3-D Printed Spider Hole Guerrillas and Some Waterfowl

    5 'Spider Holes' for my games of Surviving 'Nam - they are 3-D printed from Discount Hobbies

As I mentioned in my post about my purchases at Advance the Colors 2026, I picked up five spider holes (individual, tunnel-like fighting positions) with Viet Cong soldiers emerging or shooting from them. They were 3-D printed by a new vendor to our con, Discount Hobbies 3-D Printing. Harold, the owner, also carries my Surviving 'Nam rules, and has been enthusiastically printing up stuff to sell for the game. I know I had kind of sworn off buying 3-D printed figs because of their fragility, but I couldn't pass these up. It would save me a lot of time scratch-building my own spider holes and finding soldiers to cut in half to put inside them. MUCH more convenient!

    Close up of a Viet Cong rifleman emerging from a spider hole fighting position - I liked the bamboo!

I decided to base them on 1.5" birch wood circles from the local craft store. The circles are thick, so the positions will be raised up off the surface of the table a bit. However, I figured that would be an advantage to seeing them hidden amidst the terrain! Many of us remember a game in which we found a hidden soldier while picking up at the end. Their "commander" had forgotten about the well-camouflaged soldier and lost him in the terrain! Anyway, epoxying the spider holes atop their base and adding magnetic material underneath was step 1 (or 1 & 1A). Next, I primed them with Liquitex White Gesso. I decided I would wait to build up the vegetation around the fighting position until after I painted the soldier.

    I picked out a variety of poses emerging from the spider holes & think they turned out well

The flesh on the figure was done first, then the uniform color. I used a mix of colors like I have done with the rest of my Viet Cong soldiers -- black, khaki, gray, and faded olive drab. The next step was to do the straps and ammo pouches. Most were done in tan or light olive drab. I did the same colors on the soldier's helmets. Each helmet also had a band around it, so those were done in the appropriate, matching colors, as well. While I was painting, I kept wondering what the big hoodie-looking thing creeping down their back was supposed to be. I finally decided it must be a really big scarf. Many of my other V.C. from Crucible Crush or Gringo40s had scarfs around their necks. Even U.S. soldiers in Vietnam began to wear them around their neck to prevent chafing. In keeping with my previously painted V.C., I did their scarfs in red.

    In my game, they're all armed with small arms, but I liked how some had binoculars like this one

As I did each step, I would dry brush it in a lighter shade after it had dried. Once the clothes were all done, it was time to paint their weapons. There seemed to be at least a couple different types of small arms they were carrying, though I don't particularly worry about that. The Viet Cong did not always have the best equipment, so a mish-mash of weaponry was actually a bonus. I painted the guns in Iron Wind Steel first, then the wood parts in a medium brown, and finally Pewter highlights on the metal bits. A couple appear to have rifle slings, which I missed until the end -- oops!

    I also like how the resin plants I'm adding to the bases turned out - nice mix of vegetation

The eyes were next, and they turned out fairly well. A clay colored line was all I did for their mouth. I also added black for their hair peeking out from underneath the helmet. The skin and clothes were given a brown wash, while the weapons received a black one. Each fighting position is designed with a cover to conceal it, some in the hands of the soldier and others tilted up against it. I painted these earth red, which I typically do for the bases themselves. Now it was time to camouflage the position! First, I painted the cover and ground with white glue and then sprinkled on Woodland Scenics Blended Earth Turf. Once dry, they got their first spray of clearcoat. Next, I added Blended Green Grass on top of most of the turf, leaving the dirt showing in a couple places. 

    In addition to pose variety, I mixed things up with uniform colors - black, khaki, & gray

Now it was time to add in resin plants I've begun using for bases of my Vietnam figures. Most are from Green Stuff World, and show various types of leaves. These are were epoxied onto the ballast, and once dry, painted a dark green and then dry brushed a lighter one. Next, I glued tufts from various sources onto each tunnel cover and around the bases. Once this stage was done, they received a final clear spray coat. In the end, I felt that these went fairly quickly. Now, I have actual, cool-looking spider holes to place on the table when an Event Card calls for it in my game! If you don't feel like scratch building your own spider holes, I highly recommend these from Discount Hobbies 3-D Printing! Thanks, Harold, for making my crafting a bit easier!

