Bounding Fire Trothy Build

Some of you will remember that I did a diorama for a new ASL tournament in 2018. Well I was asked to do the 2019 one as well. However this time I wanted to make a larger impact and well you could say it got out of hand as I ended up having to learn a number of new skills, I mean no real pressure.

The original idea was sketched out and Martin one of the two organisers was happy to go with it. In fact Martin never really tried to control me just accepting the changes and additions as it sailed further out in to the either.

The first big step was actually deciding the height of the main area, the situation was based on possible action from the final scenario and it called for a deep river so I wanted to give it height. I knew I could not go deep as such but extra height would work with the scenario.

I added cork bark that I had bought from a pet shop whilst on holiday. The river bed I wanted to give the appearance of depth so carved the poly to give different heights. This would be painted dark through light to make bits look like varying depths.

I sprayed the whole thing black and added my usual basing system learnt from Lee to both the upper level and the riverbed. Note the holes in the bridge for where the figures would be pinned.

The cork was cut back to allow the ply frame and then dry brushed 50 shades of grey  ;-) this was to change to stone though I was tempted to leave as was as I really liked the real look. I then added brown ink wash in parts and mud effect to boost the natural feel.

The water was the biggest leap for me, going from never used to a large amount was a big ask. I tried a few tests which went well but when it came to the real thing I was very nervous. Worse still was this was not deep pour as I wanted to be able to add things as I went so it is applied in 3-5mm depths that shrink back to about 2-3mm meaning it took about ten applications and did cloud towards the end. This layer has a bucket made from a pen clicker and small fish. These fish were my wifes idea, grass seeds that I painted silver or gun metal, some even curled making them more realistic. Believe me after a few layers of resin they looked really good.

Whilst I was building up the layers I created the falling soldier part. This is a different water effect that stays as you work it so I was able to make the splash and have nice pointed peaks. It took days to go clear and I did think it had gone wrong as it stated would be clear in 24-36 hours. 

Alarmingly when added to the base with more water effect acting as glue it went white again!! This is a few days into it clearing but not quite done yet.

Once I was happy I then had to remove the wooden sides. I had prepared cuts in the wood and Sellotaped the wood hoping the resin would then break free and not be damaged. It was a difficult to separate but finally it came away and overall I was very happy. The edges would need painting to rid me of the filler but I was OK with that.

I also added the rifle and started building up the jungle. I was originally using railway paper flowers but the cost was terrific. I then read about a product called Neutral Protection. You basically get real plants and soak them in this resin over 24 hours and then they will keep the colour they have at that point. So me and Cath searched out loads of plants that would look like jungle in 28mm. Here you can also see the rope that holds the bucket to the bridge, it was held in previous pictures at the right angle with bluetac.

I crafted the sandbags (a bit clumsy) adding jute like texture using xstich fabric pressed to the shaped clay. The jug near the bottom of the photo has more water effect pouring out of it and puddling in the foxhole. Also the plates of curry are greenstuff plates with mud effect and snow effect for the rice. I wanted it to look like the attack was a surprise.

The Japanese are all Warlord, the ones with leaves are the elite squad the casualties including the one in the water are plastic sprue ones.

The Dutch marines are made by May '40 Miniatures and had just been released at the time. Since then they have had a Kickstarter so a lot more figures are now available. I even found images of a Dutch paper so one of course is on the dio.

Little bits that are hard to see are bits of piano wire cut into shell casings, a fair bit of leaf scatter and some paper leaves for dead vegetation. I have to say I was very pleased with how it came out though it took well over 100 hours and cost more than I charged for it. However it was a great experience and something I will happily continue to do as a sub hobby though next years trophy will be a simpler build.

Commisioned Work

A fair few of you will be aware of my hobby crossover into Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) especially the sniper reminders that have popped up on occasion. However it came full circle when a friend asked me if I was prepared to paint up a trophy for a new ASL tournament he and another friend were organising. At first I was resistant having turned down the chance for doing the same for Heroes a few years ago.

