Quick 'How To' for a Star Wars TIE Fighter Scenery Piece

    My scratch-built TIE fighter 'objective markers' for our 2nd skirmish in our Star Wars campaign

The second scenario in my Star Wars skirmish campaign using Space Weirdos rules will have the rebels attacking a TIE fighter base in the deserts of Tatooine. I was sure one of my friends would have some usable TIE fighter models. Color me surprised that neither Keith nor Wallace had any! I posted on the Lead Adventure Forum, looking for ideas for inexpensive roughly 28mm scale models I could use essentially as terrain in this game. Some good suggestions, but I didn't want to spend $30+ on a just few models. There HAD to be some way to make them, assemble them out of cardstock, or whatever!

    Somewhere in the Tatooine desert, a flight line and base for six imperial TIE fighters

I kept waiting for inspiration or an idea to hit me until it got to less than 2 weeks out from the game. No more time to dither, I had to make a decision! I chose to make my own. I found a good image online of the TIE fighter's hexagonal panel "wings." I would print these out at the local office supply store, using the same image for both inside and outside. I'd affix those with spray adhesive to a piece of thin styrene plastic (white glue just peeled off). Now, I would need to source the central ball-shaped pod and the connecting sprues. As I like to do in such scratch-building situations, I headed up to Hobby Lobby. And hit paydirt!

    The image I found online of a TIE fighter side panel and the styrene sheet I affixed them onto

First, I found perfect-sized, wooden spheres at clearance prices for the central sections. There were even holes drilled in either side so it could be a "bead," in essence. Then, I found a bag of cylindrical, wooden beads that looked to be a good size to connect to the panels. These were also at a good price! The last stop was at Office Max, where I got two silver Sharpies (one thick point, one thin). The plan would be to spray paint the ball and beads black, and draw panel lines in silver. Here's where I was relying on memory rather than double-checking images. I should have spray painted gray and used black Sharpies to do the darker portions. D'oh!

    Wooden beads from the local craft store made up the central section of the TIE fighters

The cylindrical beads fit well into the holes on the spherical beads. I had also bought a thin wooden dowel to string all three together so they'd be lined up straight, though. I pre-cut the dowel into the correct lengths, squirted white glue into each bead, and then strung them all together, twisting the cylindrical beads to get them firmly inserted into the holes in the balls.

    Close up of the panel lines drawn on with silver Sharpie onto the ship's central sections 

I spray painted these black (yeah, yeah, should have been gray!), then spent an hour or so after they had dried going over them with the silver Sharpies, creating panel lines. Honestly, I did a so-so job on this stage. These are definitely terrain items -- not beautiful models recreating a TIE fighter. Lump them in the "should be seen from six feet away category" and they look fine...ha, ha! In my game, the TIE fighters are basically just objectives that the rebel players are trying to blow up. They won't take to the air and I don't imagine I will use them for too many scenarios. They're fine for spending just a tad over $10 for everything.

    Side view with a look at the fancy furniture tacks that (along with Tacky glue) hold them together

I did forget to mention that I bought a box of fancy, silver Furniture Tacks at the local Menards to fasten the hexagonal panels to the wooden central section. I used a pin vice to create a hole in each of the hexagonal panels. Then I drilled out the inside of the cylindrical beads (essentially through the dowel). I squirted in white glue into either side, and then pressed the tack in firmly from the outside, attaching the panels and central section firmly together.

    Stormtroopers guard the flight line -- will they be able to hold off the rebel raid & protect the ships?

All in all, they look okay as scenery. So, if you have a need for a half a dozen parked TIE fighters that you can source for less than $20 total, maybe my post here will inspire you. If not, now you know what lengths I will go to in giving my games that little extra bit of eye candy...ha, ha! Oh, and despite all of what I just said, in my totals below, I am counting these TIE fighters in the "MINIATURES" category...! 

    Final look at my 'terrain pieces' -- TIE fighters built for $10+ so my players could blow them up!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 237
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 138

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 43

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 112

Miniature Building Authority Vietnamese Farm Buildings & Scatter

   A patrol stocks up in a VC-friendly hamlet including my 2 MBA Farmer's House & Barn buildings

Now that I am finished with the miniatures for my 28mm Vietnam project, it is time to slip into "terrain mode." First up in the buildings I will be readying for the tabletop are from Miniature Building Authority. I purchased these from Kirk at Buckeye Game Fest this past May. When I unpacked them, they looked oddly familiar. Turns out, these were originally created by Acheson Creations and now are stocked by MBA. They are ACH-TC85 Vietnamese Farmer's House and ACH-TC88 Vietnamese Farmer's Barn.

