The Captain's Piratical Expeditions (A Gnoblog of Buccaneering Bellies)

Yaaaaar!

 So I've decided to take the plunge and start a gnoblog. Brace yourselves for sluggish updates, pitiful excuses and occasional ogre models.

 My ogre army is a pirate themed army. I know, I know... ANOTHER pirate ogre army but I've been working on this lot for at least 6 years. The formidable lack of models over this time is why you shouldn't get your hopes up (actually I painted a few other armies over that time and completed a degree so there's some hope).

 Since joining the Stronghold I've seen several threads started about various piratey conversion options so I'll try and answer a few of those and get a collection of piratey references in one place. I'll have a look at weapons, hooks, peglegs, eyepatches and tattoos over the next few weeks.

 Firstly though, I need some opinions. I've recently been working on some leadbelchers and have been having a go at some pirate hats and alternative gut plates. Here're some pictures-







 I'm not sure about the hat but it's the best I've managed so far. The ogre is just a regular grunt so he doesn't have to be super-flash. I'll be trying bigger and more elaborate hats on more important models in the future (probably). The hat is in a basic shape now- there'll be more detail added later.

 I'm also curious about the gutplate. It's an old skeleton shield and I've used the shield badge on other models too (even my avatar!). What are your thoughts on that? I like the badge but I worry that the shield is too flat and isn't 'gut plate' enough. I'm happy to call the flat wooden gutplate a gun-port cover from the pirate ship but I don't want to have to explain that to everyone who looks at the model.

EDIT: Bollocks, this should really be Gnoblogs, shouldn't it?

Great start and yes, I'll relocate it.

Love the hat, he looks totally piratical!

And I wouldn't worry about the gut plate, looks fine, after all, they're not all going to have sculpted round gut plates made out of beaten metal, some will have wooden shields, after all, the gut will shape to fit and accommodate any shape put in front of it, well, mine does at any rate!

HG

I think the shield actually makes your guys more fluffy since ogres use different material to make them and the hat is well done may I add. Can't wait to see more. 

The Model looks realy fluffy and very interesting.

You might try to put some dangeling coins or feathers on the hats to make em pop more (Sparrow style!).

The gut plate looks realy fine. They dont have to look as the other ones in the frames.
Ogres just use the material they can find. Why cant it be a wooden plate with bones nailed on it.

If your trying to explain ist, just point out, that they are freakin pirates.
They would just drown havibng a huge Metal shield on theyre guts.
Makes perfekt sence! Cant wait to see more.

The hat looks great!

You might try to put some dangling coins or feathers on the hats to make em pop more

This would give it a more piratey look.... not sure how piratey you are trying to go though.  But looks great so far! Looking forward to seeing some more!

Chris

Yeah, the hat is just a basic shape for now- I'm planning to add more details once I'm happy with the 'hattiness' of it.
 
 I've got a couple of empire feathers I might use, or something that looks like a feathered High Elf badge or even just a skull badge. I also want to put a clay pipe stuck in the front at least one hat.

 I'm not sure what you mean about coins, though. On the hat?

 Also- I managed to make it impossible to see that this guy has a pegleg!

In here:
http://www.deine-promis.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Jack_Sparrow_In_Pirates_of_the_Caribbean-_At_Worlds_End.jpg

You see how he has this coin and the pearls hanging there?
Just one of the many Ideos you could do with these hats.

If all of your miniatures are going to have pirate Hats, youll need a whole bunch of Ideas to make em look interesting. I could imagine some kind of silver or golden Symbol or badge on the hat might look nice.

In here:
http://www.deine-promis.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Jack_Sparrow_In_Pirates_of_the_Caribbean-_At_Worlds_End.jpg

Couldn't have picked a better picture to express what a pirate should look like.

Chris

Ahhh... Gotcha.  I always thought that stuff was braided into his hair, rather than being hat ornamentation.

 Not everyone in the army will be wearing a hat. It's another piratey 'icon' to spread through the army like peglegs and hook hands- just a bit trickier to make. I've probably got bits and pieces to add to a half dozen hats, which might be enough. If anyone has a surplus of empire feathers then I'd love to know though!

