Andrews Shadow War thread - Minor backtrack to plants!

[AndrewBeasley]

After reading the 'fun' over the new Age of Sigmar rules and then seeing the new 40K rules (and the lessons GW took took to heart from the AoS mess ups) I got the surprise of my life when my son asked if we could get back into 40K and he would like to collect Tau again...

Now I've been using 15mm (and smaller) myself and do not have the room now for a full 28mm+ army or two (esp. as we are moving to a smaller house) so I was a bit stuck till I stumbled upon Shadow War as the new release (missed the original boxed set) and talking with the GW folk I found it was Necromundia and set for small number of troops (OK I now know it was all over the 'net but I did not bother reading it at the time).

Purchasing the rules I saw that it was the classic 'clean' and bright colours where as my thoughts are more dark and grim matching the Underhive being at the bottom of the tower and grot always falls downward   so I knew the normal GW form did not do it for me.

Digging through the bits box I came up with some dark gravel / stone - perfect for bases but no real terrain suitable (some Dark Age / Fantasy buildings & walls etc) so I knew it was going to be along haul through eBay and local shops.

So the aim is to make a 'dark' future, full of grit / grot and bits - avoiding the outdoor style ruins and a bit dryer than Blade Runner!

[AndrewBeasley]

First bit of work is a set of smoke stacks / fire pits that are just general scatter and may allow you to hide behind them for some cover.

In Boyes craft section I found the 'Creation Station' Dolly Pegs with Stands (part CS3720):

http://artstraws.com/retail/product/dolly-pegs-stands/

Though not interested in the pegs, the stands struck me as being handy so a few hours work last night gave me:

The grit by the way is off eBay and can be found with a search of 'Macterials Basing Sand Grey With Stone Debris' - it is very dark (coal dust / grit maybe) with flakes of slate.

[AndrewBeasley]

Three more small bits of scatter:

First up a set of Bones chests - my thought is to use this as a target to collect as well as a bit of cover...

The other bits gave me a lot of heart ache till I dug in my bits box.  Normally I would have trees, bushes and hedges on the table (esp. as I am mainly a fantasy gamer) but could not work out how this would work in the Underhive till I found these yellowing almost dead fishtanks plants:

I may add a few of the dead grass seen previously long term on these but I'm running out and cannot remember what they where 

Has anyone used washes / matt varnish on fish tank plants and how well does it stay on over time (esp. as I have not washed these)?

[AndrewBeasley]

Last of the small scatter terrain:

Generator - Bones 'plastic'



Pile of rusty scrap - generic plastic



Rusty chain - gift chain without the clips rescued from the bin as my wife only needed the clips for her steampunk dress!

[AndrewBeasley]

This is actually a 15mm Ore tank from Warbases Starbase 962 range but sits great as a 28mm container being around 4cm tall and 8cm long:

Link to MDF kit: https://warbases.co.uk/?product=2-x-ore-storage-tanks

[Mason]

That is a nice little collection of scatter terrain you are building up there.
I particularly like the idea of the smoke pouring out.
 

Nice one for the link to the storage tanks as well, as they will indeed work very well at 28mm scale and I would not have noticed them without your pointer.
 

[AndrewBeasley]

That is a nice little collection of scatter terrain you are building up there.
I particularly like the idea of the smoke pouring out.
 

Nice one for the link to the storage tanks as well, as they will indeed work very well at 28mm scale and I would not have noticed them without your pointer.
 

I originally had a pipe for the hole decided not to use it.  While writing this I thought about adding a big drip from glue either down the side or from a pipe so who knows...

Thanks for the comment - slow progress but I'm happy pottering    As for Warbases - always had great service on the bespoke work and fast delivery on their stocked items!

I took the cradle from the 15mm container and found it fitted two cheap eBay 'slime' barrels (99p from china) by shear fluke so:

and then I found some £1.25 pencil sharpeners in Boyes and created:

Next up some ruins!  OK these are actually stone but they will do...

[Mason]

More lovely additions.
And always find a use for those spare bits, never waste a thing.
 

Thanks for the inspiration as I really need to pull my finger out and get building something similar soon(ish...) so all ideas to steal are most welcome.
 

[Duke Donald]

That's some nice terrain. I really like what you've achieved with the pencil sharpeners.

[tomcat51]

That's some nice terrain. I really like what you've achieved with the pencil sharpeners.

I agree, the rust effect is really impressive.

[AndrewBeasley]

Feel free to use any ideas - that's why I'm posting them here (though the comments are a great ego boost given my current mental health).

The rust is based on the GW paints with a little twist:

1) A dark undercoat - not silver
2) The GW Typhus Corrosion painted on in a couple of layers.  This is almost water like but let it dry and it goes all bitty with a very fine grit effect.  I've found two coats are needed as you cannot apply it thickly as it will just wipe off if not dry.
3) A dry brush with Ryza Rust.  This is the worst paint I have ever used as it's easy to get it so wrong!  Do not use your best brush or even your best dry brush and practise first.  You scoop up a drop out of the pot (forget shaking it as this is almost a gel as it's thicker than squadron green putty), gently dry the brush on a paper towel and then dry brush with what's left - MOST of the paint will have come off the brush onto the paper but just repeat as you need.  Start with a light cover outside the Typhus paint and build up the layers as you reach this gritty area.  Take your time with this else it goes into overkill mode very very easily - I found this with the tank traps (I'll post a pic soon for you to see).

[Momotaro]

Fantastic stuff Andrew!

You're right about Ryza Rust and Typhus Corrosion - they wreck paint brushes!  Typhus corrosion is also great on tanks as a good textured base layer for sand or dust.

Give us a yell if you and J fancy playing some Shadow War or 40k - Gibby and Majorsmith will always be up for a game!  I have a dedicated gaming room now, and there's a great new gaming space in town called Imps Gaming.

Cheers,

Derek

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Those tanks look great.

I have used some of my seriously mauled brushes for the Ryza rust, cut down by half.

For rusty rust, I still have some of the original Citadel flesh wash in the hexagonal bottles.

[AndrewBeasley]

Just a quick - fed up of green / red and yellow so I knocked these out:

From eBay - search Czech Hedgehogs in http://stores.ebay.co.uk/banksjohnedward/

Before you ask - no idea why I did 13 - they're just a handy handful

Back to the green / red / yellow / rust...

[AndrewBeasley]

The house sale has got in the way of this project but I did manage to grab a few shots before things where packed up and now set the Mac up in a temporary way to get a few bits up.

First is a slight back track to smaller bit as though I was happy with the yellow "dead" plants I kind of missed trees and other such scatter so I had a hunt around eBay and found these tree stumps (to be honest they are no real use as cover but handy to slow units down as the trip over the roots ) :

Link to the supplier https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/wws-scenery-manufacturer