Now What's He Up To ?!.

We have had some rather blustery weather of late , when you put the recycling bins out for the dustbin men half of the plastic ends up deposited all over the neighbourhood . So when I found this wedged in the hedgerow I suppose it had been put out for recycling by a neighbour , it looked newish so I picked it up as I thought it might be useful one day . ( our shed is full of items which 'may be useful one day' - about once a year I have a clean out and bin them !) It's about 2' x 18"x 3" and quite strongly built - Hmmm ! I wonder what I could do with it ? , whilst walking the dog I had an idea (I get all my best ideas walking the dog ) would it make a mini wargaming table ? .

I though "could I paint it ?" , but it's that sort of shinny plastic that paint won't adhere to ! , then in a moment of serendipity my sister rang to say she was having a tidy out and did I want some coloured felt off cuts (we delight in trying to fob each other with seemingly useful articles just to get rid of them) . This time I was pleased with this offer and thought I would line it with felt glued down to the plastic - hence my trusty and rather battered glue gun .

Of course Hugo had to help - thinking it was to be some plush cat litter tray probably ! . The cat removed I started to glue down the felt . The problem being I didn't have a big enough piece to cover the tray properly in one piece , the felt I had been given had various shapes cut out of it and was not as useful as it first appeared ! blast !

I was determined not to be beaten so resorted to various patches to cover the holes and the edges of the tray , an interesting fact - the glue in a 'hot glue gun' when used is HOT ! and when it gets on your fingers it involves blasphemy and dancing about whilst waving the stricken hand about before sucking it and muttering - which alarmed the dog .

Well here's the finished article set up for a 15mm Sci Fi skirmish game , it fits onto the computer table so I can be sociable downstairs in the living room whilst playing (and its warmer)

'Green Force' open fire ! , the figures are some that I've had for ages and although painted up have never seen action .

'Green Force' support laser opens up on the enemy .

Their opposition the  ' Planetary Marines' have to take cover due to the heavy fire .

Hero and Villain confront each other.

I added various scatter and flock to the surface .

All together a great success ! the game lasted about one hour from setting up to finish and the whole set up fits into the cupboard on top of my painting tray so it is easy to set up and use . I will also be using it for 'Songs of Blades and Heroes ' using 15mm figures I think .