Saturday 26 April 2014

First Space Marine

Hi All,

I hope that the weekend is going to be a good one for painting (rain or inclement weather) so that I can read about your exploits. I have painted my first ever Space Marine, bought from ebay for half the price from GW I have a few more on the way. There was so much to paint on this model I almost went dizzy, still I suppose it represents value for money?





I bought these in the hope that one day I will snag Space Hulk from fleabay or a car boot etc...the one thing that I would buy from Games Workshop and they don't sell it anymore! What was that limited run all about? Space Hulk was released a few months after my wife and son died so I was not exactly in a position to think/buy or do anything. Oh well I will wait until they release it again?

Thanks for looking Chaps and keep blogging you keep me sane!

Wednesday 23 April 2014

New camera....

Hi Chaps,

Well I could not stand being unable to post on my blog or take pictures to send to my family in Thailand so I splashed out £20 on a new (to me) Samsung L313. It seems to work OK and I will experiment if we ever get any sunshine.


Whilst in the metropolis I bought some paints...these are to help me paint some Space Marines (Dark Angels) that I bought online....I can't help but think that the chap in the shop saw me coming? It will be interesting to discover how to produce some rust effects but I am a little concerned as to what a "dry" paint actually is and what it does, more research needed.

I am not going nuts for Games Workshop but I have been watching some tutorials and I expect that the skills are transferable to other periods...have a look at this chap...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDPWYLvlcsA

There are plenty of others and having watched the opening 10 seconds of that clip again I now realise that I already have the base colour it's just a different name. Oh well...

Just for the Victorian junkies I took a picture of the Harris museum as I passed....there are plenty of crumbling Victorian warehouses and shops nearby which has prompted me to dig out the foam board, I often wonder what the other bloggers home towns are like? How about a pic of the most impressive Victorian building from your home town Chaps?


Thursday 17 April 2014

Praise for Games Workshop! What next?

I recently did the middle aged angry old man thing and I wrote a strongly worded letter to the CEO of Games Workshop (who I believe was actually a chick!). Anyway I like to think that the men in suits listened to my gripes (sorry sage business advice) because they seem to have produced something that actually seems value for money.

Startling isn't it?

So now you have all picked yourselves up off the floor take a peek at this boxed set.

http://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Warhammer-40k-Dark-Vengeance

The figures within are of a mix, some are standard Space Marines and yet there are a fair few that could be used in Future Wars type games...post apocalypse types and for the money there is a lot of painting to be done. At £62.00 it is a whopping investment but there are two skirmish forces and if like me you own an ancient rule set or two it's happy days...no further outlay needed.

Maybe these figures will be OK for Beyond the gates of Antares? Either way it is a cheap GW alternative to The Hobbit.

http://www.darkspacecorp.com/

Camera is on it's way (eventually) so I will have lots of pictures to post...mostly of WW2 stuff.

Keep blogging Chaps you keep me sane and inspired. (Unless your name is Legatus in which case I am jealous-have you seen his ex girlfriends?). Dammit.

Tuesday 8 April 2014

World War Two Plastics....

Hi Chaps,

I just bought a modest couple of packs of plastics to bulk out my Rapid Fire forces. I really wanted the German Tank Riders from Hat but they are rarer/harder to locate than gold dust so I snapped up some Russian Tank riders....the detail is amazing! Its a pity really because my Russians are just meant to be targets for my favoured Germans but now I will have to put some effort into them!


My camera has finally bit the dust so now I may just bite the bullet (LOL) and buy a Bridge camera which in theory should help produce some better pics. Anyway my second purchase was a box of Italeri German Pak 40 anti tank guns. I need the guns but the crew can help serve my 105mm Zvezda guns who's crews I thought were too thin. I did encounter a problem though as I seem to have a wheel missing! Probably my fault as I am terrible at making kits but frustrating....Oh well I will disguise the mock up wheel somehow.

For just under £13.00 I have hours of painting and gaming fun ahead of me, learning to paint at this scale is harder than 28mm but it is certainly affordable to the patient and less well off! When the new camera is purchased I will post a pic of my 20mm hordes.

Thanks for reading Chaps, keep blogging!

Thursday 3 April 2014

Fire (sorry paint) for effect!

Hi Chaps,

Its been a while but a box of Caesar plastic got me back into a groove of sorts. First I must explain that I was going for the pale nondescript (neither fish nor fowl) cammo that the British army have adopted for some reason. (Cannot beat DPM in my humble opinion). Anyway the pale pea green got washed away on the test figure so I didn't bother applying it to the rest...I play solo anyway.

The vehicles are Britannia miniatures and I had forgotten just how good they are, simple to paint and cheap, also Grubby has excelent mail order skills and with my previous two orders I got a very decent freebie with each. I will certainly be ordering again-but I am undecided moderns or bulk out my WW2 German and Russians?







Instead of going for detail I have really gone for effect. 20mm is so easy to paint if you do this. Thanks for blogging hopefully I will have (the first ever) game report to write up over Easter!