Peabody Here!

Initiative, Activation and Interruption

2011-07-12T16:10:00.000-07:00

Who goes first? How are they chosen and what can I do about it? Those are always key issues for any group of people about to play a game, friendly or competitive. These are the questions that tell us not only who is pouring the first cup of tea, more importantly they tell us a lot about how the game models command and control and even fog-of-war.
Show me a game featuring a new and useful way to answer these questions and you have my attention!

Initiative
Choosing who goes first is often straightforward; dictated by the scenario we want to play, the roll of dice or draw of a card. Often a simplest, but important, aspect of any turn in a game. Bingo, done.

Activaiton
Things are getting interesting. On our turn are we each moving our entire forces, or alternating one unit at a time? Do we pick that unit or is it chosen for us somehow? Either way, this is where much of the strategist's skill lies; moving to counter and exploit the opponent's strength and weakness.

Interruption
Very interesting indeed. Many of us have played games featuring 'Overwatch' at one time or another. Overwatch allows us that chance to interrupt our opponent and, ideally, force them to alter their plans in response to our Overwatch fire. Usually a straightforward feature of a rule-set, Overwatch may or may not have impact on the big picture of the game.
But the evolution and growth in popularity of interruption mechanics from ordinary occasional Overwatch to near constant full-on reactive response by almost any unit in line-of-sight has had me fascinated! Here is a new level of sophistication; bringing unpredictable fluidity to tabletop skirmish gaming.

The Chain Reaction family from Two Hour Wargames or any of the titles from Ambush Alley Games all feature in-depth action-reaction mechanics designed to echo the chaos and fog-of-war of modern combat. These are exciting, gritty games with loyal fan-bases and strong online community support. Both feature dice mechanics to help establish the success of a reaction or interruption. Both reward the use of 'real world' tactics; the merit of Bounding Overwatch and the failing of poor scouting. Both reward the player for taking the time to get used to new ideas and ground breaking concepts.

But I recently encountered another approach to Initiative, Activation and Interruption that knocked me down with the simple and efficient way it handled all three concepts in one step. Something of a middle-way, this system primarily models fog-of-war but also offers ample opportunity for each player to respond to and interrupt the opponent's plans.

I'm Talking About Gruntz Again.

Gruntz Playing Card Activation. Aces Go First!

There are a few optional rules in Gruntz that really let this new rule-set shine. Card-based activation is one of them. Simply put, each player is dealt a hand of cards that corresponds to the number of units he can activate on his turn. The player needs to craftily plan which card each unit will get, to coordinate action in sequence. Once the cards are assigned, each player reveals the hand they have been dealt. The initiative order for the turn is set. Every unit on the table is activated according to the card they have been dealt. I may get a lucky run and activate multiple units in a row, or I may find my opponent is activating before and after my units, keeping my forces rattled and suppressed.
Coupled with the (optional) Overwatch rule Gruntz takes on the complexity and responsiveness of a more involved game with (dare I say it?) less involvement required from each player.

Good to Play
So I'm happy to see yet another game earn itself a spot on my shelf of 'good to play' games. I hope it does the same for you. I hope you enjoy the other reaction based games I have mentioned too; the added tension and excitement they offer is a big part of their fun.

Peabody out.

Gruntz 15mm After Action Report

2011-07-07T15:49:00.000-07:00

Chris from the Trumpeters Society dropped by the other day to play Gruntz. We cooked-up a patrol scenario featuring a mid-tech force trying to move past a smaller group from a much more advanced civilisation. The setting is tropical (surprise!) and features ample opportunity for ambush!

In Gruntz terms my GZG New Israelis are bog-standard troops with SAW Squad Attachments. All Gruntz (infantry) ride inside Medium Wheeled APC's. The big assets are the UAV, armed with light missiles and a rotary cannon, as well as the tank. The commander is in a Light APC at the rear of the column and a smaller Scout car leads the way. A flying Scout drone stands by.

Chris was playing the much more advanced UNSC forces. Although he has fewer vehicles and troops, they have significant advantages. The UNSC Gruntz would be riding grav-APC's capable of doing serious damage to my vehicles. Each infantry squad has an anti-armour Squad Attachment. A group of three Spider Droids and two Specialist HMG teams round out Chris' UNSC ground troops. Two Light attack flyers are off table but can join the fun on any turn.

Numbered markers, called blinds, track the 'Bogint' units.

The UNSC have the 'Bogint' Perk, (bogus intelligence) allowing Chris to use TWO Blinds per unit until I bring one of my units into LOS and 10" of the Bogint marker.
At that point Chris may choose which blind to place his unit under. Tricky!

This is Chris' first game so we use the basic 'I-go-you-go' turn sequence, perfect for learning the game. However an Alternating Activation and a dynamic Playing Card Activation option are features of Gruntz.

Objective Turn-1: get over the bridge!

My N.I. get initiative and I move up the column, unloading the rear-most Gruntz squad and hustling them up onto the bridge.
That's my turn done.

I normally play 20mm games on this terrain. My 5'x3' table seems so much larger playing in 15mm.

Chris moves his Blinds, varying the movement rates so I can't tell which marker is what sort of unit, creating threatening groups along my route ahead...

"We have movement! Enemy Activity all over the grid!"
Chris' Spider Droids and a UNSC Gauss Canon Specialist unit reveal themselves and start firing on my Mantis UAV. This begins an ground-to-air duel that lasts most of the game, tying up my air support.

Fire from the woods draws the Scout Car's attention.

