More Minor Updates

I've updated the previously posted scenarios with diagrams depicting where the objectives are placed in relation to the Deployment Zones. Although it was clear in my own head, it was probably not that clear to anyone who wasn't already familiar with what I was talking about.

I randomly came across a tool that's specifically for cutting foamcore, and it's supposedly pretty good at the job. However, it's fairly expensive, doesn't work for other kinds of foam, and I know enough people that seem to cut foamcore just fine without it, so I passed on it. I haven't actually tried cutting any foam since the last time I commented on it. I plan on doing some foam stuff next month, but right now I have other things on my plate.

I recently picked up Krylon Magnetic Spray Paint. Not too long ago, I read about using it in terrain, and a light bulb went off in my head. I felt like it was the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle. I had actually given up on finding it, as I had checked just about every store in town and nobody had it. I barely even found one place that had cans of brush on magnetic paint, so I caved and picked that up. Predictably, less than 30 minutes after that I found the spray paint.

I found it at Michaels, which is actually a really obvious place. The thing is, I had concluded over a year ago that Michaels was a waste of my time. I hear about a million awesome things that people find at Michaels in the States, but up here in Ottawa I can barely find any useful stuff for wargaming or terrain building, and the few things I do find are always overpriced. The only reason I went to a Michaels this time was because I happened to be in walking distance of one, so I figured "why the hell not". Anyway, I plan on testing it out within a week. I'm really hoping it will be as effective as I think it will be.

Jeanne d'Arc Mobility Form Headswap

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say this, but I never really liked Joan 2.0's head. She has this large, screaming head, and it's in sharp contrast to any of her art, where she tends to exude a kind of silent majesty. I know the point is that she's charging into battle eager to chop off some heads, but it seemed ugly to me, especially compared to some of the fantastic heads Corvus Belli has sculpted.

So, when her huge ponytail fell off recently (I've been carrying her in a bad case, so even pinned, her ponytail wasn't holding up), it was a good excuse to do a headswap. I'm two for two with conversions I've done that then received an official version immediately afterwards, but this time I'm definitely sure that they won't re-sculpt this. The conversion was trickier than I was hoping it would be, mostly because her odd position meant that any straight headswap would have her staring at the ground. I had to do a lot of finagling to have the new head look like it was bent back at a reasonable angle.

The end result is that it's not great, but still something I prefer over the old head. It looks significantly less awkward at a distance, which is how she'll be viewed 95% of the time. I also think that if I ever get around to painting her, the big billowing hair could make for a nice visual. Apologies for the blurry photographs; I've yet to figure out how to clearly photograph bare pewter models.

As an aside, she's been a great model for me on the tabletop. While she is expensive, there's still plenty of models that are even more expensive, and I consider her a bargain considering what you get. She has ridiculously awesome stats in everything except Armour, and the Burst 4 weapon really cleans up enemies. She has consistently pulled through in games I thought were going badly. I've yet to play her in vanilla PanO though, and I'm not sure why.

How 2 Cut Foam?

A minor rant: Something I haven't really seen anyone talk about, but has been troublesome for me, is the cutting of foam in terrain building. It's always glossed over and nobody ever seems to have any difficulty slicing foam into whatever shapes they need. But for me, I've had a hell of a time trying to get a clean cut on both foamcore and insulation foam.

A reasonably clean cut.

A completely horrible cut.

Even when I feel the blade sink in smoothly, it often ends up jagged in some way, and it's pretty common that it doesn't sink in smoothly anyway. Foam also seems to dull blades alarmingly fast, and I've even noticed a blade that started off cutting foam quite easily get dull and start to struggle after less than ten minutes of cutting.

I'm obviously doing something wrong, and it's something I'll pick up with experience, but for now it's still really annoying. I'm still trying out different methods, as I'm hoping that there's a good way to do this besides just starting with a brand new blade every time.

Scenario Edits, Plus Status Update

I've edited the previously posted scenarios with stuff I had forgotten to write in. That aside...

Sadly, I've posted up almost nothing in two months, and that's mostly due to me putting blog stuff on the back burner during that time. This even includes reading other blogs, and now that I'm trying to get back on the wagon, that's also something I'm hoping to catch up on soon.

There should be a few minor posts going up this month for me, with potentially more depending on how badly the weather beats me down. I do want to paint a few minis this month, but I had forgotten how hot weather affects my willingness to paint, and unfortunately the weather's not getting any colder.