A Brief Visit to Warsenal

I hadn't planned on going to the Warsenal shop while seeing family in Florida. The place appeared while I was searching for tabletop gaming locations in the general area, because my addiction to my hobbies couldn't be put off for long. I've placed many online orders from Warsenal over the years. The chance to visit the place where all that laser cut MDF came from was too good to pass up.

The signage does make the place easier to find.

Warsenal is located in an unassuming industrial park. Getting there involved waiting for a big rig truck to finish backing in to another business and unblocking the road. They are open from 10am - 4pm on weekdays only. I would advise calling or emailing ahead to make sure that they are ready to receive visitors. It's a step I neglected, but I got lucky.

The place is a working shop ringed with laser cutters and assembly stations rather than a store location. They are set up for onsite sales and even have a modest play area with already assembled terrain. I was allowed to wander freely and pick out what I wanted from the available inventory of already packed kits. The compact space is arranged for maximum efficiency. Meaning that getting around involves squeezing through a few narrow spots.

Once I finished exploring, I inquired about an item I wasn't able to find. I was offered the chance to return in a couple of days if it needed to be cut. However, it turned out to be available, just not on display. I made my purchases and concluded my brief visit. As stated, this is a working shop, so I didn't want to hold up production any long than necessary.

I enjoyed the visit and would recommend it to any Warsenal fans who find themselves in the area. It's a fun - if brief - experience that I would've regretting passing up. Plus, it's nice to make an order without paying shipping costs.

Warsenal Comanche Tower Lamps

These are the final Warsenal terrain pieces from last year's Black Friday/Cyber Monday haul. These sci-fi street lamps come three to a package and are mostly a combination of MDF and acrylic. A short coil of black coated wire is provided, but I decided to go with something more colorful.

MDF Parts Assembly
The instructions are a single page of exploded views available for download from the Warsenal site. I glued together all the MDF parts with PVA glue. White glue isn't my first choice in many cases, but the bond is strong enough when joining MDF. I left the acrylic parts and wire off until after painting.

Primer Coat
Krylon Fusion All-In-One Matte Black.

Base Color Coat
Krylon ColorMaster Paint + Primer Metallic Aluminum. This gives a shiny metallic appearance with minimal effort.

Dark Wash Coat
FolkArt 479 Pure Black mixed with Liquitex Matte Medium and diluted with water to improve flow. Applied evenly over all surfaces. Brushed on paint and washes tend to bead on Krylon, so I wiped off the excess wash with a sponge to avoid pooling and spotting. The main goals were to dark down the bright metallic a little and bring out the recessed details.

Acrylic Parts Assembly
I was concerned about frosting the clear plastic by using CA glue, so I reached for my bottle of PVA glue during this step. I'm a little dubious about the strength of the bond, but it seems to be holding up well enough.

Wire Detail Assembly
I used a spool of red coated wire I salvaged from some dead electronics awhile back instead of the black wire that came in the package. The red wire is a little stiffer and I wanted a brighter color to stand out from the rest of the pieces. I applied a drop of CA glue to one end, inserted it into the provided hole, wrapped the wire around the piece I was working on, cut off the length of wire I needed, and glued the other end to the second hole provided.

These work well for adding a touch of verisimilitude to an urban sci-fi board. It can be argued that the cable and battery pack shouldn't be exposed, but they add some interesting visual detail. The tower lamps might not work for a sleek sci-fi setting where technology is hidden behind clean lines and smooth panels. However, they would fit into a setting with a cobbled together aesthetic.

Warsenal REM Shack TR-MDF-TER-REM-SHK

Known as "The Barn" or "The Red Shed" to the local population, this structure has changed hands (or equivalent manipulator) many times over its existence. The businesses it has hosted include: a small machine maintenance bay, the branch office of a repair services company, a chop shop disguised as a robotics workshop, and a portable communications device outlet. The communications and sensor arrays have gradually been upgraded over the structure's history. The initial set up was a dispatch system for service technicians. The largest expansion took place when the structure briefly hosted a pirate subspace radio station. The original sensor gear was a diagnostic rig, but was later expanded to monitor the nearby area for law enforcement activity during those periods when the structure was used for illicit enterprises. The structure is currently unoccupied and has passed all required inspections.

- Kessler's Upcycling Sales Catalog

Rosie considers a fixer upper for her new workshop.