    Inspired by other painters, I decided to add these 3 waterfowl to my 28mm Vietnam collection

While I was painting these five bases, I was also working on three waterfowl that I had purchased from Miniature Building Authority at ATC, as well. They are sold as a goose, swan, and a Pelican. For the heck of it, I Googled for images of waterfowl common to the Mekong delta. Thus, the goose and swan became a Bronze Wing Jacana and the pelican a Greater Egret. Why paint up waterfowl for a Vietnam skirmish game? I have to confess that the amazing terrain of one of my play testers -- David Frederick (on Lead Adventure Forum as "Digits"), is responsible. Blame him! I am trying to copy some of his amazing modeling details, and his random waterfowl in rice paddies or rivers just look so good to me!

    Two Bronze Wing Jacanas floating in the mangrove swamp in Vietnam

I trimmed the legs off of the goose and made sure it and the swan had a relatively flat surface on the bottom. I wanted to put them on clear bases so it looked like they were floating on the water's surface. The one flapping its wings would hopefully look like it is getting ready to take off and the other would simply be paddling along. I painted the Pelican/Egret's post he was standing on like it was a tree stump sticking up out of the water. I'll stick these birds here and there on the board in my next game and see if they player's notice...ha, ha!

    Greater Egret posing on a stump in front of my recently-created mangrove trees

Otherwise, what else is on my painting desk? Nearly completed are four LED-lit Giant Mushrooms from Bad Goblin Games that I will use in this Sunday's game of Devilry Afoot. There is a type of terrain called "Hungry Grass" in the game. Instead of grass, mine will be a fairy forest of glowing giant mushrooms! I am also working on five Dark Age mounted troops that have been sitting for quite some time in my unpainted collection. Hopefully, they will be done in time to use Nov. 6-7 at my game at World at War game day(s) at Fort Meigs, Perrysbury, OH. So, stay tuned for more stuff soon!

    One final look at the five spider holes ready to surprise my players in games of 'Surviving 'Nam'

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 234
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 232

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 22
• Terrain painted in 2026: 44

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 50
• Scatter painted in 2026: 75

Mangroves: Scratch & 3-D Print Combo

    Mangrove trees for my Surviving 'Nam scenario that is set in the Mekong Delta

One of the scenarios ("A Muddy Slog") in my Surviving 'Nam Vietnam rules takes place in the Mekong Delta. It was inspired by a Vietnam Veteran's account of a series of missions in this damp and uncomfortable area. In my take on his experiences, the entire battlefield is flooded in the scenario. The main channel of a Mekong tributary runs down the center, and everyone is knee deep in water. The players must search four areas of higher ground for a Viet Cong encampment (just like in the account I read).

    Trees are 3-D printed and painted, the vegetation for the leaves is from craft store plastic plants

Luckily, I have a mat that I can use for the muddy, greenish-brown river surface. However, I don't have any mangrove trees. So, I asked my friend, and usual Sunday Night gaming host Mike W (who'd recently purchased a Bamboo 3-D printer), to create some for me. He searched online and found some STLs and printed up a handful to see if they would work. They were various shapes and sizes, mostly single trees, but one with two trees on one base. They looked great except they had no vegetation on them -- just bare roots, trunk, and branches. So, what to do for the vegetation?

    The plastic plant that I eventually chose after much searching to be the leaves of my mangrove trees

I considered two main options. One that I tried and gave up on early was clump foliage from Woodland Scenics. It was a mess and stuck poorly. No way I was going to do that! The other choice was to find plastic vegetation at the local craft stores and attach it to the various limbs of the trees. I made a few trips to Michaels and Hobby Lobby, finally settling upon one style of plastic plant. It had the smallest and most correct shape of "leaves" -- though perhaps a bit bulbous. The plant I purchased looks a bit like a greenish-white hydrangea. Each round sphere was composed of many tiny plastic pieces that could be pulled apart and then trimmed to create little clumps of the leaves. One $3 piece of plastic vegetation created about 150 or so leaf clusters that I could use. 

