Post Apocalyptic Cars 4

Post Apocalyptic Cars 3

Car wars Cars

Post Apocalyptic Cars 2

Post Apocalyptic Cars 1

Trees for Battletech

Being a cheap gamer, I am always looking for ways to get nice looking terrain and scenery for little money.  I've seen pipe cleaner trees many times, and made some in the past from bump chenille.  I didn't like how these turned out, so I'm tackling them in a different way.

I prefer my trees to be based individually and be placed on a template, as I will use them for Battletech and other 6mm gaming.

Unfortunately these pictures turned out terribly, but they will still convey the basic process.

Start off with two regular pipe cleaners.  Brown or black is the best to use, but I've picked up all kinds of colors for very little money, so I will be using a variety.  An advantage to building these trees is that I can grind through TV shows on the DVR with my girlfriend and still get some projects done.

Twist the pipe cleaners together to form the trunk of the tree.  A bit will also be needed to attach the tree to a base.

Loop the long ends back to the trunk.  These loops will form the bulk of the trees branches and foliage.  When I do this I use it to create 4 "branches."  

Loosely twist the loops together to create branches.  

Roll the branches up towards the trunk.  

Use a lighter or other controlled flame to melt the chenille fibers on the trunk.  It stinks and is probably toxic (I'm guessing they are made of polyester), so do what you feel you need to do to protect yourself.  Don't apply too much heat or the fibres will liquify and drip off, leaving just twisted wire.  You want just enough heat to melt the fibers.  If you're really tough you can roll the trunk in your fingers immediately after melting the fibers to smooth it out.  It is hot though and may burn you, so touch at your own risk!

This completes the basic construction of a tree armature.  The steps below will lay out painting and flocking trees.  I am using a red tree as a test because I want to see if I need to dye the odd- colored trees before flocking and painting.  This tree is also a bit bulkier than the one in the example above because an extra pipe cleaner was used in bulking out the branches and foliage.

Start off by painting the trunk.  Use whatever tree colors you prefer.  I am using Delta acrylic paint, Burnt Umber.  This is cheap craft paint readily available at Wal Mart or any craft store (Michaels, Jo Anne Ect., Hobby Lobby, etc.)  I went pretty heavy to soak up and cover the red colors.  Coverage was adequate.

Insert the tree into your preferred base.  In my case I am reusing the bases from my previous tree project.  They are made from 40mm poker chips.  In Minnesota thrift stores always have poker chips, and they go for $1- $3 for 100 of them.  They make great bases for models and terrain.  These chips were primed black and based with my standard mix.  A hole the size of the tree trunk was drilled in the center.  The tree was then super- glued into place.  As you see in the picture the trunk pokes through the base a good amount.  When the glue is dry, clip this off flush with the bottom of the base.

The top of the tree is then coated in a liberal amount of white glue.  I made sure to completely saturate the fibers.  I then rolled it in Woodland Scenics Course Turf, then squished it in.  I then tapped off the excess.  Despite the heavy coverage, the red underneath still shows true.  The fibers will have to be colored ahead of time.  Spray paint might work.  Dyeing it black with watered down paint might work too.  I am going to mix black paint in with the white glue and see if I can dye and glue the turn down at the same time.

A picture of the tree on one of my typical woods templates with a Dragon and Jenner from the Introductory Box Set.  I will post more pictures as the experiments continue.

All Things Zombie, 1/8/13

Last Tuesday saw a return to a classic game for our game group; All Things Zombie by Two Hour Wargames.  It's a solid, co-operative game pitting the good guys against an endless horde of zombies.

I wanted an excuse to use a new toy I picked up at a thrift store for $5.  It is a motorized, music playing carousel for Christmas village scenes. It turns out my gauge of scale isn't that great after all of these years, and it's a bit big.  it still gets the point across, and is a nice centerpiece for games.

Tonight the survivors' camp had just been raided by another band of people.  The survivors chased them through the woods for some time, when suddenly they saw lights and hear music coming from the old amusement park not far away.  The noise began drawing in a solid, thick ring of the walking dead.  The only option for the survivors was to shut down the carousel at the amusement park and sneak back to base.

 A shot of the table.  The north woods open up into the amusement park.  The center plaza is flanked by the carousel and a haunted house.

A closer shot of the carousel, pre game.

Jed and Sadie reach the outskirts of the park, while the undead begin to close in on the party.

Sean tries to take cover inside a cave and is surrounded.  A friendly chap comes to his aide.

Action a the carousel.  The horde is getting thick, and the mechanical workings of the carousel are a bit too much for the party to figure out... 

Fending off the hordes as they approach.

Sadie watches her 6:00 as she pries off the control panel.

The survivors create a perimeter, guarding against the incoming horde.

One wide angle shot before everything went to hell...

The carousel proved to be quite difficult to shut off.  The survivors tried logic and a hail of bullets, but the entire thing was finally taken down by Jed pouring his 5 pack of Miller Genuine Draft into the controls and shorting it out.

The survivors made a valiant effort, with only Sean being pulled down and eaten before the ride could be turned off.  Once shut down the survivors mopped up the remaining zombies and made a break for home.

The first half was a struggle, especially with so many failed activations due to a 3rd party showing up in the form of a lone survivor hiding in the portable toilet.  Once the six failed activations in a row were past, however, serious momentum was gained and the survivors made their way home with ease.

Thank you to all who played with us last Tuesday!  It was a test of wills but you pulled through!