AK-47 Republic Checkpoint Competition - part 2 (construction)

 As usual, my initial ideas were a little over-enthusiastic and unrealistic given the size of a CD!  I decided to leave out the tree, this was going to need a lot of space at the side and would overshadow a lot of the base.  There was also the risk that it would fall off, because I wasn't likely to be able to fix it particularly firmly compared to the ones on my previous objective markers.

The plan.

The hut is foamcore, 40mm x 30mm footprint with walls 30mm sloping down to 25mm.  Doorway is 15mm wide x 20mm high, the window is 10mm x 10mm, 10mm up from the base of the wall.

Walls cut to size.

The walls were trimmed with a fairly new knife blade to avoid tearing the foam inside.  One end had a 5mm strip cut out from the inner face card and the foam, leaving the outer facing card intact.

Testing the joints.

This gives a rabbet joint, with 2 faces for the walls to glue together, much stronger than a plain butt joint and with the added bonus of the card hiding the cut end of the foam.

Dry fitting.

The roof is a piece of thin corrugated cardboard with the outer face removed.  This came from the Starlink: Battle For Atlas computer game box (bought remaindered super cheap for the spaceship!) and had fairly fine corrugations that look good for 15mm scenery.

Windowsills.

I trimmed some bits of coffee stirrer to use as windowsills.

Ready for assembly.

With all the parts ready, it was a simple matter of gluing the bits together with some good quality PVA.

Flower bed.

I constructed a flower bed out of some more bits of coffee stirrer around a scrap of foamcore.

Seat and table components.

I prepared the table and seats from some bits of twig, carefully cut to the right length.  There will be a table (cereal packet card) with 4 log legs, a bench (coffee stirrer) with 2 log legs and 2 separate log seats.

The right size to sit on?

I made sure I measured against a Peter Pig sitting figure before cutting!

Table and bench.

 The table and bench were glued together with a few small drops of PVA.  They're slightly wonky, but my excuse is that it adds to the authentic "rustic charm" of their construction.

Clamping the barrier parts.

I assembled the parts for the barrier supports from coffee stirrers with PVA, then clamped them to ensure they stayed firmly together while the glue set.

Half finished vending machine.

 While thinking about what else to include on the base, I remembered some 3D printed vending machines I had partly finished.  One of these would look just right next to the snack shack.

Test fitting on the CD.

I test fitted the parts on the CD base to ensure they'd all fit.  I glued a bit of card over the hole in the middle, tearing rather than cutting it to shape in order to get a tapered, irregular edge.

Time to texture the CD.

I decided to try an experiment with some superglue and fine sand to give a good texture to the base.

Well, that didn't work.

 The result was disappointing, to say the least.  Still, live and learn, and at least it stuck round the edges to give a good key for the next stage.

Signs for the walls.

I cut a couple of small rectangles from my trusty cereal packet and using the white side, painted a couple of signs for the building.  One is the menu for the Snack Shack, the other is probably some sort of information sign for people to read when entering/leaving the country.

Box of paints to take on holiday.

 I wanted to texture the walls of the building, but was limited by the supplies on hand while I was on holiday (just staying with my Mum, so plenty of free evenings to work on the project).  This included my paint box and a tub of scenic materials, but no grout, filler or plaster.  I painted some PVA over the whole of the building, then sprinkled on some baking powder I found in the kitchen cupboard.  This also helped conceal the cut edges of foam in doorways/windows and any small gape on the corners.  After it had dried, I mixed some khaki paint and PVA, then added a fair bit of water and daubed this over all the sides to help seal it all in place.

The Snack Shack, ready for your order!

I gave the building a couple of thin coats of white paint, fairly roughly applied with a scrap of sponge so that the khaki shows though in places (not very obvious in these photographs, but you can see it better in real life!).  I also applied some small patches of very light grey with a sponge, to give the effect of some older/flaking paint.

Passport control.

The signs were fixed in place with PVA and the labels painted in very carefully with a thin brush and a drop of Humbrol 60 matt scarlett.

Windows to see who is coming down the road.