This is the REM Shack from Warsenal. It is marketed for use in Infinity, but what caught my eye was its potential as a versatile scale-neutral terrain piece. Besides, Five Parsecs From Home turns out to need more terrain than I thought it would.

Assembly
The REM Shack is all MDF except for the plastic antenna. I had a relaxing time putting it together. The instructions - available from Warsenal as a .pdf download - were clear enough. None of the parts needed convincing to go where they needed to go. I used Tacky Glue, but any white glue should work. If I were to get another REM Shack, I might leave a few parts off until after spraying on a base coat. Getting paint into some of nooks and crannies was a little annoying.

Some 15mm scale GZG Survey Team personnel for comparison.

First Spray Coat
Krylon Fusion All-In-One Matte Black sprayed evenly on all surfaces.

Second Spray Coat - Base Only
Krylon ColorMaxx Paint + Primer Matte Deep Gray on the flat base only. This is intended to represent concrete or some sci-fi equivalent. I masked off the base after this coat dried.

Third Spray Coat - Metallics
I picked out certain areas for a layer of Krylon ColorMaster Paint + Primer Metallic Aluminum. These areas were masked off afterwards. I also sprayed the upper surfaces to achieve a zenithal effect.

Fourth Spray Coat - Red
All of the remaining (unmasked) areas got a layer of Krylon ColorMaster Paint + Primer Matte Poppy Red. The red is noticeably lighter in the areas previously sprayed with Metallic Aluminum and darker over the Matte Black.

I'm not sure what that duct is supposed to do, but it looks nice.

Touch Up
I found some overspray after removing the masking tape. It happens. These areas were corrected by various means. I brushed on a little gray paint where the Poppy Red got on the base. A Silver Metallic Sharpie covered up the Poppy Red that showed up on the metallic areas. There was also some Metallic Aluminum showing on some of the Poppy Red areas. I used some diluted black paint to conceal it and simulate grime.

Detail Pass - Yellow
The REM Shack has some small rectangular details that I decided to bring out. They looked like some kind of futuristic fasteners to me, so I was originally going to go with a metallic gold or copper color. However, the yellow I picked to go under the metallic really popped against the Poppy Red. I liked the effect enough to leave it as is.

Weathering Pass - Metallic Wear and Tear
I used a Silver Metallic Sharpie to simulate areas where the red chipped away.

Wash Layer
Finally, I finished up with the messy stage - brushing on a dark wash over all surfaces and wiping off the excess. I used a downward motion where possible to simulate grime flowing down the structure. I followed up with diluted black paint in areas where I wanted the weathering to be darker.

The back is also well detailed.

I've been ordering scatter terrain from Warsenal for quite awhile, but this is the first building I've purchased from them. Overall, I'm happy with it. There is a great deal of complex detail added to a relatively simple shape. It works with both 15mm and 28mm figures and will make a good display piece in between seeing action on the table.

Warsenal Garbage Dumpsters TR-MDF-INF003-2

There's a place on the tabletop for mundane terrain - street lamps, public transportation stops, cargo containers, etc. Not everything has to be an example of exotic technology or arcane processes. And there has to be someplace to put the trash.

So that's where Lin (portrayed by Rosie) found those grenades.

These are Warsenal's Garage Dumpsters. They are sold two to a pack. Most of the pieces are MDF except for the acrylic rod that works with the lids as a hinge. There are plastic and resin pieces available at comparable prices, but lids that open and the durability of MDF appealed to me.

Preparation
I would recommend running a blade around the parts before punching them out of the MDF sheets. A couple parts refused to separate cleanly and needed some fixing up.

Assembly
There are no assembly instructions packaged with this product. The product page includes a link to a YouTube video, but there are no printable instructions. I recommend that anyone putting one of these together for the first time watch the entire video while dry fitting the parts to see how they fit together.

I used Tacky Glue, but any wood or PVA glue should provide a solid bond. Some of the parts need convincing to fit together and super glue may bond too quickly.

On the topic of convincing the parts to fit, I had some issues with the first one I built. The lids don't close all the way since they aren't aligned properly. That's not a problem with the product, but with me not making sure that everything was lined up before the glue dried. I exercised more care with the second one and it seems fine. The lid issue isn't a huge problem - there are plenty of these things with damaged lids and hinges out in the real world.

Warsenal including a thank you card with every order is a nice touch.

