I managed to work on two projects this week and I have a few other tidbits to share in addition to that so a little something for everyone hopefully! First up, I finished the marker for Liz Sherman for the Hellboy Board Game. While the sculpt isn’t perfect, I tried to use Liz as a chance to practice painting a much larger scale mini for the first time. I think there are areas where I might have improved further but I like how she looks overall and I think her hair came out just about exactly as I hoped.
These markers just help you track priority in the game but now that I’ve painted one, I think they’re good practice and you can make them pretty lifelike which is fun for me anyway. I’m looking forward to completing more as I have time.
I also continued work on my Fallout railroad project and had more excitement than I hoped. The short version is that the joins in the MDF kit are too tight and I stupidly tried to jam it all together once I got the walls painted. The front piece snapped in half from the pressure I applied and I was pretty upset with myself as a result. After calming down, I realized that I should have just sanded down the prongs where things go together but I didn’t think of it at the time. Terrain and MDF are a beast all unto their own and I’m still humbled by them. Once cooler heads prevailed, I realized that I should just attach the broken part of the building and it would be fine that there is damage. This is the post-apocalypse after all and I want the building to be weathered and beat up looking. Here’s a look at it and you tell me what you think of it thus far.
The one disappointment I have with this kit is that while it is 28mm scale (which is a bit small for Fallout at 32mm), I don’t think this was designed to be playable enough. The stairs and walkway are both too narrow for most minis so I suspect this is going to be more of a backdrop and sight blocker and not quite the interactive piece I would like. I’ve still got a ways to go on it including the roof, staircase, and walkway. I could probably have it done for the next update but my drybrush is worn out and I need it to weather the remaining pieces so this project will be on break until my new brush arrives for better and worse. Up until me breaking stuff, I have enjoyed working on this project and am starting to find my feet when it comes to terrain. This is good considering I will only work on terrain for Fallout for a while as that is the only thing holding me back from playing more frequently at this point.
Thus concludes my hobby progress but I did want to touch upon a couple of things that are hobby related. First off, Gangs of Rome, a game I’ve long been interested in, made an exciting announcement after being dormant for much of this year. Next year they’re going to update/tweak the rules and they’re looking to make the game playable outside of the city streets of Rome. Why is that a big deal? Well, for me anyway, it means I can use my hills and trees to potentially play the game without needing to make tons of city terrain (and have to buy yet another mat for that matter), which is huge. That would definitely make me consider picking up the game down the road and to be frank, I want to have some Ancients/Roman wargaming in my life. I just can’t take up a game that requires me painting hundreds of minis like Hail Caesar or that requires as much terrain as Fallout does. I don’t think I’ll have the storage room for that nor the patience to complete all of that work either. So perhaps Gangs of Rome will be a future purchase for me. We’ll see what the revamp/relaunch looks like as more details are released but I’m certainly excited for it.
The other thing I wanted to share is that Age of Samurai on Netflix has been an awesome watch. I haven’t quite finished it but since I’m 2/3’s of the way through, I feel confident enough say that its well worth your time. In fact, its good enough that my wife has been engrossed in it as much as I have (which I think is high praise as this type of thing is not in her wheelhouse). It is your standard history documentary with well-acted scenes and high production values but the focus is on the Sengoku period and Oda Nobunaga which is an exciting period and one I didn’t know a lot about. You don’t need to know a ton about samurai to get into it and chances are good that you’ll learn something from it as well. The professors who narrate Age of Samurai do a great job as well. There are a couple of knowledgeable and skilled storytellers like Steven Turnbull in it. So whether you’re a fellow ronin, like myself and John@JustNeedsVarnish.com, or have a passing interest in the topic, I’d say give it a watch. It has me contemplating wargaming in the age of samurai sometime down the road. If I am lucky enough to have the time and storage space to do so, of course!
Kuribo's Painting 
You have done a brilliant job of capturing the Fallout 4 aesthetic. It is a shame the Tower does not have more playability. Sadly we seem to see that with a lot of terrain.
It would be cool to see you get into some Ancients gaming.
Mrs. GG and I started watching that Netflix Samurai documentary series awhile back but have not gotten around to finishing it. It was interesting learning more details about a period and culture I find interesting. I used to have a higher opinion of Oda Nobunaga thanks to learning too much of my history from Total War computer games. A thread about the show on the Lead Adventure Forum did take some of the shine off the series for me, hence why we have not yet finished it.
If you enjoy it, you might like their Pirate Kingdom series. We enjoyed that one and it was fun comparing it to Black Sails.
