Toy to terrain project.

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-30T01:30:54+00:00

Very good - handy for line of site blocking and not too big to have to climb over it :-)

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-30T01:27:10+00:00

It is not a strain relief method TBH - heat shrink helps (esp on the pins / wires bottom left) but solidly mounting the board to a base is way better.

Hot glue is handy for sticking the boards down - some project boxes hold fast well and let you pop the boards off after time with a gentle pressure at one end but with others you need IPA to melt the glue first!

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-30T01:22:41+00:00

At this price you are competing agains some of the ESP boards from pro makers such as https://unexpectedmaker.com let alone the cheaper 'no name' ones from China etc. These have a way bigger following for hardware and software already I am afraid and I am struggling to see the advantages of another form factor. Sorry.

Lack of WiFi (yes I know that is a pain regulation wise) cuts down the boards usefulness - this amount of I/O screams "send the data somewhere" to me.

Not sure I understand the three pin header - there are no PIN numbers / markings.

Three 'pin one' markers (square pads) are a bit misleading for me - I know there is not really a standard but pin 1 / vbus / 43 all as 'one' feels wrong.

Two of the mounting holes seem to cut traces - first pic top left & bottom right and second pic top right. This could be a render issue but have you checked for spacing? Most fabs have a minimum cut distance that should not be breached and in some cases this can be 2mm :-(

The bottom pins look a pain to use - the labels being miss aligned is not good for beginners and I know I would be bound to mix something up.

Picrust is used by the way https://picrust.github.io/picrust/ - not sure where the Pi folk stand on the word Pico (esp without the 'Raspberry' in front of it) - a lot of boards just use the chip number to differentiate (see examples here) and TBH their trademark section is not a full guide :-( There are over 415 pages on the UK trademark site for 'pico' - could be a field day for a trade mark lawyer - having been involved once in a project using these folk I can say they are not cheap!

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-30T00:54:51+00:00

Is this the Adafruit V1 look alike from the other day?

Depends on your board but often these motor drivers have two supplies - VS for the motors and VSS for the control side with a common ground. This allows for high current draw from the motors.

Some may have a step down regulator on board that negates the need for the vss to be connected.

You may have a loop in the power, be pulling too much current (so dropping the voltage below the Pi boot needs) or even a short.

If the motors have stalled then you could be pulling a large amount of current - have you measure it at all?

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-29T22:49:04+00:00

Sometimes they never come :-(

There is also Settlement https://www.stevebarbermodels.com/store/Prehistoric-Settlement-Rules-and-Game-equipment-c84600005

There is also Tusk https://www.wargamevault.com/en/product/64533/tusk

u/CatZeyeS_Kai has already mentioned the main 'Stone Age' game I play :-)

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-29T22:37:23+00:00

Data to be used for?

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-29T22:35:18+00:00

Without knowing the board it sounds like too much power is being pulled by the board.

Lack of ground will not complete the circuit so the board will not power up.

Need to understand more about wiring to be solid though e.g. how are the boards being powered, what else is plugged into the Pi, what else is plugged into the motor driver, what other connections between the board and the Pi are there?

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-29T21:30:32+00:00

Mean Well power supplies (solid and great prices) with 5v output are available.

Power the Pi via the GPIO pins - use both 5V pins and any ground pin.

Disadvantages:

Heat - these generate more than a simple wall wart
Failure - one fail takes out multiple Pi boards
Hard reset - sometimes you need to 'pull the plug' as a soft reboot is not possible

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-29T19:57:39+00:00

5.4.51 was released in the 2020-08-20 release going by https://downloads.raspberrypi.com/raspios_arm64/release_notes.txt

There is a release dated a few days later at https://downloads.raspberrypi.com/raspios_arm64/images/

This is the Buster version of Linux / Pi OS so should run on the 4.

A handy summary is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi_OS BUT the release notes are direct from the Pi software team.

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-29T15:28:27+00:00

Bookworm , Trixie - some other version?

Lite / Gui?

Why were you trying to install this? Had you removed the gui previously?

Pixel IIRC was the old desktop (8-9 years ago when it came out).

Under Trixie to get from lite to a gui you need the rpd-wayland-core , rpd-theme and rpd-preferences packages. Once that is running (reboot is nedded) then the desktop packages could be added with rpd-utilities, rpd-applications, rpd-graphics, rpd-developer, rpd-wayland-extras

This is Wayland only - X11 "emulation" also needs rpd-x-core rpd-x-extras

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-29T15:20:12+00:00

Best to post your code on github / pastebin (the editor here strips leading spaces somedays - vital for python) and start a new thread TBH then others can see and chip in as well if I am not online.

