Colorcrayons' Workshop & Exhibit

Aliens and Colonial Marine WIP models

2010-02-18T03:00:00.018-06:00

The main body of work for the Aliens modeling blog has ironically been based on rules and the graphic design surrounding their creation. Its time to change that and get some models posted.

Thanks to those of you who emailed me asking about updates recently. (all 6 of you... ;) ) It made me get a camera on loan so that I could at least post something to show that work is being done even if I do not have my butt planted to this blog posting stuff constantly.

Colonial Marine models are Games Workshop's Cadians with Hasslefree Miniature's Pulse Rifles.

With that, here are the Colonial Marine works in progress:

Captain:

Sergeants:

Smart Gunners:

Flamer:

(This model needed some work to distinguish itself from the Pulse rifles due to the flamers normally used are carbine based weapons. This means that the flamers look just like a rifle. To help differentiate them from pulse rifles at a glance, I simply kept the cadian lasgun, added the flamer ignition and the fuel packs from old tank kits and fuel lines)

Shotgunner:

(I am not exactly happy with the scale of the shotgun, but lacking other more readily available options I am going to stick this one out and see where it leads)

Marine with Cutting Torch:

Pulse Riflemen:

These are just a few of the 18 Colonial Marines for use with the Aliens rules. I'll post more later of the painted shots.

The conversion for the Colonial Marines wielding the smart guns originates from and is based on Mel Ebbles modeling blog which is attached to his fabulous papercraft website and store. I am borrowing other ideas as well, such as the sentry gun conversion and possibly the phased plasma gun if I can find room for this weapon in the rules (not likely but would like to build one anyways because its so cool).

With the humanocentric side of the game displayed, it brings us to the Xenomorphs. The models used are from Wizkids Horrorclix AVP box sets. 3 box sets and 1 Alien Queen box set gives you exactly what you need (22 Aliens and 1 Alien Queen). Here are a few shots of the more lively posed models that required modification in order to be successfully based:

All Aliens and Colonial Marine models will be affixed to clear 35mm square 1/8th" thick acrylic bases provided by Litko Aerosystems. The transparency and size will allow more flexibility when using differing terrain setups.

More models to come later, I just wanted to pop in and give a quick update.

Aliens Mission Book preview

2009-12-11T04:43:00.007-06:00

Here is an update for the Aliens Mission Book. Just a few page shots to illustrate whats inside of the book as hinted by the contents page posted one week ago. As usual, click the images to enlarge.

Front Cover:

Random Pages:

The Mission Book contains additional scenario content to generate games beyond what is found in the campaign missions, allowing the player to have quite a bit of variance for perpetual re-play value:

Two of the twenty pages of background:

Inside back cover and back cover:

Thats the preview of whats to come. I hope you find it an enjoyable taste. The book still needs to have its design layout completed for a few of the missions, but otherwise its also complete.

Next for the Aliens game project is the paraphernalia book, containing all pieces necessary to play it (minus a few six sided dice) and allowing players to "Print&Play" the game. Everything from standups for the Colonial Marines and Aliens, to the maps used to play them on, etc. This bit will take a bit of time however, so the next likely updates to this blog will be the 3D models and board sections created to play this game.

Aliens Timer completed

2009-12-04T12:11:00.014-06:00

"You have no chance to survive, make your time..."

These are timers for playing Aliens, or other science fiction games where a timer may come in handy.

It is a very portable solution, as this is just an MP3 audio cue timer.

The theme is meant to evoke the feeling that you are on a starship somewhere in deepspace, with the ship's artificial intelligence known as Mother alerting you with warnings of impending biological threats before your time runs out.

To add a bit more of the aliens element to the timer, one set has motion trackers chirping away in the background while to the timer runs out.

They only took about 4 hours to make. The rest of the story, and the timers themselves can be found here.

Aliens Rulebook preview

2009-12-04T03:44:00.030-06:00

Gah! My post got eaten! Ok... lets try this again eh?

I just wanted to take this opportunity to show off a preview of a few pages of the Aliens rulebook I have been working on. (Click any image to enlarge)

Front Cover:

Inside Cover and Table of Contents:

Random pages:

The rulebook is 50 pages and very close to completion. I am only waiting on feedback from a few proofreaders before I release it as a final version for free download. There should be very few if any modifications required before its finalized.

The mission book will be 80 pages and is about half way finished. Here is a taste of what to expect in it:

Thats about it. I will update in a few days with more pics of the Mission Book contents.

As always, critique and witty reportie are welcome.

Looong over due update

2009-11-27T04:35:00.010-06:00

Its been quite awhile since this blog has been updated and I am sure anyone who has ever read it believes I have forgotten about it. I assure you this isn't the case.

As we all know real life gets in the way of our hobbies and in this case this simple fact of life applies. From episodes such as switching jobs to having my camera stolen... this all makes updating a blog quite difficult as you may imagine.

Since April I have been quite busy modeling, so much so in fact that several more projects are in the works and some have gotten dropped with no hope of ever being finished.

