McPherson's ridge Project (part 3; the sanding)

 

"The ACW,
is the best CW, 
I'm not tryin' to wound!
But the ACW, 
is MY CW, 
and makes me sing in tune!"

(Part two can be seen HERE.  This is part three.  Part 4 can be seen HERE

McPherson's Ridge Project Part 3

What? another update so soon? That's because I have been CRUSHING IT lately on the hobby front.  Crushing hard like a high school kid on an attractive English teacher.  

I've overcome a major hurdle, in that I've finished sanding all the hills.

Here is an exciting picture.

This was a major hurdle because use of the power sander required that it be done during daylight hours (so I could see what I was doing and not bother anyone with the noise) and outside.  /Shudder.  Gah, the outside.  Is it always so bright out here?  Why is it hot?  I'm pretty sure I am surrounded by dangerous animals like ladybugs and butterflies.  And reverse Werewolves.  Surely there is another way? but there isn't. 

Really the main hurdle is that daylight hours are usually booked with family activities and childcare.  Experience has shown that I can ignore the 2 year old, the 5 year old, and the 9 year old for only about 20 mins at a time.  Longer than that ends in someone crying.  Sometimes it's me.

So sanding had to be done by the principle of Specific Periods Of Reduced Activity Dedicated Indirectly Carefully Adding Little-by- Little Yo!   or S.P.O.R.A.D.I.C.A.L.L.Y for short.   

Since I happened to a game table out,
I put the hills out to see again how it was all shaping up.

Cut and sanded hills look more like hills.

Neil would like to know that THIS time I made sure to go over the crest several times to try to make sure that it beveled more smoothly.  time will tell if I was successful. 

It's slightly deceiving; I feel like I got a lot of work done,  but it's hard to show in pictures.  I guess I could of shown me covered in pink dust from the sanding, but then ya'll might just think that I had a bender on cotton candy flavored cocaine.  

No rest for the wicked, no peace for the just.  Wasting no time I've began coating the hills in ground texture.  Brushing on slightly watered down glue and sprinkling on the sand / coffee ground mix.  I tried to use a box lid to catch the sand so not to make a huge mess.  Only slightly successful.

The ground texture step will take some time, and then it'll painting them all brown and such.  

Looking Ahead

As one phase nears completion it's useful to look ahead and plan the next steps, so that it'll be ready go when the time comes.  I don't plan well in real life but in hobby world I am a master strategist.  

Flock Comparisons

I know I don't have enough flock and grass to cover these massive foam hills.  While I had my homemade mat out, I tried to re-find the mix of flock that I used to make the mat by taking little bits and doing color comparisons.  I'm not gonna get an exact match and now I am KICKING myself for not writing down the exact mix that I used.  But I don't want the hills to be severely different in color than the rest of the mat; like I don't want them 3 tones brighter or darker.  My body has some mean tan lines where I go from pale to ghostly white but lets see if we can avoid such stark contrasts on the table.  

Successful Field Experiment:
Original color on the left, painted added on the right.

The battlefield has several wheat fields on it and I've seen some really good fields on the internet made of teddy bear fur.  I've done that before so had some scraps lying around.  In my previous life I just cut the fur to shape and put on the game table; but there are several tutorials on-line of how folks add extra goodness by adding some paint, so I gave it try.  The results above.  WOW.  The differences are spectacular so that will be the go to method.  Now I need more fur.  

Failures
Left to right: Woods base, Orchard base, and railway base

The battlefield will also feature areas of woods, orchards, and I'll need an unfinished railway strip.  I want these areas to be easily defined by having a base / foot print.  I thought I would try using felt with some flock glued on.  I have this old felt gaming mat (from Monday Knight I think) that I haven't touched in years because I've upgraded.  I cut out some sections and did some experiments. 

This was a failure, as the felt is too think and doesn't really drape over contours after the glue and flock is added.  I think the mat is made from extra think felt.  I'll have to try it again with some regular felt or some fabric.   

The extra thickness isn't a problem for the railway strip, as it will sit flat on the table.  I glued on some ground texture and gave it a dark grey base with a white dry brush.  I just don't like the way it looks. The grey looks more lie pavement, or gray stucco, then stones.  I was thinking a grey color because it would make the railroad cut different from a brown road.  But it doesn't look right.  What color is an unfinished railway cut in the 19th century anyway?  All this stuff needs more time and experimentation; like my sexuality in college.  

Bonus Bocage

Did I mention that I was crushing it?  Crushing hard like a preteen on his babysitter. 

I had another game last weekend.   Three Saturdays in a row?!! Unheard of. Crushing.  IT!!

3 in a row? That my online friends, is called a wargaming hat trick.  

Fate collided with luck, and after several years of separation; good blogging buddy Dai (from the Lost, Damned, and Stunted Blog) and I were finally able to get together in the same room to play a game together.  I also had over my good friend Mr. PC.  

It was kinda short notice.  So I decided to play What A Tanker by Too Fat Lardies as it's a simple game and Dai and PC both really like WWII tanks. So do I obviously.  

I have a lot of WWII terrain, if by WWII terrain you mean Bocage.

Game table set up

Suitably claustrophobic
What's around the corner?

this stuff hasn't seen the table in so long that I had trouble finding it all in the garage, I mean miniature storage shed. 

Since we had 3 players, I set the game up that the Germans would be played by 1 person with tanks with higher point values and the Americans would be played by the other 2 players with more but lesser point tanks.  Worked out to be 4 Panthers vs 6 Shermans or M10s (3 per player and they could choose).  Since Dai and Mr. PC both happened to have olive green T shirts on, they took the Americans.

Tanks in the Bocage.

In What a Tanker,
each tank needs a HUD

TFL games are so hit and miss with me.  Some rules are a hit and some are very poor.  All of them need better editing.  But WaT is a fun game.  But big tanks can cause a problem; while the points were even the Panthers absolutely dominated the table.  So much so that 3/4 of the game through we gave the Americans 3 more tanks just to have chance...

We all had a fun night.  And it was great to see Dai in person again.  Good friends can pcik up right where they left off; rolling dice, playing games, and trading back handed compliments.  "You look good for someone your age."  "Dude, we're the SAME age."  

All Good Things Must End

Like my gaming streak, as I can see that the next 3 weekends are already booked with family events.  Like the best day in your life.  Like a vacation.  Like childhood, like this post.

Thanks for reading.

Double thanks for writing a comment.

Till next time.