    Tiny clusters of vegetation pulled off of the plastic plant, trimmed & ready for painting

The plastic would need to be colored, though, as it faded in parts from light green to white. First, I tried soaking a half dozen of the clumps in watered-down green paint for several hours. Nope -- the surface didn't soak up any of the color! So, I would have to hand-paint the leaves. I wrapped the stem of each little clump in poster putty so that it would stand upright on my cutting board that I use as a painting surface. First, I did a broad wet brush of the little clumps with a craft paint called -- who'd believe it? -- Leaf Green. Next, I dry brushed them a very light green for highlights. I would end up using less than two of the sphere clumps for my first test batch of five mangrove tree bases.

    Clusters of leaves after they've had their base coating of Leaf Green craft paint

Mike printed the trees in black filament, at my request. Nevertheless, I spray painted them with Krylon Fusion Acrylic Black Paint, After they dried, I brushed on a 50/50 water and acrylic black paint mixture to fully coat each branch and root in black paint. Once dry, it was time for my usual wet brush of Camo Brown on them, followed by a dry brush of tan. I left most of the places between the roots black, as I was still thinking about what to do down there.  

    This 3-D print had two trunks with their roots joined together at the base

Now came the tricky part! With my pin vice, I drilled holes at various places in the branches. Then, I took a clump of leaves and whittled down the stem enough with an X-acto knife so it would slide into the hole created by the drill bit. This was a learning process, and my later stems fit much better fits than my early attempts. Once a hole was drilled, I would trim down the stem of a piece and place a drop a blog of super-glue over the hole and surrounding branch area. I inserted the stem into the hole, holding it for about 30 seconds. In the beginning, half or less stayed in place, it seemed. There was a lot of cursing at that point, but I slowly got better at it. By the end, only an occasional cluster would not stay in place and have to be re-glued. It was time consuming attaching one plastic clump of leaves at a time to each mangrove tree, but I liked how the trees were starting to look.

    Trunks & branches of all five mangroves are different, which I think adds to the look on the tabletop

The smallest of the mangrove trees had upper branches too thin to pierce with a pin vice. So, instead I slopped super glue on a group of facing twigs and forced one of the clusters down onto it. I hoped the tension of the branches would initially hold the leaves in place, and then the superglue would take over and more permanently bond it. It seemed to work well. The lower trunk of it was wide enough to drill holes in and attach clumps the usual way. In the beginning, I was despairing of the time it would take to do just a single tree. However, as I got better, they proceeded much more quickly. Now, I'm glad I did them this way. Just to be on the safe side, I also painted my 50/50 mix of earth brown paint and white glue I used for bases on the stems and branches where they connected to give an extra adhesion. It wasn't as time consuming as I thought it would be, and will hopefully -- once clear coated -- prevent me from losing any bunches of leaves in handling the trees during the game. 

    I was happy with this mix of 3-D printing & scratch-building to create my 1st batch of mangroves

Next: what to do with the black areas inside the root tangles? I decided to paint most of them to match the dull greenish-brown mat that I will be using for the Muddy Slog scenario. I added smaller dots of a lighter green to those areas to simulate bright reflected sunshine on the surface of the water, too. Once that was done and dry, I coated everything but the leaves with my brown vehicle wash. This would give a smoother progression of brown shading to the wood while also dulling down the water between the roots even more. Finally, I felt the root areas could use a three dimensional aspect to them. So, I added bits of clump foliage in and amongst the roots. Although the clump foliage has a completely different look and texture, I liked how it added to the verdant nature of a cluster of mangroves. So, what do you think? Do these look enough like mangrove trees to pass on the tabletop? Obviously, I will need more of them. However, I wanted to complete these five first so that I knew which size and shape to request. 

