From SidneyR: Laarden 'Haringboots' for the "Aquifer" (40 points)

 

"He fishes well who uses a golden hook"

Old Laarden Proverb

***

One of aspects I'm hoping to develop this Challenge, and indeed this year, is the nautical aspect of my (very self-indulgent) wargaming project concerning the fictitious Flemish City of Laarden in the late seventeenth century.  More to come in this nautical vein soon, fellow Challengers, but for now, here's two Laarden 'Haringboots', with various fishing impedimenta.

And no, that's not a made-up term!  Haringboots were used for herring and anchovy fishing in Friesland, sailing through inshore waters and around the Dutch sea dykes before polder-isation.  I thought that something similar might ply their trade in and around the North Sea coast, close to where Laarden is situated...

I picked up the boats at the Crisis show in Antwerp in 2018 (among some other items which might emerge later this Challenge), and I've been looking for an excuse to paint them.  I thought they were a bit dull without something - seafarers or items - set within them.  In the end, I plumped for fishing items, in the form of a net with light-wood buoys, a half-pike and cleats, and a barrel of freshly caught herring with a gutting knife.  I made the fishing items as moveable additions to the boats, so I can fill them with seafarers when needed.

The fish and the feathered hats were created with greenstuff.  The cleats were left over from the items I used in building De Pelikaan in Challenge VI.  And the net was some left-over Great War camouflage netting, repurposed back into a fishing net with a lot of PVA glue.  The buoys were just greenstuff balls, glued to the net.

Trying to sculpt waves on waterline models was something I struggled with until someone from my local club introduced me to the 'toilet paper method' of making waves.  Simply soak the toilet paper in PVA glue, and manipulate it onto the base using an old brush.  The resin boats can then be glued directly onto the toilet paper (using more PVA glue), and the base and model then left to dry overnight.  And... hey presto... all you then need to do is to trim the excess toilet paper and the base is complete.  I gave the base a couple more coats of PVA for strength and painted the whole base in dark blue (Vallejo Game Colour Night Blue), and added a coat of gloss varnish.

I painted the herring with a mix of light grey and pale brown, adding a small dab of silver as well to the mix (simulating fishscales), before glazing the fish in a diluted green/blue ink wash.  This can look a bit off - with my herring on the first attempt looking more like goldfish!  I started again, and I think the second attempt looks a little better.  (Disclaimer:  I am not a fisherman!).  I also gloss varnished the fish afterwards to show they were freshly caught ("...best prices, just caught this morning..,"), and I was done!

On to the points...  I would count these as being a terrain item, hopefully.  They fill a space 5 inches by 3 inches, and with two of them, that's hopefully enough to claim 20 points for a (roughly) 6 inch 'cube'.

 

I hope that's not too fishy (....sorry...!), but the Minions can adjust as they see fit if something smells off. 

And then there's another 20 points for completing the "Aquifer" challenge.  So, in total, 40 points, hopefully, in the net (.....sorry, again...!).