Author: MCM Ben

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Year of the Risen Sun

They’re finally here! Bushido Chits!

Many of you have been waiting a couple of months for me to finally publish these. Honestly, I was waiting until I had taken photos of each colour and material option, but have decided I’ll do that as I fulfil orders for each of those colours.

I’ve been working for a long time on a full set of Bushido chits (I refer to them collectively as chits due to counters, markers, and tokens each being distinct things in-game).

  • Markers Set: 48 double-sided Markers
  • Counters Set: 34 double-sided Counters
  • Tokens Set: 18 double-sided Tokens
  • Ki tokens Set: 35 double-sided Ki Tokens

Each is available in budget MDF, a selection of coloured acrylics and, my personal favourite, bamboo.

Each type of chit has a specific shape, to help identify them quickly in your storage container. Markers are triangular, counters are rectangular, and tokens are round. Many people, like myself, already use cheap Chinese New Year coins for Ki Tokens, so I’ve split them into their own set.
They are also all double-sided, to minimise the amount of time you spend looking for the one you need.
Translucent and fluorescent acrylic options will be available at a later date, but will have to be single-sided, for obvious reasons. You can also expect faction-specific sets to follow, though these won’t duplicate anything in this wave of sets.

I’ve bundled the sets together into the Chits Set, consisting of one of each set except the Ki Tokens, and the Megaset, which includes the Ki Tokens.

Bushido MDF Tokens Set
MDF Tokens Set

The MDF sets are line-engraved very simply, and are easy to read. They could be painted for additional clarity, of course.

The Bamboo sets are engraved with deeper and wider details and shouldn’t require any painting, thanks to the charring of the wood.

The Acrylic sets are engraved in the same way as the Bamboo sets but, without the charring, this doesn’t create the same clarity. I recommend painting these with a contrasting colour. The masking is left on to aid this. Any hobby paint will do. I experimented with spray-painting below, and that seemed to work, though you’ll want to do a couple of coats and may need to tidy a little with isopropyl alcohol or a similar solvent.

The acrylic Tokens set: masked, unpainted, and painted.

Bushido Player Aids

The much-delayed ZoC rings clip on to a miniature’s base to show a 180 arc to the front of the miniature, with a notch to show the front. These can be handy to adjust the arc during a game for those situations where a model’s weapon prevents proper alignment, or even if you just hate marking the arcs by hand.

Joining these are two card-sized plastic solutions for Kimiko Hoshi’s Ice Patch and Kaito’s Tilled Field, from the Minimoto Clan and Temple of Ro-Kan factions, respectively.

3D Alien Worlds Scenery

A few newly-added products. The rice barn is the first of the buildings . Farmhouses should follow in a month or so. Buildings like this do take a long time to print, so please bear that in mind when ordering.

I’ve also customised a host of ruined variations on the stone walls pieces. These ruined versions make the stone walls more usable for games played on smaller boards, such as Bushido.

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Speed Demons!

The first release of 2020 consists of four wheels with different styles of bike tyre, intended to fit on Games Workshop’s Space Marine bikes. These are great kits, but I’ve always wanted more bike-appropriate tyres. Choose from slicks, wet-weather, off-road, and spiked.

Also available in squad packs – three sets of two wheels.

There are a couple more sci-fi releases on their way, but the next release is all Bushido-themed – tokens and scenery.

Finally, thank you to everyone who took part in the Black Friday promotion in November. Thanks to you, the George’s Rockstars charity will be getting a £200 donation. You’re all rockstars.

Ben.

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George’s Rockstars

Master Crafted Miniatures doesn’t hold Black Friday sales. Instead, for the last few years, I have donated the proceeds from all sales of MCM products on that day (or the corresponding weekend) to charities which fight against blood cancer and work to improve the lives of those affected.

I started doing this because of a little boy, George, who had been fighting leukaemia for a couple of years. With the support of his family, blood donations and the wonderful staff of the NHS, he put up a heroic fight. This year, however, his family was given the terrible news that his leukaemia had returned and, later, that there was no course of action left to take.

With my own son only just over a year old, attending George’s funeral was a tough experience yet, as an event, it was incredibly positive. His short life affected so many, and I wish I had known him better myself. His parents have since begun the long process of setting up a charity to help those in George’s situation, allowing him to continue being a force for happiness through music, which he loved: George’s Rockstars.

Stories like these are too common, but there are many ways in which each of us can make a difference. Donation is the easiest way to contribute to research and support, but there are other things you can do which are just as important.
Give blood. This is crucial and very easy. Whilst you’re there, get them to test you for platelet donation, as few of us have high enough platelet counts to do this. Register as a stem cell donor. Register as a bone marrow donor. You may never be called upon but, if you are, you will be saving a life.

This year, if you buy through the MCM store from Friday 22nd to midnight on Friday 29th of November, you’ll get yourself some stuff for our funny little hobby, and the proceeds will be donated to George’s Rockstars. If I have nothing you want, please try to donate, but whatever else you do – and this will cost you nothing but your time – register:

Thank you,
Ben.

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October Releases!

Hello! Long time!

A couple of new Japanese terrain items will be following shortly but, for now, here’s the latest batch of commissioned pads now available on the store. Still building up stock on these, so please be patient.

I’ve also remastered chequered disc pads, and the scimitar weapons sprue, so these are now smoother and crisper.

Cheers,
Ben.

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New Things!

First up, I’ve just completed a small restock on Maow Miniatures, and added the following new additions:

Next is something a little new for me. For the first time, I’m selling files for 3D printing. I’ve taken the Star God sculpt and made a bust version. I had to make a few small changes so that he will print without supports on an FDM printer. There are a couple of version of both his… face? and the plinth on which he sits.

I may offer this guy in resin in the future, if there is demand.

Below are some of my test prints of him, at 75% scale. Filaments used are Polyalchemy Elixir Silver, Fillamentum Vertigo Starlight, and Fillamentum Vertigo Galaxy. Printed on my Original Prusa i3 MK3 using the Pretty PLA profile (found here). 0.2mm layers, 3 perimeters, 10% gyroid infill.

Last of all, I made a remix of the 3D Alien Worlds rice bundles to make a terrain piece on a 50mm base, for use in Bushido, with the Rice Bail Barricade special card, upcoming in Risen Sun. This is 3D printed on-demand in light grey PLA.