Personaly, I would have more trouble with the Hook hands.
The Hat seems farely easy. I created some on Dark Elves back in the day.
But PekLegs seem a little challenging and the hook hands seem very hard to me to create in a convincing way.

I realy look foreward to all your adjustments to the minis.

Personaly, I would have more trouble with the Hook hands.
The Hat seems farely easy. I created some on Dark Elves back in the day.
But PekLegs seem a little challenging and the hook hands seem very hard to me to create in a convincing way.

I realy look foreward to all your adjustments to the minis.

 Yeah? Were they pirate Dark Elves? I'd like to see these hats.

  I did pretty simple hooks and peglegs- just bit swaps, really. I'll try and get some pics up for you of ones I've done and some step-by-steps when I do some more.

Sadly, my Dark Elves where my very first Army many years ago
and you know how it if with first armys:
After awhile they just dont represent your standart anymore.
They had literaly no base modelling, bad painting for what I can do now,
and no magnetic bases.
So sadly I cant show you pictures since I sold them a couple of years back
to a younger collector who was very happy about them. 

Like I said, I would love to see much more of this army.
Thinking about starting a gnoblog myself . . . Hmmmmm (Belly grumble)
 

Who can resist ogre pirates LOL. I also have some Ogre pirates in the works, they are crew for a huge pirate ship I made for a game convention years ago. I have converted the positioning of the arms to more dramatic postures. I replaced their heavy boots with bare feet I sculpted & cast...
  The gut plates would be of any thing pirates had available. I was thinking of a wood grain appearance for my gut plates, & turtle shell & maybe a treasure chest lid!

check out my pirates here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/terraindave/sets/72157602092768094/

check out the Pirate Ship here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/terraindave/sets/72157604445843234/

Cheers
Terrain Dave

I think the idea of using wooden gut plates for pirate ogres is brilliant. The hat looks good to.  I also have a pirate ogre army and I say, welcome!

Yaaarr... There be an update on the horizon but it is small and barely worth the pillaging effort to read it.


  I've done little of interest recently* but I did manage to poke at some toy soldiers a bit. I've been looking at basing my goblin army properly. At the moment they're gravel with no flock or interesting bits and when you put them on the table they tend to turn into big dark blocks (they're night goblins).

 Given that autumn is here and mushrooms are popping up in the garden I considered autumn themed bases. I wasn't too keen on 'green' bases as it tends to detract from the green goblin bits. I also thought about snow but with the dark robes I'm not sure it would look interesting.

 edit: I don't seem to have uploaded the 'autumn' pics at all! What a numpty. We'll come back to this later.

  For now, here's a quick photo tutorial on how I do my peg-legs. Hook hands and hats to follow.

 

 Cut the foor off at the top of the boot.



Find one of these-



 and trim the end off the club.



 Guess what you do next?







  * In the hobby world only. In real life I've been doing all sorts of stuff, some of it quite geeky. Who likes art? I will shortly have 3 poster sized framed copies of these bad boys on my wall.

Looks like a great start to a gnoblog. I heartily approve of the tricorn hat and the pegleg!

Ohhh! That is such a simple yet effective way
to create a pegleg!

I kept thinking what kind of wood to use . . .

Haha! Wow this looks realy believable.
Cant wait to see one thats fully panited.

Get those rrrrrats up on the deck!
Arrrrrrrrr.....

Yarr!

  So I've been on call a lot recently which mostly involves hanging about waiting for stuff to happen. In between the exciting bits I've been poking at my toy soldiers a bit more (the weather has made gardening rather unrewarding).

 I've managed to upload the photos of the goblin bases I trialed. Here they are-

 



  Looking at them now, I think I'll go with a pale static grass flock and then some scattered autumn debris. Thoughts?

  I've also been poking at my pirates and now have three whole lead-belchers built. I even made extra hats before realising that the bloody gnoblars sitting on the ogres shoulders meant the hat wouldn't fit. Irritating, but I guess I'll be able to pop some hats on one or two others.

