Wednesday 15 January 2014

X-Wing - The Laminator Strikes Back!

hobby before i die

Lamination.

That sense of anticipation as the soft plastic slowly aligns itself with the alluring and inviting opening. That inevitable 'pull' as the roller gently tugs your sheathed paper into it's hot embrace. And of course, the climactic stiffening as your once limp A4 emerges from the other end, shiny, erect and proud, like some sort of wood pulp peasant re-born a king!

Er....

Like all red blooded men, I like to laminate things. And when you can combine this simple pleasure with one of your favourite hobbies, you know you're onto a winner.

Using the power of the force to obtain the key to the office stationary cupboard, I decided to create some handy additions to my X-Wing arsenal...

hobby before i die

Here we have a laminated Rebel Blockade Runner. This bad boy folds in half and neatly slides into your carry case, providing quick and effective 'scenery' to spice up your star-field table tops...

hobby before i die
'Yeah, I can go with that. Nay bad'

hobby before i die
And for scale, here it is next to the Kenner Blockade Runner model we looked at in our last post

Once you've laminated your print out (and smuggled it out of the office) you'll need to grab a sharp scalpel blade and a metal ruler... Take your time and carefully score round the outline of the ship. Eventually, you'll have a clean cut out that should blend in pretty seamlessly with your gaming surface. You'll also want to flip the ship over and run some sellotape across the join to create a hinge for when folding it away.

The artwork file for this ship, along with a whole host of other helpful X-Wing resources, can be found over at Board Game Geek.

hobby before i die
...Neatly packed into a plastic document holder.
Whilst your at it, order yourself one of these from the office stationary catalogue.
In fact, order one for each of your colleagues in a
false act of considered kindness to mask your true hobby intent...

But of course, once you start laminating something, you're struck with the inevitable urge to continue laminating things until either A.) someone in the office walks over and questions how a laminated picture of a Blockade Runner is going to support the company's e.o.y. financial targets or B.) The machine overheats in a state of lamination overdrive. In which case both scenarios result in you making a swift exit to go and speak with Mandy at the coffee machine...

Anyways, other X-Wing stuff that lends itself well for the lamination treatment are your humble squad lists...

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Using your favourite squadron builder - I use this one - start knocking up your X-Wing lists. Then screen capture the final image and drop it into PowerPoint. You can then apply a list title, points value and maybe a handy Rebel/Empire symbol for easy force recognition. Naturally, you can place different lists on both sides of the print out to maximise your content...

hobby before i die
hobby before i die
hobby before i die
What a (well organised) geek.

There you have it. A post about laminating and X-Wing.

We'll pretend this hasn't happened.

Until next time ;)



Sunday 12 January 2014

X-Wing - CR90 Corvette Blockade Runner - Part 1


hobby before i die
Pass the tissues mother!

Hi there! With fan boyz everywhere freaking at the thought of FFG's impending X-Wing 2014 releases, many are intrigued as to how the introduction of capitol ships will add to the game's rules. And of course, what a frickin' immense site it will be to see these beasts on the table-top alongside swarms of Rebel and Imperial fighters. Ti's truly what this game was made for!

Last summer, the urge to explore this opportunity proved too strong and I started to trawl eBay for some suitably appropriate models to represent early examples of these behemoths in my games. From an Imperial perspective, some of you may recall this tasty little acquisition...

For Rebels, there was only ever one option; the Kenner Collectors Fleet Blockade Runner:

hobby before i die

Upon opening the box, I was suitably impressed by the scale. It would look right at home alongside the X-Wing model range. Granted, whilst the model was nicely detailed, it did have a few minor 'toy' related elements on it that would need to be modeled out. The first of which were the rubber 'noise effect' buttons running down the neck of the ship. Fortunately/unfortunately, the buttons on my ship no longer worked, so I never did get to hear the 'pew pew' of the turbo lasers... Anyways, I ripped the buttons out and begun plasti-carding the area up to disguise the original detail.

The main modelling job would be to sort out the guns themselves. The model arrived with one snapped off completely and those that remained lacked any real detail or definition...

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The original (shoddy looking) gun barrels...
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...carefully removed, top and bottom...
hobby before i die
...holes drilled ready to receive the new gun barrels.