The most popular of which (and the reason why this blog was started in the first place) is the Space Hulk project. This project is complete with the exception of many of the Hirstarts board sections still await completion. But all models and many board sections are done. I will update later with pics of the magnetized terminators and such.

BUT...I have lost interest in GW's idea of what Space Hulk should be using their background for the game. For the last couple years I have been working on making Space Hulk into the game it should have originally been, and that is Richard Halliwell's genius game design with background imagery from H.R.Giger's Alien and the Movie franchise that made it a pop culture icon for so many years. The movie "Aliens" did inspire GW to publish Space Hulk after all...

So, hereafter all Space Hulk modeling will be geared towards the Aliens theme.

Other projects in the past 8 months since the last update include:

War of the Rings This was immediately after my last update. During the casting of Space Hulk tiles I have been quite busy creating three separate armies for this very nice game. A Grey Mountain themed Dwarf army (3500 pts.), an all spider Misty Mountain army strongly themed to be the Children of Ungoliant (2000 pts.) and an Angmar army (3000 pts.) that relies heavily on the old Iron Crown Enterprises "Angmar, Land of the Witch-King" supplement for the Middle Earth Roleplaying game (MERPs to you older crowd who recall this gem). The Angmar army is the true labor of love since it relies so heavily on that background material, it will be the last WotR army that I complete due to the massive amount of detail required for the vision to be made reality.
Legends of the High Seas A local gamer by the name of John Stentz had organized a great group of players for this game for quite awhile until interest fizzled. At least I know if I want to ever get a game in I know that there are plenty of people willing and able to play.
Aliens themed Space Hulk This was the project immediately after my other Space Hulk project was completed. Nigel Brooks (a local gamer in the Minneapolis area) was nice enough to paint all the Colonial Marines for me, thus freeing time for me to persue other projects I needed to complete. Hirstarts, after the release of the 3rd edition Space Hulk, has also jumped on the Space Hulk bandwagon and has created new molds to use for such corridor games. These new blocks are actually superior to my earlier plans in one way, it allows a 3D feel to the board without having to resort to full walls in order to convey the dimensions. I have now made these newer tiles for space hulk a priority project, with the previous corridor project becoming a more longer term ideal.
The Hulk Archive This is my attempt at collecting every mission GW ever published into one tome for use with 3rd edition Space Hulk rules, using a new layout scheme to make everything cohesive, both mechanics and by graphic design. This project split into the need to create a new rulebook for 3rd edition Space Hulk as well due to the variant rules required to play these missions. This project is in danger of never seeing the light of day due to very recent draconian efforts by GW's legal department across the interweb (more on this development fully detailed later on this post).
Aliens As a natural development, the Hulk Archive project quickly brought me to modify the Space Hulk rulebook and mission book for use with the Alien themed space hulk project.
Hordes I swore off this game over a year ago, but since I was unsuccessful in ever selling my Legion of Everblight army, I figured since the announcement of the Hordes MarkII playtesting to begin late in November that I would give the game another try. Painting for this army has been quite furious in preparation for the field test rules release. I haven't met my goal of getting what I wanted painted, but it turns out I have enough painted to play rather than pushing around bare metal.

All of the preceding projects listed will have updates here in due time, pending a camera to take pics of the models...

Of what I did drop without ever looking back:

Warhammer Fantasy Battle The Tomb Kings have no hope of ever being finished. Ever. After playing War of the Rings, I have found that I can get my fantasy fix with a far superior game rather than resorting to playing a game like WHFB that is so fundamentally flawed that I will pull whats left of my hair out of my head. I do not regret this decision whatsoever. It actually makes me mad that GW can show me that they are competent enough to write good rules for a game, and yet they more or less snub their noses at their customers expecting them to ingest the garbage that is WHFB by the gallon. I guess that is why WHFB 8th edition will be making its debut in the 2nd - 3rd quarter of 2010. WHFB's failure is obvious to any but the most diehard, kool-aid drinking fanboy.
Ordo Sepulturum Dropping this project has arisen from the local gaming community. Frankly, most of the Warhammer 40,000 players here are the kind of people you wish were drowned as babies. The kind of people you wish you could kill their mother's for not doing so or for breeding in the first place. Dropping this very long project wasn't easy as I still love the models I have made for the army, but I prefer to play with people who at least know how to have fun, using a rules system not made of shit.

That about catches up with the modeling done since the last update I beleive.

The most recent event endangers my long time Space Hulk "Hulk Archive" project however. GW has recently gone on a rampage throughout the gaming community web sites to pass out Cease & Desist orders like they were parade candy.

While I recognize the right, nay need to protect their intellectual property, I find their methods to be quite over zealous in their execution. Board Game Geek has recently gone through a considerable amount of drama over this and I will just link you to the site rather than explain each detail:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/48933/page/1

Its rather depressing to think about all the hard work people do to promote the game through their own contributions only for the ability to share that hard work with others removed. Many of these old games wouldnt even be in existance if it werent for the diligent support given by the people who love these games. GW has basically taken the hard work that people have done, with products that they have paid for, and thrown their projects and loyalty in the trash.

