Less Than a Day for Trash Bash Bits Part 2!

20 hours to go at time of this writing. Please have a look and support the creation of new bits if you can.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/847163926/trash-bash-bits-part-two/description

Avatar A.M.P. Suit Reference Pictures.

Going through some old reference pictures today and found some close up shots of a full-sized  A.M.P. suit from the James Cameron movie Avatar. They're great reference for painting models and miniatures by showing weathering effects on a full sized piece.

I took these at San Diego Comic Con about six years ago before Avatar had come out and I knew next to nothing about the movie. So unfortunately I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have. Plus there was a Japanese guy fighting me for picture-taking position. Oh well, I can't blame him. :)

I've grown more impressed with the design of these over the years due to becoming more familiar with industrial machinery and heavy equipment. Like Kunio Okawara's designs for the AT Votoms Scopedog, these look like a product that could be manufactured in actual factories as opposed to grandiose mechanical fantasies like Mazinger or Voltron.

Here you can see the head of my Nihonjin rival.

Trash Bash Bits Part 2 Now Funding on Kickstarter.

Trash Bash Bits were created to make the crafting of wargame buildings faster and more fun by eliminating the need to scratchbuild doors and windows to add to projects. The first Trash Bash Bits Kickstarter campaign was very successful and helped to create five designs of science fiction doors and windows. Trash Bash Bits 2 will add to this collection with five new designs!

The castings of the first TBB campaign were enthusiastically praised by backers for being sharp and clean. The detail on the final castings actually looks sharper than on the prototypes! Plus they are lightweight and have flat backs so you can glue them easily to plastic, foamcore, styrofoam, or any other common modeling material.

Like the earlier campaign I want TBB 2 to be easy to use and fulfill. The initial goal is $500 and each additional $500 raised will add a new design up to five designs. Bits from the first campaign will be available as well once we reach the first $500 so you can get a real variety of parts.

We've already unlocked the Rolling Steel Door and are moving on to the Ultra-Tech Window.

Check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/847163926/trash-bash-bits-part-two

Trash Bash Bits Starter Packs!

I've got a few Trash Bash Bits Starter Packs for those who need more bits!

25 Trash Bash Bits in total, 5 of each, for $37.50 plus s&h.

Please email me at hellbox45@hotmaildotcom if you'd like to order some! (replace the dot with a period. :) )

Also I'm still working on the prototypes for Trash Bash Bits Part 2 and am still hoping to have the Kickstarter launched this week.

Thanks!

Printable Trash Bash Bits.

This is just a sample jpeg. Download the PDF below.

Here is a sheet of signs, switches, hazard stripes etc. that I created for detailing sci-fi buildings. If you use an inkjet printer be sure to spray varnish both sides of the print to make it more waterproof. 

Some of the bits, like the weapons locker, look better when glued to foamcore to add more dimension. And the small hazard stripes are scaled to work with the Trash Bash Bits Hive City and Trapjaw doors.

Let me know what you think!

PDF below:

Trash Bash Bits News.

Just a couple of bits about the Bits.

First off I've started a Facebook group to talk about using Trash Bash Bits and to show of your creations.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/143863162617355/

Second, I've added some more time for TBBs pre-orders so will be taking pre-orders until August 17th. Email me at hellbox45@ hotmail.com (remove the space) if you'd like to pre-order some bits or if you have any questions.

Thanks!

Trash Bash Bits Pre-orders.

Hi everyone,

I will be happily shipping the last of the Trash Bash Bits Kickstarter this week so now it's time to start taking pre-orders for those of you who missed the Kickstarter or wanted to add some new Trash Bash Bits.

The price per bit is $1.50 and shipping will be determined by final amount ordered. 

You can mix and match any bits but the minimum order is five parts.

Also these will take at least three weeks to produce and ship. I'll try to get them out as quickly as possible but casting takes at least two weeks and shipping one.

This pre-order period will last from now until August 12. After that no new orders will be taken until the first batch is fulfilled.

Please email me at hellbox45@ hotmail.com (remove the space) to place orders or if you have any questions.

Here are the Trash Bash Bits now available. (Please note: All designs are "Unlocked" and available.)

Chaos Grav-attack on Leadplague!

Check out this brilliant Chaos grav-attack build on Leadplague. Brilliant work from JB and some great ideas for your own trash bashing.

New Star Wars Speeder Obviously Inspired by Rick Priestley.

Obviously these members of the Belgian 501st simply found a very large deodorant container to create this amazing replica of Rey's speeder from Star Wars: the Force Awakens. Obviously.

Check out this awesome video:

Grenadier Catalog from Japan Featuring John Dennett.

John Dennett posted some scans of a rare Grenadier Miniatures catalog from Japan. Besides the fact that it's in color it also features some great pics of a young Mr. Dennett at his sculpting desk. 

My favorite bit is of course the painted Warbots minis and John has verified that some of the schemes used are from the insert sheets that he created for the Warbots boxes.

Super cool stuff and thanks to John for posting and allowing me to post them here!

I would paint your house for a copy of this catalog.

Bloody gorgeous aren't they?

New Bombshell Miniatures Kickstarter.

The fine folks at Bombshell have launched a new Kickstarter of heavy support options for Counterblast.

