapsed floodlight
3) the hydroponics plant
4) the encolsure
5) the row of plants
6) the path
not necessarily in that order.
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Fantastic use of found items. The grate from the aquarium filter is perfect SciFi.
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I mean this in the most positive way, man, but I love the shit you throw together! lol
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Are those aquarium filters expensive? They'd be great for Star Wars stuff.
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:D Thanks Hammers - it's fairly obvious I have an aquarium I guess....
@Andym - I got those off Amazon - bag of 24 (I think) for a few Euros. VERY worth it.
Someone had mentioned them on this forum, and I did some research and found them. Will try to locate them online and provide better info.
This is the sort of stuff - a bit more expensive than I remember them, still reasonable:
https://www.amazon.com/XMHF-Aquarium-Bottom-Gravel-Plastic/dp/B07BWH7KTJ/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=aquarium+filter+bottom&qid=1618247079&sr=8-8 (https://www.amazon.com/XMHF-Aquarium-Bottom-Gravel-Plastic/dp/B07BWH7KTJ/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=aquarium+filter+bottom&qid=1618247079&sr=8-8)
They are aquarium Plastic Bottom Under Gravel Filter plates.
A bit cheaper from the bay - you get 20 instead of 16 for the same price:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/20x-Black-Plastic-Under-Gravel-Filter-Efficiency-Water-Filter-for-Aquarium-/392770505037 (https://www.ebay.com/itm/20x-Black-Plastic-Under-Gravel-Filter-Efficiency-Water-Filter-for-Aquarium-/392770505037)
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Thanks Vanvlak! You're a legend! 8)
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Thanks Vanvlak! You're a legend! 8)
Legendary in changing my mind all too often; but this time I have an excuse.
We were cleaning out the store at our department at Uni, and got rid of a pile of old stuff to clear up space for far older stuff.*
As we piled up old hardware for disposal, something caught my eye. Both a colleague and I instantly thought of the same thing - fortunately she is not into build-something competitions, so I nabbed it. As you guys would instantly guess the cultural link, I am not giving the game away just yet - at least not until I re-fashion my plans around it. This is now VERY different to plan I (this is, for the record, plan IV - a new hope). If all bits fall in place, new pics at last.
*I work in the Dept. of Classics and Archaeology :D
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Some progress at last.
Since I could not squeeze all I wanted into one 12" square board, I now have three.
Unfortunately the two old ones were started and unfinished projects (one was an embryonic BSC entry). I removed most of the stuff off them, and am reusing them.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tnYkBACEDk8/YIWcda-6UoI/AAAAAAAABJg/Ea8k7BM1UKE-wnaJPUioZQEoglPp8pjNwCLcBGAsYHQ/w426-h640/IMG_5648.JPG)
From top to bottom:
First board - and a closer look at it:
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vA8jH4ioSgQ/YIWcdZxCo7I/AAAAAAAABJc/nVhCqgf00Ug86XdQEWqaDXoiHUk67gGZACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/IMG_5650.JPG)
Old board which had been part of a potential defensive system. I left the bits of plaster which make a sort of mound, and a tiny piece of what had been a larger section of foam board.
This will represent some old, dilapidated fortification long since in disuse and overgrown, and the border of the field. The material was actually plaster used to fill in a massive gap in an old door we replaced when we bought the home - I kept a few bits as I thought they could be useful. The transparent thing is one of my former aquarium filters. It looks like a transparent cage. I might also leave a few bits of scrap lying around - this will tie in with the junk yard board I had shown at the start of this thread, but which is not part of my entry. I do not want to overdo it, and only the bits shown here will feature - unless I find anything else which is really interesting.
Second board - the former BSC entry - a crater with what would have been a burnt out wreck of a spaceship. I kept the foam layers only. Now fields are usually flat, but there is a certain feature which can be found as a heap. I hope this works well it's currently looking like a pile of crap ;)
This is also likely to have a couple of concrete columns at the ends.