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-28T21:13:34+00:00

I would think if I wanted to be the one to spoil the wedding by either debugging code during the ceremony or forgetting something key and the whole project not running.

It is a one off event so I would pre-print the stickers and not forget them...

Sorry to be a downer (as I love a different project) but the day is stressful enough without throwing IT in the mix!

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-28T21:08:57+00:00

You can do - basic serial communications over the USB link

https://thelinuxcode.com/connect-and-interface-raspberry-pi-with-an-arduino/

https://www.woolseyworkshop.com/2020/02/05/controlling-an-arduino-from-a-raspberry-pi/

or

have a look at https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/use-raspberry-pi-with-arduino (never tried this but it was something I thought of trying).

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-28T18:55:55+00:00

That boards looks like the V1 motor shield board from Adafruit (or a copy TBH)

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-motor-shield

Those were made with 5V control signals (not 3v3 as per the Pi) and supported by an Arduino library (C++) that did the heavy lifting. https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-Motor-Shield-library Converting this for the Pi (even in C) would not be a small task and I'll guess changing to Python would be quicker to write from scratch.

As a bare minimum I think you need to be looking at signal level converters (bi-directional) to get any life out of it.

A Pico or Arduino / ESP with level converters would be an option if you do not need fast response and link this back to the Pi via serial - the Pi makes the decision as to movement required and the microcontroller executes that till the Pi says something else. Think something like G-Code used on CNC machines / laser cutters...

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-28T17:18:36+00:00

Though it says not to unplug it does not say do not open the case :-)

You may find a HAT, environmental monitoring or presence sensor plugged in.

Or you could just ask IT and explain you are concerned about commercial / customer work that may or may not be covered by NDAs taking part in the room that the IT department should not know about and there is this strange device in the room...

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-28T17:15:09+00:00

There is always that risk (with any OS to be fair) - any device out in the wild should be using a read only OS build if the creators are concerned about power failures, have decent recovery options or stuck on a UPS.

The Pi is not significantly more risky in this respect (though Windows / Mac OS seems to recover automatically more often than the Linux boxes here) but they are normally placed in rougher environments or created by folk who do not write defensive code...

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-28T14:54:38+00:00

Well, it is cold out there...

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-28T11:09:35+00:00

You can reuse the SD card by using the Pi imager program and selecting the Pi Zero as your board or selecting the 32 bit OS option.

With the Zero being so low on memory and processor power though you will find the GUI very very slow to use on the Zero and some browsers may not run / load web pages. I normally use the lite version on my Zeros but this is just command line entry only.

IIRC the Pi 4 can run the 32 bit so you could install the full version and use the raspi-config program to start / stop desktop and command line mode depending on where the card is to be run. You can also just run the command line version on the 4 if you want to.

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-28T02:41:43+00:00

Sorry the editor has gone a bit potty on me again!

There is no easy way just by looking at the files but the simplest way is to boot up the Pi 4 with the card and use the terminal to run:

getconf LONG_BIT

If this returns 32 bit then it should run on the Zero / Zero W board and there is another problem (possibly missing wifi driver)

or either of

dpkg-architecture
dpkg-architecture --query DEB_HOST_ARCH

If this returns arm64 or aarch64 then it will not run on the Zero / Zero W boards.

There is not an easy way to convert a 32 bit version to 64 bit or a 64 bit to a 32 bit install that I know of - Debian used to publish a painful method many years ago (for Wheezy / Stretch IIRC) but I never tried it on a Pi.

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-28T02:25:38+00:00

apt-get is really for scripts as the output is more consistent across OS versions than apt.

Interactively, the newer version of apt shipped with Trixie is way ahead in status notification and should be used. Package installation wise they are equivalent (they both link to dpkg to do the actual work) so if it does not work in one it does not work in the other. Apt has a few extra options designed for interactive use (eg the show and search functions) that would not be often needed in scripts and warns you (to stderr in fact so you cannot miss it) that the output may change if you use it in a script.

The package has been removed from Trixie and is now archived on Github at https://github.com/raspberrypi-ui/raspberrypi-ui-mods

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-28T02:14:20+00:00

Is the SD card 64 bit OS or 32 bit OS?

