Wednesday 30 December 2020

2020 rear view



2020 has been a strange year filled with trepidation, confusion, unexpected challenges, restrictions, idiots, loony politicians, facemasks and wayyy too much time at home. One thing it has proved is that human stupidity is able to spread faster than any virus. 



While 2020 has had its challenges it’s not been all bad for me. The lockdowns has helped me to get some decent hobby time in. This year’s hobby tally is:


Figures painted: 100

Figures reworked: 22

Terrain finished: 32

Terrain reworked: 1

Vehicles finished: 2

Vehicles reworked: 0


Not a bad tally, that is nearly two figures painted a week which was my aim this time 12 months ago. Especially when I think that I have had a few weeks of mojo loss here and there. The tally has been massively helped by painting some 15mm scale. There is has been a fair bit of terrain knocked out too.  I even got a game in! 



The hobby bingo card got to about 85% complete. I missed painting a 20mm figure, convert a Hotwheels and convert a 10 figure (plenty of these still available should anyone want one!). The hobby bingo card was a good way to stay focused but I doubt I will keep it up in 2021.


Despite the lockdowns I didn’t get half of what I had planned hobbywise done and it didn’t take long to fall off the no purchases wagon. Saving money on the commute to work did allow for a few new purchases. 



That’s all for now....If I don’t get a chance to post....


Happy New Year, I hope 2021 is a better, more stable year for us all. Hopefully we will get a break on the war on Covid 19 and we can return to a more normal life. 


I hope you enjoy bringing in the new year in whatever way you choose. That’s if you don’t choose to spend it with the lights off hiding behind the couch, which looking back is perhaps how we should have all celebrated 2020 new year! I plan to spend the new year relaxing, eating cheese, drinking beer and watching a die hard marathon. 


Stay safe and healthy. Catch you all in 2021! 





Wednesday 23 December 2020

Tales from the Toxic World.

Tales from the Toxic World is a book of short stories from the Toxic World Series of novels by Sean Mclachlan.




I am a fan of the Toxic World setting & novels. I would go as far to say that they are my favourite of the Post Apocalyptic genre. These short stories are set in between Radio Hope and the Refugees from the Righteous Horde books but do not contain any story spoilers from the main series of novels. Although they do feature some of the characters. The book also introduces a new setting/township Tiretown. I do wonder if Sean Mclachlan is going to feature this town in the future of the series somehow, although he does state that Tiretown and New City (the city central to the Toxic World Series) are unaware of each other’s existence. Maybe it will get its own novel? I hope so as the Tiretown story was a gripping read. 


All the stories are great, they add extra depth and colour to the Toxic World. Some of the stories make for good plot hooks for Post Apoc RPGs. 


If you want to read some good post apocalyptic short stories that aren’t the usual run of the mill PA stories then I recommend this book. 

Merry Christmas

Happy Postapoc Christmas to my readers!

2020 has been a weird year, I wish you all have a safe, healthy and happy Christmas (or other applicable holiday). 



May Postapoc Santa bring you good scavenging and loot while keeping the plague away!

Have a good one! Stay safe out there Wastelanders! 

Saturday 12 December 2020

Trash Bash Tutorial.

Hello and welcome back. In this blog post I will be running through a step by step trash bash tutorial to make a Sci Fi building. 


This tutorial is aimed at newbies to one now often neglected aspect of our hobby, trash bashed terrain. 


Trash bashing is using stuff that would normally be thrown out or put into the recycling bin. Cardboard, packing pieces, bottle tops, containers, bits of kits, old gift cards, drinks cans, food cans, model sprue and broken toys and more can be used to build a model. 


Now I can hear some of you asking, with the massive array of plastic, mdf and resin models available, why bother trash bashing? Back in the day it was the only option for many of us. Vehicle kits were limited and terrain kits non existent. Resin models were limited too and expensive. So many wargamers had no option but to build their own. Many Sci Fi films and shows had models built in a similar fashion. It was fun playing identify the parts on the models on screen. 


However what I tend to see now is tables of models which are starting to looks a  bit samey. A trash bashed model or two adds variety to a table. Trash bashing is fun and helps the environment by up cycling/recycling stuff that would end up in land fill or burnt in a incinerator. 


