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Post by sgtslag on Jan 9, 2017 20:02:50 GMT
There is a PDF online, which illustrates how to make an activated charcoal filter system, to contain the chemical fumes. Search for it, if interested. It basically uses a paint booth/box, where you install a bathroom fan, plus filter (catches the paint particulates), to suck the air into a flexible clothes dryer pipe, which then is fed into a 5-gallon plastic bucket, which contains the activated charcoal filter, and this has a shop-vac connected to it, to further draw the filtered, clean air out of the system.
I planned to build it, until I started using brush-on Artist's Gesso, as my normal primer. After I began using Gesso, I no longer needed to spray prime indoors. The Gesso is acrylic, water based, and no fumes. Best of luck! Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Jan 9, 2017 16:29:35 GMT
Some types of modelling paste can be made very cheaply, at home. Check YouTube by searching for the key words. I found numerous videos, and formulas, on how to make my own modelling paste... I used it extensively to texture my modular cavern wall pieces ( full 3D, not sure folks here would be interested, so I have not made a tutorial posting on it, yet). I found it to be incredibly inexpensive, compared to the Liquitex product, but it is not flexible, like the Liquitex product I used initially in the project; the cost of the Liquitex product was prohibitive as I needed to use around three jars' worth, at $20/jar! The home-made paste cost around $3/jar, so I saved around $51... For my purposes, the flexibility was not necessary, so the home-made product worked well. It took latex house paint, and urethane-stain, perfectly, yielding a virtually identical product, compared to the Liquitex pieces I started with. I can only tell the difference if I press my thumbnail into the textured surfaces: one flexes, the other does not. The $1.50/tube of white caulk might be a good deal, but carefully consider the needs of your application. Most caulk cannot be painted, some types of caulking can be painted: check the tube to see if it can be painted, or better yet, only buy the kind which can be painted, so you never need worry about it... After that, " Experimentation is King, Baby!" Invest in the alternative materials, experiment, and report back your findings. Remember, " Sharing, is caring." Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Jan 8, 2017 22:59:51 GMT
Are you going for frozen surface, with running water below? If so, I'd suggest you search the Internet for images of real frozen rivers and streams. Typically, they are much darker, almost black, never blue. However, i rarely see anyone go for the realistic look. It's fantasy, go with what you like. Still, I would suggest viewing some photo's of real frozen rivers, at least to get some shading ideas.
From what I saw today, driving across the frozen Mississippi River, and the frozen Wisconsin River (almost as large as the Mississippi), they were white, with variations of white, only, except where the ice fishing houses were... The only time I've seen color in ice on a river, is when the ice is very thin: fell through some, as a boy, and it was nearly black, until we fell through -- then the water really was black, with churned top soil mud!). Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Jan 8, 2017 22:48:06 GMT
Caesar makes a set of 1/72 Elves, 35 figures for around $15, delivered, out of either Ukraine, or Hong Kong. If you like your Elves to be proportioned as Gygax had them in the 1e MM, they are perfect with 28mm Humans -- they're around 4-1/2 feet tall. There are quite a number of 1/72 plastic fantasy figures available: Caesar (Elves, Dwarves, Rat Men, Zombies, Goblins, and Orcs), Dark Alliance/Light Alliance (Dwarves, Elves, Undead Humans, Orcs, Half-Orcs, Orc Warg Riders, and Half-Orc Warg Riders), and others. Search e-Bay for the best prices, usually from Ukraine and Hong Kong, around $15/set, delivered, usually around 35 figures per set. I use the Orc Warg Riders as Goblins, as they pretty much match the Caesar Goblins in size, and are similar enough in style -- at arm's length, especially if you paint them the same color scheme. Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Jan 4, 2017 23:01:28 GMT
What ARE you selling the finished pieces for? I have PayPal, and I am not afraid to use it...
Gorgeous! Pretty much 'perfect'. Thank you for inspiring the rest of us crafters! Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Jan 2, 2017 16:15:28 GMT
In both 1e and 2e, flying creatures can't fly after losing like 75% of their HP -- they'd have to walk. Just something to file away for planning... The dragon will know this, but the players should not. Happy tactics! Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Dec 30, 2016 13:53:12 GMT
Great looking Dire Boar! [Feel bad for the poor Knight about to be gored, and hurled 20 feet straight up, landing like a water balloon on a sidewalk...] Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Dec 27, 2016 18:13:08 GMT
Welcome, and nice work! Your tweak to DM Scotty's method is actually quite good. I used clear, acrylic plastic to make mine, then I applied Hot Glue. Like margaret said, the Hot Glue pretty much voids the transparency of the model. Your modifications make the model more readily available to nearly everyone -- I suspect Milk comes in translucent plastic bottles nearly everywhere in the World... Thanks for sharing! Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Dec 26, 2016 0:35:20 GMT
For Frostgrave, I think this works nicely just as it is. Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Dec 20, 2016 5:04:44 GMT
The "tentacle monster", is a classic HP Lovecraft monster -- forget the name. It appeared in the original Deities and Demi-Gods book, in the Lovecraft section -- later removed due to TSR's copyright infringement of his estate.
