NON-wargaming post - (sorry) - Kitchen Utensil drawer tidy.

Remember I mentioned I scored some brownie points with SWMBO - here's what I made with the 5mm MDF 'off cuts'...

Simple box construction,  from 5mm MDF and PVA wood glue. I obviously measured internal space of the drawer to figure out how big to make it ... its approx 5" high, 19" deep and 38" wide...
MDF needs a primer before painting as the wood is is very absorbent. Once dry, two coats of an enamel gloss finish paint were applied. This was left over paint from our house build some years ago...

7yr old daughters foot for scale ;-)

It does make the drawer noticeably heavy now, but with a little care in use,  I think its fine and everything now goes in, in a reasonably tidy fashion! This was all just in 'loose' before...

I'm quite chuffed it worked out, obviously all that previous practice with MDF has paid off ;-)

Normal service will now be resumed!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, to one and all!

Traditionally, a time for reflection on the year past, and looking forward to what the new year may bring...

However, I don't actually feel like doing a review as such, but prefer to think about plans for this year...

After the end of year frustration and disillusionment I felt with Flames of War back in December, and then enjoying the The Hobbit movie, I feel my focus has shifted significantly for the year ahead...

I have not had a game in about a month now, and my Jekyll & Hyde styled alter ego; "Mr Grumpy", has not been seen here abouts for the same time period, and frankly I haven't missed it, or him...

'Mr Grumpy' -  thankfully not seen for one month!

What I have been doing is plodding along with ongoing terrain projects for Empire of the Dead; the base board and Corner Tavern. I would have got further on with the base board etching, but manged to drop my Dremel, snapping the end off the 0.8mm etching tool (105), and of course my local suppliers are out of stock, and with the festive season still in full swing, their suppliers are still out of action. I managed to find one online and ordered that but am still awaiting delivery...

The Corner Tavern has had its windows put in and bottom layer net curtains added...

And along with terrain I have had Curts painting challenge to keep me pottering on with the paintbrush... but must admit I am just going steady and not rushing anything, and am just working on items mostly for the themed fortnightly entries, which has been a little refreshing, digging out old figures that probably would never have got painted otherwise... and yet I get to score some decent points - feels a bit like cheating but hey, they're the rules!

Some MDF 'off-cuts', from the 5mm MDF sheet used to make the Victorian base board and under games-table storage units, have been pressed to good DIY use too, making a utensil organiser for the main kitchen drawer, and thus earned me some brownie points from SWMBO, so that has been a fun little project over the couple of New Years Stat Hol days... the paintbrush has also been lashed round the house too here and there, sprucing things up in time for fathers visit later this month... jeez, its like a visit from the Queen... I always recall that Billy Connolly sketch where he joked the Queen thinks the world smells like fresh paint... as there's always a bloke with a paintbrush, and tin of paint, frantically lashing away 20' in front of her ;-)

So things have been busy in general in Bowman Towers, but with little outward hobby output...

I did mention The Hobbit above, and have found time to enjoy starting the campaign scenarios from the The Fall of the Necromancer(FOTN) LOTR SBG supplement, with my son. This has put my recently(ish) made bottle brush trees I made to good use along with the lichen clumps I recently bought, and we have had fun with orcs, spiders, bats and wargs doing battle with wood elves defending Mirkwood.

Fall of the Necromancer - nicely in theme with current Hobbit movie

Enjoying this simple gaming with my son has been wonderful, and has motivated me to continue this skirmish game with him for the coming year, and beyond. We'll throw in some EotD too for variety...

My son also starts 'Big School', this year so more home organising has been in order, sorting him a desk for his room, putting up shelves and tidying and sorting; more conducive to studies. Big School is also going to mean school fees, which will dent my available hobby budget significantly, and this has made me realise, the simple answer to hobby nirvana this year, will be to dive into the lead mountain, and paint up the hundreds of LOTR miniatures I have stock-piled over the years... and thus be able to play more of the various scenarios from the LOTR SBG Source and Journey books with him...

So that's the plan:

Clear the painting table of current items scheduled for Curt's Painting Challenge; Some FoW stuff for completeness sake, all the Requiem EotD figures, and the dwarves of the The Hobbit starter set.

And then crack on with the LOTR/Hobbit lead/plastic pile... first up from the lead pile may be some Castellans I need for the FOTN campaign games... wonderfully creepy looking figures...

If I feel so inclined I may break out some of the figures that are backlogged also, for Black Powder duty; Perry ACW and Naps, and some Wargames Factory SYW stuff... I have so  much stuff awaiting paint its not funny, so 2014 will be a year of buying little and painting lots, I hope!

