Bases are fun!

Hi Chaps,

Despite my mistake of gluing the figures intended for these bases to their ordinary plastic bases I still enjoyed this project. Whilst this sort of base may be of limited use for historical types for skirmish fantasy or sci fi it has its place.

The technique is not difficult, cheap air drying modelling clay was used to make a few 3 or 4mm thick "plates"-use a glass or rolling pin to flatten it out....don't worry about it being uneven. When dry it was broken into pieces that were stacked up on each other in the most random way possible, glue it all together using Bostik type glue.

Next I scored in patterns of bricks and stone slabs, the lines need to be a bit deeper and wider than you would at first think or they just dont show up.

Paint was matt black undercoat followed by greys being worked lighter with bone colour paint. The whole flat surface was was washed with Waywatcher Green which gave a nice worn look.

This was an experiment and maybe the bases should have a more unified look as I was hoping to base a unit of 12 Haradrim (?) on them?

Thanks for looking Guys, keep blogging it's where I nick these ideas from (James Wappel take a bow).

The Plastic Fellowship arrives...most of it

Hi Chaps,

Well today was a good day. Everyone healthy and happy and as a bonus the Fellowship popped over! Unfortunately Legolas is minus half his bow and either Merry or Pippin was snapped at the knees (I know how that feels!) but he got fixed.

The casting seems very good and I can hardly wait to slap some paint on them. The small bases with clay "rocks" or flooring on them were meant for a couple of the heroes...but I am an idiot and forgot about them and glued my chaps in place on ordinary bases-that's what drinking beer for years does to your sober mind!

So...the rocky bases will be used on some more plastics that should arrive this week....Legolas will have to be bought again (no big loss as this pose is bland) and I have plenty to paint for not much money. Not a bad hobby if one is careful it does not cost too much either.

Keep blogging Chaps all my ideas come from you!

Buying Lord of the Rings....15 years late!

Hi Chaps,

It was only a rare occasion that I would walk into a Games Workshop store (usually Preston Lancs) and then only to buy paints or brushes. I did my best to avoid the loud crowds of hygienically challenged youths that seemed to gather in there on Saturdays and so it seems I missed out on some nice figure sets....but never mind ebay has come to the rescue.

My eldest son did enjoy painting and playing the Lord of the Rings games but other than watch the films I was too busy with "real" wargaming to bother with it at all. This it turns out was a serious mistake! The figures are lovely and easy to paint and the scenery is useful and cheap-if you can be patient when bidding on "that" site.

Borimir and Frodo here were both 99p delivered and the tomb is from my sons collection-it has been stripped and repainted. Basing has yet to be done and I have the Fellowship (plastic version still on sprue) on the way. It goes to show that the wargaming gods do look after skint gamers! Although never planned for Games Workshop are starting to form a little collection of their own in my cabinet, I just need to keep ignoring the shop to keep it cheap!

Keep blogging Chaps.

Games Workshop are back in their groove

Hi Chaps,

As a vague fan of Games Workshop (I love the figures but hate the prices and methods) I have to give them credit for Age of Sigmar. Now it seems that they have gone even further by adding a points system to the game and a narrative type of game....online to download for free!

Obviously the hope is that this will drive figure sales (I am sure that it will not least because I will buy from them) but maybe there is more to this? Possibly someone at GW is actually listening to their customers and we will see some real developments with the gamer/collector in mind rather than the share holder?

Here is a link which explains all this far better than I can....

http://natfka.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/age-of-sigmar-intel-on-narrative-format.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Faeit212+(Faeit+212)

Without any doubt for me Games Workshop are the best figure manufacturer around (stiff competition from Copplestone though) and the way they actually complete their ranges is an example to the other companies out there. Long live the new Games Workshop!

These guys are on my wish list....just watch me get sued for using this image now that I have given GW praise!

Keep blogging Chaps and let me know what you think of the changes at GW.

EDIT.

