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Author Topic: Re: BSC2021 Will Bailie The Approach to Leonforte: AAR July 11th  (Read 9629 times)

Offline Andym

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Re: BSC2021 Will Bailie The Approach to Leonforte
« Reply #30 on: April 19, 2021, 05:58:47 AM »
That looks good so far! 8)

About the cloth, as well as the mesh, do you not see the edges to the cloth squares too? I can't tell from the photos.

Offline tim in saskatoon

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Re: BSC2021 Will Bailie The Approach to Leonforte
« Reply #31 on: April 19, 2021, 01:58:19 PM »
One more thing, and I didn't take a photo of this, but I made sure that the 3" hill sections line up, so I can turn the boards 90-degrees to create up to 8' of hills! Or any combination of the 2' boards if I only need 4' or 6'...

Clever.

Looks like such a great project. Really looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

Offline Will Bailie

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Re: BSC2021 Will Bailie The Approach to Leonforte
« Reply #32 on: April 20, 2021, 04:39:48 AM »
 Here is what the boards look like after a full day of plaster curing.  These closeups show the plaster cloth after installation.  The mesh of the cloth is visible.  Ends of the sheets can be seen, but are not terribly obvious.





I'm going to paint some thinned plaster over the boards.  Hopefully this will cover over the visible mesh.  I'm going to take some care in applying the plaster, to give it as 'natural' an appearance as possible.  And I know that I'll still need to do some sanding afterwards.

Here are some models added to show scale. It looks a bit like they are traversing the Great White North rather than Sicily in July!  That will of course change once I get some paint on it.







Here is my attempt at carving a road into the hills.  As you can see, I made quite a hash of it.  I'll have a go at filling it in to get it to a smooth grade.


Online Codsticker

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Re: BSC2021 Will Bailie The Approach to Leonforte
« Reply #33 on: April 20, 2021, 05:14:14 AM »
Between paint, flock and debris I imagine the mesh pattern will disappear. It's going to look great.

Offline AKULA

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Re: BSC2021 Will Bailie The Approach to Leonforte
« Reply #34 on: April 20, 2021, 06:17:40 AM »
Between paint, flock and debris I imagine the mesh pattern will disappear. It's going to look great.

100% this. If you’ve any concerns you could always add some sand/grit to add some variety to the surface, and cover up any spots where the mesh is visible, but I’m sure it will all blend in.

 :)

Offline Blackwolf

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Re: BSC2021 Will Bailie The Approach to Leonforte
« Reply #35 on: April 20, 2021, 08:01:12 AM »
100% this. If you’ve any concerns you could always add some sand/grit to add some variety to the surface, and cover up any spots where the mesh is visible, but I’m sure it will all blend in.

 :)


Indeed,what the chaps said,it will smooth everything out nicely  :)
And a cracking build I must add 8)
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Offline Will Bailie

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Re: BSC2021 Will Bailie The Approach to Leonforte
« Reply #36 on: April 20, 2021, 04:17:51 PM »
Thanks for the positive comments!  I have a combination of plaster, sand, grit and other texture still to come.

swammeyjoe on the Too Fat Lardies forum pointed me to these digitized WWII-era maps of Sicily.  http://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/italy_25k/

I've zoomed in on Leonforte to get this:


The red line for the road confirms that it is a metalled (i.e., paved) road, so I'm good to go with my plan for grey felt to represent the roads. 



Offline McMordain

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Re: BSC2021 Will Bailie The Approach to Leonforte
« Reply #37 on: April 20, 2021, 08:57:30 PM »
This really looks great so far.
I also really envy people who has space to store boards like these  lol

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Offline gamer Mac

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Re: BSC2021 Will Bailie The Approach to Leonforte
« Reply #38 on: April 22, 2021, 11:36:52 AM »
 Looking good :-* :-* :-*

Online Daeothar

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Re: BSC2021 Will Bailie The Approach to Leonforte
« Reply #39 on: April 23, 2021, 07:19:23 AM »
Another huge one! I'm starting to feel intimidated by now, even though my own entry is the terrain piece with the largest footprint I've made to date!