Plasti-card rod would be used to form the main length of the barrels but I'd also need to utilise something to form up the muzzles. Inspiration strikes in the strangest of places...

hobby before i die
GW Chaos Marine vehicle ram...
hobby before i die
...remove the spikes...
hobby before i die
...and the gun muzzles reveal themselves ;)  Drill em' out...
hobby before i die
...using a fine saw, carefully remove them from the remainder of the model...
hobby before i die
...mmm, tastes of hobby idiot...
hobby before i die
...drill out the other end of the muzzle...
hobby before i die
...the new barrels glued in place, with four new breaches to one side. 

Final job was to glue the new guns onto the main turrets. Having previously measured the plasti-card rod, I used an appropriately scaled drill bit to ensure they would fit nice and snugly in their new housing...

hobby before i die
The new gun barrels glued into place...
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...looking good :)

 With the conversion work complete, the model received a blast of grey car-primer undercoat:

hobby before i die
hobby before i die



OK, join me next time in Part 2, where we'll be looking to paint this sucker and find a suitable stand to make this baby really fly!

Cheers.

Saturday 11 January 2014

Gambit Games UK


Howdo! I thought I'd share some pictures with you from our recent club meetings at Gambit Games UK. If you live on the south coast and can get along to sunny Brighton on the last Sunday of every month, you're guaranteed a warm welcome and a wide selection of different games to play...

'A Friendly and open War-games Club. We play pretty much anything and everything. All members welcome, ability and experience irrelevant. We pride ourselves on being a relaxed atmosphere where playing the game is considered more important than winning the game. Cheers!'

More details and directions can be found via the GGUK Blog and Facebook page. And if you need a weekly hobby fix (who doesn't...), you can head to the KD Games Night, held every Tuesday night in Shoreham-by-Sea.

Anyways, let's start the ball rolling with some Warmachine action...

Gareth's Khador Conquest Colossal... A beast of a model.
The Butcher unleashed!
Not to be outdone, Andy's Protectorate of Menoth Judicator Colossal
strides across the battlefield... 

From this table-top slug fest we up the gears and head on over for some Formula D racing action...

Gentlemen, start your engines!
The first chicane sees many a racer rack up early damage points... 

Formula D's a quick fire table-top racing game, one of only a few games around that can support up to 10 players simultaneously. And it's certainly a game that benefits from the 'more the merrier' maxim. As the different drivers vie for the perfect racing line and attempt everything in their power to hit pole, there's also plenty of ramming and general dastardly driving as the racers attempt to thin out the competition...

Move your gear stick on the left to select the corresponding coloured dice.
The higher the gear, the more spaces your car will move.
But go too fast into the corners and you're guaranteed to start
 wracking up race-threatening damage...
HBID! places a worthy 2nd on the Winner's podium.
The wreckage of the other drivers laid out before them... Mwahahaha!!!

From top gearing to gut spilling, as Zombicide does a good job of keeping the troops entertained...

Our heroes attempt to steel themselves...
... against the shambling horde...
Armed only with a frying pan, HBID's Doug wonders whether to just
cook himself up a nice omelette and be done with it... 
'Cheezzeeburgerzz!!'
The remaining survivors take refuge in the bathroom...
As the apocalypse drops all around em'...

From one popular game to another...

More on this rather awesome X-Wing tournament in a future post

Ok, it's back to board and card games, starting with the rather amusing Small World...

Olly ponders his next all global conquet...
Hiding in the woods. Elves lovez a bit of it...

And who doesn't love a bit of Pandemic to cure the gaming blues?

Pete's copy of BattleCon. A superb tactical fighting game
in the style of classic beat em' ups like Street Fighter 
Regicide Heketch or just plain old 'Reg' as I like to call him.
Reg is my fighter of choice; quick, sneaky and packing a lethal array of blades

The guys from the Brighton Heroclix crew ensure the monthly club meets are guaranteed a healthy dose of hero bashing...

'Bundles!!!'

And finally, let's round this post off with the ever popular Bolt Action...

Marines scope for targets from the cover of a bombed out building... 
Major Tank Love
Barry's German Infantry get ready to open fire...
...Whilst Paul's US Airborne rev the Willys!

And if you're still hankering for a hobby fix,
KD Games has a fine selection of wares to keep you going...

Well, I hope you liked our look at the Gambit Games club day and if you're in the vicinity, head down and say hi :)

Cheers!


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