Store Open!

 

is open for business! There are only a few products available at this time but more items will be added all the time. Check back her for regular updates!

Right now I have two offerings available in 28mm scale with many more to come.

The following two barriers are available for use in modern and futuristic 28mm wargames. Use them as them independently as scatter terrain or combine them with other models in larger terrain pieces or dioramas.

5 International Youtube Channels Modelers Can't Miss!

Model building is an international hobby and perhaps the best expression of this is the wealth of channels dedicated to the hobby available on Youtube. The following channels are (in no particular order) some of my favorites related to modeling from the international community.

 Laser Creation-World

Laser Creation-World is a German modeling channel specializing in dioramas with a focus on scratch builds and customization. Building, painting, and weathering are all demonstrated against the backdrop of relaxing music while instructions appear on screen in both English and German. 

Black Magic Craft

Black Magic Craft is a Canadian modeling channel for tabletop gamers. Jeremy's videos primarily consist of terrain building tutorials but also cover miniature painting all while maintaining a budget friendly environment. What I appreciate most about this channel is Jeremy's transparent approach. Throughout each build he shares his successes as well as his failures and the steps he took to overcome those happy little accidents.

Luke Towan (Boulder Creek Railroad)

Boulder Creek Railroad is an Australian channel which produces outstanding tutorials on building realistic scenery and dioramas. Luke covers everything from assembling laser cut kits to building trees from scratch to fully realized dioramas.

PLASMO

PLASMO (Plastic Models) is a Czech English language channel focused on model building and dioramas. Videos are step by step and include information regarding the specific products shown.

Paepercuts

Hailing from the Netherlands, Paepercuts is a hobby channel focused on creating realist scenery terrain, diorama building, and miniature painting tutorials. A number of the tutorials involve dinosaur and animal dioramas but there are a few Games Workshop miniatures featured as well.

Bard's Craft

Okay so this is number 6 but I couldn't help myself. Finland is the home of this Youtube channel which specializes in terrain, buildings, and custom miniatures for Dungeons & Dragons as well as other tabletop games.

The above channels not only provide hours of hobby entertainment but nearly limitless techniques, skill sets, materials, and product suggestions you can integrate into your hobby repertoire.

Know of any great international Youtube channels that aren't listed here? Please link to them in the comments.

Terrain - Imperial Fountain

A while back I picked up an old Emperor's Champion at our local Gamer's Garage Sale. He came in a grab bag of bits for $2 and I knew almost immediately that I wanted to use him as a statue. I thought the statue would be best highlighted if it adorned a fountain. Furthermore I decided that the fountain ought to serve as a defendable piece of terrain for my gaming table.

The fountain is constructed from sheet styrene, pvc, and a 12 gauge shotgun shell.

PVC foam board lends itself well to scribing. I used it around the edges to make bricks. I did this by scribing horizontal and vertical grooves into the PVC foam board. I followed that up with some scratches and pitting for texture. I finished it by spreading joint compound into the grooves for mortar.

The floor of the fountain is wide enough to allow a 25-30mm base fit comfortably. The detail is a tile texture sheet styrene. I added a drain using some textured styrene.

I have already painted the Emperor's Champion in bronze and aged it using various patina washes. I also added some bird droppings using dabs of off white and yellow paints.

After it was built I placed it on a piece of chipboard, cut out a blast hole in one side and littered the edges with sand, gravel, and bricks.

A coat of grey primer starts to bring it all together.

It's all about the details. The nest is made of static grass and the egg is apoxie sculpt.

The height of the walls lends to some great cover.

WIP - Ork Terrain

I felt inclined to make some more terrain and wanted to go Ork. I have a giant box of sprue which I planned on using to frame the structures and a bunch of cardstock and scrapbook paper to flesh out the buildings.

I started by cutting out a 1'x1' square of 1/8" MDF. I then rounded out the edges and drew my layout on top. I'm imagining this to be an Ork trading post. It will have corrugated steel walls, a bar serving "Boooz", a "Wepunz" trader, and a lookout tower. I had planned on making a "Gazz" station but decided on the "Wepunz" trader instead. I figured I had more bitz on hand to flesh out that idea.

I cut out some cobblestone textured scrapbook paper to shape and glued that down to the board to add some texture to the roadway.

I then went to town on cutting up sprue and boxing out the buildings and walls. 

I'm using corrugated scrapbook paper to build the walls and a mixture of materials to line the buildings. Cardstock, styrene, aluminum, and plenty of gift cards and loyalty cards are being put to use on the walls.

My 'Wepunz" trader will eventually be stocked full of spare bitz.

The watchtower is coming along nicely. There's a door at the bottom and a ladder coming out to the top. I made the ladder out of more sprue which I heated with a lighter and bent.

Going forward I plan on fleshing out the bar including access points for the roofs and a snappy sign. I also want to pipe filler into each of the walls, top it with gravel, insert some sharpened toothpicks and top the walls off with some constatine wire. All the ground and edges will be detailed with debri and sand. I also plan on throwing in lots of other bits like crates, barrels, and spare parts.

Looting the Craft Store

Perhaps one of the best locations to find inexpensive, quality modeling supplies is your local craft store. These businesses carry a wide variety of products at extremely low prices. Seasonal sales and in-store coupons can often save you 50% or more! I bought my Patriot airbrush at 40% off at Michaels Craft Store. 

Here in the states there are a few different options for big-box craft stores and many independent local retailers as well. These stores are treasure troves of inexpensive, high quality modeling and terrain supplies. The following are just a few of the various supplies I spied during my last trip to the craft store.

There are a lot of great materials for creating foliage.

Florist wire is a great material to have on hand for modeling, sculpting, and terrain building.

Sand of various sizes are available for all your terrain and basing needs.

Styrofoam cutters and glue are great tools to have for terrain making.

Floral foam is easily sculptable and makes for great terrain.

With a little greenstuff stress moldes can help you adorn your vehicles and terrain.

This stencil immediately made me think Necron!

You can never get enough cogs and the scrapbook aisle has some great ones for you.

I would love to use some of these to create a clock tower for my gaming board.

A variety of stencils are available for adding detail to your terrain or models.

These textured panels for use in scrapbooking would make great textures for gothic buildings.

Microbeads are an invaluable tool for creating rivets, eyes, and pustules.

Hole punches make great rivets! At craft stores you can find hole punches in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Balsa and basswood are great materials for making terrain and plinths.

Looking for Dulcote? Look no further! Testors Dulcote is by far the best matte finish I have ever encountered. I like the rattle can but it is available elsewhere in bottles for airbrushing if you prefer. I prefer to buy out my local craft store.

Various sizes and densities of foam board are available in both the craft and framing sections.

Clippers, crimpers, benders, and tweezers galore!

Jewelry wire comes in various sizes materials and even textures. Some are perfect for power cables.

There are countless sizes and types of chains available at craft stores in the jewelry section. Real chain beats a sculpted one any day!

There are various hole punches and other tools which you may use to either emboss or punch rivets for your modeling.

Balls of various sizes can be useful for a number of applications. Ball joints, eyeballs, boils and pustules can all be created with the use of these beads.

These gears and cogs can be found in the jewelry/bead aisle and make a great addition to steamp punk, industrial, or Ork models.