58. If You Live in a Paper Building...

...don't smoke.

So.  How are you?  Long time no see.  <sigh>  Unlike many other people, my job makes me more busy during the Summer months.  My work schedule becomes absulutely crazy.  It's all I can do just to get in my gaming room, not to mention actually painting or playing games.  "Dun't bee seely."

Because of that, all I was able to accomplish over the Summer was the construction of some paper buildings.  These were easy to build and of very low time investment.  I could easily start them and walk away in the middle without worrying about not coming back for 2 weeks, with no untoward effects (like paint drying out, etc).

Every single one of these buildings was free off the Inter-Web-Tubes.  I did have to do some searching, as they are not all from one place.  You'll find links below the pictures.

My main goal was to quickly (that being a relative term) and cheaply construct a modern town for some good 'ol Zombie gaming.  It's pretty tough to do zombies with only one or two houses.  What I have here is still not really enough, but I am much, much closer than before.  I even have several more buildings unconstructed that I can add, plus a couple of these are generic enough to have two on the same table without a problem.

I used regular cardstock and an old-er ink jet printer on the normal setting.  These printed out just fine for 28mm gaming.  I've heard it's easy to scale down the printing for 15mm gaming, but so far I haven't needed to.  I've also heard some people say that you should spray coat your finished buildings to protect the ink from running if they get wet, but it seems to me it is just as easy to build a new model if that were to happen.  I've got other things to use expensive spray on, but that's just me.

Also, there are certainly more elaborate ways of building these types of models.  Some people such as the excellent Vampifan on his website build them, quite literally, to last a gaming lifetime.  His is an example of how to do it right.

I am happy with my results, and reasonably proud of the quality.  I don't expect them to last forever, so I entered into the equation with the idea that I would just print more if I have to.  One good thing that happened, that beforehand I was worried about, was that I never even used up one cartridge of ink.  All these buildings and my ink cartridge is still going strong.

And now for the pictures.  Links are at the bottom.

Here's Harold the zombie in No-Whereville.

A view of the other half of the street.

Here, Harold is in front of a warehouse, from the most excellent Germy.  The "street furniture" is from Tommygun.

Harold picking up his dry cleaning.  Zombies like clean clothes, you know.  Building by MicroTactix.

Harold, worried that the Area Control office might see him go into the Gun Shop.  Buildings by Germy.

The nice thing about Germy's stuff is that the roofs (rooves?) are removable, with interior printing.  Very cool!

Harold, desperately trying to quench his undying thirst.  More from Germy.

An interior detail picture.  The pool table and bar are 3D accessories, too.

Harold, feeling he is missing something from his former living status, checks out the strip club.  Building by Tommygun.

Harold, still trying to fill the void within him, tries Stinky's Pizza.  Building by Microtactix.  Street furniture by Germy and Tommygun.

Seeking something to occupy his time, Harold thinks about buying a TV.  Model by Microtactix.

And now for something completely different....

I admit, I was caught up in the paper-model-building craze, and decided to try some new things.  Maybe a good Star Wars-ian sci-fi building would be fun.

 

"Come on, you Ewoks!  Bring it!"  At the Comm Station, by Momir Farooq.

Comm Station rear view.  This was a much tougher model than some of the others.  Lots of fiddly bits.

Next I wanted someting sci-fi but simple.  What better than Toposolitario's IKUBEs?

They come in many shapes and colors.  Wait, strike that.  They're all the same shape, but many different colors.  And super simple to build.  They're a box!

I also decided to build some "Street Furniture," as it's known by the "In" crowd.  Vending machines, ice machines, phone booths and so on.

A variety of selections, by Germy and Tommygun, mostly.  That's Harold just for scale.

After that, I wanted to build a couple more of Momir Farooq's Star Wars items.  Here's the Hoth Tactical map, the Death Star control console, and some various Star Wars-ian crates.  Oh, and the Death Star Vending Machines.  What, don't you remember seeing them in the movies?  I'm sure they were there....

O.K., O.K., I simply forgot to put the vending machines in the previous picture....

Close up of the Hoth Tactical Map.

Close up of the Death Star control console.  Too bad I don't have a Han Solo miniature, so he should shoot at it....

Links:
Germy
http://www.germy.co.uk/ 

Tommygun
http://tommygun.sector-17.com/tommygun/main.php 
Sadly, Tommygun seems to be off-line at the moment.  He was there in the summer, but when I checked just now it says the domain has expire.  That's a shame, as there is lots of great stuff there.

Microtactix Twilight Street series
http://www.microtactix.com/

Toposolitario
http://www.toposolitario.com/
 
Momir Farooq
http://www.momirfarooq.com/ 
He's got lots and lots of really cool (and quite complicated) Star Wars models (and not only buildings).


And Harold the zombie is from Victory Force, in case you were wondering.
http://www.victoryforce.com/ 

Thanks for reading, and check back soon.  Now that Summer is over, I hope to have more things to say here.

57. Beware the Headless Horseman

A long time between updates, as usual.  Work, family, life.  So the story goes, and so it will continue.

I began work on these figures from Blue Moon Manufacturing way back in April.  I first painted the five adult men, then the four women and one child, then the two horsemen.  I spent roughly 8 hours on the men, 11 hours on the women/kid, and 8 hours on the two horsemen, for a total of 26 hours over nearly 3 months.  That works out to about 2 hours per figure, which is blazingly fast for me.  In years past, I used to spent 8 hours painting a single figure.

