A real mixed bag for this month's news, the makeup department should have had a bigger out put but, did I ever mention I don't like painting ? :)
So where to start ? I guest I'll start with the odd looking picture above a shoebox, wtf Frank you ask ? well it's a little idea that's been inside my head for a long time, so the props department was set to work on taking it from there to reality.
So how to explain this so that you guys don't think I'm even nuttier then you already thing I am ? well its all to do with sets, as you guys know some times I play out games to make movies & sometimes I just tell a story, in doing the later sometimes I need a whole table top set up & some times I just need a small area, just like in real movies.
Right I see the light is starting to dawn on you, so if you haven't clicked off by now we'll begin :)
After clearing the entrance the two Archaeologist made their way down a dark & musty passage way, there was something odd about this tomb, at the end of it beside a big pair of bronze door were three stone tablets, one had a face on it, one had a scarab & the other a scorpion & all three had hieroglyphs.
The first tablet told of the person who's tomb it was, the second one told of how the scarab held sway over the remains & not to pass him, the third told of the death that would be unleashed if the entombed be awoken.
Ok you get the picture so here's some more.
I'll add a few WIP pictures below, but this set I think can be used in a lot of different ways, be it set up as a room in a manor house or the resting place of a vampire as he/she is hunted down by would be slayers.
I have done some work on the Western project but I'm finding the scale difference between the Black Scorpion models & the Foundry one's to be more of a problem then I first thought it would be, anyway I'll cover that at another time but for now here's Jesse & Frank James both mounted & unmounted.
In the picture above because of the way Frank's horse (left) is modeled I added some of that wispy stuff to look like it's dust, this was the only way I could get it to work on a clear base, but I like the effect so will probably to the same with all horse's.
What I really like about these Foundry models is the fact that you get them mounted & unmounted but I'd guess their old sculpts & are not as good as the Black Scorpion's Tombstone models, seen in last months news.
Also on the Western front, when I started this project my plan was to go with 4 Ground buildings, the reasons been they have good detail & they're repainted but, well there's always a but right ? the first thing about using them is my town will look very similar to lots of others that's not something I like, second is Western towns are made mostly of wooden buildings & I'm a carpenter :) so I rethought about it & given the price of buying them against me building them added to the above I reckon why not build my own, here some WIP pictures of the first building,which is also in the picture above.
I used a cork sub frame & then clad it with timber, as I don't tend to use the inside of building this is not a problem.
What is a problem is me trying to do the sign writing but I'm sure I'll get there.
It has progress a bit more as seen in the picture with Jesse & Frank above since I took the picture's but the sign writing still hasn't been mastered :(
In other news NWG was on last Saturday so I headed down to Wicklow for a while, this event was all 40K something that these days I've no real interest in but its always good to see some old friends & I did manage to get in a demo game of Warlords Doctor who which was cool.
The forth Doctor Tom Baker with K9 in tow
The route of all the trouble some great great great Auntie of the Doctor's
My force the Cyber-men
& who better then to cause all this trouble then the Daleks.
Late news before I go, well you only ever get to see these things when its late right :)
Well that's it from this months news, so its a goodnight from me & a Goodnight from him, as always my thanks for dropping in & if you'd care to leave a comment it would be welcomed :)
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| The pins you see in the doors are used so they can swing open or closed :) |
By heck lad there's a lot going on in your studio and no mistake. The room in a box is a great idea for the sort of games and posts you are making and the Egyptian tomb is fantastic, really creates a good atmosphere with minimal scatter. The photos work brilliantly, your camera man has excelled himself again.
ReplyDeleteI know some people don't mind the difference in figure size but to be honest I prefer them to be similar, the big thing is the weapons and the Black Scorpion ones are huge even for the size of the figures. Foundry figures come in 2 sizes one range is smaller than the other but I thought it was the ones with foot and mounted versions that were the larger of the two. I'm pretty sure on LAF there is a sticky on the western board that gives you the pack reference numbers and says which are which.
Signwritting - if you have a look at my western buildings all the signs are copied and printed from the internet and then glued to a signboard and attached to the buildings. With most of them I have put a couple of small magnets in the buildings so that I can change the signs.
I have a file with a few hundred different signs, posters etc that I could get to you. I can't remember how I did it but I let Bryan (Vampifan) have access to it. Let me know if you are interested and I will figure out what I did for him.
By the way the building is looking great so far, what you could do for the interiors is print some wood texture or wall paper and stick it on the interior walls so you don't see the cork if you decide to use the interiors.