 Hat pics to follow (also- I went with wooden gut plates on these ones, just out of curiosity).

I really like the thick debris on the multibase. Not as much a fan of the thinner scattered look on the normal rank'n'file. But I think if you added in the pale static grass it would help.

Looking good! Are you going to sell those posters? Or copies of those posters? Because I might be interested in your "geeky" items.  I have a friend who would just love those...
Let me know!

Chris

Looking good! Are you going to sell those posters? Or copies of those posters? Because I might be interested in your "geeky" items.  I have a friend who would just love those...
Let me know!

Chris

  Pretty cool, eh?

  Not mine to sell, unfortunately. They're produced by a british artist called Olly Moss- he does quite a lot of stuff with geek-culture references. The originals are screen prints and sell for several k for a set. I trawled the internet for some hi-res(ish) copies and printed them. Not as perfect as originals but still great images. Only 'Empire' is on my wall so far, I need to put up some more hooks.

  In other geek news, I've sculpted a few more hats and am getting much more comfortable with a process that should be easy to copy. Watch this space for a brief tutorial.


  (Yaaarrrr!)

Oh well... Thanks for getting back to me. 

Chris

Yarrrr! Sluggish update for the month!

  I've not been doing much hobbyism recently- it's a busy season at work and I'm usually knackered afterwards.

 I have finished off modeling three lead-belchers and I'll be uploading photos shortly. I've also been making several pirate hats and am getting happier with producing them. I have been defeated by the profusion of gnoblars that get in the way with lead-belchers though.

 Otherwise I've been poking at my goblin army in an attempt to get it near complete. It's only missing a few warmachines and heroes so shouldn't be far off. Weirdly I've painted 200+ rank and file and only 3 or 4 heroes. Quite the reverse of the norm.

  Anyway- there was some discussion in another thread about pirate butchers. Here are some photos of mine. These are reasonably old pics so bear with me. The aim with this guy was to have a weird albino freaky guy that the keep below decks most of the time. He's a bit slack-jawed and not nearly so tanned as the others. No tattoos either, but that might change in the future. Check out the 'peg-leg'- it's meant to be a wharf pile or a broken mast or some other inappropriate piece of material for an appendage.

 

 

 

  I'm pondering another butcher, maybe a wind genie/fire belly type thing or some horrible slaughterer spattered in gore. Not sure yet and other models are a priority.

  Watch this space for lead-belchers and maybe, if I get slick enough, an easy pirate hat tutorial.

The inside of the pan looks so good!

That is one very cool Butcher! The inside of the pan looks super grim, how'd you achieve it?

JJ

That pan is just brilliant!

Have a gnoblar for that one!

Agree that is an amazing dry grease effect.  Keep up the good work 

Magnificent pan!

Hahaha! Five comments on the inside of the pan. We're such nerds.

Hahaha! Five comments on the inside of the pan. We're such nerds.

You won't get any argument from my wife...

that pan's teflon appears to have worn off 

so where did the shields used for the gutplates come from?

that pan's teflon appears to have worn off 

so where did the shields used for the gutplates come from?

They look like old school skele shields I think.

so where did the shields used for the gutplates come from?

They look like old school skele shields I think.

  That's correct. One or two might be some really old plastic shields but the majority will be skeletion warrior shields. With the bone edges filed down slightly the can be painted to be trimmed with metal. Not everyone will have wooden gutplates, there'll be a mix of regular plates too.


  The PAN! Since it got all the comments, was originally a doll's house prop which I found at a local craft store. It didn't take much to add it to the ogre's fist and paint it. I'll point out now- I LOVE painting metal. I find it really enjoyable for some reason. It will have started with a dark metal base, Boltgun or some older darker metal and then received a load of washes to darken it further. Probably Black and Scorched Brown in some combination. The underside was brushed with black to give it a scorched look and the top was flicked with Chainmail and Mithril around the edges to give it scratches.