Its just another reason whay I am glad that I despise the GW Space Hulk background and am using the mechanic for a much better property. It just makes it so much easier for me to not look back on that. For this reason, I am removing all Space Hulk links from my site. Its not much of a loss to the reader, as GW has already passed out C&D letters to those sites anyways...

So for any of you that still visit this horrendously delinquent page, thanks for reading and your interest!

April Fool's Space Hulk Rumour

2009-04-01T17:16:00.004-05:00

New Space Hulk rumor from BoardGameGeek:

I have actually seen the prototype of the new version. They are testing it out here because it's a niche market and they hope the information wouldn't leak.. well, too bad they ran into a BGG'er.

Anyway, the new version involves the following:

- Plastic hallway pieces that stand on small legs so you can reach underneath with magnet sticks (explained beneath).

- Each miniature has a small magnet on its base. Addionally, genestealers are fitted with a small battery which makes them move their arms

- To reinforce the "realistic experience" (as stated in the manual), you are not allowed to touch the pieces directly but have to use magnetic sticks which you stick under the boards and use them to move the figures "remotely". This sounds ridicilous but actually works just fine. GW stated that if this catches on, they think about including "magnet sticks" in the Warhammer series.

- SH has a new ruleset that does away with those pesky " 4 action points" and "command points" and uses a much more elegant system: you throw a little 6-sided cube with numbers 1 to 6 on it; the number you see on the top when it stops rolling is the number of "action points" you have on the turn. Genious!

Anyway I would post some pics but I don't want to breach the signed "prototype test" contract too much.

Cheers!

Magnetic sticks and Genestealers waving their arms around. Heh.
Wouldnt it be quite sad if this actually turned out to be true?

Even more Space Hulk rumors

2009-03-30T10:26:00.011-05:00

I have been seeing a few more sightings of rumors, but I got an email yesterday about a few interesting tidbits. But first some new rumors that have been floating around a few various forums.

Possibly an October release.
Possibly £60 or about $90 USD (this makes sense as it fits the price point of similar big box games such as Descent from FFG)
10 Terminators, all differently posed (though the uniqueness of each pose may only vary slightly, much like Assault on Black Reach Terminators)
Terminator Captain with options for Thunder Hammer/Stormshield or Power weapon/Storm bolter.
Librarian who'll be 'descending a set of stairs'
Not sure about Genestealer stuff
The tiles are going to be card.

Stuff that was sent to me that does tie in somewhat to the above info:

Terminators will have 40mm scenic bases included, quite possible that they will be square. (the scenic bases rumor matches what we have seen regarding the Librarian's 'descending stairs' rumor)
The scale for the board spaces will likewise increase in size from the 30mm that Space Hulk has had for the past 2 editions to 40mm or 45mm square.
The card tiles are said to be 'embossed'.

I have no idea who sent me this, so take these rumors with the grain of salt that merits such anonymous info. If you have any info regarding the above please do not hesitate to comment and either confirm or dispute such rumors.

But if these do turn out to be true, then there are many things that these minor rumors do bring to light.

The rules are seeming to be based more on 1st ed than it is on 2nd ed. This is deduced by the inclusion of the Captain and Librarian. The rules are also changing because we see the Captain can now be armed with a Thunder Hammer/Storm shield. This option was not previously possible in 1st ed in any of its expansions. So we have at least a very vague glimpse into what the rules may look like.
The increase in base size for the Terminators and the possibility that they will be square makes sense if GW are to include scenic bases. Scenic bases for Terminators does not seem likely on a 25mm base, especially since the newer style of terminators do not exactly fit on 25mm bases to begin with. Also it makes sense because this is a standalone boardgame and square bases should have been included in the game originally anyways since facing is so important to the Space Hulk game mechanic.
Genestealers may likely share this new basing scheme. This is important because Genestealers will no longer topple over because of their high center of gravity versus their comparatively small bases they previously had.
The embossed card tiles may be a lackluster attempt at making the game marketable towards both the hobbyist and the boardgamer alike. Rumors about what the tiles are made of are so conflicting that it might be possible that the base game will include card tiles, but that there are plastic tiles made available through hobby shops or direct order for the hobbyists who play this game (which are GW's main bread and butter nowadays. GW makes games to sell models, not models to sell games. This is GW's frst attempt at an actual stand alone board game in over 15 years. I find it unlikely that GW will actually not try to make as much money off of this release as they possibly can. And that means making as much stuff for the hobbyists as they can).
The 'embossed' tiles also might possibly mean that they are vacuformed plastic tiles, much like what we saw with the 40K 'moon crater' set.

So far, the only thing I am seeing that might affect my project is that the bases might possibly be square and perhaps the new options for the Captain. Pretty minor in the grand scheme of things.

GW Space Hulk rumors

2009-03-27T10:22:00.006-05:00

Well, I have to say that the rumors for GW's re-release of the game gives me a bit of pause concerning my own project.