I will continue my terrain projects including more Victorian buildings for my city-scape, and I am also feeling inclined to make some LOTR terrain, both Hobbiton hobbit holes and Dol Guldur fortress/ruins... I quite like the look of a lot of the digitised terrain that appears in the Battle for MiddleEarth series of computer games, so may use some of that for inspiration too... I might even finally get my Mumak painted!

I will indulge these in no fixed order as whim takes me... less pressure that way...

I hope also, that in my fortnights summer hols here at end of Jan, I'll be able to get down to Wellington and grab some of that dry-ice to try out the foggy board effect...

Hope you all have a good 2014 and enjoy whatever gaming, painting and terrain modelling you like doing best!

The greatest gift at Christmas is...

...Time!

At least that's how I view it. Time away from work to do the things you want to...

Christmas of course, is time with family at home, sharing some quality time, enjoying the kids tear through their prezzies like a hot knife through butter... and of course the Christmas lunch which for most of us Antipodeans means a BBQ in the sun... which I have to say this year was a bit touch and go weather wise, but we struck lucky with the sun breaking through right on cue and lasting long enough, for full tummies to roll inside before the rain started... feet up, DVD on (The Hobbit), and snore the afternoon away... lets face it, up till 12.30am the night before, wrapping and arranging prezzies, then up at the crack of dawn to excited children who can't wait any longer... full tummy, and several glasses of wine later... is it any wonder the adults crash out Christmas arvo? ;-)

As for the Christmas prezzy haul... actually we don't bother for adults... for us its about the kids... but I did lash out in a moments silliness, buying myself a $4 bag of glue sticks and a $4 egg slice for the missus ;-)

Actually, with thoughts leaning towards LOTR / Hobbit I ordered up on a couple of gaps in my collection - I ordered a hobbit set; Paladin Took, Lobellia, Fatty Bolger and Horn blower via folks in UK, and Bullroarer Took from GW NZ online as it wasn't listed on the UK site... sometimes you just have to bite the bullet on price... so they were my Christmas gifts to myself....

Ah, a wonderful time, but what I really enjoy at Christmas is the statutory holidays off, for us poor retail schleps; means Christmas and Boxing day ( if you're lucky - my wife had to work Boxing day arvo), Friday for me was back to work, then luckily enough the weekend free, and rinse and repeat for this week with New Year nearly upon us...

So with this extra time off, whilst kids are busy playing with their new toys together, Dad can potter on ...

I managed two more 2kg bags of Polyfilla (making 3 in total) to add more layers to the Victorian base board to even it up, and allowed it to dry...

I based the Victorian corner tavern to help square it up, and chopped and glued matchsticks to frame out all the windows....

An undercoated 'Baskerville' from EotD Requiem for scale...

Also with the Hobbit/LOTR juices flowing once more I decided to make some repairs / improvements to my Helms Deep board, repairing chipped surface and after a visit to my local hobby store for supplies, poured in more Realistic Water to build up the stream layer. This is to stop models falling over if standing in the stream area... one of my bugbears with skirmish gaming and single based figures... you can make excellent looking terrain, but if its not a flat surface they'll fall over... annoying! Especially banner bearers who you need right up with the action, and if they fall over everyone else gets knocked over too!

'Realistic water' poured... awaiting drying (approx 24hrs)

Great stuff, but not cheap!

Whilst getting my hobby supplies, I included some lemon trees and tomato plants I happened across... perfect to add some life to my proposed Hobbiton build...

 ... and big bag of lichen to make woods look like woods. Had some time with eldest to start the LOTR/ Hobbit, Fall of the Necromancer campaign... the starting scenario pits 4 giant spiders and 2 giant bat swarms against Thranduil and a bunch of wood-elves, on a wooded 24" x 24" board... simple fun...

Mirkwood - Fall of the Necromancer campaign

The odd thing with the SBG LOTR rules are that they define difficult terrain areas, eg. woods, by for example, an area of felt, which affects move rate (if you're not a wood elf, spider or bat swarm) but this wooded area does not impede LOS nor provide cover unless there is an actual tree or bush modeled on it... So a big bag of lichen clumps made for some instant bushes and cover saves (3+ in the way), compared to the trees (4+ in the way)... worked rather well... I did also re-base the trees on 60mm round MDF discs (I bought a new bigger hole cutter) as the smaller bases used previously were not enough to stop them toppling over when knocked...

After gaming was satisfied, and plaster skim coats had dried on board it was time to equip up, and break out the Dremel... its noisy, dusty work, so safety gear is a must... and Ipod music inside ear defenders helps the time pass pleasantly...