    My friend Pete in UK (play tester for Surviving 'Nam) created these goods baskets for me

One final bit of scatter on this post is something that I didn't do at all! My friend from the UK, Pete Smith, sent these baskets of goods to me as thanks for his copy of Surviving 'Nam rules. He and his gaming mates Bob and David were play testers for the rules and contributed so much to their production that I wanted to give them their own copies. I had a friend visiting the UK and going to the same convention that they would be attending, so had him hand-carry their copies. Much to my surprise, Pete included a return gift -- these various, scratch-built baskets of goods. They are very cool and saw use in a recent game. Thanks, Pete! You didn't have to do that, but know they will indeed get used regularly!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 234
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 224

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 22
• Terrain painted in 2026: 44

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 50
• Scatter painted in 2026: 75

Gringo 40s Female Viet Cong Soldiers

    Six female Viet Cong soldiers from Gringo40s in the UK - excellent 28mm metal sculpts!

 I bought these female Viet Cong soldliers earlier in the year when a friend went to the U.K. Gringo 40s are comparably sized with my own Crucible Crush V.C. that I've been using for my games of Surviving 'Nam: an Infantryman's Year "In Country." Ged of Gringo 40s was very accommodating, and had my order mailed post haste to where my visiting friend would be staying. Gringo 40s has a HUGE 28mm Vietnam line and their prices are very reasonable. I would heartily recommend them to folks living in the U.K. (or elsewhere). In particular, their line of Viet Cong Women Soldiers caught my eye, and I ordered a batch of them, plus some other things.

    I really like the variety of poses you can purchase individually on the Gringo 40s website

I picked out six of the women soldiers and cleaned them up. I would honestly say that these metal miniatures had the least amount of flash that I've encountered in my more than four decades of painting minis! They're great sculpts and are not over-burdened with equipment to the point that painting them becomes a chore. Just to be sure, I pulled out some of my V.C. I'd already painted and did my best to match them. I depicted them with the "black pajamas" uniform rather than use any khaki or olive because they appeared to be wearing the typical loose clothing of V.C. guerillas. I did toss in some other colors on the two that had bush hats, and also mixed the equipment colors between khaki and a very faded olive.

    These figs were easy to paint and I think turned out very nicely -- I look forward to painting more!

I dry brushed their loose, black clothing with a medium gray to give some highlights. I made sure to NOT give the clothes a black wash, for fear it would simply hide the definition I'd just given them! The straps, pouches, skin, and weapons all got a dark wash, though. The skin, khaki, and straw hats were given brown and the weapons and faded olive equipment black. 

    Since they are irregulars, I tried to mix up some colors of equipment & hats to give some variety

One thing I'd been disappointed with in my previously painted U.S. and V.C. soldiers was the small bits of plastic plants I'd included on the bases with the flocking. These have been popping off over the months of use the miniatures have seen. Plastic plants just don't seem to stick well, even with two-part epoxy. On a trip to Michigan Toy Soldier Company and Rountable Games in Dublin, OH, I picked up some Green Stuff World 3-D printed resin vegetation. My plan was to use these small leaves and such instead of plastic plants. I waited until I was finished with the second stage of flocking (Woodland Scenics Blended Turf Brown) before epoxying them to the bases. I painted the plants dark green and dry brushed them light green. I also like the way the leaf scatter I've been using for the last year or so look on miniature bases, so added even more of it to these VC than I had done previously.

    Good look at the Green Stuff World resin plants that I put on each of bases instead of plastic ones

All in all, I am very happy with how these Gringo 40s V.C. women came out. They were fun to paint and included enough details and variety of poses to make each look different (well, except for the pose that I bought two of...!). I will be alternating batches of Vietnamese from Gringo 40s with my Hydra Miniatures factions as my "New" figures. So, look to see more of them until the 30 or so I purchased are all painted up. I've found that in some games, the unfortunate U.S. players stir up a hornet's next and I've needed more V.C. So, the enemy needed reinforcements. Gringo 40s (and my friend Will) came through!

