So, is he more "DiNozzo" or "McGee"? LOL
So, is he more "DiNozzo" or "McGee"? LOL
OK so I just ordered a "Kong" from Ebay... and I will be constructing a few skyscraper toppers for terrain this week... one of these days I will stop biting off more than I can chew and I will finish my Reviresco Camel project... but first I have 9 more decals to put on CappyTom's Spad, and some major clear-coating to do... lets just hope the back holds out... and that the store is open for our last event/play-test on the 27th!
Ken Head - "The Cowman"
“You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.” Robin Williams
So I found a cool 8" Kong plush on Ebay to use for my play-test scenario coming up this Sunday (My last event at Armoury Games before they close) At scale that will make my Kong close to 100' tall... quite the beast...
Because of the size of the plush I have decided to go with one rooftop. I am thinking of something along the size of the Sears tower (225' x 225') . At scale that will be about 19" x 19" square. I plan on doing that as a raised 3D relief maybe 1" tall at the base with various objects representing AC units, Antenna, and other objects on the roof top. Kong will then stand on top and move from area to area. There will be a felt or similar footprint under the rooftop so that the entire piece can be lifted and allow aircraft to easily pass over. The footprint will show the location of the taller objects on top so that collisions with said objects can be appraised.
Here is my quandary. I have one week to create this piece. I have zero budget. I must use materials on hand. I have lots of foam, and cardboard both corrugated and cereal box types. I have a bit of balsa and a large container of pill bottles, cans and "scrap junk" I can also get access to a small amount of plywood if needed. I am open to suggestions for a rooftop plan, and any suggestions for construction to make this look halfway decent. I can of course airbrush after construction.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Ken
Ken Head - "The Cowman"
“You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.” Robin Williams
Ken,
Can't you just "build" up using this top part of the bldg. as a general guide? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._slonecker.jpg
That is the general idea... I chose (even though it is out of period and geographic significance) the top of the Sears Tower... it is a nice wide flat top... with the big antennas lending to collison chances... so I plan on having the top story (about an inch) and then the rooftop and the structures above it)
What I am looking for is ideas for cheap or free alternatives to use as the materials to create the build. I only have a few days with my busy schedule this week to get it put together... so any ideas are appreciated!
Ken Head - "The Cowman"
“You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.” Robin Williams
Anyone else have any ideas at all please? I am running out of time and will be starting construction, blindly if necessary, tonight right after I put the finishing touches on the Guynemer Spad (finally!)
Ken Head - "The Cowman"
“You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.” Robin Williams
Fiddler's Green has an Empire State Building. It looks like someone just built the top.
Nice find Larry. I wonder if they would E-mail a copy to Ken if he sent them a credit by Pay Pal. That would speed up the process.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
The top of the Empire State Building doesn't look too hard to do. You don't need to make it super detailed. Just do a series of rectangular boxes until you get to the cylindrical spire with the four flanges cut from cardboard or foam core and a truncated cone on top. From the third picture Larry posted, I'd start just below where the plane is. If you use Google Sketchup, there are 3d models of the ESB that you can download for reference, though some are better than others. Just ignore the antenna if it has it, since that wasn't added until later.
My thoughts if I were running something like this is that Kong could be at the very top where he could be fired on from any side and considered altitude 3. He could go down to the area around where the spire starts, considered altitude 2, and move around the tower, being at one of the four corners or on one of the sides.
I'd make a move deck for him consisting of cards that indicate no move, move 1 clockwise, move 2 clockwise, move 1 anticlockwise, move 2 anticlockwise, climb up, and climb down. I would think the deck should be mostly no move and move 1 or 2, with only a few climb up and down. Just pull one card each phase to see what he does. If he is at the top, the moves and the climb up count as no move. Climb down takes one phase and roll a d8 to determine where on the lower area he climbs down to. While on the lower deck, a move 1 would have move from a corner to the center of one side or from a side to a corner in the appropriate direction. A move 2 would have him move from one corner to the next or one side to the next in the indicated direction. While on the lower area, the tower would block fire, so attackers would need to be on Kong's side of the building to hit him. A climb down while on the lower area counts as no move, and a climb up has Kong climb to the top taking two (or maybe three) phases. Until he gets to the top, he is considered on whatever side he started from and the tower still blocks fire.
As I take another look at the top, it isn't a cylinder with flanges. It is a square tower with the flanges coming off the corners. Just the very top is round and then tapers in.
Umm...if your in a rush, maybe use Lego's? ;-) Hey, besides, you're supposed to be "resting" today...:-) depending on how big your "monkey" is (no comments from the peanut gallery please), maybe use a coffee can with a series of soft-drink/beer (yeah baby!) cans on top of it...hey, it's a game not a Frank LLoyd Wright designer thing...;-)
That has potential and I can afford the purchase... I am pretty sure all of Fiddler's Green's Stuff is available for download ( Unless you buy entire CDs of models series) The question is, how do I increase the size of the images from a .pdf in order to get the scale right? I can always reinforce things with foam inside after I print out the larger parts and build just the top...
Thanks for the link!
Ken Head - "The Cowman"
“You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.” Robin Williams
You can use the snapshot tool on Adobe to capture all or part of a pdf page and copy it to word or a graphics program, with which you can resize.
It has been my experience that the larger you make the the pdf image on your screen before using the snapshot tool, the sharper the copy comes out.
