Last piece before Novacore on the coming weekend (Australia's largest event so far, and my local one). Picked up a Plastcraft "Star Motel" kit and modified it slightly, including adding some lights to it, extending the rear walkway (and swapping out some of the corflute bits for other pieces of 3mm foamed pvc sheet. Oh, and graffiti - because nothing says "lived in" more than graffiti. It's now "the Blue Falcon" - a rather seedy flophouse in the wrong part of town, It tends to attract entirely the wrong kind of shit-magnets, too I've heard you can ask for "Lionel Polanski" at the front desk if you're feeling a little ... blue. Remember: there's no law on Ceres, only cops ...
So, my table on display and in use at Novacore today. There's 3 buildings left in this lot to light up. Then I'll call it done.
Had a pile of bits leftover from various projects The "claw" from a gundam diorama hangar kit. The torso from a large Heavy gear model (resin). Other bibs & bobs from the 40k box. I needed a baggage rem for my Vertical smile of Corregidor army but dislike the styling of the salyut. My other baggage bots (PanO) don't fit the aesthetic either. So I kitbashed one from those parts. It's size appropriate, looks like it was cobbled together from stolen or junked parts (and yes, I know it won't be "tourney legal" because no CB parts in it at all. I play maybe 2 tourneys a year, so it's not a deal killer. Infinity isn't the only game my figures get used in, so being straitjacketed into one system isn't something I'm down for. When I find an infinity baggage rem I that fits the aesthetic I want, I'll use it (or kitbash it from their carcasses). The grabber claw formed the "legs" assembly. The gear torso is its body. A short length of square cross section tube attached to the back of it allowed me to add the cut down t'au missile pods for the "baggage" panniers. Wings from a mantic jetbike and a trimmed set of 40k binocs rounded out the assembly. Giving it a sensor cluster "head". And next to one of my rebots (new style) for size comparison. Speaking of the rebots, though. I grabbed that box from one of our local suppliers. When I opened the box, I was surprised to see TWO complete sets of each option: HMG, combi, FO/flash pulse and sml, all x2. Cool. I thought. Double the conversion possibilities. I don't usually use both an SML AND a TR HMG in any list, it's an either/or usually. So I usually find a way to magnetise the missile pod. I haven't yet used a combi rifle equipped rebot, either, but few people will know the difference between the hmg and the combi from 4' away, so the hmg can happily be the combi if needed. They both have that ammo box anyway, and it's a much bigger focal point. Fortunately, the new rebots are much more amenable to this than the old ones. Large flat area on the top where a magnet can be sited. The pods took a little work to modify into something that would fit a magnet, but it was doable. My SML/FO rebot. Can be either (the flashpulse bits are just part of the target aquisition bits for the SML build as far as I'm concerned.) A fellow gamer (from the mayacast group on fb) benefited from this largesse as well. He was after another FO/flash pulse bit and I had spares I wasn't going to use. So I sent him one of the sprues with the combi on it as well. Out of the goodness of my little black heart.
One of my clubmates has a bunch of 3d printers. After I recovered his army (and display board) that he'd accidentally left by the side of the road after a weekend event at the club, he said he'd do me some terrain pieces as a thank you. I believe they're from the Dragon's Rest set, but I could be wrong. He did me up a couple of each of these two pieces to start with, with some more to follow. The cryotank piece only needed a sheet of thin plastic (roughly business card sized) to go into it to form the tank (and I have some acetate sheeting spare). so I trimmed some to suit. and added an occupant to it. It's also designed to fit an LED/battery module under it, so you can light it up. This is being attended to also. The diagnostic bed/scanner was primed and painted up this morning.
More building of stuff. I have one of Brutal Cities' "Easy Aug" (cybernetic implant) store building kits. It will also be lit up, like a few of my other buildings. It has a metal truss framework around the lower level, and rather than use the usual metallic paint to achieve the metal look, I went with an old trick that we used to use in prop-work. Graphite rubbing. The pieces were sprayed with GLOSS black paint, and while the paint is still wet, you dump graphite powder onto them. (Graphite powder can be bought from many hardware stores. It's a dry lubricant recommended for metal parts where oil would be counter-productive - like the inside of padlocks). You let the paint dry, then shake off the excess and then buff the everliving crap out of it to bring the shine up. You end up with an "old steel" sort of look. This was how some of the "metal" weapons in Farscape had their lustre applied (they were mostly vacformed ABS). Like this: The "ladder" panel was done in a "chrome silver" rattlecan metallic. It was too shiny an effect for what I was after. Front Elevation, lower level (ground floor). The mesh is just some fibreglass flyscreen I had leftover from re-screening a door). The blue door on the right is not fixed in place yet - it will be hinged so it can open/close. A hole has been made above it, to fit an LED for lighting. There is an awning which covers this and will help to scatter the light downwards. The large opening on the left is for a garage style door which will also be hinged to swing upwards (magnets will be involved). Rear Elevation, lower level. Red door likewise not fixed in place. It will also be hinged to open/close. Awning added over doorway. Lighting will also be fitted under here. Rooftop scatter: HVAC condenser. Rust effect applied. I think it may be in need of a service. Side elevation, lower level. Trusswork over rendered wall. Pre-etched mdf wiring loops replaced with electronics hookup wire. Rear elevation upper level. I added the ladder on the right, to give access to the roof (HVAC servicepeople don't have climbing+ in my world ... ) I've also added sliding doors to the opening. The low wall at the back was also modified to give external stairs access (there IS an internal stairwell, but only having the one stairwell for access is a safety code violation. The sliding doors. They open and close on a track. Insert *pssshhht* noises as you see fit. I had to modify the ducting for the condenser (it's designed to run to the other side of the building, which doesn't have an overhang - but I'm putting an illuminated sign in on that side, and the duct run would interfere with that.) At the moment, the upper level has been painted an assembled (extra weathering yet to be applied. Electronics yet to be installed.) the roof fits on and everything lines up. The lower floor has only the two long walls glued in place. The necessity of hinges on the front and back walls (and the lighting for same) has meant they will be glued in later. My "rust" uses a trick to get a more realistic effect. The "orange" stuff is ACTUAL rust (harvested from some steel wool. I mixed the particles with some matte medium and painted it on. The "old rust" is a custom brown paint mix.). You can get a pre-mate medium for applying a rusty patina to wooden surfaces from many hardware stores (I made my own).