Paint Scheme
I was going for a worn, but not decaying appearance. Dust and grime, but not much rust. Green seems to be the default color for dumpsters around here. The lids on these things are often plastic and tend to discolor in the sun, so I took that into account.

Spray Paint - First Coat
Krylon Fusion All-In-One Matte Black. This is a paint and prime product. It doesn't have the coverage or finish of Krylon Camouflage Ultra-Flat Black. Unfortunately, I ran out of that stuff and haven't been able to restock.

Spray Paint - Second Coat
Krylon Camouflage Ultra-Flat Brown. I sprayed this at an angle for a zenithal effect.

Spray Paint - Third Coat
I removed the lids and painted the dumpster bodies with Krylon Camouflage Ultra-Flat Olive. Again, this was sprayed to leave some of the previous coats showing in the recesses for a shadowing/weathering effect.

Wash Coats
I reassembled the pieces and hit them with two coats of washes - black and brown. This resulted in a couple of nicely weathered pieces, but they turned out way too dark.

Dry Brush - First Layer
FolkArt 527 Forest Moss. This is a light olive color. I applied it heavily on the edges and flat surfaces of the dumpster bodies while leaving the weathering intact.

Dry Brush - Second Layer
FolkArt 480 Titanium White. A very light gray. Hitting the edges resulted in a dusty appearance that is not out of place here. I've seen enough dumpsters on enough construction sites to know that these things get coated in a layer of light colored grime.

A representation of the years 2020 and 2021.

The interior is just large enough to fit a miniature on a 25mm base. Note that a base that is not exactly 25mm may not work - I tried a couple that are just a little larger and they are a tight squeeze. There might be enough room for a couple of miniatures on 25mm bases, depending on the poses and weapons, but I couldn't find a pair that worked. A 30mm or 35mm base is right out. Of course, the interiors could be filled with setting-appropriate trash or the lids could just be left closed.

I like these pieces. The assembly was a little fiddly, but putting them together and painting them was a fun project to spread over a few weeknights. Their appearance fits in a modern, cyberpunk, or near future setting.

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Haul 2021 - Part 1

As with previous years (2019 Part 1, 2019 Part 2, 2020) here's the first batch of tabletop gaming stuff I couldn't quite resist getting at sale prices. I'll present the rest when it shows up.

I need to make sure I have enough glue.

DTRPG

Both of these products were purchased in .pdf form.

Five Parsecs From Home Trailblazers Toolkit
An expansion for Five Parsecs From Home, 3rd Edition. It adds all kinds of options for running a campaign or battle. I've only flipped through it, but I can see the appeal for a player who already has a campaign or three under their belt. For me, still starting out, it has limited utility at this time. I'm looking forward to exploring these options a campaign or two down the road.

Desert Moon of Karth
A setting for the Mothership RPG. It's a desert world that pulls inspiration from a variety of sources. Mostly sources that take place on desert worlds. The western vibe is strong and mixes well with Mothership's quirky feel. I'll be waiting for the Mothership boxed set to come out before running it, but a setting book like this is a handy source for ideas in any sci-fi game.

Ah, the smell of freshly lasered MDF. Smells like future terrain projects.

Warsenal

Garbage Dumpsters TR-MDF-INF003-2
This is a pair of identical terrain pieces. They are mostly MDF with a plastic rod to work with the hinges on the lids. Although other companies offer similar terrain pieces in plastic, I wanted something more durable and the price was competitive. Best of all, since the lids open there is enough space for a figure to stand inside.

Comanche Tower Lamps TR-MDF-TWR-LMP
Three street lamps for the urban terrain tiles I made awhile ago.

REM Shack TR-MDF-TER-REM-SHK
I got this for its potential as a multi-scale piece. At 28mm, it can serve as a small workshop. At 15mm, it can represent a garage for servicing a small vehicle.


Now I just need to finish some of my current projects to make room to work on these. Another shipment is on the way from further off - I'll post that stuff when it arrives.

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Haul 2020

As with last year, I took advantage of the post-Thanksgiving sales to pick up a few gaming-related items. This year's sales-inspired online shopping spree was more restrained than previous occasions. Adding to the project pile didn't interest me, so I focused on things that would aid me in finishing the projects I already have lying around.


From Secret Weapons Miniatures

I developed a liking for washes put out by Secret Weapon Miniatures over the past year. Their washes offer specialized effects for specific projects. They act as glazes - shading and providing an additional tint over the base color.

Brighter than I thought they would be.

