Raw Materials - Disposable Food Containers

I have often wondered if I might be able to do something with the plastic food trays that come with some of the meals I take to work for quick and easy lunches. I m sure I'm not alone, but when it comes down to it its a bit of a task cleaning them and keeping them at my desk all day and then getting them home. This prompted me to look online to see what was available out there and to find out if such materials were available for purchase outright.

I found some of the following things online



This is some sort of planter or something by the look of it but it also looks like a nice, non-linear mud dwelling with a nice narrow upstairs window, just waiting to have a door cut in the lower part. Maybe add an awning for that villa look.



These two trays work a bit better flipped over where they could be anything from starship hull exterior (or interior for that matter), the techno foundations for other terrain structures, or, even pieced together to form larger buildings. The longer, narrower might even do well as the lower skirt or hull for sci-fi hovercraft. The picture below shows some more possible trays and as you can see there is a wide variety of different patterns and details in the trays as well as depths and outside dimensions.



I'll let you all know if I find a good solid online supplier of these materials.

Thanks all,

-Eli

On The Workbench

Greetings readers,

With all the recent chat and hooplah over 15mm I thought I might post a brief glimpse of some of the things on my workbench. Some of these have been in the works for some time (the M20 scout car conversions) and others I have recently returned to. Still others are new and begging to be worked on.

Shown here are two M20 scout sar to hover scout conversions, 3 M551 Sheridan tank to light hovertank conversions and four of Dream Pod 9's Caprice walkers from their Heavy Gear line. The Caprice walkers are the first purchases toward my hi-tech scifi force and will represent AI walker tanks like those seen in Ghost in The Shell.

Not a lot more to say on these, but hope you enjoy the preview.

Take care,

-Eli

Gone Native - Part 2

Hey all!

It's been way too long since I first announced this project. The putty work is pretty much done on these guys and it's just a matter of working out paint schemes. I have to admit that the whole pirate project has stalled out a bit and taken a back burner to 15mm scifi for the time being. I do however have pics of these islander conversions originally discussed way back here.

I won't clutter this post with a lot of words (for once!) and here are the pics -





Hope you like,

-Eli

Cool Stuff from Ground Zero Games!

They are here!

Using his super secret wormhole, Jon has delivered my new building fittings in under a week. I ordered these on Thursday, same time as I ordered my stuff from Khurasan and they arrived today, only two days after Khurasan's stuff. From England to Washington state in only two days more than from New York. Amazing on both accounts.

Anyhow, this stuff is really cool. Even before I got it out of the package, I could see that the details were sharp and that they delivered every ounce of what they promised. There was minimal flash (cleaned off with a thumb nail) and mold lines were nonexistent. All the doors feature their own base and could, in theory, be painted and left unglued to any building so that they might be mixed, matched, and placed as needed.

BUD-3 Civilian Building Doors (6 - 4 single (2 types) and 2 double)

The double doors are perfect for the front doors to a mess hall or even a headquarters type building. They would also work for the opening to a MASH or some other. Sculpted without any windows and have a cool X-shape detail.

One of the single door types features a big, round portal window and strikes me as the sort of door that might be found on the front of a civilian dwelling. Thee other single door had no window and looks a little bulkier, featuring two blocky panels that give it a reinforced look making these perfect for storage sheds, side doors or roof access doors.

BUD-6 Roof Fittings A (2 large and 3 small Comms dishes, 4 enviro/power units)

This is a pretty meaty pack. The large dishes in here are quite big, making them perfect for command centers, colony hubs, field HQ, or media buildings. Though intended for building fittings, I don't see any reason they couldn't be put on a trailer or vehicle for field use.

The small dishes are less that 1/4 the size of the large dishes and would be perfect for residential satellite dishes, relay stations, field research stations, or even fitted onto a vehicle.

The enviro/power units are generic enough that they could be anything. These would make perfect details on any structure or, once again, on a trailer or vehicle as a mobile field generator.

BOD-7 Roof Fittings B (vents, exhausts, aircon units, aerial bases - 8 pieces)

Just what this pack offers. Ducting, vents, stacks and antennas. These are cool and add nice flare to buildings. The vents look like they would be equally at home on the side of a building as they would on the roof.

