Spent a good part of the day setting up the scroll saw and trying it out. For the price point, I’m just glad it works at all. It’s the Rockwell Bladerunner X2, and about what one should probably expect from a tool advertised on late night TV, though that’s not how I discovered it. Price point at Amazon balanced against risk indicated by sour reviews balanced against not wanting to pony up for a DeWalt just now. It definitely handles the 1/8″ craft plywood with ease, but the cuts are really chippy. Next available opportunity, I’ll upgrade to Bosch blades and see if that makes a difference. I’d hate to have to blow through twice the stock just to pad the cut on the pieces I mean to use.
As for the plywood, it’s from Midwest Products via Amazon, and it’s a bit wanting. The factory edges aren’t square, for one thing. And I was surprised that it wasn’t sized as advertised. I learned last year that dimensional lumber isn’t what it sounds like, since a 2×4 isn’t really 2″ x 4,” but I expected that craft ply stated at 12×24 would actually be 24″ inches long, not ~23 3/4,” and all the boards are the same size, so that must just be how they come. Alas.
After that, I experimented with the clay roller and the polymer clay more today, and came up with a textured stone pattern I’m happy with for now. I’ll see how well they take to the Reaper paints tomorrow evening if all goes according to plan. Mounted to the 1/8″ thick 1″ square wooden bases, they come to 3/16″ thick, which seems nice and substantial while still being very lightweight. Now I’m looking forward to getting the wall design done so I can build the first corner and see how durable it is. Hard to check on a single 1″ square tile.
With that, here’s a peek inside the Bog Monster’s lair. One of these days I might even grow up into a real shop space, but this is plenty cozy for now.
And here’s the first 20 textured floor panels. I’d meant to start work on the biome map, but how could I resist the siren call of modern dungeon flooring solutions?
And a small army of mostly 1 hit dice (or fewer) monsters awaiting a beginner’s ham-fisted brushflogging. Gotta start somewhere, right?
Tonight’s music selection has been top heavy on the Killing Joke. Perhaps you’ll enjoy their Dark Forces.
Rocky Mountain Bog Monster 