Furniture of the Far Future

Work on the garage continues. Even in the future, there is still office furniture.

This is a WIP workbench with an integral drill, inspired by the ones in Fallout 4. The little chap in blue, converted from an Epic imperial guardsman, is supposed to be a Vault Boy bobblehead figure.

And this is probably the most boring picture that I have ever taken. It's two cabinets.

It will get more exciting, I promise!

Trucks and Trains

I made this train ages ago and completely forgot about it. It's had a bit of a repaint, but it still needs some detailing when I get round to it. I imagine that armoured trains like this roll across the wasteland between the spires, hauling goods and equipment.

It's almost entirely parts from Ramshackle tank kits, with details stuck on from Citadel models. I rather like how crude it is. I wouldn't see the train being used as a vehicle as such, but it could make a good piece of moving terrain for Necromunda. If I made some carriages, I could have an entirely train-located game. Sometimes model making is like designing an adventure playground.

And here is some kind of lorry. It was one of those everything-in-the-bits-box models. The chassis is from a GW ork truck, the cab is from a Dust walker, the tracks are some kind of Mantic cannon and the rear part - well, I've no idea where it came from, but it's a huge lump of solid resin. Given that the Genestealer Cult is back with a vengeance now, perhaps it could be some kind of improvised APC?

Finally, I have started work on the gas station. The MDF kit is reasonable enough and very large. It will certainly do as a post-apocalyptic base. Here is a work in progress shot of the basic structure.

More to follow...

Khador Warjack, Part 2

After converting the Decimator warjack from the Khador boxed set, I still had a Juggernaut warjack left. The Juggernaut is, I think, the better of the two in terms of looks. I'm not sure why it has an axe - surely punching things would do just as much damage - but perhaps when it's not being a warjack it doubles as a lumberjack.

Anyhow, in keeping with the last model, I turned the body around, cut off the round thing at the back (the door to its boiler, perhaps?) and mounted a new head there. This time round, the head was from a black orc. Barrels of fuel were added to the new rear of the model, and the armour slightly enlarged to protect them.

I repositioned the legs for a running effect and cut off the groin plates off. These were then added to the left shoulder for extra shielding, along with an old Warhammer shield that looked appropriate. A couple of plasticard squares hid the marks where the old plates had been.

Weapons-wise, I elongated the shaft of the axe to make it look more in proportion, changed the position of the blade slightly and painted it with a magical lightning effect to justify it being there. It's the first time I've tried this for ages and I think it came out reasonably well. A shield was added to the left arm, made out a piece of plastic from (I think) a Dust Tactics model that I doctored years ago. It's always worth keeping these things.

I was worried that he wouldn't work next to the previous warjack, but there is sufficient difference between them, and sufficient similarity, for the two to look right. Overall I'm very pleased with both of these models. With a bit of luck, the errors in the painting are disguised by the weathering, and vice versa. I only now have their commander to paint. He doesn't look too tricky - but that remains to be seen.

Open for Business!

So, exciting news this week as Games Workshop announced (well, hinted extremely broadly) that there will be an army book for the Genestealer Cult! Wow, that's one small step from releasing something new for the Sisters of Battle!

Following this endorsement, wild celebrations have broken out all through the underhive. Here we see two of the more flamboyant members of the Church of the Serpent, getting ready to sue (and devour) anyone who accuses them of being anything other than an entirely legitimate religion.

Now then. Time to finish that Warmachine robot.

Nix and Gerber, Modelmakers

This isn't to do with anything made by me, but I thought it was very impressive and ought to be shared. A friend who makes models professionally put a link to this on Facebook. Some of the painting is actually quite simple, but the detail and construction is amazing, and I wish I could achieve a similar overall effect.

I particularly recommend Lori Nix's models of deserted and ruined buildings, which can be seen  HERE

Robots and Craters

Last Saturday I went to Colours in Newbury, a wagaming event held at the racetrack. I took along a large amount of cash (by my standards, at least) and blew it on a few little people and a lot of terrain. I really enjoyed the day: I was able to meet up with my old friend James and some of his mates from the local wargaming club (very nice guys) and shamelessly discuss wargames for several hours.

I also got a decent look at the new Bolt Action supplement, Konflict 47. It actually looks a lot better than I'd thought. I'm quite tempted to get some British automata, which look great - but that would involve figuring out how to operate the Warlord Games website, for which an Enigma machine is required.

One of the best things about these events is the opportunity to look at unusual models and maybe get hold of things that you wouldn't find otherwise. I picked up two second-hand Escher gangers for Necromunda for £3 each - a massive saving on what I'd have spent on Ebay for them - as well as some kind of Dark Angels guy in a robe missing his sword for £1. Obviously vital purchases.

Since then, I've not done a vast amount of painting, but I did manage to do one of the terrain bits I got from the Ainsty Castings stall. It's a broken robot, and fits the improvised look I'm going for with my Necromunda terrain at the moment. The whole thing is one piece of cast resin.

I also got a couple of resin craters from a company called Urban Construct. I put a bit of thin plasticard under one of them (it had a hole in the middle, like a doughnut), sealed the base with Green Stuff and filled it with tinted Water Effects to make a delightful hole full of rancid gunk.

I used the same technique that I used the last time around, painting the inside of the crater dark green (fading to near black in the centre to suggest depth), adding the Water Effects and half-stirring in yellow and light green once it had dried a bit. I had forgotten how much this stuff shrinks as it dries, so I ended up using several layers. To be honest, there are nicer products to work with, but look at the colours! And that, out of interest, is how they make Mountain Dew.

I think it's about time I made a big piece of terrain. I've got plans, but it might be a while before I get around to it.

Framed

War never changes, as Chaucer or Milton or one of those guys once said. I got hold of a copy of the Fallout 4 art book, which is full of fun things to make and do, including homemade rifles and killer androids. While I'm not skilled or inclined enough to literally copy the things in it, there are loads of inspiring ideas for general Necromunda scenery.

All of which brings me to this, made from sprue, plasticard and two strangely-shaped bits of plastic in the bits box that might have come off a land speeder many years ago.

What is it? Well, it's a frame for holding partly-dismantled suits of power armour. Like this:

Or this:

Handy, eh? Although it has no use in the game except perhaps as an object to hide behind, it does bring some colour to the battlefield, which has been looking rather drab. Anyway, I'm off to a show called Colours in Newbury this weekend. Hopefully there should be lots of "useful" stuff there!

Robot Repair Shop

Here at Rob's Robot Repairs, we take customer satisfaction seriously. So if your A-10 is a bit twitchy, or your Terminator is terminated, drop by and we'll have him up and running (or rolling on his tracks, depending on circumstances). And if your robot then goes on a murderous rampage, we'll give you your money back! There's a deal that computes!

Come to Rob's Robot Repairs - with us, you can't go wrong!

After what feels like a very long time, the robot repair shop is at last finished! This is the fourth small shop for my Necromunda scenery. The aim is to eventually build up a small market, together with some tables and perhaps a bar of some kind, as a sort of mixture of Blade Runner and Diamond City from Fallout 4.

The broken robots on the table are meant to represent, from left to right, Ash from Alien, C3PO, the Voight-Kampf machine from Blade Runner and the Mark 13 head and claw from Hardware.

Here's a shot showing the back of the stall, with some shelves and some complex (and incomprehensible) machinery.

Because making these stalls has taken so long, the first couple feel like they need a bit more work. In particular, the Genestealer Cult stall is pretty basic. That said, what would you sell from a stall devoted to a cult about alien invaders? The cult magos' discount guide to enlightenment?