Conclusion

I WILL be buying more of these. In fact, I'd love to end up with a collection of these handy for those spur of the moment building projects. This was more of a sample buy to see how they looked and I now wish I had focused more on the doors instead of the roof fittings. I'll need more roof fittings to really outfit any buildings properly. I think my next purchase will be some of the solar panels, some more doors and some of the larger doors.

Sorry there aren't any pics with this review, but GZG's pics are good enough and do them justice, though I might suggest to Jon that he offer some pics of the contents laid out. The demo building is cool and definitely has a place in the catalog, but seeing actual pack contents is helpful and the demo building's angle doesn't give the best view.

Take care,

-Eli

Quick Praise for Khurasan Miniatures

Howdy all,

I just thought I'd post a quick note singing the praises of Khurasan Miniatures. I placed an order with them on 8/13 and received them today on 8/17. Keep in mind, there was a weekend in there. They sent me the three lovely baggies of Garn that I ordered, giving me a total of 8 Garn , and even packed along a crisp little sample of one of their Colonial Marines with their standard rifle.

The Colonial Marines are nicely sculpted but I have one gripe and that is their lack of animation. These figures are wonderfully detailed and perfect for a mid-tech force, but they are all standing rod straight and barely even walking. I hope that WHEN (hint hint) they do some more poses that they will consider this and add a few more "tactical" poses into the mix.

Thanks for the great service Khurasan! I will order more soon I hope.

-Eli

What Weighs Two Tons and Has Dead Bodies in The Trunk?

A Zombie Elephant!

Yes, you have heard me go on about it, threaten it, promise it, but I finally did it. Two days of converting and painting while at work and it came out better than I could have imagined. This was a big project and though it used the same techniques I had figured out on the pigs and dogs, the size of the model really meant I had to do some serious deconstruction on the miniatures before I could get to the rebuild.

For this model, I really had to be a bit more specific about the gore effects. The pigs and dogs were small and I could cover up accidents and failed bits with a little creative paint, but with the elephant, affectionately named "Ztampey" by my buddies, the gore had to look like something specific.

One of the first things I considered is the size of this particular zombie and how that total bulk would decay in ways that smaller animals do not. For this I drew on my childhood as a farm boy where I saw too many dead animals, many of them killed by other animals. I also looked at pictures of hunting trips, even beached whales and such that had been picked at. The idea was to get a good idea of what a large decaying animal would look like.

Because of this, the holes and gouges and Ztampey are much more ragged and tattered than on the pigs and dogs. The layers of skin, muscle and bulky flesh draping around the wounds. Some other details used to add flare to the model were to place a few bite holes on the legs, stripping the flesh from one side of the face to create a skull eye effect, and dripping gore from the mouth of the beast which demonstrates the perversion of nature in this vegetarian creature now gnawing on people. I am not sure if it shows all that well in the picture, but the remaining eye on the elephant is nice and milky.

So, there you have it, a zombie elephant. This model was fun and inspiring and I may have to do other zombie beasts later. I have a cookie idea for a zombie outbreak game that takes place in a zoo.

-Eli

They Got Joe! - Zombie Army Men

Zombies...

Yes, more zombies.

The "Z" word seems pretty popular these days and I have to admit that I love the shambley, smelly bastards. But I have also been trying to find ways to spice these menaces up. It all started with zombies pigs and dogs but now I have a new angle - zombie army men. Why do all the zombies have to be civilians? Certainly there are zombie cops, so why not the poor grunts who get thrown against the undead hordes and don't make it?

For this project, I turned to my vast collection of failed or forgotten minis projects and turned up several 'Nam era command and support minis. These were all pretty easily converted with a snip here and a bit of creative painting and bending.

The command figures really just needed the pistols cut out of their hands and their limbs repositioned a bit so they looked menacing, instead of commanding. For the support troops, I had to cut mortar shells out of their hands. This ended up creating quite a zombie-esque pose really. The hands positioned unnaturally in front of the body and bent posture make these fellows really look like they are shifting and shuffling through the warzone.

One thing I found that helped a lot was clipping at the torsos and bending the head and body at odd angles. These subtle changes added to the zombie look.

Now I have a few zombies wearing helmets and flak jackets to spice up the horde.