  The gunk was meant to look like dried grease or fat with bits in it. I think it was thinned Bleached Bone or Rotting Flesh pooled in the pan rather than painted, and then allowed to dry. The pooling gave the natural patchiness. When it was nearly dry I dipped a dot or three of Crimson into the mix, to make the blobs of stuff the dishwasher won't remove on the first pass. I repeated the grease-pooling a few times until it was appropriately thick and unhygenic.

 I hope this helps.


  In other news- I actually began painting a model! It's a troll, rather than an ogre but it has been months since I last picked up a paintbrush rather than modelling tools. Watch this space! But don't hold your breath.


  EDIT- I'm disappointed no-one noticed his leopard skin sock!

hmmm might have to try and get hold of some of them somehow

Yarrrr... this old blog has life in it yet!

 We've finished the busy (busiest?) season at work so I've had a bit more time on my hands. I've not painted any more ogres but I've been playing with some greenstuff and I DID manage to paint some goblin stuff.

 Here's some progress-

  Skarsnik (he needs a burst of dullcote before he's fully finished but all the brushwork is done)

 





 I also painted a troll but forgot to get pictures of him.

 Next in line is a Giant Squighopper, he'll match the other hopper a bit more closely than Snarla, Skarsnik's pet.

 




 On the Ogre Pirate front, have a look at these leadbelchers from waaaaay back in my last post.





 I'm fairly happy with the hats now. A bit of detail on them makes a difference. I'm going to try to do some stitching on them but so far it's too tricky for me.

 Here's a few others I've made-


  The little green badge is an impression cast from an old grave stone model. It's a good size for the hats of regular ogres. The big shield badges work fine for huge hats but were too big for the rank and file. The grey badge is from a high elf, I think. It looks a bit more 'fusilier' so I'll try and get it onto the fourth leadbelcher. It was meant to go on the hatless one but after I made it I found his gnoblar made it awkward.


 Last thing for today is these-


 These are 'colour blenders' or soft sculptors or something. I got them at a local craft store for $5 each, which is approximately the cost of 3 GW paints for the set. I've found these really handy for greenstuff work. They're much better for folding or creating soft or organic sculpts than the regular hard edges sculpting tools.

 Hopefully next update will be sooner- I've got a bit of a special model in the works!

Your Ogre Pirates are looking really cool! Can't wait to see them painted.

I love the blue squigs! They look great!   

Those tools that your using for green stuff look quite good.  The ends made of rubber or plastic?  Do you get problems with the green stuff sticking to the tool it self?

I love the blue squigs! They look great!   

Those tools that your using for green stuff look quite good.  The ends made of rubber or plastic?  Do you get problems with the green stuff sticking to the tool it self?

  Thanks! When I started painting the goblins, many years ago, there was a distinct colour guide I wanted to use for the bulk of the army colour and red wasn't in it so I switched all the squigs to blue. I've got a whole blue squig herd with converted herders too.


  The blenders are a fairly pliable rubber tip. It's sort of the same as the pliability of skin, so if you imagine them to be helpfully shaped finger tips then you/ll know approximately what they're like. I find them very useful for shaping and gap filling work. As long as you keep them wet, they don't stick at all. I find the metal sculpt tools and epecially my fingers are the stickiest things.

Nice thanks for letting me know.  I will look into getting some of these myself at some point. 

Here's a web link. I'm afraid it's a company in New Zealand but I'm sure they'll be available in less civilised lands, too.

http://www.artsupplies.co.nz/store/subcat.asp?scat=bb&cat=brush

EDIT= Turns out they're called Clay Shapers.

 http://www.google.co.nz/search?q=colour+blender+tools&hl=en&prmd=imvnsa&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Zv6EUPzeJo6jiAeM04GYCQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=667#hl=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=clay+shapers&oq=clay+shapers&gs_l=img.3..0j0i24l4j0i5i24l3.2189.5305.0.5475.29.10.1.0.0.0.365.1500.2-3j2.5.0...0.0...1c.1.zoS3NFAxLNE&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=8e73e152c3816b8&bpcl=35466521&biw=1366&bih=667

Great thanks for the link.  Hopefully when I get some I can put them to good use! 

It LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVES! It's ALIVE!

 The Undead Gnoblog walks again.


 Ok, so I haven't done much toy soldier stuff over the last few months. Since the new year though, this has changed. On January the third I (intentionally) blew the brains out of my old PC and destroyed any opportunity to waste time on computer games. I'm not knocking computer games, they're great, but that's the problem. They're more or less crack for me and whole evenings, afternoons, days and weekends will disappear as I defeat alien hordes or double-tap terrorists' faces off. New year resolution is GO and PC is GONE (I'm writing this on my girlfriend's laptop, smart-arse).

  End result? I have way more time on my hands. I've made huge changes to my garden, pulling out tree stumps, putting up walls and painting stuff; started learning about carpentry and built myself some outdoor furniture and stuff and, importantly for you guys, I've built and painted a bunch of models!

 Ok, they're goblins but still, they're painted and there's at least one piratey reference to keep the blog theme legit.

 To remind you, I've got about 200+ goblin infantry fully painted and have been working to add the exciting stuff to the army. This month I've built and painted 3 snotling pump-wagons and finally got around to converting some saddles for my Night Goblin spider riders. Check it all out-






 You get two photos of the pirate ship pump-wagon 'cos it's my favorite.






 And the spiders. The deal with these if that I don't want any dirty Forest Goblins in my army but I also don't want to miss out on cavalry. I can't see Night Goblins riding too many wolves because wolves aren't big cave dwellers but spiders I can work with. The problem is that the Night Goblin infantry just don't fit on the spiders. To fix this I added 'saddles' to raise the goblins a bit and give them more of a fighting platform to stand on, rather than sitting on or astride the spiders. Since taking the photos I've pinned all the riders but I'm not yet sure I should glue them- transport may be an issue! I'll try and get pictures of the complete rider plus spider soon.






 What do you think?


 EDIT: Here's an outdoor table I made from old pallets. Took about 3 hours and I'm using it as a potting table. I've made some benches out of another pallet, too, so I might make another table to actually use as an outdoor dining table. Making furniture out of pallets is hip at the moment too, so I feel extra special.

Awesome work so far on the goblins, I really like the the conversion for the pump wagon. The pallet table was a pretty neat idea.

Please tell me you're using an egg clock to measure how much time it takes.

 I'd be so much faster if I didn't have to keep switching the bloody thing back over and have one eye on the falling sand.


  Actually... just using my phone.

Belt pouches. 8.43.


  Total time,  1.27.39


  Running out of painting time tonight (I'm sleepy) so might stick to small fiddly bits for a while. Black bits on shields and some robes, I think.

  Start the clock...  Now.

  Crazy- 30.01. Almost exactly half an hour! Front and back of all shields blackened.

  This is where I'm at now (excuse the photos, it's the phone again)-



  Total time, 1.57.40

Just painted all the belts and spear strapping. Actually took bloody ages. 1 hour, 27 minutes, 51 seconds.


                   
  Total time, 3.09.30

Tin bitz on all the metal  42.49  You can see the work from last night, too.




Drybrush Boltgun over the top  27.38





 Total time, 4.19.57

  Mud (or Agrax, maybe?) wash over all the metal, belts, spear bindings and  under-robes.

 


 Total time,  4.52.13

Fascinating! Those gobs are looking great so far! Good idea on the timekeeping also not doing bad timewise so far

Thanks!

   I'm surprised how quick it's going. I know I'm timing myself so I might be focusing more than normal and not stopping to watch TV or whatever, which I often do.

 Just put a 'polish' metal drybrush over the metal bits to give them a scratched and beaten look. Hopefully the metal is finished now.

   26.28.

 Next step is either a black wash over the robes or starting on the skin. Neither will be quick.

  Looking a bit more goblin-y now.

  3.02.45. Seemed longer.


  Total time, 8.21.26


 Followed that up with a Thraka wash.  35.09

  Painted the teeth with  Rotten flesh  21.05

  Total time, 9.17.40  Nearly 9 1/2 hours. This explains where my evenings go, then.

  Agrax wash on the teeth, 9.13.