Check it out here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bombshellminis/counterblast-heavy-support

SKULLS!!! Dragon Forge Design Kickstarter.

From our friend at Dragon Forge Design comes a cool Kickstarter for cast resin skulls. If you find yourself needing extra skulls for bases or minis check these out. Four different designs and pledge levels up to 400 skulls!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dragonforge/skulls-skulls-skulls

Less Than a Day to go for Trash Bash Bits.

Less than 24 hours to go for the Trash Bash Bits Kickstarter. These simple and easy to use bits will help transform that stack of interesting plastic and styrofoam that you've been hoarding into super-cool sci-fi buildings for tabletop wargaming.

There are five designs to choose from plus you can add a Carrot Man mini to your pledge 
as well!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/847163926/trash-bash-bits-sci-fi-doors

The Dark Empire Door.

The Hive City Door.

The Steel Iris Door.

The Trapjaw Door.

The Window Gunport.

Umbelliferan "Carrot Man".

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/847163926/trash-bash-bits-sci-fi-doors

Carrot Man New Add-on for Trash Bash Bits.

Get yer veggies! Add a Carrot Man to your Trash Bash Bits pledge:
https://www.kickstarter.com/…/trash-bash-bits…/posts/1205395

Creating a Pulp Sci-Fi Building Using Papier-mâché

Here's another article that I wrote for Ravage Magazine US. This one was published in Issue #12. Check out Ravage US at www.ravageusa.com. 

Also check out my first article: Making Wargaming Buildings from Papier-mâché

And have a look at the Trash Bash Bits Kickstarter. I'm making a collection of doors and windows to be used in just this sort of project.

Creating a Pulp Sci-Fi Building Using Papier-mâché 

by

Brian S. Roe

People enjoy model building and miniature painting for many reasons. For some it’s merely an enjoyable hobby that is calm and quiet, something that they can devote a few hours each night to and in the end have a beautiful little work of art to admire. Others play their games with such a competitive spirit that they want their miniatures to be the best as well. And there are some who truly believe that well painted models perform better during the game.

I’m in a different camp. I want to make movies. And playing wargames allows me to come pretty close to that experience. I’ll never forget the Rhino that exploded and flipped over onto Noah Doyle’s Chaos Champion or the volley of flaming arrows that destroyed the lions from Cathy Hamaker’s Khemru Beastmaster. These moments played out on tables that had well painted scenery against opponents who had taken the time to make their miniatures look great. And for those brief moments the tiny world we were sharing was as vast and epic as any Hollywood blockbuster.

With this in mind I’ve been thinking about building some pulp sci-fi buildings roughly based on buildings from pulp magazine covers and from movie serials such as Radar Men From The Moon and Undersea Kingdom. I was also inspired by my pod house build from Ravage #10. The idea of using papier-mâché for more organic forms stuck in my head and so I decided my Valkeeri from Hydra Miniatures needed a hide-out.

Check out my article from here for the basics on using Celluclay papier-mâché for buildings. For the pulp sci-fi building I used large plastic eggs that I found last Easter as well as a small plastic paint bucket to make my basic shapes. These were then cut and glued together using wood-glue. I used more Celluclay to blend the joins between them. I then mounted the whole construction onto an MDF base.

The basic building shape.

Once everything was completely dry I created two windows and a doorway by drilling portals using a spade type drill-bit. This gives a cleaner result than trying to cut into the shape while it’s still wet.

I then built steps out of foamcore and then coated them in Durham’s Water Putty. Once this was dry I sanded them to shape. Finally I built a door from plasticard and foamcore.

The balconies are made from a smaller egg shape glued to the towers. The archway over the balcony was just modeled with moist Celluclay. I then added a floor for each balcony made from cereal box cardboard. I filled the egg shape with Celluclay and then pressed the cardboard into it. 

I made some ornaments for the tops of the two towers using a small plastic ball ("zombie eyeball” Halloween decorations) thick plasticard and collars cut from plastic tubing. I assembled them with gel type super glue to give them a crude, soldered look. Later I sprayed these with textured spraypaint to make them look like hammered metal. I added pieces of wooden dowel and glued an anchor made from the plastic tubing into the towers. This allows for the ornaments to be removed for storage and the plastic anchors keep the Celluclay from tearing out.

I painted the ornaments to look like weathered bronze.

Styrene tubes keep the papier mache from tearing out when the ornaments are removed.

I added some small hemispheres to the towers to balance the whole design. Finally I added sand and small stones to texture the base.

Painting was standard damp brushing and dry brushing. I use pretty large hog-bristle brushes since I want to get as much coverage as possible. Bristle brushes feather the drybrushing more evenly than plastic bristle house painting brushes. I also use cheap tube acrylics since they are thicker than bottled paints and much more affordable than using miniature paints.

The texture of the papier mache really comes out when drybrushed.

The final building is pretty lightweight and sturdy for it’s size. Although I could have used the plastic pieces that I used for molds to make the final building I love the texture of papier-mâché. And being able to model freeform shapes from the same material really helps as well. Papier-mâché fells very organic and is just fun to work with. It’s a material that I respond well to and one that allows my imagination to run free. I hope it works that way for you as well.

“Who knew that there were dames on the moon!? Especially dames with guns!” Miniatures by Hydra Miniatures and Ars Minima. Paper Juggernaut by Mayhem in Paper.