Model Making: Laser Cut 28mm Gantry System

After my first attempts at creating wargames scenery and buildings with the laser cutter, I have evolved several new projects to develop and take laser cut wargaming buildings further.

This one started off simply as a staircase and grew into a whole 28mm gantry system, that I plan on using in everything from steampunk and pulp games, through modern skirmishes and on to science fiction gaming.

At the planning stage I decided I wanted a modular system that I could expand as and when I needed too…

After roughly sorting out the staircase, I decided I needed something for the staircase to reach up to so I started to work on the gantry platforms and the support  pylons.

 

These designs are the final ones and had to go through several different versions until I was happy with them. This involved modifying the fittings at either end of the platforms, try several grid mesh designs and also playing around with the scaling to get the width correct and the railing height looking right.

The photo below is one of the earlier versions that ended up looking a little under scale for the 28mm figure  (although a friend has pointed out that it looks pretty good for the  15mm sci-fi campaign that we are planning).

When planning a project like this it is vital that you decide on the material you are going to use. I decide to go with 2mm MDF, as it gives a nice crisp finish, is very light and fairly strong once put together. Once I had chosen the material I could start developing the various joins. You have to be very careful once you start to create the various parts as, if you want to rescale anything you have to make sure that the joints still suit the material thickness (i.e. 2mm in this case). So if I decided to do a 15mm version or indeed a 54mm version, it would not be as straight forward a simply resizing the designs to suit. All of the joints need to be rescaled individually!

 

Once I had the basic platforms and pylons, it was time to add some variation, so I designed the octagonal platform, the cross junction and the curved platform.

You can see one of the alternative mesh designs on the octagonal platform. The curved platform was developed both as a way of turning corners and also when combined with other curve sections to produce a ring.

Why did I want a ring, well I love the Pulp genre and it is ideal for rocket platforms or other diabolical bases set up by evil masterminds!

 

Now if you need to get to a higher level, having a double height pylon becomes necessary. I wanted the design for this to follow the design of the standard pylons, although with the need to go around the lower level platform as well as supporting the upper level there were design compromises and several versions before I was happy with this one…

I haven’t had a chance to cut enough of the double height pylons to create a good example but here are a couple of photos that show off the possibilities:-

On the top of the left photo there you can see the lookout platform, this seemed like a logical development for wargaming uses.

Finally, as an after thought (after someone suggested offshore platforms), I also came up with an alternate pylon design.

Once I had cut enough to really start playing around I was really pleased as the possibilities seem endless.

I am still coming up with ideas on how to expand this set with new components, and also looking at ways to use the bits I already have.

The lookout platform has now developed in to a full mobile fort, which will be the subject of my next post…

Toy Soldiers: The ARC Fleet have mustered!

I have completed my first batch of Critical Mass Games ARC Fleet figures and vehicles, a 15mm science fiction wargames force.

This is quite an achievement as I have struggled to paint even one or two figures  over the past several years. I finally feel that I am back in the swing of things. To paint miniatures consistently, around 50 of them, and some 15mm scale vehicles as well, has been something I have managed to do over the past few years, while my sons have been quite young. It is still something that I tend to do once they are in bed, although I am hoping to start inspiring them in that direction as they get a little older.

I really love the detail on Critical Mass Games figures, they would often pass as 28mm figures in photos.

Anyway, on to my main reason for posting. As we haven't decided on which rules we are going to use for our 15mm gaming yet (it's probably down to Grunts or the Critical Mass Games house rules) I have been a little undecided as to how to base the figures. Do I go for unit bases (CMG rules) or individual basing (Grunts).

In the end I devised a systems that get the best of both ways of doing it. I laser cut some1.5mm plywood to make 40x30mm bases, in two layers, the top layer was also cut with 4 10mm holes. I glued the individual figures to 10mm steel washers. Finally I have stuck 4mm Neodymium magnets into the cut outs on the bases, these hold the figures in place very effectively.

I did have one problem while gluing the magnets in place, they are so strong that the would pull towards each other before the epoxy adhesive set. Even after it set I found as they have such a smooth surface some were simply pulling out of the epoxy (10 minute setting time Araldite Rapid). I found an alternative epoxy, Pacer Z-Poxy (30 minute setting time, although they also do a 5 minute version). Wow this is good stuff, sets very hard, nice and clear and so far none of the magnets have come free. I did have to place one magnet per base, then let it set before I did the next one. But once I had the routine in place it all worked fine.

I have the next batch of figures on my painting desk now, here is what I am working on to fill out the force a little.

All of my wargaming and miniatures blog posts will start with the Toy Soldiers: prefix!

Model Making: Laser Cut Wargames Scenery

The rise of CAD (Computer Aided Design) has seen a marked change in the production processes used by figure manufacturers. Rapid Prototyping, sometimes called 3D printing is playing an important role in figure design and even more so in the design of prototypes for vehicles, whether they be tanks, spaceships or huge steampunk airships!

