Making Super Cheap 6mm Infantry

 Hi!

Just enough time to post a quick update before I head off down south for a week!

Vosk House Troops

I've had a lot of queries on how I make my own 6mm scale infantry so have decided to post up a bit of a tutorial on the process.

Materials

Materials

To make my 6mm scale infantry, I use EVA foam, ideally a sheet of 2.5mm thick available from Hobbycraft for about £1.25 and will make loads of infantry. The second sheet I use is slightly thinner, approximately 1.5mm which I think I picked up in a pack from The Range for about £5 for a pack of five.

The only other materials I used were plastic sticky backed gems that I got from Hobbycraft for £2.99 but has enough to make literally hundreds of infantry.

The bases are 40mm lollypop sticks, again picked up from Hobbycraft for about £1.25 for 50. 

Other materials are a metal ruler, a sharp hobby knife and a pair of scissors to cut small pieces. I've found that Gorilla Glue is the best for sticking the bits together but any superglue should do the job.

Construction

The first thing to do is to cut long strips of the EVA foam into 5mm strips. For this I use the sharp hobby knife but be aware that EVA foam will blunt a blade quite quickly for some reason!

Rule (Ironically I dislike this metal ruler!)

Next I use scissors to roughly cut little rectangles. You can measure them to keep them uniform in size but I don't really bother as they look ok even if they're not identical! I picked up a pair of sharp thread cutters from a charity shop which is ideal for this sort of thing but you can grab some cheap ones from The Range for under £2.00.

Chop Chop

Next up, glue them to their bases with some superglue followed by some small strips of the thinner EVA foam to represent guns. I've not tried making fantasy or pre-gunpowder figures with this method but will do some experimenting to see how it works out but in theory, it should work just as well!

Tiny obelisks begin to look like actual figures

The final step is to add some extra details. For this I stuck the little gemstones onto the top to give them helmeted heads and a small square of EVA foam on their back to represent backpacks.

Infantry taking shape

Painting

Once I've made a platoon worth of infantry I primed them all in pale grey then started painting proper!

Infantry nearing completion

I tend to paint using bold highlights and let the paint do much of the detail work in this scale as there's no point worrying about making super detailed paintwork as you won't see it on the table! The visors are just painted on as are the infantry's hands on their weapons. The legs are similarly painted on using some small stripes of paint and voila, they're done!

Complete infantry

The last element is to prime the bases with dark brown then add some flock and the figures are done and dusted. Hopefully folks will find this useful and I'll see about making a separate page on the blog for a guide to making them, updated to show different kinds of infantry figures once I've made them!

I'm about to pack to head down south for the week so updates won't be happing until I return so until then, All the best!

Land Ironclads: The Dwarves Steam Forth

Hi!

I've been hard at work on constructing some new Land Ironclads for my Leviathan project and have finished the first two squadrons as well as some tiny infantry to support them!

Deep within the Axeblade mountains, the Dwarf Technomancers and engineering guilds have been hard at work, foundries and furnaces ring to the sound of steam-hammers as teams of guild engineers and craftsmen work tirelessly on a project that has consumed countless hours of research and development.

Now the gates of Kareth Dull grind open and the first of a new generation of Land Ironclads rumble forth into the Axebite Pass, their task to break Krull's siege of the Great Wall that defends the pass and push the Orcish horde back into the Endless Plains along the Old Road. 

Supported by the great guns of Dur Zamor and a squadron of Digs from Mal Hrakken, the Dwarves aim to make the most of their overwhelming firepower to hammer the Orcish forward positions and allow them to secure the approaches to the Axebite Pass and eventually hammer the Orc city of the Kragh.

Dwarven Landfleet on manoeuvre

The Ironclads are made from a core of EVA foam with thin cardboard details and the most expensive thing about them was the MDF bases so very in keeping with my super cheap 2026 thus far!

Ironsides class Land Ironclad

Ironsides are a new class of Land Ironclad. Developed by the Dwarves to transport a company of infantry and provide blistering short range fire support. While some of the engineering guild think they are undergunned and counter to the standard Dwarven Land Ironclad philosophy of using long range fire to pound foes into the ground, they have proved effective in early encounters with Orcish squadrons.