As always, a joy reading your blog mate!
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Thanks for the kind words, mate! That tower is actually inspired by Oberland Station, one of the settlements you have to protect if you ally with the Minutemen anyway. The design is a bit different but it certainly evokes it anyway.
Nobunaga was a military genius but not a very nice person. I think that era changed Japanese history because ambitious and cruel men did what they had to, to win power. The Age of Samurai is not faultless and I bet if you know the history better than either of us does, you can poke some holes in it. I’d say though, if it interests you, watch it and enjoy it. Funnily enough, my wife does love pirates and that is next on our watch list so I’ll report back on that when we get around to watching it.
Thanks as always for reading, mate! 🙂
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Nice work on Liz! 🙂 The eyes looking up have come out really well! And I think the signal box looks spot on so far! Thanks for the mention and I haven’t seen the Age of Samurai series so will have to work out how I can see that (don’t have Netflix). I have managed to cobble together a set of samurai warfare rules but got no further with them yet, so my small (and old) Sengoku Japanese and Ming Chinese armies remain safely stored away for now!
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Thanks for the kind words on both, John! I suspect that Netflix is the only way you’ll be able to see Age of Samurai as I think Netflix made it but I could be wrong. The nice thing about Netflix is that isn’t expensive to try out for a month if there’s something specific you want to watch and it is easy to watch it on a wide variety of devices too. I do hope we’ll see some of those minis in a game one day though I know you have plenty of interests and so I’m happy to wait patiently for the right ruleset to come along 🙂
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Excellent work on Liz, matey, she looks great. You’ve really got her face and hair nailed down!
I like the building, but sorry to hear that it wouldn’t slot together too well (I’m having flashbacks to assembling my Vallejo paint stands right now). And it’s a shame about the scale thing too. The painting looks great, the white and green go really well together. It could do with a thin wash black/brown to dirty it up a bit more and give the impression of being weathered, and maybe some chipping on the wooden beams? Nevertheless it’s excellent and I’m looking forward to more!
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Thanks, mate! I was worried my skills wouldn’t be up to the challenge so I’m relieved that you like her 🙂
I was thinking about doing some wood chipping on this building because in Fallout 4, the building this is inspired by is pretty heavily chipped. Ultimately, I haven’t done it because of time. I figured that would take too much effort for a piece of terrain which has already taken a fair bit of time if we’re honest. You never know though, I may decide to go back and add some chipping if I can work out a quick and convincing way to do it! 🙂
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To save time, just scratch some of the paint off? I did it with the convenience store. Once scraped off, dab the bare material with a wash to simulate weather-stained wood.
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I’ll have to go back and take a look! I hadn’t even thought of that. I usually then feel the need to “freehand” the wood grain and all of that. That is why I’ve avoided it thus far! Perfectionism is a curse, mate! 🙂
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Nice job on the stuff. I find the Liz kinda freaky because of the lack of arms.
MDF kits can be a PITA sometimes. And some kits are better than others. Stairs are hard to get right in any kit for playability.
I’ve said before all games have like a slider bar in them. Games with only a few figures will need a ton of terrain. Games that need little terrain will require lots of figures. Sounds like You want that gaming sweet spot that LOTR inhabits; about 60 miniatures total and some terrain. 😀
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Ha, most of the Hellboy markers are that way and I think it is kind of an odd choice too.
Agreed on MDF kits. They’re easy on one hand and on the other, they can really annoy the crap out of you! I think I’m getting better with them which is good because I will need to make plenty more for Fallout.
I think your slider analogy is spot on! I would definitely say 60 minis is the upper limit of what I can accomplish in a satisfactory time. Truthfully, I would love making terrain for Rome (and teach heathens like yourself why Rome did it better than the Dark Ages!) but I know it will take a lot of time. The other problem is that any terrain I build for Rome is not going to translate to any other wargames so that is a big limitation too. Regardless of all that, we’ll see if I can’t get in on the Ancients fun too next year 😀
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Great job on painting Liz, can we get a shot of the shoulder patch?
I was very tempted with the Gangs of Rome, the prices on the figures and associated terrain kept me from committing to it. Do like the figures though.
Never heard of Stew’s slider bar before, but it makes lots of sense.
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Cheers, Bret! Truthfully, the sculpt on the shoulder patch is poor and its hard to tell what it is. I did the best I could but it is not satisfactory so that is why I didn’t show it off. I hope that some of the other minis I have to paint will show it off better as it is a cool design. If nothing else, I have some counters that I’ve been painting that have the symbol on them so you’ll get a good look at it one way or another. I agree on the slider bar. I hadn’t heard of it either but I think it is a smart observation!
