Thursday 22 April 2010

Countdown to Salute...

Things are becoming increasingly hectic at Bleaseworld as I try and get things ready for Salute, this thing called 'Real Life' doesn't help! :-)

A few things have gone pear shaped, notably the mould for the aquanef which was a bit of a disaster and in the end was cut up and with a pair of barbeque tongs was used to drop cast six aquanef to go with the six I'd managed to spin (although they didn't cast perfectly they will do for the game).

Anyway onto more interesting things and the problem of how to play a submarine game on a table and have surface vessels to sink. Trying to come up with something that was both practical and aesthetic wasn't easy. The idea of a two layer table was impractical to say the least and mounting ships on taller flying bases aesthetically unpleasing (they look like flying ships and we already do that game!). The solution, I think, is quite pleasing and effective. I've mounted a CD on a clear plastic beaker and covered it in the same sea effect as the ships bases. This gives a nice sea look for the ship and still allows for models under the surface to be moved with ease (apologies that the model under the surface is an aeronef but it shows what I mean and the aquanef are only at an undercoat stage). The effect without the CD is not as good and although you could just plonk the ship on top of an inverted beaker the amount of effort to texture and paint the CD is minimal and in my opinion worth it.



The CD/beaker solution is also useful for introducing aeronef who are either bombing ships of depth charging aquanef and allows for them to fly convincingly above the surface...


Rounding off here's a photo of some of the undersea flora that will be part of the game. Made from tropical fish tank grass mat and plants, hot glue gunned to CD's they will add a bit of visual relief to the game. I've also got a selection of underwater fish tank rocks and coral so it should look pretty eye-catching. If you are at Salute come and say hello and have a go...

7 comments:

  1. Neat idea. I like it. How would it look if you used a couple of 1' tiles as mini-tables instead of the CDs? I am thinking that ships are likely to be in formation and the larger tile ought to accommodate a whole formation, rather than having one or two ships on a bunch of different CDs.

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  2. Neat idea and easy to do. I think it looks the business!

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  3. The problem with 1' tiles might be balance. The cups are surprisingly rigid but if the centre of gravity is too high...

    With 1/1000th models the battleships cover the entire width of the CD so can be in formation quite easily.

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  4. Neat idea.
    I look forward to seeing it at Salute and having a quick chat.

    Cheers!
    Rob

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  5. Once more unto the deep, dear friends.

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  6. Nice idea with the plastic beaker solution - will allow an Aquanef to maneuver right underneath for a sneak attack! (just make sure the rules allow upward firing torpedo tubes....)

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  7. That is a brilliant solution for 3-D naval! Going to need to steal that one...

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