Anvil MkII Land Ironclads

The Anvil MkII is a revamped upgrade of the original Anvil, the first of the Dwarven Landfleet to see action following The Death. While the MkI served well and formed the backbone of the Dwarves Land Ironclads, the new version extends the hull slightly and adds a light gun turret to the design which has given the tank more flexibility and durability.

Game wise, they're going to probably be used in Land Ironclads but I changed the bases to round from the standard 40mm squares the game called for as I just didn't like how they looked! The Ironsides are classed as Class 3 Land Ironclads or cruiser level while the Anvil MkII is a Class 5/4.

I've really enjoyed making them and plan on adding to the force in the coming weeks and also adding some opposition in the form of Orcish warbeasts and crude Ironclads of their own design!

I must admit that its been really great to get back to Aeroth and the ongoing campaigns on the frontier of the Axeblade mountains.

Axeblade Mountains Campaign map

I'm about to head down south for my hols so won't have chance to get anything else made until I get back but do hope to keep building background and doodling up some more designs too, but in the meantime, All the best!

Longmyre: Blackpowder

 Something a little different this morning!

I've been footling around with EVA foam to make some units with the vague intention of playing some Rebels and Patriots.

Longmyre Infantry

I'd been kind of wondering what to do with my Longmyre setting as it had kind of stalled out so I had a bit of a think about a fun mini project to get the creative juices flowing and ended up with a Black Powder one with Longmyre having to defend it's borders from the notorious robber Baron Vosk of Voskovia (Vosk is the villain in everything!).

Infantry Detail

The infantry are made from three strips of EVA foam glued together and scored on the top and then just painted to look like tiny men. It's kind of blocky but does the job and I'm rather pleased with how they turned out. 

Skirmishers

These figures predate my other 6mm stuff as they got made earlier this year and its taken until now to actually get them photographed. They were the inspiration for my later projects and I must admit that I haven't done anything more with them for a while now and really need to make them some cavalry and artillery to complete the force and then make some of Vosks own regiments to fight them!

Tally Ho!

I'll need to get some more stuff built as I do have a stand of test pieces that I'd made for cavalry but it's a lot more convoluted to make than the infantry so I suspect that further experimentation will need to be done to get the look and feel of cavalry without spending an absolute age making them!

Hopefully I'll have some Orks to show next but until then, All the best!

Imperial Reinforcements

 Hi!

I've been steadily working away on my scratch built 6mm Imperial project for Farpoint and have finished a new infantry platoon, this time for the 50th ''Forgotten'' Frontier Foot:

Like my von Dorn house troops, they're made from a two strips of EVA foam, one forming the body, the second their weapon. This time round I added a small plastic rhinestone to the top as I wasn't 100% happy with how my von Dorn infantry had turned out so decided to experiment a bit.

The little rhinestone gives the figure a head and I really like how the resulting figures turned out.

50th "Forgotten" Frontier Foot Infantry Platoon

The 50th "Forgotten" Frontier Foot is one of the Imperial Guard regiments deployed in the Farpoint sector. Due to the rampant corruption and neglect of the previous Governor, much of their gear and indeed new recruits were siphoned off to Baron Vosk's personal forces leaving them a shadow of their former glory. 

Infantry with Copperhead support

von Dorn's arrival has seen the regiment beginning to be reconstituted but it will prove to be a lot of work to root out the corruption within the ranks, get each unit fully equipped and ready to perform their duties. von Dorn has instituted a crash training programme with officers and NCO's from his own house troops to work with the rather ineffectual 50th's command to get them back in order.  

Thus far, I've got a full platoons worth of infantry completed for the force consisting of command squad, six infantry teams and two heavy weapon stands to give them a little more firepower. I do have transports built but haven't had chance to paint them up yet.