Take care,

-Eli

My Very First Attempt at an Original Sculpt

During all of my recent converting and modifying of other figures I have been inspired to try my hand at sculpting. This originally came out of having a few blobs of putty left over after the converting was done and not wanting to waste it.

What I did was start to work on a few different shapes for different types of aliens. This was more practice in trying to get the putty to do what I wanted and figuring out the relationship between armature, build-up and detailing. I'm still learning. I have no formal training in sculpture or anything so a lot of this is trial and error and just plain guess work.

So far, the best result was this little tripodal dude. He is based on a doodle I did some back while discussing "alien aliens" - one of my favorite sci-fi topics. He needs some smoothing out and the grey stuff doesn't show off some of the features all that well.



Thanks for looking!

-Eli

Return of My Living Dead

Howdy all,

I have finally finished up the zombies I had started on ages ago. (see here) They had been pretty much painted up but I was never happy with the way they looked and never got around to surfacing their bases. The solution seems to have been a couple of different colored washes and a little garden fill dirt from the landscaping at work.

The first step was to dull down the awful whitish green "mint ice cream" cream color they had dried to. This was accomplished by a couple layers of brown wash. Not only did this seem to darken up the flesh, but it also darkened up the blood and made it look less like Hollywood "ketchup".

Next, I gave the bases a good painting with an uneven mix of brown and grey that hadn't been completely mixed together, producing a mottled, dirty pavement effect. While this was still partially wet, I sprinkled dirt grabbed from the landscaping at work. The little particles of this and that in the dirt gave the ground a nice debris littered effect that looked like a nice neutral mix of urban decay and scattered leaves. On a couple of bases, I experimented with signs cut from paper, but this didn't work out well, so I won't go into that too far.

The final step was to apply a black wash to the whole deal - figure and base. This worked with the previous brown wash on the figure to create deeper shades. On the bases it really worked nicely and soaked into some of the dirt in uneven patches that looked like oil stains and scorch marks.

The figures were finally sealed to lock on the gritty surfacing material on the base. I had to apply a couple of layers of flat sealing spray but that seems to have gone a bit glossy on me. Still, they look nice.

I now have an updated set of the All Things Zombie rules and am thinking of picking up the Undead States of America rules as well. These figs should serve me well enough for starters. I have to say that there is a certain satisfaction in having turned old "rubish" miniatures that were languishing in my collection, never to be used again, into something that I can see myself using. Sure, I could have bought new zombie figures. But this was very fun and fulfilling and I even learned a thing or two along the way.

Hope you had fun,

-Eli

Possible Landmate Conversion

A while back on TMP a discussion came up on what sorts of miniatures could be used for Landmates as seen in Shirow Masamune's "Appleseed" manga and anime. If you are playing 25mm or 28mm their are at least two companies that make them - Infinity or Victory Force. If you play in 15mm your options are pretty much nil. That is when I thought of the upcoming Dawnguard Invictors from Privateer Press (pictured above).

These 30mm infantry should fall in at about the right height to serve as Shirow-esque "landmates" for 15mm troops. Of course they can't be used stock, but a little putty here, a snip there, and the scraping off of the gems and runes and they just might do nicely to stand in for something like this...

As you can see they are, at least, superficially similar. I have assembled a short list of obvious conversions that I would want to do to make them look more techy.

1) Remove all obvious jewelry, runes, etc.

2) Modify or replace gun swords with hi-tech armaments (hoping the guns are seperate pieces.

3) Replace exposed elf heads with helmeted heads.

4) Round off some of the sharper edges.

5) Add "backpack"

6) Possibly add "slave arms"

This is just a brainstorming list and might change if I ever get around to actually making these.

Enjoy!

-Eli

My Little China Girl...

Just a quick diversion from the other diversions while I spill the guts of my friend's welcome camera.

In the earlier days of the blog, I had posted some pics from some 28mm pulp adventure games. Those games, short-lived as they may have been, featured a gang of thuggish Chinese bandits known as the Jade Mountain gang. They fared pretty well against the heroes in those game but I never really got to reveal their wicked, femme fatale leader - Madame Liu.