    Originally produced by Acheson Creations, these MBA buildings were easy to ready for the tabletop

Unfortunately, I didn't realize they were originally Acheson ones until after I spray primed them and added the 50/50 mixture of acrylic black paint and water. It was then that I noticed some of the paint pulling away from the more raised areas. Uh-oh. I hadn't done my usual first step with Acheson products and run them through the dishwasher to get rid of the residue from Acheson's mold release. Once I realized it, I had two choices: strip them and start over or pile on the paint and sealant heavy enough that the paint does not wear away. I chose the latter, as I had no idea how to strip the Krylon Fusion Matte primer off without marring the surface of the buildings. These are great buildings, but I highly recommend you do the dishwasher thing before painting them, as for all Acheson's excellent products.

    The rear of the two buildings -- all it takes to paint these is prime, wet brush, & dry brush...easy!

I decided to do the interiors first. I gave them a thick Leather Brown base coat. I let them dry overnight and then dry brushed the interiors khaki. I painted the window trim and door frames a darker brown, then similarly dry brushed them khaki. The exteriors were painted dark brown first. I let the buildings dry overnight again, then I followed up with my typical "wood pattern." I applied a Camo brown wet brush followed the next day by a Khaki dry brush. I really like the look of the aged wood it gives, but still retaining a brown tone rather than a (probably more realistic) gray. 

    The interiors of the two resin buildings with their mud walls and wooden floors

The floors were done like the outside walls, skipping the khaki dry brush. I wanted them to be darker, figuring the farmer's family regularly tracked in dirt into their home. In fact, I was surprised the home and barn were modeled with wood flooring. I wonder if dirt would be more accurate? Perhaps in some areas and not others? I can't claim to be an expert on farmer home construction during the Vietnam War! Finally, I did the thatch roofing. This began with Camo Brown, followed by a Dun Yellow wet brush, and finally a very light gray dry brush highlighting. Once dry, I gave the thatch a black vehicle wash. 

    My larger jungle scatter pieces I created, with a patrol of Viet Cong marching past

Since I was worried about the paint not adhering to the resin properly, I gave the buildings a brush on clear coat using Liquitex matte varnish instead of spray. To hold the flocking in place on the base, I used a coating of white glue and water. So far, I don't see any signs of paint scraping off, but I guess I will find out for sure once I start using them in game.

    I used circular wooden bases, palm trees, and a variety of plastic plants from the craft store for these

The other terrain I finished this week for Vietnam were larger jungle scatter bases. I picked up two packs of six 3" round wooden discs at Hobby Lobby to supplement the smaller ones I had done previously. In the center of each of the large bases, I epoxied in a plastic palm tree. I dry brushed the trunk khaki and then added a dark brown vehicle wash over it. The plain green plastic palm fronds were dry brushed here and there a light olive drab. Next, I painted the edges of the bases and flocked them with my usual method I used for miniatures. I let them flocking dry completely for a day before beginning the next step.

    A close up of one of the bases with a VC soldier - note the effect of the brown wash/varnish

I assembled my ziploc bags of various plastic plants that I'd picked up from the local craft store. I snipped off ends of various plants for vegetation to surround the palm tree. Once I felt I had enough (I didn't -- I went back and snipped more), I drilled holes into the base with a pin vice so I could insert the plastic stems. I dabbed each hole with two-part epoxy and forced the stems about a quarter of an inch through. I also added individual fallen leaves and fronds from the plastic plants to the ground. Once done with this stage, I set them atop some old dice I use so they were raised off the surface of my desk. I didn't want the stems being pushed one way or another and messing up the way I had the plants sticking up.

    Another look at one of the bases surrounded by others, with two VC stalking through the vegetation

The next morning, I turned the bases over and trimmed off the stems with a carpet knife. Finally, I added the tiny leaves that I've been adding to the base of my Vietnam figures. There was one more important step to go, though! As I mentioned in the post for the smaller jungle pieces, I think that plastic plants on their own have too shiny of a look. I mixed up a batch of Liquitex matte varnish with a few drops of brown paint. Then I painted it over all of the plants and also the fronds of the central palm tree. Not only did this dull down the sheen and make it look more natural, it also added a brownish look of dying vegetation. 

