[original draft 2018-06-25, original publish 2018-06-29]
This is a description of ongoing projects so might be a few sessions before it evolves into a post.
The Monotonous
So i churned out effectively 5 full medium sized swarms of Termagants. Plus extra Warrior sticks.
[assembly session 1 with available desprued models]
Which means that at the moment i'm despruing hundreds of cookie cutter gants. It is really boring.
12 sticks per medium swarm x 5 = 60, with 5 gants per stick = 300 termagants... that's a lot of boring.
But... as the sticks are glued up and the swarm become more than just flat bases it's going to be cool [ed - it was] (if monotonous [ed - it was]).
[assembly session 2 with more desprued models. not long now...]
[assembly session 3 (final!!!) with the last of the critters, including the warriors finished off.]
So the assembled hordes are now sitting on the paint desk awaiting inspiration to hit there [yawn].
I wouldn't mind running a trial game now that i have the models built. Probably only a 2k'er rather than a full game though. time to start assembling a list.
The Monolithic
Am i overstating? well probably.
I'm looking at building a SWL scale Hwk-290 as a terrain piece. I already have an x-wing scale STL from thingi but obviously i'll need to scale that up to Legion size. Which will then mean cutting the model into printer-bed-friendly chunks.
So far i have worked out the scale and started on the chunking.
Scale: According to the interwebs a HWK-290 is 16.5 meters in length... which to me seems small for a 'freighter' but as some fluff-tard suggested it's probably specialist/high-end goods, i.e. space-drugs. Fair enough i guess.
Also, according to wwweb Legion runs at 1:47 scale
Which, according to my poor maths, means that the model should be 351mm long, or there abouts.
Chunks: this is dual function of 'low-enough geometry to load into sketchup' and 'needs to fit on the print-bed'.
A Handy Discovery
i discovered that the on-board windows 10 3D viewer program can not only break a model into chunks (split - which i actually knew and used before) but it can also lower the poly-count of a model, which is a nifty feature.
So by the end of the first session i had a HWK in 4 chunks. 'nose', 'mid', 'back' and 'wings'. The 'back' and 'wings' are only the left side as i will clean them up and mirror the objects for printing.
I will be breaking some or all of these chunks down further to facilitate smaller/better print jobs.
Additionally i'm getting to the end of the PLA spool so i may need to swap to my spare ABS roll before the job is complete.
The Monolithic - Somewhat Later
On a whim i printed 'segment 1'. A simple piece and it turned out ok (not too much striation, no bed-lift).
The model was clamped down as it was fairly cold and to insure against lift (doesn't hurt).
Then a couple of nights later i printed 'segment 2'.
I'm not sure if part 3 will have enough plastic. Had a false start on part 2 as the roll was 'locking on itself'. I'm potentially going to try a swap over or if i'm sensible (funkdubious) i'll just set up for ABS and roll with that.
I have broken down the rest of the model into bite-size chunks so i think ABS might be ok. maybe.
And a night on from the last i printed out 'segment 3'.
Something looks not quite right there...
For some reason the model had an aberration and i wasn't netfabbing the stls or anything so it is what it is.
No biggy; a little sandpaper and plaster (or other filler) and it shouldn't be noticeable in the final result.
i will be fixing this piece up before attaching it to the rest of the model though - should be easier to handle.
Although i didn't come down to the last inch of filament, it was pretty close. Definitely not enough for another block.
With multiple logical breaking points I'll call it an end to this post.
Until next time...
I've just started a new job and a steep learning-curve combined with a substantial commute has put further dampeners on hobby momentum... which is fine really, it's too cold to spend much time in the garage at the moment anyway.
Legion Containers
I did manage to finish off my SW Legion (SWL from here on in) container terrain piece. Turned out ok. Was vaguely intending on painting on lettering for the 'plain' containers but i don't mind them unbranded (the 2 non-red containers do not have the 'engraved' text and symbols).
Haven't managed to have any further SWL games given work commitments and being away etc. soon though hopefully.
Epic Bugs
Speaking of away, I had a quasi-trial game of Epic whilst in Canberra looking at the possibility of running a 'fun' tyranid army. The results were interesting but showed the army to be somewhat unwieldy (at least at my (low) skill level) or at least probably requiring niche configuration to be competitive (which is potentially dull and unfluffy). It also highlighted the need for more doilies in the game.
I also chatted to a far more experienced gaming amigo for his spin on Nids. Got some tips which i won't delve into but i've kind of decided to slowly push the project forward (no urgency, as they're not going to be tournamenty or even frequently used... if ever).
So have started cranking out sprues of Termigants. One of my 'concerns' was the weakness of CC-centric armies of which Tyranids are a prime example; they're FF capable, but pretty ordinary at it (to be generous) and Range Attacks are few and far between (to be generous).
