Here’s the complete water feature, with two layers of varnish applied over the painted water and photographed under a daylight bulb. The water effect sort of works but has some problems the photo doesn’t reveal. I applied a second coat of varnish too early and there’s some crackling between the layers that is visible on close inspection. If I’m going to use that polyurethane varnish again I think I’ll go with one coat only.

Turns out Lighting Plus in Auckland sell ‘daylight bulbs’ that fit a normal household socket for $8NZ each and as Steve points out below they are indeed blue. Picked up a couple this afternoon as well as a ‘hobby light’ (light / magnifier combo) that they had on sale for $30NZ.

The Mordheim canal tiles are slowly progressing through various stages of drybrushing. I’ve also finished the experimental water feature but I’m not entirely happy with it. I might have to go with some decent resin water effect for the tiles - which means finding a cheap source of clear encapsulating resin in Auckland somewhere.

This is a terrible shot of the in-progress water feature snapped with a cell-phone camera. It’s ready to be varnished and then have some floor polyurenthane applied to the water area. Naturally the actual piece looks better than this is real life. I’ll post a decent photo once it’s completed.

This piece actually involves a couple of new techniques I’ve gleaned from the web. First the entire terrain piece was sprayed black. I typically do this with Hirst Arts pieces but usually don’t bother with simple ‘gravel’ effects. However damned if it doesn’t make a difference! Everything I make will be primed black from now on. It includes some new ‘reed’ effects using Natolis and of course the painted, blended water.

I’m currently trying to find a photographic supplier in Auckland that can sell me some ‘natural’ light light-bulbs so I can improve my miniature photography as well.

It seems Acorn Models stock both Milliput putty and Testors ‘Dullcote’ varnish - at least according to their web site. I regularly wander into Acorn Models in Auckland and I’ve been looking for these products for a while in New Zealand, so I can’t believe it took me long to figure that out.

Ordered a Natolis long grass product from PitYak studios in Wellington recently. I was thinking of using them to detail the Mordheim canal, but will first experiment with them on a WHFB water feature I threw together last night.

I’ve mentioned Ebob Miniatures before. Unfortunately I didn’t take a good look at their whole site! There’s actually some superb sculpting tutorials on there as well. In particular the face sculpting tutorial, and the seated Gimli tutorial stand out.

Speaking of Greens. I just discovered Reaper miniatures post pictures of their greens online here.

This little dinghy is included in the Pirate ship plans, however instead of simple cardboard sides I used a few pieces of 1mm balsa wood I bent earlier. They seem to work just fine, although required some pinning. This dinghy is really just a prototype for the prow work I intend to do on the larger ship.

Did a little re-working of the 28mm Pirate ship for the Mordheim Canal last night. This was when I realised the plans have been reduced by about 60% by the printing process. To see this compare the plastic Rieklander on deck with the printed figures on the stencil. Presumably the paper Pirates are meant to be around 28mm themselves.

Still it doesn’t look too bad and I believe with a bit of light conversion and some deviation from the plans I can still salvage it. If you know your Pirate history you know the real Buccaneers often set out from Tortuga in small vessls and even dug-out canoes to capture considerably larger ships. Seems like a nice rationalisation for my screw up! The full size ship wouldn’t fit the Mordheim canal either so it’s probably for the best.

The Mordheim canal is also progressing. Construction is complete on all three tiles and I have also built a working balsa lift bridge. This bridge has undergone at least one round of bracing with extra struts and I suspect a few more carefully placed dress-maker’s pins wouldn’t hurt before I start painting it. The bridge is workable too, which these two photos show nicely. You can also see the removeable portion of the bridge in white plaster, against the black primed canal and bridge pontoons.