I have two things to show off this week that I’m proud of but both overstayed their welcome a bit longer than I was hoping and took quite a long time to finish. Hopefully, they ended up being worth the extra effort!
The first item is actually a piece of terrain that solved a specific problem I had with the Fallout scenario I’m looking to play. The scenario is based around a water storage treatment area. While I know exactly what that looks like in Fallout 4, there really is no easy terrain solution for that. So after doing some searching, I found something from Sarissa Precision that would work in a pinch.
While this type of water tank would typically be on the rooftop in a city somewhere, I thought it could be a nice piece among an industrial landscape. The kit was well-designed and came together really easily which was nice. I think this might have been a better kit to do first instead of the construction trailer because it was so easy to assemble but hindsight is always 20/20. There is a slight problem in that this tank is quite a bit smaller than what I need in the scenario but you’ll see that and more pictures of this piece when I get around to the battle report in a couple of weeks. I do think this tank will do a nice job of blocking line of sight so it will be pretty handy in other scenarios so I’m not too disappointed that it is a bit small. It came out pretty nicely after all!
While the water tank took me nearly a week to paint up, the next mini was hardly much better. I went to town trying to add as much detail as I could because it is a mini of one of my favorite Fallout 4 characters. While I know many people hate him because he constantly asks you to do things for the Minutemen, I like how Preston Garvey was a heroic, do-gooder in a non-chivalric world. He believed in a cause to make the world a better place when few others did which is quite appealing to me. The Minutemen are both a silly idea but one that fit Fallout really well. They’re a bunch of do-gooders who dress up like the colonial militia from a bygone era (a time that they don’t even really understand because the apocalypse happened) and yet, they try to make a difference in a harsh world. Of course, those of you have played Fallout 4 may feel completely differently about Preston and the Minutemen but hopefully you like my paint job!
I made sure to weather his boots and gloves like he looks in the game which took some precise paint work. I also added some extra little details the red electricity (or whatever it is) in his rifle just like in the game. Of all the Survivors I’ve worked on, he was the one I was most excited to paint and I really wanted to paint him up nicely. I don’t know that everything on him came out as well as I hoped but by and large, I think he looks quite nice and I look forward to trying him out in the game. I have a feeling his rifle will be quite powerful. In the meantime, I will have to see if I can’t find some kind of storage solution for him. His rifle is so long that he isn’t going to fit in my foam case very easily which is a bit of annoyance but I’m sure I’ll get it figured out.
So that is what I accomplished recently thanks to the Thanksgiving break. I do have several things coming up that I hope you’ll enjoy like a new and very different Fallout sculpt and I’m going to try an idea that might be an alternative to the oil barrels that I have been having trouble with. It will involve using some water effects so it could be a real challenge for me as I have almost experience with that sort of thing but I’ll share more when I get a little further along with that.
Since I know many of you are Star Wars fans and so am I for that matter, I thought I’d add a little section to the end of the next few posts anyway and see if some or even many of you enjoy the new section. We’ll call it Star Wars Corner until I come up with a better name for it. I finally started watching the ultra-popular The Mandalorian on Disney Plus and I have watched the first four episodes thus far and I like it but I’m also a little disappointed too. I really liked the second episode which features Jawas and quite a bit of comedy but I found the episodes revolving around Baby Yoda aka The Child to be good but fairly predictable. The 4th episode featured Gina Carano who hopefully becomes better at acting as she goes along because I found her performance a bit wooden and you can tell she doesn’t have a lot of experience acting. The writing in the episode was cheesy at times and pretty cliché as well. I’d say the 4th episode has left me a little deflated on the show as a whole and I think I’m waiting to see when the show really wows me outside of Baby Yoda who is really charming.