I am sure most of you have already read new rumors concerning the rerelease of Space Hulk, but I will quote the pertinent entry here:

Hi guys,

More whispers regarding the best Warhammer 40k boardgame ever made, Space Hulk.

Talk about the tubes is that when Games Workshop sets their mind on something they go all the way. Space Hulk is being described as a full bore rework with all the bells and whistles you could ever want.

Sources say to expect it in Q3 2009, and we have heard tales of modular plastic boards, an extensive set of large scale sprues with all the termys and genestealers you can shake a stick it, and all new fancy elements such as sliding doors and the like. There might even be a need for batteries (perhaps). Expect a full sized boxed game that will make all you cry with tears of joy.

~I was somewhat excited after our last Space Hulk rumor, but its looking like its not going to be just a simple re-release but a hefty overhaul. Now I'm excited!

Its an enormous cost expenditure to create a custom tile set like this and am quite curious to see how GW are going to visualize their Space Hulk Tiles.

My thoughts on this are to create the masters in anticipation of molding the tiles. But hold off on actually making the molds and casting the tiles until I see shots of what GW are going to do since making the molds and casting are actually quite quickly done. (A mere matter of a couple days of work, as opposed to weeks of work designing tiles and building masters.)

The reasons for this are because I have no idea what GW are going to be doing design wise for their game. Will they make corridors wide enough for dreadnoughts to be allowed for example? Are they going to do something different for rooms? etc.

While my tiles are 2.5" wide and are able to accommodate the widest arm span of any Genestealer, I think that models such as dreadnoughts will be a tight fit at best if they do intend on including such models in the newest version.

This is all supposition as we do not know what GW is planning, but this project is an effort to make it backward and forward compatible with all versions of the game. So in the interest of compatibility I will only work on the masters until such time as I have a better understanding of where this release is going.

This will allow for easier adjustments later on, instead of sinking an enormous amount of time and effort into an incompatible tile set.

If no changes are made by GW for tile design, then I can still cast the pieces needed and have the tiles ready to play with well before it is released to the general public.

The project isn't being canned by any means as the tiles I have already designed function quite well for 1st & 2nd edition. However, progress will be made at a more cautious pace until more in known.

Space Hulk concept work: 3D Tiles #4

2009-03-25T12:12:00.006-05:00

Base set of Space Hulk tiles found in both 1st & 2nd editions of the game, again realized in Sketchup.

The amount is modified a bit however, as several campaigns later released depended on the players to own several sets.

3x3 Room - Entries 1 x1

3x3 Room - Entries 2 (90 degrees) x6

3x3 Room - Entries 3 x2

Corridor - Corner x10

Corridor - T-Intersection x10

Corridor - X-Intersection x10

Corridor - End x7

Corridor - Spaces 1 x4

Corridor - Spaces 2 x8

Corridor - Spaces 3 x10

Corridor - Spaces 4 x6

Corridor - Spaces 5 x6

Bulkhead & Door Frame x5

Door & Door Frame x23

Space Hulk concept work: 3D Tiles #3

2009-03-24T08:53:00.015-05:00

Update to show a few more board sections shown in Sketchup that are from the White Dwarf 2nd edition missions.

This one shows how the air duct corridors from the 'Defilement of Honour' campaign are incorporated into the 3D project.

The air duct corridors are only accessible by Genestealers or Blip tokens to allow sneak attacks throughout the Space Hulk.

And a full length shot underneath an air duct corridor section to show how they connect areas of other corridors/rooms in Space Hulk.

The bottom blocks are used to support and interlock the surface tiles of the air duct corridor section, and to give spacing for the 1/2" walls locking the air duct corridor section in place to prevent shifting during game play.

Rooms and corridors from the 'Bringer of Sorrow' campaign.

Paintwork progress has been made on Terminators, but I have misplaced my DSLR so photo updates of painted figs will be delayed for a short while.

Revealing past work I have done on this project gives me enough time to play catch-up in instances such as this.

Space Hulk concept work: 3D Tiles #2

2009-03-19T04:39:00.007-05:00

This is just a quick update to illustrate a few things about the 3D tiles. First to show you how the doors and bulkheads interact with the tiles themselves and second to clarify the bits on the Sketchup tiles that look out of place.

Here is a pic of a hallway where I scaled the little guy (lets call him "Jervis") to be the same height as a new (2005) plastic Terminator without his base. As you can see, Jervis' head is approximately 1/4" below the top of the walls. The walls at this height will help the problem of visibility even while sitting at the table.

Next is a shot to illustrate visibility of Terminators at a relatively low viewing level as well as any areas in pink are to be considered excess and will not be on the finished tiles. This reflects what pieces I have have to make a custom mold for in order to fit in size requirements.

A bit more concept work is the Genestealer entry area tile. Normally in Space Hulk this is just an open ended area of the tile. But for the sake of visual style, I decided to make a tile for this purpose. It also gives you a place to set your blip counters that might be lurking outside of the entry area on top of the tile.