Before ending his activation, Chris reveals his second UNSC Gauss Canon Specialist and opens up on my Gruntz exposed on the bridge! "We're taking fire! Squad leader Down!"
My squad is suppressed, but fortunately for me the limited Area Effect of the canon failed to damage the APC or Wax (wound) additional squaddies. That's Chris' turn.

Uh, hello...

My response is direct and effective; the tank fires on the Gauss Specialist team, managing to take them out using both of the tank's weapon systems. The suppressed Gruntz choose a new squad leader and manage to move along the bridge.
I want to know what those other Blinds are hiding in the nearby copse and the scout car has enough mobility to get into the light woods, so off he goes to see what he can see... Surprise! It's a UNSC Grav APC!!!
The rest of the column moves up, and my second squad unloads from their APC, a Push Move from the Commander gets them into the woods ready to support the Scout Car. My turn-2 done.

Chris has me where he wants me now; my air support is tied-up and his ground troops are better than mine. He unloads his squad of Gruntz and opens fire on my infantry, Waxing two figures. My Scout car is toast; a victim of the Grav APC's Medium Plasma Canon and the Squad Attachment's RPG. His Grav APC is out of LOS of the rest of my forces, except for the Gruntz in the woods. One ray of sunshine in all this: Chris' squad of Grunts got caught in the Area Effect of one of his weapons, now his squad is also suppressed having lost a member.

But his turn is far from over. "Fast movers, incoming from the North-East!" Chris brings in his flyers, strafing from his table edge in an attempt to get a K.O. on one of my APC's.

Luck is with me this time as the leading High Mobility Wheeled APC soaks up the combined fire of the two attack fliers. As Chris' turn-2 activation comes to a close, I'm wondering two things: Where is his other APC? How long will my luck hold out?

Heading into turn-3 I return fire on the fliers with my Medium APC's. My dice are hot; I score solid hits, forcing Chris to roll for criticals with a damaged system result on each of the flyers. One takes a mobility hit, and the other won't be shooting as accurately!

I move my Tank up the wooded hillside into LOS of two more Blinds, revealing the other Grav APC! Meanwhile my Grunts converge on the the woods, one squad concentrating fire on the APC in a desperate attempt to stop the well armoured craft, and the other driving off the UNSC squad.
My activation for turn-3 ends with my UAV at last finishing off the robust Spider Droids. Now we are in the thick of the fight.

The first thing Chris does as his turn-3 activation begins is to destroy my lead Medium APC with his wounded flyers!
A stalemate is brewing between my 2 squads of Grunts and his Grav APC; neither of us has the right type of weapons to quickly defeat the other. But it's a different story on the wooded hillside, where my Tank takes heavy blows from Chris' Grav APC and another Grunts squad with RPG. Only great rolls save me from critical damage.
Suddenly that's it... I've made it through turn-3 mostly intact! My Medium air support is one move away from dealing some serious damage to the UNSC.

We decide that the Ambushing forces at this point would most likely withdraw; accepting light casualties in exchange for having destroyed two vehicles. Our objective was met, namely to get Chris up to speed with this great new game.

An easy system to learn and fun to play, Gruntz offers depths of play we will definitely be exploring in the near future.

Peabody out.

Armour Round-Up

2011-07-05T16:24:00.000-07:00

Summer road-trips, playing Gruntz 15mm, Disposable Heroes and Real Life™ have all had their part in keeping my work-bench projects from getting done.
But I'm glad to say the the Shermans for Brother Ken and my Vietnam era LVT's are finally finished! Lets have a look before I clean-up the bench and get ready to start phase two of the 15mm Sci-fi Project.

LVTP-5 amphibious troop carrier in 1/76 scale for 20mm gaming

I'm pleased with the end results of this 'olive-drab project'. The Green Stuff sandbags look fine; close enough to scale to look the part.

These resin kits were washed after assembly & primed by airbrush @ 20 psi with Vallejo Acrylic Polyurethane primer.

From there I did the usual; acrylics then oils, matte-varnish, then filters and weathering.

1/72 scale RAFM Charlie Co. USMC on 19mm bases for scale

Given the condition of these older 1/76 scale kits, I didn't put a lot of time or effort into them but they sure stand out on the table.

The LVTP-5a is an iconic piece of USMC hardware and kits for this amphibious troop carrier at this scale are rare as hen's-teeth.

Another very hard to find kit is this LVT6-H, or 'landing vehicle tracked 6- howitzer'. Featuring a short-barrelled 105mm howitzer for assault and support of amphibious landings.

Capable of direct-fire against fortified targets and also able to provide indirect fire onto distant targets, this is an unusual bit of kit for the wargames table.

The Lt. double checks the map co-ordinates; while the RTO calls for fire...

Our sessions of Disposable Heroes are really fun. Armour and infantry have their own pace, providing their own distinct friction to the game. So I'm very happy to have finished some Allied armour to add to the fray.

Here is the completed Armourfast Firefly kitbash. This was very simple and satisfying to do. In minutes this kit took on a new look.
One sticking point though: I forgot to remove and cover over the hull-MG! So while this won't pass muster with the bolt-counters, it still looks the part at 3-feet away. :)

Two Armourfast Fireflys: one out of the box, one kitbashed.

The disruptive camouflage on the barrel of the harder hitting Firefly was intended to make it harder for an enemy to identify and target this version of the Sherman. At first glance it should look like its lighter gunned companions.
The camo on the barrels was masked with Tamiya tape and liquid-mask, then airbrushed.

