A Very Close Call

Just a quick one this time!

As I have mentioned, it has been uncharacteristically warm here in the Seattle area. Well, today, that heat almost claimed the lives of the very same combat walker that I had just finished posting today.

You see, after I finished taking pics of them, I packed them into the plastic crafts organizer tote that I have been carrying them around in. What I forgot to do, was to bring them in off the porch and as the sun crept around to that side of the building it baked that clear plastic box, subjecting my poor plastic models. Fortunately I remembered them in time but not before I could see the potential damage that might have been wrought upon my lovely combat walkers.

The smell of off-gassing plastic and acrylic paint was heavy in that tote when I opened it, but nothing looked all that worse for wear. It was when I picked up on of the models and watched the torso wobble like a bobble head that I knew things could have been much worse. I took the box inside to the coolest place I could find and allowed them to harden back up.

They are fine now, but what a close call. I will say this though, the paint jobs are likely near permanent after that kind of baking. Good thing I liked the way they looked.

Take care,

-Eli

Manchurian Economic Combine Combat Walkers - 15mm Sci-fi WIP

Good day to you all,

It's been an interesting week. Super hot temperatures for our area (103-110F) have kept my happy butt inside, surrounded by as many fans as possible. As this makes thinks only mostly manageable at home, I have taken to doing most of my painting at work. This has allowed me a potential 10 hours a day to convert an paint. Don't worry, I do still work, but my work leave my hands mostly free and I am a consummate multitasker.

As I have been able to make some progress on my 15mm sci-fi forces, I thought I would show off the mostly finished MEC Combat Walkers that I have been converting from 28mm AT-43 TacArms battlesuits. As you can see, they have had the bulky underarm weapons removed and new paint jobs applied. They are still awaiting proper weapons - something I am still unsure of - as well as basing and any final details I decide to add.

There are currently 9 of the standard model combat walkers and 3 anti-armor assault units. The current plan is to operate them in units of the 3 - Officer/NCO and two troopers. This may seem a bit light but they are intended not so much for open field combat but close in fighting in tight, rugged terrain.

The assault units are an attachment from higher in the TO&E that are deployed when contact with armor is a high possibility or when a strong point needs bashing in. The weapons on the the support walkers are stock from the original models, though I have applied new PSB to the jump pack on the backs of them, redefining them as a generator with attached cooling fins for the heavy plasma projector. The plasma projector is just the flamer of the original model repainted to get rid of all the bright "look it's got fire" colors. I PSB the original fuel tank as a storage tank for the reaction mass of the projector (think Hammer's Slammer's power guns).

The combat walkers have had any scale specific details either cut away or covered up and additional kit sculpted on in grey stuff. I also added some draped or bundled camo netting which I found was easy to do with grey stuff and a little knife work.

The SS command stand in the front was kind enough to volunteer for scale reference.

Thanks and enjoy,

-Eli

Yet Another Blog Full of Bloggy Goodness - The Special Corps

Bloggy Goodness?

Hmmm..doesn't end up sounding as good when you say it as when you think it.

Anyhow, I found another one. Well, more accurately, re-found it. The blog is called The Special Corps and is one fan's attempt to bring the world of the Stainless Steel Rat into 15mm miniature.

The author is doing a smashing job and even somebody who hasn't read the books, like myself (pitch forks and torches away, please) can follow it and appreciate the care and work he has put into capturing the various elements of that universe. Fan of the books or no, this blog is definitely worth following.

Take care,

-Eli

Promising Young Blog - D.C. 2150

While checking out the comments left on my own blog, I was led to a great, brand spanking new blog call D.C. 2150. So far it's a great mix of commentary and some nice pictures.

The blog covers the author's home brewed post-apocalyptic setting. So far there have been some miniatures comparisons, discussion on the factions to be used in play and even a snippet on scenery.

I'll be watching this one.

Welcome D.C. 2150!

Thanks,

-Eli

Vehicles Markings - Good or Bad?

Howdy all,

I have been painting up some of my 15mm sci-fi stuff and almost almost done but one detail I find myself waffling over is whether or not to mark my vehicles or not.

The problem, as I can see it, is that marking vehicles adds a nice level of detail and realism, but it also has a tendency to pigeon hole a vehicle.

Now this may not be all that big a deal to most, but for me it really does declare the vehicle as this or that. If a group of vehicles do not share the same or at least compatible markings then it can be hard to see them as a cohesive force.

A few solutions come to mind, though I am not sold on any of them at this time.

1) Don't use markings at all.

2) Keep markings simple, basic, and relatively vague (noncommittal).

3) Go all out but use a system of markings that fits all forces, allowing them to stand on their own or to be grouped into a larger force.

4) Give every distinct group their own specific markings and just use that as an excuse to buy more models so you don't have to borrow from other forces to fill out an army. (This is the weak-willed, gamer boy, rationalization option :))

On a related note, does anyone know of any good suppliers of marking decals that would look right on 15mm vehicles?

-Eli

What I Did This Summer

Hey all,

This last weekend I had a chance to do something I haven't done in ages - camping. The last time I went tent camping must have been when I was a kid. I've gone cabin camping and yurt camping since then, but this last weekend was good ol' fashioned tent camping.

This was the first year my family and I were able to join in on my buddy's annual family camp out. Not only was it wonderful to be able to go but it really is a joy to know that I have such good and solid friends that I would be considered family enough to invite along.

