The next step..

 I got some more of the pieces cut and trimmed last night. It was mainly just exacto time..  I got all the steps trimmed and glued together. The mesh is in the steps and they are pretty much ready for a coat of spackle .. Six ended up being the correct amount and I spent some time figuring out the increments that spaced them out properly. I also cut a piece that will be a small step on the back section, top deck all the way back (in the pic above). I like it but might notch it some.. in debate about that..

 Here are the steps mocked up, so far I just used some wood spacers but I'm still working on the best way to attach them to the board and light them. They need to work but also look cool so I'm going to play around with a few ideas and see what I like the best. I'll also be making a side "wall" piece that will hide part of the supports.

 The glued together steps... it's three pieces of card stock with a cut out for the grating. I think it came out looking pretty cool. I will be taping it off to paint and then I'll add in the etched leaves..

 And then I laid it next to some light to check out the effect it will give.

 The center piece is now pretty much done. I cut out the other symbol, though they will both need a little more trimming to clean out the extra paper that's in the cuts.. Once the symbols are complete I'm going to attach it and then Spackle. Then I'll be able to glue the glass center into it.

 I used transparency paper to line up the back section making sure it followed the shape of the board and fit into where it needed to. The rear section is three pieces of card stock (glued together) to give it some thickness and I like it so far.

Pic of the lights on the holders.. I should have the other lights and batteries by Friday and then I can wrap the rest of the lighting. It's moving along and while I had a few changes to my plans I think it's still going to be pretty awesome. I'm enjoying it but also want to have it done.. it's a ton of work..  and my OCD is kicking in. But thankfully its a lot of different work going on to keep me distracted 8) ..

Plans.... change..

 Last night was a frustrating one, I had ideas of how it was going to be built but as I started working on assembly I realized that wasn't going to work.. so I had to completely change how I was going to build it..

 I started gluing the metal to the base with Gorilla Glue.. I've never used the original glue before but when they say it expands they aren't kidding. It's pretty close to expanding foam and it started to ooze out. So as I worked on other stuff I had to keep coming back to wipe off the extra. Took like an hour to get the glue off my hands, I used a ton of cleaners but they were still tacky... whoot.

 Once the sheet was dry I started to glue tie downs for the lights. I usually wrap back and forth around the area that will be getting the lights. I also need to get more AA batteries so in the pictures below only one strand is lit..

 I drilled holes through the decks and will run them through the PVC to light the steps. Originally I was going to use dowels as supports but as I need to run lights up this will hide them and let me pass them through  the sections.

 Straight supports was looking plain so I also cut rings to give the columns a base. Just makes it look more real to me..

 I cut out all the steps and was working on cutting out the interior sections as pieces were drying ..

 Even with only one strand lit it looks pretty bright. I'll also be running a white strand in the middle to give it a break up of color. Well that's the plan at least haha.. if it looks nutty I'll just stick with the blue..

I also cut out the center section to light the symbols ,.  It's moving along but it is not going smoothly haha..

Buffeted on Air

 I've been working on the Seer and Jetbike here and there and put a little more time into him last night. I've been trying to figure out a design for the front of the Jetbike but it has been eluding me .. right now I'm kind of liking this but still only ok.. I was thinking it might need the Eldar infinity symbol I use for my craftworld in the middle but don't know .. I want that right mix of something cool but not too much to make it look crowded ..

 I've been working on the bikes here and there.. if I'm at the booth and have blues I've been spraying them. I painted up the other colors on the base of two bikes. I'm holding off on the front till I lock down the design.

 I also started working on the Seer, sadly I seem to have lost the images I took as I started but here he is in the middle of some green stuff work. The cape is made from the back of his robes, just trim the top off. A little trimming is required to match up the torso and pelvis.

The legs are from the Autarch and I'll be using the sword from him as well. I haven't attached the sword arm yet as some GS still needs to be applied and I may even wait till after I paint in there.. depends on how much time I have.. Nova is fast approaching and though I don't have a lot of minis to paint the display board is making me nervous. This Friday night I'm hoping to put in some serious time to knock out a lot of the big stuff..

Bright and shiny lights..

