07.29.08
Posted in Uncategorized
at 9:21 pm
The Hirst molds are made from a premium grade of silicone rubber and can be reused hundreds of times (depending on the casting materials used). I generally make my castings from Excalibur dental plaster or SmoothOn resin. This particular building was an experiment to see how new techniques would look. I used Excalibur dental plaster for the door and walls.The dental plaster is heavy and is a mix of resin and plaster designed for use in making molds for dental use. It can be cast with few bubbles even in the most complex molds. (Bruce has a page on his site where he has designed a shaking table to remove bubbles even further using a hand held back massager and some various other materials)!
The cast pieces are glued together using carpenter’s glue one can get in bulk from a DIY store. I mount most of my buildings on 1/8 inch thick MDF as I like to do some "landscaping" around them to add to the look. I used talus, gravel, and sand on a layer of glue on the board to get the textured ground showing through the grass. Once I was happy with the way the bottom layer was constructed, I also beveled the edges of the MDF slightly because I’m somewhat anal. Next I used a generic brand of flat black spray paint to prime the building and base.
The peaks on either end of the building were made from balsa wood. My wife attempted to use a water soluble paint she got from one of the major paint stores in the area on one of our bedrooms. She *hated* the paint as it was too watery in her opinion and was almost impossible to use properly. Frustrated, she took it back to the store to return it but since it was a "custom" mix – based of course on their colors – they would not take it back. So we were stuck with a gallon of dark brown paint with a viscosity higher than that of acrylic craft paints. Hmmm… wonder what we can do with it now? 
I love when domestic issues can be solved in such a beneficial way! I used this color on the balsa as it was a good brown and I could drybrush the wood with a lighter brown/tan and make it look like wood from a distance. These peaks were glued onto the building. I also used the paint on the base as it was sufficiently thick enough to add some gripping power to the gravel and detritus on the base.
The roof is made from sheets of Plastruct shingles. I measured the width of the house and added a quarter of an inch or so at either end and did the same for the height of the sheet. I mounted the cut sheets on thin balsa sheets to make them sturdier and then reinforced the roof with triangles of matt board in a couple of places along the roof line. The roof was then sprayed black (flat, generic, fast-drying) and drybrushed with craft paints. I got the join on the roof peak just right and did not have to add a piece along the length of a roof which is what I normally have to resort to. The roof is not glued on so I can put figures in the building when necessary.
The floor on the interior is made from Plastruct sheeting and is sprayed black and drybrushed grey with hints of brown. You’ll also notice, I hope, that the base of the walls has some browns, tans, and greys added to reflect mud and dirt landing from the surrounding area. The only issue I have is that the carpenter mishung the door. (I had to leave to get to the phone after gluing on the dorr and it moved.) Otherwise, I am very pleased with how this project came out.
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07.23.08
Posted in Uncategorized
at 10:39 pm
The trays are custom cast out of resin by SmoothOn. I made the master using two layers of plasticard. I cut 10 3/4 inch holes in the top layer (which proved to be the hardest part of all of this) and then glued the sheets together. I took some Liquitex Texture Gel and put it on the top between the holes and then made up some filler bases with the texture gel on them so I could fill spots when there were casualties or smaller units. I chose the 10 figure base as it fit in nicely with the Charge organization – two 10 man bases allows me to have a company on two trays. In retrospect, I probably should have made them 12 figure bases so I could mount the NCO on a different side than the officer.
I placed squares of sheet metal used for duct work in the bottom of the holes and, as I mount my figures with magnets in the bases, they stay on nicely. Overall I am pleased with how they turned out.
The molds were made with a small amount of MoldMax 30. It is not a simple compound to work with as you have to know the weight of the goop and the liquid hardener by gram as the ratio is 10:1. I have a jeweler’s scale I weigh the stuff with. The resin is a 1:1 but again needs to be weighed in terms of grams. I add a glass microsphere filler to the resin to save on the amount of resin I have to use. The filler is about $15 for a five gallon bucket which lasts a looooonnggg time. One cast takes about 20-25 grams of each part of the resin and a tablespoon or two of the filler so comes in at $0.25 USD for the tray and filler pieces. The resin takes about 20-30 minutes to set up.
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07.21.08
Posted in Uncategorized
at 10:51 pm
I picked this up through Fantization when making an order for bases. I have always been intrigued by the figure as it looks like a good one to integrate into a scenario. I am ambivalent about it right now, however.
It is thin and was difficult to put together (probably because I was in a hurry). Since it is closer to being anatomically well proportioned, it was smaller and more difficult to paint. I have a lot of respoec for the Darkson painter that did this (or whoever "photoshopped" it!)
I made the field stone floor from ProCreate and am getting better at using it. I don’t use too much water anymore and am getting the hang of smoothing it down.
On the positive side, I am pleased with the paint job. I feel like it is an above average gaming figure and at a foot it looks impressive. The pictures from my camera always make me shudder as they show every little imperfection, but I know where my errors were and the phot s don’t show (many) more!
Comments, as always, appreciated.
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07.17.08
Posted in Uncategorized
at 12:15 pm
I was looking for a general’s tent and then remembered that I had one in the VillageWorks files that could be useful. The video below shows how these things go together and what they look like when finished. In 15 minutes you can print, assemble and have one ready. I need to "upsize" this one so it will look suitably impressive as a commander’s tent.
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07.14.08
Posted in Uncategorized
at 6:00 pm
Back in 1980-82 when I was stationed at and lived in El Paso, our home was broken into and many things were stolen. One of them was my USMA class ring seen below).