I like the small custom details. Otherwise the MDF buildings look too flat. And I love the idea of the sliding doors.
Related to graphite trick, use pencils over black (once dry, and works with matte too, or even different base colors) in corners and other prominent zones, to create from full metallic look to just chipped paint. After all it is graphite plus extras, or something that passes for it. Dust from sharpening/sanding can be a source of last resort for more general application, leads for thick mechanical pencils are best for that. Some ochres, reds and oranges are rust. Check if the pigment (alone or as part of paint) is iron oxide. One black is also iron oxide. Pastels from art shops make a quick source of pigments. Again, they include extras and can behave different than "clean" pigment... sometimes that is a bonus. Both things are common techniques for scale tank and airplane builders.
The ladder just uses leftover bits (that fall out of the slots) from the kit and the uprights were from a couple of the "spacer" bits between larger pieces. I was just trying to reduce some waste. I've done it with a few other kits.
More progress. Basic construction on upper/lower floors done. Mounting area for large MAS illuminated ad board awaits electronics. Also my printer died, so I have to replace it (and the copy shops around here aren't doing self-serve atm), so it's waiting on that artwork to get sized and printed. Windows glazed. Rear Door hinged. Front Garage door swings up and down (held open with a magnet, can be pulled back down with the cord). Front other door slides open/closed. Holo Advert magnetised (the kit doesn't come with any, but I had spares from a MAS holoboard set ). The battery box will get some cosmetic work to make it look like an industrial power distribution hub. It runs the lighting downstairs. Started work on the rear stair access piece. Needs an MDF base piece to blend it in with my other terrain, too.
Home stretch. Finish line is in sight. Probably one more update of this building after this one. View upstairs in the "recovery" area. Two beds with monitors. Beds by Spartan Scenics. Screen and graphics by Antenocitis workshop. Bed bases by LEGO (4x2 stud brick). Upper doors painted in Dark Blue. Main level Nanosurgical and diagnostic system Widget. 3D printed by a friend. Screen by Antenocitis workshop. Desk from Mantic, acrylic details from Novacore 2019. Original battery box proved "problematic" (switch was in the wrong spot, and would have made replacing the batteries impossible) so I replaced it with a smaller option. Knights of Dice Window frame widgets (x6, with another for the lid) and a 3v lithium coin cell battery holder. Magnetised lid. Battery compartment closed. Switch for lighting to be installed.
Tweaked the battery compartment cover. Final version. Why paint "texture" when I can use leftover terrain bits for that? Switch also fitted for lighting. The pushbutton on/off switches I'd planned to use were out of production. So an old slide switch got used instead. Better shot of the desk. It's one of the mantic "terrain crate" starship set. I notched the front of the desk so I could fit in the holo keyboard. The keyboard and screen were from a novacore 2019 objective widget.
Front view of the finished building. Side view. Upper holo is magnetised. I have 3 different pieces I can put here (all magnetised). Rear view with stairs. A model can pass beneath the stairs where they connect with the building. These stairs were made for another building back in 2018, but happily will also work here. Can be perpendicular to building as in here, or parallel - like this: Front view, light over the door. Rear view, light over the door. Alternate stairs. Can be placed parallel or perpendicular to building like the other ones.
Final bit of decoration on the building. Gaze into the face of Dredd. I had some off-cuts of 3mm foamed pvc left and a couple of the MAS mini holoboard ads, so I turned them into a transit stop for my board. The bus service that runs through my city is just referred to as "the blue line" (based off the livery of the bus I picked up), so it was painted to suit.
What about printing a small map of the blue line? Just google 'subway blue line' or 'metro blue line'. It would add a nice Transit Authority detail. For the rest, really nice.
Yeah, I've got some transit maps somewhere but most of them don't rez very well at that scale. So I've got to retouch the art I've got (make the lines thicker, mostly) so that a colour shows. There's 2 more bus shelters to come - and they'll all get something like that.
