Well the mojo has continued to flow this week and I have a bit more of a productive update for you rather than just dabbling about and trying something new. It’s one of those things were once you get into the flow of something hobby becomes enjoyable once more and not just a chore. But more on that later as I’m going to start with a D&D update.
So we had another good session on Saturday and even had a couple of new characters joining the band. Although we have also lost one for a few months with Tom heading back off to sea, and no that’s not a euphemism for something else he really is going to sea. We finally managed to get the gold out of the cave and in to our waggon before having a good night’s rest and then heading off back up the road looking for an old battle field so that we could fulfil a contract we have with the hunters hall. We had a bit of a heated discussion about where we should be heading next with half the party wanting to head back to Adun to help stop the spread of another outbreak of the Shadows. We agreed to head back that way after some magic scrying revealed that an item we were tracking for Al’s character had been moved and was now behind us. We found the battle field easily enough the following day and ended up fighting a giant bone swarm, which is just a whirling mass of old bones. We got lucky with this one when some wild magic courtesy of Al’s character allowed me to dish out 230 points of damage in a single attack. Although it still took us a while to take the thing down so I’ve no idea what would have happened without that good luck. We now have to collect as many of the bones as we can, as the contract is paid based on the number we can bring back. That’s where the session ended so I’ve no idea what to expect or where we may be heading for our next outing.
So I’ve tried to be a bit more focused this week and it’s partly down to the details of the pre-order for Speed Freaks. Now I don’t think I’m going to order the game as I’m not that bothered about it as a stand-alone game, although it does look quite fun from what I’ve seen. So if I’m going to get it’s going to be for the models and the only models I want from the set are the two buggies. I’m not a fan of the ork bikers. Thinking like that means it’s an expensive way to get a couple of new models. Although I will be looking to pick some of new vehicles up once they become available on general release.
Now after that ramble what has that got to do with this week’s hobby. Well it got me thinking that I need to crack on with my Grot Bomma project. It’s stalled of lake because I’m struggling to get the front fuselage finished because it’s a fiddly job and I’ve just not been in the mood. So to get things moving again I’ve decided to get the base built. The thinking being if I can make some progress it will reinvigorate me to get the fuselage finished.
I’ve decided to go with an industrial base that matches the dread conversion but because of the size of this model I’ve had to move the stand a lot further to the front of the base to try and get some balance. Otherwise I think the model will just tip over when it’s placed on the base. I’ve also cut out some of the plasti card on the base so that the flying stand will be more secure once it’s glued in place and it won’t just be relying on the strength of the glue to keep things in check. Then I’ve added a few green stuff pipes to add a bit of detail along with a few scraps form my bits box. Overall I like how it looks but I won’t actually know if it works until I get the full fuselage of the bomma completed and mounted.
Whilst I was on a roll I decided to paint up the base and again I’ve gone with the same feel as I did for the dread base. Nothing complicated about it just a combination of different metallic paints dry brushed on and then given a few different washes to get the general effect. A few different coloured rust weathering powders rounded off the main parts before giving it all a mat varnish to knock back the shine. I then went back over a few areas with a steel metallic to give a few shiny spots but keep these reasonable light.
Things then got a bit interesting as I foolishly decided to paint the piece of scrap drop pod in yellow to give it a bit of a pop. To do this I carefully masked off the rest of the model so that I could use the airbrush in the hope of getting a smoother finish. But before I applied any paint I gave it a coat of AK Interactive Chipping Fluid. Once that was dry I started work on applying a few different shades of yellow, with more chipping fluid applied after each coat. Then it was a waiting game as I’ve found if you do the next step too soon it just doesn’t work.
Whilst waiting, and by waiting I mean for a couple of days, I built the socket for the other end of the flying stand which will be built into the fuselage. I didn’t want to have to glue the fuselage to the base as it would make transporting the model a nightmare. Instead I’ve gone with four layers of plasticard and made the fit as tight as I could. Again I won’t know if this will work until I get the model finished but as long as I can mount the socket securely to the fuselage, and I’ve given it a big surface area to glue, it should be ok.
So back to the base. After leaving the paint for a few days to go off fully I then started working on it with a damp cotton bud. The idea here is that the chipping medium between the layers will allow different amounts of paint to be rubbed away to give a more realistic weathered effect. Still needs some work but it gives you a good idea of who it will end up.
And that’s it for this week. I’ve really enjoyed my hobby this week which I have done for the last few weeks. They’ve been more of chore but getting some work done on the bomma has felt good and I’m hoping I can keep things moving along. My plan for next week is to spend a bit of time trying to fill in the rest of the front fuselage but if start to run out of mojo again I’m going to switch to the wings. That’s mainly because I have a good idea how I want the wings to look and more importantly I’ve a good idea how to build them. So until next week have a good one and I’ll hopefully catch up with you all again next week.
