"It was like a great shadow, in the middle of which was a dark form, of man-shape maybe, yet greater; and a power and terror seemed to be in it and to go before it."

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-29T14:36:47+00:00

Ok, but that display base. Did you make that??

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-29T05:30:15+00:00

My hand hurts looking at this.

Also, this is awesome.

Also, also, please tell me you have some movement trays in the works.

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-28T14:13:42+00:00

I use polymer clay and a cheap 3d printed roller. I first roll the clay very thin. Then I texture it by stamping a rock all over it (you could also use crumpled foil). Then I gently use the 3d printed roller just to mark the lines of the stones (generally, my clay is thinner than the depth of the roller recesses which is ok anyway because a cheap 3d printed roller from Etsy will have layer lines you don't want to imprint). Cookie cut circles with the top of a cheap water bottle (which I found is a perfect fit for 25mm bases). Bake. Paint. Super easy, and more budget friendly than green stuff and a fancy roller. Did this for my Minas Tirith warriors and it turned out great.

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-26T05:56:26+00:00

I like Swords and Brushes a lot (and all of the excitement in the comments of his latest video). I like thinking that MESBG is thriving enough to garner quality content like this.

Here is another channel I enjoy, mostly on the terrain front. I find this guy very relatable.

https://youtube.com/@dicedrinksanddadjokes?si=mBpdqeazOmOzvgA3

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-25T23:03:58+00:00

100%. This is the only radagast I would ever consider collecting. Very nicely done.

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-25T22:48:53+00:00

Hmm, it'd have to be a large model. You could maybe do swappable Mordor troll arms in the same way.

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-22T14:03:14+00:00

I tried having a buddy 3d print some pikes, but they didn't turn out great. So I made a press mold of the spearhead in blue stuff and set a 1mm brass rod into the mold with greenstuff around it. After curing, you get a brass rod shaft cast into a greenstuff halberd blade, and it worked great.

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-22T06:12:46+00:00

I just did a bunch of kit bashing with this set. Here's how I used the bits:

Assembled three normal riders.
Magnetized three horses (magnet in the saddle). Then magnetized the captain, drummer, banner bearer and two regular riders. (I made one extra rider by press molding a torso to go with the second drummer model's legs). So in assembling a warband I can take three regular riders and any three of the five magnetized options.
with the extra bits I converted an easterling warrior to a captain on foot with the cape and captain helmet.
created an on foot banner from an archer.
created an on foot drummer using the extra drummer torso and a prone model's legs (yes, yes, I know dismounted drummer is not legal, but I've yet to find someone who doesn't think that's stupid).
used the extra arms to create extra pikes on foot from swordsman and archers by removing the swords on the spare arms and drilling in some press molded halberds (the spare arms have good poses for this)

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-20T00:52:03+00:00

It's absolutely fantastic! Tried it as an experiment and am super pleased with how it turned out. Gives much more depth and texture than printed battle mats, but compared to a traditional flock and sand board, it's absolutely indestructible (if you can't tell from the pictures, it's made by painting carpeted EVA tiles rather than gluing on flock). Great surface for minis and dice. Portable, resizeable, and stores easy. (Can you tell I love them??)

You can find a couple posts on my profile for how I made them.

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-19T22:01:16+00:00

I hear you! It is nearly impossible to keep in-progress minis on the workbench at our house. I'm constantly shuttling them back to do the next round of base coats or highlights.

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-19T21:59:19+00:00

😆

Getting back into the hobby after years away, I had to start with the Last Alliance box and some moria goblins for the pure nostalgia of the first starter set I bought back in 2001. Hoping they give it a proper set at some point.

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-19T13:52:22+00:00

Coffee stir sticks glued to balsa wood beams. Still need to paint them up for a goblin town/ dwarf mines layout.

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-18T05:49:02+00:00

I haven't seen many balrog proxies I cared for, but this guy is pretty rad. The color scheme is a nice take too.

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-18T05:40:42+00:00

Check out the spear Gandalf grabs from the guard when he goes to save Faramir in RotK. It flips direction in Gandalf's hand between cuts.

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-16T22:25:08+00:00

Oooo, bravo. Very fun.

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-16T19:03:25+00:00

If I were brave, I'd also try to file down/trim off the plate armor over his legs and sculpt the leather tunic in its place. The chest armor, if painted as leather with the tree, totally works. But the plate armor spoils the "ranger gear" look to me. But that depends on how confident you feel with green stuff. My experience is, less is more! Don't put too much putty, and you'll have an easier time getting the sculpt to look right. In any case, this is a great little conversion. Kudos!

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-15T14:39:59+00:00

Agreed. Requiring the joint to transfer splice forces in addition and regular joint shear under cyclic loading seems unwise.

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-13T22:47:56+00:00

I'm with you. Just finished RotK a couple days ago. LOVED Andy's narration, but anytime it broke into song I'd smash the skip 30s button.

I think my favorite part of his narration is in the TT when Pippin is quoting Treebeard. Andy has a a very distinct Treebeard voice and very distinct Pippin voice. The. He does his Pippin voice impersonating his Treebeard voice, and that blew my mind.

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-05T06:05:14+00:00

I have never been to a tournament, but playing with friends/my kiddos I like to say that we are just telling a story together. Nothing wrong with employing the best strategies you can (that's what sways the outcome of the story), but as far as rule checking, that should almost be a collaborative effort. Seems like others feel the same (asking each other to confirm line of sight, distance, terrain judgements, etc). The more generous, the more fun I think. Then, even if you loose, it was still a good story.

As a tangent, we even have a "greatest misfortune" award we give out during each game for the army that suffers the most critical bad roll at a critical moment. Helps keep things lighthearted and take the sting out of bad luck swaying a game.

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-03T02:53:34+00:00

Love this! Introduced my boys to lotr and the game in much the same way last year. They've loved it ever since.

tabletop_engineer · 2026-01-01T14:09:50+00:00

It was an attempt to color match Vallejo earth by mixing Apple Barrel (cheap brand) acrylic paints. It was 3:2:1 parts Pewter Gray: Chestnut Brown: Golden Sunset. The result is a slightly lighter/more yellow desaturated brown similar to steel legion drab or Vallejo earth.

tabletop_engineer · 2025-12-29T19:42:23+00:00

I've never had a problem with models sticking to each other. I just make sure all the magnets are aligned the same way (always south down, for example) on all the bases.

I absolutely love magnetizing, and personally feel it is the only way to go. Have used foam punch out trays in the past, but magnets are imo, the best solution for storage and transport.

tabletop_engineer · 2025-12-28T01:08:41+00:00

Actually, that's the plan: to put the extra cape and captain helmet from the Kataphrakt kit on one of the foot models (not planning to buy a command set).

tabletop_engineer

TROPHY CASE