The windowsills are thinned Vallejo Beastly Brown with a drybrush of Vallejo Bonewhite to give a worn and weathered look. The roof is a variety of greens, with plenty of burnt umber and burnt sienna rust applied along the edges.  Some chestnut ink was used to vary the rusty colours yet further.

Some fresh air for the cafe.

 I added a few rust stains and streaks coming from the roof.  These were created by washing some water over the walls, then adding a tiny drop of 30-35 year old Citadel chestnut ink and streaking it down the wet wall with a fine brush.  This gives a fairly delicate effect and I'm pleased how this came out on the first time I've tried it.

The figure box.

 I had a rummage in my box of figures to find some suitable people for the scene.  I already had the Peter Pig professional vehicle crew member to sit on a log.  I found a couple more professionals, plus a 14th Army mule handler who doesn't look too out of place next to the others.

Figures almost finished.

 The figures were painted to match my AK47 army.  Vallejo Khaki base coat, a range of browns and flesh colours for the skin, sepia ink & matt varnish ink wash. Webbing is Army Painter Camo Cloak speedpaint, camo on the clothing is spots that same speedpaint, plus splots of GW Goregrunta Fur contrast paint.  Boots and weapons are black.

Barrel.

I painted up a spare 3D printed fuel drum to look suitably rusty, with a few touches of solver round the edges.  This was mislaid when I was preparing a previous project, so I'm glad I found it again and had a chance to include it in this one.

Vending machine.

I also finished off the vending machine, adding a freehand picture to the front and adding some rust and paint chips around the bottom using burnt umber, burnt sienna and silver paints and a scrap of sponge.

Ready for the scene.

WIth these complete, it was time to test everything on the CD again and decide on their final positions.

Test fitting number 2.

 Everything looked OK, the poses of the figures will help tell a story, being more interesting than the standard action poses shooting or running etc.  I was thinking about what to do with the table when I suddenly had a brainwave.

Inspiration!

Why not make the table an old enamel sign? A quick trawl through the internet provided a suitable colourful but reasonably simple design that I thought I could reproduce.  I'm not sure whether this a genuine vintage sign or just a modern copy, but it looks the part.

Initial design.

After a base coat of Humbrol matt yellow, I dug out my technical pens and used the finest one to draw on the design.

Getting there...

I used a fine brush and some Humbrol 60 matt scarlett to paint in the design.

Finished!

 After a couple of accidental smudges of the pen ink, which seemed to take forever to dry, I finally got the sign finished.  Some weathering would hide those smudged bits OK!

Table and bench.

With the table finished apart from the weathering, I moved onto the other furniture.  The bench received some Vallejo Beastly Brown paint and a drybrush of Vallejo bonewhite.

Barrier ready for installation.

The barrier was painted red and white, with an octagonal paper "STOP" sign.  This has been folded slightly at the bottom and dabbed with silver paint.  Someone obviously didn't stop fast enough and hit it.  I drilled a small hole where I will insert a piece of wire for a hinge.

Scatter scenery.

  I painted a few small items of 3D printed scatter scenery from my box of tank stowage.  3 Jerry cans, a small oil can, ammo box and a rucksack. 

Packed for home.

By now, it was the end of the holiday, so I had to get everything home safely.  I'd brought the bits in a small cardboard box and a rummage in the wardrobe furnished me with some scraps of upholstery foam left over from my foliage making project.

Upholstery foam scraps are ideal for packaging.

With everything securely boxed up for the journey home, the next task would be the final assembly.

Test fitting with ground work part completed.

One of my tasks on holiday had been fitting a bath panel.  I had used some of the left-over acrylic caulk for the basic ground forms, mixed with some brown paint and sand.  The building, vending machine and oil drum were left unattached, but everything else was bedded into the caulk as it was drying.  I scraped little flat patches where the figures would stand so that I could blend their bases in.  Some of the larger stones from my tubs of basing materials (builder's sand sieved into fine, medium and coarse grades) were places along the edges of the road.  After it had dried, I painted watered down PVA over the ground surface and sprinkled fine sand over it, sealing in place with even more watered down PVA and a drop of washing up liquid to break the surface tension so that it would soak in.