Two plain-Jane Armourfast Sherman M4's round out the recent line-up of simple kits from the old work-bench. That makes seven fast-build kits going out to Ken's place for our WWII games! I wonder what he will bring over for me to build and paint-up next?

Whatever he may have in mind, I'm going to make him wait. The 15mm Sci-fi experience is about to begin again with a huge build of Ground Zero Games Military Pre-Fab and Colonial Settlement (Shacks) buildings plus the most recent release of those very cool Startown Slums from Battle Works Studios.

Peabody out.

Plasticard Kitbash Customisation

2011-06-09T23:05:00.000-07:00

Since I'm going to be spraying olive drab on my LVT's, Ken asked if I wouldn't consider doing up a few Armourfast Shermans at the same time.
Brother Ken has the most amazing workshop, and I get to play there pretty often. So I said 'yes'.
Two of the Shermans are Fireflies and I thought it might be fun and easy to modify the simple Armourfast kit to better resemble the iconic 'sleek' look of the Firefly.

The Clampdown
So I clamped the hull down, lined up my 54tpi razor saw along track-guards and carefully trimmed the unwanted portions away.
I followed-up by correcting the shape as needed with a file and then sanding everything smooth.

Poster-putty holds the new pieces for gluing

Corrections, corrections...
Armourfast kits are great, but they don't have much substance and now I could see clear through my Firefly! It was time for some basic styrene scratch-build techniques to make this conversion a success. Using .040 Styrene Sheet, I cut and glued some simple shapes to fill the gaps.These were then sanded flush with the rest of the model.

Success!
Interesting conversions can be easy to do. All you need are basic tools, a few 'raw' materials and most importantly, the techniques. “Styrene Modeling” by Evergreen Scale Models is a fundamental book that should be on every gamer's shelf.

Inside this book you will learn how to change, correct and create all sorts of projects from simple kit alterations to complete true-to-scale scratch-built masters.

Peabody out.

I Am Afraid of Green Stuff

2011-06-07T21:16:00.000-07:00

Green Stuff. The stuff minis dreams are made of.
I've kept an untouched tube of G.S. in my freezer for two years. I keep finding excuses to not do something with it. "Green Stuff is too important to waste", I tell myself. "You better learn more before you try that!" My thinking has been a vicious circle and I know it. But the knowledge that Green Stuff could become rock hard, durable gaming goodness or an indestructible testament to my blobby sculpting has me skittish.
Thank heavens this week a project made its way to the old workbench that was so deeply in trouble that I finally realised there was nothing to loose. If nothing good comes out of this project, at least I will have had that critical first confrontation with the thing that is Green Stuff.
Years ago I ordered a resin 1/76 scale LVTP-5a and an LVTH-6 for my Vietnam project. Both models turned out to have quite a few bubbles and a lot of missing detail, especially around the driver's and commander's hatches. At the time I wasn't about to start a major repair project so I put them on 'The Pile' and forgot about them until this week.

Stowage from Elheim and Britannia (Grubby Tanks)

Green Stuff to the Rescue.
Looking at pictures of these 'Nam era 'Amtracs' I realised I might have a fortunate compromise on my hands. If I made some G.S. sandbags, and placed them to cover-up the most glaring problems, these flawed but character rich models would finally get on the table. What a great opportunity!
Cover-Up
The first step was to mix-up a little bit of Green Stuff epoxy putty. It's very sticky at first, so before starting to work with it, l let it sit while I got everything else organised over the next 10 or 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, the area of the model to be worked on was covered with Parafilm "M" so that the epoxy putty detail won't stick. This way, if I need to, I can start again without having to scrape anything off the model. Also, any detailing I make can be painted separately from the rest of the model.
You don't have to use Parafilm for this step. Plastic wrap will also work just fine.
The epoxy will want to stick to your tools, so you need to keep them moist. I have a little dish of water in the picture, but I ended up just (carefully!!!) moistening my knife & other metal tools between my lips. The Color Shapers will not stick to Green Stuff or other epoxy putties, so they are awesome tools for working this medium.


1/72 scale figure puts the picture in proportion

Cool-Down
After the bags were in place I set the model aside to allow the putty to cure.
The two components, yellow and blue, that make up the famous green putty need to be well wrapped (I use a ziploc bag) and kept in the freezer. That will ensure they are in good shape until you need them next. While in the freezer they won't contaminate your food or make the ice cubes smell funny.
So, making sandbags is an ideal way to discover the ease of working with Green Stuff. I'm not afraid any more. I still don't have great skills, but a little practice & I'll be making wicked sandbags.

See the missing detail? Sandbags will hide all...

Lift-Off
After a couple of hours, I carefully lifted the sandbags off of the model to be certain they weren't stuck.
Satisfied that the pieces fit snugly yet can be moved for painting, I put them back in place to let them finish curing completely. Only then will the Parafilm under the sandbags be pulled away.
Next, the model can be primed, painted & detailed with the sandbags and perhaps some stowage.
But lets see how it looks after priming; that will reveal all the bubble-holes in the resin.

There may be more work to do yet!

Twice in this post I have linked to the venerable & excellent War Factory web page.

I love this site. Do visit Aidan's wonderful minis gaming resource!

.50cal from Elheim Miniatures & stowage from Britannia Miniatures (may be available at Grubby Tanks)

Peabody out.

They Hijacked The Dropship!?

2011-06-05T13:13:00.000-07:00

Dropship Horizon Hijacked!?

