Redvers and Son Get Into Bushido

We’ve painted a lot of terrain but no actual models in this project. Until now.

Temple of Ro-Kan can field some constructs which are based on the statues you see at various temples in China and Japan. To create these, I went searching across various 3d printing sites to find 3d scans of temple statues. I’ve also collected some stl files for bases.

Once downloaded, using nothing more than the free windows  3D Builder, I can put the models together. In this case, I was able to import the stl files of the statues and the 30mm base into the same Builder scene. From the picture below, you can see that the statues are way out of scale to the base but 3D Builder allows rescaling. This is trial and error but eventually you can get something that fits on the base – just remember to scale in all three directions at the same time to avoid unusual geometry!

Next I need to fill the base up. This is achieved by creating a simple cylinder of the required size. Move the cylinder into position and merge the cylinder with the base. 3D Builder does all the hard work in merging the two meshes (and does this very well!). I’ve saved the base for future use to avoid repeating this step. You can import the base into Blender and create a rough ground texture or even add some rocks to the base (there is a Blender add on for creating rocks!) but in this case, I’ve left it blank as the statue will take up most of the base.

Finally, move the statue stl on to the base and ensure that the two meshes connect. This usually means settling the statue into the base which means that you lose a little bit of the detail on the bottom but done carefully, it’s not noticeable. If you don’t merge the two files, it won’t print although you can of course print them separately and glue them together once printed. But it’s easier to merge them now. Once happy with the connection, merge the two meshes which can take a couple of minutes depending on the power of your PC.

All that’s left is to export the stl to your slicing software and print them out.

I wanted these to look like bronze statues but to paint them quickly. For this, I will use Vallejo Bronze, Dark Rubber, Nihilakh oxide, German Camo Brown and Viking gold.

I started with a zenith highlight across both models before applying Vellejo Bronze. I can highly recommend the Vellejo metallics and the bronze went down every well.

Once the bronze was dry, I’ve given everything a dry brush of dark rubber, paying particular attention to the areas most likely to be touched or rubbed against. This helps take the shine off. Then I’ve applied the Nihilakh oxide before gently wiping it off before it could dry. This leaves the paint in the recesses.

The final step is to dry brush with the viking gold and job done. The German Camo Brown was for the base prior to the flocking stage. All that’s left is a couple of coats of varnish.

I’ve flocked with a summer grass mix (Temple of Ro-Kan is all about life and vitality), painted the base rim black and added the LoS markings.

In game, these fellas are pretty durable (actually having the durable special rule!). They can take the pain and can dish it out. They are also immune to things like fire and poison although suffer from being slow, so they aren’t going to dash across the board and claim any last turn objectives. They can be used as mobile cover as any units behind them can get a cover bonus from them. Finally, if they do collect any Ki, they can use it to gain an extra activation in the turn, which is very powerful.

Progress has been a little slow as I’ve been away but both my and my son’s birthday presents arrived, so we now have a Cult of Yurei starter set for me and a Temple of Rokan starter set for my son. I’ll take some pictures once we’ve put the models together.

Firstly, this is only vaguely related to Bushido in that it’s far Eastern influence but I was lucky enough to be taken to a swanky local restaurant. I went to the bathroom and opened the door to be presented by the following chap…..

As for actual project updates, I’ve finished painting the mdf measuring stick and a 3d printed prisoner transport. Nothing particularly clever about either of these but a handy tool for playing the game and another small piece of terrain.

Bushido uses three different base sizes (30, 40 and 50mm). Models also have fields of vision of 180 degrees and a forward facing. As the bases are round, these need to be marked on to the base.

To make sure that all of the bases are the same and to make marking the bases easier, I’m going to build a jig/template. For this I will need some MDF, some thick card and a circle cutter.

I’ve simply cut half circles out of the card of 30, 40 and 50mm radius using the circle cutter. The card is then glued to the MDF and once dry, cut down to a manageable size.

To mark the bases, I can simply fit the base into the required slot and the edge of the MDF will be the 180 degree field of vision. Simple!

I’ve also painted up some 3D printed fences to provide some low cover.

Simple approach with a mid brown, heavy dark brown wash and then dry brushed with Iraqi sand. The base was then given an acrylic mud compound and the static grass applied. Quick and easy.

While I’ve 3d printed some stuff myself, I also bought a couple of larger pieces. One of these is a Shinto Shrine. Before setting out to paint, I’ve had a quick look around for some reference pictures.

The model comes in two pieces which were given a grey primer. I’ve then just used the cheap acrylic paints from the Works, except for the red, which is a vallejo crimson.

The wood was given a heavy wash before an Iraqi sand dry brush.

The tiles I painted a dark green and then dry brushed with a goblin green.