W015 Acrylic Wash - Blue
W016 Acrylic Wash - Green
W017 Acrylic Wash - Purple
W025 Acrylic Wash - Just Red

Many projects use these colors as a base. I purchased these washes as potential replacements for the old Citadel products Asurmen Blue, Thraka Green, Leviathan Purple, and Baal Red. The name of W025 - Just Red - reflects the number of red washes on offer from Secret Weapon Miniatures. These washes are much brighter than I expected and the Green is more of an aqua - more towards blue than yellow. We will see how these turn out.

A couple of things that looked interesting.

W001 Acrylic Wash - Soft Body Black
W006 Acrylic Wash - Parchment

Soft Body Black is intended to provide shading without too much of a change to the overall color. The other "soft" washes I've encountered tend to be browns, so I'm interested in seeing how it turns out. I got Parchment to fill a niche that used to be filled by watering down Citadel Washes Gryphonne Sepia - shading a color representing paper or an off-white cloth like undyed linen.

Do I own a base big enough for what's in the box?

W008 Acrylic Wash - Baby Poop

I got a couple bottles of Baby Poop with a specific project in mind. This product worked great for the Reaper Bones #77113 Eldritch Demon I finished early this year. The particular green/brown/orange color over a green base provided the "cosmic horror awakened from a long nap in a pit of deep sea slime" appearance that I was looking for. That project tested the color scheme for something I'm planning on tackling next year - Reaper Bones #77194 C'thulhu. I hope that two bottles (plus what's left of the one I already had) will be enough!


From Warsenal

These look a little dull due to the packaging. Note the one on the right where I removed the protective backing.

Fluorescent Scifi Screens - Communication Array in Blue, Green, and Red

I purchased these to provide more detail for the various "bash bits together" projects I have in the works. These were originally made by Warsenal for their Communications Array (the original one, not the one currently available from their site) and they also offer the screens used for their Tech Console. Note that the dull appearance in my photo is due to the protective backing - I removed it from one screen to show the piece's transparent appearance. I have to commend Warsenal for making these available for scratch building.


Kudos to both Secret Weapons Miniatures and Warsenal - both for offering their products for sale and for their customer service. My orders were filled and shipped promptly.

Warsenal Angled Planters and Benches

These are Angled Planters from Warsenal. This specific product doesn't appear to be available at this time. However, they are included as part of certain Island Packs and Warsenal's Square Planters are a comparable product.

The Havoc Girls check out a small park. Some of the groundskeepers went missing recently.

These Angled Planters have been unfinished projects (UFOs) for awhile now. I've got plenty of hobby projects sitting around in various states of completion. Even though I'm still working regular hours, some of my work can be done from home and the commute has been much easier. This freed up time that I've been using to catch up. My plan is to shoot down as many UFOs as possible to free up space and time down the road for new projects.

This project became a UFO after I ran into some issues gluing it together. The Angled Planters use MDF parts for the main structure with plastic panels for the details on the sides. The glue I used worked well for holding the MDF parts together, but the plastic panels popped off with routine handling. Fortunately, this problem came up before priming or painting. Since I had other priorities at the time, I stored the parts in a plastic bag with the intent to get back to it later.

As it turned out, "later" took awhile.

The second step of restarting this project - the first was making sure that all the parts were still in the bag - was to sand off the glue residue from the plastic panels and where they were glued on to the MDF pieces. This also had the benefit of roughing up the surfaces and insuring a stronger bond when I reassembled the pieces with cyanoacrylate glue.

A pair of tourists use a public comm array in a small park to call for directions.

Priming was straight forward - I just sprayed on a thin layer of dark gray auto body primer.

Next came spraying on the base color. I prefer to spray on the base color for projects with large, flat surfaces. It helps with achieving an even, consistent layer of paint.

This particular color was chosen for these very important reasons:

• I knew that this product works on both MDF and plastic from past experience.
• I still have a can of the stuff in the garage and need to use it up.
• Spraying on the base coat would speed things up.
• I felt the need to use up the can.
• The bold and colorful Jack Kirby aesthetic appeals to me for futuristic civilian models and terrain. I've still be reaching for khaki, olive, and brown for near-future or hard sci-fi military stuff.
• I really need to use up that can.

I applied a dark wash left over from a previous project to bring out the details. The wash was brushed on and the excess was wiped off with a sponge to prevent pooling. I also experimented with using a Silver Metallic Sharpie to simulate wear on the corners of one of the pieces, but I didn't feel that it really added anything worthwhile.