Ken, if you take it to FedEx Kinko's they might be able to help--Chip also thoughtfully included a letter with a lot of his models about "Dear Kinkos Kopy Kop, as copyright holder I give bearer of this letter permission to make as many copies of this model as they like for personal use".
Or, you might get some tagboard sheets and a micrometer or calipers, measure the FG model then figure the corresponding dimensions and manually enlarge it. (Kinda like what I've been trying to do with various Zeppelin materials but the old-fashioned way as opposed to my using Google SketchUp to create digital models.)
OK now that I had a look around the Fiddler's Green Web site I found this: http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/models/...er-Bridge.html
I am thinking that I could enarge this to N scale (isn't that close to 1/144th?) and it would make for an interesting scenario... the question is: how to enlarge? How much to enlarge? and will it hold the weight of Mighty Stuffed 8" Kong once enlarged? (Oh and how big would it be at that scale?) Any help?
I appreciate very much all the tips and help... lots of Reputation will be handed out soon!
Ken Head - "The Cowman"
“You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.” Robin Williams
I did not think about that... I could also use the Windows 7 clipping tool to do the same I suppose. Thx!
I actually plan on visiting a copy store tomorrow... but I can guarantee you it will NOT be Fed Ex Kinkos!!! LOL
You should read this Blog Entry of Mine when you get a chance sometime!
Ken Head - "The Cowman"
“You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.” Robin Williams
Ken Head - "The Cowman"
“You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.” Robin Williams
Okay, not them specifically, but y'all got my point. That had to suck... which is why I like to do all the prep and first-copy myself so all I gotta do is fire up a copier--which doesn't need some overpriced walking counter-warmer to do beyond handing you the key and ringing you up.
I love it! Puts a smile on my face!
BTW I did buy the ESB and Tower Bridge models from Fiddlers Green. Hoping I can make one of those work for me...
I also found the link to this page: http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/other/W...ESTIE-PUPS.php which also made me smile!
Ken Head - "The Cowman"
“You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.” Robin Williams
8" at 1/144 scale is 8 x 144 = 1152" = 96'
96 feet. That's one big monkey!
Years ago there was a King Kong Saturday morning cartoon show. Its theme song went:
King Kong, you know the name of
King Kong, you know the fame of
King Kong, Ten Times as big as a man.
Your Kong is 16 times as big as a man, which is close enough for Giant-Gorilla-Rampaging-Across-New-York work!
Last edited by tuladin; 02-24-2011 at 19:13.
I just got back from Office Max and they were unable to increase the paper models I needed to the proper size... so the Tower Bridge Kong scenario will have to wait... I picked up some foamcore pretty cheapand am going to build something tonight. We will see what I can come up with!
Oh and I noticed that Fiddlers Green has some nice WWI tanks they just added... going to have to pick up those models and build a few hundred....
Ken Head - "The Cowman"
“You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.” Robin Williams
Ken, problem is the FG tanks are huge, and a bear to rescale down to 1:144 or smaller and then try to build (unless you like doing all assembly operations with tweezers, but there are a few masochists on the FG Forum who do that)--I've actually been thinking about enlarging the tanks that come with the 1:400 JSC L59 to around 1:200-1:300 or so for "3D Ground Targets".
It's a hardcopy, check out http://www.JSC.pl as a start--L59 isn't in the Paper Models International online-catalog, but the last PDF catalog I downloaded had it IIRC--might drop by their website at papermodels.net and ask them if they'd look into getting it, though for just three little tanks it's an awful pricey way to go. (OTOH, if you want to do a "Grounded Zeppelin" scenario, it might work for you, despite that L59, along with L57 and L71, was the biggest Zeppelin of WWI... and really meant as a long-range transport on a one-way trip to Africa rather than a bomber.
It's number 056 in their catalog, the smaller L48 in the same scale is 055. Too bad they can't just release a sheet of nothing but multitudes of those tanks... looks like you get 2 Mk I, 2 Mk IV and 4 German A7V.
Also, looks like L48 includes a Staaken and a 1 1/2-strutter to-scale as "bonuses".
Hey Ken,
Flash, AlgyLacey & I were having a discussion about this King Kong scenario over coffee at the convention today. We have some questions:
1. Has King Kong received his mandatory Health & Safety training for climbing tall buildings?
2. Will Fay Wray be wearing a hard hat?
3. Have the pilots been briefed in completing the Environmental Impact Report necessary after King Kong falls to the streets?
These are all important aspects that need to be addressed
And don't forget counselling for anyone who thinks they may be traumatised by the event... whether they were there or not !
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
And remember that since Kong is an endangered species we aren't allowed to shoot at him anyway!
Ken,
Did you use the rules that came off of BGG site/ ...if not, how'd you run this/ ...or, did you mod the rules from the BGG site...just curious...
Ken Head - "The Cowman"
“You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.” Robin Williams
There is a quick summary of the rules I used in my AAR: http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/showthread.php?3900-Pictorial-AAR-Armoury-Games-vs.-Kong-Pickerington-Ohio-2-27-2011&highlight=kong
There are also some kewl pictures there... It was a good playtest over all... I would like to try it a couple more times with different attacking forces to see how it works out. I might run it as an open event at Origins if time and energy allows!
Ken Head - "The Cowman"
“You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.” Robin Williams
Oh Yeah...running it at Origins would be a great idea!!!
http://schedule.gamestorm.org/sessions/165
Not the first time he's run this, actually.
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