Unfortunately, the model suffers from stepping from the print which makes washes and dry brushing harder. For the wood and tile areas, this isn’t such a problem however my first attempt at the stones looked awful as a dark wash ran into the stepping creating a lined effect.

Now I could have applied some plastic glue or other methods to smooth this out, but this is a terrain piece and life is too short. So I repainted the stones grey and applied the wash just between the rocks rather than all over. I’ve then carefully dry brushed with a light grey and the end result was passable, at least from 3 feet.

Final step was to apply some flock around the stones to hide the worst of the stepping and job done.

Returning to the MDF buildings, we set to work on the rice stores. I looked up some pictures for reference and found a Yayoi historical museum in southern Japan that has built some of these as part of the exhibits. These are all thatched and our MDF building isn’t so we need to rectify that.

There’s a few ways of making thatched roofs and there’s even a Gerry Can on it as well but here’s how we tackled it.

Heading to our local Poundland, we bought a wallpaper brush for £1 (who’d have thought?). Removing the metal rim, it was easy to take the bristles off ready for adding to the roof.

The roof was then smeared liberally with PVA and the bristles applied. Fortunately, the bristles are about the same length as the roof, so there will be minimum trimming once in place. Once the PVA dried, we then added two separate applications of terrain cement, just to make sure that everything stayed in place.

Once this was all dry, the whole thing got primed and I then set my son to work painting it. We’re using cheap acrylic paint from The Works for this – no point using the good stuff on MDF terrain!

The wood was painted a dark brown and the thatch black, just to make sure that there were no light patches.

The thatch then got a dry brush of grey.

To finish things off, we gave the model a dry brush of Iraqi Sand before applying a coat of gloss varnish. Once dry, I broke out the Mig enamel panel liner and applied this into the grooves of the wood planking and door, just to really bring out the shadow.

This then got a final matt varnish to lock everything in place. Quick and easy but quite effective.

The month of May is birthday month for myself and my son, so a good opportunity to get a faction starter set. This does mean that we both need to pick a faction. My son found this easy. As soon as he found out that the Temple of Rokan can have a bo staff wielding panda, he was all in on the monks. He was also delighted to find out that he can field an old man riding a tortoise. So his birthday presents were duly lined up and he’ll get these at the end of the month.

I was torn between several of the factions. I particularly like the Savage Wave, mainly for the idea of massive oni crashing around the table top. The Prefecture of Ryu with their samurai also look particularly enticing. But in all my years of gaming, I’ve never had an undead army, so I’ve opted for the Cult of Yurei and I’ve duly asked for the starter faction set for that.

With the factions chosen and on order for our respective birthdays, we’ve both been looking at the options on what to field and how to expand our start forces. For the Cult of Yurei, I noted that I could field rat swarms and plague rats. Digging around Thingiverse and MyMiniFactory, I tracked down some stl files that I’ve adapted and 3d printed. So I now have some small rat swarms, some large rat swarms and three plague rats to paint up

For the Temple of Rokan, they can field what I can best describe as temple statues in the form of characters called Shisa and Oki Shisa. Thingiverse contains a number of stl files of temple statues, so I printed these out as well for my son.

So while building some MDF buildings, we’ve also been working on painting up some of the 3D prints that I ran off. When it comes to terrain, some detail is good for immersion, but don’t over do it – time is precious.

So, first up we have the stone lanterns. This was very quick and dirty. A grey primer to start followed by a heavy wash of nightshade blue. This was then topped off with a dry brush of some old GW dry brush paint – Longbeard I think (it’s a very light grey). Very quick and very easy.

I then thought, let’s try an OSL for good measure. This was just a quick spray of a light yellow via the airbrush. Doesn’t look brilliant but good enough for terrain and the tabletop.

Next up are the wooden items. Again, simple is best. While I know worn wood isn’t brown in real life, for the sake of speed I applied a flat earth. This was then followed by an Army Painter dark tone before a heavy dry brush of Iraqi Sand. Probably no more than an evenings work in total.

The carts got a little more attention with some gun metal applied to obvious metal aspects with a nuln oil wash to these. The pots were painted a cavalry brown and highlighted with a light brown glaze. The rope is scruffulous brown with a strong tone wash applied. Finally the linen tops were cammo biege. Looks fine from 3 feet away.

So my son and I have been busy with the MDF terrain from Sarissa. Armed with a sharp knife and a pot of wood glue, we’ve been busy sticking the buildings together. This is definitely a part of the hobby that my son really enjoys and immediately grabbed the Dojo as the building he wanted to tackle first. I took on the less ambitious rice stores.

This lot then needed to be sealed ready for painting. I’ve just used a commercially available MDF sealer for this and liberally slapped it over the models. My son doesn’t enjoy the painting side of the hobby but (literally) throwing the sealer onto these was right up his street. I had a lot of clearing up to do after…