Another month gone, the shortest of them all for 2022. This month was definitely a bit on the slow side – I spent a lot of it struggling to actually sleep at night and so the hobby time turned into the “oh god I need to nap or else I’ll go mad” time.
However, I still got a few things done. So lets go over them!
COLLECTING
Vapa at the start of the month saw me expanding the collection (just a little bit) as I mentioned in the SITREP. Two more Comets (to bring me up to a platoon for Big Chain of Command) and some fantasy characters from Crooked Dice. I’ll admit, I’m still not that excited about the fantasy models – the Divine Mortal being really low quality and realising just how good the 3d printing fantasy models have become.
3D PRINTING
This month’s 3d printing was a little bit off as I had some issues with the Saturn. I first spotted it on the CVRs I mention below, but I managed to hide the damaged part of the hull and redid the tracks. However, because the Chieftain hull I was trying to print is so big, I had to make sure that the adhesion to the bed was 100% before I started attempting to print them. Luckily, I managed to fix it with the classic process of re-levelling, so next month will include a Chieftain, with perhaps a few tweaks.
The main vehicle printing this month was a pair of CVRs. These are from Bobmack’s BAOR, rescaled up to 1/50 scale. As I mentioned in the SITREP, I really like these kits as they are smartly designed, includes stowed versions and look spot on. I’m less a fan of the pricing for individual models on their store (and the fact you have to purchase each level of stowage separately) but honestly they are cool kits. Just be careful of how spiky the tracks can be!
Part 2 of the CVR 3d printing also got a SITREP, covering the pieces I’ve printed and added… But we’ll take a look at that lower down.
I’m probably going to do a 3d printing update – this month has definitely included a fair amount of trying out new things. I’ve actually dropped back to using 0.03mm layer depth (suggested by a few of the patreons I’ve been signed up for) which has increased print time on both machines considerably, but I’m happier with how these pieces are coming out.
BUILDING
Despite buying the Comets, it was actually the Stuart I assembled this month. It’s an adorable little tank (seen here next to the Churchill) and seeing as it’s a Rubicon kit it was great fun to build. Actually, building model kits remind me one way 3D printing won’t replace more regular kits is that there is a real joy in building a well designed kit. I really like how the kit can easily be swapped between the turret and the Recce version, something I was definitely worried about when first building it.
As mentioned above, there was actually some building to be done with my 3d printed parts. I had a lot of fun using the 3d printing slicer to play around with positioning before sticking them into place in the real world. I’m really happy with the ability to quickly improve/change the look of a vehicle without having to model accessories myself physically or order from someone else. I’ll defintiely be looking to do these tweaks to other vehicles going forward.
Finally, another 3D printing build process but not one for Ultramoderns. I have a big collection of Stormcast from Games Workshop – I actually like a lot of the design elements and feel of the models, GW doing good work. However, I want to use them for my lower fantasy setting and, inspired by lots of examples on reddit, I began a plan to make them look a lot less… bling.
I decided to start with the banner bearer from the Dominion box. As a skirmish gamer, I don’t really need banner bearers and I think the pose and sword is too strong not to use. After trimming down the flag and it’s pole, I replaced it with a lantern from an old space marine sprue I had. For the head, I think the gaunt cheeked death mask is one of those iconic Stormcast pieces – I trimmed it off and replaced it with an alternative helm from the Sun Knights kit that Last Sword produce as part of their patreon. It’s decorative but not quite as gaudy as the original, and it will definitely help him stand out among the more “normal” Midgard troops.
I’m not done however – I’m going to do some green stuffing, adding some cloth effect to cover up the body sculpted parts of the armour (such as on the back). I’m still nailing down the complete look, but this guy will definitely be my test model. More details when I get some more work in
PAINTING
Painting definitely suffered this month, I only managed to paint 7 models up, a little less than I planned to. Admittedly, part of this comes from not getting the project I had planned (the last few bits of the Empress US Army guys) but ah well, that can wait.
