WH40K - Fernvale Specialty Scenics

Another project finally makes it off the 'to do list'! I bought these resin scenery pieces a year or so ago. They are from Fernvale Specialty Scenics. (Although I don't see these pieces on the website; there are still some nice looking terrain bits for sale.)

They have been undercoated in cheap spray paint, then lashings of Tamiya Dark Yellow and Light Sand spray paint. I brush painted the rocks in Citadel Codex Grey, dry brushing in a mix of grey and white. I dry brushed some of the grey shades on the 'ground' but that looked a bit odd, so I touched it in with swabs from a Floquil Enamel Paint Marker (the colour is 'Earth'). This leaves a thin coat of 'dirt'; the markers are supposed to be used to weather AFV models, but once more I am finding that paint markers are the way to touch things up quickly. Also I find that scenery doesn't need the same level of care in painting as miniatures or vehicles do. Unless the dry brushing is too heavy handed, the only painting necessary is a couple of sprays of whatever colours are lying around. I used Tamiya Clear spray to varnish the pieces, but that turned out a little shiny, so I went over it with a dusting of Citadel Purity Seal, which seems to have worked.

The Ork graffiti is also done in paint markers, but it would be too easy to overdo that so I stopped. Sometimes the Finishing Fairy has to visit the work table and take your work away, letting you know that you have done enough and you can stop now.

WH40K - Ork Trukk finally painted

I have had a few days off work and therefore the opportunity to do some painting (at last!).
Many months after I bought it I have finally finished one of my Ork Trukks (bottom of that post for the unpainted version). I added the horizontal roll bars at the back - they are just polystyrene tube or girder with bits of metal and masking tape. I also added some bits to the sides to make the tray look like it is one piece, with glyph plates and scrap plastic, so that they fill in the gaps. (These are where boarding ladders can be glued if desired.)

The main reason for converting them relates to my only criticism of the Games Workshop Ork Trukk model kit: It is a wonderful model of an Ork vehicle, that looks like a truly individual creation, bashed together by a mad engineer. That means that loads of models look like the same truly individual creation! So I convert mine to make them look a bit different to each other and any others on the table top.

The trukk was undercoated in Citadel Black spray, oversprayed with Tamiya Dark Red and then bashed about a bit with Citadel Tin Bitz and Bolt Gun Metal. Dirt was added with a Floquil Enamel Paint Marker, but this was a bit shiny, so I dusted a little bit of Tamiya Light Sand from the spray can, just around the wheels and chassis. The runes and emblems were picked out in a variety of paint markers: Pentel, Zig and Gundam Marker. These pens are also a bit smelly and sometimes paint comes out more thickly than with a brush - but they are great for quick touch ups and Ork graffiti. Lastly, the paintwork was covered with a light coat of Tamiya Clear.

Lego - Super Troopers!

Here are the Lego Super Troopers:

The .45 Auto is from Brickarms, as are the smoke grenades. The Glock 17 and torches are made by STC. The utility belts and nightstick are from BrickForge as are the Ranger Hats. The figures and the yellow head are the original Lego Collectable Minifigures Series 2 Highway Patrol figures, as is the speeding ticket. The handcuffs are a Lego part. I like BrickForge because they sell via PayPal, but I generally buy Lego weapons from Minifig World, the Australian distributor for Brickarms, STC and BrickForge.



The minifigure heads have cool sunglasses, but don't have moustaches. (Rabbit has been growing his for a month.) Also, I appear to have bought the Ranger Hats in Dark Tan, rather than Reddish Brown. It looks like BrickForge have some more cool items for sale, so I can easily fix that!

Speeding ticket from the Lego Collectable Minifigures Series 2 Highway Patrol figure.

WH40K - Tokens

Ork Trukk on fire, or 'Turn Two' as it is more commonly known.

I have bought some game tokens from Litko Aero Game Accessories and Gale Force 9. I bought the Litko tokens from their own website and the GF9 tokens from Maelstrom Games.

The flame and smoke tokens can be used to mark barrages, dangerous terrain or objectives. I put them on destroyed vehicle models to show that the vehicle is now a wreck. The tokens aren't as realistic as carefully painted cotton wool but they are handy and robust enough to be dropped back in the troop trays after the game.

I bought the following Gale Force 9 token sets a few months ago:

GF9 Fire and Explosion Markers (set of 6) 

GF9 Smoke Markers (set of 6)

GF9 Sci Fi Infantry Status Token Set ('Pinned', 'Morale Check' etc) 

GF9 Sci Fi Vehicle Status Token Set ('Weapon Destroyed', 'Immobilised' etc)
The last two sets are thinner pieces; black plastic backed with a velvet material, and are handy to use as reminders on the WH40K battlefield. 



Smoking: Makes an Ork look serfisterkated.








   

Recently I bought some Litko token sets and they arrived a couple of weeks ago:

Flaming Wreckage Large (set of 3)

XL Flaming Wreckage Marker

Mini Wound Marker Set (set of 10 little skulls)

  

I has got... erm... lots of wounds left.

I use the wound markers by putting them near models that have lost some of their wound points (explanation for non-players: most toy soldier figures in WH40K have only one wound point, but a few models have two or more, such as leaders and characters.) Previously I had used dice, with the number of pips representing the wounds remaining, but occasionally they would get knocked over, or even rolled! Now, I will put a number of skulls down to represent remaining wounds.

Comparison: Litko vs Gale Force 9

The GF9 tokens fit together better than the Litko ones, and are made from slightly thicker plastic. They have a good range of basic tokens that would suit a lot of tabletop games, including the big names: Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Warmachine and Flames of War. 



The Litko tokens are more interesting to look at, and their store has a much bigger range, to suit all the games already mentioned, and a lot of other well known roleplaying and wargaming products. However, the plastic stock is a little thinner, so the tokens need to be glued together.

In any case, I glued all the tokens with 'Tarzan's Grip', so they should stay intact under gaming conditions. (Whoops, drop, clatter...)

No worries Boss - dat will buff out!

Overall verdict: these tokens aren't mandatory for a tabletop wargame, but they are handy and colourful. Both ranges are quality products, at reasonable prices. I recommend you choose a token set that suits your game system first, and then go for the style that you prefer. The GF9 products fit together better, but the Litko have a wider range and are more visually interesting.