Terrain additions to Future Wars

It may seem that I have been a bit slack on the modelling side but have in fact been quite busy. I've been pottering away at getting a bit of terrain made which means working in my games room at the weekend, which does not really have enough light to work with. I've also had to wait for PVA glue to dry which means leaving items over night to set. Things have been a bit stretched out and have lead me to make a few mistakes, or should I say its been a learning experience?

The first item is a foot bridge made from some bits and pieces I picked up from the railway shop. I made the mistake of undercoating the whole thing in grey undercoat spray. It was later that I thought I'd have trouble painting the handrails which are a weird plastic like rubber material. I then masked the bridge off and undercoated the rails black and then sprayed them dark green.

While I was thinking about how to make some stairs to connect the bridge to the ground I also put together a set of fuel storage containers made out of large biscuit tins. I first tried to glue the open ended cans down onto a piece of cork tile. Unfortunately this only lasted about two minutes of handling. I then hot glued the lids onto a piece of hardboard. I had pre-painted the cans and attached everything. Learning from my previous mistake I also pre-painted the rails. The working platform is made out of cork tile with the top surface from a Dust Tactics walkway glued down. When I moved the tanks into the house to make some details I found that the warm room made the railings warp. They returned to almost straight when they went back into the cold games room but may be a problem in the summer or if I take them to a convention for a Demo game.

Returning to the foot bridge I wanted to add a few details and some lighting. The local Toy shop had a 20% sale on some Siku items so I picked up a set of street lamps. I have used the smaller lamps as the square items are very large. I also made a few details to add to some other buildings and general street fittings. The Fan units were made from some Airfix landing craft propellers in a bit of plastic tubing mounted on a Goblin shield. I only matt sprayed the lamp poles and yellow railings and then painted details on afterwards leaving the original colour as a base.

Getting back to the stairs I made two sets out of cork tile. They were meant to be made as mirror images but I thought that I had cut them wrong (smooth side out) and assembled them the same way. It was only when I brought them into the house that I realised that I had in fact cut them correctly so one is smooth side in and the other smooth side out.

I think that they look alright despite the cock-up.

Added details

I also put together a building from Minibits. It is a touch lower and more Sci-fi than my other buildings but I like it and may get some of the others they make. I did not like the options for the windows so added granny gate painted black and then attached with double sided tape. I'm still thinking of adding some internal details.

While I was painting these small items I also painted up some Petrol cans to attach to my M113's. They are meant to identify the vehicles using binary numbering as I cannot remember which is which until I locate some decals for them.

A few more Militaria items

This latest batch has cost me hardly anything due to the generosity of some friends and a bit of luck.

This West German Army jacket was owned by a workmate from the Philippines. I can't really believe that he actually wore it as casual wear as its quite heavy and must have been very warm. There are a couple of missing buttons and he removed the labels but is otherwise in very good condition. 

(I cannot  accurately identify the jacket because of the missing labels.)

The last M1 Helmet that I bought was missing the headband. I have managed to buy one quite cheaply in good condition.

This Vietnamese Helmet was given to me by my partners boss. It came from the same American Serviceman whose uniform she had passed onto me. I have no idea if it is five or 25 years old. I suspect that it would be no older than 10.

This M88 style Helmet cover came with the M1 helmet shown above. I have no idea if it is just a paint ballers copy or it is in fact real. I have been following an auction for a real helmet and suspect that I will just buy a plastic imitation one for it as I don't want to spend over $200 for a helmet.

This jacket was on sale online for NZ$29.00.
It was so cheap that I could not resist buying it. 

Good condition but needs a wash.

This British combat pullover (correct name?) I bought a few years ago as I was inspired by Prince Harry to get one. Unfortunately it turned out to be too small for me and would be uncomfortable to wear because of the material and the large velcro patches on the arms. Its been hiding in the spare room but as my collection is getting more international I felt like putting it with the rest of the gear I have collected.

Zulu Command stands

I have just finished all the command figures that I had in my stock of Zulu figures. Most of the figures are from Black Tree, three are from Empress and two Foundry youths. This may be more figures than I actually need for Black Powder but I am thinking ahead as I hope there will some official AZW rules for Sharp Practice.

I painted these to my usual standard for this Army and then matt varnished them which I did not bother doing on the plastic figures. I then noticed that the wash did not have the same effect on the skin tones. I then put them aside as I really did not want to go back and highlight everything again.
In the meantime I went and looked at Wargaming with Silver Whistle and 28mm Victorian Warfares sites for a bit of inspiration. After looking at these gentlemen's excellent work I decided that I was being lazy. First step I then did was paint a highlight of GW Dryad Bark which was pretty much the same as the base colour. Next day after thinking about it a bit more I added about 20% Dwarf flesh and then had another go at highlighting. I think the figures are now much improved but the effect is very subtle.

Two Isangoma's

Two youths chasing Guinea Fowl

The stands below start with the most Junior Leaders on the smaller bases which increase as the leadership value rises. The costumes also get plainer as they rise.

The Army Commander reminds me of the current King HM Goodwill Zwelithini kaCyprian which was a good enough reason to use him instead of the Empress figure.         

All command stands