Hi folks,

One quarter of 2026 has been spent already, and it is a good moment for stopping 5 minutes and considering the progress made on my plodding along project. And the way that remains to be walked.

The project has been defined as a starting point as a scenery project, mainly directed toward addition of scenery elements to my home-made set of items for an Ashland themed table. I wanted to add some elevation to a rather flat design. My main idea was to focus on a big central terrain element such as a mine or a big pile of rocks/mesa. I had Uluru in mind, at least as an indirect inspiration source.

Something like that but greyish

I've told you, greyish

Coincidentally, I put hand on 2 big styfoam boards. It has been the triggering element. Before starting working on it I have made a test (for cutting/texturing and painting steps and techniques validations). Being satisfied enough by the result I then committed the mine and went further with additional elements. A small hill (or ash dune) was also added, although I should have done it modular.

It is already more terrain that I had planned.

More hills and rocks

But it is not finished at all. Now comes the plastification stage, with MTO fragdrill and Servohaulers. Ordered in December, they arrived at end of March. They have been primed and a small kit bashdone for one of the machines. These elements will complete my existing collection inc. being reused in Sector Mechanicus or Sector Munitorum. Here is the result of these machineries:

My latest addition

The crane has been done in a black scheme. Its trailer is without any fancy feature: no fuel loading arm

The second hauler has been kit bashed to get a mining laser instead of its oversized clamp. It gives a better outlook AND fits to the theme.

Extra stuff has also been designed to add intermediate elevation levels. Keeping to the idea of a mine with its mining camp, I have started working on crate and fuel dumps. And also on additional containers. Even if part of the sprues have been bought in order to build a slum town for exploited miners I still have not decided if I will go this way or keep it simple as Containers. What is sure is that some secondhand Ryza pattern ruins are under paintjob steps for part of the slum town. Here again, whatever it is related to containers, dump or Ryza ruins, all these elements are cross compatible with my other thematic scenery collections. A kind of back bone.

You can also see how these elemnts will fit with 11th terrain areas sizes

What more? The bitz management. My project includes in its declarative step an auxiliary generator to be done from plastic card and bitz (power pipes, vents, control panels…). I have to start working on it, now that I gathered all the bitz I might potentially use. This gathering led me to give a thought to what else could be done, and I have identified some barricades (using spare parts from Goliath Rock grinder for example) or watch tower/spotlight poles. And as more is not necessary better, I have to inject some serious dose of self discipline so that I will spend my energy first on the Power generator and only after on the rest of options. Additionnal debris can be useful too so that the terrain area could be defined in corners when central elements are too small. And I still have 3 Armoured containers waiting to be used for something - Slum town or just containers, I am not fully decided yet.

The only thing that has not been included in the project, while initially imagined as a potential evolution, is the addition of a Necromunda Ashland STC hab block. While it would have brough additional height perspective, but the model is too expensive for what it brings from a gaming perspective. 

That’s all for the moment.

See you latter for next advancement report, with the Fragdrill or the Generator done maybe?