Scratchbuild Spaceships: Super-Chunky Style

Chunky, exaggerated details should be easier to paint

I'm still working slllloooowly on the spaceship I started months ago, as I last talked about here.  It's coming along nicely, but I wanted to explore a new idea.

I made a bunch of various-sized stamps, using Super-Sculpey again, like the one pictured here.

Stamp

If you've read this blog you know how the story goes from here.  If not, here's a quick summary of the technique: mash the stamps into a block of modeling clay, then pour resin in the resulting cavity.  You then have one half of a spaceship.

Heavy shadows to show detail

At first I wasn't in love with the results, but the look is starting to grow on me.  It kind of looks like a spaceship with warts, but then again you can see the details from across the board.

Although it's only half a ship, I'm going to hit it with some primer, ink it, then dry-brush it.  I bet the details will really pop out.

Dead CCG Trades

I added another page to my blog entitled Dead CCG Trades.  This page will be a permanent repository for any posts regarding trades of dead CCGs.  More importantly, it will link to my have and need lists for trading, so people can determine if we have any trade potential.

Due to the magic of the internet, I'm no longer having to play all my card games solitaire.  Right now I'm involved in two play-by-forum games and they are each a blast!  I spoke of the three-player Galactic Empires game already.  The second game I'm in is a two-player Quest for the Grail game and it's a hoot.  Fans of the Arthurian romances should really check this game out.  I mean, just look at the art on some of the cards...

Play-by-forum game; Round 7

My favorite knight

CCG Necromancy: Ideas for a Dead CCG League

I have to admit it: I love CCGs.

OK, the business model of forcing players to buy heaps of crap cards in order to get a few good ones is pretty despicable, I admit.  And I don't like how CCGs reward people for spending more money; it was always annoying to be defeated by the guy who could afford to sift through seven booster boxes for the ultra-rare.

All that aside, some of my best gaming memories come from CCG play.  Well designed games like Mythos and INWO could be dominated with common cards, while offering tremendous replay value with just a modest card collection.

Recently I discovered the concept of play-by-forum on BoardGameGeek.  It's very slow, but the prospect of actually playing out-of-print CCGs with actual opponents is priceless.  And not to mention fun.

The great thing about dead CCGs is that generally you can get loads of cards for pennies on eBay.  The problem until I discovered forum-play was that I had huge collections of cards but no opponents.  My recent forum game has got me wondering: would there be any interest in a dead CCG league?

A dead CCG league could offer players the chance to get opponents in exchange for cards.  For example; I've acquired thousands of Illuminati: New World Order cards over the years.  I could easily pick out a few hundred spares, enough to make a couple good decks, and trade with another league member who has no INWO cards.  In exchange, that league member sends me cards from his/her dead CCG of choice which I have no cards for.  We can then set up forum games on BGG, since we both have cards for both games.

Just something I'm kicking around in my head.  I posted a call for players for the obscure Quest for the Grail CCG on BoardGameGeek.  I was amazed I got a reply in less than 30 minutes.  If such an obscure game can generate interest so readily, then perhaps a dead CCG league is not such a far-fetched idea?