Update #4 Keeping Up The Momentum

     Update number 4; who'd have thunk yet here we are; maintaining some sort of blogging momentum....marvelous. The last fortnight's hobby has been mainly focused on Bolt Action terrain and getting the garage up to scratch and usable as there is a plan afoot to celebrate that fact. A plan which just happens to coincide with my mucker, Danny, being back down south from up north...if you follow me..Anyhoo, we have a three player game of Bolt Action planned for next week set in East Prussia during the final weeks of WW2 which has forced me to concentrate on getting some new terrain finished alongside my other BA projects. Let's have a look see, shall we, at what I have achieved in pursuits of this noble aim...

    Firstly, and most importantly, the garage is all but done. The walls are now insulated and though it looks a mess in the photo it's really a matter of tidying up and squaring away some bits and bobs; something I will do this coming Monday as I have the day off. The end wall now has enough Ikea shelving for all my terrain boxes; large and small, and there is a decent amount of gaming space once the place is tidied. 

     One of my Bolt Action projects (and I use that term very loosely; it's not like I sit down and draw up a list and plan each project accordingly. It's more an excuse to buy stuff that I have seen online and taken a shine too...like I need an excuse..😁) is a 21st Panzer Division force for the Normandy campaign and Kampfgruppe Von Luck in particular. The Unic P10f7 half track and self propelled gun crews are just about done. Alongside these are a Warlord Games motorcycle combo that I have converted for my late war German force and the sniper set from Warlord Games Winter Germans that I stripped and am in the process of repainting. The only progress I have made on the Unic PC107 and Geschutzewagen H39(f) are that I have added the decals and a couple of small pieces of stowage...

     And so to the forthcoming grand garage re-opening game (must try saying that after a couple of stiff snifters..). As I mentioned above this game will be set during the final weeks of the war and set in Prussia. The mission is based on a scenario from the Campaign Stalingrad campaign book and I featured a battle rep previously in the blog( Schaft's Pioneers Take The Fifth) but with three of us playing I have altered the gaming area to 6x4 rather than 4x4 which means more ruins to fill the table. As well as ruined buildings I have done this wrecked Hetzer model that I picked up at the Vapnartak show will also make an appearance. There's still a lot to do on it but I reckon a couple of hours will see it table top ready.

 

     Not terrain but another essential piece of equipment for my Soviets is this light howitzer that I bought. It's a single piece resin sculpt of Soviet 76mm regimental light howitzer and I think it looks jolly nice. Only got as far as basing it but it won't take long to get it table top ready using the patent (pending but unlikely to be granted 😀) General Jimbob Just Dry Brush It paint job.

     And so to the more substantial terrain pieces starting with Sarissa Precision's Water Tower. I bought this a while back when I was planning/thinking/hoping to play Zona Alfa (which hasn't happened yet but it will...it will....trust me....) Quick and easy to assemble and a nice looking piece of terrain. Just beware if you do buy one that those cross members on the legs are quite fragile which isn't great if you are a sausage fingered numpty like me. It got a really simple paint job. I based it with the wargamers textured paint of choice, Sandex Bitter Chocolate then, once that was dry it received a brisk dry brush with a light green emulsion from a tester pot I bought in B&M. A quick scatter of different shades of flocks on the base and, hey presto; job's a good 'un!

     Then it was onto the big beasties of the terrain pieces; TT Combat's Tank Factory ruin and the Ruined Factory. I had started these a while back but with a deadline to meet (hullo deadline, how do you do?) I bit the bullet and cracked on. 

     Though I had coated the walls etc with Sandex Bitter Chocololate I decided to add more texture to the walls by applying a coating of watered down ready mixed plaster filler to the external walls. Before this dried I stippled it with a piece of torn sponge to give the surface a more pleasing appearance. I allowed this to dry over night then mixed up some mid grey coloured from a couple of cheap craft tubes of acrylics paints and painted the outside of the ruin. I then added more white to the mix and, after allowing the walls to dry thoroughly I gave it a dry brush, added more white to the mix etc, etc and so on till I got this result.

    The intermnal walls were painted a very light, pastel green shade whilst the metal girders and row of metal lockers were coated in a slightly darker pastel green. 

    Once that was dry I worked on the details, albeit in a rough and ready manner. I tidied up the paint job on the walls, gave the doors, clock and notice board a bit more attention, I dug out some space amongst the cat litter rubble to allow the factory machinery to fit in and then added a rubble mix that I bought on eBay which has scale red bricks in it....woohoo! This rubble mix, along with grass flock, was attached in place with watered down PVA glue. And lastly I took some torn pieces of packing foam, dabbed it in some dark paint, dried the majority of the paint off and then dabbed various places on the walls and girders before dabbing some bright orange spots here and there on the metal girders etc to represent rust and the Tank Factory ruin was done. I made up some hoardings with factory name on them to give it a sense of location; in this case Germany. I will make up some more in French, English and Russian to allow for more game adaptability.

    The Ruined Factory received similar attention to the factory....

......however I wasn't happy with it and I have now realised why; it's too monochrome looking so tomorrow evening when I get home from work I'll revisit it. Another thing that I have just realised is also wrong with it is the open end of the ruin. It should have a larger base with rubble extending out from where the wall has collapsed. I can't think why that didn't occur to me before...Doh! That being said or spotted, it won't be too difficult to remedy...

    So, barring the extended base and lightening the tone of the walls all that's left is to make up some hoardings for it and it should be ready. I am sure it will look the part come Wednesday but for now, that's this update done. A bit less scatter gun than my previous updates and it's good to get these pieces of terrain finished...well almost finished.

     I must say I am very much looking forward to this forthcoming game and getting more gaming done in the garage. It's a real, genuine plus to have your own gaming space and I can't wait to make maximum use of it. And, of course, it'll be nice to have folk over and to get back into all various games I enjoy.

That's it for the mo, folks, thanks for dropping by, for sticking with it and for getting this far 😀 Next blog post should eb a meaty batrep from the (highly fictitious) Eastern Prussian town of Bentdich, till then,

pip pip,

General BobJim