    I like the combination of palm trees with miscellaneous craft store plastic plants -- very "irregular"

I really like how these larger scatter pieces came out. I am planning on doing one more batch of the smaller ones and another of these larger ones before I'm done. When added to my fairly decent collection of palm trees, I feel they should give a nice jungle-like look. They are time consuming to build, with all the trimming of the plastic plants and drilling holes for the stems. However, they add variety to the tabletop. I'm really looking forward to what my Vietnam battle board will look like. The little vignettes I set up to photograph to display the miniatures or terrain I've painted look nice, I think. A whole table in that fashion should look great!

    A final look at my most recent additions to my Vietnam terrain -- will the VC take the chickens, too?

So, what's next on my painting desk? For miniatures, I've started a batch of 28mm resin Fishfolk that I also purchased from MBA. I wanted to practice on them before doing the more expensive Beldolor Studies ones I got at Origins. I've also primed three more buildings for the Vietnam project. So, I guess I am keeping up with my strategy of juggling of a batch of miniatures with a batch of terrain at all times. So, look for these in future posts!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 237
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 132

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 43

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 112

Ruined Building & Various Scatter for Flea Market Sale

    Two-storey ruined MDF building from Father and Son -- I really like the detail on the floors!

I'm continuing to crank out the stuff in preparation for having things to sell on my flea market table at Historicon. I had earmarked this MDF 2-Storey Ruined Building from Father and Son Gaming as one I had purchased, but didn't necessarily need in my collection. Much like the earlier 4 Ground ruined buildings, this one came out so nice I'm tempted to keep it and not sell it! I really like how it looks all painted up.

    Three of my survivors check out the newest ruined building that I prepped for the flea market

I don't know if it is typical for their MDF products, but there were no instructions included other than the photograph from two angles of the finished building. Unfortunately, for me -- Mr. Not a Puzzle Person -- it wasn't enough. There were three pieces I never figured out where they went. And I ended up assembling the walls "inside out," with what was supposed to be the exterior facing inwards. You might say that I "ruined" it, but honestly, I think it looks pretty darned good this way! I absolutely love the floor patterns that Father and Son have inscribed on the MDF. It really makes this building "pop," so to speak.

    This view shows the rubble along the base of each of the walls that I added to the MDF kit

The only modification that I did to the building was adding in rubble all along the walls. This step is easy to do. You just squirt white glue where each wall meets the floor and pour in tiny rocks or rubble. I used a bag of black rubble that I bought from Discover Games at Buckeye Game Fest. Then you tap off the excess that didn't make it firmly enough to where the glue was, and sweep that up and put it back in the bag or tub. It doesn't take that long to do and I think really adds something to the look of a ruined building. 

    Close up of the black prime, dark gray wet brush, & light gray dry brush I did to the walls

I did my usual method to ready MDF ruins for the tabletop: black prime, go over it with a 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and water, and then wet brush dark gray and dry brush light gray. Once those steps are done, you are all but done with this. I decided to dry brush the floor in Wedgewood blue -- a very pale craft paint color. Then I took heavily watered down medium blue and painted it into the recessed floor designs. I'm very happy with how it came out. For the downstairs floor, I simply did a Terra Cotta craft paint wet brush over the tile floor. The different amounts of paint on the brush over the top of a primed black floor looks really nice.

    Also painted up 18 plaster oil barrels that a friend had given me long ago - I like how they turned out

I also like how this collection of oil barrels came out. They were cast from plaster and given to me years ago by my friend Tim Peaslee. They've sat in my unpainted scatter box for quite some time. This was mainly because I already had oil barrels from Acheson Creations and my pre-painted gas station set. Since most modern or post-apocalyptic gamers could use oil barrels, I figured why not get them ready for sale, as well? I primed them black with Fusion Acrylic Matte Black, then went over it with a 50/50 mix of black acrylic paint and water, as usual. Then I dry brushed them in various colors, which gave the a nice dirty look.