However Martin's enthusiasm got me to waver and eventually I went from a bit negative to fully onboard. We actually got the idea from concept to basic positioning fairly quickly. From there it became a case of tinkering as we went.

The setting is somewhere in France 1940 as the Germans tear their way through the allied armies on the way to another blitzkrieg victory. Martin wanted African colonial troops to be depicted and even beat me to finding the Senegalese infantry that Warlord supply as a boxed set. I then added the tank and crew also from Warlord whilst Crusader provided the French ATG and Black Tree Design had the German casualties I wanted.

The rough idea actually changed little once I started to paint the bits up. Above was the photo I sent to Martin for his thoughts. To be fair he more or less left me to my own devices, never saying no but giving encouragement in line with his own preferences.

I had bought extra crew even though it comes with crew. However my plan was to have the tank knocked out so needed to make changes to the crew member bending the arm down and cutting some of the figures side and stomach off to allow him to be draped out of the turret. Not something that would have worked with the plastic figures that were too set in posture.

Crushing the gun was a bit of a challenge as the shield comes in two parts. In the end this was actually a bonus as it allowed me to bend one half out of true but still link the two parts to the barrel and trail.

I commissioned Warbases to supply me with two special sized MDF bases so I could play about and see which would work the best. Given the price I was charged it was a no brainer and even though they had a show literally days away I got the bases so quick I did not have to break stride. I wanted the MDF base so I could do all the basing and not have to worry about making a mess of the wooden plinth it would eventually be fixed to.

I also had to convert the standing and kneeling crew of the ATG which for the most part was a case of cutting bases off and filing one side of the figure down so it could be painted and then pressed down into the basing paint prior to sanding. I also made shells and empty shell cases out of cocktail sticks. I also made a ammo box with a couple of shells in it.

I added a little damage to the tank via a glancing strike on the turret (tap drill scored mark) and a pair of drilled penetrations. The killing shot though was registered to the side of the drivers viewing slit.

I also added some cast aside weapons from a German sprue again Warlord Games, also added other scatter such as a cast aside helmet and the guy who is seen with the LMG near him has a ammo belt around his neck and ammo box beside him. I added Games Workshop Stirland Mud into the areas I had scraped the basing paint marking the path of the tank as well as on the various parts of the tank you would expect mud. Finally adding some gloss varnish into the trail and parts of running gear etc.

The total cost of models etc but not paint came to £95 so added up quite a bit as I went on but overall I was really happy with the effect and would be happy to do more such bases in the future.

Secret Santa and Project Z

A quick mention that Secret Santa is up again, this is the fifth year it has been run and if you run a blog and want in just click here.

I am running a post apoplectic roleplay campaign with our roleplaying group with a bit of a difference. That being the players actually go through the whole breaking down stage. 

It is set many months after Brexit after a fall out with a Trump lead America. American military bases have been reinforced and tensions are high with some British civilians killed in clashes with US troops as demonstrations become violent. 

Things get worse as several cases of Rabies break out across mainland UK. The government acts quickly to contain the outbreaks and whilst this seems to be helping it's not without controversial acts. 

It's at this point that the players have gotten involved. I wanted fairly cheap miniatures to get the game started so opted for a pack each of Warlord Games Project Z survivors. Each player is playing a version of themselves so it's a bit raw when bad things happen. To reinforce this uncomfortable feeling I am painting up their characters to have something in common with the players themselves. I start with what for me is the easiest, James loves his American Football and has worn his Hines Ward shirt almost to tatters.

I went with urban combat trousers as he used to have a pair of rural ones but I felt that urban would look better with the rest of his get up.

The brush work is anything but perfect but supplies a good enough job for me. He even has a Steeler cap on, perfect for a die hard fan that's about to er.. die.

I struggled a bit with putting the figure together and found them much more fiddly than the Gripping Beast Vikings I have put together previously but I am happy with the result so can't grumble.