  Total time, 9.26.53

Dude, you are gonna deserve a medal after this... Plenty of people paint a bucket load of Goblins, but never this many in one go. Serious props to you matey!

JJ

I've painted a few hundred infantry before but I think this is the biggest single mob. I don't know why I didn't do this before though, it's waaay faster. I used to do 20-30 but this is better.

 The rank bases with 3, 4 or 5 models also help. It's like painting 10 eyes on a single model rather than picking up and putting down 5 different models which also saves time.

  Eyes, 20.38

  Teeth highlight, 15.52

  Equipment highlight 29.49


  Total time, 10.33.12

Just painted all the spear hafts with Scorched Brown. Dull and seemingly endless, I'm unsurprised it took so long. It seems to be the largest area where I have to pay close attention and neaten up other areas.


   1.56.16

  Black wash over the robes and spear staves, 57.15.


  Total time,  13.26.43

  Looks like the next step will be a light drybrush over the robes to get them into a similar shade as the rest of the army and then a skin highlight.


  UPDATE: Robes drybrush is done,  39.06.  Might be able to get the skin highlight done tonight, too.

  It's been a miserable weekend weather-wise and I've had a touch of the man-flu so I've not done any gardening or house renovation stuff so this is way more painting than I'd normally be able to do.

  Total time,  14.05.49


 Update-

  Skin highlighted,  58.11

  Shield faces "reblacked" (should have left this to last and not done it earlier). 16.03

 

Ok, so most of the work is done. I've got to the point where I'm trying to work out which units I want to put these guys in to.

  Currently I have 5 units of goblins. One has hand weapons and is usually fielded as regular goblins. There's 35 of them.

  The other 4 units are fielded as Night Goblins, currently there are 2 units of 50 and 2 units of 30. My plan is to add 20 goblins to each of the smaller units bringing them up to 50 each.

  From 63 new goblins from this batch that leaves me with 23 spearmen. I'll maybe mix 3 into the hand weapon unit leaving 20 extra.

 So, question of the day is, what do I do with these 20.

  A.  Split them across all 4 spearmen units, making them 55 each.
  B.  Leave 2 units at 50 and bump 2 to 60 each.
  C.  Leave 3 at 50 and lump the rest into a single herd of 70+ spearmen
  D. Create a new unit of 20.


  Personally I prefer option C but I'm open to suggestions. Anyone?

  Current Total time is 15.20.03 and I'm about to start the shields.

  Shields base coated and washed on 43/63. Not sure what's going to happen to the other 20 yet.

  47.26

  Also washed the squig. That's not a euphamism.

Painted the rest of the shields. Had some spare time so I painted the remaining 20 spearmen in the colours of my favorite unit, so they now number 70. With a unit filler and a hero or two they'll be heading for 80. That should be enough.

  1.27.59 plus the first 47.26.

  Total time 17:35:28

  Only the bases to go!

 

Basing done. 29.44

  Total time, 18:04:12  Scroll through to check out the final product. Just a squeek under 17 minutes per model. I guess that's ok.

Whilst its a little late now, option C seems like the best plan to me!

They look brilliant matey! At 17 minutes each, I think it is well worth it!

JJ

Whilst its a little late now, option C seems like the best plan to me!

They look brilliant matey! At 17 minutes each, I think it is well worth it!

JJ

 Yeah, it wasn't 100 before breakfast, though.

 Option C is what I ended up doing. It seemed the most sensible. I look at the army now, 300+ painted infantry plus spider-riders, squigs, snots, trolls and heroes and I wonder how long I spent.

  I'm going to add 4 warmachines, an arachnarok and maybe a colossal to be done. Maybe they'll be the next three months of challenges?

Yeah, it wasn't 100 before breakfast, though.

When they look as good as your Gobbos, that's no real shame

Looking forward to the Arachnarok! One of my favourite GW models

JJ

Huzzah!