    Final look at my squad of V.C. female soldiers prowling through the jungle past temple ruins

What else is on my painting desk? I have another batch of the Hydra Miniatures figures that I've begun. Thinking of that just now made me pause, though. Did I just screw my plan to alternate batches of new figures with old? I think that with all of the scatter cluttering my desk, and the 3-D printed Diabolical Terrain mosque I'm working on, I may have lost track and done exactly that! If so...oops!! I guess I need to snag a batch of old miniatures and have them cut rudely cut in line ahead of the Sci-Fi ladies. Hmm...what should I paint up? It will definitely be something from my horror figures for Devilry Afoot...but, what should I paint?

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 179

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 75

Running Surviving 'Nam at Summercon Game Day

    U.S. soldiers enter a village tasked to search a Vietnamese market using 'Surviving 'Nam' rules

I took Surviving 'Nam, along with my new stock of printed rulebooks that had arrived earlier in the week, to Summercon -- a game day run by Lowell and Jeff of Battle at the Crossroads convention, Cambridge, OH. I set up the "Stone Buddha Market" scenario and ran two groups of players through the game. Both groups said they had a great time and enjoyed the game, more than one of them purchasing the rules from Rich Brown of RRB Minis & More, who also attended (and got a chance to play)! Another vendor that is coming to Advance the Colors, Discount Hobbies, showed up and bought some copies for his online store, as well. 

    My morning players beginning their mission, moving in from the far side of the board in the photo

Both games saw the "Countdown to Contact" phase end quickly. This part of the game is before the enemy appears, and each player can move his team onto the board and begin to advance towards their objectives, never knowing when the Viet Cong will spring their ambush. In this scenario, it can end the normal way with a d6 roll adding in the number of turns elapsed and adding/subtracting the scenario modifier. If the total is 6+, that was the last turn of Countdown to Contact movement. The next turn begins with players dicing to activate a single figure of their team, progressing around the table in a continuous circle until all players have attempted to activate and resolved any actions for all of their figures. In game one, one of the civilians next to their sampan by the river turned out to be a V.C. and opened fire on the nearest soldier. In the second game, the player controlling the lieutenant rolled a "6" on the second turn of the game.

    Sgt. Worthington & two of his fire team arrive at the back of one of the huts they have to search

The quick start to the battle meant that none of the soldiers had advanced into the market area, yet, when the shooting started. The morning players pushed forward more aggressively, moving into the hooches and along the river into the sampans to search. One soldier dashed forward and took cover behind the stone statue of Buddha. When shooting died down, he searched the nearby market stalls for contraband. 

    Seeing the U.S. soldiers arrive, many of the civilians in the market 'Didi May' (run fast) away

In the second game, the players admitted they were probably too tentative in their advance. The V.C. had moved forward quickly from the opposite board edge and also across the river. They took up positions or took cover along the wooden bridge and fired on the advancing U.S. soldiers. An enemy light machine gun team set up along the dike of a rice paddy and fired upon the Americans advancing between the houses. 

    

    A Viet Cong bunker with light machine gun team opens up on the advancing Americans

The morning game also ran into enemy LMG fire, too. One of the first Event Cards drawn brought an enemy bunker onto the table. It began to fire on the left of the U.S. advance. Rather than get into a firefight with the deadliest enemy on the table, the players cleverly through smoke grenades to cut off the line of sight of the bunker on their flank. When the LMG shifted firing ports to open up on the soldiers advancing in the market place, more smoke grenades followed, frustrating the V.C. and limiting their chance to deal damage on the invading Americans.

    Undeterred, American soldiers press on, closing in on the village and ready to engage the enemy

In both games, the rest of the civilians did a quick "Didi Mau" and fled the table. At the beginning of each turn, the players roll 1d20 to see what each civilian will do. Most of the time they flee either away from the soldiers or the V.C., but sometimes they simply freeze in place. A roll of "20" means they are actually a V.C. in disguise. The civilian moves to cover, pulls out a weapon, and opens up on the Americans, like happened in the morning game. Both groups of players suffered losses, the first game having more get hit and go down -- probably because of their more aggressive assault on the village.

