Designing A Card Building for Robotech.

While I'm waiting for the Robotech Kickstarter stuff to start coming in I've been thinking about ways to make buildings for the inevitable city fight scenarios. There are several manufacturers that sell resin, laser-cut, or printable card models and some of them are outstanding. But while watching some of the first episodes of Macross/Robotech I decided that I wanted some buildings that look like those in Macross City. There's a sort of bizarre design aesthetic with these buildings that seems to combine sci-fi forward thinking with a basic Japanese neighborhood. 

Gerwalk down!

Sketches like this help to visualize basic shapes and proportions.

I took some screengrabs, did a few sketches and decided to start with this cool hex-topped building. Although I've done a good amount of card modeling I've never really designed my own model. Even with a building this simple there are difficulties that need to be overcome. 

I started by making a quick black and white mock-up in Illustrator and printing it out. This showed several problems and after correcting them I printed another copy, this time with windows and other details. Finally I took this into Photoshop and gave it some color. The windows were handled by Ronda Pattison, one of the perks of having one of the world's most talented comic colorists working at the next desk over.

I'm only taking baby steps with this one but I'd like to keep working on new designs. Please download the attached model, build it, and let me know of any construction problems you run across in the comments. Thanks in advance for your advice. 

Make sure to click this image and save the full resolution version. Print at 100%. 

Looking for A Sprue of Plastic Space Dwarves.

I've started working on a project and need a sprue of classic Citadel Space Dwarves for measuring. I'd like the entire sprue if possible but at least one body, one head, and a pair of arms. A las-gun as well if possible.

For trade for a full sprue set of Space Dwarves I can offer a full sprue of first edition Space Hulk minis, a hybrid sprue from Genestealer, and two vintage sprues of original Mark 6 Space Marines.

For a single Space Dwarf I'll trade for any one set of sprues that I have.

Please contact me at hellbox45@hotmail.com if you're interested in trading. Thanks!

Dirt Nap and Tubby Castings.

The final two zombies have been cast and will soon be shipped to supporters of the Zombie Plague Miniatures Kickstarter. These are Dirt Nap who was buried in the flower garden by his panicked wife, Tubby. Unfortunately after being bitten by her husband she soaked for far too long in the tub.

Once these have been shipped to supporters they will be made available for general purchase.

THI Utility Industrial Power Frame Painted.

I took a couple of hours today and painted the THI suit from Sedition Wars. Although I still think there has been some overreaction against the material these minis are made from I can honestly say now that I'm not in love with the stuff. After painting there are still a ton of moldlines visible even though I didn't see them before it was primed. This is disappointing since I really like the design of this suit.

I'm still not unhappy with my decision to support the Sedition Wars Kickstarter but I also wish that this material was easier to deal with. C'est la guerre.

Sedition Wars Gnosis Battlesuit and THI Utility Power Frame First Impressions.

I got my second, and I believe final, box of minis from the Sedition Wars Kickstarter today and spent a little time tonight putting together two of my favorite miniatures from the set, the THI Utility Power Frame and the Gnosis Battlesuit Kara Black. 

I love armored suits so I was really looking forward to these. And I'm not disappointed by them in the least.

There has been a lot of downright anger towards Cool Mini or Not and Studio McVey about the Sedition Wars Kickstarter that seems to be at boiling point on some of the forums that I frequent. Part of it is unhappiness with the material that these miniatures are cast in and part of it is accusations of miscasting and overall shoddy production.

The material complaint really seems to come from the fact that these miniatures are made from a plastic that doesn't clean up the same way as styrene or more traditional resin. The mold lines need to be cut off using a hobby knife since they don't want to scrape off as easily as they would with styrene. This is not a satisfactory method since it takes far longer than scraping and still leaves a lot of fuzzy plastic around the moldline.

I have found that using a fine bristled brass brush takes away a lot of this frustration and combined with basic scraping with the edge of a hobby knife can really make a nice clean miniature. Vigorous brushing with a brass brush removes any fuzzy bits and smoothes the line even further without destroying any detail on the mini. These miniatures do seem to take a bit more time to clean than other materials but I think that part of that is just getting used to them. I also used a fine sanding stick to further smooth them.

I went through the other miniatures included in this set and didn't find any that I would describe as miscast or incomplete. Yes some of them had a good amount of flash on them but using the method I've described really helps get them ready to paint. And I am really looking forward to painting these.

The miniatures industry is in a massive growth spurt and with all of the Kickstarter campaigns, all of the promises, and all of the disappointments it is easy to forget how amazing this hobby is currently. We are in a golden age.

There is always a place for solid criticism and trying to make things better. But the level of anger that I've seen towards this project seems disproportionate to the actual situation and just gets in the way of enjoying our hobby. And that seems very counterproductive when we're all just trying to have fun.

The Gnosis suit without the Kara Black head.

With a GW Space Marine.

I always see flash that I missed when I take close-up shots. Rats.

Fantasy Modeling #6

Sadly I post the final issue of the excellent 1980s hobby magazine Fantasy Modeling. This one is a doozy featuring two articles by my spirit ancestor Andrew P. Yanchus, space ship building on a budget, building a spray booth and other great stuff. Read it slowly, soak it in, for it's the last of the good stuff.

5 Editorial
6 Space Age Modeling on a Budget
12 Beauty in The Beast
18 Star Wars Mini Rigs
22 Computer Gaming Part 2
26 All Weather Spray Booth
28 Converting Non-Flyers
32 The Beast Bust
36 Horses of a Different Color
38 Building The Ark of Space
42 Points to Remember
43 Reader's Photo Page
44 The Competitive Edge
46 Odds and Ends
48 Collectables


Fantasy Modeling #6 -  

And be sure to check out the other five issues:
Fantasy Modeling Issue 1
Fantasy Modeling Issue 2
Fantasy Modeling Issue 3
Fantasy Modeling Issue 4
Fantasy Modeling Issue 5

Quick Imperial City Base.

I've been playing Fantasy Flight's Relic lately and really love the character pawns it uses. So I boiled up some Instant Mold and made a quick casting of the Ultramarine pawn. This was stuck to a base and Celluclay used to fill in around it. Then sand, "rubble rock", and a couple of Imperial Guard bits. Rubble rock is Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty that I put in a coffee grinder and then sieve into various grades. It looks a lot like exploded brick rubble and works well for urban themed bases.