Bottom - a proper field-y bit, made simply from the old roll of vertical blind material, cut in strips which I will glue to the base. Besides the gentle furrows which this would represent (splendid ploughing, that, perfectly straight!) I will add some duckboards (is that what they're called?) to make crossing the soil easier. These are bits of -er - something - which I found. Don't ask....
Currently the only commercial bits are the boards. I might add two dustbins; because they're cool.
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Progress: this felt more like tailoring than modelling, still - the ploughed field has been glued and trimmed more or less neatly. The pic is a VERY crude photomosaic. The stuff I do at work is much better, honest!
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vYZRSd6H9_E/YJgEdN3lEgI/AAAAAAAABKY/n8qKM8BU4U01rmZn9--GLKIEkhb3WG5eACLcBGAsYHQ/s2986/mosaic.jpg)
Next up: building up the dung heap and the defensive wall details with clay.
Actually: next up - finding the air-drying clay which has waited for its moment for years.
I also have a problem: I will use quite a bit of flock and some grass tufts, but I do not want to put them in place before I paint the terrain! And it would look a bit bald (like me) without this stuff.
The one idea I have is not within the rules: taking grey scale pics. :D
I will just have to take pics without the veg.
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Great progress!
I also have a problem: I will use quite a bit of flock and some grass tufts, but I do not want to put them in place before I paint the terrain! And it would look a bit bald (like me) without this stuff.
I hear you, buddy! I have spent the weekend experimenting with tufts, flock and other vegetation. I'm taking record photos, but am impatiently saving them until I can share them!
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I will just have to take pics without the veg.
Mine was the same as the last picture I could share was a bland primed base. Don't worry about it too much.
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Thanks guys.
Here's the enDassed model - i.e. I built up the sloping sides with Das air-drying clay.
Worked better than I expected, stuck to the fabric, the wood, the plaster, and did NOT stick to my fingers. Not bad!
I have a couple of spots were it detached itself at the edge, possibly due to shrinkage or me not applying pressure to smooth these over; but these can easily be filled in.
The waterlogged manure pit:
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zz0h3MMUWqI/YKDz6SvFpAI/AAAAAAAABK8/OX-yTzKeK04sCBHjLNvuxiigJJvqXq9oACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/IMG_5665.JPG)
The derelict defence wall:
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e5tfY20K_0Q/YKDz6aPzBOI/AAAAAAAABLA/USStEC341FIsfs07KN29xEpGKmTs1WonQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/IMG_5666.JPG)
What's left?
I decided to drop the Railway line (!) and the underground Triffid cages (!!), although I think these will make an appearance in a post BSC days.
So I need to add a few panels used to help cross the ploughed field (which looks anything but ploughed; flock all over the boggy pile of crap; and loads of odds and ends around the ditch, including what could be the location of a land mine.
Oh, and paint and final flock, of course.
And a problem with rubber plants.
As in rubber-plant, not plant made of rubber.
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A spot more progress.
Added some disturbed patches to the fields - these still need some work - and placed all the bits and pieces - the near end of the second pic, near the old defensive line bordering the field - is the farmer's junkyard, with some monstrous pipes and a few bits and pieces - and a couple of bins.
I will not be attaching these, to make the scenery flexible enough for fantasy use, although my main interest is present to scifi.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0WuJLeuxp7M/YKFIbeshdCI/AAAAAAAABLM/-yUH9qH7QF01zotQIEYkURNcx480TbddgCLcBGAsYHQ/w426-h640/IMG_5667.JPG)
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d9FmgPledz0/YKFIbjve54I/AAAAAAAABLQ/GavV5XTd94Yh-Z4UcR6eVENrrq08YCEVgCLcBGAsYHQ/w426-h640/IMG_5668.JPG)
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Rapidly taking shape now! 8)
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Rapidly taking shape now! 8)
Thanks :D
Last update - next up are undercoat (actually already started), paint and a load of flock.