 Bzzzzzzzzz, Whirrrrrrr  ...

After about 45 mins I have done a roughly 6" x 6" area... yep this is going to take a while, but I think the end result will be worth it...

I'll keep plodding on with this bit by bit, with breaks... don't want to get 'white finger'...

I am still plodding on with more figure painting too for Curts Challenge, and am focusing the time on the fortnightly themes so I get to score some points!

Just a quick thought on your local hobby store... I must admit I am the first to try and source stuff cheap online where possible... especially model figures, but I do find the local hobby stores great for terrain and craft supplies, and try and support these guys where possible. They are not always the cheapest but you sometimes want something now to crack on with that terrain project, so anywhere selling hobby railway supplies etc., locally can be a goldmine for a wargamer. And compared to GW prices you are bound to save $$$'s...

Hope you are all enjoying your festive time, with family and hobbies...

Regards to all
Scott

Merry Xmas!

Merry Xmas everyone!

Kids asleep, finished wrapping all the prezzies and placing under the tree... all set,  even assembled drum set for eldest and scooter for youngest... glasses of wine quaffed, looked into wifes eyes and smiled on a job well done... now half past midnight kiwi time, happy xmas to all , off to bed, no doubt an early start with the kids...

The Hobbit - another terrain distraction!

My will power to stay on target with the Empire of the Dead stuff is taking a battering... I can only blame The Hobbit ! And a certain someone...

Mt heart always warms whenever I see the Hobbiton scenes, from any of the movies; LOTR or The Hobbit... I am convinced I was a Hobbit in a prior life ! ;-)

Here Gandalf meets a young Bilbo at Bag End... from the movie...

... and the front of Bag End, not only a movie set, but also a tourist attraction, near the town of Matamata (Google it!)...

And where did all this thinking come from... I blame Loki and his Tajima Tufts! ;-)

As soon as I saw these on Lokis site I wanted some... and then couldn't help but think what they could be used for... flowers immediately made me think of Hobbit Holes...

A rummage in the games room found this LOTR supplement...

... in which I remembered reading about making Hobbit holes...

My son had a mate round for a playdate weekend, and since he had seen the Hobbit but never seen the LOTR movies, we enjoyed Saturday night watching the Fellowship of the Ring (Ext Ed) with him... and yes I still get attacks of 'hayfever' while watching it, when Gandalf sets his fireworks off from his cart to the hobbit childrens delight, when Gandalf falls from the bridge at Khazad Dum... , when Boromir dies... "I would have followed you, my Captain, my King..."

Quick pass the Kleenex... watched it dozens of times and it still gets me, I must be getting soft in my old age...

Sunday they spent fighting the Helms Deep assault against the Deeping Wall game with terrain I made years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it...

So I realised I can still enjoy MiddleEarth even if I am not buying the new Hobbit models, as I still have a literal bunker of LOTR models to paint...

So as usual I find myself torn in several directions... ah well, such is this hobby life!

I will press on with the Empire of Dead stuff, and today did the second skim coat to the Victorian base board, and once dry sanded smooth. I hope to press on with more work today on the Victorian Pub... and I have to find time for Curts challenges painting too... but don't be surprised if you see the odd MiddleEarth terrain piece popping up now and again too... ;-)

Victorian Base board continued...

Well the Challenge is well and truly on, but there's still other work to do too!

Over the weekend, in the lead up to Challenge kick off, I kept busy with terrain matters and got the drain covers sorted for Victorian base board.

The protruding pipe uprights were trimmed flush to board with the dremel, and interior of pipe painted black. Plastic mesh was also cut to size, sprayed black and glued into place. Finally a length of square section thick plastic rod was cut to two small lengths and these glued over the top of the mesh to effect the drain.

This would also gave me an edge to plaster up to when I skim coat the table.

Here's the two drain covers

Whilst various bits of this process were drying, I also managed to make a couple more under table storage units for the games room after redo-ing the table arrangement.

under table storage

Made from 5mm MDF sheet and some timber posts... So plenty of space now to store all the planned EotD Victorian buildings :-)

OK, tonight, whilst some shade wash dries on my current Challenge models... I went back to the base board. I had bought a 2kg bag of polyfilla (not really knowing how much I would need), and a plasterers spreading tool, to try and get the surface as smooth as possible.

After about half an hour I had used the whole bag, making a batch at a time, spreading, and making some more, till I had it as well as I could manage.

So we ended up with this...

I think I am going to need to add another layer of filler to build up a little more as the drain covers are still protruding. I'll wait till it dries fully and get more filler at the weekend...

Start to painting Challenge delayed by Rampant Dragon!

