Sounds great! I really need to try a game of Frostgrave soon, been wanting to for years.
Ben's Bits n Bobs
- Thread starter Ben_S
- Start date
It’s great plus all the different scenarios encourage you to always have a frostgrave project on the go. Fun to play with more than two of you as it allows for backstabbing among allies 
This isn't going to become a regular series, but another Frostgrave encounter (doubling the number of non-gf opponents I've played). Someone vaguely local who works at a school posted in a FB group that he was looking for weekday games. Since it's also summer break for me, I was available. And, in the absence of anywhere else suitably convenient, we actually played in my office at work. (I currently have this office to myself, though I will likely have to start sharing soon.)
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The terrain is all his. A great scratch built set-up, made out of cardboard, foam, and mod-podge. The walls are magnetised and pack away into the central box. Much more elevation than I've played with before, which definitely altered the game experience.
We both had Illusionists with the Push spell, which caused all kinds of carnage. I ended up a 4-1 winner, though this was at least partly down to me placing my two treasure tokens in easy reach of my table edge, while he placed his on high ground (one actually nearer to me).
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The terrain is all his. A great scratch built set-up, made out of cardboard, foam, and mod-podge. The walls are magnetised and pack away into the central box. Much more elevation than I've played with before, which definitely altered the game experience.
We both had Illusionists with the Push spell, which caused all kinds of carnage. I ended up a 4-1 winner, though this was at least partly down to me placing my two treasure tokens in easy reach of my table edge, while he placed his on high ground (one actually nearer to me).
I picked up some TTCombat MDF terrain, because I got a good deal on eBay. I was expecting that I'd have to add detailing to break up the flat surfaces a bit and don't mind doing that. I was thinking that the MDF would provide a structure to build on that would be quicker and more solid that anything I'd scratch build. But, I have to say, I'm finding simply punching it out of the frames (sprues?) quite a chore.
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The weekend weather forecast is quite nice, so maybe I'll make some progress in the garden.
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The weekend weather forecast is quite nice, so maybe I'll make some progress in the garden.
I've made a start on two walkways:
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I began with these, because they seemed fairly simple. Not a lot to say so far, although I have started on adding extra detail to break up the flat MDF. First addition, the ever-popular cable tie:
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There are some bits of etched detail on the kit, such as the patterns on the floors and the riveted panels (which you can see on the right-hand side of the second photo). I'm not sure how well these will show once painted, so I'm considering whether to make 3d additions, such as drywall mesh on the floor. Any comments or suggestions welcome.
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I began with these, because they seemed fairly simple. Not a lot to say so far, although I have started on adding extra detail to break up the flat MDF. First addition, the ever-popular cable tie:
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There are some bits of etched detail on the kit, such as the patterns on the floors and the riveted panels (which you can see on the right-hand side of the second photo). I'm not sure how well these will show once painted, so I'm considering whether to make 3d additions, such as drywall mesh on the floor. Any comments or suggestions welcome.
I never had much issue punching out the MDF parts, occasionally you get a tricky one where you need a knife for but most of the time if you raise the sheet up on another sheet you can press down with both thumbs and they pop right out!!
The details show up through paint surprisingly well. In some cases too well! I prefer cables and the like to be modelled on not etched in but each to their own.
I’ve used classic cable ties, fly mesh and little stick on half gems/pearls from a crafting shop to represent rivets. Eventually I will buy some resin computer terminals paint and superglue them on parts too for added detail.
Painted and undercoated examples of my bridges using all three materials above.
Takes a little bit of time but looks so much better.
Another useful thing is to use wall filler to fill in some of the more obvious tab points.
EDIT: or cut and glue some thin card over them. Like cereal box. Amazing how much difference not seeing those tab points does to MDF Terrain visually.
The details show up through paint surprisingly well. In some cases too well! I prefer cables and the like to be modelled on not etched in but each to their own.
I’ve used classic cable ties, fly mesh and little stick on half gems/pearls from a crafting shop to represent rivets. Eventually I will buy some resin computer terminals paint and superglue them on parts too for added detail.
Painted and undercoated examples of my bridges using all three materials above.
Takes a little bit of time but looks so much better.
Another useful thing is to use wall filler to fill in some of the more obvious tab points.
EDIT: or cut and glue some thin card over them. Like cereal box. Amazing how much difference not seeing those tab points does to MDF Terrain visually.
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I had an enforced break for two reasons. One, I was away from home for a couple of weeks. But, before that, I lost a few days due to an eye injury sustained while working on these MDF walkways.
I found that the top piece wasn't sitting flush on the sides, even after I'd tried trimming the peg down, so I decided to snip some of the pegs off with my sprue cutters and a bit flew right into my eye. I didn't think much of it at the time (I thought I must have blinked in time) but then I went three days feeling like I had something in my eye. Bought some eye ointment from the pharmacist the day before I was due to travel (assuming I wouldn't get a doctor's appointment in that time), then went to the NHS walk-in centre on the first day of my 'holiday' only to get prescribed more drops.