The sample lists provided by my gaming compadre were fairly jam-packed with Termigant swarms (which i'd hoped to avoid in favour of Hormagaunts (the CC specialists)) but this will at least provide me with a usable 'base level' army which i can then season to taste.
Until next time...
Boom Stick
Well, boom stick measurer...
I had originally intended to not bother painting the movement templates and range measuring sticks. (and am still not planning on painting the movement templates)
However one of the chaps at the FLGS painted his range sticks up and it looked pretty sweet (pic below).
I decided on a more subdued 'equipment' colour theme, blues with highlights in bone and metal.
So i got that sorted and figured, 'spray with enamel as it's going to get more wear and tear'. I found an old can of spray enamel and applied... for some reason it put what i'll describe as gold splotches through the coat (pic below). Brings to mind shelac flecks maybe, but i have used this can before and it didn't colour the spray... dunno.
So i was thinking, 'bollocks, i'll need to redo it all,' but after it dried i had another look and it kind of had a 'space corrosion' feel to it. The underlying colour is there and noticeable enough, but masked perhaps under a layer of accumulated spaceship exhaust or something. I finished the spray application (a couple more coats) and let it dry.
Bottom line; am reasonably happy with the unexpected (more common than i'd like to admit) results. It is (again, a common theme of my work) if nothing else a unique effect.
Terrain - But Different
The habs project is done, but it turns out that the scenarios we are playing require 3 structures or terrain features as 'capture-able objectives'.
While the FLGS does have 28mm terrain around i wanted to make a 3rd piece of my own. Decided to go with a container stack.
Each container is a four hour print. There's plenty of ugly striation there obviously which i may be able to sand out if i'm lucky. Not overly fussed though.
Still a WIP but gave the containers a spray of the filler-primer spray which can't hurt, and the base a layer of glue-sand which is now texture painted.
A key consideration was the 'make it a LOS block terrain piece', so it needs to be 'greater than 1 movement distant high' (which sergeant #3 is kindly demonstrating to be the case).
With all my larger terrain pieces i'm running as "intention" or "footprint" terrain. Even though there is a variation in height with the containers 'the intention' is that the entire main footprint is counted as impassible. So wherever the containers are, that's part of the footprint; not the entire base, just the container area (including the little gaps between containers). i deliberately didn't want to put double stack containers for the entire thing as i prefer the variation from an aesthetic perspective.
Similar to the habs; the '>1 movement' area is only a small section of the dome, but the intention is to count the entire footprint (the hexagon described by the walls (not the mdf base)) as the LOS blocking shape. having to extend the walls until they all at '>1 movement' high is counterproductive and would make the model look stupid; clearly you can't see through a solid building wall even if it is slightly less than the prescribed height.
Barricades are not buildings, buildings are not barricades. Keep it simple.
p.s. I've on-and-off had more thoughts of building a hwk-290 model. Did some research a few weeks ago and forgot about it; but after pulling off some usable larger pieces on the printer i might be able to make a small ship work too. think i already have files off thingiverse...
Until next time...
Space Hulk Plus
After a couple of monster print days the space hulk floor grids are done!!
Although i was funkdubious about this before starting this upgrade, i think it's really going to add to the effect. The blank corridor cells would have been way too sterile.
i have also started (not sure how much to do, if anything) adding effects. Bitz box stuff scattered around - the odd melta bomb here and there etc.
I also made some specific consoles designed to have 'wires' dangling (just raw filament strands).
Next will be some battle damage; bullet holes, claw and melta gouges... time to break out the dremel and ciggy lighter.
Surely we MUST be getting close to paint now!!!
Legion
There's another session on the weekend. I have a bye, but still planning on going in. Hopefully get a pickup game after the official battles are done.
My escalated list (500pt, up from 350pt) calls for a third squad of stroopers, which i picked up on... probably Monday night.
They're well underway (more so than pic); just details, sergeant and base finishing to go.
I also picked up a hard-shell 'camera' case for my legion stuff. Bunnings only had the larger sized box (larger than i used for my infinity models anyway).
It's probably slightly oversized but i'm sure i'll be able to make use of the space once i work out what i need (mainly extra depth: who'd have thought).
There's still room for another set of bikes (part of the plan), a 'hero' character or two (can't wait for boba fett!!) and possibly another squad of stroopers. i kept the foam from those larger holes so can probably re-deploy most of the stuff if required (yhay, pluck foam).
In a massive frenzy of NERD i printed up a empire symbol and some aurebesh characters for the box front.
According so online sources the characters should spell 'LEGION C262'... but like the proverbial tattoo inked in another language it might well spell 'nerf-%!#er'.
Until til next time... may the nerd be with you...
Late Addition... Printer Build
I was clearing out pics and stuff on my pc and ran across these... guessing they were my start and end pics of day 1 printer build. From memory i took a break before tackling anything seriously 'electronics'.
Might be of interest to those folk wondering how much assemble is required for an ebay special... very much all of it.