    Close up of one of my survivors guarding the oil barrels - good look at the rust effect I did

I decided to use my bottle of Dirty Down "Rust Effect" on them, too. So far, I've learned you don't simply paint this over an entire piece. It's best to pick out certain areas where rust might show up, and also to stipple it every once in awhile. Also, don't be afraid to apply some of it thicker and other parts more watered down. This gives different effects. However, I do think the effect is improved noticeably by doing a black wash over it afterwards. I was very happy with how these rusty, dirty barrels turned out. Once again -- stop me if you've heard this before -- I was tempted to keep them and not sell them in the flea market...ha. ha! I did base them on tiny washers to make them more stable on the tabletop and flocked the part of the base you can see with Woodland Scenics Blended Turf. What do you guys think? Would a buck ($1) a barrel be a fair price, or is that under pricing them (or too much)? Feel free to give me feedback in the comments.  

    3-D printed dumpsters from Sea Dog Game Studios that I also painted up for the flea market

The last things in this update are four dumpsters from Sea Dog Game Studios. These are 3-D printed items that I bought several years ago before I'd painted up the other ones I typically use in my modern games. In fact, I probably have too many dumpsters already, so these were definitely superfluous. What better thing to turn into cash than something you paid for years ago and don't really need, right?

    'What do you think - should we look inside?' - A closeup of the largest of the 4 rusty dumpsters

I gave these the same prime and 50/50 preparation that I did with the other two things in this post. I painted the dumpster itself a dark green, with a brighter Kelly green dry brush. The lid was left black with a medium gray dry brush on it. For some reason, I did not like how the Dirty Down rust effect worked on the dumpsters. Maybe it was the 3-D printed texture or the darker green color? Either way, I was unhappy, so went back to my "old school" painted-on rust. I painted speckles and blotches of rust in Autumn Brown. I then added fluorescent orange in the middle of the brown. Once the two colors had dried, I went over it with a dark black vehicle wash.

    Unlike the oil barrels, I painted this rust effect with brown, orange, & a black vehicle wash

I was tempted to put some labels, graffiti, or signs on the dumpsters, but I wanted them to be generic to tempt more purchasers, so passed on that. I based them up on pieces of styrene plastic and flocked them with Woodland Scenics Blended Gray Fine Ballast. I painted the ballast with a black vehicle wash to give it more of an asphalt rather than gravel look. I thought they turned out nicely. I am completely at a loss what price is fair to charge for them. Feel free to comment and give suggestions. The bigger one is obviously going to be more expensive than the three small ones. But what price?

    A final look at the Father and Son MDF building -- is $45 a fair price, you think?

That's it for this update, and possibly the last update for a week or so. I will be at Origins Game Fair at the Columbus Convention Center this week. I'm running my Viking Raid on an Anglo-Saxon town from Thursday through Saturday, this week. So, I'm going to be pretty busy and will unlikely get a chance to update the blog. There is a chance that the last batch of Viet Cong may get posted before then -- they're were just finished this morning. Otherwise, the last two batches of U.S. infantry in Vietnam are nipping at the Viet Cong's heels. They'll likely be done the week or so after Origins, too. I also have some ruined Buddha statues and a stone bridge that are pretty far along, too. Those are for the flea market, too. So, stay tuned! There may be a week or so delay in posts, but they'll be back on track soon!

    A last look at the oil barrels...is $1 each a good price? Could I get $2 each -- what do you think?

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 232
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 117 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 40

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 100

Various Ruined Buildings & Such Ready for the Flea Market

    Modern 'Stalingrad' ruins from 4 Ground -- first times I have built any of their MDF kits!

In keeping with my plan of steadily "thinning the herd," I've started painting things up specifically to sell in flea markets. Looking over my list of all my terrain and scatter, I realized that even if I did paint it all, I likely wouldn't have room for it! So, I've been going through the list and deciding what I can live without. The goal is to get it ready for the tabletop -- just someone else's table! Here is the first batch of various ruins -- buildings, walls, statues, etc.

    I thought these stairs would be a pain to put together, but the both kits went together easily

I bought two 4 Ground Stalingrad MDF ruined buildings from my friend Jeff Gatlin at the first Hold the Line convention. However, looking at all the modern ruins I have already painted and based up in game room closet, they are kind of superfluous. So, I put them together -- the first 4 Ground buildings I had assembled. They go together very nicely and are right up there with Sarissa Precision. Maybe even better with the extra little bits they give, like a strand of material to cut and use as exposed iron rebar. The thin cardboard building accents for the outer walls are nice, too.