  A post! I've been fairly busy of late. Moved house a few months ago, started a new job in a new city and various other me-time distractors. Recently however I've got my work area re-established and have a returned to working on my goblins. Goblins are the last (current) hurdle before I get stuck back in to the ogres in a big way.
 I've not posted much about the gobbos, apart from my 60-odd infantry for a painting challenge. This next bit is ogre-applicable, though, so I thought you guys might like it.

  I've been making movement trays. Magnetic ones, too, because you can't say your army is cool until you can stick it to the fridge. I've taken pictures at various points but it's fairly self explanatory.

  Here's what I used-
         *Some free sheet metal (I used an old computer case and an old supermarket shelf, both scavenged like a good gnoblar). Computer cases should be pretty easy to come by and are a good thickness and good quality steel.
         *Some game counters, from a $2 shop (Pound Store, Dollar Shop equivalent) Cost $4.
         *Some plastic framing from a model shop. Cost $20.
         *A tube of filler putty, cost $6.
         *Some spray paint, and drybrushing/scenery paint and PVA glue.
         *An angle grinder, although there are almost certainly more appropriate tools. Like a hacksaw.

  Here's the steel-

 

  and ready to cut.



 I cut rectangles that would fit the base sizes I wanted, plus 7mm on each side. 5mm for the framing and 2mm for wiggle room.

  I ended up with bits of metal that look like this-



 That took an hour or so, with the cutting and smoothing of edges. I was careful to smooth the edges all the way around so the metal won't catch on table top covers or whatever you're playing on.
 
  Next bit is the clever bit, gluing on the plastic frame. It's angled plastic edging. I'm not sure what it's meant to be for but it worked well here.





  This lets you neaten up the edges a bit too. With that done, you can fill in the gaps with some of that filler putty. Like this-






  I also took my small counters and glued them to the bases as little feet. This will stop the tray catching, make it slide easily over a table, give me a 'lip' to be able to pick the tray up and also bring these lower trays up to the same height as the GW standard trays which some of the army already has.



 Aren't they pretty? Next bit is just flocking with sand, or whatever basing material you like.







 Then, the easiest bit of any modelling project- spray it all black.



 All done? Drybrush your heart out so that it matches the rest of your army.









  Done! The individual goblins or rank bases will have magnets glued underneath and they stick very nicely. I've glued all my magnets to the front of the bases so that tilting the model forward breaks the magnetic contact and makes it easy to pick up without moving the base. I've used 6mm x 1.5mm disc magnest that I found for uber-cheap on ebay.

  All up this took most of a hobby weekend but provided bases for 230 infantry, 6 trolls and 8 bases of snotlings. I need to do some more for the other infantry and archers. For my Spider-riders I copped out and cut a piece of metal that I then just glued into their current movement tray. It means they stand a bit taller (by about 1mm) but that doesn't really matter for them.

  Thoughts?

Wow!  A busy weekend then!

Magnetic trays look great and are a must for anyone serious about playing games over 1000pts. These look pretty easy to make and cheap if you can source the materials. I think the plastic coving looks like the stuff you use to cover cables (such as hiding TV cables from wall mounted TV's) which would work the same as the material you have used.

All-in-all these trays look great and seem really easy to make. The thing that really impresses me is all them Gobbo's! That sure is allot of night goblins!
Can't wait to see your Ogres when you get back into the swing of them.

G_H

The thing that really impresses me is all them Gobbo's! That sure is allot of night goblins!

G_H

 Yeah, there's 300+ infantry painted plus assorted heroes, squigs, cavalry and warmachines. Once I've finished the last warmachines, a sprinkle more infantry, 2 trolls, 3 stands of snotlings, an arachnorok and a giant I'm done. Sounds like a lot but after all the spearmen and archers it should be a doddle.

  EDIT- And a colossal squig!

It doesn't sound like allot, it is allot. With all this stuff to do, you have to ask the question; Will your Ogres ever get any love?
Am looking forward to seeing progress with your armies...hoping for some inspiration to re-look at my mono Night Goblin army. After 40 plus Night gobbo's I got bored and they now live in "the cupboard of unfinished projects" under the stairs......
Why, tis' a dark and lonely place unpunished by the light of day where the "once loved" dwell deep within it's realms. Sad are those who enter this nightmare realm for theirs is the fate of the forgotten and forsaken. Few have ever returned...