I love the fact that this is an entire playing surface on its own, and that it can be deployed in a variety of setups, much like I made my current desert table.

Once the paint starts flying, this is going to be an impressive one...
Miniatures you say? Well I too, like to live dangerously...
Find a Way, or make one!

Offline Will Bailie

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Re: BSC2021 Will Bailie The Approach to Leonforte
« Reply #40 on: April 23, 2021, 03:11:09 PM »
Thanks for all the comments, they keep me motivated to keep going!

After enjoying sunny, warm weather all week when I was stuck at work, the forecast is for rain all weekend, so that's a bummer, my indoor space isn't the best for messy work.  I have had a go at sanding, which creates a lot of dust (good thing I have such a great supply of masks these days!).  Even though I was sanding outside, there is a lot of mess involved.

I'm looking forward to applying a thick base coat of paint to cover up a lot of the dodgy stuff.  The paint should also seal in the plaster, especially the dust from the sanding!  I will have some updates before the end of the weekend.  Soon I won't be able to resist painting though, and once that happens the updates will have to stop.

Offline Will Bailie

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Re: BSC2021 Will Bailie The Approach to Leonforte
« Reply #41 on: April 24, 2021, 11:52:03 PM »
After enjoying lovely sunny and warm weather all week (when I was stuck at work), we are experiencing a rainy weekend.  No hope of working outside on the patio, and there is no way that I'm going to be sanding off the plaster indoors!  Instead, I've found some detail work to keep me occupied.

Throughout Sicily, and onto the Italian mainland and also in NWE, the German army routinely destroyed bridges.  As far I can tell, though, they mostly destroyed the bridge span, but often the bridge abutments and piers were often left in place.  For example, here is a painting of a Bailey Bridge in Italy:



This was painted in 1944 by Captain Lawren Phillips Harris in Italy, and is part of the Canadian War Museum's collection:  https://www.warmuseum.ca/collections/artifact/1018653/
As you can see, the Bailey bridge has been installed on the previous bridge's abutments. I was not able to find any pre-war photos of the Leonforte bridge, but this screen capture is from Google Earth and shows a hint of the current bridge's abutments.  I don't know when the current bridge was built - most likely it was built long after the war ended, but nonetheless I'm going to use it as inspiration for my project.



I'd previously picked up a cobblestone-printed sheet, originally intended for the streets in my Sicilian village.  I've repurposed it for the bridge abutments!


Cut to size, set in place with some carpet tape and then add some sidewalls.
North side:



South side:





I mixed up some plaster of Paris to fill in behind the wingwalls:




I'm going to let the plaster set overnight.

Online Codsticker

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Re: BSC2021 Will Bailie The Approach to Leonforte
« Reply #42 on: April 25, 2021, 01:38:56 AM »
Impressive work since your last update.

Offline Will Bailie

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Re: BSC2021 Will Bailie The Approach to Leonforte
« Reply #43 on: April 28, 2021, 12:20:33 AM »
Thanks!  The comments are keeping me motivated!

 One of the challenges for these boards is to keep a balance between making tall hills but also keeping the boards to a manageable size.  But limiting the hills to 3" height leaves the hills a bit less impressive.  So I've taken some left over insulation board and built some hill toppers.

There's not much to them.  I cut two layers of insulation board and an MDF base.  Stuck them together with carpet tape, and then did some shaping with the hot wire cutter and utility knife.









I left space for a little step, just wide enough for an infantry figure.







As a bonus, I will have a few more hills to use in other games!


Online Daeothar

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Re: BSC2021 Will Bailie The Approach to Leonforte
« Reply #44 on: April 28, 2021, 06:20:22 PM »
Those undoubtedly will come in handy, and will add much more variation to the board with minimal effort (read: you make that look easy  ;) ).

They look pretty good already.  Are they to be used on this board only, or will they match another table you already have?

 

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