    Afternoon players march their fire teams onto the board during 'Countdown to Contact'

The players in both games picked up the mechanics quickly, and grasped the tactics of using cover and taking firing positions that let them open up on groups of enemy. Both experienced the "Oh, crap!" moments, such as when a squad of V.C. suddenly appeared on the rear. I would probably say the morning players were a bit more fortunate in what Event Cards were drawn as a result of activation failures. Players choose to roll either one or two d20s to activate a figure. Each failure results in the draw of an Event Card, which typically either brings on new V.C. or activates enemy already on the table. The morning group never drew the dangerous "Sniper!" card, and got a lot of the not-so-dangerous cards, such as "Snake," and "What the Hell?" which do no damage and represent jumpy troops panicking to creatures in the jungle moving near them. 

    On the opposite side of the village, V.C. riflemen advance through a rice paddy while villagers flee

The morning players did a nice job of having their left advance the interdict the enemy, preventing them from firing on the troops searching the village as much. In the game, all V.C. except snipers usually fire at the closest American soldier. By pressing forward, the two teams on the American left drew the fire on themselves. The other two teams were able to infiltrate the village and along the river, and eventually had searched all five positions they were tasked with by the scenario objectives. At this point, they were able to exfiltrate, using the cover to make their escape without being fired upon by the V.C., which they did a good job of keeping pinned down.

    While in the rice paddy on the American side of the village, more Americans enter the village

Surviving 'Nam scales to the number of players, with the amount of initial enemy placed on the board at the end of Countdown to Contact being on a "per Fire Team" basis. And with fewer players in the afternoon, that in theory also means fewer chances at failures which bring on more enemy. The afternoon group had a more difficult time dealing with the enemy LMG team in the rice paddy. They also drew the sniper card twice, which caused some hairy moments as the lieutenant and radio man came under fire. The lieutenant was actually wounded, and after being patched up, began hobbling off the table. One of the sergeants was forced to pick up the radio and continue to try in Fire Missions on the enemy.

    In the afternoon game, the V.C. ran forward quickly and took up positions near in the market

Speaking of sergeants, both groups of players did a good job utilizing the free action that the team leaders can give to one of his nearby men when he activates. In both games, the M60 gunner and assistant were kept nearby and used to pin down groups of enemy. Players learned to use the machine gun's suppressive fire, as they shifted fire regularly to pin down as many groups of V.C. as possible. I really like how the rules highlight the value of the M60 to an American squad. In previous games, when the M60 gunner is under-utilized, the players tend to struggle. In games where he is used well, they are typically more successful.

    American M60 fire has pinned down this V.C. LMG team dug in on the dike of the rice paddy

The morning group successfully completed their mission, and we were able to see that the V.C. could do little to impede their withdrawal. So, their game was considered a victory. The afternoon game was still at a stalemate, though. The V.C. were more aggressive, and moved across the river, in amongst the village huts, and firing on the Americans. The players eventually decided that they were going to withdraw, and chocked the mission up as a failure. They were able to get all of their wounded off the table and exfiltrate through their entry point. Doubtless, they would call in air strikes on the village and hope that the choppers and fixed wing aircraft could finish the job!

    Fierce firefight breaks out in the village in the afternoon game as the V.C. proved relentless

It was a good time and I had fun players in both of my games. At this stage, it looks like the next time that I run this at a game day or convention will be Advance the Colors, Oct. 9-10, Springfield, OH. I am running it in the evening both Friday and Saturday. Since it is my HMGS chapter's flagship convention, I typically work the registration desk during the morning and afternoon. In the meantime, I'll have to select what scenario I will be running and make sure I have all the terrain ready for it! I'm very happy that Surviving 'Nam: an Infantryman's Year "In Country" continues to sell well in both PDF (on Wargame Vault and Ganesha Games) and print (Amazon and Lulu). Any day now, professionally printed Event Card decks should be available on DriveThruCards, too. I'm looking forward to getting the proof copy in the mail soon, and can't wait to see the artwork of Uriah Groves on the official cards!

