Necromunda Terrain project

Hi folks,

I had been trying to get into the habit of updating the blog regularly, but it hasn't happened. I think more frequent updates next year might be a small resolution, if only so I can track my own progress. 

Since the completion of my last Team Yankee Dutch unit, model painting has fallen by the wayside a bit. Instead, I was prompted by Amy's demand that I get a box of wargaming stuff out of the wee man's bedroom to paint some of the 28mm Necromunda terrain I'd bought in 2018. 

So far, this is where I'm at with it:

This turned into a bit of an epic project. The wall sections I'd purchased from 'Just lasered' were laser cut foam, designed to sit on the carboard tile sections of the more 2d game (as Necromunda was back then). 

However, Necromunda has evolved into a more 3d game and I wanted to replicate that. This meant adding walkways to the tops of the walls, getting more levels and finding a way to paint foam!

Thankfully, I discovered after a fair bit of trial and error that a coat of grey surface primer would work on the foam, and give a concrete appearance. Along with some black and brown washes and some green grey to more match the colours of the floor tiles, I found a quick solution. 

The foam walls came with greyboard details to be added onto them. These details I treated to a quick dapple of a mahogany and gunmetal paint, then a liberal coat of brown wash. These were then glued onto the foam.  

Using some MDF kit's I'd gotten a while back, I found parts to use as floor tiles for the tops of the walls, along with some 40x40mm bases. I also painted up the plastic terrain using the same simple 'mahogany brown' and 'gunmetal' scheme. Stairs from the MDF kits were a good height for the wall sections, and thankfully I've a lot of them as they work well and also provide cover, etc. 

I also added some plastic pipe sections I'd picked up from a cheap GW magazine. 

I picked up an industrial mat from DaveD, which matches in pretty well. Some home made bridges using MDF bases and purchased bridges from Pendraken, as well as some ladders from their Red Vector range, give a bit more of the old Necro feelings. 

I've also painted some of the doors from Just Lasered and picked up some 4ground ones cheap. However, I'm not happy with either solution so may buy some GW plastic ones in the future. 

I've a load of industrial barrels to paint, and some ammo/industrial crates for scatter terrain, along with a few other sci-fi bits. I've some more pipe sections as well, which have all been built to be placed against walls and provide more cover.

As part of the AHPC this year, I'm planning to get a couple of gangs painted, so have been building those models as well. My thinking is that if I have the terrain done, I'll be more motivated to paint figures!

I've tried to keep the terrain as stackable as possible, with things working well up to three levels. It becomes a mix of 'Sector Mortalis' and 'Sector Mechanicus' at that point I think. I do have some larger MDF bits to do, stacked cargo container dwellings, etc. I'm fairly happy with how it all looks at the moment, although I accept it's a bit basic!

My long term plan with this is to run a long, slow burn narrative style campaign with the figures I get painted. 

Finished: 15mm Team Yankee Dutch M106

Hi folks,

The third unit 'finished' from my recent batch of Team Yankee models. These take the form of a unit of three Battlefront 15mm plastic M106 self propelled heavy mortars. 

I believe that the Dutch only used the M106 armed with a 107mm heavy mortar as part of their recce units, whereas in Team Yankee the option exists to also use 120mm armed version instead of the towed 120mm mortars used by infantry formations. The justification being that as war approached the Dutch may have found a way to mount their 120mm mortars in these vehicles (or purchased the up-gunned version). But really Battlefront are just avoiding towed artillery in Team Yankee. 

While I have painted the mortars for this unit (the 107mm version), I've no issues with doing a 'counts as' if required. I do still have gun crew to paint, and the mortars to add into the vehicles. But the vehicles are tabletop ready at the moment, so I'm counting them as done. 

The Battlefront plastic M113 kit is pretty nice to build and paint. A cool and iconic looking vehicle that goes together nice and easily. I've another three of these in the APC configuration to paint for the recce troops transport. 

Finished: 15mm Team Yankee Dutch YPR-765 PRATs

Hi folks,

Another small unit (soon to be expanded) for my Dutch Team Yankee force. This time a variant of the YPR-765 hull mounting an Emerson TUA (TOW Under Armor turret). This vehicle filled the same role in Dutch forces as the M901 did in the US Army. PRAT stands for Pantser-Rups-Anti Tank (armoured tracked anti tank, I think). 

These models are actually resin 3d prints from Butlers Printed Models. I've included some comparison pictures with the Battlefront models mounting the TOW turret later in the post. I have another two of these models in the painting queue. 

The two BPM models:

While detail is lacking on the 3d prints in comparison to the Battlefront kits (especially the tracks and turret vision blocks, etc) I did find that once painted you would be hard pressed to spot any real difference. Especially on the table at gaming distances. 

However - and this is a big however - I found that after paying postage and an extra surcharge for having these four models printed in resin, I'd have paid almost the same for a box of five Battlefront minis. Which is disappointing when the quality is not the same. 

Butlers Printed Models: £6.36 x 4 = £25.44, Postage = £5 (actually £10 for me, as I bought two batches of two), Total: £30.44 for four, or £36.80 for five. 

Battlefront box of 5 = ~£35 (including postage) for five higher quality minis. 

I don't feel that the lack of assembly makes up for the lack of details of the 3d printed model enough to justify the similarity in price. Certainly something to consider in the future, and proof that 3d printed is not necessarily cheaper. In their favour has been the helpfulness, quick response times and friendliness of BPM. 

Some comparisons with a Battlefront model mounting the Battlefront plastic TOW turret. 

BPM model at the front. 

BPM model at the front, notice it isn't as tall as the BF model behind. Both are on the same bases. 

Side by side, with the BPM model on the left. As you can see, detail is less but not bad at tabletop distances.