Nameless Design Miniatures Kickstarter

After far too long I've finally decided to cast the Great Race of Yith and Elder Things minis I've sculpted. And I'm also adding a Shoggoth! That Glows in The Dark!

Check it out HERE

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

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.

Trash Bash Bits Design #5: Window Gunport

A combination of high-tech window and gunport allows defenders a clear view as it gives them ability to fire weapons from within the safety of the building. The multi-layered window panes are easily replaceable after battle and contain small static generators to repel dust and dirt.

(Please notice that each casting of the Window Gunport makes two windows but counts as one door for the purposes of this campaign.)

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

Trash Bash Bits Door Scale.

Here's a quick graphic to give you an idea of the sizes of the Trash Bash Bits sci-fi doors. 

Miniature shown for scale only.

Check out the Kickstarter!

Steel-Iris Door for Trash Bash Bits.

The newest door to be unlocked for the Trash Bash Bits Kickstarter is the Steel-Iris door.

This is a classically simple sci-fi design and one that can be used for many different settings. The sharpened steel petals open and close with hissing whispers and the constant threat of horrible malfunction.