    Base coating black and then doing two layers of gray dry brushing made these paint up quickly

I thought assembling the three stories of staircases would be a pain in the butt. It was not, though. The 4 Ground method made a lot of sense and was very easy to do. I used tacky glue to assemble all the pieces and was honestly shocked how little time they took me. One of the buildings comes in two pieces, and I used epoxy instead to join the halves together once each part was built. Once they were done, I spray painted them with Krylon Acrylic Fusion matte black. Once dry, I went over all the surfaces with a 50/50 mix of black paint and water to ensure everything seeped into all the blind spots and crevices. 

    I added a lot of rubble along the walls and in the corners of both buildings

Painting them was an easy dark gray dry brush, followed by a lighter gray highlight. For the wood, I painted them in dark brown, and followed up with a medium Camo Brown dry brush and a khaki highlight. I used a pale blue for the floors, hitting them with a white dry brush highlight. For the trim pieces, I used either pale blue or green for the trim pieces. For the rebar pieces, I used epoxy to stick them into their holes atop the ruins. I painted them Iron Wind Steel, then for the first time, tried a Rust effect solution from "Dirty Down" on them. I'm very happy with how it came out. I bought it from Discover Games at Buckeye Game Fest on a whim, and am glad I did. I can see myself using this in the future.

    I like the accents 4 Ground includes -- like the cardboard rectangles and pieces of 'rebar'

Both buildings are much cooler than their little black and white picture on the package showed. I admit, I am half tempted to keep them rather than sell them in the Historicon flea market. They are different enough from the ones I already have to provide variety, but still have the same ruined city or town look to them. Likely, I'll still sell them, though. I really did enjoy doing up my first 4 Ground buildings!

    These chimney ruins are 3-D printed and bought from Jarls Workshop a couple years ago

These three "chimney ruins" are 3-D printed from my friend Rusty at Jarls Workshop. I picked them up from him a couple years ago at Advance the Colors. I've painted 2-3 of them up already and figured that I really didn't need three more in my collection. So, they were on obvious trio to be culled from the herd. I prepared them the same way as the 4 Ground buildings. I painted the brick areas Iron Wind Red Brown first, then dry brushed them with Howard Hues Middle Eastern Flesh. 

    I put a lot of flocking and loose bricks to dress up the area inside the building foundations

All that is left of these ruins are the foundations and chimney, with the interior area meant to be overgrown vegetation. However, I decided to add some tumbled bricks to this area, though. I am running low on my little plaster bricks I bought at Dragons Guildhall so long ago. I need to find some more at Historicon or somewhere. And no, I won't count each brick as a piece of scatter on my Acquired vs. Painted totals. They're supplies, like paint...ha, ha! Once the glue was dry on the bricks, I painted the turf areas with my 50/50 mix of white glue and brown paint. I then sprinkled on fine brown ballast from Woodland Scenics, followed by Blended Earth flocking. 

    I think these chimney ruins turned out great for as little time they took to get ready for the tabletop

Similar to how I usually do my figure basing, I painted on white glue in irregular splotches and sprinkled it with Blended Grass from Woodland Scenics. Next, I added clump foliage and occasional tufts or flowers to make it look more interesting. I think they came out nicely. Not on the scale of the 4 Ground buildings, but still nice little pieces for someone's tabletop...I hope!

    I LOVE my Acheson terrain, but felt I could be parted with this cat statue on its ruined pediment

As much as I love my Acheson Creations terrain, I have to admit I am not sure why I bought this statue of a cat that looks like it is part of a ruined temple. My friends all know of my cat allergy (and avoidance of them). So, there would doubtless be some serious ribbing if I put a statue of a cat on my tabletop. Sorry, Fluffy, you're going to be culled, too! Like all Acheson terrain, this was incredibly easy to get ready for the tabletop. Preparation followed the same method as the other pieces. I used the same stone ruins recipe I use for my other stuff -- black base coat, dark gray dry brush followed by a lighter highlight. Like with the chimney ruins, I added a bunch of clump foliage to show it being overgrown. It turned out nicely, I think...for a cat! Ha, ha!!

