MINI WARGAMING: Jav-98's 6mm Sci-fi Startown!

. Javelin-98's awesome 6mm city terrain tiles.

Hi Everyone,

Hope you're all keeping busy like me... in a good way. Life as usual has been pressing... my workplace lost a body so I'm pulling double duty until a new employee gets hired. And on that observation, I always seem to have FAR MORE ideas for blogging material than I have time!

Recently my good friend Andreas AKA Javelin-98 ("Jav98") shared some photos of an oustanding 6mm sci-fi project he's been working on: city tiles. So, without further ado, check these photos out (with commentaries from the Epicomms forums):

OVERVIEW of the four 6mm sci-fi city modules.

Jav: I've been working on something like this for some time, only using 12" square tiles. So far I have four tiles in various stages of completion -- a low-income residential area, an upscale residential area, a powerplant block, and a spaceport. My idea was to put the roadway around the edges in the single-lane square configuration with smaller roads criss-crossing the interior. While the tiles are all still in a state of infancy, I can post pics of what I have so far.

Okay, bear in mind that these are a work in progress of the utmost sort. The spaceport and powerplant are nearly done; the two residential blocks are still far from finished. The one covered with keyboard buttons was inspired by the Tau University entry by Vanvlak from a past EpiComp (I think '05). After starting the first two tiles, I realized that aligning the streets would be a problem. That's why the powerplant and the more finished of the two residential tiles have streets along the margins.

INDUSTRIAL BLOCK: Spaceport.

Jav: The boards were really quite cheap, made mostly of "reclaimed" materials glued onto MDF textured with spackle. Some examples:

The cargo bunkers at the spaceport are made from electrical tape blister packaging. The landing pad is made from the bottom of a USB joystick package. The tower is a section of old Crayola marker topped with two bases (a flight base on top of an upside down hex-shaped slotta base). The only purchased content are the cargo containers from Old Crow and the gantry crane arm made from a Mechwarrior clickie tech TM mech.

Javelin-98's spaceport landing pad reminds me of the blast pits from the Traveller science fiction setting.

INDUSTRIAL BLOCK: Powerplant.

Jav: The power plant was made from two "reclaimed" items: the bottom is made from the top lid of the same USB joystick package that I used for the spaceport and the steam stack is made from a pour spout for paint cans which I found at Home Despot for $1.50 USD. The buildings with windows were made from plasticard (the type with 1/8" squares on it) while the other buildings are made from various blister packs. The fence is cross-stitch fabric. The big oil tank thingie (technical term, of course) is the lid from my wife's last can of styling mousse. My next step with this block is to add some rust streaks and dirty up the asphalt with some playground sand.

RESIDENTIAL BLOCK: Middle-income Housing.

Jav: This upscale residential block is made using two types of purchased items: the mosque and four JR Miniatures Middle Eastern houses. OK, maybe three if you include the trees. Everything else is either keyboard keys or blockhouses made using plaster poured into ice-cube trays. I decorated the inside the of the ice-cube tray with bits of plasticard and sprue, which left some nice impressions (...like the skylights-slash-rooftop pools). I'm still in the process of painting this one; after it gets a clearcoat, I'll hit the houses with a wash.

RESIDENTIAL BLOCK: Low-income housing.

(Photo not available, but it is pictured in other photos as the unfinished residential tile

...made from spare computer keyboard keys.)

Jav: The fourth tile is still very much in progress, needing more paint, flocking, trees, and street markings. It was the first tile I started on, but the others were more interesting, so they got more love. I have this plan in the back of my mind to create 12" square vacuformed terrain tiles. I think that something like that would work well and give people instant cities for a very low price. Sadly, I know nothing about vacuforming, so that project is quite a ways off.

Moscovian: With that level of ingenuity, I am shocked you bought your trees! I can gve you a very cheap alternative that IMHO looks better than the the ones they sell online. I used to make miniature trees for a landscaping company. The only drawback is you have to be careful how you store them or they won't last long. Still, I love all the goofy bits of stuff being turned into a work of art. I have collected a trash bag full of plastic containers and things for this very purpose. Every time we get something sealed in a plastic container I start eyeballing it and my wife gives me "the look."

Jav: I suppose I could have made trees myself, but in the interest of time and the interest of interest, I just bought some. Figured what the heck! My wife has given me "that look" too! Right after she recognizes why I'm standing motionless over the garbage can with a odd plastic bit in one hand and a contemplative look in my eye...

Once I finish these tiles, I'm going to do a downtown/financial district block with tall office buildings and skywalks, always loved the looks of those. I'll be putting a couple helipads on top, too, for air assault actions! These are meant to be urban tiles, so I won't be doing any farmland or anything of that sort... Any other thoughts, guys? I'm thinking of another industrial block (a factory), several more residential blocks (one with a hospital, to be sure), a military base block, and maybe a government/palace type block. We'll see.

Moscovian: Ideas for anyone to steal:
I was tinkering with the idea of a pneumatic transportation system. Recently I picked up a giant tube of candy from one of those mall kiosks (...you know, you fill it yourself with the flavored sugar and bounce off the walls for an hour). I looked at it after I was done and said, "Hmm, I bet an Epic figure sitting in a little car would fit nicely in there." Then I bought another one. It is about 2 & 1/2 feet long and gives you some good material to work with. Flexible but doesn't crease. I wanted to use it on a moonscape but you could adapt it to a futuristic cityscape as well, I am sure.

Or you could buy some of the great commuter trains from Old Crow:

6mm commuter train and elevated rail from Old Crow.

You can find Old Crow's site here:
http://www.oldcrowmodels.co.uk/

And you can find Andreas' site and Photobucket at these links:
http://home.comcast.net/~kudby/
http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j20/javelin98/

My big hobby resolution for this year is to build a similar set-up. Andreas has set the standards high!

Thanks for sharing, Andreas AKA Jav-98!

Have a great Friday and a great weekend!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures: These are not all my images. I am using various images from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).