One thing you might not know about me is that my second hobby is collecting non-sports cards which includes Star Wars and Marvel mostly. I’ve been on a bit of a tear buying lots of cards lately and I just generally enjoy collecting cards. I used to collect sports cards even though I never got anything good in packs of sports cards that I bought, I eventually played Magic: The Gathering and several other card games while in middle and high school. So for me, collecting cards is more or less something I’ve done all my life. I even started a website briefly before this one about cards but it failed to attract any kind of an audience and I thankfully tried to this area of focus instead. So for Star Wars corner, I thought I might as well share a card in my collection and see if it inspires or interests any of you. For this week, I chose this sketch card of Director Krennic from Rogue One. He is probably my favorite Star Wars villain and comes from one of my favorite Star Wars movies. The image you see was actually drawn by an artist on this card and while the image is fairly large, the card is your standard card size which shows just how the artist is. I’m pretty sure she accomplished this with a ballpoint pen or something similar which is an unforgiving way to draw. I hope you enjoyed Star Wars and Star Wars Card Corner. I look forward to next week’s entry already as well as sharing more hobby progress as per usual!
Kuribo's Painting 
The “quest giver” game mechanic around Preston is annoying but I agree with you on how cool the character himself is. Great design concept, great voice acting and dialogue… when it is not yet again repeating that infamous phrase.
You did a magnificent job in bringing him to life!
I am sorry to hear the Mandalorian has not been as good for you as it has been for me. Whilst it is not perfect I think it comes close than most things of a similar vein. It uses a lot of old tropes but I think it uses them well most of the time. The music, costuming, set design and overall cinematography is brilliant even if the editing is a bit too tight.
It is interesting to me to hear Krennic is your favorite Star Wars villain. I tried to think who is mine and really struggled to think of a single top villain for me.
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I’m glad you like Preston the character and the mini as well. I think the repetitive lines could have been handled better by Bethesda but in the grand scheme of things, Preston isn’t more annoying than any other talking companion in Fallout 4.
I might have been hasty saying that I didn’t like the Mandalorian as much hoped because I just watched episode 5 and enjoyed that much more than the previous one. Maybe that one is just the weak one of the season. I do agree with you that many things like the sound and overall quality of the show are really high. What I do like about it, is that it feels it is made by big fans of Star Wars and not people who have seen the movies once or twice. That extra detail and care really shows.
I like Krennic because he is such a conniving imperial that you have to imagine most officers are. He’s ambitious and will use any advantage he can get over his peers to get ahead. I like the visual design of Darth Vader and Darth Maul but neither one has a very complex or interesting character. Villains might be a bit of a weak spot for Star Wars movies. Most are a bit shallow and many are bland like Count Dooku but that’s just my two cents 🙂
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Nice work on the tank and the figure. I can’t comment on the game but certainly these two pieces strike me as ideal additions to the table. As for Start Wars and Cards, diversifying is no bad idea and besides it’s your blog. Good luck with both. 🙂
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Thank you! If they look good, then it is job well-done in most cases 🙂 Thank you for the kind words/encouragement on the new “Corners” as well. We’ll see if people and myself enjoy them. If not they’ll be jettisoned like an escape pod from a space ship haha!
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Nice work on both of those. The rust on the ladder is excellent and the whole water tank looks great. Likewise you’ve done a great job on Preston, the extra time and effort has paid off nicely. I don’t know much (yet!) about the Fallout miniatures game but I’m assuming as a special character he’d be a bit more impactful in the game anyway, all the more reason why putting in a bit more time is worthwhile so he really stands out when he appears on the tabletop.
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Cheers, mate! I really worked hard on that ladder as I figured it was the most interesting part of the terrain and I’m glad to hear it looks good.
I got Preston’s profile card out just now to take a peek and yeah, he is strong! Almost as strong as the Sole Survivor so he should really cause damage on the battlefield.
I’ll do my best to keep tempting you to enter the Wasteland in the coming weeks! There’s always room for another wanderer in Fallout 🙂
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I’m with Wudugast on this! It was the rust on the ladder that got me – it does look real! 🙂 That Preston mini is very nice. And apart from Star Wars – A New Hope, Rogue One is my favourite Star Wars film. I haven’t got to the Mandalorian yet, but I can wait – Mandalorians crop up enough in The Clone Wars and Star Wars – Rebels animated series and I’ve always liked their appearances there!