This tutorial will use trash items only but that isn’t to stop you using bits of kits especially if they help theme the terrain to your armies or table style.  To speed things up there are also suppliers of wonderful bits to help make your trash bashes look more convincing. 


Items needed: plastic food container, corrugated cardboard, thin cardboard (cereal packets), plastic or card gift cards, bits of old pens, model sprue, sand and a variety of junk from the bits box. I will also point out some of the errors and things I have learnt during this build. 


Tools needed: hot glue gun, super glue, pva glue, hobby knife, sand paper.


Step 1. 

First we need a food tub. This one had rice in it. Consume the contents or wait until some else does. Wash the tub to clean the insides and remove any stickers/labels. 

Tip: Some labels can be left on the container as they can add to the sci-fi panels look.



Step 2.

Once you have a shiny clean tub, it needs reinforcing. The plastic is often too flimsy to work with. There are a few ways to reinforce plastic tubs. Plaster of Paris (which would make it heavy), paper mache (great for curves and irregular shapes but can take a while to dry) or bits of corrugated cardboard. I chose the corrugated cardboard option. Cut to shape and hot glue to the insides of the tub.


Note - do not be tempted to use expanding foam for sealing holes in buildings on plastic containers. As it expands it deforms the plastic. It is great however for reinforcing pressed cardboard packing pieces. 








Step 3.

Many plastic tubs come with a folded lip at the top which acts as a reinforcement for the tub. They can be filled with putty to give the impression of bumpers or crash defences. Some people like the lip but I am not a fan. Carefully cutting away from myself I trimmed the lip off. 





This creates the problem of making the tub even more flimsy. I got around this be glueing the tub to a corrugated cardboard base. 



Step 4.


Next up lightly sand the tub. This acts as a keying for the glue and paint. Don’t go too heavy as it will damage the tub. 



The door is carved from a cardboard gift card. I have learned the hard way from this. These gift cards are made from laminated cardboard and they are difficult to cut patterns or shapes in them. 



The internal door is cut in a Sci Fi shape. The other card is makes up the frame. 



Step 5. 


The window is carved from a gift card. The card split when cutting it. In retrospect cereal packet card would have been more suited to making the door and window. 



Step 6





The tub is covered in cereal packet and gift card panels of different sizes and shapes.

The door frame has a panel made from card and a lintle. The light above the door is a bit of Lego.






I decided that a ladder would be in order so figures can get onto the roof. I constructed this from lengths of sprue with rungs made from sprue. 



The roof detail consists of bits of pens, a pen top and some plastic threaded do daa salvaged from some toy set. 


In my wisdom I filled the crack above the window with putty. In my rush to finish I neglected to sand it smooth. The base had some sand glued on using PVA glue. 


Step 7. 


Once happy with the build I undercoated the model with grey paint. I use cheap auto primer. Do this in a well ventilated area and away from naked flames. If you have respiratory condition wear a respirator or similar. 


The model was then dry brushed with a mid grey and then highlighted with a light grey. A dark wash ties it together and makes the details pop. The window was painted black then  had a blue painted over it leaving a thin border of black. Light blue was painted along the top of the dark blue. Add some highlights in white here and there. 


Paint details such as control panel labels, numbers and hazard stripes. After this it’s weathering time. Don’t go too mad. It depends on where this building will live. Different environments will weather a building differently. An old building will tend to have heavier weathering. 







For this building I dry brushed some base colour along the bottom of the model. A lighter coloured and lighter dry brush was applied to the whole model. 










I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial. Now get trash bashing! 


Thanks for reading.




Wednesday 2 December 2020

R.I.P Hugh Keays-Byrne

R.I.P. Hugh Keays-Byrne. The actor who played Toecutter in Mad Max and Immortan Joe in Mad Max Fury Road. He played some of my favourite movie bad guys. 


Remember him when you look at the Night Sky. 



May he ride to the gates of Valhalla Eternal Shiny and Chrome.

WITNESS!

Saturday 31 October 2020

Orktober - The Fungus Boys & Black Skar attak buggy

Welcome back and happy Halloween! 


Orktober is something I have always had the urge to participate in but there was always some other ongoing projects that have prevented my participation. Like most Orkophiles I have always loved Orks and there is a pile of old school Orks waiting to join those in my 30+ year old collection. 


