Friday, April 12, 2019

Terrain as a distraction...

  So I'm painting models and trying to take care of business and this week hit.  Where normally people would complain about a particularly bad week, I get to note that this week was pretty good!  I launched a grand professional plan and feel good with the direction that's already going.  The weather has been wet and we got our flower bloom down here, and now it's hot and sunny- perfect for hobbying and just downright comfortable for a guy like me!

  Most importantly of all is that this turned out to be a week of models.  My buddy tossed us some of his older models with the express goal of disrupting our current state of things.  I got more Eldar and some Primaris characters, my wife got more Nighthaunt stuff (boooo!), and my son received a ton of Ravenwing units.  Oh boy...

  Today I received another game that I 'kickstarted', but that's another blog post for a later time.  Even if I wanted to, I can't really say much as I'm still trying to inspect and learn the massive thing.  But this wasn't the only product of a Kickstarter I received recently...  Again, pretty good week!

  Now I had mentioned this over a year ago, and it finally happened!  My love of Necromunda, which had long sat in the back of the fridge despite purchasing everything, can finally be expressed.  While I need to start building the models and review the rules again (maybe even play that board game-version), the most important part is now mine- the terrain!

From Flickriver
  Now we all remember the old Necromunda terrain and the charm of those multi-layered, cardboard buildings and bridges.  Held together with a set of detailed plastic 'bulkheads' that could only be connected vertically, the terrain gave models plenty of room and dimensions to move around while also giving line-of-sight all the impact it needed.  Being able to peek through doorways and hide behind barricades made already average shooters more frustrated all the time.  The cardboard constructs were strong enough to hold a few models and came with color graphics to reinforce the 'setting' in the game.

   Luckily, I still have all this terrain and can use it if I really wanted to.  But have you seen those new models?  It's key that I use good terrain with those awesome models, I feel.  And honestly, even the board game looks cool.  But c'mon, it's Necromunda!  What about the Shadow War: Armageddon terrain?  That stuff is awesome, but it's really more important for 40k and even renamed to 'Mechanicum terrain'.  And while awesome, it only has one level above ground which is not what Necromunda is about.  Funny enough, I brought that terrain out to work on before being distracted by a box at my door last week.


  This company made some fantastic cardboard terrain, preprinted graphics and 3D layering included!  Called TinkerTurf, you can check it out and even purchase it here.  It's not expensive at all and can be used for more than just Necromunda and I can't suggest it enough.  This is what the Kickstarter page promised:


  How can you resist that?  Hopefully the product looks like that when it I get it all assembled.  Admittedly, it was much more work that I assumed.  The quality of the stuff is through the roof.  It's 2mm foamcore rather than just thick cardboard.  The sheets were deeply-cut so the pieces were easily punched out.  And the graphics were always lined up and crisp.  It was a lot of pieces and I spent a great deal of time just popping the many pieces out.  It was high-quality so far...

What came in the box and it weighted quite a bit...
All the sets in the Skirmish Bundle- six total!
  
All the sheets from one of the Elevations Sets and not all the same.
  With a bit of PVA glue and time, plus the instructions and helpful tips on their 'tip-site', and the weight of the unopened sets and bundles to press all the pieces together as I glue them, I finished on Skirmish bundle.  The best part of this assembly process is the markings that the company puts on pieces.  Rather than having to just 'hope' you put glue and the pieces together properly, the markings clearly define where to put the glue and where to marry the pieces together.



  Layered atop and pressed together while the glue dried created exactly that 3-dimensional effect that really matches the Underworld setting.  Additional parts like railings and pegs gave the pieces even more bulk and convincing image.  By the time I was done, taking many days of building, pressing, and drying, I was very happy with the results.

The Mechanicus terrain at the top...  And still had to finish some of the parts...

  Gorgeous terrain and well worth the cost!  Unfortunately, the most disappointing part is that this... what I have built...  well, this is only most of one Bundle and I still have all this build:

  Oh boy...

  I haven't gotten any units painted since the big, red T-Rex and I can blame it on this.  I have Chaos Space Marines on my palette right now and they are just not getting any attention as these boxes keep showing up at my door.  Now that I've gotten this terrain, I've got to start working on the Necromunda stuff.  But I'm supposed to be painting those 40k armies.  And those Shadespire models.  And this other game I just got in the mail...


  Let me know what distractions you've had pop up in your hobby recently and I hope you have a good week like this too!