The rest look very good, IMO. I agree: the severed claw would be great as a dragon's version of 'the hand of Vecna'... I'd use the boar for a Dire Boar monster. Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Dec 19, 2016 23:05:12 GMT
Not a 3D printer person, but... Holy Bat Guano, Batman!!! Nice looking terrain piece! That could be used in a lot of different ways. Love that you recycled empty spools for it. Thanks for sharing -- damn fine piece of terrain, no matter how you made it, nor what you used to make it with. Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Dec 19, 2016 20:37:03 GMT
No idea about acid content of JB Weld, just know it is made for gluing metals together. Super Glue has incredible pull-straight-apart strength, but if you twist things (sheer), it will break quite easily. That is why I won't use it on mini's.
Pinning is fantastic, especially with a pin vise. Makes the strongest joint possible. Filings are minimal, and if captured and disposed of, pose no real threat, as said.
Otherwise, most two-part epoxies will work quite well. The JB Weld contains powdered steel, suspended in an epoxy, which strengthens it. I used it for some lead dragon wings joined to a lead body: the join broke after 20+ years, but no lead-rot, so I doubt it has any acid. Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Dec 19, 2016 13:59:48 GMT
Or you can try JB Weld (check your local hardware stores, Wal-Mart, etc.). It is quite a strong epoxy, designed for gluing metal to metal; a former neighbor repaired a broken oil pan, on their SUV using it -- worked for quite a while, actually. I used it back in the 80's, on lead mini's, with decent (not perfect...) results. It is much more rigid than E6000 (which is like a firm rubber, in consistency). Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Dec 19, 2016 12:50:46 GMT
Nice!!! Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Dec 19, 2016 0:24:39 GMT
This really is the most economical approach. This is basically my approach with all of my cardstock buildings since last year. It is inexpensive, relatively quick and easy to construct, and the models are very robust. It is best to use a laser printer, to minimize potential water damage (inkjet prints are a disaster when they get wet...).
I use a heavy-duty, utility scissors for my cutting: fast, easy to cut accurate curves, will cut most things easily. I have Cutco Scissors, though. Expensive, but fantastic to use for crafting. Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Dec 17, 2016 23:01:01 GMT
I pretty much agree with tauster ! Your rivers are quite good. On second thought, they're terrible -- you should dispose of them by sending them to me! Just kidding. With regards to the Vikings figures, yes, I would use them for both wargames, and RPG's. Humans have quite the height range, if you look around a bit. You will find Humans in the real world ranging from 4 feet, to over 7 feet tall! I kind of like to have Fighters, with 18/00 Strength to be big, like 6+ feet tall. Look at Andre the Giant: Human, of course, though he did have a medical condition. Yet, he was HUGE!!! Watch Princess Bride to see how big his hands were compared to Mandy Patinkin's (Inigo Montoya) -- Andre really was the Brute Squad, all by himself! Some gamers cannot stand to have Human figures which differ in size, period... I am not one of them. I freely intermix figures which differ in size, even using 1/72 scale figures (despite what folks claim, they are actually 25mm to the top of their heads, not 20mm), in my True 25's, and my 28mm tall Humans. I also like to use different height figures to represent different groups of Humans, from different nations, to help demonstrate that some groups of Humans tend to be shorter, or taller. It works for me. Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Dec 15, 2016 14:28:05 GMT
I did an adventure with a floating seaweed/kelp forest which formed a large, floating island (based on C.S. Lewis' book, Out of the Silent Planet, part of his only SF trilogy; strange book, but the description of the planet had some really neat parts, like the floating kelp island). In my version, the kelp was dense enough to walk on, sinking in up to your knees. If you wore "snow shoes", you could stay on the surface, easily. My version was a ship cemetery, with dead, floating ships, stuck in several places -- it was a large, floating island...
The PC's went into it, to recover some lost magic item allegedly stowed in one of the ships' holds. They were attacked by some sea faring Hobgoblins, who slogged through the muck, to attack them, but they, themselves, were attacked by a Sea Lion (monster, not the animal), from below.
