Ishoo Ninty-Six: Tyranid Spires.

Welcome once again hippo fans to the continuing saga that is my attempt to prove that wargames terrain is so easy even a hippo could make it. Tyranid spires are a staple image of the WH40K universe, and although they look the business, they don't often show up on tables. This is probably because they look not only scary, but scary to make. Well, sleep easy oh ye 'nid fans, for Grot Bag, professional hippo is here to show that they are indeed within the grasp of mere mortals, being as they are, so easy a hippo could make them.

Cue the Grotstealer!

It's rather hard to tell from the photos, but the PVA glue on the fleshy parts gives a nice, slimey feel. The kind of nice slimy feel which looks awesome in person, but does not resolve on camera.
Bugger.
Well, stay tuned, hippo fans - something more is bound to happen soon!

Pretty Pictures: The Quantum Wombat.

For some time now I have been working on commissions and things for magazine articles. This has prevented me from working on TFH Ishoos, hence the distinct lack of updates of late. The main drain on my time has come from the wreck of the diplomatic packet Quantum Wombat, a 10mm scale crashed space ship made for Callum in the UK. Now that it is complete, and in his hot little hands, I can finally lift the veil of secrecy and unleash pictures on the waiting world!

The wreck of the Quantum Wombat rests upon the mighty folding workbench of being outside with reasonable light for photography...

And here we see it from an angle.

And here we see where it's noble prow was cruelly ripped away.

Here we see the other side, and the interesting cylindrical side things, which are wrought of finest PVC pipe.

And her we see proof that it does indeed have another side.

The mighty engines come into view.

The main engine is made from agricultural pipe parts and part of a Lego box. Also hose parts.

And now we start to swing back to the original view, and I wish I had a tripod, so I could've done an animated .gif spin around thing.

The bridge. The interior is not modeled, but I have added a panoramic backdrop printed from the internewt to suggest some sort of bridge is in there.

Close up on the damage to the front. The PVC pipes from which the ship is made have been hacked open and decks built in.

The bridge area is decorated with kit parts, the comms array being made from various tank road wheels and gun parts.

The lower engine is part of a light fitting, with some hose-clamp bits added.

The mighty back of the mighty bridge. Again.

Another shot of the damage to the prow, this time showing the holes ripped in the side as well.

Hard to see here, but the top deck has a lot of machinery on it.

Ah, pipes. The Sci-Fi modeller's friend.

More shots of destruction.

And a final shot of destruction.

With the Quantum Wombat done, I'm hoping to get more Ishoos out more often. Ishoo Ninty-Six is almost done as we speak, and, although Callum has commissioned further things, I plan to do some of them as ishoos. (Couldn't really do 'wrecked space ship' - I've already done it!)

Developments and goings on at Terrain For Hippos.

Age of Shenanigans:

It seems that the current fashion is to write a mournful article on one's blog mourning the passing of 8th edition Warhammer and bemoaning the round-based skirmishy shenanigans of Age of Sigmar.

My cat reacts to Age of Sigmar.

Age of Sigmar is not going to kill my hobby, and will not stop be hammering wars. I don't play much WFB anymore, but it is my favourite setting for terrain making. Fortunately, it's also a fairly generic dark fantasy setting, and the bulk of the terrain will work in other settings. It will also not stop be in my ambition to build at least one themed terrain item for ALL the WFB races in 8th ed. Depending on what I think of the new setting, I will probably end up making some terrain which fits into AoS somehow.

Annual Terrain Compomeition:

Yes! It's that time of the year again! The annual terrain compometition is now open for entries until the end of September. Here's Grot with the rules:

For those who either cannot or will not learn the art of Hippospeak, here are the full, complete and utter rules:

• Build something which has either appeared on TFH or uses techniques which have appeared on TFH.
• Email pictures (NOT links to photobucket, google drive or similar) of same along with:
• Your name.
• A description of the project.
• At least FIVE photos of it (not all of these will be published, but more pics help the judging).
• Your mailing address for prize sending purposes.
• Chew your nails as you await the announcement of winners.
• Juniors (under 18s) is only open to people under 18. Seniors is open to all entrants.
• If anyone REALLY young enters, a Super Juniors category will be added.
• All entires must be in by midnight, September 30, 2015 Australian Eastern Standard Time (GMT +10).
• Entries which do not include all of the details required will not be considered.
• Minimum bribe level: one turnip. Oh hang on, I don't want to price myself out of the market!*

Prizes are as follows:

SENIORS:

• Glorious and magnificent Certiwotsit of Winneration, signed by Grot himself!
• Shiny and wondrous $50 TFH terrain commission voucher!
• Awesome and lustrous TFH official mug-wot-holds-liquids-and-also-paint-brushes!

JUNIORS:

• Glorious and magnificent Certiwotsit of Winneration, signed by Grot himself!
• Shiny and wondrous $30 TFH terrain commission voucher!
• Awesome and sort of matt-black hot glue gun of power!

*Baldric; Black Adder the Third.

Ishoo Ninty-Fiv: The Maze of Koalathulhu!

I've always thought that hedge mazes were slightly sinister, and I've always wanted to make some sort of haunted example. Back when I was playing Mordheim, I planned to make one, but it never really happened, and we moved away from Mordheim. In things like WFB, a hedge maze is just kinda annoying and pointless, so I never did make one. Until January this year when I realised they would be PERFECT for Malifaux. With more manly men playing Malifaux at HGC, it seemed the right time to strike!
But the Quantum Wombat got in the way (more on this later) and I didn't get a chance to start until yesterday.
But hark, the stars are aligned correctly, the planetary spheres are just right, and the Call of Grothulhu is heard throughout the land!

Phnglooey Muglwafhn Grothulhu Rlyerr Wagger'naggle fh'tagn!

And there you are sinister practitioners of the occult! The mightiest, most tentacular hedge maze can be yours with little time and effort!
Come back soon for the Tyranid spore towers which have been foretold for many a day in ancient legends!