Boy do they know how to camp!

The group was some 20+ people - all members of the extended family. Half the group was kids ranging from preschoolers to teens which made keeping the kiddos active and occupied a breeze. We had a full kitchen set-up with gas griddle and grills with the back of a Pathfinder serving as chuck wagon. The camp ground was quite nice as well with pre-prepaired sandbox style tent pads, bear-proof garbage cans, and a nice permanent outhouse kept nice and clean by the rangers. There was so much food we actually ended up with leftovers, if you can believe that.


Napping in nature is good.


Anna doing her Bigfoot impression, complete with blurry photo.

So we weren't exactly roughing it.

Most of our time was spent playing in the river and the woods. The river was running quite low this year and was incredibly icy being mostly mountain melt-off so for me swimming was right out but the kids dug it. We had huge games of hide and seek and we played Werewolves of Miller's Hollow (a fun party card game) by firelight.


Even with the low water level the area was beautiful.

This was my girls' first ever outdoors trip in the real outdoors and they loved it, so much so that when we had to head home after two night (I had to work Sunday), we left my oldest up with the rest of the friends/family until Monday. She went through a bit of separation anxiety but we haven't heard anything since we left her up there. I think she was just a bit torn by her desire to stay and keep having fun and being away from us that long.


Nimue looking menacing in her pink towel.


The impressive dam built while I napped.

The pinnacle of my time out in the wild would have to be our ill-planned hike. We drove to a local trail head after lunch on day two and hiked our way four miles up mountain to take a look at a piece of local history - the mining town of Monte Cristo. The hike was supposed to be four miles round trips but we were misinformed and it ended up being eight miles round. This wouldn't have been a huge issue except that I am not a hiker, we hadn't brought enough water, and it started to thunder and rain on the way back down.

Much of the trail had been washed out by rains in years prior. Many times we found ourselves having to cross huge, rather impressive swaths of ground strewn with rocks that has been driven down through the trees by the resulting slides. At one point the road had been washed out so much that the original iron rails from the train line that followed the same path were exposed six feet down. At the river crossing, the bridge had been washed out and a temporary route across a falling tree had been marked as the "official" route by the rangers. On the way back, I was in no shape to teeter across this log and ended up fording the river waste deep and helping a friend of mine across.

The sad part is that none of us remembered to bring even a camera phone along on the hike so every lovely site, amazing vista and impressive showing of nature's power was left to memory alone. At one point I looked up and realized that there was barely any mountain left above us. It was quite breath-taking.

I have included a few of the pictures taken in and around camp and at the river. Excuse the blurry pics, children are difficult to focus sometimes.

Take care,

-Eli

Editor's Note - The area we were camping in is the Mount Baker National Forest area up past Granite Falls, WA. It's an excellent, not too far out camping area that has nicely appointed rental camp sites as well as plenty of free areas to camp. There are plenty of trail heads and some good hikes in that area, including some with some nice local history along the way.

An Experiment in Commerce

Hello all,

So after much poking and prodding from friends and family, I have decided to see if I can make a little money off of my hobby skills. In the past, I have sold off unused minis and/or painted miniatures, but this time it s my very own hand made rock formations as seen in an earlier post.

I have posted the first five I ever made on Ebay to see how they will sell. Here's hoping they do as I'd love to be able to make some more and see my hobby pay for itself a bit. Anyone who might be interest, check out the auction at the following listing -

Hand Made Wargaming Terrain - Rock Formations

Anyhow, as usual, thank you for reading and keep your collective fingers crossed for me.

-Eli

Where Does it Begin? (LONG)

While going through a few things I found a few of the sketches that I had scanned or cobbled together on the computer. As I was getting ready to move on, it occured to me that some folks might get a kick out of seeing some of them.

What I am collecting here are a few sketches of ideas that may or may not make it into miniatures. I do a lot of brainstorming and whole notebooks of paper three ruled and otherwise has tasted the sting of my manic pencil/pen. Take a look and enjoy. Some of it may seem like drivel, but that drivel often renders great results.

Some of them start as simple ideas sketched out in Paint -

Others are done by finding an image of a vehicle I want to build off of and making some simple mods, also with Paint -



Some never make it past a sketch in a notebook or a doodle on whatever paper is handy, even a post-it -



I know this post was big, but I hope you enjoyed seeing the crazy places my ideas come from and some of my creative process.

Take care and thanks for reading,

-Eli

Still Alive And With a Few New Links

Hey all,

I live. I have not fallen off the planet but I am finding my time a bit crunched with the Summer in full effect. This blasted heat and inconsistent weather does not help either. We have been going from 80 degrees for days to days at 70 and below and then back to 80+.

Anyhow, I have been looking at things, even painting things and hope to post a few pics soon. But, in the mean time, I have added a couple more links to blog on my own that some of you may not have checked out yet.

The first is a French site called CQB - Ambush Alley France. It's a miniatures page that seems to cover a wide variety of mini types but mostly moderns and sci-fi and in both 15mm and 20mm scales. Text is in French, but there is plenty of eye candy there.

The next is Daddy's Little Men (I love the name). It's a site with a few posts but the author of the site has a good eye for mixing and matching and does some nice things in 15mm scale. Check it out and encourage the man to push on and give us more great posts.

Anyhow, hoping to be back at a better post soon.

-Eli