Samstag, 30. Juni 2012

Finished defence work for Flames of War

And the whole lot finished and with a couple of Panzergrenadiers






Tutorial: Making Trenches for Flames of War Part 2

Just as a follow up and the final results... or otherwhise... why to do more BBQs !


Use the ash from the last BBQ for giving the whole stuff a more natural snow covering... costs nothing and you finally have an excuse for more BBQs:
 












 

Montag, 25. Juni 2012

Tutorial: MG Nests Flames of War Part 2

Here is the long awaited update to one of my former posts.

My MG Nests are nearly finished:

Basecoat with Earth Brown by Citadel GW Colour (except the sticks). Afterwards glued real Earth to the whole stuff and fixed the roofs on them. Cleaned out the sticks and afterwards used Devlan Mud (Citadel Wash) to give them an older looking appearance:





Next steps:
- Glue a single log upfront the entrance for coverage
- Use some flock and different other stuff to blend it into nature and then it should be finished

Tutorial: Making Trenches for Flames of War Part 1

It is not about building the first wheel again and so I really enjoy reading through other blogs. The one I found fascinated me and suites me to rebuild.

As I do not want to buy any sort of terrain I stick to the hobby of building it myself. After reading a couple of books on different types used in Flames of War I guessed it is time for some Trenches.

You either need them in Africa, Italy , D-Day , Russia.... so everythere you find war.

What you need:
For my first three Trenchlines (one a bit more straight, one including a bent for artillery and two corner sides) I went out to see McDonalds....

Uhhh not to get some food stuff, but to get balsa wood which you normally use for your coffee and as being on business trips quite often I normally take a look out for other types and formes:

McDonalds Ireland:





Coffee Bar at Shipol Airport / Amsterdam / NL:


I also recently bought a new coffee machine which enables me to use the card inlay from there.


I used a couple of my larger bases from Flames of War to divide the paper into a couple of spaces:





These make sure that everything fits afterwards into either one row or into different likewhise parts.

What next ?

I will cut out the four major parts and use my parcel gluesticks to soften the edges. Afterwards its time for the first row of McDonalds Balsawood parts which I will add with partysticks to stand up (lets see tomorrow).


Samstag, 23. Juni 2012

Finsihed Dug In Markers.. also usable for more heavy stuff

Finally burned the Dug in Markers in the oven... result is outstanding and well.....:








Tutorial : Bockage and Fences

Well, what Ireland provides most for free is stones and other similarities... so why not write about some bockages and fences easy to make at no extra costs.


Freitag, 22. Juni 2012

Happy... new stuff on the way

Ahhh I am so happy. Just got the email that my new Flames of War Stuff is on the way. YEAHHH !!!

Very high recommendation to : www.fantasywelt.de

Stuff that comes my way includes:

1 Stk     BFGE889          Sturmbannfurher Fritz Biermeyer -with Panzer Ace d
1 Stk     BFGBX10          Panzer IVH Platoon (GBX10)
1 Stk     BFGE241          Sd Kfz 251-1D 10D (3,7cm) (GE241)
2 Stk     BFGE168          Sd Kfz 7-1 (Quad 2cm gepanzert) (GE168)
3 Stk     BFGE071          Tiger I E -Zimmerit- (GE071)                     
1 Stk     BFGE603          Bergepanther (recovery tank) (GE603)

that enables me nearly to play all sorts of german forces described in Grey Wolf !

Now I am eagerly awaiting the new handbook on the last assault on the Ardennes.

Donnerstag, 21. Juni 2012

Tutorial - Dug In Markers, Sandbags.... Flames of War

Heia.. just discovered:

salt dough

for my FoW stuff... awesome easy and looks pretty good. Within 30 minutes I composed four "dug in" markers and the start of the ruined walls of a house as well as the MG Nest parts that are still missing... Pictures ?

Here we go !





Essentially needed:

Cup of water
2 Cups of flour
1 cup of salt
1 part oil


Now waiting 24 hours then putting it into the oven for 30 minutes and then it should be ready...at present state I am quite pleased with the result..if this works out properly... I am going to do some building parts over the weekend.

