Minor update on the Table

The dice trays looked great, but the attachment method I used wasn't that strong; small wood screws from underneath that only went partway into the top sheet of plywood. One of them popped loose with only slight pressure. So I got some brass "furniture connectors" and hex nuts. The tops of the connectors are visible on the table's surface, but look pretty nice, actually.

NOW I think I am done!

Table WIP: Dice Trays

I've put the padded foam on the bottoms of the dice trays and screwed them onto the table top. They look very nice and work perfectly.

With the cup holders above the tray, all I can think of is Mickey Mouse.

Table WIP: Home Stretch

All the staining is done. I also put two coats of clear polyurethane on the tabletop and panels. At this point, once the basement is clear, I can take the pieces down and start final assembly.

Table WIP: Part something. Staining

The table legs got stained about a week ago, but weather and schedules made more work impractical for the last several days.

This afternoon after work was gorgeous, so I took the top and the panels out to work on. The base was too heavy to move on my own and I lacked my normal beautiful assistant (my wife).

I'm using a Minwax chestnut that is stain + polyurethane in one.  

The little finger hole in the corner of the display cover is to let me lift it out of the opening more easily. The smaller panel (top) will cover the Chromebox section.

There is some work unrelated to the table that has to happen in the basement before final assembly occurs. But I am getting closer!

Table WIP: Getting There

The top of the table has been cut and sanded. I also cut and assembled the table legs yesterday.

The large circular holes will be dice-rolling trays. The medium holes are for the cup holders. The center holes is for the TV screen. The two small round holes are for the speakers. The big corner cut out is for the "access panel" to reach the ChromeBox inside the table. It runs the TV display. 

There is also a tiny hole on the far side of the TV from the speakers. It will hold a small USB mic for sound pickup that will hopefully allow anyone playing remotely via Roll20 to hear the other players. There is another small mic attached to my laptop that will be at the "DM side" of the table (corner across from the Chromebox). Hopefully the mics will be far enough from each other the speakers to avoid feedback (The TV sound will be muted).

I meant to glue the table leg pieces together as well as using the wood screws, but I forgot. Each leg is held together by three screws, so they are pretty secure. I still need to drill the holes for the securing lag bolts into the frame and the legs. There will be two per leg. 

If the weather holds, I will stain the table this weekend. Then I will be able to run the wires for the outlets, etc. and attach the tabletop to the frame. The legs won't get attached until I can bring it inside and down to the basement.

Some progress

I managed to complete the framing of the 2x4s this weekend and cut the holes for the cables. I also marked out where I need to cut through the top piece of wood for the TV screen. etc. I bought the stain and I had to get some more 2x4 for the table legs. If I can get 2-3 more sunny days, I can finish this thing off. At least the parts that need to be done outside.

Table WIP, Part 2: Layout

Another sunny day. A little more work done. The short pieces around the edge are not attached yet. The cross beams by the TV frame are screwed in. I also cut holes for attaching the table legs, but I later realized they'll need to be a little bigger.

The stuff lying about the table is me trying to make sure things will fit where I want the. The cookie tin is standing in as the template for cut-in dice rolling trays. You can also see the cup holders, speakers, and the power outlets.

The Chromebox will run the player-view Roll20 interface on the TV screen. You can't see very well in this shot, but I drilled several "vents" into the board underneath for airflow purposes.

Table WIP pics, part the first

The sun finally came out, and my wife & I had a chance o do a bit of work on the table.

The frame is to hold the TV screen. The particle board will be the bottom layer of the table itself. I wanted the screen slightly offset from center to give the "DM's end" a little more room. We then traced where to cut an opening for the frame.

Once the hole was cut, we put he frame inside. It was a pretty tight fit, but that's good! The, because particle board doesn't have a lot of structural strength, we glued and screwed two 2x4's on either side. these will also be part of the frame that holds the top layer up and divides up the 'cubbies' that the players can use for books, etc. 

At this point in the afternoon, we need to let the wood glue dry and there was food to cook and children to ferry to activities. The next steps should go fairly quickly, as we'll just be cutting and attaching lengths of 2x4's to complete the framing. After that, we'll work on the top of the horizontal surface. I also need to cut out the corners of the particle board to make room for the table legs.

