Blood for the Craft God!

Here I am with my moon surface that people seem to like and its my first properly finished thing. Carved from foam then spakfilla crater rims then grey paint with sand and glue (which was old and had weird lumps that probably helped) then spray paint grey and a spatter of silver and final ink wash and drybrush. I have to fill a room with this over next week possibly might get some child slaves to help paint. For a nightclub space theme. Building a lunar lander after that with a smoke machine inside.

My lounge and house needs a bit of sorting. I made a first card staircase which I got the size of the steps a bit small but the method is sound. Building some post apoc terrain that can pass as 1/72 or normal gamer mini size. Black coat is done but I'm wary of painting the rest as I have never done this stuff before. Part of the point of making scenery is to get a technique that will prep me for mini painting. Used my offcut foam and a glue gun to make some rocks for scatter terrain. Not sure if they need trees or If I should make a flatter base for bunches of trees. I have lots of plastic toy army terrain, bridges and trees that might be repurposed too. I can see some stuff I'm working on seem better than some pre-bought bits.

Players seem to appreciate. The use and I have a mass of grey painted baby blocks. I'm not doing full tactical square movement mostly just an aid for where people are and who to attack with a ruler to attack. Im enjoying minitures as an aid for drama and occasionally it inpires stuff I wouldnt have thought of otherwise. Like by putting my hotwheels cars into thematic teams it forms basis of a bunch of road gangs.

I was an artist and an art teacher for 20 years and have had a break for a while this has been a good way to renew my interest. I have more patience now for letting coats dry and lots of steps. Even though I have years of experience as a photographer, designer and street artist doing this has changed the ways I look at structures of real things very differently. Collecting historic minis and animal figures have improved my drawing and detail too so Im enjoying looking at building structures and factories near me more. So Im learning a lot. Lots of art is just tricks and Im picking up from youtube and developing my own or applying fine art I used to teach or street art methods to this. I found two nori seaweed trays fit in a takeaway container so i have my wash and highlight paint sealed and ready to use.

Got some Hirst moulds and some crooked dice retro computers for future scenery. I wish I got straight brick mould because air-dry clay for the bricks I could do 3-5 batches a day then build stuff. Im not sure the clay Im using right for the stuff I'm doing. I got cave, gothic dungeon and modern clutter moulds. I might need to look into resin next and possibly a foam cutter table.

So odd direction for me after 38 years of gaming to start this kind of stuff. Room and money and COVID all helped. The online communities and crafter videos are amazingly helpful in a way I would never have accessed years ago. I would of had to of learned face to face but we live in an autodidactic paradise.