Yar, avast, etc

So following on from my comments about not being able to stay focussed, in the two days since I've ordered my possessed warband I've had to find something else to occupy my time. And these are the results.

Da Kabin Krew!

First up is Kaptin Kabin and his faithful (ish) shaman, Nuggit.

Kap'n Kabin is just a black reach nob with an ogre's sword (reshaped to be more scimitar like), and a big club for a counts-as morning star. The head as the black reach warboss's, so I've removed the bionics ready for an eye patch and bit hat. I'm also quite happy with the balsa peg leg :D
Nuggit is a normal orc boy with a cut down spear and slightly modified axe. His head is a cross between a boy and a night goblin.

Next up the Big 'Uns, Boz Un and Boz Wan.

They are one piece plastic boyz (not sure where from, another bits purchase), with slight arm changes and a couple of plasticard scimitars. They need tricorn hats obviously.

Then we have the henchmen. Firstly, Da Arra Krew.

Again one piece plastics with slight tweaks. Very happy with the guy on the right considering the source. Oh and lefty has a hook hand made from a bretonnian horn/flask/thing. They'll get bandanas.

Then Da Spika Krew:

These are normal boys with converted spears, one with a peg leg and one with a hook. These guys are also getting bandanas.

Finally Da Kab'n Runtz.

These are normal goblins, again will get bandanas. I love the guy on the left, blatantly saying "once I figure out how this works, you're gonna get it!", and the guy on the right looking up at one of the orcs getting his orders.

Hoping to start the sculpts today, shouldn't take too long. Kaptin's hat is the main point of concern as it'll make or break that piece. Everyone else is just tweaks and it's their paint work that'll sell them as pirates. Fingers crossed.

Reiklander's based

Very quick post about my Reiklanders, they now have their bases. Very cool little resin cobbled bases from Fenris on eBay. Great casts and I'm really happy with the results.

Just need my militia to arrive now and they can have some henchmen!

Canal Barge

Done some more work on the canal board. Spent a while sorting out the various boxes and crates and so on, they're now ready to be sprayed if the weather holds.

Not sure where I saw this tip, but I tried wood stain on my balsa wood and it seems to work really well. I've done the barge as you can see. If then had a light drybrush of bleached bone. The cabin needs the edges touching up (stain won't work if there's superglue present!), and then the tin roofs need washes.

But yeah, happy with that effect. Looks almost like wood. Stain gave me a headache though, worth doing outdoors I guess.

Possessed Warband

Whilst I wait for my free company box to arrive so I can complete my human mercenaries, I've planned out my next warband!

I'm going to do a Possessed band, initially based around cultists but with a view to add in beastmen at a later date.

I spent about an hour last night planning out the group, picking the miniatures and getting them ordered. Hopefully they'll all arrive next week!

The Magister is this Reaper cleric:

Unfortunately Reaper charge a bloody fortune to ship to the uk (the model is £3.19, shipping is £9) and it'll take 2-3 weeks. Sod that, found one on eBay for 4quid delivered. Woo. Going to change the left hand for a suitably evil looking sword (open to suggestions).

I've gone for 1 Possessed. Was going to do more but I like the idea of more cultists. After shopping around I came up with Mutant Grant from Hasslefree:

He's obviously intended to be modern, but I think with a slight change to the trousers and glove he'll be fine. He's got a Great Claw mutation of course!

Next is a Mutant, this time from Heresy:

He's the alternate head version of Sebastien, the hero emo-mage. I plan to remove an arm and give him a Tentacle mutation, then a small axe in the other hand. Should fit nicely with...

Two sets of 3 Bretheren. One lot have got spears, the others I'll convert to have bows/axe.

I've wanted to use the Tunnel Guard for ages and couldn't find a reason. I've gone for the random assortment of heads too to keep it interesting.

And if I've added up right the whole kaboodle is 500gc. And only cost about £25. Woo.

Pics and further details when they arrive.

Human Mercanaries

My first warband! Well technically my second, but the dwarfs seem to be stuck in limbo at the moment so we'll ignore them.

