6mm Science Fiction Temporary Encampment

Whenever I go to the Dollar Tree store, one of my favorite places to browse is the Party Favor section. There is almost always some interesting pack of small disposable toys that inspire me by their shape. On my trip earlier this week, I discovered these small squirt-'gun' style hand grenades, shown below with a US quarter for scale.


When I first saw these, I noticed that a number of packages of them had ones that had split into their two halves simply through the rigors of shipping from China. I noticed how a grenade half looked a lot like a Quonset hut, and I began to get the idea that they might make the basis for a neat Sci-Fi building. I assumed that they would be easy to divide into halves with a hobby knife at home since a few had divided on their own already.

My hopes were realised and the hard plastic grenades split apart with a modicum of effort by placing a hobby knife in the seam and hitting it gently with a small hammer. They must have been assembled with small quantities of cheap glue. In the picture above and below, you can see the halves glued to a standard sized CD. I have added some plastic bits from the bits box to create various sensors, and communications arrays.

My next step was to spray the piece with black primer. Again shown with a US quarter below.

Then I painted the buildings with progressively lighter shades of khaki drybrushing.
Shown below with some 6mm Epic Eldar figures (unpainted) for scale.

And finally I terrained the base using purple sand and various clumps of foliage. Again shown below with 6mm Epic Eldar figures.

This was a quick and simple project that I think most folks could do. I completed it in a day, with the longest periods of time being the waiting for the glue and paint to dry.

This Month's Painting

August turned out to be a slow painting time for me. I only got a handful of figures done. There just always seemed to be something else going on.

I've been working mainly on Kroot/Parrotmen for my Fall-In Venus game but I did, however, manage to get a few other things done too.

First up is my first foray into a tentative 'Lacepunk' project. This is a Laughing Monk figure called "The Scarlet Woman" that I picked up in the discount bin at the local gaming store. I painted her up as Betsy Ross- Revolutionary War spy and adventuress. The red, white and blue scheme was a lot of fun, and I figure she can always double as French if need be.

Next up is a set of Parroom Station Landship Crew. This is a nice set of four figures that contain: a commander talking into a communications tube, a fellow shoveling coal, one pulling a lever, and one using an oil can. I got these in the Historicon Flea market, and while I have no immediate plans for them they are good basic all purpose figures that are nice to have in one's collection. You never know when you need to have some crewmen to set out on the table. I decided to give them a nondescript uniform so they could pass for whatever nationality I need them to be. I also gave them a plain brown base so they would fit in equally well on the ground or on a deck.

Mars and Venus by GASLIGHT

I have recently moved two back burner projects to the front of the line: VSF Mars and Venus. I had been toying with doing GASLIGHT games set on these planets for a few years now, and had slowly been purchasing the figures and terrain I would need for them. I think the arrival of the John Carter movie trailer, as well as making tentative plans with Buck Surdu for a Historicon '12 Mars game inspired me to start the Mars project in ernest, and the purchase of some great jungle terrain made by Harry Kogelschatz in the Historicon flea market that inspired me to dust off my unpainted (and in some cases, unassembled) Venus figures.
So, I thought today I would share some of my first efforts that I have completed. The extreme heat and humidity here on the US East Coast has made any attempts at spraying futile, so these figures have sat without their varnish coat for almost a week now. A nice break in the temperature yesterday, allowed me to get them outside and finish them.

Fist up is a set of TinMan 28mm miniatures. These are their: (l. to r) Skiff, Moola, Jack Carson, and Princess Livia figures. I got their Livia figure to be my Dejah Thoris because I didn't really like the striding pose of their Princes Delia figure. I have added a sword to Dejah Thoris' hand so she doesn't have to always be the helpless captive.

Here is a close up of our heroes



..and a rear view. I enjoyed the opportunity to practice painting skin tones, and actually found these figures to be fun and easy to paint.



John Carter skimming across the Martian plains on his trusty skiff.



These are some Martian rock men. They were converted from Heroclix Korg figures. I separated the figure from it's base and glued it to a washer. I also changed some of the arm and leg positions to give each figure some individuality. I added a Milliput circlet around one figures head to represent the unit leader. Being Heroclix figures, they come prepainted, but I also gave them a wash with Windsor newton Peat Brown ink, and then dry brushed them with a little GW Dwarven Flesh.




These are two specialty figures for my Parrotmen of Venus army. Both are Games Workshop Kroot figures. The big gun mounted on the beast had a futuristic muzzle break on it which I removed to give it more of a smoothbore look. Perfect for putting holes in those nasty French Steam-walkers. The other figure will act as the overall tribal chief for my Parrotmen, and here again the muzzle end was removed.

A closer view of my Parrotmen 'big gun'.

And a view from behind.

A close up of the Parrotmen Tribal Chief.

And a view from behind.

HAWKs Room at Historicon 2011

Here is a sampling of some of the games the HAWKs ran this year at Historicon.

My GASLIGHT Historicon Games

Here are pictures of the three GASLIGHT games I ran (or co-ran) at Historicon.

The first shots are from Victoria Hawkes and the Lost Roman Colony game I ran Friday night. This scenario pitted Germans and their native allies against a lost Roman colony and their giant gorilla guards assisted by Victoria Hawkes and her great uncle's African expedition.

The scene as the Germans approach the Roman fort.

German steamwalkers menace the fort's defenders




A swirling melee develops as the gorilla guards try to smash a German steamwalker

German Krieghosen armored suits cut through the fort's wall and a battle ensues in the breech.

Another shot of the fighting in the breech.



The next set of pictures are from the GASLIGHT Extravaganza which Buck and I ran Saturday morning. This game had two British columns trying to achieve two objectives; free Wee Willie Winkie, a prisoner in the Pasha's fort, and get a crew to the disabled Colossus leviathan. They were opposed by Pathans and their Russian advisers.

Shot down one arm of the "L" shaped table.

Sikh steam elephants and British steam spiders mix it up with Pathans and their timberclad vehicles.
The swirling fight around a small village.

Russian raptor mounted Cossacks charge forward.

British and their allies press forward.

As Pathans snipe from the rooftops.

The disabled Colossus with Pathan tribesmen guarding it.


My last game was Hunt for the Valkyrie on Mars which used the new Fleetbattles rules found in the Compendium. In this scenario, British forces are trying to destroy a new German aircraft carrier that has been badly damaged in a storm, while the Germans are trying to protect it and get it off the table.

Two patrol ships exchange fire as a German Cruiser moves into position.

Fighters from the Valkyrie strafe a British patrol ship, ignite a fire on board.