The dung heap - larger and flatter than planned, making like more difficult (or at least stinky) for all crossing it.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ncAHkY9B058/YKkx-KJk1mI/AAAAAAAABMM/YKOs_vN_AcEDHFWJ_EjXbEG5iiz3P4b4ACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/IMG_5693.JPG)
A bit of grit and stuff to roughen the area beyond the old (and obviously breached) defensive wall.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c2YWwUg94jI/YKkx91vL65I/AAAAAAAABMI/O1_CBhhqukEBran0i-54ALHuoZ4EFWhcACLcBGAsYHQ/w426-h640/IMG_5694.JPG)
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Primed with all the bits in place. I will not actually be gluing the mud boards in the field or the rubbish in the end beyond the field boundary as I intend to retain a degree of flexibility in its use. As already indicated previously, my main aim is for these boards to form part of post-1960/post-apocalyptic/sci-fi scenery, but keeping the bits removable makes them suitable for fantasy or some more-or-less historical settings too.
The whole were undercoated black. I left the coat a little patchy on the field areas (not the dung heap) patchy, to provide some variety in field colour if I manage to get by with thin coats of paint.
View from the most regular field end, with a line of mud boards added to reduce the difficulty of crossing (this is another reason for my wanting them to be removable - they can be rearranged or completely removed). The whole system shown is 3 feet long, and 1 foot wide, in three sections. An additional attraction of the removable stuff is that the three boards can be easily stacked on each other for storage, with the defensive wall board on top.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nrJGTHhcjeE/YKpMmRiV3gI/AAAAAAAABMY/GQRtBwuvcWg5XRdyuck7kQXz_jmnZgsVwCLcBGAsYHQ/w426-h640/IMG_5695.JPG)
Here is the far end, where the field is bordered by an old, breached defensive wall and some stuff dumped by the farmer (I resisted going all Shaun the Sheep and including a huge mound or discarded stuff!).
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3BQmxfMU7c8/YKpMmY_3XkI/AAAAAAAABMc/U6WUc1oSwGwpaBfmGNuxwGK16BQ7WzUkgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/IMG_5696.JPG)
What remain are obviously painting and flock. I am not looking forward to lots of brown…
As regards use of these – I like the way the long, narrow board looks, and will try to link my additional three boards (rubbish dump and two loading yard sections – and perhaps a river section – to these for scenarios which would require the protagonists to cross the length of the board.
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P.S. Unusually for me, nothing really weird in this. I've become old and staid :'( :D
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I might just finish the painting on time, if I put in a spurt tomorrow.
This is going to be one of the messiest models I've worked on, especially (appropriately enough) the dung heap, which is going to be a mucky, muddy collapsing dung heap. It will at the very least be pretty unpleasant to cross.
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Painting is almost done - but the wife gave me an idea for one additional detail - is that cheating? :D
The junk yard is inspired by the sad reality that a number of local fields sport this accessory; and a common feature in the countryside is the dumped fridge. Unfortunately I couldn't find my fridge model, waiting somewhere for a post-apocalyptic setting, so instead I settled on this (seen here undercoated):
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c139ZlTc7iw/YLUbFH39bHI/AAAAAAAABNU/HOUWfq9Yxd0uxM0R5ePbDzaINZmEAeJmwCLcBGAsYHQ/w426-h640/IMG_5697.JPG)
At least this will have brought a little of the weird back.
Once I paint this, only the finished photo submission remains.
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Looks like a fantastic item to give your terrain a "lived-in" look! The magic of so many of these terrain projects is in the little details like this :)
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Well at least I managed to finish the work by the original deadline - although I still have to take the photo.
It's nowhere near as spectacular as many of the competing entries (if not all!), but after a bit of hesitation at the start as to what constitutes difficult terrain (my first design was more on the lines of lethal terrain!), I had fun building this one. And I have another 4 boards which I had started ages ago which I can add to these three, so the post BSC will go on for a while this time round; and finally I might get to finish some of the projects gathering dust.
