Commodore computers. Diesel generators. Air filters. Refrigeration units. Bunk beds. Blast doors. Fluorescent lights. Field telephones. Map books. Air locks. Armed checkpoints. Chemical toilets. Family gone. Backup batteries. Radar plots. Limited morphine. ROC dosimeters. Teleprinter tape. Protect & Survive. 38m underground. Continuity government. No escape. (A rather lovely visit to the Kelvedon Hatch nuclear bunker, originally a RAF Sector Operations Control bunker, then later in the Cold War one of numerous resilient Regional Government HQ bunkers)
Ready to venture into the zone.
I recently cleared a five-year-old hurdle on my hobby desk, and it triggered a bit of a reset. I’ve realised that two faltering/stqlled projects— namely the Oblast28 setting and the #ThePanopticon ruleset — could actually the same thing all along.
The Panopticon was too abstract and wordy. By bringing those mechanics into the grounded, atmospheric world of Oblast28, everything is finally falling into place. The re-write is nearly shareable.
It’s nice to be messing with new camera settings and grimdark recipes. These comrades are ready to party! #oblast28 #28community #grimdark #skirmishgame (before anyone asks it’s a big piece of fluorescent orange card)
I’m making a model boat. The kit’s design is from 1979 and the tooling is really showing its age. Lots of soft edges, gaps, huge bits of flash and warping. The plastic itself is quite brittle and odd. Despite that I love the shape of it. I’m dreading attempting the rigging once I’ve slapped some paint on it though. And I still don’t know what colour to go for. I’ll just savour the “primer and silhouette” phase a little longer. What colour do you think might look right? Let me know. #modelmaking #boat #vintage #retro #scalemodelling
It took me 5 years to paint these bloody minis. Perfect is the enemy of good, and okay is better than not done at all. Associated memories and the context of when you start a project can leave things languishing when it gets difficult. These started in the most challenging circumstances - if I can get these bloody guys finished I’m confident I can clear my whole backlog eventually. #28community #oblast28 #grimdark #paintingminiatures #soviet they’re just green little men.
Hi everyone, I’m Ben. The algorithm’s never-ending hunger must be sated, and I offer this selfie to the Meta. Also wanted to say hi to all the folks who’ve started following recently. I took this photo by chance this morning and I liked it so now I’m posting it. I will go back to posting the usual kitbash, tonks, post-apocalyptic, indie-game, 28 community, yellow cube, miniature wargaming, alternate history, scif/fantasy, 28mm or 6mm grimdark nonsense relatively soon. Relatively. #28community #grimdark #kitbash #selfie (I must have broken my sunglasses at some point after Salute, probably on the boat)
Do you do this thing? I do this thing where I find a new song I like and I’ll play it to death. Or at least try to. My minis all agree they like this song too. #grimdark #kitbash #minis #collection #28community
“Four legs good, two legs better!”
Another lovely diesel punk mech from the Konflikt 47 range, kindly sent by @warlordgames . The curves and riveted panels of this Kazak Light Walker create a bit of an aeronautical theme that I like, as well as some interesting surfaces for decals and weathering. I like to imagine the Design Bureau responsible for this walking tank had previous experience with designing fighters & bombers. A stark contrast to the big crab monster from yesterday! #ad #konflikt47 #mechas #boltaction #28community
“Four legs good, two legs bad”
“Victory”, Vehicle 3, B Company, 207th Guards.
This kit is an absolute blast to build and paint. With it being another foray into making something look vaguely historical, I took the radical step of painting it green.
It’s got the great multi-turreted silhouette reminiscent of the T-28 tank with the rail around the turret. I love the idea that in an alternate-history diesel-punk version of WW2, a tank that was obsolete at the outset of the war would get a honking great set of legs to become this lumbering behemoth.
It’s a bit on the heavy side and requires some TLC and prep work to get the resin ship-shape. The kit was originally released in 2017 and is a cast of a digital sculpt.
I added a few little extras, like some stowage behind the dozer blade, some camo-netting on the main turret, and a suspicious pipe on the engine deck. With a sprue of Russian infantry that came with a recent copy of Wargames Illustrated, I’m going to have to look for excuses to NOT use this on the tabletop soon. More Soviet mech-madness to follow tomorrow! Many thanks to @warlordgames for sending me this mad mech.
#ad #28community #konflikt47 #grimdark #boltaction
TLDR: if you fall out of love with a project - don’t give up on it! Building these big sci-fi Soviet mech tanks got me in the mood for some infantry to go alongside them. I’ve had these Soviet tank crew wearing gas masks since 2021. For nearly 5 years their hollow eyes have stared back at me from a small shelf above my painting desk. It was a horrid time back then, and for a couple of months I couldn’t paint or build anything. Lots of waiting around for the inevitable to happen. All I could manage was some photos and little narratives. I called the project #Oblast28 and the stories are pinned in my highlights. Whenever I manage to salvage and complete something from that time it feels like a massive accomplishment and a release. I’m going to keep it simple, slap paint on them and let the inks/enamels do their thing. I’m glad I kept these little fellas, and I’m glad their story didn’t end. Fortunately they are small and did not take up much space. If you fall out of love with a BIG project the thought process might be different. #wip #paintingminiatures #28community #soviet
Couldn’t let a bank holiday slip by without getting underway with a fun new project! @warlordgames (cheers Steff!) sent me a couple of their Konflikt 47 Soviet mechs to mess about with. I love the T-28 vibes of the big one, and the little one has a really nice dieselpunk fighter plane vibe. These are resin kits and therefore take a little building and clean up. I took the opportunity to add some stowage, cabling and damage. It was quite a nice change painting soemthing totally GREEN. The transfers really pop too. Once the varnish coat has dried I’ll hit these with some enamels and get some proper photos #ad #wip #konflikt47 #28mm #boltaction
The troops have been recuperating after the bloody Battle of Glühwein in the sleepy village of Little Stokee. Comprising a church, pub, one semi and a small rundown farm. Perched in the hills in amongst the green leafy forest. In other words I’ve been finishing off some more 6mm terrain recently, some of which was used *unpainted* last weekend. Perhaps if I paint it I can hide the shame. It’s so fun being able to keep a table’s worth of terrain in such a little box. #historicalwargaming #blackpowder #valorandfortitude #28community 1 WEEK TO SALUTE LETS EFFING GOOOO - hopefully I can obtain some rivers for the bridges to - bridge?