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Thanks, John! Really pleased to hear the ladder looks good to several keen eyes 🙂 I really enjoy A New Hope, Rogue One, and Return of the Jedi so it sounds like we have similar tastes in Star Wars. I haven’t watched Clone Wars or Rebels but I do think Mandalorian will stand out from those when you do get around to watching it. It almost reminds me of a western or samurai movie in its intensity which I consider a compliment!
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Nice painting on the figure, painting a person of color is hard and you did it very well!
“The writing in the episode was cheesy at times and pretty cliché as well.” – describes every single Star Wars movie and show. 🙂 I think part of the reason I’m enjoying the Mandalorian is the visuals of it. I have a 4K tv and it is beautiful on it. (also just got LOTR in 4K and it is blowing me away – like seeing it in the theaters again but closer so you can pick out all the details.)
Talking about Star War cards, had to dig out what my son collected – he has a complete set of the Young Jedi card game with Darth Maul on the box cover. I remember going to different card shops at the time trying to find some particular one.
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Darker skin tones definitely take a bit of practice but I’m glad to hear you think it looks good on this mini 🙂
Haha, about Stars Wars being cliché! Maybe you’re right about that and maybe I can only take a certain level of cheesiness. There’s a reason I rarely watch Episodes I-III after all! Watching anything on 4k TV sounds nice to me. I’ve been thinking about upgrading my TV which is getting quite old now since 4k seems to be quickly becoming the new standard. It sounds like it could be worth the money!
I remember Young Jedi! I had some of those cards as well. I didn’t get as into the game as I had wanted to for reasons I can’t remember but it was probably just as well, it didn’t last very long and the cards are not valuable to my knowledge. That is very common for CCG/TCG’s. The cards are valuable while the game is popular and if it is discontinued or loses popularity, they’re more or less worthless from then on sadly 😦 Going to card shops can be a lot of fun. Much in the same way a good hobby shop can be. You never know what you’ll find!
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Very nice man, the rust is particularly good.
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Thank you 🙂 Glad to hear you like it!
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Great job on the terrain and the miniature. I would of liked to see the tank next to a miniature so I could get an idea of the size but I guess I’ll just have to wait till the AAR. 😀
The Mandolorian is fun but I admit that some episodes are better than others. You also kinda have to be in the mood for the show’s formula. I’m behind on the show because the wife has dominated the TV lately.
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Thanks and I was admittedly lazy with pictures of the tank. I didn’t want to be bothered to get the battle mat out (and put it away afterwards…) and the tank just barely fits inside my lightbox so I couldn’t do much else with it. Fortunately, the next report should be about 2-3 weeks away!
It sounds like we have a similar view on the quality of the show thus far. It seems like different people write each episode and that might explain the variation in quality. I’m still behind you on the show, I’m sure but I do hope you’re able to get caught up in the near future at the same time 🙂
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That drawing isn’t bad, especially as you say if it was done with ball point pens, which I agree are pretty unforgiving instruments for drawing.
Nice miniatures. That water tank is a nice bit of scatter terrain and I agree it would be equally useful on top of a building or something or on its own. Nice bit of weathering too.
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Thanks for the kind words on the painting! I can draw a bit and I can’t imagine using something that unforgiving. I always like to clean up mistakes I make wherever possible when painting or drawing but I’m a bit of a perfectionist too.
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Nice painting, I really like that chap. If I might be a bit critical, I think that his eyes look a bit wide and surprised, but perhaps that is just a trick of the photography I love the effort you’ve put into his clothes to match the game.
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I think that criticism is fair. The scale of these minis is odd because they’re 30mm but non-heroic like GW so the eyes are pretty darn small and it can be tricky to get them the exact right size. Its usually just a bit smaller than you expect or that’s what I find anyway. Regardless, thanks for the kind words and I’m glad the extra details on the clothes look good to you too!
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