The wall will look as if the 'Stealers ripped open the side of the corridor to gain access. Hopefully my meager artistic skills in paint can convey this. :D

The design for this could very well change as this isn't a compulsory tile required to play the game. I welcome any suggestions on how this could be done.

Space Hulk concept work: TOKENS

2009-03-18T11:23:00.007-05:00

Building a three dimensional Space Hulk board requires more work than that 'simple' task in order to play the game.

Rules and missions must be formatted if you do not already own a copy. Tokens must be made. Models must be built and painted.

Today, I am addressing tokens that will be needed to play all editions of Space Hulk.

I will first start by saying that creating your own durable and visually stunning tokens can be quite cheap and easy to do if you have good image files to work with and you have access to laser printable sheets of the 70's craze Shrinky Dinks. I estimate that you would need about 4 packs to do all the tokens you would need for Space Hulk due to how much the sheets shrink.

But that is not the route I will be taking for this project.

Litko Aerosystems has proven to be a good source of durable acrylic, laser etched gaming tokens (both pre-made and custom) for quite awhile now and only get better with each passing day.

The following is a list of suggested pre-made tokens made by Litko that can prove useful for Space Hulk:

Heavy Flamer Tokens
Out of all the flame tokens that Litko makes I like these flamer tokens the most because they add to the three dimensional quality I am striving for, they are small enough to fit on the same space as other models without having to move the models to place them like you do previously with GW's flame tokens and for $10 I can buy all the snazzy flamer tokens I may need.

Litko also has a larger selection of other tokens you may find use for in the game, but due to my use of a roster sheet to keep track of various game effects I find I will not be needing any more pre-made tokens that they offer.

And now for the list of custom tokens that will be needed.

One of Litko's first token sets they ever produced was the 'scanner blip token'.

Which is very nice except for one rather glaring problem. They are clear enough to see through. Those of you who play Space Hulk know that what is face down on the blip counter must be kept secret from the Space Marine player so that the element of surprise is maintained when you reveal how many Genestealers will be pouncing on him.

If I am going to be paying such a premium for tokens, then they better damned well work for what I need them for right out of the package.

I fixed this problem by asking Litko if they could reproduce this exact token in the following customized way;
Thirty one 30mm opaque green acrylic squares etched on the top in the scanner blip style face, 3mm rounded edges with the following numerals etched on the reverse face:

Nine tokens with '1' on the reverse
Four tokens with '2' on the reverse
Nine tokens with '3' on the reverse
Two tokens with '4' on the reverse
Two tokens with '5' on the reverse
Two tokens with '6' on the reverse
Three tokens with '0' on the reverse

Along with two 30mm opaque red acrylic squares etched on the top in the scanner blip style face, 3mm rounded edges with nothing etched on the reverse face. (These are for Ambush tokens. More on that later...)

Litko replied quickly and said it wasn't a problem. In fact because I was ordering 33 tokens, the price for this customization was barely more expensive than I would have paid to get non-customized tokens. $24.98 versus $23.96.

That takes care of the blip tokens but Overwatch/Jammed counters are also needed as well.

Litko provides both of these as pre-made items:
But it is unlike the original Space Hulk game where the 'Jammed' token was merely the reverse of the 'Overwatch' face.

Well, Litko is ever accommodating and I asked them to etched the word 'Jammed' across the reverse side of the Overwatch token set and it actually cost me less to do this than it was to buy two separate token sets. $9.99 versus $10.98

Grand total after shipping for the 43 tokens was $41.17. (I didn't order the flame tokens because my LFGS carries Litko products so I decided I would support my LFGS as much as I could by only purchasing custom items in this order.)

One might gasp at such a cost, but I think this is a pretty good deal when I take into account the durability of these tokens as well as the time and effort it would take myself to create an equitable product.

About the only (albeit minor) drawback I can see to this is that I can expect to wait 3+ weeks for this order to be made before it even ships due to the custom nature of this order. But I do not need these immediately so it really isn't a concern.

Legends of High Seas large ship

2009-03-17T19:46:00.004-05:00

The next ship building project will be a scratch built ship using 'The Nutmeg' made by Flying Tricycle as a template.

It is a fairly large ship and it definitely qualifies as a large ship by Legends of the High Seas rules standards. It can easily carry 20-30 crew above deck and another 15-20 crew below.

It comes with a fair number of parts and many of the parts have a pretty ingenious design. Such as how the crows nests are built. Its the little details such as the dingy included that make the kit extra sweet.

The materials are laser cut birch plywood making it a pretty solid kit.

I bought this last year for $30 USD when they were having a 50% off sale but this ship is easily worth full price.

Legends of the High Seas crew and ship

2009-03-17T13:27:00.024-05:00

Who doesn't love Pirates? Well, ninja's I suppose.

