From Barks: Grimdark outpost (60 points)

I've been overthinking this pile of GW plastic scenery for some time. Magnetizing, pigment powders, basing- in the end I decided to smash it out for the end of the Challenge. I rattle-can-sprayed everything black, then brown, then gunmetal;  then sponged on a bright orange; then slathered everything in watered down brown craft paint; then drybrushed metal; then got lost in the weeds of the details. I could go back to it and add more- I'd like a buildup of dust on the lower surfaces, and maybe some decals- but I'm more than happy with them for now.

There are plenty of thematic pieces which are great for scenarios and objectives. Let's go on a tour with Halo Jones for scale.

Is it a secret facility? Forward base? Childcare centre?*

First, the stockade wall pieces. They don't physically connect together, unfortunately. I took a while trying to work out which were the inside and outside- I decided the lights go on the outside, despite the armoured shutters opening that way. I'm not a huge fan of these as gaming scenery- they're too constraining, and the gates don't open.

The hab-bunker has a wild west vibe with the false front board. I put armoured shutters in all the windows. The roof is removable, but I didn't detail the inside.

I quite like the Mechanicus in 40K. They run all the machines, but don't know how they work or what they do. If you want to make something more efficient, they will kill you for tech-heresy. Their weird gizmos make evocative terrain pieces.

I tried a mild glow and some verdigris on the furnace.

I tried a bit of drybrushed OSL for some of these. It is always a bit heart-in-mouth, as it is hard to fix any errors.

It's so hard to avoid going to town on all the details!

This comms tower is a great vertical piece. Also, festooned with skullz.

This radar dish is a great terrain piece. The dish rotates and can be elevated and depressed. It could be assembled with the dish up-and-down, but I chose the horizontal aspect.

The last piece is this chunky landing pad/ refuelling station/ missile silo. I was set on red landing lights and the hazard stripes. I tried orange fuel tanks, but it was a disaster. I used about a dozen coats of paint and wound up with uneven coverage that was too vibrant and overshadowed the red lights. So at the last minute, I went back to trusty Vallejo Iraqi Sand and am very satisfied with the outcome.

The hab-bunker is designed to be another level. The stairs are removable.

Too orange too blotchy.

I've eyeballed this as three Standard Terrain Cubes. 60 points, please!

Skull-o-meter™: 34 (total 184)

* All of the above!

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That is an awesome bunch of tech terrain, Barks. I really like the Mechanicum turbine-type-thingy with the black and white Machine God sigil. I totally agree, your sand coloured fuel tanks look MUCH better than the initial orange effort. I also fancy those red marker lights on the surface. Such a great schwack of GrimDark architectural goodness (grimness?). Well done! 

- Curt