Saturday 9 January 2016

541 - Really Busy with Hobby Stuff!

Hullo, All.

I've been away from the blogosphere again, but for once it's because of the hobby: In the last fortnight I've (a) played three - THREE! - games of X-Wing and (b) been working flat-out on constructing a portable 'Dutch Polders'-themed gaming board for a Bolt Action tournament in early February...the centrepiece of which is a hulking great scratch-built Windmill with three playable levels, a balcony and rotating cap and sails.
No time to write more, but I have ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS CHALLENGE - especially trying to do it all on the cheap - so here are some ropey ol' pics in order of progress. 

Trust me: I DO have a plan...:
Looking for dykes in Homebase...
Floors A,B and C. As is so often the case with me, the cardboard was supposed to be a mock-up, but it worked so well and was so sturdy that I decided to just go for it. 
Dear God, but that glue-gun has come into its own! The best £4 (incl. 50 glue sticks) I ever spent!

I added the balcony and railing...
Made a storage out-building to go with the windmill, provide the only other bit of solid cover and enable me to test techniques out - like the shingles on the walls, which will hopefully cover parts B and C of the windmill too...
I am very lucky that my two daughters are well-behaved, as I've nowhere safe to leave works-in-progress...
Changes to the map after a realisation and some frantic back-pedalling 
Yesterday, the faux fur arrived, and at last I could start blocking-out the table in all its polder-y openness...
obviously, both the windmill and the outbuilding will be at dyke-level.
sans-sails, it's about 13" tall.
This is about 90 minutes' work. And by 'this' I mean painstakingly hot-gluing the cereal packet strips overlapping across the polystyrene-filled yoghurt pot...that in itself took even longer to construct. 
gables and stove-pipe added...
no-frills interior
[apart from a vague attempt at scoring some planking, just as a trial]
...and oh boy, did THESE take some working out. I'm happy with them now though: VERY happy. They are paired, and they separate for easier transport
Some of my original ideas. Hexagons are very pleasing and surprising shapes to work with.
Fly Casual,


- Drax.

21 comments:

  1. love the windmill - its awesome! Thanks for sharing, I found it inspirational!

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    1. Thanks, jabberjabber!

      It's been a while - hope all's well for you...

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  2. ohhh Brilliant! All those angles to get right!

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    1. Tee=hee!

      Thanks, mate - yeah, I may have briefly sought the guidance of one of the maths teachers at work...

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  3. Very cool
    I'm excited to see the finished buildings. Looks great so far!

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    1. Thanks, mate! Well, I have a little under four weeks in which to get it done...

      Good news on the Flames front though: I've found me a new club!

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  4. That is brilliant Drax. Brilliant.

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    1. Oh thanks, Muppet. It's becoming one of those 'labour of love' things...

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  5. Excellent all round. Great to see you still writing everything down in exercise books.

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    1. Old habits and all that! This is actually Volume 7 of my 'Book of Arcane Scribblings'

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  6. Fantastic job on that windmill! It looks far from just a 'cardboard mock-up'!

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    1. Cheers! I was surprised at how strong it became once I set the corners rigid with some hot glue and a bracing ring...

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  7. What a great idea for a project, and a great post too. Tonnes of photographs, really enjoyed this!

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  8. Love the windmill.

    I tend to find that warning signs work better if there is a mispelling such as 'wet paynt' because then people take more notice and feel smart.

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    1. Thanks - and qhat a smashing idea!

      Sadly, the absurdly pedantic nature of my eldest daughter (no idea where she gets it from) would render that idea near suicidal...

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    2. *no idea from where she gets it?!

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  9. Heck ya! That's some amazing work! Would be proud to play on a properjob Polder table.

    Good to see you enthused again!

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    1. Yay!

      Oh, and also...that other thing - the thing about which I emailed you, mate - it looks like that might be well and truly happening.

      Which is terrifying.

      And exciting.

      And terrifying.

      And a logistical and bureaucratic bloody nightmare, which is detracting from serious bloomin' Windmill Time...

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    3. I'm emailing you then. But not yet. Hold on.

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Thanks for taking the time to comment!