The main companies that I have encountered that produce laser cut products for wargamers are as follows, there may well be others and if you know of any please leave a link in the comments section. Rapid Prototyping is a fairly expensive process (although it is getting cheaper all the time), however there is an alternative CAD driven technology that is starting to prove useful within the wargaming industry. Laser cutting and engraving falls somewhere between printing and rapid prototyping. Laser cutters can be used to cut and engrave a variety materials including MDF, plywood, acrylic, cork, card and rubber.

S6 Engineerings Road Bridge #2 (Acrylic)

Litko produces a whole range of game tokens and markers produced in various coloured acrylics that really raise the quality of many games tables. They also do various other gaming accessories including several model buildings. S6 Engineering, a new company have recently released a series of laser cut acrylic roads and canals, and they also have a selection of templates and other accessories. Finally Warbases make an extensive range of laser cut MDF bases and movement trays, they are also developing a range of MDF kit buildings.

Litko 28mm Modular City Building (Micro-plywood)

In the workshop I run we have just purchased a laser cutter and over the past few weeks I have been running through a series of projects to familiarise myself with running the machine and preparing files for it.

OK, so what is "Laser Cutting and Engraving"? 

The laser cutter itself shares much with the larger commercial inkjet printers, in fact the software that drives it is installed on a PC as a print driver. At it's most simple level, using vector graphics software, lines that are drawn in red will be cut, and lines that are drawn in black will be engraved. The initial outlay on a laser cutting machine is quite high, but the day to day running costs are fairly low.

As part of my learning to use the laser cutter I wanted to try out an architectural model (my workshop is part of a school of architecture after all). While I was thinking this over I happened to read the September issue of Wargames Illustrated which had the plans in for a project to make a Spanish style convent model. This seemed like the ideal project to try out on my new machine.

I downloaded the plans from the Wargames Illustrated website and stated to plan the build. Firstly I extracted the image files from the downloaded pdf (WI have made these available for photocopying so as my project was going to achieve more or less the same result I don't think I have infringed any copyrights etc.), which I then imported into Corel Draw (the vector graphics software that the laser cutter uses). I converted the JPG images to Vector graphics, this makes them infinitely scalable and also prepared them for laser cutting.

At this point I did encounter a minor problem, the conversion from JPG to vector graphic seemed to introduce some distortion in the plans (although part of this may have been present in the original WI plans which were never designed for such accurate development). Consequently I ended up more or less redrawing the whole thing in Corel Draw to get them squared up and to get the arches and windows nice and even.

Rather than using foam core board as suggested in the WI article I decided to make my model in 4mm MDF sheet (I happened to have some lying around the workshop). So as well as redrawing the plan, I also added in the roof plans, that were left out of the WI article so that readers could set their own wall thicknesses.

This is a much reduced version of my cutting plan, it shows the cut lines in red and the engrave lines in black.

As an experimental model I was making this quite small, suitable for 6 or 10mm gaming. If however, I up scale it for, say, 15 or 28mm I will need to adjust the roof size to suit whatever material thickness I use.

Now everything is ready to go. The laser cutter we have has quite a small working area (around 610x45mm) but fortunately this whole job will fit on to one sheet.. I cut a piece of MDF and placed it in the machine, then in Corel Draw I hit print. Under the print preferences I specified the material to be cut and the thickness. Then I sent the job to the laser cutter. It took around 38 minutes to cut the whole thing. I may be able to reduce the cutting time as I experiment with the cutting speed of the laser.

 

The laser cut parts of the Convent.

Finally I had the plinth and dome to construct. The eight arched sides had to be sanded to an angle to get the to fit neatly together (the laser cutter will only make vertical cuts). Once this had been done I glued them all together following the octagonal shape I had laser etched into the top of the plinth.

I rescaled and laser cut the top plinth and arches to show how simple it would be to build this for any scale of figures you might wish for.

I wont go into the details of texturing and painting the convent as that was well covered in the original Wargames Illustrated article.


Here are a few examples of other hobby related projects I have done recently on the laser cutter.

My first attempt at texturing using the engraving settings on the laser cutter.

A painting station, with storage for paints. (I don't have the room for a permanent painting desk since my sons came along).

Well I hope that has gives some kind of insight into a tool that is being used more and more withing the wargaming industry.


Anyone interested in the Paint Station, please drop me an email and I may be able to sort you one out!


All of my model making (whether it be wargaming, miniatures or otherwise) blog posts will start with the Model Making: prefix!

Figure Sculpting: Resources

I have been sculpting miniatures in a semi-professional way for around 15 years now, although the past few years have been less productive due to my family commitments.

28mm Scale Knoll sculpted by David Drage. Master lost by client!