My von Dorn force has also been given some reinforcements, adding a command squad and HQ vehicle for the platoon as well as a pair of Sentinels to complete the force for the time being.

von Dorn Command squad with Party Wagon

I've got a plan for making a second platoon of infantry, this time riding either bikes or skimmers which is in keeping with the rapid response theme of the army but will need to footle around with some gubbins to see what I can make...

von Dorn MKIV Sentinel scout walkers

After I've got the 50th Forgotten's transports painted up, I plan on making some rebels and Orky types for my units to fight but haven't settled on anything quite yet as I have several other projects to complete or indeed work on first!

von Dorn rapid response force

I must admit that I'm really pleased with the progress I've been making with my small scale projects and I've got high hopes of being able to play some 6mm scale reinforced platoon level up to company v company games by the end of the year. As its costing me virtually nothing to make them, its also a good budget miniature project too!

Hopefully I'll get some more stuff bashed out soon as I've got several other bits and bobs finished over the last weeks but just haven't had the time to get pictures of them but expect another update in a few days with more goodies to show.

Until then, All the best!

Making Sense of Projects - Rulebook Rampage

Hi!

So I've got an absolute ton of stuff painted but not had the chance to take photos of them yet! I've also been going through my rulebooks, both physical and PDF and sorting through my frankly staggering collection of rules.

I've posted quite a bit about my love of collecting old rulebooks over the years so I don't think I need to wax lyrical about the joys of delving into old games that nobody plays anymore but my new method of constructing tiny troops, I've got a really good chance of actually trying some of them out!

Thus far, I've been concentrating on making stuff for long running projects that I've wanted to have a bash at for ages, such as my Farpoint Salvage company for Star Mogul:

Farpoint Salvage

I've also been working away at my Orks and Imperial Guard for Rogue Trader and 2nd Edition of 40k:

But I also have a fair amount of 6mm built now as well as my somewhat neglected Monty Python themed army for Dragon Rampant which I really need to get back to...

Imperial Patrol

As I'm now half way through the year and only a single game played, I need to look to remedying the situation now I'm starting to get towards having decent playable forces. Sadly my perusal of my wargame collection has got me thinking of making more and more different bits and bobs with the intention of trying out games I've not played in decades so I'm in a bit of a bind.

Do I tamp down the enthusiasm to keep making stuff for existing projects or do I embrace the ADHD and just go mental, making whatever catches my eye? Both have their pro's and con's but I do worry that if I embrace the modelling madness too much, I'll end up with a plethora of unfinished projects like I usually do...

With this in mind, I'm trying to keep some sort of focus and build enough to keep me on the right track while knocking out projects at a reasonable pace, hopefully without losing interest or hobby mojo. Thus far it seems to be working and I've restrained my over-enthusiasm enough to complete one project, namely Star Mogul (build two forces and play at least one game using them) and my Rogue Trader/2nd edition project is nearing 500 points a side of Imperial Guard and Badmoon Orks.

Once they're at that level, I think I can tick off another box but keep going with them with an aim of reaching 1000 points worth of each before the end of the year and then focus on getting my Dragon Rampant army up to spec...

Mindful of not getting bored, I do think that I'll be adding in a few mini projects along the way as I know from bitter experience that I can get easily frustrated and bored with a project that drags on too long so I'm hoping to use these small projects as palette cleansers between my main projects which will allow me to keep forging forward without the danger of burning out.

With this thought, I have been looking through my collection to see what mini projects I can delve into and have a few up my sleeve that I'm really looking forward to trying out but I also realise that quite a few of my rulesets are generic enough that my figure collection will do the job in several with only minor tinkering.

Hopefully as the nights start drawing in and I slow down with making stuff, I'll be able to try out several different games and post some mini reviews of my ponderings on them.

Anyhoo... Enough of my rambling! I've got to head out to work so until then, All the best!

Leviathan meets Land Ironclads

 Hi!

It's been a while since I've had chance to post anything so I thought it was high time for an update!

While work has been massively busy, I have actually had a rather productive hobby time with lots of stuff built and an amount painted too but its not quite ready to show yet. While construction and painting has been proceeding at pace, I've completely failed to play any games. 