Rain, rain, go away

I haven't forgotten about posting WIP pics. Progress on the table has stalled because it will simply NOT. STOP. RAINING.

Initial materials

So the first batch of supplies for the gaming table have arrived via Amazon. I'll be getting more into the details later, but just to give you a hint, the box contains:

• Cupholders
• Power/USB charger sockets
• Speakers

To be continued...

Actual mini painting update.

One of the sets of minis I sifted through when auctioning some Reaper Bones was a pile of lizardmen. The sculpts tickled me enough I set them aside to paint myself. There are about 15 of them and I also kept a Reptus leader type as well for their boss.

 

 

I sat down for an hour on Sunday with an XActo knife and managed to clean off about a half a dozen. I am hoping that as the weather FINALLY starts to warm up around here I might be ready to prime them. I know technically Bones don't need priming, but I figure on using TAP green as a basecoat spray.

I'll post some WIP pics when there is something to show.

Some success

The auctions went well (only two items did not sell). Everything has shipped out and now I'm awaiting the Paypal funds to be made available (eBay holds the $ until the transactions are all completed).

Once I have the moola, I will buy the tools and begin the gaming table build. I will try to do a series of WIP posts with picutres.

I went to the painting club yesterday and while I did work on Marthrangul like I planned, I did actually paint an entire Bones bugbear start to finish. Just tabletop, rank & file quality; but it's a painted mini, dammit!

The new glasses seemed to help a bit. At least it seemed that my back was tired before my eyes were.

Back to limping

Three more Minas Tirith swordsmen I managed to sit down and slap paint on this weekend. Hopefully this is the start of a more productive painting trend.

What's this thing do??

In case you haven't guessed, I haven't gotten much painted recently. Work has been moderately crazy and I haven't had a lot of energy for projects in my off-hours. The Gondorians are still on the table, though, and I intend to get back to them.

Fire!

I finally got the first of the Minas Tirith archers painted. It's not much to look at, but it'll provide a template for the next batch. It was a basic speed paint and wash. All very rank & file.

I also cleared out two more from my Reaper Bones pile. The hydrophobic nature of the resin takes some getting used to, but I love having more gnoll minis almost as much as more orcs.

Finally, there is a Space Marine that has been lingering forever. I was slightly pleased with his power sword, otherwise he is a very average Ultramarine (except for having an actual face to paint).

Apologies for the tint in the images. I used an old camera with sub par lighting.

Flight of the Gondor

I finished the first few of the Minas Tirith soldiers last night. It was a quick and simple paint job, but should do the trick. They still need sealing, though.

(I'm not sure about the ruins piece as a photo prop. I think it's too busy.)

Back in Black

So, in keeping with my earlier statement about working on LOTR stuff, I decided the Minas Tirith soldiers were a decent place to start minis-wise.

Originally, I had primed them white, following the whole "prime good guys in white to make the colors brighter" theory. Looking at them again, I realized the black made a lot more sense, since their uniforms are supposed to be black and silver. So I re-primed them all black (less the color scheme test I did a while ago). One of the spearmen had lost its weapon so I pinned a sword to the empty hand. Otherwise, they are pretty much straight out of the box (24 total.  A mix of bows, spears, and swords).

The bases are completely plain, but I figure on doing a simple static grass flocking after they are painted. I know they aren't part of Moria, but they are definitely JRRT.

Goyles will be goyles

aaaand done!


The gargoyle is finito! Granted, it still needs sealing, but it's been raining all day here. Maybe tomorrow. After the varnishing, I'll take a pic of the whole set together.

Overall, the piece came out OK. I went for the flame/balrog-y look. I was pretty pleased with the red shading on the wings and the fiery blending on the whip. 

(Chaos) Sorcerer Supreme

Complete with the "Eye of Chaos" on his helmet! 

(Don't leave your evil tower without it!™)

Spray & Pray

No painting, but the humidity dropped to below 70%, so I got to seal the HQ greenskins. Hopefully the varnish sets up OK. As per my SOP, I used a layer of gloss for a hard shell followed later by a layer of Matte to kill the shine.