After watching 'Master and Commander' umpteen hundred times, it seems last year there was a skirmish game made that was right up my alley. I have never been a ship modeler before and this game gave me new respect for those old farts who build ships of all sizes because you can not only skirmish around ports of call with your mateys, but you can call out to your enemy that he should prepare to be boarded as well.

Since everyone mocks the french and wouldn't make a french crew to save their lives, I decided to take the path less trodden and make me a nice frog privateer crew.

Here is a few models I painted last year to play this game which seems to have a sudden resurgence of interest lately.

This one is my favorite so far. An old, psalty Jamaican who was press ganged while the crew were in the Spanish Main.

Next up is a (now)former slave who was taken as part of a prize from an English ship on their way to the Spanish Main.

After painting these two dark skinned models I have found I vastly prefer to paint darker complected flesh than Caucasian flesh.

It makes me want to paint a whole crew of Barbary corsairs.

Pastey white frogs are a pain to paint, so this guy looks not so hot in my opinion, but he works as a large thug.

I even gave him a couple tattoos to try and alleviate my apparently noobish skills at painting Caucasian flesh.

Last but not least is my little sloop you start the game with. This is scratch built out of balsa and basswood. I named it 'Le Colibri' (The Hummingbird) to show how light and maneuverable the ship is.

The mast and the rigging attached to it is removable from the post sunk into the deck which is painted to appear to be wrapped with tar covered rope.

Being able to remove the mast is great as this model is meant for gaming and allows easier access to the models on the deck.

Space Hulk modular Terminators #1

2009-03-16T22:13:00.010-05:00

I figured if I am going to go through all the trouble of making a 3D Space Hulk board, I may as well make some modular Terminators using magnets as well.

(preemptive apology for the crappy pics, my digital camera is M.I.A and the cellphone will have to do unit I edit this post at a later date with better photos.)

Most Space Hulk missions use up to two 5 man terminator squads.
Second edition is fairly straightforward with only the 'Fangs of Fenris' White Dwarf campaign adding any mutability to the squads.
First edition base game is similar, but the Deathwing expansion greatly enhances how you can customize your Terminator squads.

After going through and thoroughly researching what is needed to customize each squad, I have come up with a parts list needed to make 2 mutable squads:

10x IMMUTABLE BODY FOUNDATIONS (torsoes, legs, heads)

SERGEANT/CAPTAIN TERMINATORS:
2x Torso halves with Banner Mount
6x Terminator Sgt. shoulder pads (w/ Crux Terminatus)
2x Shoulder pads (w/name plate)

LEFT ARMS:
4x Power Swords
12x Power Fists
* 2 grenade launcher type bits
(2 of each of the above combine to make a powersword/fist/grenade launcher for the Captain)
* 2 power axe bits (use two arms that had the power swords removed and replace with power axes)
4x Chain Fists
2x Storm Shields
2x Lightning Claws
18x shoulder pads (w/ Crux Terminatus)

RIGHT ARMS:
10x Storm Bolters
4x Assault Cannons
4x Heavy Flamers
2x Thunder Hammers
2x Lightning Claws
20x Shoulder Pads (blank)

DISC MAGNETS REQUIRED:
62x 1/32nd" Thick x 1/8th" Diameter neodymium magnets
(rated N52 adhesive strength)

For each squad, this gives you the following configuration (note: you will see one arm at the bottom that has no weapon on it, as it is waiting for a force ax to be glued in place for the librarian):

(here is the reverse so you can see the magnets)

...and parts needed to make the Sergeant/Captain:

Assembled terminator bodies with magnets waiting for their arms:

Happy termies that can switch their weapons for whatever scenario needed:

I first twisted an exacto tip in the center of where I wanted to place the magnet to make a guide hole on either side of the torso to ensure that the pin vice will drill a centered hole where the arm will go. This part cannot be stressed enough as making the magnet as centered as possible helps the adhesion of the magnets. It is easy to just drill a hole all the way through the arm socket on the torsos. I recommend trying to be careful to avoid that but it happened a few times to my models and it wont really mess with how well the magnets stick in the torso.

Once those holes are drilled in the torsos, I start gluing magnets on the left side of the torsos to make sure that the polarity of the magnets remain consistent.
(tip: once you have the magnets in the holes, take the torso and press the magnet down on a flat surface, This will make sure that the magnet is flush with the surface of the torso arm socket)

I reverse the polarity for the right side. (for example, of the north pole is facing out wards on the left side, then the south pole should be facing out on the right side) this helps to keep the fields from conflicting with each other when the magnets are in place (A minor worry). If needed, here is a small article about working with magnetic polarity.

The whole project becomes a lot easier if you make one torso to be your "master" which you use to make sure all of the others are consistent.

Now that the torsos are drilled and magnetized, I then start drilling out the arms using the same technique as I did with the torsos, again using an exacto to make a guide hole to ensure the hole is centered.

Once all the holes in the arms are drilled out, I then place a VERY small amount of superglue into the hole by basically swirling the tip inside of the hole to make sure the walls of the hole are wet with the glue, but just barely.

