27 April, 2019

28mm Vikings & Viking Ship Grave

In between big projects I often work on a few figures, a small unit or a piece of terrain for an old army.  Recently I made some additions to my 28mm Viking army that I use for SAGA.

I normally have a standard for each SAGA army I have.  Even though I don't often use them as banner in game terms, I think they look nice and add character to each army.  When I originally painted my Vikings, none of the miniatures was in the right position to hold a spear upright.  I've been on the lookout for a suitable miniature ever since.  I finally bought one by Gripping Beast at Historicon 2018 from Badger Games.  It came with a LBMS banner.  I think he looks suitably stern to be a veteran companion of the Viking leader.
 
 

The 2nd edition of SAGA allows a unit of 6 shieldmaidens.  Since I already had 4 that I painted back in 2017, why not get 2 more?    I still needed a leader and a standardbearer.  I ordered them from Brother Vinni in 2018 during one of their sales.  They are made of resin with separate arms that attached easily with superglue.  The standard was harder to attach.  The lower section was part of the arm piece, with the upper section including the banner was separate.  It was too thin to pin, but after trimming some off the lower section I was able to get it to hold together with superglue.  It appears to be a strong join now.  The top section is available separately if you need a new banner.

The two new miniatures:
 

 The whole unit ready for battle:

Also recently completed is a Viking ship grave from Acheson Creations.  Cast in resin, my friend Mike bought it for me at a convention and mailed it to me.   I was pleased that when I googled 'Viking Ship Grave' the images were very similar.  The burial site was surrounded by stone slabs in the shape of a ship.  After a quick run though tthe dishwasher to remove the mold residue I spray primed it black.  After that all it took were a few layers of drybrushing.  I added some static grass, shrubs and flowers and voila.  It is a good-sized terrain feature and will give my Vikings something to defend. 

 
 
 



06 April, 2019

28mm Post-Apocalypse Scenery

One of my goals for 2019 is to expand my collection of post-apocalypse scenery.  I already have a good set of city ruins and I want to add some smaller pieces to serve as cover and to improve the look of my games.  We had a few days of nice weather this week, so I grabbed my latest work and a few miniatures to show scale and headed to the backyard to take some photos.

This is a ruined truck cast in resin.  I bought it at the flea market way back at Historicon 2016.  It's nice to finally get it painted, it has been sitting around primed for about 6 months.  I have no idea who the manufacturer is but it is a nice model.  I like the jumble of goods in the back.  The miniatures are from Dead Earth Games.

This set of 4 barricades came together in a set.  I don't remember where I got them but the manufacturer is Foxhole Terrain.  Each of the pieces is different, 6"/15cm long and has a nice assortment of rubble.  Useful to protect my survivors against the zombie hordes.

They look good when defended.  The miniatures are from Brigade Games.
 

If you get past the barricade there is a giant mutant dog waiting for you.  Turn back!

I have had this model building for some time.  It was an add-on to the original Kickstarter campaign for Across the Dead Earth back in 2014.  I don't think that Dead Earth Games ever sold it later on their website, so there aren't many of them around.  Every settlement needs a bar!  The roof lifts off for game purposes.  Cast in gray resin.

The friendly proprietor is waiting for.....
...customers!  I wonder what today's special is?


The roof conveniently comes off.  There is room for several miniatures inside.  There is a small piece that fits on top of the barrels but I like it this way.