 This weekend I got some work done on the display board..  it's funny. I don't think it seems like a lot but it took a ton of time to get it done. The prep work is usually the most time consuming. I started off by getting the center glass piece ready.

 I wanted most of the glass to be frosted except for the craftworld symbol and a few other bits. I worked out the symbols on the computer and then printed them. Made stencils and had to line it out so they were straight and even spaced. A pain haha..

 But I think it came out looking pretty good.

 This is just temporary, I just have them sitting on there to see how it would look. I'll be dispursing the lights around a bit more and there will be metal underneath for the magnets and will reflect the light a bit more.

 But the longest most tedious part was this and it's only mostly half way done. I spent over an hour cutting the symbol out. I think I even bruised my finger from the preasure of cutting through the two pieces of cardstock. It was tough with the shape and the thickness. But at least its coming out looking cool. Though I'm not looking forward to cutting the top symbol. I'll have to go out and get some more blades for my exacto.. I actually snapped my last one last night .. it flew off and went on the floor which then led me to searching for it. I didn't want to leave it on the floor and me step on it somewhere.

 It still needs a little cleaning so the light comes through evenly.

 I also cut a few strips to test and line them up on the edge. Once I'm ready I'll have to outline the entire board but they will only be attached at the top to allow the top of the deck to be removed.

It's coming along .. just getting some of the detailed work in.. I'll need to get it all fitted so I can attach the steps and back walls..  whoot..

Bag'n it

 I ordered some Battlefoam stuffs during the 4th of July sale and they just came in. I picked up a Malifaux bag and I'm pretty happy with the load out and extras built in. One of the flaps opens up to a section that holds your book, decks and other assorted stuffs..

 Assorted stuffs..

 The bag has three trays.. two already cut and one you can pluck.. not too bad,,

Plus it was on a bigger sale .. 

But the main thing I was ordering was trays.. I wanted a tray to hold my Crimson Hunters and since I'll be taking them to Nova they will get some use pretty quickly. I also picked up a Stormraven tray.. the flyers are the hardest to transport usually (due to size and shape)..

No work got done last night .. I haven't felt all the great for the past few days so yesterday I went to bed pretty much as soon as I got home from work.. I got some sleep and feeling a little better now but still feel like I could go back to sleep..

It's not a skirt..

 I finished up the Infinity guy for Sean last night, he has bases that match so I didn't mount it to anything. That make it a bit tough for me as I usually paint holding the base haha.. I can't tell you how many times I repainted the top of the antenna on that thing. I'm pretty happy with the way the kilt thing came out, I blended each square and then ran then added in the gold lining.

 Another shot of the kilt..

And this is how I wrapped Sean's BDay present haha.. foam rubber banded together 8) .. but it made it safely. Now that I have his guy done I don't have anything else inline other then the stuff for Nova. I need to get the Seer on bike knocked out and then go full force on the display board. It's been crazy humid outside so I haven't been motivated to go out and work on the other pieces I need to cut. I still need to figure out what I'm going to do for the wall sections on the back of the display but other then that I have the rest of it figured out. Just need to get it done.

Out in the field..

 I finished up the Rangers last night so took a group shot of all the Rangers. I have one more I might paint up if I have time but I think they are looking pretty cool. I might change the one guy who has the bone colored rifle just to match him up, I originally wanted to mix and match the second squad a little more but toned down rifles and gray cloaks became the standard haha..

 Finished up this guy and I'm pretty happy with the blends on him. I added a tattoo on his face and did a few more highlights on his cloak.

 His main color add was an Orange.. my Son is all about orange so I figured I'd add that in there for at least one of them 8)

 A little better shot of the tat..

 Wanted to keep the purple color going through so used that on his helm, armor and straps.

 Some more could have been done but I think it's pretty decent were he sits.. or stands actually 8)

 Worked in greens on this guy and I'm really happy with the look of the blends.. the green really has a nice look with the other colors..

 The green and leather look pretty darn cool together if I say so my self..

 I added some leaves on their bases and took some pics with assorted terrain.. I wanted them to have a cool group look..  I rarely get any group shots so figured if I was going to do I might as well do it right ..

Now everyone can have a break of seeing Rangers in progress .. at least for a little while haha..