Well, not exactly...
It's true that nature abhors a vacuum. A case in point concerning the 15mm Sci-fi scene: the void created just days ago by the departure of The Dropship Horizon and her crew (Mark, Master Chef and the enigmatic Dropship Bunny) has just as suddenly been filled by a piratical group of talented scoundrels determined to keep that beacon of 15mm coolness on course.

Just How Did Peabody Get Onboard!?

Peabody Now a Suspect...
How I got on-board remains a mystery to me. I'm sure it's a Buttle/Tuttle affair, but still, I'm part of the adventure now, excited and humbled to have been brought along by these mavericks. Even if it was all a computer error....
I'll certainly try my best to do both crews proud.

Peabody out.

FanVan WIP -Completion

2011-06-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

FanVans in-bound

Hey Presto! Lets jump ahead and preview the completed flyers...

When I got home from Newfoundland it was a real treat to see these waiting for me on my workbench. They sure had come a long way from the previous WIP post.
I regret not making enough time, before leaving town last week, to write this post .

How did we get here?

Decals
The dry-brushing completed, I dug out my stash of decals for this project to plan the placement of platoon id & detail decals.
I followed standard 'Decal Technique'. Spots that might get a decal first received a dab of Future. Turns out I should have dabbed twice; I still ended up with 'silvering' under some of the decals. IPMS Stockholm offers a possible solution I may try at some point. I'm not going to sweat this. I will be more careful in the future.

No filter on the middle FanVan... Really.

Filters
Boy, I wish I had pictures to better show the magic of this subtle step. I don't, but this review does... I sprayed a coat of Vallejo Matte Varnish and once that was dry, I put down the first of two applications of a brown filter. Without a matte or satin varnish, a filter would be unable to evenly diffuse its subtle, transparent colour over a model. So the Filter technique is the opposite of the Wash which seeks to bring focus to details. Remember: a filter must be much more dilute than a wash.

The second application went on after the first had dried. These two were enough to unite the dry-brushing, decals and basecoat on these models.

Dust effect airbrushed onto lower areas & near intakes.

Details
Time to pull the masks off the canopies (yay!) and start on the details and weathering.
At this point I realised the metallic gold of the canopies and my base-colour are similar in tone. The overall effect is nicely high-tech military, but there isn't much contrast between the two.
I wanted these FanVans looking clean and uncluttered, so I kept the details to the minimum of lights, sensors and wheels. Dust & grime was airbrushed using highly thinned Tamiya flat earth.

Final Assembly

Sharp bits near a finished paint-job give me the shivers.

What's wrong with this picture?
I got the 'fans' and chin-guns installed without any fuss and was about to call this job done. Only then did I remember I needed to install the 5/32" brass-tube that takes the 1/4" clear acrylic rod for my flight-stands. *face-palm*
Must always remember to do this first. Before painting. Not after.
Fate was kind; the tubing went in without incident and I could call this job done.

I'm still eager to see, or to read about anyone else's FanVan plans or projects, so don't be shy.
Lets have those comments & links!

Peabody out.

Peabody Actual to Dropship Horizon

2011-06-01T12:58:00.000-07:00

We copy your last transmission five-by-five. Thanks for the ride.
I can't think of a single blog that has been more influential, infectious and inspiring than the Dropship Horizon.

Kudos to you Mark, and to Maff, for raising the bar for everyone.

Now go roll some dice.

Respect.

A Brief Intermission...

2011-05-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

So where are we going today Mr. Peabody?
Ok, the FanVans are actually nine-tenths finished right now and all that remains is final assembly, taking a few pictures and to write up the last post. I'm pleased with how the flyers have turned out and really look forward to getting them on the table and playing Gruntz! with them ASAP.
But early last week Ken brought over some WWII German armour and asked if I could give his 1/72 scale Armourfast and Italeri fast-build tanks the same basic treatment I was giving to the Ground Zero Games flyers. These are painless to build, so in no time I had them added to the painting queue.

The two Panzer III's and the Panther will feature in 20mm games of Disposable Heroes & Coffin for Seven Brothers by Iron Ivan. I'm not really into WWII, but I'll play pretty much anything by Iron Ivan Games; loads of fun.

Please enjoy this intermission while I complete the FanVans.
Peabody out.

FanVan WIP

2011-05-18T10:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, lets commit to a full WIP series on the FanVans from Ground Zero Games. Think of it as basic armour painting 101. Not difficult stuff at all; practice and patience will be rewarded. I took this same approach with the GZG New Israeli armour & I'll want to review this at some point.
Where were we?

Lets finish up the Canopies first.
A protective coat of Future needed to be laid down over the canopies, but before I did that I decided to spray a little bit of Tamiya Smoke as a way to blend the gold & black together. Smooth.

When the Future had dried, the masking that protected the canopy frames & the rest of the models was removed and discarded.

Models are numbered to track painting masks

Time now for the canopy-glass shaped bits of tape saved when cutting the masks. Each model & its mask were numbered, so it was simple enough to match the masks with the models. Note how each 'window' was cut and laid-out in position relative to each other. A piece of scrap styrene sheet was used to keep these safe. Additional trimming or adding of thin strips of tape was done as necessary.
The masks were smoothed into place using colour shapers.
As I finish painting each model the canopies will remain covered and (in theory) protected. The big reveal will happen as I move into detail painting. Fingers are crossed from now until then.

Base-coat
Now for the base-coat. A thin, transparent coat is sprayed on at about 10psi. At this point any pre-shading I have done will either become a wonderful part of each model, or hidden under too much paint. Only a few areas of each model get second coats.
I'm using Dark Yellow tinted with drops of red-brown, yellow and black. I made sure to mix up quite a bit of this when this project began so that colour matching would not be a problem.