When I started out there was very little, if any reference material for budding sculptors to refer too, and even the staple sculpting material, Greenstuff (more correctly known as Kneadatite Blue/Yellow) was somewhat mythical and a supplier took quite a bit of tracking down, I actually bought my stock from the manufacturer in the US for sometime!

Over the years all of that has changed, there are no end of places to find advice about anatomy, sculpting, use of armatures, tools and materials; readily available online. Greenstuff and other sculpting putties are easliy found at many figure selling websites and even in your local Games Workshop store (if you are prepared to pay the price they charge).

Before I start posting regularly on figure sculpting I thought it would be worth putting up a list of the sites and resources that I have found useful.

Web Forums

Luthor Arkright, 150mm figure sculpted by David Drage. Project abandoned!

There are several forums that cover some aspect of sculpting, but the two that I frequent the most are:-

Frother Unite - Be warned, the language and general attitude on Frothers can be difficult to get used to - there is something of a "boys club" atmosphere on there that can be quite off putting, but there is no denying that the Frothers love their figures and, in amongst the venomous and purile comments, there is usually some very constructive advice.

Mini Sculpture - This is a relatively new community that has been created exclusively for figure sculptors to discuss their work, exchange information and critique miniatures, both in progress and finished.

Blogs

There are quite a few blogs that are of interest to figure sculptors. Most are simple the blogs of experienced sculptor, passing on their thoughts and experiences, however some are more specifically focused:-


Make Your Own Sculpting Tools - This blog features some very good advice and instruction on making your own tools. Most sculptors end up making or altering their tools themselves that this blog goes in to some depth on making the more popular tools.

28mm SF Marine figure sculpted by David Drage.

The World According To Tom - The blog of veteran sculptor Tom Meier. As well as showcasing some of Tom's work (as he produces it) it also includes some wonderful insights into anatomy and proportion with regards to miniatures. I find this blog essential reading and Tom's explanations anatomy and sculpting technique are very enlightening.

Green Stuff Sculpting - Mainly based around the more advanced conversion of figures than out and out sculpting this site does offer some interesting ideas and is well worth checking out.

Massive Voodoo - Although primarily a first class figure painting blog, it does offer fairly regular articles on sculpting as well. To be honest the level of painting and and quality of photography alone make this blog worth following by anyone interested in collecting, sculpting or painting miniatures.

Last but not least...

I must mention 1ListSculpting, the Yahoo Group for figure sculptors. This sight has been an important place for anyone interested in figure sculpting to find information for many years. It is well worth signing up, even if it is just to download the FAQ, which is a treasure trove of information for starting sculptors.

Royal Marines and Navy c.1850, sculpted by David Drage for Scheltrum Miniatures

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Painted by Mike Schraner.

Over the coming months, I am planning on doing more articles on figure sculpture, both looking at the development of my own figures and also possibly doing some tutorials on different aspects of sculpting miniatures.

Toy Soldiers: Going 15mm!

I have recently been caught up in the growing trend for science fiction wargamers to move from the traditional 28mm size figures down to the smaller size of 15mm.

This has been inspired by several things, firstly 15mm figures are cheaper, I can get a pack of 6 or 8 premium 15mm figures for the same price as 1, or possibly 2, 28mm figures. Secondly, there are a whole new selection of companies that are injecting new life in to the 15mm Science Fiction market. Critical Mass Games, Khaursan Miniatures and Rebel Minis for example. There are also the longer running companies like Ground Zero Games and Alternative Armies 15mm.co.uk that have large selections of popular figures and vehicles.

Personally, I have been putting together a force of Critical Mass Games ARC Fleet miniatures. These armoured figures are your basic sci-fi humans, much in the "Halo" or literary "Starship Trooper" style. The vehicles are little works of art, produced in a combination of resin and pewter parts.

I have also been putting together a small force of Ground Zero Games Kra'Vak, which share some similarities to the movie "Predators"!

The Kra'Vak figure sculpts have been around for a good few years now, probably don't equal the modern figures that are around, but with a lick of paint they still come out really well. Also their vehicle are suitably different in design to my Arc Fleet force that they are easy to tell apart.

My gamer buddies and I have not settled on a good set of rules to use yet, as again there are a whole selection of new rules floating around to choose from. I am probably going to base my ARC Fleet figures to the size set out in the beta rules for Critical Mass Games own rule set, but we have been looking at several other sets that are out there too. These include Grunts, FUBAR and a few others that don't spring to mind at the moment.

Grunts certainly seems to be generating a good bit of interest at the moment though...

For anyone interested in watching the developments in the current 15mm science fiction gaming field, a couple of blogs certainly bare watching:-

http://dropshiphorizon.blogspot.com/

http://firebase15mikemike.blogspot.com/

http://www.gruntz.biz/

http://miniaturereview.blogspot.com/

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In future I will prefix any wargaming article with the title Toy Soldiers:, this will hopefully make it easier to identify the wargaming articles!