First up, I finished off the White Dragon Miniatures preview models I was sent. The Brits (in both 20mm and 28mm) were the last to be worked on due to them actually having camo patterns that are more complex than “colour plus dots of other colour”. The scheme I wasn’t 100% on after finishing (it’s the Spectre colours and it still feels a touch green) but the Iraqi Sand drybrush does definitely add the dusty, tan look I want. I’m still planning, but it’s a good chance this is the scheme I’ll use for the two full platoons I have.
Wanting to get some models actually painted, I finally got the KSK from Combat Octopus finished off after they were sat staring at me on my desk. I really like the multi-part KSK figures, with separate pouches to help you make them as laden up as possible. One thing not visible but I really do love the breaching shotgun I stuck to the team leaders day pack. I plan to print at least another four, if not more. I definitely need to add a DMR at least, but I’m frantically awaiting some heavier support for them – I’ll probably add some light AT so they can be handy in platoon level games. Luckily Spectre gives me several options including a certain one that’s famous at the moment.
Finally, I gave Captain Carter a go. As I say in the SITREP, I’m going to go back and give her another go, the face and shield being the focus point. After some sleep though, I actually really like how she looks next to the WW2 guys – I used the same leather colour and it helps to make her fit into the rest of the force while being larger than life.
GAMING
Only one game this month – and we got to play a big one! Go enjoy the Big Chain of Command battle rep set in North Africa – it was a really good time, getting play more Chain of Command and play around with getting some cool camera shots. It’s amazing what you can do with a camera with 8x zoom on it, really letting you get down to model level (and meaning I need to up my painting game!)
WRITING
First for writing, I helped out a good friend of mine with a new article for Airsoft Action covering BPRE 28mm. As well as adding some thoughts at the end, he reprinted elements of my BPRE 28mm impressions piece I wrote to help detail the rules. So officially, I have some of my blog content in print!
Rules wise, Ultramodern Chain of Command is coming along. I’ve updated some more of it, trying to get the “regular force on regular force” portion all written up to allow the more standard style of game to be played (and because it’s the foundation for the rest). The next big goal is getting the army lists written up, something I’m slightly slowed down in doing as I need more armies painted!
I also got to writing some more of my fantasy rules (as my sister has mentioned she’s interested in getting back into playing some games). I’ve nailed down the basics of the D100 system and how the game will play out, the next step is writing it down. Because my sister and I want it to be very evocative for generating narrative, it’s going to be relatively crunchy (with resources like injuries, fatigue and terror to be managed) but I have a few ways to allow for bigger fights. Hopefully it plays well and I can work on the campaign elements too – I’ve been playing a lot of a game called Battle Brothers and it’s full of ideas to borrow/use. In fact, there is a lot of games in it – things like Darkest Dungeon have definitely helped to influence the sort of game I want it to be.
BLOGGING
The blog has done pretty well this month. 11 posts, including two battle reports, in February. I actually also got a few other articles almost finished but had to put them on pause for… a reason.
The reason being I’m looking into Youtube stuff. As I wrote to my Patreon subscribers in the middle of the month:
I’m going to start putting ChargeBlog content onto Youtube.
This is going to be an add-on for my blog content. Writing is always going to be faster for me, but I realise reading 2000+ words can be a bit of hurdle to get through. My idea with expanding to Youtube is lower the barrier of getting to my content, so longer posts (i.e. not the SITREP ones) will get some video content of me reading the post out, accompanied by video and stills. I still need to work out some of the mechanics for it (mostly around the battle reports) but it’s coming.
I’m not going to be going the full Youtube life. I have no desire to chase the algorithm, get sponsors, quote the likes comments and subscribes. Thanks mostly to seeing how many of you are sticking around, I’m feeling confident at trying some new things to share the stuff I like doing. So thank you!
I’m rolling up the new workflow, learning to do the editing and working with someone to add the fancy branding. If I’m going to do this additional way of enjoying my stuff, I want to do it right.
If you want to know what’s coming next month, why not jump over onto the Patreon? I’ll be putting up a preview post there around the same time as this goes up, detailing what’s on the docket for next month. If you like the sound of what I mention, then you can become a patron to help fund it. There are no tiers to choose between – just pay what you want and the support is much appreciated. Click the button below or follow the link to my Patreon page