Gloss-coat
After the base-coat dries I lay down a good coat of Future in preparation for the next step.
Future is self-levelling, so I can spray quite generously and still get an even, gloss finish that wont fill detail.
A gloss finish is critical for the oil wash that is to come. If I apply a wash over a matte finish, the entire surface will become stained. On a gloss finish, the wash will fill detail and any excess will be easy to remove.

The middle FanVan has been dry-brushed buff.

Oil Wash & Dry Brush
The wash is applied outlining and emphasising the details of each model. Once this dries (a day at least!) it's time for a light but thorough dry-brushing using buff artists oil paint.

Still to Come: decals, filters, details & more.

15mm FanVans & Sci-Fi Canopies

2011-05-14T22:33:00.000-07:00

So this afternoon I broke-out the Tamiya masking tape, put a brand new #11 in the old x-acto knife and got to work masking the canopies of my platoon of Ground Zero Games FanVans.
Now these are cool models; near-future Slicks ready for any job be it rapid insertion of troops, casevac or ass & trash. Perfect toys for the 15mm sci-fi table!

The canopies of these vehicles are wonderfully sculpted and the potential is there to really make a stand-out statement if only I can pull it off.
So, carefully I cut out the canopy areas, saving the resulting masks so as to be able to cover the canopies again when this stage is done. The canopies were then sprayed black.

The FanVan engines were painted in phase one of the 15mm Sci-fi Project.

Once the black was dry, I mixed up some Tamiya gold with a few drops of clear orange and thinned the mix down for spraying with Tamiya thinner. I sprayed on the orange-gold at an oblique angle to create a fade from gold to black.

Lotus position Buddha, agent of dharma in our pulp themed games, got the rest of the orange-gold paint.

The next step will be to lock down this gold-black fade with a coat of Future and then tomorrow morning put the masks in place and get on with painting the rest of these beauties.

Calling FanVan Fans

I'll admit I've put off painting these kits hoping that some clever and talented person out there would post some inspiring shots of their finished FanVans. So far no luck!
IF you have painted FanVans, take some pictures, post them up and share the link! Lets see some FanVan action out there!

Building Bridges

2011-05-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

Double Rainbow?

Well, I had every intention of moving on to phase two of the 15mm Sci-fi Project, but the old workbench needed a good clean after the chaos of phase one, and stuck in the middle of everything were two kits, both bridges, crying out to me: "Peabody, build us now!"

The Italeri Stone Bridge is a classic single span bridge, an objective to enhance any table. The kit itself has good detail and is simple to build.
I primed the model light grey using Vallejo airbrush primer. A base coat of Tamiya medium grey, xf20 was next. I mottled this coat as I sprayed, so I would be painting details over a mix of greys.

Hot mugs of tea & favourite tunes made the job of picking out selected individual stones easy enough. I worked my way through cool greys, greens, tans and khakis trying to avoid patterns, but allowing these spots of colour to group in places to draw the eye to some of the more interesting detail or create interest where the pattern of stone was too repetitive. The paint for this stage needed to be very thin, almost transparent, to keep the effect from becoming too much like a patchwork quilt. The brightest tans were toned down with a touch of dark grey.

A good dark oil wash (burnt umber & black) did the job of picking out detail, but left the whole model very cold looking. That was fixed easily with a couple of applications of the Mig Filter 'brown for desert yellow', which warmed the colour and tied the whole piece together nicely.
Well diluted Tamiya flat earth, xf52, was dusted on via airbrush, working mostly around the base and lower ends of the bridge, leaving the higher parts brighter and free of 'dust'.
The next day I added ground work to better tie the bridge in with the terrain most used on my table. I couldn't resist trying the Army Painter Poison Ivy, it's so easy to use. I also took a tip from the great tutorials on the Acrylicos Vallejo pages and tried my hand at moss using Woodland Scenics fine turf, acrylic matte medium and different shades of home-made green pigment powders.

While working on the Stone Bridge I also had a second, very different bridge on the bench.

Pontoon Bridge Trussed-up

The venerable Airfix Pontoon Bridge is the donor for this kit-bash. There is so much bridge inside this kit it's a shame not to get more than one project out of the box! This short span is intended for my Vietnam table where there are numerous deep but narrow canals to hamper traffic. The look is intended to suggest the classic bailey bridge that springs up around so many conflicts and natural disasters.

I thought it would be worth the trouble to leave the span of this bridge detached. Now I can play all sorts of bridge-out, bridge-laying or destroy-the-bridge scenarios. But I can also use the ends with the remaining longer span from the kit to eventually make a much larger bridge.

I base my 20mm minis on pennies which makes them too wide for the narrow strip of walk-way to each side of the Airfix kit's truss-work. My solution was to add width with some additional 'wood work' made of styrene strip and square-stock. The effect is more convincing than I thought it might be.

The overall look works for me and reminds me of the sort of improvisational construction I have encountered travelling in South-east Asia.

So what really inspired me to build these now? I think this little detour is the pay-off for going out of my way and having tried new techniques for the 15mm Sci-fi Project. The stone bridge is no work of art, but it's come out a lot better than it would have had I tried to build it a year ago.
The bailey bridge tested elementary (but fundamental) scratch-building skills and was chipped using the hairspray technique. Both bridges benefited from the use of oil based filters and washes.

BUT THERE'S MORE!

Die-cast Repaints. Road-work on Highway 19?

A year or more ago I won an ebay lot that included some poorly painted die-cast toys and what turns out to be bits from the Airfix Aircraft Recovery Set.