I got a call yesterday from a fellow grad who is on a ring reclamation committee in one of the local West Point Societies. He asked me if I was Michael Cannon", class of ’75 and then told me that my ring had appeared on eBay (which his where the pics are from)! Now you have to understand that this thing was stolen some 35 years ago so I am amazed that it is still around. I have contacted the El Paso Police Dept. (where the seller is from) and they have contacted the seller. He is looking for a receipt for the ring and is willing to let me have it back for what he paid for it. I am hoping for the best (that is, a low price) as it is now up around $1800 on eBay. Kind of bittersweet to see it again and know I might not be able to get it back….
postscript – After much "discussion" I finally managed to get the ring back and now have it in my possession. It’s amazing that after 26-7 years it still fits!
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Posted in Uncategorized
at 12:41 pm
Here’s some samples with names:
I’m not recommending this as a way to decide how you will exercise your right to vote, but it’s interesting. (The pictures look better in the popups!)
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07.13.08
Posted in Uncategorized
at 3:12 pm
What if…
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07.08.08
Posted in Uncategorized
at 9:54 pm
The scenario was unique for several reasons:
- neither side was aware of where the other was except for vague comments from the umpire such as "there’s heavy gunfire off the board in this direction"
- Gunboats
- NKVD forces
- Finns and SS Nord
- we were using CD3 rules
Here are a couple of pictures showing the battlefield from the south. You may have to click on the image and view the larger pictures for them to make sense.
Lake Ladoga is to the east (left) the Finns are to the top of the photos (north) and the SS and more Finns are to the south (bottom). I had 5 gunboats, a brigade of naval infantry, two NKVD Bns, and a cavalry division available to me. These were *not* large forces as this is a bathtub campaign. (The cavalry division was 4 stands of infantry – a cmd HQ and three combat stands). Three of the gunboats did have T34 turrets mounted and all had one or two HMGs or MMGs.
We were executing orders from higher HQ that were in other parts of the world (Virginia, Europe – Germany and Greece, Washington State) and so constrained by what we could do. My orders were to defend the town of Salmi and attack north with the naval infantry in support of the attack that was coming in from the top left corner of the board. The Finns were in a town in the center of the top of the board and had been given orders to move south and seize Salmi as the Soviets there were sitting astride their line of supply. In the campaign game, the Finns and Germans to the south would have been out of ammo a couple of game hours after the game took place if the road running along the lake was not open.
You can see my dispositions in the pictures above. The SS Nord came up from the bottom center of the board through the swamp and at the end of the first turn had lost over half of their number from the deadly fire of the cavalry and a gunboat acting in support. The survivors fell back into the swamp where they destroyed at a distance by long range fires as they were pinned down. Only the Div Cdr escaped! I had waited until the SS got within two inches (close assault range) before opening fire.
The Soviets had air superiority over the battlefield (that in itself was a unique occurrence) and almost every turn saw bombers directed against the Finns moving south out of the town at the top of the picture. This slowed them down but did little damage.
My satisfaction over the cavalry’s performance was short-lived, however, as two Finnish divisions romped onto the board from the east (right) side of the board and attacked the cavalry division. In two turns, the cavalry division was down to less than half strength and fled off to the south and east of the board to regroup. Off the board to the south, one of the gunboats got into combat with the SS Nord’s artillery park and destroyed the largest caliber weapons, suffering only one hit in return.
The NKVD pulled back into Salmi and the naval infantry remained in the woods. The Finns from the north swept in and were enfiladed by the gunboats on the lake, taking heavy casualties. Over the next few turns, there was some sharp exchanges of gunfire, but the Finnish player was regrouping and removing the pinned status markers on his forces. On the turn he attacked, he launched smoke to protect him from the gunboats and moved forward. That same turn I withdrew from my positions and began embarking on the boats, calling for smoke the next turn to cover my withdrawal.
To the north, the Soviet army surged onto the board, forcing the Finnish HQ and supply elements in the town to flee off of the board. One Finnish division remained in Salmi to hold open the supply route, with the remainder moving north to attempt to hold off the Soviet advance. Now the LOS was cut in a new location and the Axis forces in the area are in bad shape logistically. The game lasted about 10 turns (0445 to around 0730 in 15 minute increments). At 0800, the players in the campaign will have to write new orders to react to the changed circumstances….
A full set of pictures of the battle are shown on my Picasa account.
The strategic situation at the end of the game is as shown below. Each hex is two feet across. German/Finnish positions are shown in green, Soviet dispositions are labeled.
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06.26.08
Posted in Uncategorized
at 10:56 am
The NYT referred tp El Cid as taking place in a time when "men were men and women were Sophia Loren"! I assume that means they liked the movie. I painted this with paints from a number of manufacturers but used mainly Reaper MSPs. I chose the horse breed because it was a different style than the normal monotones I use. It is based loosely on the Orlov Trotter (the illustration is pulled from The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Horse Breeds (Hardcover)).
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06.24.08
Posted in Uncategorized
at 4:39 pm
I got the Shermans
shown here for $5 USD each and the only things wrong with them were
broken gun tubes and no .50 on the top. I had spray painted them a
olive drab (good ol’ Krylon camo paint from WalMart) before I moved to
Utah but had to redo parts of them as one of the black spray cans I had
leaked. I dry brushed these pretty heavily and made them as grungy as I
possibly could to hide some of the malformed areas on the models. These
are probably more to SOTR scale than the others I have posted here. The
HAD models are more crude than most models you will come across but are
good buys if you are on a budget.
You’ll notice on the bottomleft photo where I highlighted some of the quality issues. I haven’t seen many of the HAD line so don’t know if this runs across the line or if I just got lucky! Again, these vehicles I bought used for $5 each at MilleniumCon. (Thanks again Dave, for the bargain!)
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