Adding some vegetation.

The semi-final stage was to add the vegetation.  This included some cheap bushes, lots of bits of foam flock followed by a generous sprinkling of static grass.  All that was left to do now was add the building, vending machine and fuel drum, small bits of scatter, and finally the figures.  The figures would be glued in place, then have their bases sprinkled with more fine sand to blend them in, plus a bit of static grass where necessary.

Hopefully I'll post the finished photographs tomorrow!

Reorganising my resin 3D printer space.

My resin printer was packed away for several months while we had building work going on, and now that the work is finished, it lives in the garage.  It wasn't used over the winter, when it was too cold for the resin (it becomes more viscous and doesn't flow as well, so you get print failures). It's warm enough again now, but I wanted to move the printer from its temporary spot to the permanent location I had planned.  It was a sunny day today, so a good time to do the necessary work...

I drilled some large holes in the underside of a spare section of worktop.  I managed to drill all 8 without accidentally breaking through the top of the work top, which was a win in my book.  The reason for these holes will become apparent.

We acquired a small desk/table when our office was refurnished many years ago.  This sat in the garden as a plant stand until the top finally disintegrated.  The legs are still fine, a very sturdy steel frame.

I gave it a good clean, evicted several spiders and painted Kurust over all the rusty patches.  You can see the rust has gone a blue/black colour which means it has been fully treated.  It's had a few months to fully cure.

The table frame has pairs of nuts in plastic plugs which were originally embedded in the old tabletop.  When this came to pieces (as chipboard will when soaked in rain for several winters), the plugs came out.  They're so rusted now that is impossible to remove them, so the previously mentioned large holes were drilled in the underside of the new top in order to accommodate these.

The tabletop sits neatly on the top.  I had intended to glue it or put some extra screws in, but it's pretty firm as it is, so I've left it without. The plugs/holes stop it moving around.

The tabletop is the cut-out from our utility room worktop, where the sink was fitted.  It's just the right size, leaving a gap at the back for cables etc.

The table is now in place in the garage.  The legs have adjustable feet, so I can get it levelled to the garage floor and avoid any wobbling.

I use a car floor mat under my printer and the wash & cure station.  This has a couple of useful features.  One is that it is non-slip and vibration damping.  The other is that the cellular nature of the mat catches any resin spills and holds them in place.  I've seen people use silicone baking mats under their printers, but if you had a big resin spill on one of those, it would just flow right off the edges...

All set up and ready to go, I made sure that the builders put in an extra double socket for me to plug these in. Wash and cure on the left, printer on the right.

I've superglued drawer handles to the top of the enclosures/lids.  I could have 3D printed them, but these were only something like 15p each, so it would have been a waste of time and money to do anything else!

The handles allow me to lift the lids one-handed.  When you use a 3D printer, you never have enough hands because there are so many sticky and/or poisonous substances to be handling that can't be put down anywhere.  With these handles, I reduce the number of hands required by 1, which is very useful.  I can open the printer, remove the build plate and put the lid back on in just a few seconds.

My safety gear sits on the big box next to the printer table, ready for immediate use.  Nitrile gloves (not latex - resin/isopropanol will get through those!), safety specs, filter mask.  The mask is excellent at capturing all fumes and smells from the resin and isopropanol.  My normal plant-based resins don't actually smell much anyway, but they still give off fumes which wouldn't be good for me.  Resin is extremely poisonous and needs to be treated with great care.  It should never be disposed of in liquid form, it should always be cured into its solid form to avoid the risk of damage to the environment. The isopropanol used for washing ends up containing resin and can splash small droplets very easily, hence the safety specs.  I don't use water washable resin myself, but anyone considering using it should be aware that the water highly toxic afterwards.  It should be treated as hazardous waste and disposed of safely.  It should not just be rinsed away down the drain as I have heard some people suggest!

I keep a UV torch handy too.  This is great for quickly curing any little resin spills or for getting a sticky, resinous bit of kitchen paper to harden before throwing it away.  If there is a spill on the rubber mat, I can just stand the torch over it for a minute or two to set the resin, then it just pops right out of the rubber cell.  Easy!