A quick repaint and a dash of grubbiness and these are now ready to help add a bit of story to the next game.

Tragically the 'Queen Mary' aircraft recovery trailer is missing a wheel...
I would be grateful if anyone has a line on a suitable replacement!

Now that the bench is clear again I will be cracking on with the flight of three GZG FanVans.

Peabody out.

15mm Sci-Fi Project phase one complete!

2011-05-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

The transport, drones and support attachments are finaly done for my mechanised infantry platoon of Ground Zero Games 15mm New Israelis.

Despite an interruption of many months this project was a lot of fun to pick up and complete. The scheme was a simple one, so it was easy to carry on from where I had left off.

This was supposed to be a 'learning project' and there were still a couple of techniques and products I wanted to try out on these models. I'm happy to say I learned a lot and still managed a decent table-top quality finish despite 'experimenting'.

I want to apologise right now for the lack of step-by-step photos. These final shots will have to do.

Picking up from the last post on this project, I used an airbrush to lay down a coat of Vallejo Matte Varnish before Dry-brushing with buff coloured artists' oil paint. The advantages in terms of time and workability that come from working in oils made this step less stressful. If I went too heavy, I could easily subtract using a clean brush moistened with thinner.

For this step, instead of Turpentine I tried out Mig Productions Thinner for Washes, finding this to have much less odour and a faster drying time.

A spot of Future (Klear) was dabbed-on and allowed to dry wherever I intended to put down decals. A mix of decals from old kits and a home-made set of unit numbers went on using micro-sol decal products.

Once the decals were set & dry I was eager to try out a suitably tinted Filter from Mig Productions. I wanted to tone-down the camo & dry-brushing and tie-in the decals as well as other details and a filter (basically a very thin wash) is a good way to do this.

It's easy enough to mix a suitable wash with either acrylic or oil-based paints, but I wanted to try the MIG product. I found it was convenient to use and that it did the job well. The fact that I can come back to the jar again and again for consistent results is a big plus. The MIG Filters are intended to allow easy application of multiple thin coats, building up transparently, providing subtle results.

Final work included lights, vision blocks and other details. This stage offered the biggest opportunity to add personality to each vehicle and to make the mistakes I would really regret.

Fortunately the coat of Vallejo Matte Varnish I had previously put down proved to be very durable & so I was able to 'undo' a couple of bad ideas without damaging the good work underneath. So I'm happy with the Vallejo Matte Varnish for a couple of reasons: it's fairly tough, and it is UV resistant. I'll be using this on every project I think.

Last of all everything got a coat of krylon Matte spray for protection. This is not dead-flat matte, tending instead to satin, but I like it for the durability. If I need dead matte I can hit these again w/ a dusting of the Vallejo.

The flight base for the GZG Roach is made with a Warbases 70mm Hex, fender washers, 5/32" brass tube, 1/4" acrylic rod and Golden Acrylic High Solids Matte Gel. Texturing and decoration are a selection of aquarium plants, Woodland Scenics rock-moulds, grass-tufts and found materials.

Your comments and criticism, as always, are welcome.

Peabody out.

AND WE'RE BACK!

2011-05-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

Almost SIX months without a post. Oh my....
Right now I'm grateful for two things:

Those of you who decided to follow Peabody despite this no post period.
I can't get fired from our hobby if I don't produce.
Projects don't stall, they are infinitely patient, waiting to be completed.
While I wasn't painting or building new stuff, I still got to play some great games with good friends using the stuff I had completed. Medals awarded to everyone for making our own toys.

Ok, that's ~~three~~ four things. I'm grateful for four things.

I suppose we all go through periods when Real Life™ forces us to step away from the work bench. There are all kinds of reasons why this can happen, some good, some not so good. I'm glad to finally find myself on the functional side of this one.
Oddly enough during this time of no-hobby I have used this blog a lot. More than any post that I can write, the gaming goodness that flows through the right hand side of this page is the real soul of Peabody Here! The fora, the news feed and especially your blogs have all nourished the neglected creative spirit. Picking up the brush again has been that much easier thanks to you out there.

Peabody out.

Work In Progress: 15mm Sci-Fi Project Update

2010-11-05T16:54:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I hit inspirational pay dirt and a project deep within my Lead Mountain starts to take off. I get fun and satisfaction from trying new techniques and learning something. I get stuff done. That's where I am now with the 15mm Sci-Fi Project. I have struck oil. Sort of.

Nice & dirty, or still in need of a wash?

Early this year I bought some artist's oil paints, but hadn't the courage to try them until revisiting this post at Roundwood's World. This IPMS article, a LAF tutorial & this Scale Model Medic video are inspiring too.

This WIP shot shows two 8 wheel MICV's and a Bulldog HMTV from GZG. The one on the far left has been airbrushed & given a coat of Future (Klear). The other two have also been given a panel wash of raw sienna, burnt umber & lamp black oil paints mixed with turpentine. After drying for several hours, excess oil wash is removed with a clean, soft brush dampened in turpentine.

I may clean-up the two on the right a bit more, or leave them nice & dirty. The next step once the turpentine, the solvent, is thoroughly dry will be another coat of Future followed by dry brush highlighting and detailing.
This is a very forgiving process. Artist's oils take forever to dry completely. So take your time, make adjustments over several days; see how things look in a different light. Subtraction, taking away a little paint at a time, is the strength of this easy to control technique.
It may be worth noting that I have blurred my panel line wash into first stage weathering. That may work all right at this small scale, but I haven't seen it done on larger models where panel lines and weathering are two separate steps.
I'm lucky to have excellent ventilation at home so working with turpentine is less of a problem than it could be. Still, using this dangerous solvent is a serious undertaking. Consider alternatives, such as white spirit. Always Play Safe.

