20mm additions

Hello & Welcome back to my blog. 

I hope you all had a happy Christmas/Yule or what ever it was you celebrated recently, assuming you celebrated anything in which case I hope you had a good few days! 

Time to catch up a little. I have been collecting some bits for my Blood& Fire setting. The last few weeks saw orders wing their way to my door from GZG, Elheim and Apocalypse Miniatures. 

There is a bit of difference in size between the ranges. Elheim is 20mm, Apocalypse is 20mm "Heroic" and GZG is 25mm true. Here for your Mk1 Eyeballs is a size comparison for you. 

L-R - A couple of cheap plastic figures, Elheim, Apocalypse & GZG. They look very different in size. Interestingly the GZG and Apocalypse figures look pretty close size wise. 

As the cars will be as important as the figures here is a comparison with a hotwheels car. 

The 20mm figures look a little small but the Apocalypse figures fit right in. The GZG 25mm figure looks like a good fit too. 

I will continue to use the 20mm figs but I will be mounting them on bases to lift them a little.The Apocalypse and GZG figures will be kept on their integral bases. 

I would like more Apocalypse figures for my Blood & Fire project. However they have a limited amount of ranges. That said I have just put an order in with Aberrant for the Warlands game & figures. I will give a review post when they arrive. Of course I will be interested to see how they scale up. 

Anyone else (in the UK) interested in this scale post apoc will be interested to hear the Home & Bargains store has Hotwheels cars for 99p. Get down there and get stocked up!  Here are some recent acquisitions...

I am loving the detail on the Pepe Le Phew Car - take a gander at those wheels! If only all Hotwheels had this level of detail!! It is a Hotwheels Looney Tunes car (probably limited ed - not bad for 99p). 

These cars will be stripped, cleaned and rebuilt in a Wasteland fashion. I see these as a gangs rides with the Pepe Le Phew car as the Boss car. 

In addition to this I am playing the Mad Max computer game. I am enjoying it and finding lots of inspiration for terrain and gangs. 

Back to 28mm, I got a email earlier this month from Taban saying my order had got lost and they where re-sending it plus some resin bases as an apology. However I got another email Christmas Eve saying they had a problem and they where not dispatched but will be as soon as they sort the problem out. Some people I know of have gotten their orders.  Now I am wondering if they are stalling as my Paypal dispute runs out tomorrow at midnight. Should I escalate it with or give Taban the benefit of the doubt??

Anyways that is it for now. Thanks for reading.  

Merry Christmas 2015

The big day looms and it is nearly here!

So I wish all my readers/followers a very happy Christmas and a wonderful new year! Stay safe and have a good time!

 Hopefully I will find some time to get caught up on the old blog in the next few days.

Meanwhile....remember scavengers that this is the time of year to collect all those bits n bob for terrain making. Check out an older blog post covering seasonal terrain scavenging.

Wasteland Wondering

Welcome back to another Wasteland Wondering....where I ramble through the wastelands of my twisted mind dreaming up more post apocalyptic wargaming & model making hobby ideas.

In this post I shall have a quick catch up, a moan about suppliers and explore some ideas for my 20mm post apoc setting....oh and look at some 20mm cars lurking in my collection.

I have not had much chance to get any hobby stuff done for over a month now. Once again a close relative has been in hospital.Thankfully he is home again. On top of that my Good Lady has gone into full on Christmas Fairy Mode (CFM). Like most husbands suffering from the fallout of CFM I have been obediently playing pack horse as I get dragged around various stores shopping for the silly season. This has very little time for hobby fun.

Of course the various shocking world events on the 13th November stopped me from blogging. I will not voice my opinions and thoughts about these events on this blog. This is a hobby blog. Like all the best things in life - Religion and Politics are kept out of it.

