The potential future. Or, yet another doomed jaunt into the wargames industry.

This is just a bit of a personal update really, though it is hobby related, so might interest a few of you. As some of you may know, I've been part of the Wargames Industry repeatedly over the last 25 years, (GW, Hetzerdog and more recently the F*undry F*ckwits). This generally ends in tears, but for some reason I just can't stay away and my burnt fingers never seem to teach me the lesson I so obviously need.

With my current spinal injury meaning I'm not at work, it's given me a lot of time to think things over. Partially about fitting a TVR V8 engine in my Land Rover it has to be said, but also about my future in general. Depending on the surgical outcome, I may never return to 100% fitness, and part of the problem is that sitting at a desk programming for long periods of time is something that I may no longer be able to do, and that puts my current job/career in jeopardy.

With that in mind, my partner and I have recently been looking at buying a laser cutter/engraver, which will work for her clothing company, and I thought of possibly starting up in a small/part time way, in the wargames scenery business to bring in some extra income.

A new toy...

Now, I do realise that the laser cut scenery business is booming at the moment, and possibly nearing capacity. However, a large proportion are companies knocking out very basic 'etched box' houses that frankly just aren't very good. There are a few notable companies (4Ground, Sarissa etc) putting out some fantastic work though, and my plan is to aim at that level, rather than the entry level stuff. Now, I know that is going to be a bloody steep learning curve, but what the hell, I could do with a challenge.

I already have small scale resin/white metal mouldmaking and casting facilities, mainly for making jewellery, but I think that a combination of laser cut buildings with resin/metal accessories would be a potentially good angle that isn't currently oversubscribed.

Fenris have already done this with their 'Griffin House' kit, and it breaks away from the traditional problem I have with laser cut scenery in that it doesn't look like a laser cut  model:

How to do laser cut scenery well

This is my issue with most of the stuff out there, it's too regular, too boxy and just too simple. Houses aren't featureless boxes, roof tiles aren't a flat surface etched on a board etc, so I'd like to think I could make far more 'realistic' buildings, both fantasy and sci-fi. My issue with the sci-fi stuff is that it's also generally too clean, and follows the Infinity style of scenery. I prefer my scenery to be a bit more 'lived in', but I guess we'll see how that works, and if anyone else would buy it!

Anyway, there you go, a bit of an update for you, so if you see my blog's not getting updated as often as it was, it's because a: I'm still struggling to paint due to health issues, and b: I'm desperately trying to learn AutoCAD!