Sometimes when you get an idea you just have to run with it. I wanted to get back to the kind of creativity which go the League of Augsburg a good reputation in the first place and I have not been able to find the time to indulge that for quite some time.
Toggy always say, ' big units, massed battles and plenty of flags sell figures'. I agree, but for the Claymore game which took the 2nd prize for Demo game at the show, I wanted to feel unconstrained by selling lead and just enjoy the modelling.
I turned to the ubiquitous raw material which has appeared many times before in my scratch building - the humble cork dinner place mat (used).
I am neither carpenter nor engineer but I'm not bad when I get going with basic tools and glue!
I was able to turn this
into this.
I found some online justification for my Frankenstein creation as the Swedes used floating gun platforms in the Great Northern War. I needed no further encouragement. A Russian mortar platform for bombarding Stockholm was on the agenda.
The base is a medium sized place mat. The deck is four smaller place mats scored with a scalpel to produce a decking effect. I build this in about 7 stages over 10 days. The total construction time was about 14 hours. It is painted with chocolate emulsion and some Vallejo acrylics and washed in ink-water solutions.
The materials include various dowels, cork based mats, maps pins, curtain eyes, 1mm and 3mm MDF panels, chains bought for cheap costume jewellery, wood glue, super glue, piano wire, milliput and paint.
The manufactured components include
3 Heavy mortars (WLOA921),
1 gun gin (WLOA925)
3 sets of ladders(cut down) WLOA923
1 furniture set (WLOA924)
1 length of log barricade from Adrian's Walls.
Some Russians and Swedes for crew
Some wooden barrels
The tools: hack saw, small saw, pin drill, black & decker drill, rough sand paper, scalpel.
In each of the How to pieces associated with the platform I'll throw in some eye candy shots.