On the adjacent work bench, I have my other equipment:

1) Pre-cut squares of cereal packet plastic.  These are just the right size to rest the build plate on after I've put it through the wash cycle.  Any resin residue can be cured in sunlight after a few uses and put in the general domestic waste.  Costs me nothing and avoids having to clean down a work surface after every print run.

2) Clear plastic pots/tubs.  These have 2 uses, firstly for hot water which makes removal of resin supports much easier, secondly to put cleaned items in for water curing.  As I've mentioned before, oxygen retards the resin curing process.  Water contains less than 1% the amount of free oxygen compared to air, so things cure faster, and I find they have a better finish as well.

3) Stanley knife (utility knife) blade which I use to pop prints off the build plate.  I find that it gets under the edge of the prints to break the seal much better than a paint scraper.  I have some craft/glass cleaning razor blades too, which are good for very tiny items.

4) Some old print supports.  They shouldn't be here, they should be in the bin!

5) Pliers to hold large objects for swishing in isopropanol to clean (or for trying to retrieve objects which have fallen to the bottom of the cleaning vat...)

6) Side cutters for removing particularly large/stubborn supports.

7) Forceps to hold small and delicate objects for swishing in isopropanol to clean.

8) UV torch for curing resin spillages etc.

9) Paper towels.  If you have a spill or a glove covered in resin, you don't want to be trying to pick up a roll of paper to tear a sheet off.  Paper towels or pre-torn bits of kitchen roll can easily be picked up one at a time for use.

10) More nitrile gloves.  You don't have to throw them away after every use, most of mine last several days or even a few weeks, but you need to make sure there are more easily in reach if you do suddenly need a new pair.

Not pictured here are my 2 cheap silicone spatulas which are perfect for cleaning the resin vat.  They are soft and won't damage the FEP film on the bottom of the vat and after you've used them, leave in the sun for a couple of hours and the resin peels right off the silicone for easy disposal.

This is just my setup.  While I've arrived at this through trial and error and experience over the few years I've been resin printing, I'm sure others will do things differently.  Maybe a reader of this blog might have a suggestion of something else useful I could add to my printing area?

Diceni 2024 coming soon!

 Not long until Diceni 2024. It’s a great day out and lunch at Pizza Express overlooking the show is always excellent!

Photographs from last year’s show available here.

AK-47 Republic Checkpoint Competition - part 1 (planning)

 This month's competition for the AK-47 Republic FaceBook group is: scratch build a checkpoint for your security sweep / disputed border zone crossing point / election campaign crack down!  No specific rules but at least one Peter Pig figure, vehicle or knick knack should be included.

 I have an old CD to use as a base, foamcore to make a building and corrugated card for a roof.  A privet hedge cutting will form the trunk of a tree.  I'll dig out a coffee stirrer or bit of plastic girder for the road barrier.  Mustn't forget a figure too, maybe a bored guard standing in the shade.  I have a few suitable candidate figures in mind.

I'd like it to be more than just a checkpoint, a few minutes to sketch out ideas and this is what I have so far...

It'll make a good objective marker too.  Just over a week left to pull my finger out and actually start constructing it, I sense a busy weekend coming!

Psionic powers - all in the mind?

 I got a couple of Alternative Armies Espers to give me some psionic-type characters for games like Rogue Stars.  They remind me of some of the old "sanctioned psyker" figures that GW did back in the early 1990's.  A classic bald-headed trenchcoat look in a traditional "using mental powers" pose, what's not to like?

"Hmm... I perceive a criminal psychic resonance in that direction."

  The figure was glued to a washer and the base built up with Wilko wood filler to blend it in.  A sprinkle of sand on the base and a quick spray of grey primer and it was ready.

The body suit is Vallejo Russian uniform green, the boots, belt, pouch and coat khaki. The inside of the coat is GW, I think Mephiston Red.  After a sepia wash, I added a few highlights to the green and red, but the khaki looked OK as it was.

It's a nice little figure, I'll look forward to trying some psionics in a game some time!