I guess I've adapted to assembly line painting, of a sort, in that working on five figures at a time even though they are not identical allows me to paint more quickly.  My main problem is simply not finding/making the time to paint.  Even 30 minutes a night can help me really whittle down the pile of unpainted lead.

I persevere.

It should be noted that the pumpkin-headed horseman is not part of the Blue Moon set #6 "I'm Loosing My Head Over You," from their "Things That Go Bump in the Night" series.  (And yes, I'm embarrassed for them for their perpetual misspelling of 'Loosing.'  If you don't know why, please look it up.)

First up, we have the menfolk of Tarry Town, in the little vale of Sleepy Hollow.

Ichabod Crane on the left; Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt with the sword; Baltus Van Tassel the wealthy farmer on far right.  At least, this is who I assume they are.  One of the other two may be Hans Van Ripper.

Next, the womenfolk.

Katrina Van Tassel is in the blue dress, looking very pretty.  The other figures are, to the best of my understanding of the story, "extras."  I painted the red-head as a young maid, and figured there should be an old maid too.  The "lady" with her hands raised menacingly screamed to become a vampire, so I can use her in other genres too.  The kid may well be the author of the story, who writes, "I recollect that, when a stripling, my first exploit in squirrel shooting was in a grove of tall walnut trees that shades one side of the valley."  It's good enough for me!

And last but not least, the star attraction:  the Headless Horseman.

The Galloping Hessian on his black stallion; he is also called a goblin rider, and a spectre.  He was muffled in a cloak, and carried his head in his hands (which seems later to have been a pumpkin).  There is no mention of a sword.  I should say some poetic license has been taken with his appearance here.  I am not complaining!  This is one cool-looking headless dude.

A better angle to show his bloody neck.  Eeeewww, gross!

When I was buying this set, I decided to also pick up Ragged Jack (who is, interestingly, listed in their Pulp Characters section.  That's as good a section as any, I guess, but I don't initially see him as the Pulp style).

Their website comes with a downloadable free scenario to use Ragged Jack in with their Sleepy Hollow set.  Here is a quote from the website:

"Showdown in Sleepy Hollow!  An exciting new pair of linked Scenarios for Chaos In Carpathia where Ichabod Crane and the stalwarts of Sleepy Hollow must pit a fiend against a fiend, hoping that the Headless Horseman can save them from the new menace of Ragged Jack!"

I have yet to play said scenario, but it sounds plenty cool.  I've never really thought of the Headless Horseman as the Good Guy.  I guess it's a case of the Devil you know versus the Devil you don't know.

Clash of the Titans

Thanks for reading, and watch out for the Headless Horseman!  ('Cause he can't watch out for you, being headless and all....)

56. A New Form of Evil

All I can say is, Calvin would be proud.

The Snowmen...are angry.

Civilization's last hope:  the children.

No quarter given, no mercy asked!  Good vs. Evil.  Or perhaps, it's the Only Slightly Naughty vs. Evil.

There is one thing that all Snowmen fear....

These are Old Glory / Blue Moon Manufacturing's Winter Fun set #1.  They were my choice for joining the Old Glory Army last year.  The Snowmen are made of resin and, though large, are very lightweight.  Personally, I think they are a little too large compared to normal 28mm figures, especially when these others are supposed to be children figures.  They tower over even the adult male fig from the "Mummy" scenario box from Blue Moon.

Still, they were fun to paint.  The Snowmen and the kids had an adequate amount of detail on them, not too much but enough to make them interesting to paint.  I will admit, I thought the Snowmen would be super-fast for me to finish, but it took me much longer than I expected.  When you're dealing with so much white, you really have to make sure the lines are crisp and clean.

They also come with their own rules, "Snowman Wars," which is a simple little black-and-white booklet with some artwork and spelling errors.  I haven't played them yet, but they're straight forward enough to be able to play fairly quickly.  The only problem I have with that is I don't have nearly enough winter scenery; what you see in the pictures above is it!

Thanks for reading!

55. A Star Wars-ian Safari, Endgame

...And now, the conclusion to A Star Wars-ian Safari, using plastic pre-painted Stormtroopers, plastic pre-painted dinosaurs, and the "Saurian Safari" rules.

So finally, a conclusion.  I almost ended the game on the turn before the Deinonychus appeared.  I'm glad I didn't as it sort of made the rest of the uneventful middle part worthwhile.  After the first third of the game, I thought I might have a pretty tough time completing the mission.  Then the second part lulled me into a false sense of security.  The third part nicely rounded things off.

One thing I learned about "Saurian Safari" is that, while it can easily be played solo, it doesn't perform quite as well if you take it outside the rules' parameters.  It's designed to be a HUNTING game, and I was actively trying NOT to hunt.  I think I was influenced by Two Hour Wargames' "Adventures in the Lost Lands," wherein the dinosaurs can hunt YOU if you don't hunt them.  In "Saurian Safari," many times the dinosaurs won't do anything if they're not shot at.  So unless a carnivore appears, you can have a pretty easy time of it.

Of course, I did "shoot myself in the foot," so to speak, when I shot at the Triceratops and I didn't need to.  The odds of it spotting the Stormtroopers was probably lower than the odds of it spotting them after being shot at.  I was afraid the T-Rex would turn and see them too when it wasn't until later I realized he won't move with them out of his line of vision (under normal circumstances).  So there was really no danger to speak of, until I created it.

Ah well, it made the game quite enjoyable.

All in all, a fun game, that took me longer to document than it did to play (but I enjoy that part of it, too).

Thanks for reading!