    Enemy RPG blast impacts near the attacking American troops squeezed in the gap between the huts

 MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 166

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 71

Finishing Off My 'Pacific Huts' for Vietnam

    3 'Pacific Huts' from Diabolical Terrain's line of WW II 3-D printed terrain that I'll use for Nam

You know how it goes when you're running games at a convention or a game day? You think of something less than two weeks before the event that will be extra cool thing to add to the tabletop. Well, last week I thought that I should get another of the Pacific Huts that I bought from Diabolical Terrain done in time for Saturday's Summercon game day in Cambridge, OH. As I breezed along on the 3-D printed hut, I thought, "Hey! Why not get the other remaining two done, as well?" Sure enough, for a project that has more figures and terrain than I need for a game, I suddenly manufactured a deadline crunch! 

    Each of the huts is subtly different, with different textures & layouts, but same basic design

They DO paint up very quickly. The only assembly that needs to be done, as you may have seen in my post about my first Pacific Hut, is epoxying the posts the hut rests upon to its underside. You also have to glue the ladder to the log deck, and in my case, trim to size some craft sticks and epoxy them into each corner of the hut to hold the roof in place. Not sure why the model was designed without tabs or something to hold it in place, but this is very easily remedied. I also glued craft sticks to the back of the door, which for some reason, is flat with no wooden texture. I spread Tacky Glue on the back of the door, then laid enough craft sticks atop it so the texture of the door on the interior matched the exterior -- more or less. I trimmed the stick to size and then epoxied the door in place, too.

    I like the 'woven' look of the exterior and interior walls - also a good look at my craft stick posts!

Next, I took a gamble on a fairly hot day and primed the roofs and buildings with Krylon Fusion Matte Black. My brother, who lives in Nashville, TN, had preached that it is not humidity but the dew point that is more important. Another blog post I read online said it is the difference between the dew point and temperature that is the true worrying point for when you can spray miniatures or buildings and when you can't. The blog said that as long as there is a 10 degree difference between the dew point and the outdoor temperature, you should be okay. I wouldn't risk clear coating painted miniatures on a hot day with that formula -- I can wait. However, priming with a "rattle can" is worth doing, and so far I haven't had any problems following that formula!

    A look at all of the 3-D printed buildings and their thatch roofs - I love how they are raised on posts

One of the reasons these paint up so quickly is that there are only two surfaces on these buildings. Well, three, actually! The wooden posts and frame for the building are one and the woven wicker sides are the two. The third one is the thatch roof, but is done exactly like the woven mat sides with an extra step on the end. I do the wood first -- wet brush dark brown, dry brush Camo Brown, and highlight Khaki. Then I add in the wicker sides in between the wooden frame posts. This is done with a medium brown color called Autumn Brown, which I then dry brush with Iron Wind Metals Dun. For the roof, I add a final light gray highlight to give a more sun-bleached effect on the thatching.

    Using the Diabolical Terrain huts will give my Vietnamese village a more cohesive look, I think...

Once the painting is all done, I add a final black vehicle wash over the entire building. I like the effect this gives, make it look more dirty and lived in. For the interior floor, I cut to size a piece of scrap booking paper that I found in the local craft store. One final clear coat and the huts are done! I'll be using all four of the now completed huts I bought from Diabolical Terrain at the game day in Cambridge this Saturday. Although I like my scratch built jungle huts I made long ago for our Pulp games, they are a bit larger. These will fit better for the board size for Surviving 'Nam and I will likely use these more going forward.

    I added in a dirty looking scrapbooking paper for the floors, but otherwise usually don't do interiors

What else is on my painting desk? First off, the huts barely edged out the Elven Halberdiers I've been painting. Otherwise, I have another small batch of scatter terrain that is close to be done, as well.  For miniatures, I have primed the first of my Pulp Retro Sci-Fi figures from Hydra Miniatures. I am doing my factions in groups of five figures, which is more than enough for a multiplayer game of Space Weirdos rules. For the first action, I will likely paint them up similar to the two earlier ones I did -- one for my Five Parsecs from Home crew and another for my Star Wars rebels. Being a metal miniature, it was not destroyed in the great asphalt catastrophe when a friend accidentally dumped my box of miniatures I was using for our Star Wars campaign on the streets one night after gaming. Anyway, stay tuned for more updates!