G_H

You just need to rewind through my gnoblog to see how I painted so many in a sensible amount of time.

 These bigger models are meant to be the reward at the end of epic goblin painting.

Once I've finished the last warmachines, a sprinkle more infantry, 2 trolls, 3 stands of snotlings, an arachnorok and a giant I'm done.

 Finished the snotlings this weekend. Started on the trolls, too.

Once I've finished the last warmachines, a sprinkle more infantry, 2 trolls, 3 stands of snotlings, an arachnorok and a giant I'm done.

  Aaaannnd... Trolls done. Starting on the warmachines.

Wow - I missed this gnoblog I believe. What a task! Painting all those gnoblars, sorry...goblisn in one batch was basically an insane undertaking! Especially to that standard. Congrats, they'll look amazing on the battlefield. Looking forward to the arachnarok too, and of course, movement trays look spectacular and a great cheap alternative to GW's.

Thanks!

  I'm planning more ogre stuff once the goblins are done. The end of 5000pts is in sight.

  I'll get some more photos of the snots and troll conversions up when I get a chance.

Ok, so here's some stuff I've actually finished!

  As some of you know I had a tournament a few weeks ago and I was pushed to get a few things done in time for that.

  First up-  Warmachines. All the crew are converted to be Night Goblins, plus some Games Zone models for most of one crew.

   Lobbas and Squigapults (Doom Divers)























  Bolt throwers- Only the front two are new, finished in time for the tournament but ultimately not used.


 

 Snotlings, also didn't make it into the final list



  And trolls, who I did take and very am very happy I did. One metal, 2 BfSP trolls and 3 converted from BfSP trolls.




  Finally- this is what all the infantry together look like. That's all spearmen, a few units of bowmen, fanatics, squig hoppers and a couple of warmachines tucked at the back. Skarsnik's in the front there, too.

Holy hell in a hand cart!  This army looks amazing! I don't know where to start.

Firstly the conversion work on these warmachines and trolls is excellent. Well done that man! The colour scheme looks great (I have always preferred blue over the standard yellow...never heard anyone singing "yellow moon, I saw you standing alone...")

Where did you get the big goblin esq face that's on the front of one of those squig lobba's? That face looks awesome and puts me in mind of some big plastic trolls that Fighting Fantasy used to make way back in the infancy of Citadel miniatures.

As a whole the army looks very oppressive and daunting. Regardless of their size, you would certainly feel a bit nervous when faced with such a mass of nasty little Night Gobbo's.

For sheer commitment and the courage to paint sooooo many Night Goblins I am chucking you a Gnoblar; don't let them Gobbo's work him too hard!

G_H

Wow have to agree with G_H this army is huge! And really well painted as well as converted.  A huge commitment that has clearly paid off!   

I am going to throw you a Globular as well.  Well deserved.

Kind regards Zolas

Thank guys!

   The army has been building up over the last few years. I've got a few more big beasties to add- an arachnarok and a giant and then it's sitting around 5000pts. I'm still chasing one or two hero models too.

  I don't know where the blue face is from exactly. I think it's part of an old goblin warmachine, recycled back in to use. Most of that model is an old orc lobber, with some other parts added.

  Most of the army is blue/grey, with blue extra stuff. It's meant to be the colours you can see at night, with some reds thrown in as point details and eye catchers. Each unit of spearmen has a different unit colour too, which I'm still not certain about. I'd be happy to have them all blue but I really, REALLY like the greens, yellow and snot coloured units.

  I'll try to get some pictures of the rest of the army if you're interested.

How did I forget to show you this guy?









  I've been using him as a Mangler which means he dies without doing anything pretty much all the time.

Wow how did you forget to show him indeed!  He sticks out like a black and white cow in a green field! 

Look totally amazing though!  You have really brought that skin out well and I love the eyes.

Kind regards Zolas.

Wow....that hing is big.
Great paint job....I particularly like how realistic the gums and under the lips is