Out of Storage, Part 1: Something to Marvel at...

Taking out my minis from being mothballed (stored) for a few years. 

Old school HeroClix are fantastic pre-painted minis out of the box

Couldn't resist adding the Alien

Old school Fantastic Four the way I remember them from the comics

Same same with Dr Doom and Cap

The Royal Navy Marines, Part 3

Finally, I'm done...

Royal Marines in action
Carts from Fenris Games

Pirates on a pre-painted Sloop
from Miniature Building Authority

Pirates

The Royal Navy Marines, Part 2

To continue, Redcoats on the Royal Navy Marines always look so intimidating on the table...

Crew (can be used as Privateers or even Pirates)

Marines and Naval Officers

Governor in the foreground flanked by Naval Officers

Rank and file

Marines in a different light

Posing

The Royal Navy Marines, Part 1

Last time I posted was all about the Pirates. Now for the Royal Navy, always a good unit to face off against those scurvy dogs, arrrrgghhhh!!!

Lots of reference photos to be had all over the net.

Nice visuals, as well from Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise.

Resin model wagons from Fenris Games.
Perfect for Pirates and other periods.

Royal Marines and Crew 

Drybrushed and ready for color

More bases from Fenris

British Crew

New and Old Toys, Part 3

Sci-fi doors, crates and barrels are perfect for adding those nice extras to your gaming table. 

(click on the pix to enlarge)

Narrow and wide doors, section and air lock doors
from the Sedition Wars Terrain Pack are great!

Staging the shot

Various items from my collection: Starship Trooper,
AT-43 and Hero Clix Alien to name a few

Finally gotten around to painting some
cool bio-hazard and nuclear waste barrels (red
and yellow respectively) from Fenris Games

More sci-fi crates and hatches from Fenris Games 

Put 'em all together and you get some nice dioramas
"Meanwhile, at the loading bay of HMS Rourke's Prime
currently orbiting Rajanatha 3 in the Gamma Sector"

That's a repainted AT-43 Mech UNI Fire Toad
"Preparations are underway for the massive landing
expedition and support base operations"

"I need that load out as soon as possible!
Otherwise I'm going to miss my timetable
and be late for the jump point."

2' x 2' Mini Terrain Table

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Because gamers like a big area for viewing and admiring, most of us have the typical 4' x 6' playing areas. Realistically, most of my games end up in tight quarters. Especially my skirmish games in 28mm. Solution: make a mini terrain table for those close quarters.

Start with a standard 2' x 2' acoustic ceiling tile
available at any hardware store.
Paint the edges with flat black for a better border

Inexpensive but very effective for most of my painting needs

Apply with a metal spatula a good base layer of a slurry mix
(sand, white glue, cheap gray acrylic craft paint and water).
Let dry and cure overnight then apply successive coats of dark brown wash

Again let dry and cure overnight

After the board was dry-brushed to my liking I then applied
white glue to random areas and sprinkled copious amounts of
static grass from Gale Force Nine

Let dry and cure overnight then take a tooth brush to
tease out (stand up) and remove excess static grass and Voila!

My whole intent was as mentioned above but after it was completed I knew that I could pose some of my minis on it for some cool diorama shots.

Steppe this way!
My Mongols from The Assault Group
and Old Glory lines in 28mm

Assortment of German Panzers: Stug III, Sd.Kfz 222 armored
car and Sd.Kfz 251 half-tracks from Bolt Action in 28mm

Same Panzers supplemented with 25mm BMW motorcycle 
troopen from Battle Honors (incidentally, putting them in the
foreground mitigates the scale disparity)

My 28mm Soviet Tankovy: KV1 and T34/76 from Battlemart
and armored cars: BA6 and BA64 from Bolt Action 

Showcasing some of my 6mm Modern micro armor from
GHQ: M1 Abrams, British Challenger and German Leopard 2
alongside Timecast buildings and haystacks

Ditto

Composed shot for my Instagram

New Scav Alert! Part 4: Decoration Sites

Continuing my series of re-purposing found objects from the different craft worlds online and in brick and mortar sites I found these great pre-painted metal gate and fence on a popular seasonal decoration on line store: Department 56 Village Replacements http://www.department56corner.com/.

Here's a tip: their store is not that organized and have lots of variety. If you do find something that you like, better to pull the trigger then and there since you might not find it the next time. 

My Black Scorpion Pirates fit nicely

The stone wall with some snow was another
item that I found at the same site

Observation tower courtesy of a flea market find at Historicon

Mix and match: the dark brown crates are pre-painted
models from Pegasus Hobbies

Wood pier on the left was also another item in their catalog.
Good luck finding it, though. Last I check, it wasn't available.