    This one is almost identical to the first of the Pacific Huts that I did - very basic and open looking

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 160

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 69

    These buildings will be on the table for my games this Saturday at Cambridge 'Summercon'

'Pacific Hut' from Diabolical Terrain for my Vietnam Games

    From Diabolical Terrain's 3-D printed line of 'Pacific Huts,' here is another Vietnamese hooch

Last October at Advance the Colors, I picked up four 3-D printed Pacific Huts from my friend Ron at Diabolical Terrain. By the time I bought them, I already had enough Vietnam hooches or buildings painted up for the tiny villages or hamlets my players will encounter in games of Surviving 'Nam. So, the huts sat there staring at me accusingly from the shelf for more than six months. With my rules finally released, I decided to paint them. I figured I would do one first as a test rather than all four at once.

    Zooming in on the front porch & ladder, with 2 of my 28mm Empress Vietnamese civilians

This is Pacific Hut 5, which completely by coincidence, seems to be the simplest design of the seven Diabolical Terrain has for sale. Had I taken a moment to check out the four varieties I bought, I would likely have chosen this one, anyway! The posts that the hut rests upon come in four corner pieces, which you glue to the bottom of the hut. That was easy. I did mine with my normal "go-to," two-part, 5-minute epoxy. Next, I noticed that the roof didn't have any tabs to keep it into place or a way to slot in on top of the building. That was a bit disappointing, but easily solved. I measured and glued four wooden craft sticks into each corner, protruding up just enough to catch the roof and keep it from sliding off, but not enough to prevent it from sitting flush on top of the hut itself. After that, I spray painted it black on one of those rare, non-humid summer days in Ohio. I followed that up with a 50/50 mix of water and acrylic black paint.

    Side view of this Diabolical Terrain hut - though meant for WW II Pacific - works well for Vietnam

Looking the hut over, I decided that there were essentially only two materials represented on this model, not counting the thatch roof. There was the wooden components, including the support posts raising it off the ground, the deck, door,  and the smaller wooden poles that frame the building. Then there was the wicker portion, which were the most of the walls of these huts. So, really, I was looking at only three color schemes. I decided to do the wooden parts first, wet brushing them with a craft "Burnt Umber" color -- a very dark brown. The next day, I dry brushed those areas Howard Hues Camo Brown, and finally highlighted them in Khaki. 

    Interior of model showing my four craft sticks in the corners which nicely keep the roof in place

The following day, I painted the wicker portions a medium brown craft paint called Autumn Brown. I let that dry overnight, and followed it up with a Iron Wind Metals Dun yellow dry brush. I should mention I was giving the thatch roof a very similar treatment. However, I added a final very light gray dry brush on the thatch, that I did not do on the wicker. Once the paint on the roof and building had dried, I went over both with a black wash. The last step was to take a piece of scrap booking paper that had an interesting dirty wooden pattern and cut a rectangle of it for the floor. Once it was trimmed to fit the floor of the interior as best as possible, I affixed in place with white glue. 

    Rear view of the hut -- model will look great on land or on a riverside with it being elevated on posts 

Not only was a I pleased with how the Pacific (read: Vietnam) hut turned out, I was really stoked about how easy it was to paint up and get ready for the tabletop. There's something inspiring about cranking out nice-looking tabletop scenery that quickly. It is listed for $22 on the Diabolical website for 28mm scale (also sold in 15mm and 32mm), which I think is a fair price for something so practical and good looking on the table. If you are doing Vietnam or even World War II Pacific theater, I would highly recommend these huts. Check out the different varieties, some with porch screens or other differences. I will likely paint the other three up soon, now that I know how quickly they paint up!

    Last look at this 28mm model -- I have three more that I purchased from Diabolical still to paint up

What else is on my tabletop? I have my batch of five figures for the Lead Adventure Forum's 20th Anniversary in the flocking stage. I've also begun the final batch of figures for my Elven army for Dragon Rampant. I leave for Historicon on Tuesday, though, so there will likely be a holdup on my progress. Stay turned, though, and hopefully I will have more soon -- especially having played a game of Dragon Rampant on Saturday and Lion Rampant on Sunday!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 141

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 12
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 29

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 21
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 62