For most of the pieces, I decided to simulate soil and foliage from an Earth-like environment. I applied the same mix of PVA glue, Folk Art 231 Real Brown paint, water, and sand that I use to base some of my miniatures and allowed it to dry completely. The green bushes are Woodland Scenics Light Green Clump-Foliage held in place with PVA glue. A neatly trimmed appearance might have been more appropriate, but I feel that the uneven look is more interesting to look at. The bare patches allow the basing material to show through.

The quality of landscaping declined after the groundskeepers started disappearing.

I wanted some kind of alien plant life for the remaining pieces. Some spare melted drinking straws stored away from the Alien Plant Terrain project I did several years ago did the trick. I picked out the best of the lot and hit them with a few layers of spray paint. A layer of black covered the bright colors of the plastic. This was followed up with a layer of red and finally a layer of orange. Again, the color choices were determined by what I had on hand and had a mind to use up. I attached the straws to the planter pieces with hot glue.

These XT flora samples adapted well to class-M conditions. There is no evidence that they are carnivorous.

Alien plants need alien soil to grow in. In this case, I used an Ikea product - Kulort. It's crushed glass used for decorative projects. I picked up a bottle awhile back for use in alien terrain projects and as basing material. There were a number of colors available - I opted for black since it would match with just about anything.
Unlike the Angled Planters, the Benches weren't UFOs. I assembled and painted these awhile back. However, the tan color I originally used was rather bland. I decided to repaint the Benches to match the Angled Planters. This would make using them together easier (and use up more of the can). A dark wash brought out the details and a little work with a Silver Metallic Sharpie added some wear marks to the edges.

The Benches are available from Warsenal on their own and as part of their Island Packs.

Benches in the process of being moved for park maintenance. They're a little worn and could use a touch up of paint.

Together, the Angled Planters and Benches make for good scatter terrain to represent a park or similar area in a sci-fi setting. Both are large enough to plausibly provide cover for 28mm figures, although more robust small arms might be able to penetrate the Benches depending on the setting and rules used. Combining the Benches with some consoles and container pieces could represent the passenger waiting area in a spaceport. The Benches could also be placed around a stage or large data console piece for a theater or auditorium.

Warsenal's Access Terminals

The Havoc Girls putting some access terminals to use.

These are Warsenal's Access Terminals. I finished painting and assembling these pieces last week. They have a bright future as roleplaying game scenery and wargaming objectives/terrain in a couple of upcoming projects.

I primed and spray painted the MDF parts prior to assembly. This was to avoid having the raw MDF showing through the transparent acrylic parts. Black primer was used to fill in the details. I picked out a can of purple paint from an old project that wasn't doing anybody any good just sitting there. The purple went on thicker and more glossy than I expected, but the final result looks good. Looking back, I should have glued the MDF parts together prior to priming and painting them. The paint made putting assembling the MDF parts harder than it needed to be.

The combination of small MDF parts, fragile acrylic parts, and my fumble fingers made assembly a challenge. I would strongly recommending watching the assembly video on YouTube when starting the project and immediately prior to any attempt to put these things together. Relying on memory just leads to avoidable mistakes.

Each package contains the parts to build six Access Terminals. There are only five assembled Access Terminals in my photo. And my bits collection is little larger. In the future, I may choose to avoid Warsenal's smaller and more detailed terrain pieces. This isn't a strike against Warsenal - I like their acrylic markers, MDF terrain, and plastic bases. On a personal level, I'm finding that I lack the manual dexterity to put together the small parts that go into their scatter terrain.

Overall, I'm pleased with Warsenal's Access Terminals. The transparent acrylic parts give each piece a holographic appearance. The design is not so specific that it won't fit into a variety of futuristic settings.

Effigy Miniatures' Havoc Girls

Three sci-fi adventurers just arrived at a busy spaceport? Or three figures taking their place in my display case?

These are the Havoc Girls, a set of 28mm figures individually called the the Pilot, Recon, and Hacker from the now-defunct Effigy Miniatures. I'm not sure if the sculptor - Tom Mason - was going for a sci-fi version of "Charlie's Angels" when he created these figures, but I have strong suspicions. These were the first figures available from Effigy Miniatures' initial Kickstarter and later the company's online shop. They later become part of Effigy Miniatures' Havoc Protocol line – a series of miniatures with a similar futuristic aesthetic. In 2013, a career change prompted Tom Mason to close down Effigy Miniatures. To the best of my knowledge, these figures are no longer available for sale, even at the new company that Tom Mason started up.

