Category Archives: Nostalgia

Books!

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A friend was clearing out his attic recently and came across some books he thought I might like.

Based around the idea of making models and scenery from household items, I jumped at the chance to widen my repertoire, and learn some new techniques. We arranged to meet up, and he handed my a carrier bag, which I eagerly took, and started to look through. Imagine my delight when I realised what he had brought me! Three classics from Carousel’s Craft Range! While the first of the series was missing, it would be a simple task to fill in the gaps!

I have not fully read them yet, but a quick skim-read has given me some great new ideas, and I shall be sharing my progress with you as I work through them.
So without further ado, The Books:

More Models From Odds And Ends

More Models From Odds And Ends

Dinosaurs From Odds And Ends

Dinosaurs From Odds And Ends

Making A Model Village
Making A Model Village

So, armed with my new literature, I am finding whatever time I can to try out the enclosed tips and tricks!

 

All the fun of the fair!

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Not so much a way to make scenery from household junk, as a new project for what kind of scenery to make. I’ll be trying to use as much throw-away material as possible, in line with my ecological reuse and recycle ethos.

Back in the day, I started to make a roller coaster for my Epic-Scale battle-table, and although it never got finished, I have always wanted to revisit it. So now that I have restarted my scenery building, it is time to see what I can do. The roller-coaster will be a background section for an Orkish Fun-Fair!

So far, the Fair will have:
Arcade Machines (I’ve got a length of balsa wood to carve the cabinets out of, and plan to print out artwork for them). Extra Credit – Coin-push game (Orks use their teeth as currency, so I need to find a way of modelling this!)

Arcade Cabinets

Arcade Cabinets


Hook-a-Duck, Ring-Toss, Darts, and other Stalls – I’ve got a basic design for the stalls: hexagons made of lolly-sticks with a central game section. They should be just about the right size to use a CD as a base, and I’ll be dredging my bitz-boxes for Prizes (ammo-belts, gunz, knives, helmets and other war-gear. maybe the odd cuddly-squig toy)

Hook-A-Squig Stall

Hook-A-Squig Stall


Shooting range – simple design, with some rifles chained to the stall. and pictures of Foes as targets. I’m thinking Space Marine silhouettes.

Test-Your-Strength machine – not much conversion needed. I can make a Big Hammer from odds and ends.
Ghost Train – A covered area with painted entrance, and a couple of carriages on tracks. Orks aren’t actually scared of much, so some humorous pictures of Chaos Demons, Dark Elves and other “fearsome” creatures might work.
Boxing Ring – “Go three rounds with the Ogre!” Once I find the right Ogre model (preferable an ‘old classic’), I can model it some Big Shorts, maybe a glittery dressing gown with “Da Brooser” across the back, and some big red boxing gloves! Gretchin holding buckets and towels.
As previously mentioned, a roller-coaster. This is a huge project, and needs a lot of thought.
Helter-Skelter – Another large project, but should be able to be built out of lolly-sticks, unless I can find a sweetie-jar or similar to form the main tower.

I’m sure we thought of a few others, and will add to this list as I go along.

Watch this Space!

The Loss Of Epic

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Epic Scale Space Marine used 6mm figures to play out mighty battles, where huge armies would clash and Ancient Titans strode the battlefield while lines of artillery pounded the enemy forces.

Unfortunately, support was withdrawn, and now very few people play. Which is a shame, as scenery for Epic Scale is very easy to make!

My original Matchbox buildings were designed for Epic Scale, as evidenced by the small Ork Battlewagons used for scale alongside a 40k “Barry”.
Being small, just about anything could be turned to scenery for Epic Scale, with yoghurt pots and blister packs forming a great deal of our battlefields. Hills were formed from off-cuts of polystyrene and empty paint pots were saved to become silos and towers.

With 32mm scale WH 40k getting all the attention, Epic Scale passed into the mists of HIstory, and scenery had to become larger. Matchboxes would only make small houses rather than fortresses. yoghurt pots are now tents or makeshift shelters and paint pots are little larger than tank traps. To fashion large, impressive scenery, more raw material is needed, and many previous inspirations are sadly unusable. (Another effect was that more detail had to be modelled, but that is another story).

The knock-on effects of this meant that more space is needed for storing material, workbenches need to be larger, and pieces waiting while their paint/glue dries take up a lot more space. When making particularly large or numerous pieces, it means eating of your lap for a week, as the dining table is set over to construction.

The main loss is the sheer amount of day-to-day items that I look at and think “That would make a great building!” only to realise that I am still thinking on Epic scale, and 40k-scale models would be able to step clean over it.

Ah, for the halcyon days of yore!