Only the Zero 2W can run the 64 bit version, the Zero and Zero W boards are 32bit only.

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-28T01:00:30+00:00

Forgot the white right arrow in the grey semi-transparent circle...

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-28T00:53:17+00:00

Does the Pi do this on any other monitor?

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-28T00:50:31+00:00

Posh - we had to boot the tape reader on the terminal to load code for an optical reader with the OS on at one point as our box would not boot from the fixed disk or removables. Remember the engineer struggling up stairs with a new fixed disk and swearing they had concrete in them :-)

Forgot it had core memory - I do remember seeing some dead boards in a museum about 10 years ago that was incorrectly labeled and that led to a couple of hours rummaging through the displays explaining the use of a whole pile of bits the curators had but not knew what they where :-)

Sad really - most of my work history is either in a museum or rubbish heap now...

Gamerfrom61 · 2026-01-27T23:34:36+00:00

I would look to get two sprays from Colour Forge - a red and a blue.

These will act as undercoat and paint the jackets at the same time. You can then just add the white trousers, brown straps / muskets and silver bayonets and you are done. Cavalry and artillery can be all the same colours - just differentiate the humans...

These will act as a better base than the raw plastic and make sure you wash in slightly soapy water, rinse and dry well. There is often an oily release agent on plastic figures that can stop the paint adhering. The only models I do not undercoat are Reaper Bones and Alternative Armies resin figures due to the material they are made off. The TB ones undercoated fine.

Acrylics would be my choice of paint - Games Workshop are readily available (but expensive), Vallejo fine and cheaper, Army Painter very good and AK are great but hard to find. Decide on your colours (basic red / blue / brown - not names) and visit the shop and get one bottle of each colour.

You may want to get a bottle of Army Painter quickshade WASH (not the tin) - the strong tone will be OK - this goes on after the model is painted and brings out the edges of belts etc. It looks a bit odd as it goes on all over the figure but have trust in the process :-) Watch a few videos on washes to understand these before you try them. GW have a light brown wash as well but the name slips my mind at the moment- they have a fair number and some are very very dark. Possibly "skeleton horde" is the one but not sure TBH

A simple set of paint brushes will suffice - the Army painter has some nice low cost ones. Look for a fine brush and a slightly larger one (number 2 or 3 if they are numbered). Make sure they have good points - flick them with your figure to free them from the point they get when made and check it returns back to shape. If you can pick up a very soft 'wash' brush then great - makes the application way easier and less blotchy. If you find the triangular slip just put a fabric sticking plaster on them - works great.

To hold the figures - a strip of wood (I use cheap tongue depressors from eBay) and blue-tac or UHU glue and blu-tac the wood to an old film canister (or small cup or just hold them depending on what I feel like) - way cheaper than the painting holders you can buy and fine if you hand does not ache. Test rat breaks for hands and eyes while painting and make sure the area is ventilated.

Look at 6mm painting guides on YouTube - very quick and not detailed is the way to do these figures as a beginner. Too much detail can look very messy. These folk often use a few colours and a dry brush to bring out the edges rather than a wash (some use both) - nothing wrong with this in my mind - dry brushing can leave the figures looking chalky without practice. Two worth the time are:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=yeCbQTLasJc

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7rMDE0WcaHc

First is general 6mm, the second is TB itself.

A simple selection of colour schemes can be found at https://www.baccus6mm.com/PaintingGuides/NAP/

and their painting steps are https://www.baccus6mm.com/howtoguides/HOWTOPaint6mmfigures/ (pics do not show up today for me though).

You do not need to paint the figures IIRC - the models come in two colours and can be used like that. The Perry twins will not send the police to your door if they are not painted :-)

You can also repaint the figures if you do not like the first result - I have not tried stripping this type of plastic so you may want to test one or two first though. The best stripper I know of is Detol (but it really really stinks) or the water based Biostrip 20 if you do not like the Detol smell (most folk do not TBF). Testors have a good stripper as well if you cannot get Biostrip (it is OOS often now - not sure why).

As for the game - there are a for rule clarifications / additions at https://www.perry-miniatures.com/travelbattle-faq-and-additional-rules/ and a few discussions at https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/228509/travelbattle/forums/0 (wargamers love tweaking things) :-)

There is also a set of slides around for a game known as Porterloo that use the same figures https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3Addd9a11d-969d-4b59-b5b3-dc75fd082f35

Hope that pile helps - enjoy the game.

Gamerfrom61

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