Not sure where these guys hail from yet, they're basically all my warhammer bits I've ever had (my 40k bits box is well, about ten boxes, wfb one teeny tiny tray), combined with a couple of dwarf bits.

The whole crew so far. I've got five henchmen, I think from Advanced Heroquest. I originally bought them to be statues, and I think they'll stay that way. I've got an Empire Free Company box on order from Wayland so that'll replace them.

The Captain, with a hammer and duelling pistol. Still needs highlights and his eyepatch colouring.

First Champion, with a sword and axe. Was really scraping the barrel for bits for him, he was the last one built. The axe is actually one of those frog-ended drumsticks with a dwarf hand axe head. Will see how good he looks when I get around to painting him.

Brother Furlong of the Mysterious Measuring Monks :). This guy has been around from the start, acting as a scale 'barry' for my scenery photos. Therefore he had to be in the first warband, only fitting. Sword and mace and too many pies.

Marksman with longbow. The quiver on his back is from the dwarfs, no idea what the rest is! Quite like him, looks sort of relaxed but ready to pounce.

And lastly the other marksman with dual pistols. My favourite model in the band so far. Again no idea what the constituent parts are, except for the pistols which come from the dwarfs. I'm told pistols aren't all that clever in Mordheim, but how cool does dual weilding look? Been a fan ever since Rise of the Triads wth the cheat code akimbo. Yes I'm old, shh.

That's it so far. All paint in progress, although the monk is nearly there.

Canal PIP & Crane

The painting of the canal warehouse board has begun. Really happy with the flagstones, still a little unconvinced by the tower. I might do another lighter coat to try and make a wider difference between the two surfaces.

You can also see in the above pictures I've started the roof. I've done the vertical gables and started the detailing on the hoist. All WIP at the moment of course.

Also done some work on the hamster crane. I realised when I had a proper look that it didn't really have the reach to get across the path at the side of the canal. Hrm. So I've mounted it on a small platform.

The small notch in the supporting beams sits over the raised edge of the canal sides. This means the platform hangs over the edge by about 2cm. Gives it enough clearance to reach the barge.

Also worked out how to attach the wheel to the main post, which I have done. And even added some little stairs for detail. I plan to surround this and the cart with sacks and boxes anyway so it should need much more detailing.

Modelling Mates review

I recently bought a set of Modelling Mates moulds from TerraScenic, they looked like a bargain at £21.60 so I thought I'd have a go.

The photo above shows what you get for your money. Three moulds, each one 6 1/2 inches square. One is of cubes, the other blocks twice the size of the cubes, and the final miscellaneous pieces.

The variety is great and the sheer number of pieces you get per mould means you won't be casting as often.

The moulds are made from EVA foam, which to me is the stuff on my golf trolley handle, but you may know it in other ways! It's a dense, flexible foam which seems rather sturdy. The base is a softer material which is glued to the main body.

A comparison with a basic Hirst Arts block is shown above. As you can see these blocks are much bigger and therefore not interchangable with HA. Based on the number per cast though I could see you building a small tower with only two or three casts of each mould.

The texture is very different. HA blocks are sculpted and very detailed, but the pattern on MM blocks comes from the foam itself. It reminds me of a fine concrete. Texture is on sides and bottom just as with HA blocks.

The casts require a small amount of cleaning. It appears the moulds where sliced to form the cavities, and in doing so there has been a small amount of over-cut. So each cast brick will have a few mm of plaster on each corner which can be removed with a single pass of a sharp knife.

Above is a photo of my current assembly, I'll get a complete photo when done. This is going to be the lighthouse of Stadtheim bay. The misc mould has three different radius curves on it, which will work nicely for me and offers good flexibility.

Overall I'd say they offer a cheap alternative to HA and will provide nice variety of texture for the terrain builder. I doubt these will last anything like as long as HA moulds (the base seems to deform slightly at each demoulding and I'm worried about tearing the foam at some of the weaker points), but for pure value for money you can't argue. Three moulds for the same prices as only 2/3s of a Hirst Arts one seems like too good a deal to me.

I'll post a finished model when I've got one, and let you know how I get on with the long term survivability of the moulds. In the meantime though I'd recommend giving them a look.