The Secret Project - Part Two

The Modular Magnetic Fort is all but finished.

Here it is occupied by some Frenchies despite being short of a couple of trapdoors.

A company defends the gateway.

Other companies defend elsewhere and also deploy in the courtyard.

In this shot you can see the magnetic secrets.

There is room inside and on top of the towers to deploy a few figures. Note the trapdoor for access.

 The windows can be used for observation and firing.

The view from outside.

Can you see the internal ladders in the gloom?

The main doors can be displayed open to allow troops to sally forth.

Well Guys, is it up to scratch?

What else does it need?

I plan to add a courtyard floor and a couple of missing trapdoors.

And additional towers and walls to increase the overall footprint.

I plan to equip some assaulting troops with ladders and get a game going with the fort as a prize worth fighting for.

If anyone would like a closer look place a comment on this blog. I can bring it to Border Reiver in Gateshead for some hands on access if need be. I may decide to sell this at the end of the day or even make another one.

Carts and Parts

I made a swift visit to the Kingdom of Fife yesterday and I grabbed a few goodies from my good friends at Warbases.

Here's a wheelbarrow. My fastest ever MDF kit, 4 minutes from lasercut sheet to constructed model, 45 minutes break for my tea and 30 minutes including drying time to painted and varnished.

A La Carte.

Various MDF shapes.

Yet more bits.

And another cart, a bit peely wally!

Can you guess where they're heading?

The Secret Project - Part One

In an earlier post I alluded to a forthcoming 'secret' project and also some 'MDF tarting'. This project is no longer a secret but we'll keep the name going for a wee while yet. The 'MDF tarting' hasn't started yet but I have done a little bit of 'lateral thinking', let's see what you guys think of it.

I started with some corner towers and some walls from the Middle Eastern range of Warbases buildings.

http://war-bases.co.uk/BUILDINGS/MIDDLE-EAST

Plan A is to build a small fort using these separate components and they come out looking like this.

Nicely scaled for 28mm although I think you could probably get away with 15mm troops as well.

The walkways are 50mm deep so there is plenty of room to place defending figures on the walls as well as the tower tops.

Historically I would have glued all these pieces together and mounted them on a baseboard and would probably have great fun attacking and defending this little fort. Once the game is over where does it go? A small fort like this is just about A4 paper size so would fit onto a reasonable sized shelf.

But, what if I wanted a bigger fort or a fort with a different shape or a fort I can change about. OK, keep the bits separate from each other.

But, but, then they keep getting knocked over and pushed out of place.

OK, so you take a corner tower like so.

And you temporarily stick a wall onto it.

And you stick another tower, temporarily to the wall.

And keep on going ...

Wait a minute, I'm missing something here. What are these shiny bits on the endwalls?

Ha, magnets, wonderful.

So all the bits and pieces stick together.

With a bit of reconfiguring you can make a city wall.

Add in a few more towers and walls and Robert is your uncle. I'll need to get some more ordered ASAP.

And when the game is over grab all the bits and stick them in a box.

Stay tuned into your favourite 'secret' project for Part Two coming up.

Uncle Jims Cabin

Move over Uncle Tom, I've got a cabin to build.

One of yesterdays purchases was a log cabin by 4Ground. It's an MDF kit, one of the better ones but still not perfect and costs £16. You'll see why I'm not completely happy later.

The kit comes neatly bagged and consists of 4 coloured laser cut MDF sheets and a colour instruction sheet.

The outside log effects.

The inner planking effects.

The stone effects for the chimney breast.

The roof in two parts and some fiddly bits.

And the all important instruction sheet.

Construction is fairly straightforward. 4Ground recommend that you use a PVA glue but I'm an impatient person so I used a combination of brushed on superglue and a contact adhesive.

The outer walls and the cabin floor go together first.

The inner planking comes next.

The lower part of the chimney breast and the fireplace is next.

And the overhangs on the frontage.

Next up is the inner faces of the projecting logs.

The door and windows.

The chimney breast is logically next but I waited until I had completed the roof as the two sections need to fit closely together and I didn't want to glue anything until I checked the fit.

And the roof will fit nicely if you have done everything correctly so far.

Now, can anyone spot my MDF kit bugbear?

Yes, it is the little tabs that show on the tiling of the roof.

I had hoped to cover them up with thin slips of card but the roof shingles are an awkward shape to replicate.

Plan B is to use tiling sheets from another MDF company. (Warbases if you must know).

I tiled up one side of the roof.

You can see the differing effect. The Warbases tiles are smaller than the 4Ground shingles but look perfectly in scale.

I did the other side to match and added a strip of carefully folded card as a ridge tile.

I'll complete the job at a later stage by painting the roof tiles but I'm sure you will agree that they look just fine.

How did I do guys?

My Day at Claymore 2016

Yes, it's that time of year again, Claymore 2016, my local club show.

At the sharp end of the show, the Bring & Buy which is, surprise, surprise not a flea market.

Busy isn't it.

The Sports Hall

The Atrium, no shortage of traders, games and people.

I missed several nooks and crannies, sorry about that.

Here's One Fat Lardie entertaining the troops.

My favourite game of the day.

These ships are so big I can't get them all in a close-up.

Poltava heading to the gunfire.

Shikishima under gunfire.

My purchases on the day were:

20 feet of fences from Northumbria Painting Services. Not bad at £35.

28mm figure for scale.

Some more fences from Andy at Last Valley, £10.

A touch up in size but fine on the tabletop.

Some Dixon lead which will make me a unit of Coureur de Bois and some others, £10 a pack.

A log cabin by 4Ground from Colonel Bills. I'll need to apply my tarting up skills as there are a few small details I don't like about some MDF kits. £16.

A 4Ground Wagon to give me a comparison against a Warbases wagon. £5.

Some resin lumps (perfectly formed) to add a load to the wagon and clutter elsewhere. £6.

A Warbases Blockhouse to which I will apply some extreme tarting up skills (well, that's the plan). £12. (Watch this space).

Some Warbases magnets. You all know what I do with magnets. (You may be in for a surprise).

And here's a sneak preview of my next 'secret' project.

A good day all round, got home with the traditional sore feet, a bag and a box full of goodies, more money in my pocket than I started out with but expecting a digital invoice at some point.

Had long and short blethers with Jim, James, Jimmy and another Jim, a couple of Johns, too many Daves to count and all the other guys from my old club. And then there was another Jim, a Charles, a Trevor, another Trevor, Big Stu, Martin, Erik, Kev and Paul, and Michelle and Rob.

Yes, I've missed a few out.

I'll have to go and lie down now.

Here's my old pal Mikes photographs.

http://s1335.photobucket.com/user/ithoriel/library/?sort=9&page=1