With the Analogue Hobbies painting challenge immanently about  to kick off on Sunday at 7pm NZ time, I knew I would have to wait a while longer until I could pick up a paintbrush, as at the time I would be half through watching...

The Hobbit - The Desolation of Smaug

at the cinema...

Well I have prep'ped as much as I think I have any chance of completing in the time frame allowed by the challenge - I just need to dig out some suitable casualty figures and a cowboy... and come up with an idea for the  "Last Stand" final theme bonus round...

But on to the movie, and what did I think?... [warning - contains Spoilers]...

Well pretty much a rip roaring ride, thoroughly enjoyable, though I did find myself pondering how PJ was going to stick to the book's story line and also deviate from it to elaborate the tale and make it his own... so it was a case of watch and see as the story unfolded...

There was a good mix of following the tale as written, and further elaboration, in terms of filling in the background info as to how the tale came to be...

I really enjoyed the Dol Guldur scenes, the sense of the return of the Necromancer, as Sauron begins to regain his strength and build his armies again... the whole leading up to the eventual War of the Ring, though still some decades off at this time... but this back drop of menace, and the threat that Sauron/ The Necromancer could use Smaug in his army, being Gandalfs underlying 'niggle' and why he feels the Dragon must be dealt with before it can be used in such a way, in the future,... Thus having met Thorin, Gandalf has the plan to send him to Erebor to do just that, one way or another... yes Gandalf is using him a little like a pawn in the scheme of a much grander game, but that is the reality of the game Gandalf finds himself forced to play...

So we follow the Dwarves on their on going quest, and watch them tangle with all manner of foes, allies and beasties along the way...

Beorn the WereBear skin changer is wonderfully done. Azog and the orcs continue their chase, at their Masters bidding, and Bolg comes into play too...

The Spiders of Mirkwood are really well done, and frankly terrified my young daughter (nearly 8yrs old), who burrowed into my arm, whimpering! But she recovered with the continuing story, and more popcorn was nervously munched, eyes peeking over the top of the carton at the screen...

Thranduil and the elves proved to be a further obstacle to the dwarves with the spiders barely past, the elves come to the rescue, but then become the next threat to the dwarves timely passage to Erebor.

Here we get to meet the delightful Tauriel, and thus the love interest of the movie...  and get to see Legolas once again... Here in Mirkwood we get a glimpse of Thranduil's mindset, and his concerns about protecting his kingdom from the growing menace...

Barely have we pondered this then we are racing to Lake Town in barrels... and having dispatched many orcs along the way, bump into Bard. I did find Bards character development interesting and not quite how I envisaged him. Nor had I expected  the grim pervading sense of worry and foreboding hanging over Lake Town and its Master, played charmingly by Stephen Fry, and his little sidekick with whom I couldn't help but draw parallels to Grima ...

By this point the tale is jumping back and forth as differing story threads diverge as differing characters are caught up in varying locations... including the orcs led by Bolg raiding Lake Town, hotly pursued by Legolas and Tauriel... I didn't see that coming! Legolas even shows he's finally fallible, getting a bloody nose for his troubles!

We also finally get to see and meet Smaug - superbly done and his interaction with Bilbo wonderful... The dwarves get in on the act as they try and contest with Smaug in the hopes of reclaiming their halls...

At lot of the action becomes a little over the top, and I certainly didn't see a giant golden dwarf coming ... I prayed it wouldn't open its eyes and start romping around... thankfully things didn't get that silly...

Finally their efforts get Smaug out of Erebor... but at what cost?

Tune into the next movie dear viewer to find out... just one more year to wait!

.... [End Spoilers]

In the time honoured fashion - I think I score this movie 4.5 stars out 5.

If you are a Tolkien fan you'll be seeing this anyway, if you're not, go see it anyway, as it's an excellent Roller Coaster ride of a movie, suspend disbelief momentarily and just enjoy your adventures in Middle-Earth!

---------o0o---------

By movies end, my daughter had just about given up the ghost and had started to slumber... its a long movie for a little one to watch... however elder son, was raving about this Hobbit Lego set and that Hobbit Lego set he wanted - guess who's going to be broke for Christmas!

For myself I would of course be thrilled at the prospect of some of the new models, but costs are prohibitive, and in an annually increasing way... Still I can't wait to see what they do about Smaug as a model!

So quite wonderful stuff, and a much quicker pace than the first movie... and after finally getting home having regained my breath, I did find a little time to finally pick up a paint brush... and managed to base coat 'Nanny' from the EotD Sherlock Holmes set, and get the tracks painted on 5 Panzer IVs, before bed-time called... a slow start to the opening days paining, but a start none the less...