Going deeper underground (Warhammer Quest/Generic Dungeoneering project)

[Modhail]

Thank you, O Nala of the Lousy Hearing. 
Shame I'm an Old Worlder, they have some very nice stuff. Thank you for the tip nonetheless, good shops deserve getting word of mouth.

[Gunbird]

Eindhoven is closing? That leaves how many in Brabant we can travel to.....0? If you need anything let me know, I can always tack on a order to make shipping more worthwhile. And I'm still hunting for your Bretonnians.

[Modhail]

Not Eindhoven, Breda...  I've never been to Eindhoven,...yet. But it seems to be the last available venue.

What I was mainly looking for yesterday is something like this: http://www.sceneryexpress.com/THIN-PROFILE-CUT-BLOCK-WALL/productinfo/FL6140/ Preferably in large, affordable sheets. I was thinking of cladding the mdf dungeon modules with it. If that fails or turns out too expensive, it'll be back to plan zero: Mfd floors and sculpting + casting my own wall (and maybe floor) sections to glue on top of them. (I know about Hirst Arts and Linka, but the former I don't really love the designs for, and the latter seems to be too small for "heroic 28"/30mm figures.)
Luckily I've still got almost the whole year ahead of me to think of something... 

[Gunbird]

Why not use thin blue foam used for insulation? I have a big lot of 4mm thick plates, you could just scribe them with a pen, old school.

Breda eh? Didn't realise it was open, I thought it had closed down years ago.

[Modhail]

Why not use thin blue foam used for insulation? I have a big lot of 4mm thick plates, you could just scribe them with a pen, old school.

Because if I'm going to squander what little is left of my sanity, it won't be on scribing yards and yards of bricks....   I'd rather just Bibbly the entire thing then.
Besides, I'm looking for a more uneven, rough hewn stone look, rather than brick, you can't quite get that with scribing.

Bliek called it quits years ago, but the model train store across the road from it was still going. Was...

[Gunbird]

Sometimes I question your sanity. 

[DeafNala]

Besides, I'm looking for a more uneven, rough hewn stone look, rather than brick, you can't quite get that with scribing.

Sure you can. I get some very nice rough looking stonework, with foam, a pencil & a hobby knife saw:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

...of course, you are absolutely right about the lose of sanity.

[Modhail]

That is very nice looking, DeafNala! Lovely ladies as well... 

I may need to reconsider/experiment some more.

[Modhail]

Today I've been assembling beastmen:

I've got eight lesser beastmen (GW Ungor) and two greater beastmen (GW Gor) assembled so far. The lesser ones I'm treating as simple rank and file grunts. But the greater beastmen, I'm attempting to be more individualistic, as they are the warriors of note within a clan/tribe. So one of the two has a more armoured look, with chainmail loincloth, helmet and extra stomach and shoulder armour from Lizardmen bits. The other one has gotten his hands on some evil magic sword, and wields it with a buckler, in a mockery of the swordsmen of more civilized species.

There's two more greater beastmen in the assembly queue, as well as the clan's chieftain. I want to add a shaman as well, but I will need to buy the model first. Hopefully, one day, when I find a suitable model, a Minotaur might join them. All of them still need gap filling, maybe some extra details and basing. Concerning basing, as these are creatures of the deep wild, I'm thinking of basing them similar to the Knight and retinue, but hopefully with a more "Evil forest"/Mirkwood style mood.

[Gunbird]

Erik, next time I come over, I will bring you a Beastmen Shaman...i've been collecting bits for Mordheim and somehow ended up with 2 of them (not the Mordheim one though, I wish, but the regular one). I also picked up a OOP Minotaur of old with a sword fegging big cleaver thing that might be of use to you?

[Modhail]

Great, let's pick a date soon! It'll be nice to catch up again.
I could certainly use a Minotaur, thank you.

Oh, might as well tell you all that I'm done assembling for the day.
Here are the scrubs:


The elite and management:


The dwarf got his base:


And as a bonus, I managed to assemble my four Leaping Lurkers from Heresy miniatures:

Sadly, he doesn't make these anymore. I believe they were real mold-rippers... The leaping ones will get 30mm bases as well. Originally I hoped to base them on all on 25mm* rounds, but the crouching ones won't fit. So these critters just got more dangerous...*

*:I base my fantasy skirmish figures on round bases according to their power level: Those who are comparable in power to average humans, or less powerful, get 20m bases. Those who are above the human average, but still fall short of the power of True Heroes get  25mm bases. True Heroes, those who ballads are sung of and legends told around campfires, get 30mm bases. Regular mounts and lesser monsters get 40mm rounds, mounted True Heroes and their equivalents get 50mm bases. Monsters like Giants, Dragons and such go on even bigger round bases... (But I've yet to assemble the first of the latter.)

The beastmen and Lurkers (I'll be fielding them as Lesser Grue, I think) have somewhat noticeable gaps. So it's Greenstuff 'till dinner for me!

[Modhail]

JimBibbly, you're the cause of this!  You, and Blackwolf for even commissioning that diabolical castle in the first place! 

Today, I did this:

As you may noice, neither the bricks nor the bricklaying are as even or expertly done as Bibbily's castle, which inspired me to even consider the individual brick approach in the first place.
As this is supposed to be a section of dangerous, covertly built catacombs I did'nt bother with attempting to cut the bricks with neatness or precision. Not that I could even get near James' neatness or regularity... I simply lack his talent and skills, so I chose a "dicing carrots" approach instead.
I'm quite fond of the result, even with (or because of) the crude, uneven bricks. So, thank you JimBibbly, for inspiring me to try this option.
Once you find a technique and keep a sufficient supply of bricks, this is actually quite relaxing to do. I can imagine it would be even more so with regularly sized bricks. But still, I don't see myself doing an entire dungeon's worth of this.

For those who missed it earlier, here is an overview of the entire backdrop for the display cabinet, as it sits at the end of today:

Tomorrow I hope to build/sculpt some half-round trees for the upper left part, to give an impression of the cave entrance being in a wooded area.
Then it's flooring for the entire middle level. And when that's done it's on to detailing: dirt, debris, doors and furnishings etc.
So, there's quite a bit to go before I can get painting on this beast. But I'm slowly getting closer...

[Constable Bertrand]

Wow that looks quite good! I like the irregular bricks, surely that rustick look takes more effort

So is your board a vertical dungeon? Like snakes and ladders? Rather than a maze/labarynth? Interesting idea

Keep cracking on!
Matt.

[Modhail]

So is your board a vertical dungeon? Like snakes and ladders? Rather than a maze/labarynth? Interesting idea

Nope, this is just the display tray to put the mini's in. It fits inside the display cabinet... 

[Drunkendwarf]

......................................... What I'm hunting for most is infantry with halberds and foot and mounted squires. Don't have any of those in storage. Though there are acceptable alternatives for the halberdiers these days (Perry Agincourt, BTD, Foundry, or Claymore Castings for example), I just love the style of those old Perry sculpts, and the squires are still rather unique in style and looks.

I really enjoy following this thread and I will have a look at my Bretonnians and see if I have some spares. Come back to you later this week.

DJ