Built a Bridge

The kind that goes on a ship that is. I've been working on my Aeronef French. Boy, do they need a lot of work let me tell you. They've been tricky to mount on the flying stands. Plus, I've had to replace some tail fins due to minor miscasts. The biggest problem is that the bridge of one of the ships ended up missing. Only thing to do was to build a new one!

Here's what this particular class of Aeronef should look like:


This is what I had:


Now, I started this willy nilly. About at this stage, I had me a thought. I thought, "Hey! I could put this on my blog." I started taking pictures. What these poor quality pictures should show you is the beginning of the bridge. I built it up using strips of styrene sheets glued together in layers. Does that make sense? The decking was made with a textured styrene sheet. The layers of styrene created a striated effect which needed to be smoothed out and hidden. I used some pro-create putty to do that and filed it smooth after curing:




Next, I cut little "windows" from a thin strip of styrene (not thin enough if you ask me but it was all I had). I then glued them to the appropriate spots:


This is the bridge with windows and smoke stacks, glued on to the superstructure:


Then, I cut up some round bits of sprue to use as gun sponsons and attached them:


The finished product. The guns were made from spare masts from other ships. I first thought to use brass wire but the lead was easier to work with:


Guess I'll need to paint them now.

The Turks Arrive

Made you think I was working on some Empire archers, did I? Or that French Aeronef fleet? No. It was the Turks!







On the far right you can see the Sultan Selim, newly purchased from the Germans. On the far left is the Abdul Aziz, a true monster of a ship bristling with cannons.

I need to get some more Turkish ships. They're my favorite.

Empire Archers

I finally started work on these:




They're quite possibly the nicest plastic minis Games Workshop has ever produced. Odd that it has to be archers though. Don't they just look like they belong to Henry the Eight's hunting party? They look so competent and cool. Too bad they're a bunch of balistic skill 3 schlubs. Look at the third picture. There's even a gut shot orc getting ready to be dispatched by an archer's sword. Can't wait to finish painting them.

Speaking of painting, I primered the archers using white Armoury spray primer. This is highly unusual considering that I normally use grey gesso. I am to gesso like a Romanian is to onions. Even so, my gesso must be getting old or something because it has really been gunking up details lately. Hence the spray primer. We'll see how this turns out.

Bases, knocking them down

Here, as you can see, are the Halflings I posted earlier. Halflings are de rigueur in the Empire this year. So, it should only be that I have a finished unit with the bases done.





Crossbowmen from Stirland:


Crossbowmen from Estalia:




Handgunners from Stirland in a, "Are you going to live forever? Get 'em done!" paint job:


Dogs of War Duelists as a Stir River Patrol boarding party (one guy had his pistol break off and I can't find it):




Various Free Company:





It must look like I favor oddball units and missile troops. It could be true. It is also true that they tend to come in units of ten and are therefore quicker and less onerous to paint.

Now for the regularly scheduled video from my most favorite band ever:

The Great War Against Bases Begins!

I've been busy lately rebasing or just plain basing my Empire army. The nice weather lately has allowed me to begin applying static grass. I prefer to do it outside since that stuff gets everywhere. Pictures to come!

Now, a video.