Back in early October I put an order with Taban miniatures for some 28mm post apoc figures. My order is still at processing. Despite dropping Taban a email I have not heard anything about the status of my order. I am gearing up for another email. I don't mind delays on orders. It happens and it isn't like Hobby stuff (usually) has a life and death time issue on them. What gets me is, it takes little effort to reply to a email just to confirm you haven't done a runner with my money? It is simple customer relations. I wouldn't normally mention it here but this is not the first time this year I have had this issue with a miniature supplier.

One thing I have been up to is dreaming up more post apoc ideas for my 20mm Blood& Fire setting which some of you may remember from this post back in August.

Normally I start a setting in various places across the world. Those who know me will know what happens when my mind starts creating.

I had created gang and faction ideas across North America, UK, Germany and Australia. This was largely inspired by the stuff I have already created, some of the ideas I have discussed in previous Wasteland Wondering posts, the Mad Max Movies, the Movie Hell (a good flick if you don't mind subtitles or can speak German), the Rage & Fallout computer games, the Darkwind online game and the Deathlands & Toxic World series of novels.

Then I realized that I was making the same mistakes that I made with Mattblackgod's world. There are factions spread all over the world and many can't interact simply because they are on opposite sides of the world. Whilst some travel is possible it is unlikely most factions would have the resources to travel that far across the post apoc world.

So I plan to start with the first faction Civilization and work around it. It doesn't matter where I created the factions for. The world will be vastly different and is mostly desert. The where and what will no longer apply. Maps would be no longer relevant and the old names forgotten. So I will fit them onto the map as I create the various factions.

I recon faction bases and settlements in my Post Apoc world should be scattered between 20 and 60 miles apart. Many will be at least a days march on foot. Many folks will not want to camp in the wastelands at night.

Rules:
I have been giving the rules I want to use some thought. I have (currently) settled on Warlands by Aberrant Games as this has infantry/pedestrian rules in addition to vehicle rules.

Terrain:
A recent discussion with a friend about going to 20mm from 28mm highlighted storage issues. As I have been collecting for 15mm for I now have quite a bit of scale neutral terrain. Besides a Mad Max style game usually isn't terrain rich. For this I will use my now abandoned Mars Terrain I made for VSF gaming. Now it will be the desert of the Blood & Fire world.

Cars:
Now where would a Mad Max type setting be without cars?? I have a couple of Dark Future (a late 80's car combat game by GW) sets from back in the day and I have some cars (the ones I couldn't sell) from the game that got me back into wargaming and model making about 12 years ago....Axles & Alloys. So I dug the cars out.


Here we can see a mix of Dark Future cars and converted hotwheels for Axles and Alloys. Some of the Dark Future Interceptors and Police Vehicles will be used for Civilization. They will get some sort of uniform livery. Maybe a Mad Max MFP one?


The DF Interceptors. I plan to have a renegade Interceptor and one captured by a Warlord based North of Civilization. I have figured out how the Civilization are building combat cars which will be included in the fluff (to follow soon...honest).


Here we see a motley collection of converted DF Renegades. This lot will serve as armored buggies for various wastelanders.


Three of my recent Blood & Fire builds hide at the back.


Some police and gang vehicles.

Some of these cars will be repainted, some reworked and a few will be stripped for parts. In addition to this lot I just got a Hot Wheels Ford Falcon XB which I will attempt to build a Mad Max Interceptor.

That is all for now....thanks for looking.

Wasteland Wondering.

Welcome back to another Wasteland Wondering. In this post I will be chatting about my last post apoc faction plans (The Bulletfarm) and a Post Apoc City Idea. Plus a peek at me latest mini acquisitions.

I hope you all had a happy & safe Halloween. We are big on Halloween in our household. I need to get a Halloween game set up one year. I have the minis and terrain for a spook fest type game. 

In my last Wasteland Wondering I explored a possible site for a Lead factory or Bullet Farm for UK post apocalyptic settings. A reader (Brummie) asked where this was, so in order to keep my readership happy...

It's called Speedwell Cavern in the Peak District. 

