This week, I are mostly been printing... A Giant Keeper of Secrets!!
Well this is another commissioned print by me and an amazing paintjob from Sam, my fellow founder at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club. I'll let the pictures do the talking but suffice to say that a few short years ago all of this was impossible...
I decided to take my time with this build, I'm surprisingly impatient when it it comes to modelling projects. When I get bitten by the bug, it's hard for me to not just dive in.
The first part of the instructions are probably the best part of the instructions and it was just a simple case of popping out the numbered parts and supergluing them together.
The first thing to build is the cradle / display stand. disappointingly this does not have a name plaque in English so this will need to be designed and printed.
I did make one change to the order of operations in that I left the frames unglued until I had laid in the deck. This was a lesson I learned from my earlier 1:30 Naxos Fishing Boat build as the frames do not always line up with the cutouts in the deck. If you force them to conform you will either snap the horns of the frames or the delicate deck.
Cannons - the laser cut frames of these cannons are perfectly acceptable at 1:100 scale so I proceeded to glue these together. The cannons provided in the kit are flat and definitely not good enough for this model. You can buy an upgrade pack with brass cannons but as I have a couple of 3D Printers it was a trivial task to find a suitable model and print them out.
I will document all the 3D printed parts including the links in a seperate post.
Capstan - I thought I would try out the capstan which was provided. After building it I am in two minds as I think it would possibly look nicer in resin, but it's a crazy shape and will likely test my modelling skills. There were also a distinct lack of arms on this capstan which might be historically acurate but it looks kinda weird on a masted ship.
I have bought some scale chain to go with this capstan and so I will need to check out how it meshes with the webbing to see if I want to continue using it.
Locker - Again this is borderline acceptable at 1:100 scale although the roof of this locker is way too thick and will need to be sanded down
Anchors - I liked the laser etched detail on the anchors so I thought I would give them a try. They sort of look okay at the top but the buisness end of the anchor looks awful. I will have to mull this over.
In the Part Three I will look at planking the hull.
This is another kit from NTJK Models and comes in a little plastic bag with all the basic things needed to make a passable model. Five laser cut sheets of varying thicknesses of wood, some lengths of dowel for masts, a sheet of linen for sails and a reel of cotton for rigging.
At the super low bargain price of £5.99 (that's cheaper than a Big Mac) there literally is no downside.
Doing a bit of research turned up some interesting documents:
A 1933 court report documents that on February 15, 1932 the Spanish Honduran registered ship The Halcon was found off the coast of New Orleans with a cargo of "intoxicating liquor". She was escorted to Mobile Alabama and seized by US Customs.
Building my last kit from NTJK models taught me that the assembly instructions are somewhat lacking in the actual instruction department. Nothing has changed with this wooden boat kit and there are some pretty critical instructions missing including:
Some intense internet browsing was therefore required.
Ships of Scale - This build log has a number of great pictures and also illustrates how there can be differences in the kit supplied and that an accessory kit is also available containing brass cannons and fixtures. These I will of course be replacing with 3D Printed parts. Also useful is a set of deck and rigging plans showing the routing of the anchor chains and various other deck accessories.
There are a few other builders on there who have documented their builds of the Halcon, so this was a must community to join.
HIS Models - There are plenty of different models of the Halcon and companies supporting the model making fraternity with accessories. One such company is HISModels who provide a set of CNC wooden blocks and deadeyes. They illustrate the content of their kit with this extensive rigging plan.
Best Ship Models - is another great resource site for model boat building and they have another set of plans.
Tune in for the Part Two when I actually start building this boat.
This week, I are mostly been printing... A Compact Travel Dice Tower!!
When I found out last week that a new modelling competion had launched on Printables, I had to have a go and enter my first 3D modelling competition. I don't expect to win or even get any award at all. I am just entering for the experience and the badge.
When you're gaming on the go you don't want to be lugging around a hefty chunk of plastic or having some huge lump taking up valuable space in your games bag. The travel dice tower is just the thing.
I designed this for D&D or other RPGs which use the standard 20mm (d20) sized polyhedral dice. The dice tower is big enough to safely store a set of 7 dice.
The "Slide" comes in two varieties solid or grill or can be replaced by a 2mm thick sheet of perspex or acrylic if you truly want that high visibility look. This is a work in progress so expect more designs to come in the future.
The backside of the insert includes a 50mm indent to magnetically attach an Inspiration or Hero Coin for your chosen RPG. Check out my other models for inspiration coins:
I have also produced a few 50mm "Inspiration" counters for some of the more popular roleplaying games and these can be fixed to your dice tower magnetically. Coins are actually the simplest dice of all so you get a bonuus d2 if you download the matching coin for your favourite RPG.
If you are a boardgamer then you will appreciate a solid 1st player token.
Please let me know if you download and make your own and if you would like a custom coin please leave a comment below.
Enjoy :)
You go on Aliexpress to buy one thing and you end up with seven!!!
The Lego monopoly is over guys and those ingenious chaps at Jie Star have come up with a fantastic little Akira bike which is Kinda Special - Lol.
I'm sure that this blatant ripoff of the Star Wars IP will have Kathleen Kennedy issuing legal letters. But it's a fairly passable miniship version of the much beloved Razorcrest. She is gone but never forgotten...
This is such a simple design 2 acrylic plates (40mm x 19mm x 3mm), 2 plastic wheels (19.5mm x 3mm) and 6 tiny 4mm x 3mm magnets. The wheels have little numbers printed on them and they are mirror images of each other. Honestly it's so simple it's a genius idea and it should be free...
When I saw this complicated looking model kit I just knew I had to buy it. Something to challenge the old modelling skills now that I seem to be into making model boats for some reason...
Outdoor Shockproof Waterproof Case with Foam insert - £4.32
Given the absolutely exorbitant prices of miniature carry cases I put my money down on one of these bad boys. It is properly watertight including a rubber gasket seal and made from some hard shiny ABS like plastic. A bit on the small, but has enough space inside to comfortably fit an entire party of human sized minis. I think the trick here is to do a lot of searching to find exactly the right size whihc works for your minis.
So this is a bit of a random "Choice" purchase and was made just to ensure that I qualified for the free postage. What can it do? I hear you say...It is one a pen, two a spirit level, three a cm ruler, four an inch ruler, five a smart phone finger, six a philips screwdriver and seven a flat blade screwdriver. Amazing!!
Well... I have a secret project which has gone a bit Pete Tong and I thought I might be able to rescue it with a...
