Dark Age barn part III

Not too much progress on the barn tonight as I spent a good 90 minutes clipping 10mm WSS figs into the right length strips. My hand was knacked with cramp afterwards but I bravely soldiered on with the paint brush! All that's left to do now before the roof goes on is a highlight coat on the panels and maybe a bit of mucky shading to make it properly rustic.

Painting the interior before the roof goes on was definitely the way to go. It was difficult enough to do this way, although admittedly if the OCD side of my brain had relented I wouldn't have painted the upper panels on the inside which will be pretty much invisible when complete. Oh well...

Cheers,
Millsy

Dark Age barn part II

The glue on the frame for my barn dried enough that I could do a bit more work last night before bed. This afternoon I've been at it again and have finished all the additional woodwork, the wattle and daub, plus based it as well.

It occurred to me at this point I need to at least paint the interior before attaching the roof otherwise that process will be rather problematic (to say the least). Thankfully in this instance foresight was 20/20 for a change!

Here's how she looks now before painting starts...

Not sure how much more I'll get done tonight but we'll see.

Edit: I've just realised after I posted this that the blog has reached some milestones this month. This is the 175th post, making 15 for the month (which beats the previous high of 12). The stats are also on the rise and should pass 3,000 views for the month for the first time. Some time soon the total will pass 40,000. Followers have reached 74 as well. All this begs a couple of questions:

1. Short of giveaways and competitions, what else can I do to boost followers? I'm not saying those are in any way a bad thing, only that I've been trying to encourage followers based purely on interesting and relevant content, plus quality of posts in terms of photos, etc. Maybe I need to rethink that approach.

2. Is there anything else (or more of something already present) that people would like to see? Maybe I'm missing something blindingly obvious?!? How about poetry? Recipes? 100% legal tax dodges? Dog grooming tips? Guaranteed winning lottery numbers?

Leave a comment folks and let me know what you think. ;-)

Cheers,
Millsy

Workbench update

I'm suffering a rather severe attack of apathy right now (at least for the painting side of the hobby). Fortunately there are always plenty of other things to do, including making terrain. On Friday night we tried out SAGA and had a really enjoyable game. This spurred me on to make some additional terrain pieces for future dark age gaming.

First off is three ploughed fields. These are 3mm MDF with the furrows applied in the form of wall sealant in a tube / gun. Simple enough to do and once covered with a layer of sand + grit, some darker through lighter shades of brown paint (base and dry brishes) and a bit of static flock they come out quite well. Quick, simple and good for a bunch of periods

 

Next up is something a fair bit more complex from a construction point of view - a thatched barn. Stage one is mostly complete, being the lower section of framework and walls, with only some fake cross-bracing plus wattle and daub to be applied to the walls.

Next up is the A-frame upper section, followed by the thatching. I'm planning to use the same method I used on my dark age huts for the roof. I can't do any more tonight as it has to dry thoroughly before I can put the required pressure on the top half. Stay tuned...

Cheers,

Millsy

ANZAC Day 2013

Today is ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand. We're absolutely blessed to live in safe, happy countries built in no small part on the willingness of our service men and women to give so much of themselves on the behalf of their fellow Aussies and Kiwis. If you have served or are serving now, thank you for your sacrifice, especially those who have made the ultimate one.

The Roll of Honour, courtesy of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Cheers,
Millsy

Home cast resin stone walls part IV - Done!

Not so much hobby work going on this week as real life took over. There were plenty of extra work hours, footy on the telly and the small matter of being presented with my National Medal for Service (following now almost 19 years in the NSW Rural Fire Service as a firefighter and deputy captain).

However (!) today I finished painting and basing my second batch of home cast resin walls. This lot included corners, gates and end sections. They've come up a treat, just like the first batch. In total I made two gates, two broken sections, six corners and four end pieces (broken and whole).

When used with the first batch I can now make a variety of decent sized and shaped enclosed spaces with one or more entry / exit points. All up it's about six feet of wall on the tabletop. These will be great for both skirmish and large games.

P.S. Not bad - an entire wargaming blog post from this weekend that didn't mention Salute. Oh bugger, now I've only gone and said it... ;-)

Cheers,
Millsy