    I think I did a nice job 'dressing up' this overgrown and ruined wall piece

The final piece is a section of ruined stone wall. It is from the Plastic Guys, a group of regional gamers from the Toledo area who used plastic and styrofoam to create simple terrain. I trimmed off the excess plastic and based it onto a piece of bass wood. I used a couple tiny model railroad trees to dress it up a bit, and added pieces of tumbled stone along both sides. I flocked it as I did with the chimney ruins, and added in lots of clump foliage to show it being overgrown, as well. For a piece of plastic terrain, it came out fairly well. Hopefully, someone at the flea market feels the same way and is willing to buy it!

So, there you have it -- my first batch of terrain built and painted with the express purpose of selling off. I typically double the price I paid for the item for my asking price, usually rounding it to a multiple of $5. My thoughts -- and feel free to tell me if you think they are too high or too low -- are $40 each for the 4 Ground buildings, $15 each for the Chimney Ruins, $10 each for the cat and the ruined wall. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on those prices!

What else is on my painting desk? I am in the flocking stage of the next batch of 5 Viet Cong. I'll do photos of those five and the previous ones together as one post. I will also continue to work in some more terrain or scatter to sell, as well. I have two more to do of the Sci-Fi scatter that were in the pictures with the Alien Grays. I bought six of them and want to wait till I have all six to do a post about them. Stay tuned...more to come, as always! And I appreciate the comments, guys -- it makes my day to read them and know people are enjoying my ramblings!!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 145
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 107 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 39

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 72

More 28mm Viet Cong & Some Jungle Scatter Terrain

    Five more of my 28mm Viet Cong figures begin to take fire near some tumbled ancient ruins

My morning painting sessions are becoming a bit like a juggler with three balls in the air. I tend to have one batch nearing completion, another midway through the painting process, and a third I've just begun. So, how to ramp up the challenge level? Add a fourth ball, of course! That fourth thing turned out to be 1.5" round wooden pieces with jungle vegetation on them. I have some of this already completed, but will likely need more for my battles for this project. 

    One of the poses armed with a sub-machine gun...see! I recognize types, but not which make/model

First, though, here's the latest batch of 28mm Black Sun miniatures from Crucible Crush. These are from Vietcong #3 pack, and feature the insurgents dressed in their trademark black pajamas while carrying a variety of small arms. I painted these identically to the first batch of VC, and they also were finished very quickly. Perhaps a bit too quickly? After resizing the photos in my Affinity Photo software, I noticed a mistake. I had missed that the bareheaded figure was actually wearing some kind of headband. The joy of extreme closeup photos -- they point out your mistakes! I did go back and paint the headband, but I did not set up my photo light box again and retake its photo. See if you can notice my error, as well...!

    I like the camouflage foliage affixed to this guy's helmet/hat -- nice variety in the five poses

Once again, I relied heavily on the photos that are on the Crucible Crush website for how to paint up these miniatures. I especially can use their help on the weapons. I am not the gun enthusiast that can tell differences between various forms of assault rifles, sub-machine guns, and so on. I recognize them by category or type, of course. Well, except for the M-16, -- which I was trained on while I was in the Army. I know that I mentioned in my last post on the VC that I would start to add in some irregularity to their clothing, but I will actually begin that with the third batch of VC. I'd kind of forgotten, and while juggling my three batches painted their pants and shirts all black. Once I remembered, I decided not to go back and paint over them. I still have half the VC packs to paint up, so plenty of time to mix in different clothing colors.

    I like this guy's hat -- very Chinese communist looking!

I do believe, though, that with this batch I am halfway through the figures I bought for this project. Of course, there's always a possibility that I will buy more after these are done and as I begin play testing my rules. Still, I reached the halfway point much sooner than I might have guessed. I am hoping to have all the packs finished by the time I am at Historicon this July 17-20, in Lancaster, PA. I'll have my greatest chance of finding manufacturer's stocking the Black Sun line there, or at least other 28mm Vietnam figures. I know that I would like to have some civilians painted up eventually, too. I'm sure some vendor there will have some figures that will work for that.

    This is a great pose, too, with the Non La - the traditional straw hat - on his back while marching

It was in response to the fact that this project is going quickly that I added my fourth juggler's ball in the air. I picked up a bag of 1.5" diameter round wooden discs from the local craft store. I have done similar terrain scatter like this and find the best method is to flock the base first before adding vegetation). I do this by gluing the wooden discs to nails with white glue. I have a piece of blue foam insulation I created long ago with 12 nails and slots for them to rest upright in. I affix each nail upside down in the center of the disc. Once dry, I paint the base completely with a 50/50 mix of brown paint and white glue. While still wet, I pressed it down into a tub of Woodland Scenics Fine Brown Ballast. I spin it in my finger to remove loose flocking and then place the nail into its slot to dry.