Speedwell Cavern Linkage

The thought of the workers using boats though the tunnels really fires up the imagination. 

We plan to visit the area in the next week or two. Unfortunately due to my Wife's mobility issues we will not be visiting the lead mine. Hopefully I can expand the idea's I have for this after driving around the area. 

I have not got any hobby work done this week. It has been all prep for Halloween. Like I said earlier it is a big deal in our household. 

A nice parcel landed on my door mat. Some of 28mm Wasteland Survivors from the recent Kickstarter by Westfalia. 

They seem to scale up well with my other 28mm figures. They are a must collection for any fans of a certain movie series. I look forward to getting them painted. 

My old noggin has been working overtime this week. I have been giving some thought to creating a Post Apocalyptic City along the lines of the New City in the Toxic World novels or the City in the Killing Moon novel by Rod Glenn. I like to work from the base up when creating such places starting at the end of the world onwards. 

As I work at a Aircraft Factory and Airport I used that as an base idea. There is a wealth of materials for a setting up faction. Decent security, Airliner Airfames as accommodation, the airfield runways and Taxi Pans as extra space, converted fire engines into war rigs, the fuel tanks, the fuel tankers (airports have lots of these), airport vehicles, hangars, workshops, massive car parks with plenty of vehicles to use, unusable vehicles used as a outer barricade, airport maintenance vehicles, nearby industrial estates & support businesses and of course the green areas for growing crops. These ideas are the ones just off the top of my head. With a few skilled and knowledgeable people the turbines from jet engines may even be reused in a power generation capacity if driven by compressed steam. The locals could even be armed with weapons made from turbine blades. 

If the faction is clever enough they may even manage to keep some light aircraft flying which they use in a scouting or ground attack capacity. Forget jet aircraft and most helicopters. They are too thirsty and maintenance intense to keep them flying for long after the end of the world. I give many of them around 18 months of flying with enough fuel and parts. 

Of course some airfields have soil contamination issues from the airport. This will not stop hemp growing for diesel production. 

Most modern cities evolved from settlements based around a natural resource such as water or food. I can't see it being any different in the post apoc world. Many airports are near the coast in the UK which is handy for such a set up. It is a shame that in my UK Post Apoc setting that they are flooded. Maybe the site I am interested in may have risen from the earthquakes that followed the asteroid storm? That is one of  the things I love about Post Apoc is the freedom to modify the world you have created to suit your needs. 

This is of course if I go 28mm. If I use my newer 20mm setting I could arrange for a natural spring to have broken out near the planned site. 

That is all for this Wasteland Wondering. Take care out there! 

Thanks for reading. 

Wasteland Wondering

Welcome back to another Wasteland Wondering. In today's blog post I will give you a hobby update, make a book recommendation, explore some ideas whilst giving you a insight into my warped mind.

Not a lot of hobby stuff has happened since my last blog update. I did pick up a few LAM figures (the post apocalyptic heroes) and some old Rogue Trader era Space Orks for the Orktober competition on the Oldhammer groups over on Facebook. I made a start on the base coats on all these figures and then stalled. Strangely I have had the bug to paint some 15mm miniatures but I have not found the time. Maybe I am going over to the 15mm dark side??

This week I have been reading “We had Flags” the third novel in the Toxic World series by Sean McLachlan. The novel explores the fear and paranoia people feel when confronted with the unknown. In this case the unknown arrives in Toxic Bay in the form of a rusty pre end freighter fitted with a cannon. Things get worse when it becomes apparent the ship is crewed by the feared Chinese. The novel like the others in the series genitally explores how the world got into the post apocalyptic state through the characters thoughts and conversations. I find this a refreshing change to the block history lessons that some novels of the genre give us.

