Misc. Projects and Whatnot

Been working a lot (day job, not the hobby) since the last post, and between lack of time, energy, and plain old sore and stiff hands, I haven't made any progress on my APC, but have been doing what I can otherwise. 


Ponape; 28mm Colonial/Victorian Adventure Games

After re-discovering so much stuff for my colonial adventures that never got used, I've begun to start the process of rounding out the history and fluff for the many scenarios that never got ran.  This has mostly been a lunch time reading and research project thus far, but will eventually lead to miniatures and modeling.

I did have to throw out most of the uncompleted buildings, as they were basswood construction and got water damaged in the flood, but otherwise everything else seems to be intact.  The docking station for the airship, and winged version of the airship, bits for a narrow gauge railway and gold mine, all good.  Also found bits of the incomplete ships, and the hulk of my French ship, which was in the trunk of my car, when it got rear-ended and totaled (both ship and car).

Above, the start of a hull for Bully Hayes ship, the Leonora, my destroyed

French destroyer and a German gunboat.

In time, I intend to resurrect Ponape  as a convention game.   I have faded away from the convention scene in recent years, but have to admit, that after going to Origins this year, I feel a little of the old spark again.


The Space Bubble/Job Pod/Almost Spaceship

This was moving along nicely last year, until interrupted by my flood.  I haven't actually done anything with it recently, but it sets on a stool next to my paint table, ready to be worked on as soon as I clear enough space to work on it.

In addition to the bubble above, there are a couple of trays of bits in various stages of paint, waiting to be placed in the modules.  It will be a centerpiece for near future and maybe even post-apoc games at some point.


28mm Post-Apoc and Near Future Figs.

As I was sorting through stuff, I came to realize that I had a serious load of both painted and unpainted figs for near future and post apocalypse game.  This kind of got my juices going again, after more than a two year lapse.

As I discovered more an more figs, I started sorting them out into the various factions.

There are over 400 painted figs, about 400 unpainted, plus another 150 or so painted orks that I plan to use as mutants in the PA.  Portions of roughly 22 factions are represented above, some are pictured below:

Kryomek robots with scratch-built weapons, security for the industrial complex.

 

A colorful heard of mutants, hungering on their tray.

 

A few bikers, Foundry figs, I think.

 

Miscellaneous mercenaries, some work together, others have additional help.

 

Some Copplestone (mostly, anyway)  scavengers.

 

Could be corporate or Federal troops, wouldn't trust them either way.

 

Billy-Jo, Bubba and Mack, god old boys (and girl) to the end and after.

 

Two old Imperial Guard figs that make up part of the territorial defenses. 

 I've actually got an entire company of these figs, around 140 in all.

 

Alpha Forge Asteroid Miners, pilots of the space bubble,

and a threat to the near future, and beyond.

I'm currently working out what I need to complete each faction, and purposing some of the many figs that don't currently have a home yet. 


Texas Israeli War

A second post-apoc project that I've been tinkering with will bring a little of the Texas Israeli War to the table top.  I've got six factions and armies in mind at the moment, but only a handful  of unpainted figs for now.


So that is what I've been tinkering with in recent weeks in place of doing any real gaming.

Unfinished Business

I expected to add the AAV7A1 to my website tonight, but I need to photograph it, and left it at work today.  So, I figured I'd go downstairs and work on the M-ATV, but it is setting at work too.  So, I figured that I'd do a little work on the 15mm M1 master (yes, I'm trying an MBT), and that is where tonight's adventure started.

I needed some grating and know I have some styrene in the pattern that I need, so started rooting through the heap to find it.  Two hours later, I had shuffled through an endless number of unfinished projects (while failing to find the grating), and realized that I probably need a therapist.  I also thought I'd share a few photos, since I've failed to accomplish anything else tonight.

First up is a critter that is a little outside of my main interests,  the "bubblegum troll".

My daughter was maybe eight years old at the time, and liked gaming with orcs.  She also wanted to add some other critters into our games, so we picked up a couple of GW figs at the local store.  She wanted me to paint the fig above, and picked out three bright colors, Barbie pink, Ninja Turtle green, and Smurf blue to use on it.  All I could think of was "No, not that!", but per her wishes, I painted what became known as the bubblegum troll.  I was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out, and now that I posted that last pic, you too can say that you've been mooned by the "bubblegum troll".  While the troll got finished the 90 elves, Pegasus, griffin, and other figs still set in boxes, unlikely to ever see the tabletop, as we have both lost interest in fantasy games.  The troll may make it into a post-apoc games as some sort of mutant monster.  Maybe.

Another of the forgotten projects is a the space freighter.  This was to be a multi-purpose 28mm ship that would serve a number of roles.  I started off with a bunch of ship sketches, but couldn't settle on one.  So, as far as I got, after painting up three different crews for the ship, was a series of resin cargo containers for the hold.

There were also ammo boxes, skids, and open topped bins, I but I didn't stumble across those tonight,  so only the two types of boxes above are shown (with a Copplestone figure (I think) for size comparison).

Another of the forgotten projects is the forces for the Texas-Israeli War.  C'mon, it was a great book, and should be on a tabletop somewhere.  The star of the game would be the fusion powered, gatling laser armed Israeli Centurions.  So, while looking for figs, I started on a 28mm master for the tanks.

That is as far as I got before discovering that the horse mounted troops I wanted for the Texans were not in production any more.  I do have figs for part of the Israeli force, and expect to get back to this one day... when I have some free time.

Another project that has been in the sleeper bin for a few years is my race of birdmen.  Actually, this has never been far out of mind, just far out of reach. 

The spaceship mentioned above was to sometimes serve as the mothership of a small group of aliens looking for their lost home planet.  The race of birdmen were to be the remains of of an enslaved race, searching for their origin, which was going to be  recently uncovered somewhere in the American southwest.  In addition to the ship were to be about 25 birdman (GW Kroot figs) and their kroot-buggy.

The buggy was to be a sort of safari hotrod, loaded with cargo, and with kroot hanging off of it like a flock of intergalactic pirates.  The birdmen were to have a sort of  nomadic bedraggled look with flowing capes and whatnot.  The figure above is the only one that I finished.  The remaining figs are in various stages of  assembly and conversion. 

Last on my list of unfinished business tonight is the robo-chicken.  Robo-chicken was to be the first of a series of light armored recon vehicles using palletized weapons systems and modular applique armor.  I actually have parts cut for five more of these, and have been carrying them from apartment to apartment to house since 1987.

I imagine that I'll at least finish two of these, as part of my sci-fi marine light infantry force in the next couple of years. They will work nicely with the futuristic APCs and tanks that I have yet to build, even if they are from last century.

Oh well, time to start on something new...