It was hilarious: the Sea Lion snatched one of the Hob's by his foot, yanking him beneath the surface, very quickly. Then, for dramatic effect, I had a bloody, pulpy mass erupt from the seaweed bed, in a red mist cloud. The PC's managed to climb into their longboat, which they were dragging alongside, in case they sank through, just as another Hob got snatched. It was great fun, as the players were on the verge of panicking. The remaining Hob's were in full panicked route/retreat, but it did not save many...
Anyway, I did it all with TotM. Wish I had thought of using something like this. It would have been even more fun. I may have to re-visit the kelp-island ship cemetery... Thanks for sharing! Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Dec 8, 2016 20:08:23 GMT
jennifer , look at your mini's under a magnifying glass: if you see white powder in pits, they are suffering from Lead-rot, and should be discarded. You could try washing them, and then fill in the pits with green-stuff epoxy, if you want to put in the extra effort (then prime, paint, and enjoy). Otherwise, if they show no pitting, no white powder blooms, just wash them with soap and water, using an old toothbrush, prime, paint, and enjoy! Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Dec 8, 2016 20:02:11 GMT
Amiente = asbestos, for us English-only types. Went through that with my first house. It had a partially plugged asbestos-concrete chimney I had to replace. The asbestos-abatement company quoted me a price of $30,000 (this was in 1995 currency!), to remove the the chimney all the way through the house, to the basement, around 30 feet long! I was told, originally, by a home inspector, it would cost around $300 to replace the top five foot portion poking through the roof, where the restriction was, with a metal chimney connecting to the rest of the asbestos-concrete chimney which would last another 70 years -- the life of the house...
I, my brother, and our brother-in-law, cut it off below the rooftop, using a moto-tool and several cut-off wheels, then I hired a professional furnace company to install the new piece. The final cost... Around $300. We wore respirators, and bunny suits to reduce exposure. My brother inhaled some asbestos dust, but when I consulted some MD's who specialize on the subject (very unofficially), they told me it was like a binge-drinking episode: unless he had long-term exposure, it would not affect him. Today, 18 years later, there is no effect on his lungs.
I agree, asbestos fear is more hype than reality, for most of us. For those who worked with it for years, it is another matter entirely. Those folks have my sympathy. Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Dec 8, 2016 17:16:57 GMT
No, please, no... Lead-rot is a naturally occurring oxidation process. It is only hazardous if you ingest the white powder. If there is no white powder, there is no risk (it is obvious that the Lead is converting, as you will see powder in places where there should be solid Lead).
If a child were to swallow a Lead miniature, the only damage it would do, is the physical damage as it passed through their digestive tract. The great Lead Scare, of the mid-90's was a tragedy for gaming, and hunting. The US Congress passed laws prohibiting metallic Lead for absolutely unsound scientific reasons. It was a joke, costing manufacturers mucho denero, as well as forcing hobbyists to shell out higher prices for Pewter miniatures, which we are largely still paying today. There are a few companies making mini's out of Lead, but not many. The EPA is not someone you want to cross, even if you were a Billionaire... The Lead Scare was all over TheMiniaturesPage Forum, back in the day. It was discussed at length. We finally had a gamer who was a chemist, give us the truth on the topic.
Anyway, if they are discolored, it may just be paints, or dyes, they encountered over the years. The Lead-rot is always a white powder. Never heard differently. Historically, Lead metal miniatures, made for children, have been around since the America Revolutionary War. It was only during the Lead Scare that they were banned, due to bad science. Lead compounds, such as found in paints from the 70's, and earlier, were easily absorbed into the blood stream, where it caused harm. The oxidized form of Lead is also thought to be hazardous.
If concerned, just wash your hands with soap and water, after handling bare Lead. Once painted, your exposure to Lead, is not possible, as your skin will contact paint, not Lead. I worked with Lead solder, as an Electronic Technician, 8 hours per day, 40 per week, for 3.5 years, 1986-1990. No issues. Got out of that line of work prior to the Lead-free solder. Just washed my hands at the beginning of breaks.
I used Lead in my Prince August molds, 15+ years ago, and I'm still normal (a very relative term...). Also, I have pure Lead mini's, as discussed, from 1981, and the late 90's/early 2000's, which are just fine, no Lead-rot yet. If you see white powder, the consensus is to dispose of them properly, to avoid the white powder getting into the landfill's -- treat it as hazardous waste. Like I said, I've not encountered it yet. Cheers!
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