Toxic world is a grim setting where the world that is left is the ruins of the past and a world filled with toxins. If you are expecting Hordes of Undead, Mad Max (fuel and vehicles are too precious to waste) or Fallout (no 50s Sci Fi elements or mutants) then you may not like the novels. In all the Toxic World series of novels are a good read filled with excellent characters and twists. If post apocalyptic gaming is your thing then the series gives plenty of ideas for characters, factions, places, scenarios, skirmishes and even a full scale battle. I love the Tweakers in the novels who are solvent/chemical addicts. They are disheveled and crazed by their addictions. The Tweakers are a constant danger out in the ruins. I wish I could find suitable miniatures for these bedraggled feral chemical addicts. I may have to convert some Mantic Ghouls. Check out the Toxic World novels over on Amazon.

One of my other hobbies is to go for long drives/rides exploring the countryside of UK. When checking out a couple of passes through the Peak District I discovered lots of caves on the passes and what was a Lead Mine. On seeing this my twisted little mind screamed “BULLET FARM!”. There is a couple of villages in the pass. In a Post Apoc setting the surviving villages could easily blockade the passes. The locals could trade lead and other minerals for supplies with other factions. If they are clever they could even trade for the components to make munitions.

Whilst looking about Google Earth (a great tool for research) I noticed that the Cheshire salt mines are near the banks of the River Mersey. My modern Post Apocalyptic setting is based in and around the ruins of Liverpool (write about what you know and all that). The city sits on the banks of the Mersey. The river would be a good place for a salt trade and would provide a easy method of transportation. I imagine that salt would have some valuable uses in the Post Apocalyptic world. 

Well that's all for now. I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings and idea sharing. In my next Wasteland Wondering I hope to be looking at ideas for post apocalyptic settings in various scales.

Until next time...have a Happy Halloween and Safe Bonfire Night.

Abandoned Industrial Terrain

Welcome back to my blog. 

For some time I have had some abandoned industrial terrain laying there waiting for me to finish them. So four years later I got up to speed. 

The storage tanks. Who knows what may have been stored in these? Fuel, concrete, chemicals, flour or sugar maybe?  Should we investigate? 

These where originally designed for my STALKER games but they fit Post Apoc very nicely. They maybe also useful for the Undercity too (apart from the tufts of grass that is!).

This model is made from three bottle tops and three yakult bottles. The pipe work on top is made from thick pipe solder. It is easy to work with. The whole thing is mounted on a CD. 

The barrels are made from press cast milliput. I use laytex molds taken from model bits. Great for making Post Apoc terrain bits cheaply. 

The master mixer and processing tank. This again is bottle tops, yakult bottles and thick pipe solder. The big tank is made from a tank from a cheap toy gun. The breather hole has had a straw inserted to make a breather pipe. 

The processing tank is mounted on a milk bottle/carton top. The control panel is a toy mobile phone from a cheap action figure. 

The pipe work and power panel is from a resin Old Crow 6mm scale refinery pipework set. The old bandy and warped packing crate is also press cast. 

Thanks for looking. 

More new ruins and craters.

Welcome back to my blog. I have been off work ill for a couple of weeks now with a virus which I cant shake. Damned mutated wasteland viruses. One great thing about our hobby is that you don't need to be too fit to do it. One silver lining is I have managed to do a little catching up on hobby stuff. 

This blog post will show off some more ruins & craters by Amera Plastic Mouldings that I managed to get finished. 

First up a barricade or wall. 

This is a set up crumbled ruin which can be trimmed to give three models. 

The posters are a book cover and promo are from the Unity series of Sci Fi novels by Jonathan Fletcher, who also does his own art. He kindly agreed to let me use his art work as posters for my models. 

Craters are a part of some post apocalyptic landscapes. Mattblackgod's world was a massive warscape before it got nuked from orbit. My modern settings are blasted by asteroid storms. This double crater is produced by Amera Plastic Mouldings. 

Giant craters are also a must in the wastelands. 

That does it for now with Amera terrain although that there is some bits to finish in the pile. 

Thanks for looking. 

