Cargo Crates (Pre-Painted Hardfoam)

I have a couple of these packs and I think they have been a very useful purchase.

Each pack contains two small pieces and one large piece. The smaller pieces are approximately 160mm long and are 25mm high arranged in a row. The larger piece is approximately 160mm long by 50mm wide. There are a range of variants for each piece so with a couple of packs that gives some varied options. If you look closely at the pictures, you can see that the top and bottom row pieces from each set of three are different.

The crates on the right are two small pieces stacked together

The pieces are available as a pack for £13 GBP from Tablescape's website. They are made of hard-foam and come pre-painted. Given the range of gaming periods they would be suitable for, I think they are a tremendous little set for the time-strapped gamer. From a quality and value perspective, I am very happy with these and would thoroughly recommend them.

The minis used for scale reference are all mounted on 30mm bases and are nominally from ranges between 32mm and 35mm.

Hobby Stuff: Shipping Containers

I have been accumulating these shipping containers from Tablescape in dribs and drabs, steadily gathering more and more. I have at last count around 18, which should do for a credible container yard or docks set-up I hope (click on pictures to enlarge).

The latest batch are the rust red colour (top picture) and were painted that colour on request (the usual packs come in 3's with one of each colour of grey, blue and green). Tablescape are happy to listen to customer requests on having their stuff in different colours and cost depends on whether they have that colour in stock or not. Since they had a suitable colour, there was no extra cost for the 6 I bought.

The purple containers (a set of 3) were re-painted by myself. It did take a few coats to over-paint the original colour, so I will look to discuss custom colours with Tablescape if I want more in non-standard colours.

Hobby Stuff - Tablescape Trees

I love these trees from Tablescape, I really do. They don't shed flock like the traditional wire and flock gaming trees, and can survive being knocked over etc.

Added to that, they come pre-painted and I think they are simply marvellous. Of course tastes differ, but I wanted to draw attention to them for anyone who may be interested.

The trees are made of hard foam and are £3 per tree, or 5 for £14 at current prices. Tablescape offer two base sizes which can be seen in the picture. The bases come separately (but are included in the price) and simply screw into pre-made holes.

Hobby Tip 1
The underside of the 'foliage' is in the hard foam colour; simply paint it with some acrylic - 5 trees can be done in a matter of minutes. I use Vallejo Black Green for the two darker colours, and Vallejo Medium Olive for the more olive coloured trees.

Hobby Tip 2
The two base sizes effectively give two primary variations of height among the trees. More variation can be added by cutting down the trees. The underside of the 'canopy'/'foliage' is flat, and what I did was take off 0.5 to 1 cm on a handful of trees. As can be seen this allows for an increased variation of heights very easily, especially if you don't want mix the different base styles.

The cutting was done with a coping (or fret?) saw in some cases and a bread knife in others. The coping saw made for easier cutting. I then sealed the undersides with a thin coat of liquid green stuff before painting as above.

The trees (in picture above):
1. Normal uncut height, tall base
2. Cut down height, tall base
3. Uncut height, short base
4. Cut down height, short base