Excellent post Frank
Cheers
Thanks John, the set in a shoebox shouldn't have happen yet tbh mate as I should have been working on the Western stuff but I came down with a bad case of the hobby butterfly lol
DeleteThe plan for the moment is to leave the roofs removable but to get the building ready for gaming, they if I feel I want to or need to I can go back & do the insides at another time :)
Yes the difference in scale is I think just to much to work using the two together, so on the plus side I'll end up with more models as I'm still going to collect both :) on the down side it will mean even more painting :(
Thanks for the offer on the signage & if you can figure out how to do it I'll gladly take you up on it.
Hi Frank, I had a look at this last night, I have the folder on my Google Drive so I need to send you a link so you can share it.
DeleteTo do that I need to send you an email with the link which you just click on and it will take you there.
I have just changed my profile on my blog to make my email visible, click on blogger profile top right on my blog page, send me a mail and I'll send you the link.
I don't want to leave my email address visible normally so I'll change this later this week.
Let me know if you have an problem with this. ;)
Email sent & thanks John :)
DeleteA great post, I like the movie set idea for taking pictures and will steal it.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how I haven't been to your blog before. I'm off to the shoe store to buy some Nikes.
Thanks Baconfat, great name btw & welcome to my blog & yes feel free to steal & ideas you like :)
DeleteBrilliant idea Frank, set in a box 🙂
ReplyDeleteHad you not shown the WIPs no one would have had any idea that was in a shoebox. Great stuff all around.
Thanks Ivor, now would I ever keep anything from you guys ? :)
ReplyDeleteOn a different I see Spurs lost their 100% record today, so to make up for it we'll just have to end the Pools in the next match ;)
So Nickel & Dime Productions is operating on a shoestring (or is it shoe box?) budget, eh?
ReplyDeleteI really like that idea, too! The first batch of pics somehow make it look so much bigger. It was until I saw the wider views in the last pics that I saw how you did it. I might have to borrow that idea as well.
Your western building looks great, too! I second the idea of doing the signage digitally (with the option of switching out signs for versatility).
On the subject of the variability in size of minis, I don't mind too much as long as proportions (like you mentioned with weapons) aren't too out of whack between different lines. In some cases they can clash stylistically, too (coarser vs.more refined or somewhat cartoon-like vs more realistic). Most of my dwarf minis are the chunky kind and the lighter versions with smaller heads that some companies make just look too weedy/sickly next to them.
Thanks Fitz, its always low budget around here :)
DeletePlease feel free to borrow anything you like, isn't that in part what our blogs are all about ?
I agree with you on the signage & have taken John up on his offer.
While size is not something I get to hung up on I fear the difference between the two models sets is just to much, I'll take a picture of them side by side & stick it in next month's news to show what I mean.
Great post and the shoebox does have merit for your shoestring productions...
ReplyDeleteYou've got a lot going on with the western themed stuff; I'd hav e gone with card building clad with coffee stirrers (I've had some bad experiences with balsa).
Signage shouldn'd be a problem, I typed "western signs" into google and it produced a myriad of them - should be simple to resize and print. I'd avoid hand-painting them - even in the west there were pofessionals doing the job!
I've found that most western figures have overly large pistols etc. and I'd be taking a serious look at figure comparisons before opting for any particular range or ranges - there are a lot out there.
Thanks Joe, the cladding is not balsa its normal wood mate, thanks for the tip on finding signage but that would I thing require computer skills beyond mine :(
DeleteIt's not the guns that's the problem it's the scale over all, I guess the difference between 25mm & 32mm is more then I thought it might be but tbh I should have know it would be.
Yeah, I agree about the varying 'scales' of figures. I reckon it's a ploy by the manufacturers as "28mm scale" is a meaningless throwaway line (as there is no such thing as 28mm scale). If the manufacturers stated a scale, whether it is 1/43rd, 1/50th, 1/60th or the spurious 1/56th then we could hold them to account for their ludicrously sized weapon and non-compatability with other figures of a similar scale.
Deletesorry to rant about this, but it's a pet hate of mine and boils my piss.
No worries Joe a little rant can be good for the soul :) & I think you right btw.
DeleteThat's a whole lot of progress there. I almost don't know where to begin. The shoebox studio is fantastic, it reminds me of the permanent sets on the Hollywood backlots where, with a simple changes in camera angel and set dressings, they can create an entirely new "location" great.
ReplyDeleteFor figures, I really like Frank and Jesse riding along. The position against the background really makes it all work.
All around fun to look at.
Thanks Will, yep I did a bit of hoping about the last month from one thing to another but it was all fun :)
Delete