Saturday 17 December 2022

Craters!

Having made it to the Christmas holidays, I was keen to try and share what limited progress has been made on my Soviet Army since the summer.  Without going into the now tedious detail, life continues to be hectic and hobby time is very much in short supply.  That said, I cherish the precious moments that I have at the painting table, but all too often get distracted and find myself falling down yet another rabbit hole; indeed the main frustration at the moment is that I have far too many ideas and barely any time. 

As a result, I have tried to keep one or two building projects on the go at work; the sort of things that can be pushed aside when the prestigious talents demand to be taught.  Having brought some things home, I was able to apply the finishing touches and share with you some bomb craters! 

I had found a couple of useful tutorials online and these were the result of combining my favourite.  Nothing new here, but a satisfying build nonetheless.  The craters were formed using air drying clay placed onto shaped MDF bases.  The crater lips were then created by using torn pieces of cork tile fixed in place with a hot glue gun.  Texture was added with filler, into which stones and sand were liberally scattered.  
Finishing touches included some furniture from 'Mantic Games', which I had picked up in a 'Warlord Games' half price sale, bricks from 'Charlie Foxtrot Models' and pieces of plastic tube.  Everything was then painted to match the bases of my troops including a liberal smattering of suitably festive snow.


Really pleased to get these ticked off the list and they have already been used to help set the scene for a couple of photo-shoots, the results of which I hope to share soon.  Posting them here, has also given me the opportunity to hoist the Christmas decorations atop this most humble of weblogs and as uncork the sherry, as I look forward to catching up with everyone in due course.

34 comments:

  1. Great creation Michael, looking forward to the further scenes

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Dave, I managed to take a load of photographs yesterday but noticed that I needed more matt varnish on some of the miniatures. Expect shiny nes troops in the near future.

      Delete
  2. Outstanding work Michael, the sofas are an inspired touch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Bill. I love the Mantic Terrain crate concept, but they are quite expensive. These bits turned up in a half price sprue sale at Warlord Games which made them more agreeable to the wallet.

      Delete
  3. Fantastic looking craters Michael, hope you and your good lady have a wonderful Christmas mate

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Dave, it is really good to be home and have spent a week tearing around sorting things out, writing lists and the like. Wishing all the happiness to you and the family too.

      Delete
  4. They look great mate - best wishes for the festive season :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Paul and wishing you all a very Happy Christmas too.

      Delete
  5. Nicely done, I find I now have even more projects and still not enough time 🤔

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Matt. It is my biggest frustration simply because sitting quietly painting of tinkering is such a wonderful antidote to the real world, but I don't seem to have the quality time available to me at the moment.

      Delete
  6. These look like they will be really useful bits of terrain - nice job on them too Michael.

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's always a pleasure to see an update fromyour good self, no matter the subject matter. The craters may be a little mundane to some, but they are an essential part imho for WW2 gaming.
    I hope you get more hobby time over the holiday period and I wish all at Awdry Towers a nerry Xmas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Joe, it is always nice to get something finished and hopefully these will inspire me to photograph a few more bits and pieces. Wishing you a Happy Christmas Joe.

      Delete
  8. Absolutely smashing bits of scenery mate, as has been said the sofa's are great additions to them too.

    Here's wishing you the very best of Christmas and the new year sir! (and the family too of course).

    Cheers Roger.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Roger, just pleased to have actually finished something. Wishing you all a very happy Christmas.

      Delete
  9. Very nicely done. Makes me think I might have to revisit my own craters to spruce them up a bit after seeing these. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Dai, the cork matting was a great find, I think railway enthusiasts use it to put under their train tracks.

      Delete
  10. Excellent work on those Michael! Here's hoping Santa gives you some more hobby time as one of your gifts this year. Out of curiosity, did you make the craters the size of those dollar store flickering tea lights that so many use to make light up explosions with? Just plop them in during the initial barrage (& photo-op) then remove them to show the resultant craters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Terry. Funnily enough one of my explosion markers is visible in the last photograph. The craters themselves are a little bigger so that when the dust settles they can be used as cover.

      Delete
  11. Superb and useful craters, nice touch with the sofa Michael...Merry Christmas to you and yours!

    ReplyDelete
  12. These are fantastic Michael. Nicely done!

    ReplyDelete
  13. These are great. They will be robust. We tried some in expanded foam with no Base just straight foam. But mdf and clay ones are better ...we added some puddles to some of our's using a scenic resin water...

    ReplyDelete
  14. Is that a chair and couch next to the craters? What an excellent piece of detail to add to the terrain piece! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for your passion and enthusiasm in writing this blog

    ReplyDelete
  16. Excellent additions to your terrain pile!
    Best Iain

    ReplyDelete
  17. Nice post thank you Dave

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...