An easy way to avoid confusion regarding polarity is to just take a single magnet and place it in the torso that already has a magnet. I then add a VERY small amount of glue to the arm hole and press the arm onto the torso. The magnet sinks into the hole of the arm created by the pressure of squeezing the two pieces together.
The magnet will only go in the arm as far as it has to and no further, ensuring that the magnets have maximum contact.

Remove the arm to make sure that any super glue that might have squeezed out is not gluing the arm to the torso.

Once dry, slap the arm back onto the torso then glue the shoulder pads on the arms using plastic cement while the arms are on the model. This makes sure that the shoulder pads do not interfere with the arms being tightly fitting to the torso.

Space Hulk concept work: 3D Tiles #1

2009-03-16T17:54:00.016-05:00

I have finally finished the design work for all tiles needed to play either 1st or 2nd ed Space Hulk in Google Sketchup. This includes all 1st ed expansions as well as all 2nd ed White Dwarf articles.

Now I merely need to wait for Bruce Hirst to deliver the molds I have ordered so that I might begin the construction of the masters for each section to later duplicate in resin with a one pieces mold.

The 1" tiles are arranged so that they form an easily discernible 2" square space to accommodate the newer 40mm base size found on Terminators. Since the Terminators are using 40mm bases, I will also be basing the Genestealers on 40mm bases as well to not only add consistency, but to help stability of the wide arm span Genestealer models have that often tip over when they are based on 25mm bases.
There is also a 1/4" cantilever on either side of the spaces where the floor joins the wall, so this creates a total 2.5" breadth across each corridor. This should allow enough spacing for Genestealers arm spans without scraping the walls.

This gives the added benefit of allowing this game board to serve dual purpose for other games using corridors which use models that are 25mm based.

The walls are 1.75" high from the top of the floor tiles. I did originally design them to be 2.25" high, but the extra half inch decreased the visibility of the models to such a degree that you had to stand over them to know where they were due to parallax. Amazing how much of a difference 1/2" makes.

While the tile lengths are increased to 2", most scenarios can still easily be played on a 6' x 4' gaming table. Often times I have found that even the very large missions can still be played on a 6'x 4' surface if the set up is laid out askew on the table.

I have heard a few dissenting opinions regarding this increased size, but Space Hulk was never so small a game that you could dump it on the kitchen table for anything but the smallest missions, so in my opinion, if you are going to play it go big or go home.

Doors have been made so that they will easily slide in and out of spaces for a more realistic look.

Bulkheads are also done in a similar way:

Here are a few examples of what each section will look like:

Gantry room from the 'Duty and Honor' White Dwarf 2nd ed campaign:

Retooled version of the Suicide mission form the Sins of Damnation campaign:
(the rounded end pieces that have hazard stripes are going to be Genestealer entry areas. The walls these entry areas contain will be ripped open to represent Genestealers clawing their way into the Space Hulk interior)

Tomb Kings concept work

2009-03-16T17:01:00.009-05:00

I do not have much love for Warhammer Fantasy Battles due to the dislike I have for regimental formation warfare. But, I do like all things middle eastern and the Egyptian flavor shown by the Tomb Kings army has a lot of promise once you remove all the bony elements from the models. Since WHFB is so popular in this area, I think I may have to build at least a smallish 2500 point army that can easily be painted and assembled in order to be able to play with really cool people I would otherwise not be able to play against.

Don't get me wrong, skeletons are great but when the skeletons have more than one skull on the model the redundancy becomes distasteful to the point of stupidity.

The Screaming Skull catapult is a perfect example of not only going overboard, but so far off base that the model is made of 100% pure ridiculousness.

This model could have easily been represented by a much more suitable choice embellished to mesh with the Khemri design aesthetic without going over board. There are no known records of the ancient Egyptians using catapults, but the Shadouf design could have been a great way to incorporate a catapult into the army as it is representative of what could have possibly been used at the time if they so desired the use of a heavy missile weapon. More or less an ancient Trebuchet.

So for many of the models I want to add into the army will have to be replaced by far superior proxies.

Replace this piece of garbage:

With this lovely and monstrous representation of a death stalker scorpion made by Reaper Miniatures 'Warlord' line:

On the plus side even though I am picky about models used, skeletons are super easy to paint and paint to a high degree so once all that crap is sorted out it should take no time at all to have a fully playable force once I am done with the other projects.

Ordo Sepulturum concept work

2009-03-16T10:18:00.023-05:00

The Ordo Sepulturum is a DIY space marine chapter using Dark Angels rules. It is a predominantly Deathwing centric army numbering around 65 terminators.

The basic concept revolves around the short blurb written by Gav Thorpe in his Thorian Sourcebook made for the Inquisitor game by Games workshop.

Since the Ordo Sepulturum is so specialized, I figured what better way to hunt zombies than haz-mat containment suits which were originally made to enter plasma core generators worn by the Ordo's Chamber Militant? Add in a few robots that can not be mutated by the Plague Virus as forward scouting troops as well as a few other fluffy sundries, and I think its an army with quite a bit of originality as far as armies commonly seen on tabletops.