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You mean you guys never heard of Stew’s slider bar for gaming?! Something I just made up one day. 😀
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Personally, I think a patent or trademark on Blaine Bar has some marketing potential. Its catchy! 😀
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Nice work on the marker, it’s never easy I find to move up and down from your preferred scale so very well done. The signal box looks good too and I will check out the Age of Samurai recommendation.🙂
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That is the truth, mate, on scale! It really is an adjustment to make and I hope you enjoy Age of Samurai if you do decide to check it out 🙂
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Liz looks brilliant mate. You’ve nailed the larger scale. The fallout terrain looks good too man. If it were me I’d go for even more weathering but what you’ve done is perfect. I find it hard to live by the philosophy that less is more haha.
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Cheers, mate! I don’t think a bit more weathering would go amiss so I’ll give it some thought and see what I can come up with. And I agree, you don’t do anything in half-measures! 😀
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I’m with the boys on Lizz Jeff and I do like the signal box ! sorry mate way behind but I’ll binge on your sight soon ,Just caught up with Pete! only had to go back to April! just call me slack!!
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Thanks, for the kind words and for stopping by Pat! No need to catch up on things I’ve posted in the past. I spent months on a single project for example over the summer and I can’t imagine its too exciting to see it slowly develop week-by-week now that its done.
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Great work on Liz Jeff, the larger scale models really suit your attention to detail. The scenery looks great, and the break looks like damage that could have happened during the apocalypse, you could in fact do more damage to it.
Great that the game you’ve got an interest in is now adding in open areas so you don’t need to make more terrain.
The show is on my list to watch, just haven’t got around to it yet.
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Thanks, Dave and I agree that I could probably damage the signal box even more. I don’t know if I will but its definitely worth considering. There’s always a bit too much to watch and play, isn’t there? I hope you’re able to find time to watch it in the future 🙂
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Liz is looking great, you’ve really done a nice job at the larger scale. I do find the lack of arms a bit freaky but I always find busts to look that way. The terrain is looking great too, breaking things to make them look suitably post-apocalyptic is always a bit nerve-wracking so in some ways you saved yourself from that stress by doing it accidentally!
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That is a very good point on busts. They aren’t something that has typically appealed to me. I’ve mostly been scared my skills wouldn’t be up for it and that’s why I’ve avoided them. I like your perspective on the terrain as well. Better to get the breaking done and out of your system early! 😀
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A jam packed post Jeff, great read.
You’ve done a marvelous job of Liz. Her hair looks superb but the standout for me are her eyes, what a stare!
MDF terrain, mmm. I’ve got plenty to paint but am a little intimidated by it – I think it’s the sheer size at 32mm scale.
I’ll keep a look out for Gangs of Rome, it looks interesting thanks.
Age of Samurai, right up my street, makes me almost wish I had Netflix!
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Cheers, Justin! I’m curious as to what MDF terrain you have to paint and for what game you plan to use it with! 🙂 It takes some work to master MDF and I certainly am nowhere near but there’s no way to learn unless you try making some. I’m glad the other sections beyond the usual hobby progress were interesting to you as well. The one nice thing about Netflix is you can always subscribe for a month or two and then cancel it once you’ve had your fill.
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I have various buildings that I use with Marvel: Crisis Protocol, as well as things like playground equipment, tables, chairs, that sort of thing. So far I’ve painted a bench!
I didn’t seal it with a PVA and water mix, which I think is what caused it to go ‘fluffy’ – like raising the grain on wood. It was okay using the airbrush but not so great using a brush, it just sucked in the paint; again, sealing it should prevent this.
We went with Disney over Netflix, and I know I could just subscribe short term, but I’ve already got a massive backlog of things I want to watch. Not only on Disney, but they’ve gone and put Babylon 5 on Amazon Prime now, so my list just got a whole lot longer😉
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I should have guessed MCP. It makes perfect sense in hindsight 🙂 MDF is very “thirsty” and takes a bit to understand how to paint for sure. There is never enough time to watch and play everything. I suffer from that problem too 😀
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Nice painting on that bust – I hadn’t realised I initially that it wasn’t a ‘normal’ mini that you were painting in subassemblies.
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It would be like me to paint it in sub-assemblies! Thanks for the kind words as well, mate 🙂
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