Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Trench Hills part 2; further along the hills

 Whoa, an update so soon?  How did I manage that?  

It's due to the parent-kid ratio formula.  Observe:

When you have 1 Kid and have to watch 1 kid:
Feels like you're watching all the kids.

If you have 2 kids and have to watch 1 kid:
Feels like you're watching 1 Kid.

If you have 3 (or more) kids and have to watch 1 kid:
Feels like no kids.  

Parents will back me up on this.  So, when my 2 sons went to their grandparent's house for a few days, leaving me with just the wife and daughter, I got quite the uptick in free time.   Especially since the daughter is the oldest of the children and the most self-sufficient, as long as there are no spiders.  Especially since (strangely) the wife didn't have a long list of honey-do projects over that time.  Might be because I tied her up and put her in the garage...


More Hills

First I spent some time using The Choppa! to cut some more sticks and then glue them to the edges of the remaining hills.  Once dry, it was time to move the operation outside to do the ground cover...

The backyard operation.


Outside.  yuk.  my old enemy.  I hate the outside, all bright, sunny, and warm.  disgusting.
But this is likely to cause a mess so outside is a good choice.  Messes outside can be left outside, and the outside can clean itself.  

A simple process of painting on a layer of slightly watered down white glue..
Like so...


And dumping on the ground cover of your choice...
Action shot!



As per usual, my choice of ground cover is a big tub of cheap decaf coffee.  I just like the way it looks and it gives enough texture.  Plus, it's a public service because all the cheap decaf coffee I buy for terrain is coffee that someone can't be forced to drink.  No one should drink decaf. 




Take care to put a bead of glue along the bottom of the wood and the card shelf to stick on ground texture there as well.


The leave outside to dry while it's 90 degrees outside. 




And finally, brush off any loose coffee grounds with an unused paint brush and bring inside.
Ah, inside is SO much better,
When placed close together you can see the trench hill aspect more,
as several of these placed close together creates the illusion of a trench network.


Seems like I should of gotten more done.  Yet, a big step forward in trench hill development.


Bonus Works

While the trenches were drying and in-between steps; I took to the painting desk for some easy painting wins.  

Things!




Not everything in the Quar verse has a direct correlation to our world, but in this case there is.  These are called Huvi and are the Quar analogue to chickens.  Least I think so.  Anyway, they'll be added to the farm scenery, because what kind of farm wouldn't have chicken...things.


And some more markers.

Clash of Rhyfles is a great game but can be kinda marker heavy.  While I do have a bunch already made, a few more wouldn't hurt so I can accommodate more players.  
To satisfy your curiosity: The larger flower circles are for Prone status and the smaller ones with a bag are for Stunned Status.  
Because you were dying to know.  I know I know I know. 


And I thought: wow, this is the life.  So productive.  Maybe I could someone who blogs 3 times a week?  maybe I can be someone who paints 1000 figures a year?  Maybe I can get in great shape with home cooking and plenty of exercise?

The next day I went and picked up the boys, and the free time evaporated with cries of "DAAAAD!" and questions of "Will you play with me?' and "what's for dinner?"  "eww that's yucky can we have something else?"   "I don't know, ANYTHING!"  

Thanks for Reading.
Double thanks for writing a comment.
Till next time.


8 comments:

  1. The trenches are really coming along Stew. Looking very good.

    The Quar chickens look great as well. Can you use them for routing markers? 😁

    I understand about the kids, once there is the same number of kids as the parents the amount of free time goes to zero. Maybe get yourself a couple more wives. 😂 Although that may be offset by longer honey to do lists.

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  2. You’re on fire at present with your efforts producing lots of goodies. Now, what would you use for ground cover if you cannot stand the smell of coffee? I’ll have to remember that “The Outside can clean itself.”

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  3. Great progress on the trenches. I have ahamlessly borrowed your idea for markers for games of Quar

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  4. Congrats on getting some free time Stew....tying the wife up in the garage seems like a sensitive way to achieve it, too!
    I find the use of coffee as ground cover a bit odd....there is the smell, to start with...and what if it gets damp??

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  5. With the escalating price of coffee those trench hills could be worth a fortune in a few years. Lovely work, and nice to see you got some time to yourself even if it was fleeting. I put my hobby on hold for twelve years.

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  6. Excellent progress on the Trench/hills they are coming on quickly. The Quar chickens and markers look excellent, and will add to the boards.

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  7. Great work on those trenches Stew! The Quar things are rather colourful beasties!

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