These long-term residents of my lead pile finally made it to the work table early this year. I decided on a darker color scheme than the one used in the original artwork for greater contrast between the bodysuits and the accessories. The accessory colors on each figure are based on the Starfleet uniform colors used in Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the 24th century Starfleet, Pilot would be in the Command division and wear red. Recon would be in the Security department and wear gold. I decided that Hacker would be in the Sciences division and wear blue for variety, but an argument could be made for her to be in Engineering. The uniform color choices were made with an eye towards using them in a future Star Trek Adventures campaign. The hair colors are the result of me being unable to decide what natural hair colors to use and picking the three brightest paint colors to catch my eye.

The bases are from a Warsenal Tracking Beacon 3-pack that proved a little too fragile for my fumble fingers during assembly. The remains of that project found a home in my bits box. The bases are assembled from two pieces of plastic and create a layered effect. They are available separately from the Warsenal Tracking Beacon 3-pack as Tunguskan Bases.

I'm not entirely happy with how the paint jobs worked out. The base coating and highlighting went fine. Unfortunately, the washes broke after I applied them, leading to uneven coats on the figures and the bases. Still, given that this is my first painting project in a long while, I'm willing to live with a "tabletop as long as nobody looks too closely" standard.

Improvised light box on the kitchen table. It has the advantage of folding up for storage.

The initial set of photos that I took in my improvised light box were also disappointing. None of them turned out well. I resorted to snapping a shot of the Havoc Girls in my display case with my phone. The results were a pleasant surprise – not perfect, but better than the ones I took earlier. If this keeps up, I might make it my standard practice – it would certainly be easier!

Warsenal Terrain

Close up of Warsenal's Communications Array.

Warsenal is a company that appeared on my radar through a series of ads on Facebook. Their focus is on making 28mm scale sci-fi terrain as well as plastic tokens for Infinity. I took advantage of a sale they were running late last year to purchase a few pieces. These two pieces are the first I've had the chance to put together and paint. I'll post about the others as I assemble and paint my way through the order.

Small Shipping Container

This is exactly what the name implies - a futuristic cargo crate scaled for 28mm. The material is laser cut MDF. Curiously, it lacks the burnt smell I've experienced with other laser cut MDF products.

Construction was easy. The pieces fit tightly - a little tacky glue is enough to hold things together. There are no printed instructions included with the kit. Instead, Warsenal posted an assembly video on YouTube. In many ways, seeing someone actually put the thing together is better than trying to figure out some pictures. On the other hand, I wish Warsenal zoomed in on some of the process. Also, having to rewatch parts of the video as I tried to follow along got annoying. These are minor gripes, though.

The Small Shipping Container is generic enough to fit into a variety of sci-fi settings. Much of its appearance depends on the paint job. A light paint job works for something like Infinity. A little darker and more worn for Star Wars. Much darker and more worn for certain grim futures.

Small Cargo Container pictured with Reaper Miniatures' Sarah Blitzer.

The doors can be removed without modifying the piece. This opens up some options for dioramas. It also has possibilities for an ambush scenario, since the Small Cargo Containers are large enough to contain a 28mm figure inside with the doors in place.

I decided on a quick and easy approach for the paint job. The first step used a grey auto body spray primer. The paint used was Krylon Camouflage with Fusion. The basecoat for the frame was olive and the basecoat for the doors was khaki.


Communications Array

This is a multi-station data access point scaled for 28mm. The structure is made of laser-cut MDF. The screens and antennae are made of acyclic.

The construction was a little challenging. I recommend watching the assembly video to get a feel for the process before starting to fit things together. Tacky glue is necessary to hold the pieces in place. The screens fit well enough without glue, which would be visible through the clear plastic.

Full view of the Communications Array.

The appearance of the Communications Array is generic enough to fit in a variety of sci-fi settings. The lack of skulls might make it a little conspicuous on some tables, though.

The paint job was another quick and easy one. Grey autobody spray primer followed by a Citadel Codex Grey basecoat. Next, I drybrushed on a little white mixed with Codex Grey. The last step was attaching the screens. I may do more with the dish array on top, but I'm holding off for now. Sometimes it's best to say "good enough" and move on to other projects.