The Ordo Sepulturum gathers members for its Chamber Militant from numerous sources, as most Ordos do. Predominantly from areas of Thorian sympathizers such as the Adepta Sororitas 'Order of the Argent Shroud' Convent Prioris stationed on Terra as well as the ancient Adeptus Astartes Praeses 'Night Watch' Chapter whose express purpose is to crusade near the Eye of Terror. Guardsmen of Cadia are also requisitioned, but on a more infrequent basis so as to keep the spread of the Zombie Plague to a minimum due to their susceptibility of contracting the Plague Virus.

The Ordo has recently retained various mechanical devices made by House Krast of the Adeptus Mechanicus stationed on the Forgeworld of Sabbatorus in the Chinchare sub-sector. The devices are quite powerful and are also quite rare. The Machine Spirit that dwells within each of these devices is quite unlike those found in other Imperial technologies that can be found elsewhere. The Ordo felt it was getting its due, but the Adeptus Mechanicus has an underlying agenda other than bowing to the will of the Holy Inquisition. House Krast hopes to retrieve samples of the Obliterator Virus to study outside of the watchful eyes of the Inquisition. The rumored bio-mechanical properties of the Obliterator virus is of much value to to House Krast, who view possessing such knowledge of its workings as a certain political leverage over other Houses on Mars.

The 'Night Watch' Chapter has been severely depleted by Abbadon's 13th crusade who were at one time the most abundant Adeptus Astartes chapter present at the campaign. They have learned the lesson taught during that black period in their history and with the help of the Ordo, they have acquired enough suits of tactical dreadnought armor to make them second only to the Dark Angel's Deathwing company. This pragmatic approach has exponentially raised the lifespan of each Brother marine far beyond previous expectations. The Night Watch have made a pact with the Ordo Sepulturum to be their standing, rapid response force because the need is so great to eliminate the Plague threat near the Eye of Terror. The teleportation homing signals installed in each of House Krast's archaeotech devices are so powerful that the remnants of the 'Night Watch' are able to key into their position with great precision from nearly two parsecs distance when the Terminator's transmission are amplified by their battlebarge's transponder.

"In the Name and Honor of His Divine Majesty, The God-Emperor of Mankind, I name thee 'Contagion' and commit thee to the Purgation of Righteousness.
May your soul be stripped off all that is malignant and fall below the Valley of Death.
Left to rot forever, to never be free, never return...."

~Attributed to Grand Master Maxmillian Calavera, Holder of the Incandescent Aspergillum and Scourge of the Undead~

Space Hulk concept work

2009-03-15T09:33:00.014-05:00

For quite awhile now I have been contemplating making a Space Hulk game that is not only three dimensional, but as customizable as possible. Making each time you play the game not only fun, but also an event that draws crowds when they see how immersive the game is due to the suspension of disbelief.

Slowly, I have been accumulating various bits and pieces that I think I may need to accomplish this task for a few years. Likewise, I have been just as slowly working on the project and recently made a vow to myself to have this project completed by years end if not much sooner.

Recently, there has been rumors about Games Workshop re-releasing Space Hulk. This makes sense due to it being the 20th anniversary of its initial release as well as the high prices people are willing to pay on E-bay for a copy of either the 1st or 2nd edition of the game. The developmental work they did 20 years ago is already done, they merely have to authorize it's re-release and its easy money for them to rake in.

I am quite excited about the possible re-release of the game, but at the same time because I already have the rules (which are available at many places on the net) and plan on making my own board, I find that I am not willing to buy the new game unless the rules are superior to anything GW has yet made for the game. But one thing is for sure, I really want this project completed by the time the game does become re-released. While people are playing with their newly bought game that came with paper or plastic tiles using snap-tite terminators and genestealers, my friends and I will be playing with the Rolls-Royce version.

Regardless, I am slowly plugging along, planning tile set-ups in Google Sketchup using Hirst Arts blocks to create the board tiles.

As well as modifying the newest plastic terminators with magnets so that they can have mutable use for either 1st or 2nd ed rules.

I tend to get a head of myself quite a bit and work on several projects at once. Hopefully, I can contain my digression to elements of the Space Hulk game as opposed to working on something completely unrelated and further postponing this long awaited project's completion.

To help ensure that I am urged to stay on target, I have added a space hulk deadline clock to this blog as a constant reminder to me to do what I am supposed to. I have it set to end at the end of this year, but I may change it to whenever space hulk is re-released if it is sooner than December 31st to put more pressure on completing that project.

So this is what a blog is, eh?

2009-03-14T17:25:00.003-05:00

In general I find blogs to be silly things, but as with anything on the internet that can be used for good or evil, I figured it is a necessary evil to give my hobby projects some semblance of order.

I post on several modeling forums and this will become my centralized tool where I refer others who might be interested in my creations and other random musings into one localized area.

So with that, I crumble to the fad that is blogs. What's next? Am I to start carrying a man-bag?