Now I'm back home, I bought myself a new set of safety glasses and I've resumed progress. I took advantage of the break to order some nail art beads from China, which arrived this morning. So, here's my first go at some rivets:
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The pack says 1,440. I didn't count them to check. But it's 12 for each of these barricades. I'm not sure I have the patience, but I think I'll try doing some more in front of the football later and see how I get on.
I found that the top piece wasn't sitting flush on the sides, even after I'd tried trimming the peg down, so I decided to snip some of the pegs off with my sprue cutters and a bit flew right into my eye. I didn't think much of it at the time (I thought I must have blinked in time) but then I went three days feeling like I had something in my eye. Bought some eye ointment from the pharmacist the day before I was due to travel (assuming I wouldn't get a doctor's appointment in that time), then went to the NHS walk-in centre on the first day of my 'holiday' only to get prescribed more drops.
Now I'm back home, I bought myself a new set of safety glasses and I've resumed progress. I took advantage of the break to order some nail art beads from China, which arrived this morning. So, here's my first go at some rivets:
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The pack says 1,440. I didn't count them to check. But it's 12 for each of these barricades. I'm not sure I have the patience, but I think I'll try doing some more in front of the football later and see how I get on.
It can get repetitive. I’ve done a lot of riveting this way and having something to listen to while you work definitely makes things pass quicker.
For those peg holes I just filled them with wall filler and then sanded it flat once dry!!
Much quicker!!For the other stuff I did have to cut a lot of card rectangles and stock beads to them.
It’s another in a long line of things I wish I could 3D print. Design a few plates, then get the printer to generate a hundred or more of them to just superglue on!
For those peg holes I just filled them with wall filler and then sanded it flat once dry!!
I realise that earlier picture might have been misleading. There was an extra plate covering an MDF join, but I'm not planning to do that on all of those joins. I wanted to try adding extra plates for additional detail and figured it the best place to test out the rivets (because then it wouldn't commit me to adding rivets over all the engraved ones). And I thought I might as well use it to cover the MDF join too while I was at it, killing two birds with one stone. But I was never intending to do that over all those joins.
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I'm not sure what to do with them though. I had a go at covering one with filler. It didn't do a brilliant job of filling the join, but did also fill in some of the detail that I want to keep. So, I may need to re-think this (or, perhaps, do a better job of it). Or, at the risk of antagonising our resident troll, I might just leave them. Perhaps I can say it's additional detail...
It did look that way!
The filler I used the GW spatula tool and then sanded after. It covers pretty well once painted.
I can get in grooves occasionally but just run the pointy end of the tool round and it’s fine.
For the plates - I used them on the trellis style legs for the platforms and it took a surprising amount to do them all!
The filler I used the GW spatula tool and then sanded after. It covers pretty well once painted.
I can get in grooves occasionally but just run the pointy end of the tool round and it’s fine.
For the plates - I used them on the trellis style legs for the platforms and it took a surprising amount to do them all!
MDF can be super forgiving on some things and filling gaps is definitely one. Buy a small bottle of wood glue and sand your leftover wood into a nice powdery pile. Made a paste of the two and it's gonna work an absolute treat. Also, baking soda and CA glue works but you usually need to put down a layer of CA first since the wood is always thirsty.
Taking a break from terrain, I picked up some cheap EM4 dwarfs. They're certainly not the greatest models, but they are very cheap.
Here's an attempt to convert a crossbow into a handgun:
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Still some clean up needed, but I wanted to see whether this would work. I think it does.
Here's an attempt to convert a crossbow into a handgun:
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Still some clean up needed, but I wanted to see whether this would work. I think it does.
To be clear, I mean turning a crossbowMAN (well, dwarf) into a handgunNER. I didn't literally convert the weapon - I just cut the original weapon end (and left hand) off and replaced it with a gun from the GW thunderer kit. It was a bit fiddly lining bits up right, but if you mistook that for the unconverted model, then that's a good sign.
Meanwhile... last weekend was very wet, but this weekend is fine, so work has begun on the TTCombat iron labyrinth ultima complex:
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I'm still a relative novice to MDF terrain, so not really sure whether this necessary - nor whether I really need to do both sides - but it seems the easiest way to get a coat of primer on everything. I'll be adding some more detailing during/after assembly, so it will get another coat of paint then. But I hope this means that any awkward to reach bits are still painted.
I do have a small pot of primer/sealer intended for walls. (This stuff.) I was wondering whether that would work on the MDF. I might test some of that out later.
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I'm still a relative novice to MDF terrain, so not really sure whether this necessary - nor whether I really need to do both sides - but it seems the easiest way to get a coat of primer on everything. I'll be adding some more detailing during/after assembly, so it will get another coat of paint then. But I hope this means that any awkward to reach bits are still painted.
I do have a small pot of primer/sealer intended for walls. (This stuff.) I was wondering whether that would work on the MDF. I might test some of that out later.
I wasn't sure about that, since I will want to stick some extra bits on the MDF. I didn't know whether it better to do that first, then prime/seal everything in, or to have those stuck to the primer. But I may as well have a test, once I've finished the bedroom wall. (Perhaps I'll wish I'd bought a bigger tin.)
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