Seen below with her #1 and #2 men and her rebellious daughter, you can see she has a certain pizazz that makes her the perfect foil for even the most stalwart hero.

The figures are all Copplestone figures. Madame Liu is actually a Russian figure but I decided that I liked the pose enough to redo her as a Chinese bandit queen. There is a rest of the gang, but they are not painted to the same standards as these four.

Hope you like,

-Eli

15mm Sci-fi Infantry Out of WW2 Germans - Part 2

The conversions are pretty much done. I tossed around the idea of adding power cords to the models but that just seemed overly fiddly and unnecessary. The putty work for the camo cloaks and trying to maintain some uniformity on the blobs of putty that will serve as their HUD visors took enough out of me.



The bits of plastic rod are to represent a battle computer scope that can interface with the helmet's optics and systems.



When I paint the visors, they will be solid-looking and without any obvious lenses. I got this idea from the Ghost in The Shell comics and animation where they use sophisticated pinhole optics to allow battle helmets to be armored on the front as well as the sides and back. The helmet also takes care of audio dampening and filtering. Of course this is all thematic PSB for the way I converted them.



I think they are simple, yet effective conversions and should look good as ragged but decently equipped mercenaries. I have managed to convert enough of them for one or two platoons, though I still need to figure out what to do for support weapons. I am thinking of simply converting some panzerfaust troopers and/or MG gunners.

Anyhow, hope you like them and thanks for reading,

-Eli

Return of the Savage Beastmen of the Nega-Zone

Greeting all!

Last November I posted a blurred pic of some conversions I did using some leftover GW fantasy orc plastic. The pics were lame but I have recently been able to get some clearer pics and I thought I'd show them off now. For details on the conversions themselves, check the original blog post here.

They were fun to do and I'm still amused by how many expressive and interesting faces I was able to get simply by flipping some orc heads upside down.

Hope you enjoy...

Take care and hope to have more pics up soon!

-Eli

15mm Sci-fi Infantry Out of WW2 Germans - Part 1

Howdy all,

It's been a bit since I've done much in the way of budget gaming posts. But recently I have been having to cut back on new purchases and so my mind has turned, once again, to making do with what I have, which brings me to my latest experiment in converting old stuff to new purposes.

Years back, before I even played Flames of War and when I was gathering figs to play Gear Krieg, I happened upon a mixed collection of WW2 German Riflemen. The lot was a bit worse for wear and really didn't strike me as worthy of joining in with the rest of my Old Glory and Peter Pig Germans that I was using at the time. So, they got put away.

Well I was looking for a new project and came across these old figs again. They had been base-coated, and a few had had some color added but I had an idea and I planned to make a go of it.

THE PLAN

The plan for these figures is to take the simple WW2 German riflemen and convert them into sci-fi troopers equipped with appropriate weapons and gear. Because of the amount of converting needed, I think I'll make these a small group of mercenaries rather than a main force. This way, if I grow tired of converting them, I can stop and be happy with the small numbers.

I hope to have some WIP pics soon and will post them as soon as I do, along with some notes on what I have done to make these guys go from Blitzkrieg Jerries to Space Mercs.

Take care,

-Eli

You Think This is a Hint?

I don't know folks, you think she's hinting at those WW2 Germans? I am not sure I can get her enough 28mm Germans in time for her birthday, but she also likes 1/72 plastics, so I might go that route.

She's so cute!

-Eli

Moments of Gamer Daddy Cheer

This month my oldest daughter turns ten. She has always been a good girl, if not a little pent up and intense with occasional fits of attitude that rival some teenagers I know. But, all in all, she is a good girl. She is also a budding gamer.

Time has prevented me from fostering the gamer in her as much as I would like, but if she really wants it, she'll make it happen. I did when I was eight and I imagine she'll find her gaming muse with or without me. This year's birthday list was quite amusing an eye-opening to me. But as a gamer dad it had a couple treats. I'm sure you'll spot them -

Skateboard
Skateboard pads
Sid Myers pirates
karaoke machine
Twilight series, starting with New Moon
laptop
CritterTrail additions for mice
Roman Calvary minis 28mm
WWII german minis 28 mm
2 old records

I love my girl, and this list really does show her as a rounded individual.

Thanks for letting me share,

-Eli