Riveter

I have recently been commissioned to build a master model which required many, many rivets. I would usually slice plastic rod, but this project would be cast in resin and the rivets would have to be perfect.

I have this Hinchcliffe/Historex plastic card riveter or hole punch which I have used many times before, but with the number of small plastic rivets I would need for this model I built this simple jig.

Photo One - The Historex Hole Punch as you purchase it.

Photo Two - The jig, the base (an MDF miniature base), and the plastic card jig which was built from 3mm thick Plastic card and superglued in place.

Photo Three - The jig and hole punch in use.

Photo Four - A plastic or resin rocker arm which I use as a hammer. It is strong enough to hammer in the metal punch and hard enough not to show any marks, without being too heavy.

Photo Five - The finished rivets.

When I use the hole punch I use the rod that is one size smaller than the hole I am using in the die. I find that it can be worked quicker (and easier) if this is done.

I hope this helps other with their hole punch.

Tony

The painting of Charlie Grey

Yesterdays post The Legend of Charlie Grey showed a simply painted Orc Marine miniature. I thought I would show some work-in-progress shots of the figure.

There was some Green Stuff re-sculpting of the standard mini. I have rebased the figure on to s 2p coin and built up the groundwork with Milliput.

The finished Orc Redcoat was painted over a Dark Grey base and highlighted with Stonewall Grey from Vallejo, then highlighted again with Stonewall Grey and Skull White.

When the main figure was finished, I washed the whole mini with some Green Wash from Citadel and then picked out the flesh areas and the white cross belts with pure Skull White. The tongue is pale pink and the eyes Blood Red.

The base is painted in my usual colours with a basecoat of Snakebite Leather.

Tony

Orcs in the Webbe Advent Calendar 2012 - The Legend of Charlie Grey

Day two of this years Advent Calendar from Orcs in the Webbe and a story by yours truly called The Legend of Charlie Grey. A young Orc of Albion proudly serves his country in this life and the next.....

Charlie Grey is based on a very close friend of my fathers who was a larger-than-life character and a frequent visitor to our house in my youth.

The miniature was painted some time ago and I developed the short story based on the painted mini and Charlie Grey.

Tony

Orcs in the Webbe Advent Calendar 2012

Once again Craig Andrews of Orcs in the Webbe has produced an Advent Calendar of articles, scenarios and gaming comment. Day one written by Matthew Hartley and called I Fought the Lore can be found here.

Each day up to the 24th of December there will be another article - the 24 days of Advent. Keep checking back for more festive cheer. There may even be one written by me!

Previous Advent Calendars for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and now 2012 can be found here.

Tony

IPMS Scale Model World 2012 part three

Part three - a photo report that I have entitled Sci-Fi. Starting with some GW or Forge World models and then some classics.

This Nautilus from HLBS was huge - 60cms at least.

More to follow.

Tony

S.P.Q.ORC - Pax - Bochemannica - the Halflings part four

My three Halflings for the new game S.P.Q.ORC - Pax Bochemannica are finished.....

.....I added the shields, the two round ones came with the miniatures, while the square one is a lid of a metal chest, I thought it added some variety.

After at least one false start the three little critters are finally varnished and based. I used Ronseal Gloss Varnish for the main protective coat and then three coats of Galleria Matt Varnish. the static grass and static grass tufts are added over uPVA glue.

The Boche Halflings are mounted on to 1p coins.

With less than a week to go before the official launch of the boxed set, I can't wait to see the reaction to the miniatures going on sale.

Here are the three Halflings individually posed to show the fantastic sculpting, well done Dave Toone.

Finally, a comparison shot of one Orc Legionnaire, facing off against a 'rabble' of three Boche Halflings.  It will be a tight call as to which side comes of worse!

For more information, go to this link. The miniatures were great fun to paint and full of character, I would recommend the set to anyone looking for something a little different and quirky.

Tony

Christmas Lights for Wargame Terrain

This particular post is not meant as a 'How To', more a reminder that at this time of year many stores will be selling battery operated LED Christmas lights, sometimes priced as low as £1.99 a set.

As an example of what can be done with these low powered and small LED lights - here is a single photo of a cut-away WWII ship - A Fowler Class Corvette which is internally lit with LED's. The image was taken at the recent IPMS Scale Model World show held this November at the International Centre, Telford.

For anyone unsure as to what to look out for, here is an image of one such set of Christmas lights, run off three AA batteries.

I have used LED lighting on one piece of terrain - The Amber Shrine, which uses orange coloured acrylic plastic as the core of the central standing stone or monolith. The acrylic box is filled with LED Christmas lights and the batteries are housed in a small box built in to the bottom of the terrain board.

This final image shows The Amber Shrine lit from within and with the image taken in an unlit room, the effect is less striking than the cut-away ship in the first image, but illustrates how I used these cheap lights to illuminate a gaming board. Details of how I built and painted this skirmish terrain board can be found here.

Other uses could be landing lights on a Sci-Fi rocket base or landing pad, a Cthulhu themed cave, A Victorian street scene or individual lights illuminating resin cast houses. The tiny LED's can be inserted into pre-drilled holes and due to their small size and low heat will be ideal as spot features on terrain.

I hope that this short post gets you thinking about how you might be able to use such lighting features and effects in your games or terrain pieces - buy them now as within weeks they will be gone.

Tony