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Well done mate, look forward to seeing the finished work
8)
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Well done mate, look forward to seeing the finished work
8)
Thank you - not as much as I'm looking forward to see yours though, it should be spectacular! 8)
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Looking very cool indeed Vanvlak 8)
Not at all what I was expecting & you now keep my mind a boggling from the original alien field narrative ;D
Rather excited to see where you push it to Sir 8)
Thanks - I think I will tackle the original idea eventually - besides the three boards I prepared here and the older junkyard, I have three more almost finished, and will then return to the Triffid cages :D
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:o :o :o :o :o TRIFFID CAGES?????
Ooooh :-*, you kept that quiet lol (or did I miss something), want to see them I do :D
So haaang on, you've got 6x boards AND a junk yard on for the BSC? Kudos sir 8) 8) 8)
I shall be keeping abreast of your thread Mr. Vanvlak :)
Not quite :D - three boards for the contest. The rest are the four I want to finish after BSC (I had started them before, so could not include them in BSC) and the Triffid cages (remember all those aquarium filter bits?).
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A word of advice to participants in Build Something Competitions - something with an aspect ratio of 3:1 is not ideal for photography!
In my case it's the three square bases of 12" side each.
Ah well - I'm happy with the outcome, used up some materials I'd been hoarding for years (at least ten years in the case of the old vertical blinds), and have some usable scenery which can be stacked in a pile for storage - darn, THAT'S how I should have taken the photo! :D
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Following the suboptimal performance of this lot, what else is there to do but continue here: https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=131954.msg1675468#msg1675468 (https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=131954.msg1675468#msg1675468)
In spite of the zero points (must be a forum record! :D) I am still pleased I finished this, as it had been ages since I managed to finish off any project - and also as I had three old battered boards which I cleaned up and finally used. Most fun were the grass and the video game console, which I stuck in at the last minute. The whole thing was looking far too normal for my tastes.
A few unused pics pictures - here's the field as intended to be used, a long, narrow obstacle course:
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hbyXqUh3XN0/YL5Hpw0VMNI/AAAAAAAABOY/1zrtE2ixseMDvV1AKwr37qWpVWWeNk5RACLcBGAsYHQ/w426-h640/IMG_5706.JPG)
This is what it looks like from 28 mm above ground!
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HjBmx7GpwBU/YL5Hoy5xVeI/AAAAAAAABOU/O1Au-Jg-nL8hsP-Hb6aG6VnnTuG5WPvAACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/IMG_5707.JPG)
The opposite end:
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hYsneniGi7w/YL5HqCq3H-I/AAAAAAAABOc/yOW7IdLkPrkC5ioo62_7f7kCqVgG4n4mQCLcBGAsYHQ/s5184/IMG_5705.JPG)
Close-up of the garbage:
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zXuCST_Qszo/YL5Hr-glG9I/AAAAAAAABOk/2s1lYI3UjwUgbXINQC0L8ofPnx_Pq_FhACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/IMG_5708.JPG)
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Great rust effects on the steel and the culverts Vanvlak.
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That's a very nice build John, and very true to the 'difficult terrain' brief. It looks like an absolute obstacle course 8) lol Well done. I hope you get to use it now!
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Agreed - that rust is amazing! :o
Don't be worried about the shutout on points. There were ridiculously amazing builds you were competing against...
Mike Demana
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/
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Thanks guys - I am admittedly proud of the rust!
It's Forgeworld weathering powder, present from the wife being put to work here in copious amounts.
It's not cheap, but it DOES last quite long - the end is nowhere in sight, and I am planning my next pair of rusted scrap bits. I just applied it with a half-dead drybrush over matt black undercoat.
Captain Blood: won't be used soon - work is in the way big time - but maybe in the VERY introductory wargame design course I teach starting in February, they might feature in a practical session (these are popular). All the rusted objects, the bins and the arcade game are removable, so they can be used for earlier periods too.