Cheers

Samstag, 16. Juni 2012

Tutorial : MG-Nests for Flames of War

Heia lads,

finally more for Flames of War. After reading a couple of other blogs I stumbled across "Modeldads" resources for Flames of War. As I always face scaling problems I am still delighted to have found such a nice resource for simple buildings. On his blog he has a nice tutorial on how to build up MG-Nests for Flames of War.

As Tutorial and practice often mismatch I was eager to find out how easy or difficult it is to rebuild after his tutorial. Also I reduced the costs a bit by not using the standard Battlefront bases. A good walk into your local pub can produce some nice cardboards for pints to work with. Simply cut out the base you need and start going.

For my new rating system I would start with the following:

Ranking 1 - 5 there one would mean easy to 5 extreme difficult.

Rating of difficulty for building MG-Nests for Flames of War: 2 , can be done by a novice on building, but gets a bit tricky while glueing.
Time: Approx 1 Hour for three MG-Nests (including drying time)

Things I used:

- Cardboard normally used to place a pint (u can approx make 3-4 MG-Nests out of one of these hard papers)
- Partysticks (should be in your household anyway)
- Glue
- Styropor (you can use any sort, as this will all be covered. No need for any of the quality stuff)
- Flock, Sand and basing stuff


Step One:

1) Cut the paperboard into correct size (I took mine for a medium sized Battlefront base)
2) Cut the partysticks to correct size (approx 1cm in length is fine), I used 3 Rows each side plus one smaller one as a "holding" log


Step Two:

1) Glue the lowest part of the cut partysticks to your base. Please bear in mind that this is some sort of entrance and firing exit. So you need some ankle around for line of fire
2) Glue the "holding" logs on one side
3) Glue the logs upward


Step Three:

1) After drying the glued sticks, cut out the styropor so that it takes quite some space of the medium size base and
2) adjust the later on entrance part so that you have a hole for at least one miniature and glue it to fit to the already finished logs

Step Four:

1) Cut the styropor on the sides to give it a bit more natural feeling. Doesnt need to be as a quadrat or too equal looking as this will be earth
2) Cut more logs and glue them together for being the "roof"
Would say it is quite an easy task and you can make approx 3 (as I did) in one hour.... pictures enclosed:









Sonntag, 10. Juni 2012

Flames of War - Gunpits out of rice corns

Heia fellows... just tried out something new. Everyone else was about that gunpits and entrenchment stuff for Flames of War. Never ever bothered myself with buying the modeling clay or greenstuff and searched for a cheap alternative....

Found it ! Simple rice which you can buy in any store and possibly have at home yourself.

Try this step-by-step gun pit.

Step 1
First of all start along with sketches.. how will or shall it look like ? Take the measurements from a large artillery base and work around:

(Picture curtesy of Battlefront Miniatures / Flames of War, Picture taken for measurement purposes).


Step 2

Starting with a Balsa wood base I layered simple rice corns over the Balsa until I had the right shape.

Step 3

Start watering the rice so that it fills with water. It will "blow up" a bit and press it in shape ! Now you can additionally add some stowage (e.g. Stowage pack by Battlefront) bits as though they were the support for the bunker wall. Repeat until you have a line of ‘Sandbags’. 


Step 4

Once dry, I left it over night, I sprayed it black. 

Step 5

Finally Dry-brush the gun pit in shades to match your gaming table

Voila! Finished in no time at all and you can use the same principle for any type of trench / bunker or defensive position. Go on - have a go!
 

Donnerstag, 7. Juni 2012

Flames of War : Building Bunkers Tutorial

You might know the feeling that you are sitting at your desk and paint or glue something and get the urgent need to have a snack. I came across a package of Java Cakes at home and cleared out one row of cakes in a short time. By accident I placed the empty plastic thing next to my tanks and foot soldiers... wow... I thought that looks like a bunker.. so here we go with a short WIP and Tutorial on how easy it is to build Bunkers and Trenches out of rubbish you normally would throw away:





PS: This also works with the cherry and so on version :)))