Filling in the Cracks

 Finished putting together all the panels for the building. The template is great, but my cutting wasn't the best on this time through. I had a few more gaps than I did when I built the full bastion. Once all the glue dried, I needed to go back and fill in the gaps. I used something I have used quite often when building terrain - spackling. I prefer the stuff that comes in a tube and is pink. Using the tube helps direct where I'm putting the spackling. Plus, the pink will turn white once the spackling is dry. The manufacturer's site is here: http://www.dap.com/product_details.aspx?product_id=217.

I had my son go through our bits box and pick out everything that could be used for a comms outpost. My original intention was to build a tall tower of some kind. He found a lot of great pieces, but none that really said "tower." I liked the idea of using the Rhino internal door section as a control panel, so I built a small external building for the roof with a small tower and dish on top.

Next steps: Sand down the spackling, add the door and start painting.

The things we do on vacation

So I took vacation time to get a lot of things done. Obviously, none of them included anything related to 40K. Haven't posted in two weeks because I've been clearing out some "real world" projects during my vacation. The biggie was to finally rebuild my 1971 Honda CB 750 engine. All the aluminum is buffed and chrome polished, new gaskets everywhere, and soon to be painted - just hope it will run. As far as the photo, that's not my entry in the "Tool Time" fastest lawnmower entry. That's the mobile workstation we put together. You try moving a 300+ pound engine around!

I arrived back at work Monday to find a huge item wrapped in brown paper in my office. They finally had taken down the org charts and someone had put them in my office. Seven 3x6 sheets of foam core!

Looking forward...

I have several projects I've wanted to do and with my cache of board, I'm ready to get going. Just a quick list and short description of some of my ideas.

Ruined Cathedral - I've seen several buildings created with massive cathedral facades and features (large windows, long stairs, flying buttresses, etc.). I want to create a centerpiece item with multiple levels. A great example of this FTW's Ron's cathedral.

Drop-Bunker - I had the idea for this during one of our games where we used our bunkers. We were about to set up bunkers on both sides when I thought how "not real" that set-up would be. In a battle, how would both sides be able to build bunkers that close to each other? I like the idea of a bunker dropped into battle much like a drop pod but done without passengers and put out when the terrain is put out.

Wrecked Titan - A couple of years ago I found LackOf's scratch built titan and various plans for titans. Instead of jumping in and creating an entire titan, I thought it would be cool to test the waters by creating a wrecked walker. That would give me a chance to try some variations on the plans and still have a functional piece when I finished.

Themed Terrain - I've found myself creating terrain that loosely fit into categories. Natural terrain, wrecked ships, ruined buildings, and complete buildings (mainly Mechanicum buildings). Not everything fits into these, but I think it helps the feel of a game if the terrain is coherent. As I work on some of my larger projects, I'm going to fit in as many small ones that build on these different themes.

That's just a few ideas. I've got plenty more that I now have the material to build them with.

Interceptors and Bases

On my last post I mentioned my addition to my existing Daemonhunters/Grey Knight army - an Interceptor squad. I haven't been able to spend as much time as I would like putting these together and getting paint on them. It was my hope that my youngest son and I would play a doubles tourney this weekend at the Memphis Battle Bunker. Since we won't be able to make it, I don't feel as rushed to get these done. I've got a couple of WIP picts below. The two I'm showing are the Justicar and  a model that I wanted to reposition to make him look like he is in the middle of landing/taking off.

Easy Metal Floor Grating

I've seen a lot of people create cool looking floors with a material that is sometimes referred to as "Granny Grating." I've never used it because a long while back I found another material that came to me out of necessity (you know, the mother of all things). I was in the process of putting together my first Chimera (at left) for my Inquisitor and wanted a really detailed interior. Not wanting to buy anything else, I used bits that I already had at home. We were in the process of doing some home remodeling and remembered the sticky mesh tape that I used when working on the walls.

Foamcore: The Emperor's Building Material

Maybe it's not in the fluff or part of a Dan Abnett pre-Heresy novel, but in my world of 40K, the Emperor has established foamcore as the de facto building material. Here's a few reasons why I use it so often...

1. It provides strength without weight. The stuff is super light-weight, but sturdy enough to support the weight of models and of the building structure.