    This Vietnamese soldier's pith helmet I painted khaki, but some will done in OD green, as well

The next day -- after working on my Vietnam figures -- I painted the flocked base with a 50/50 mix of white glue and water. I then tamp the disc down into a tub of Woodland Scenics Blended Earth Turf. I spin the nail with my fingers again to get off excess flocking, then I let it dry overnight, again.

    A look at just the 12 scatter pieces (& the Aquarium decoration Khmer ruin) without the soldiers

The third day, I used full strength white glue and painted on three irregular shapes covering about 2/3's of each disc. I sprinkle on Woodland Scenics Blended Grass over the white glue and tamp off the excess. I let that dry, too. While the dozen discs were drying, I took some time and went through my selection of plastic plants leftover from the last time I had done something like this. I felt that I needed some more, so I made a trip to the craft store and picked out 4-5 other likely pieces that were fortunately on sale 40% off. I sat at the dining room table and pulled the plant pieces off of the brown plastic "stems," separating them by type. I then sat down and trimmed off various pieces from the collection that would be later be planted upright into the disc. My thoughts were to use about three pieces on each disc. One would go in the center and the other two spaced around it. Later on, I would add fallen leaves and such on top of the flocking.

    Looking at the pieces from above -- I used a variety of different types of plastic plants for the effect

The next day, I used a pin vice to drill a hole in the center of each of the 12 pieces. I then mixed up some two-part epoxy, dabbed a blob of it on the hole, pushing some down inside with the end of a paperclip. I then pushed the trimmed greenery's stem through the hole in the disc. I balanced the disc on something so the stem would not touch my cutting mat that I work on. Once dried, I drilled a second hole and placed a different type of trimmed greenery, and then a third. I let each new piece dry overnight so that it wouldn't tip or lean at some weird angle. The pin vice hole seemed about perfect for the width of the stems I was inserting in the discs. That stage took three days. Once all dry, I trimmed off the plant stems protruding through the bottom with a box cutter knife.

    Bunching the pieces together with a low angle shot gives the impression of dense foliage

For the next step, I cut off individual leaves from various pieces of greenery. I made a lot of them, knowing I wanted two to three pieces of fallen vegetation on each. I decided to not use epoxy for this, but instead Tacky Glue. It is a bit cheaper and I had a lot of gluing to do! Once I had the fallen vegetation affixed to the flocked ground of each piece, I let them sit overnight so that I could evaluate them with a fresh eye in the morning. Upon looking at my handiwork the next morning, I decided that the plastic plants were a bit too shiny. There was too much of a sheen on there for my liking. I sprayed them with acrylic clear matte next. That helped some, but it was still a bit bright. I decided to use my brown vehicle wash and quickly splashed it over the leaves of the standing pieces of vegetation as well as the fallen ones. For one final time, I let my jungle scatter pieces dry overnight, again.

    A close up of the fallen leaves and other vegetation on the flocked ground of each scatter piece

"Much better!", I said to myself in the morning. The final step was to add a couple pieces of the leaf flocking that I am putting on the bases of my soldiers. Once that was done, and the glue was dry, I did a final acrylic matte spray coat. I liked how they turned out, and since I had just finished this batch of Viet Cong, I decided to pose them with the jungle scatter pieces for my photos. For the next batch, though, I think I will try larger wooden disc. I plan to glue a palm tree to the center of each with the plastic greenery spaced around it. I think that a mix of sizes of jungle scatter will add to their look of the table and make a more attractive tabletop.

I won't be starting on those right away, though. I want to get some of these things I am painting up to sell at the flea market at Historicon completed. I am even thinking of putting some things in the Origins Game Fair consignment sale, too. So, expect more variety than just 28mm Vietnamese soon...!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 145
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 90 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 32

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 72

Mesas or Rocky Outcrops from Diabolical Terrain

    A collection of 3-D printed rocky outcrops or mesas that I purchased from Diabolical Terrain

Last year, knowing that Star Wars skirmishes I am running using Space Weirdos rules were in the future for our gaming, I picked up a set of mesas or rocky outcrops from Diabolical Terrain. These are 3-D printed and in a nice variety of sizes from their Desert Rock Formations collection. In fact, I would say that these would work easily for just about any scale. I have them posed with my 28mm 3-D printed Stormtroopers from JS Wargamer Printing, but I could easily see these prints being equally perfect for 15mm. It just depends on how big you want your rocky outcrops or mesa terrain to be!

