Apples and ale
Not too much progress on the hobby front over the past couple of weeks, but I did make up this deployment point vignette for Sharp Practice II. It’s carved out of polyiso rigid insulation, which is something of a new material for me to work with. This was a practice piece. I think my texture work needs some…work, and the paint job got away from me a bit. I wanted it to look like a weathered ruin, but it’s kind of a muddy mess.
I thought about adding some stacked muskets to the vignette for extra ambience, but left them out for the moment, leaving the piece is period-neutral.
Rubble filled stone wall.
The only figure I’ve painted since the last post is the colonel of the 1/52nd that you see in the pictures. It’s a Perry figure. He’s quite dashing, with his pelisse thrown carelessly over his shoulder, and bright orange mutton chops. I’ll call him Opie.
You’ll never fit through that door, Opie.
ArkieGamer 
Comments
Looks better than my average efforts!
I don’t know about that, but thank you!
Very nice work, sir!
Thanks!
Very impressive modelling Sir!
Thank you!
That’s awesome.
Thanks, John.
Looks splendid. The red sideburns really draw the eye and I love the detailing. I think your brick wall looks the part and it seems the material you used does not tend to have little fissures all along the lines you scribed in. Is this because you are simply skilled or a property of this material?
Thanks!
The material is extruded polystyrene (XPS) used in building envelope insulation. It comes in 4’x8′ sheets in the US, and is available at any home improvement store. It’s a dense foam that has a very subtle grain. Here’s a link with some information on the insulation. http://ww3.owenscorning.com/sciencedoesntlie/
The block pattern in the wall is made by drawing with a felt tipped pen, scribing along the pen markings with a sharp hobby knife (x-acto knife, in my case), and then deepening and widening the scribed marks with a dull pencil. Basically the knife cuts are just pilot lines for the pencil. You can texture in face of the material by pressing various rough and ready materials into it. I used cat litter, but a rough rock, or even crumpled aluminum foil will do the trick.
Then I do it wrong :D. I think the prescribing might be the key to nice smooth edges.
Yes, it absolutely is! Also, you’ll need to change your blades frequently. Polystyrene quickly dulls a knife.