But detailing with oils has not been the only recent technical adventure! I have been intrigued by the 'Hairspray Technique' for some time now, so I gave it a try on several of my 15mm vehicles. Here is one example using the Old Crow Models Provider Transport, wheeled version.

A foundation colour (metallic silver for this job) is laid down & protected with Future.
Hairspray is then applied & allowed to dry. I used a non-aerosol, unscented hairspray, pouring it directly into my airbrush. Clean-up of the airbrush was done with alcohol or Tamiya thinners.

Next, an acrylic top colour was applied & when dry, water was used to loosen this layer. The dissolving hairspray between the foundation and top colours permitted me to remove convincing patches & scrapes, revealing the foundation colour.

With the number of bits, pieces and vehicles that I wanted scratched-up for this project I had a golden opportunity to get a lot of practice with this fun technique.

Next up: I am thinking I'll try some camouflage on my Cougar MBT from Ground Zero Games.

Is this the camo scheme for the Cougar?

I played about with some stencils & other camo ideas on this practice board, and decided I like this freehand pattern best.

Until next time,
Peabody out!

Spartan 117 gives good fire sale!

2010-11-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

A while back I had the pleasure & the good luck to pick up some of Spartan 117's painted UNSC troops from Ground Zero Games. Along with the lovely platoon of minis I also received two hover APC's!

I only just got around to basing this platoon and wanted to waste no more time gloating over my good fortune!
Thanks Spartan! Your nicely painted minis were well packed. You are a square dealer and I appreciate the effort you put into making this a great deal for me.

Peabody out!

The 15mm Sci-Fi experience. At last!

2010-10-15T15:05:00.000-07:00

Hello again! I finally got down to business and started to work on my stash of 15mm sci-fi minis and models. Breaking out the jeweller's files, CA Glue and baking-soda I discovered how easy (and fun!) it is to clean-up and put together all those groovy vehicles I purchased months ago from Ground Zero Games, Khurasan and Old Crow.

Does my workbench look familiar? I'm starting to think everyone is into sci-fi 15's.

But I have been painting as well as kit building! A platoon of New Israeli Hard-Suits from GZG are almost ready for play. A final hit with some matte varnish will be the last step for these.

Four small squads, with a variety of specialists to draw on depending the rule-set & the scenario being played.

The 'ketchup & mustard' camo scheme is based on one I used for my Pig Iron Productions Heavy Infantry. I thought it would be fun to play with the same forces in different scales.

Still not 100% sure about the white details on all the tech/specialist types, but I want them to stand out so that whatever special feature they bring to a game is not lost in the mix.
Very much looking forward to painting up the vehicles, buildings and the rest of the minis!A complete set of both the GZG pre-fab buildings and the shanty-town are queued up on the workbench.

A 'serious threat' of Crusties and a small town's worth of civilians will provide for some great not-District Nine scenarios.

What will I be playing with all these toys? There are sooo many options! Yes, I do have my copy of Tomorrow's War, however, play-testing GRUNTz is a priority. You can bet I will definitely will be playing some Star Mogul in 15mm as well as 5150 First Contact. Last, but not least, Fubar will be 'the' drop-in game of choice.

I leave you with a couple of shots of my 28mm Pig Iron Heavy Infantry, in their Martian 'ketchup & mustard' kit....

Post Script: I just read this news about Alpha Forge Games & Star Mogul! Thank you for that timely bit of info TGN!

Basing Tutorial Up too...

2010-07-24T22:37:00.000-07:00

As promised, the Basing how-to is up in the Tutorials section.

Where to now, Mr. Peabody?
Not quite sure where the next few days will see Peabody heading; there are a couple of very interesting piles of stuff on the bench!

Helicopter crews from SHQ demand attention, not to mention their rides. Various slicks, cobras & hogs are in the build queue. The 20mm 'Nam project will continue. Always.

Recent auction wins have brought home some HO buildings for a planned comparison to the Italeri 1/72 scale buildings such as the Berlin House & others. Can these two scales share the same gaming table? I hope so, 'cause I'm charmed by the Dapol Service Station & Modern Flats that I bought

The 15mm Sci-Fi project has been neglected for long enough that it might just jump to the front of the line. I've been itching to build my GZG Shanty-Town and Prefab buildings and that itch may just get scratched!

Regardless of what happens it's going to be satisfying summer hobby goodness, and why not? This is a fun hobby.
I'm always impressed by the inspiring work other folks are sharing via their forum posts & their blogs. Here's to you out there, making our bit of the web a shared place to do fun stuff!

Painting Tutorial Up!

2010-07-19T21:51:00.001-07:00

Over in the Tutorials section; a nicely detailed Step-by-Step fast-paint method for 'Nam era US Marines. Also suitable for a variety of small scale minis.

Coming up: Basing, 

the Bonsai Method.

A closer look at those RAFM US Marines

2010-07-15T23:20:00.000-07:00

Thank you Picassa! I was able to correct the fill-lighting problem I had with these pictures, so I'm happy to share some of them with you now.
First up, a group-shot. I painted these excellent RAFM Charlie Co. minis to fix a platoon I had based on the Pegasus plastic USMC. RAFM minis better represent the weapons these squads are using in my FNG:2nd Tour campaign.