    28mm Star Wars Stormtroopers search through the canyonland of Tatooine for 'rebel scum'

The first step to preparing these for the tabletop was to spray paint them with a can of khaki "camouflage"  paint that I picked up at Menards. It's the same base coat I used for my Diabolical Terrain Tatooine houses that I painted up back in December. Like with those buildings, I will likely pick up more of these mesas when I see Ron Weaver at his booth at Historicon. I purchased these rocky outcrops from him at last Historicon. They seemed like plenty of pieces for a nice desert tabletop. However, once I got them finished and set out on my desert terrain neoprene mat, they didn't cover up as much of it as I thought they would! 

    'Any signs of the rebels, Echo Six?' 'No, sir.' 'Keep looking -- Lord Vader says they're here...' 

Once the spray painting was done, I was able to skip my usual next step of applying watered down acrylic paint to make sure it gets in all the cracks and crevices. This spray did a thorough job of it, and after inspecting the pieces closely, I decided to go straight to dry brushing. I applied a dry brush of a craft paint called "Wild Rice" -- a very light colored tan that I typically use for highlighting khaki. This brought out the carved rock faces well.

    The 3-D printed pieces were easy to paint up and prepare for the tabletop in four steps

As much as I liked it, I feel a wash always does a great job "softening" and blending in the brush strokes of the highlighting step. There was a lot of surface area, though. Did I want to use my standard brown vehicle wash, which is fairly dark, as well? Hmmm. Then I remembered what project I bought the spray paint I'd used on them for -- my giant, 3-D printed bridge. I had mixed up a special batch of wash just for that bridge, knowing it would take a lot of liquid to cover its surface. I still had what was left over sitting, pre-mixed, on my tabletop. I would look at it from time to time, and shake it to ensure it hadn't dried up. Would it be enough, though? I figured that I would try it first on one of the smaller pieces.

    I really like how the different shades of brown I used on the various steps amplify the shadows

I really liked the effect it gave. Sometimes, if the wash is too dark, it almost erases the previous highlighting. This was a nice in between. You could see the lighter highlights, but it did a nice job of blending the brush strokes and giving a nice, brown color. I went ahead and finished the rest of the pieces and still have some more left over. So, it had definitely been plenty! Once dry, I inspected the pieces. I liked them, but felt that the recesses and cracks were still too light. Hmmm.

I decided to do one final step on the pieces. I took my dark brown vehicle wash and applied it with a small brush only to the cracks and crevices. Although in a few places you can see where this stops and starts too clearly, in my opinion, I was overall happy with how it turned out. I think on my next batch, though, I will swap the last two steps. I will do the brown vehicle wash in the crevices and recesses and then do the overall wash on it. I think it will blend the whole rocky surface together well. A final clear matte spray coat finished off the pieces.

    You can see how the size of these pieces would work for either 15mm or 28mm scale

You can see the 3-D print lines in some of the close up photos. However, since it is a sandstone like surface, this actually doesn't look bad. It gives the impression of even smaller details on the rock surfaces itself. I like how these turned out, and I said before, will likely be buying more of them from Diabolical Terrain. They will be used on the tabletop for sure in my next planned scenario in our Star Wars campaign using Space Weirdos rules.

    One final look at the rocky pieces from above to show you their variety in size and shape

So, what else is coming up or in progress? Lots! Too much!! Seriously, I will post tomorrow my next batch of 28mm Viet Cong. Posing with them will be my first dozen jungle scatter terrain pieces that I scratch built using plastic plants from the local craft store. I actually took the photos of those at the same time as these. I had finished the rocky outcrops first, though, so they get to be featured on the blog first! Fair is fair...ha, ha! Of course, there are more U.S. and Viet Cong figs in process. In addition, there are a LOT of terrain pieces that I am preparing for the sole purpose of selling at my flea market table at Historicon this July 17-20 in Lancaster, PA. Stay tuned for updates on those and other miscellaneous terrain or figures I am squeezing into my painting schedule.

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 145
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 85 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 32

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 60