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Author Topic: BSC2021 Vanvlak's Field  (Read 4609 times)

Offline Vanvlak

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Re: BSC2021 Vanvlak's Field
« Reply #15 on: April 12, 2021, 05:01:51 PM »
 :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
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
« Last Edit: April 12, 2021, 05:08:34 PM by Vanvlak »

Offline Andym

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Re: BSC2021 Vanvlak's Field
« Reply #16 on: April 12, 2021, 06:06:37 PM »
Thanks Vanvlak! You're a legend! 8)

Offline Vanvlak

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Re: BSC2021 Vanvlak's Field
« Reply #17 on: April 19, 2021, 04:21:15 PM »
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

Offline Vanvlak

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Re: BSC2021 Vanvlak's Field
« Reply #18 on: April 25, 2021, 04:57:24 PM »
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.



From top to bottom:
First board - and a closer look at it:



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.

Offline Vanvlak

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Re: BSC2021 Vanvlak's Field
« Reply #19 on: May 09, 2021, 03:54:38 PM »
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!



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.


Offline Will Bailie

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Re: BSC2021 Vanvlak's Field
« Reply #20 on: May 09, 2021, 10:33:36 PM »
Great progress!

Quote
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!

Offline snitcythedog

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Re: BSC2021 Vanvlak's Field
« Reply #21 on: May 09, 2021, 10:44:29 PM »
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.
A bottle of scotch and two aspirin a day will greatly reduce your awareness of heart disease.
"Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference"... Mark Twain
http://snitchythedog.blogspot.com

Offline Vanvlak

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Re: BSC2021 Vanvlak's Field
« Reply #22 on: May 16, 2021, 10:37:07 AM »
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:


The derelict defence wall:


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.
 

Offline Vanvlak

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Re: BSC2021 Vanvlak's Field
« Reply #23 on: May 16, 2021, 04:35:34 PM »
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.




Offline Daeothar

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Re: BSC2021 Vanvlak's Field
« Reply #24 on: May 16, 2021, 05:03:45 PM »
Rapidly taking shape now! 8)
Miniatures you say? Well I too, like to live dangerously...
Find a Way, or make one!

Offline Vanvlak

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Re: BSC2021 Vanvlak's Field
« Reply #25 on: May 22, 2021, 04:33:17 PM »
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.



A bit of grit and stuff to roughen the area beyond the old (and obviously breached) defensive wall.


Offline Vanvlak

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Re: BSC2021 Vanvlak's Field
« Reply #26 on: May 23, 2021, 02:01:47 PM »
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.



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!).


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.

Offline Vanvlak

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Re: BSC2021 Vanvlak's Field
« Reply #27 on: May 23, 2021, 02:30:46 PM »
P.S. Unusually for me, nothing really weird in this. I've become old and staid  :'( :D

Offline Vanvlak

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Re: BSC2021 Vanvlak's Field
« Reply #28 on: May 29, 2021, 04:58:32 PM »
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.

Offline Vanvlak

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Re: BSC2021 Vanvlak's Field
« Reply #29 on: May 31, 2021, 05:25:06 PM »
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):



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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