Building my Iron Kingdom 2 - Danger High Voltage!

A while ago I posted that I was building some Iron Kingdoms scenery for myself - starting with a Warjack Repair Shop built from some Tech Deck skateboarding toys. I was really enjoying this work so have created another building from more of the toys.

This one I envisioned as a power station in this mining/outpost town. I wanted to give it a dangerous feel - not unlike a fenced off power transformer station with lots of warning signs etc. And I wanted it to be similar to the electrical aspects of some Cygnar 'jacks and the Storm Strider to really fit the setting. While Cygnar is definitely not my army of choice, I do love the crazy mad science "electrical" aspects associated with that army.  

I started with another of the ramps. The circular sections on the side reminded me somewhat of the porthole style glowing sections on the Storm Strider and the shape lent itself well to adding a set of the big industrial doors from the GW buildings sets.

Also judging by the shape it seeems that most of the works would be contained underground which I also think fits well with the mining outpost kind of feel and also with my Rhulic sensibilities.

Wanting to emphasise the high voltage/power transformer feel I took a bunch of the power pylons from the Warhammer 40K Battle of MacRagge set and with my trusty razor saw sliced them in half and mounted them along the sides of the ramp/building. I used some plasticard to make little warning signs and added an access ladder.

More bits from 1/35 model tank kits add some further details such as a small grate, some industrial piping and venting stacks, a couple access hatches etc. Overall a fairly straightforward build that I am looking forwad to painting! Once I finish building a couple more pieces I will begin painting them all together. I like to paint several scenery pieces together at a time so that the weathering and finishes are fairly consistant and clearly related from one piece to the next.

On an unrelated note my incredibly talented friend Shawn Welte (PPC from Madhouse Workshop) and I have set ourselves a super cool little scheme/project which will be cross posted between our sites. Stay tuned for more info about that!

Cya next week

James

B1 Bis Historical Build part 5 - Why so Greasy? A combined lesson in history and weathering.

One of the most interesting and challenging parts of weathering this tank is a challenge posed by the history and mechanics of the vehicle itself.

Aside from fabulous front armour and terrible fuel efficiency, these Char Bis were absolute pigs on oil. Their seals leaked continuously and the tracks themselves were horrifically prone to seizing up if they sat too long (not the best of features in a wartime prelude referred to as the "sitzkrieg"!) As such, crews of the B1 Bis tanks were regularily required to oil the tracks all along the sponsons which usually left grease and oil just running and dripping down the sides. The side crew hatch even has a shielding lip welded along the top of it to keep the oil drips out of the crew compartment!





This meant that as soon as these things began to move any distance, particularily cross country the sides of these tanks got FILTHY.  In some of the pics you can not even see the camo patterns along the sides at all because of the amount of dirt and crud stuck to the greasy oily mess on these tanks.  I decided to put mine on cobblestone and used photos of French tanks in urban environments as the inspiration. Greasy - yes, Grimy - yes, Worn - yes, completely obfuscated by the filth - no. 

This meant I would need to pull together a lot of techniques and try to push my boundaries a bit to create the contrasts and realistic finishes I envisioned.

I used:

AK Interactive - light rust wask - this enamel wash was used to emphasise rusty areas and to add subtle streaks from some of these

AK Interactive Dust Effects - This stuff is cool - I used it more on the top panels but here on the sides I painted it in streaks up from the bottom of panels and then once it had a bit of time to bite into the paint below I used clear thinner on a brush and dragged it upwards to approximate rainmarks and dustwash

Pigments - Various from AK Interactive, MIG, Forgeworld and Stardust. These were used dry and then stumped with clear AK Interactive thinner. I then took the dirty thinner and mixed a further slurry of dirty pigments and then worked these thinly across zones to really add a thin coat of dirt especially across the lower hull. I then fixed these in place using AK Interactive Pigment Fixer

Tamiya Smoke - this was thinned down and used to drag in some of the initial grease streaks and spatter along the sponson tops.

MIG Abteilung oil paints - I used a couple of tones of oil paint to finish the greasy streaks down the sponsons, between these and the Tamiya smoke I got a good variety of realistic colour and a sheen that is genuinely greasy looking and makes a brilliant contrast to my paint!

A little graphite around a couple of edges and we have Mission Accomplished!

I am super proud of how this turned out. Next up the basing and presentation!
Cya in a week with more Iron Kingdoms terrain pieces.....