A close-up of one of the more characterful figures from the Rifle Squad plus a running figure from the Weapons Squad.You get 14 figures in a Rifle Squad blister; a full paper-strength Vietnam era squad.

Here we see an RTO and an officer with a map from the Command pack and two other leader types from the Rifle Squad blister.The two Corpsmen on the left were commissioned by members of the Fields of Fire Reloaded forum.

This recent batch of minis was painted using a variation on the 'Fast Paint Method Based on Inks'* as featured on the Lead Adventure Forum. I took lots of pictures along the way and will be posting a step-by-step on the Tutorials page as soon as I can write it up.
*Don't worry, actual paint is used during this process! Ink is not required for this speedy yet effective technique.

Possible Enemy Force & Possible Contact Markers

2010-07-14T15:58:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited about the upcoming release of FNG:2nd Tour! One of the things I like best about the direction that Two Hour Wargames has taken with their latest generation of games is the idea of Possible Enemy Forces (PEF's) and Possible Contacts (PC's). A PEF will move about the table until someone has line-of-sight to it, while a PC sits still; waiting to be seen. When either of these is revealed you find out what sort of enemy, if any, you are facing. A great way to handle moving about hidden and / or unknown forces!

Inspired by the 'Hot Spot' markers over at the Ambush Alley Games Forum, I thought I would try my hand at some custom markers for my games of FNG:2T

This is a set of ten Possible Enemy Force markers. The idea is that they suggest noise or activity happening outside of your line-of-sight.

The little dice sit in cups allowing each marker to be assigned a value via its die.

These are the Possible Contact markers, they are quite a bit bigger and are meant to suggest hidden stashes or locations of interest.

Again, a holder for a small die allows a value or simply a number for identification to be set for each marker.

Ambush Valley, takes the hot-spot a step further, transforming them into 'Tunnel Spots'; a sort of spawning point and alternate movement network available to the VC. These markers will be able to work double-duty for that game and will fit in nicely with my terrain.

Where there's Smoke....

2010-07-14T09:21:00.000-07:00

Timberline 6 over at Fields of Fire Reloaded made some inspiring colour-smoke markers recently. These are pure game-candy and I just couldn't resist making a few of my own.

These are made much the same way you would make an ordinary smoke marker, just pick appropriate colours. I pre-shaded the bottoms with black & shading-grey, but I don't think that improved the look very much.

Have a look at Timberline Six's Purple Smoke, he did a much better job of it than I did!

These are very easy to make! Have a look at the Fire & Smoke mini-tutorial over in the Special Projects section to find out what you need and how simple it is to make convincing and dramatic smoke and fire markers for your games.

Photography - always a learning curve!

2010-07-13T13:31:00.000-07:00

Well, the new workbench works a treat in all respects, it has improved my hobby experience every which way except for taking pictures of what I have going on! Turns out I need another light so I can provide better 'fill' when taking WIP shots.
A whole series of pictures taken to provide a painting step-by-step for my 'Nam era USMC turn out to have a nasty shadow in the foreground. I'll see if I can fix this in Picassa or LightBox, but frankly I'm a little bit ashamed I didn't check the results while I was shooting the series. The images looked OK on the camera display, but clearly that's nothing to go by. Live and learn. :)

It will be a few days before I have the scratch to get a light that matches the other two I use currently for everything else. Then I can be productive with the camera again!

Tutorials Page added

2010-07-13T13:19:00.000-07:00

A stand alone page has been added for Tutorials and the first small article has been added; Fire & Smoke Markers. Go have a look & let me know what you think!

I hope this idea for a separate page focusing on how-to's will be a useful format. That leaves the main body of this blog for ramblings, WIP, after-action reports and whatever else comes to mind.

Set the WABAC Machine to 1967!

2010-07-07T09:06:00.000-07:00

I've been working on these lovely RAFM Charlie Company US Marines for the last couple of days. These are still waiting for a hit from the old can of matte-spray, so I won't zoom in for close-ups just yet.
With a new version of FNG about to be released (FNG:2nd Tour) I decided it was time to get my little platoon of Marines looking as good as I could for some after action reports. So this group will fill in some gaps and replace some proxy figures I wasn't happy with.

Most of these figures are from the USMC Riflemen blister, some are from the Command blister and a couple -I see you Mr. Revell plastic M-79 gunner, and you Mr. SHQ tiny 90mm Recoilless Rifle person- aren't from RAFM at all. The running Corpsman figures are commission sculpts.

RAFM USMC come kitted out authentically with M-14's and other gear suitable for games set between 1964 and mid '68. You get a complete paper-strength squad with a Rifleman blister.
These miniatures are full of character and a real pleasure to paint. The group I've painted here were mail ordered directly from RAFM in Canada. The castings are quite crisp and extensive preparation was not required to meet my standard for readying 20mm minis for painting.

A fine summer day to begin a hobby blog.

2010-07-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

Where to now, Mr. Peabody?
June brought some big changes to the little home in the Chinatown co-op where I live. A beautiful new workbench has taken the place of my cluttered old dining room table.
To help commemorate this wicked cool addition to the home-hobbyscape I thought I should gather my posts from far and wide, edit them up, and put them in one place.
Yes, here is yet another blog featuring hobby how-to's interspersed with work-in-progress posts. The selection here will be pretty varied as I build, paint and play my way through my 15mm Sci-fi and 20mm Vietnam gaming projects.
If I stay on track and on-target you might also see some fun 28mm Sci-fi and even some Pulpy Lovecraftian goodness too!

Here's hoping!