These new additions to my collection will be present on Mattblackgod’s world in the wastelands known as Trogwanna which is largely Ork/Trog dominated wasteland. They are on the world as left over genetically engineered warriors from the wars. 


Another idea that I have is to make the Trogwanna setting into its own world, inspired very loosely by Angelis (the world Gorkamorka is set on), the Mad Max franchise and a variety of other sources. But then Mattblackgod’s world is a setting designed so I can use any figures in my collection and where anything goes. Eventually I am hoping to try and get a few games of Gorkamorka in at some point. 


First up is the Fungus Boyz. 


The boss - Fungus Amnugus. 


I trimmed the bases back to make these newer (& much larger) Orks fit in a Truk. Thinking about it I may try to make a press mould copy of the original Gorkamorka bases. 


The Truk was butchered, stretched to fit more Boyz and a Crows Nest added. This was constructed from a a couple of old pen bodies, lolly pop sticks and a hacked up pill bottle. The crows nest will help spotting scrap out in the wastelands.


This mob could do with a driver and gunner on foot. The models came from a revel rebrand of older GW kits. Now sadly OOP. 


The attak buggy is part of the main clan of the Mattblack Trog - the Black Skarz. This buggy serves to disable enemy vehicles in hit and run tactics. It is a newer model from GW. I find these models need pre painting on the sprue as there are lots of internal details. 


The buggy is a Kustom Booster-blasta kit. It is a great model however I wasn’t too happy with the rear dual wheels as the inner set is moulded into the body. It is a kit that won’t be impossible to hack  up but is does have limitations. It would make a good kit to use for parts but at the prices GW ask I would rather spend the money to supply resin parts from a third party.  


Thanks for looking and beware ghouls and spooks.


Take care out there. 

Saturday 17 October 2020

Fresh 15mm meat for the wastelands

Hello and welcome back. 


I have managed to get some 15mm figures painted for my Sci Fi Post Apoc setting (although they would work for Sci Fi too). I would have posted these last week but some of the photos were all blurry.  It took me all week to get new pictures.


Dwayne O Jones



Dwayne O Jones is a rookie character for the Guardians. They recruited him in their recent visit to the town of Oasis. I planned a 5 Clicks from the zone campaign and during the base phase the team got a new recruit to add to their mission. The figure is from the Ion Age Range by Alternative Armies.



This is an armoured character from the Ion Age range. I intend this figure to be used later on during the planned Guardians 5 Clicks from the zone campaign. No name ideas for her yet. 


Zoomie


Zoomie is just another wasteland character. I am not sure how this figure will be used yet. She is a Santa’s elf from Alternative Armies Seasonal Range.


The mechanic 


Every township or space port needs a mechanic to carry out essential repairs. He is an asteroid miner from the shm & Star Viking range by alternative armies. 


Q3C3

Q3C3 is a droid that can be found wandering the wastelands or hanging about star ports making annoying beeping noises. These droids are often used by miscreants for target practice. I am not sure what line the figure is from. It came to me in a big box of 15mm figures donated by a friend. It is a GZG figure I suspect.


The Wyrd Sisters. 


The Wyrd sisters live out in the Styx and come into town when they need supplies. It is rumoured that they are witches. No one has ever approached them about these rumours. Not because they fear witch craft but because these ladies carry plasma brooms (essentially plasma rifles with bristles glued to the stock) which they are quick to use. I had two of these figures in the pile however as witches covens are supposed to come in threes, I think I will have to get another figure. Maybe a scenario with these ladies hunting their lost sister could be played? 


The Crusher


The Crusher is a fearsome mutant found in the wastelands, often in old tunnels. At night they emerge to terrorise settlements. Standing over 4 meters high these monsters cause much damage and are not easy to kill. 


Sadly there was no suitable 15mm figure for this monster. This crusher was a 28mm fantasy Orc. I added some 15mm skulls to it so it scales better with my 15mm figures. Every nasty critter needs a necklace made from human skulls.


Fantasy dudes



This is a couple of fantasy figures painted by my friend Xander. The scale doesn’t work for him so he gifted them to me. A quick rebase and they are done. No idea of the figure line. They remind me of a certain film. 


Thanks for looking. 


Take Care out there.