While in the past, this lack of gaming would be stressing me out, I'm not worrying about it too much as I've been making so much stuff for assorted projects that I'm hoping to keep the momentum going on completing models while the sun shines and get lots finished before the gloom of autumn where I'm planning on getting some games in with my newly completed armies!

Now onto the meat of the post; namely delving back into some Leviathan themed shenanigans!

Several years ago now, I made a Dwarven land fleet for Leviathan ported into Land Ironclads and the project kind of fizzled out and got shelved.

Now skip forward to 2026 and I find myself drawn back to the project and have been thinking of restarting it but using some of the techniques that I've been using in my recent small scale work.

I think I've learned to make the most of the cheap materials I have access to and am planning on taking another swing at the lands of Aeroth as I think I could make a fairly reasonable swing at it. It's not going to be purely based on the original Leviathan setting, more of a steampunk one with gigantic clanking, steam bellowing warengines and a smidge of magic...

Hopefully I'll be able to get some test pieces put together this weekend for the assorted races and I'll post progress here once I've got them done.

I'm also hoping to finish off a couple of Orky boys so I'll be able to show them too but I seem to be getting rather obsessed with making stuff at present so they may be shelved until I get the tiny Land Ironclads made but we'll see how we get on!

In the meantime, All the best!

Tanks Aplenty

 Hi!

I've been rather taken with making tiny tanks over the last few days so I thought I'd share some pics!

Copperhead Class Tanks

The Copperhead class tank was created on Farpoint by Vosk Industries having gained the contract for a cheap and reliable tank suited for frontier duty. Unfortunately, due to Baron Vosk's rampant corruption, the project went massively over budget, late and the final result was less than satisfactory to say the least.

Under armoured, with poor speed and manoeuvrability and lacklustre armaments, the Copperhead is better known as the Coprolite by its unwilling crews as it is, quote ''a fossil and a bit shit''. Prone to brewing up when hit, the Copperhead is a very unwelcome addition to frontier garrisons. 

Word has it that von Dorn has personally sent some of his trusted advisors to Vosk Industries to twist arms and get a MK2 that actually lives up to the standards specified and quietly investigate where all the money went.

Copperhead Detail

I really enjoyed making some tracked vehicles and suspect I'll have a few more done over the coming months and ended up getting carried away and made a massive behemoth as well!

Super Heavy Sighted!

Surveillance footage obtained from a drone overpass of Vosk's estates sighted this monstrosity. Dubbed the Annihilator Vosk used much of the money from the Copperhead contract to sink into creating a massive super heavy tank he called the Annihilator.

The vehicle weighs in at well over 150 tonnes and uses all the most modern technologies including a grav propulsion system, composite Adamantium armour and a Plasma cannon so powerful that it can core even the heaviest Imperial vehicle or walker with ease.

The Annihilator Grav Tank

Thus far Vosk has tried to keep the vehicle under wraps but the suspicion is that he plans to use the monster against the forces of von Dorn if he moves against Vosk's estates.

Quite why Vosk decided to paint the thing in such eyewateringly lurid colours is unknown...

Annihilator detail

As with all my vehicles, the tanks are made from a core of EVA foam with thin cardboard, rhinestones and some other bits and bobs and have been great fun to make!

Annihilator detail

Alongside the massive tank, I made some tiny ones too! I envisioned these tiny tanks much like the British Vickers cavalry tanks from WW2. Hopelessly outgunned by the monster but relying on speed and manoeuvrability to keep their two man crews from being blown to atoms, they're handy for frontier forces needing light, fast armoured forces and more suited to colonial actions than facing any serious opposition...

Little and Large

I'm waiting on some more bases from Warbases (excellent company by the way!) so I can get these painted up and ready for action but I thought I'd share some pictures of what the vehicles look like before painting so folks can see some of the construction process.

Vickers class cavalry tanks

Simple shapes and nothing fancy. Its amazing what a coat of paint and some bold highlighting can do for simple sculpts!

I've also got a backwater infantry force awaiting paint but got carried away with all the vehicle manufacturing which will hopefully give me enough to play a game or two once it's finished but until then, All the best!