Roach Jones

Roach Jones lives in the overcrowded megablocks of Utopia City, Mattblackgod's world's only surviving mega city. Roach is a nobody. For some time he has been haunted by disturbing dreams which featured a lot of symbols of the Matt Black God. 

Looks like Roach's base needs some time for the glue to dry - whoops!! 

Roach approached the Church of the Matt Black God hoping to find some answers. They saw him as a heretic and attacked him. Roach fled with the angry cultists in hot pursuit. Roach dodged through a marketplace causing the cultists and shoppers to riot. 

This has lead to the Utopia City Magistrates to become interested in Roach Jones because he incited a riot and is in possession of an illegal weapon.  

Still clutching a holy holo book from the cult which Roach hopes to find answers and the pistol he took off a cultist Roach flees across the city. Roach sees his only option is to head to Atomic Alley where it is rumored that there is a entrance to the fabled and dreaded undercity. 

Rictus & Furiosa - New additions to the Warboys Warband

Here it is - post No 300!!! 

The Warboys have some new additions to their  Warband. 

Rictus is the third son of the Warlord Immortan Joe. He usually leads the Warbands into the Wastelands. 

Rictus is an old OOP Necromunda Goliath miniature by GW that I was given painted a while back. I touched the paint up and he is ready for the table. 

Furiosa came to the Citadel as a prisoner who worked her freedom and proved herself as competent warrior. Furiosa worked her way up the ranks in Immortan Joe's army and is allowed to run a war band and war rig across the wastelands. Furiosa is a Ms Lovely Day by Crooked Dice.  

Scab is the newest member of the Warboys. He has been trusted with a machine pistol from the bullet farm. They better hope that Scab's finger doesn't slip. Scab is an old OOP Necromunda Goliath juve miniature by GW (as if you needed telling who made it) that I was given painted a while back. I touched the paint up to make him look like a Warboy. 

Just for a bit of fun...a War 'Tom' Boy! 

The War 'Tom' Boy is a girl who has joined the Warboys. She has proven herself to be as tough as the boys. 'Tom' is an old OOP Necromunda Esher juve miniature by GW that I had laying about. 

A group shot of the new additions to the warband. 

New Ruins & Wrecks

Welcome back to my blog. Finally a chance to catch up with my hobby stuff.

I have been working on some ruins by Amera Plastic Mouldings and cobbling together some old wrecks from cheap toy cars.

Inspired by Across The Dead Earth's terrain and pictures from Chernobyl, I have decided that some overgrown ruins are in order for my post apoc settings. Starting with the Amera stuff and later on re-working my older models.

First up is Amera's Z211 Bombed out building.

I based the model on a cork floor tile. The model was painted with textured paint. The base areas where covered in sand and grit. Bits of cork was added to the base for the lumps of shattered concrete effect.

The ruin was primed with cheap grey car primer. Various shades of light grey was dry brushed over the ruin. The drybrushing was worked up in shade until a near white shade was used. The base was painted brown and dry brushed grey. Various brown washes where used to tone the whole thing down.

Graffiti and posters where added and they where given brown washes to make them look old and tired.

Interior parts where painted different colors to breakup the grey. Various bits of foliage and static grass was added.

Next up is Amera's F224 Building Ruins.

The ruin was cut out and trimmed before assembly. When assembled the ruin was glued to a cork tile. Rubble and sand was added. The ruin was painted as the previous one.

Foliage was added to make it look old and overgrown.

The inside. The floor had cork tile added too.

Next up is some wrecks built from cheap toy plastic cars. The where distressed and had the odd wheel removed & windows cracked. They where sprayed with red oxide primer. The windows & head lamps where then painted light grey. They where given black and grey washes. The windows got a green wash to give them that algae covered look. Static grass was added to give them a overgrown look.

The car park. 

This car was another cheap store find. It was too rubbish to use as a conversion. Various holes covered with stickers have been turned into battle damage. I painted the insides and painted the exterior the same as the others. Plant life was added inside too. 

That is all for now. Thanks for looking.