I have never felt the need to do this before but please do have a watch of this Youtube video. Wargaming attracts bright minds (it's a fact - we are all bright! ?) but this young man has produced a great video on which he paints well and explains the Will, Might and Fate in the Lord of the Rings ruleset....what a dude!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ioB9ANwM1Y

Enjoy

Space Hulk Genestealer or Tyranid? WIP

Hi Chaps,

I bought Space Hulk for the first time a long long time ago...back then I am sure that the monsters were called Gene stealers? Maybe they are now but things called Tyranids look awfully similar! Anyway the appeal of the game was undoubtedly set in my mind from the film Alien and the betterer film called Aliens (yes I am old). This week it was time to have a go at painting one of these other world monsters....

This is indeed a work in progress as I am looking for a sign to print out and slap on the bare wall..."Danger" or "Air Lock" should do it, just to break up the blankness...I also have some tiny wires to run down the wall and along the floor.

I have no idea what this figure will do except stand alongside his 30 or 40 mates that seem to have been bought on ebay. Most are painted terribly in thick paint with yellow staring eyes but back in the day they would have been cutting edge and looked awesome!

The painting desk (which was the biggest land grab since the annexation of Texas) has extended itself upwards but like most dictators I am not satisfied. A sincere plea for an extension will be submitted to the united nations of wife....but in all reality plans for further expansion are already underway.

Keep blogging and have a good weekend.

I see red people (OK Space Marines)

Hi Chaps,

I think I am overloaded for the time being regarding Mephiston Red and Space Marines! My son bought me Betrayal at Calth and I somehow acquired Battle for Macragge on ebay for a bargain. This is almost the end result....10 more marines and 6 Terminators to go....and then I will have to learn how to paint blue.

The difference in base size is noticeable but as the units will never mix it is no big problem, I have never played 40K but a game is edging nearer as I just got a mint Space Marines codex off ebay (again) for 99p!

Games Workshop are slowly edging their way into my good books by including the stats in with the  models when you purchase them....making the codex less of an essential. The cost in books was the main reason I by passed 40K but maybe it will be revised-The Age of Sigmar was a revelation to me and it works so who knows?

My recent success on auction sites and the quality of GW boxed sets has me hunting for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit....best figures on the market especially if one can be patient and acquire them cheap.

Take care, keep painting and blogging Chaps.

10MM Russian Civil War

Hi Chaps,

I recently purchased my first ever pdf ruleset. It was a landmark moment that confirmed that I am actually participating in the digital age, albeit so that I could print out the rules on good old paper!? The rules in question were from Too Fat Lardies called "Triumph of the Will" and have a couple of interesting mechanisms that should be entertaining. I had never come across this company before but the rules are great and downloaded no fuss.

To go with the rules I needed some figures that could be painted quickly so I decided on Pendraken 10mm and the Russian civil war. Maybe it was me but the figures seemed to take longer than I expected to paint simply because there was more detail than I ever thought could be put on a model only 10mm high!

The bases are numbered so that I can keep a roster for recording casualties, in 10mm this lot cost around £15.00 in 28mm it would have been more like £50.00 and I would still be painting the first company! If only I was rich and immortal though it would be 28mm every time.

This has been an interesting experiment but I cannot say that I enjoyed painting these little men but that is all my fault as I felt outside my comfort zone. Another £15.00 would be enough figures to have a game....but then £30 buys a lot of plastic from fleabay which as a financially challenged gamer is my preferred option

It would be interesting to see what you haps think.

Cheers and keep blogging

Pilot Officer Varras 40K

Hi Chaps,

Just a very quick update on a glorious day of sitting around painting! I recently bought from ebay the "Battle for Macragge" set, principally for the crashed space ship terrain which was unpainted. Inside came a dozen space marines under coated thick black and Varras. The creatures were untouched as was the two rulebooks-it was a bargain.

Anyway, not much I could do with the marines or poor old Varras so they got a quick lick of paint-I am going to experiment with the ship....ebay does have the occasional good buy on it after all.

I now own a fair number of Space Marines but still never played a game! I do own a couple of rule sets but prefer the older "Oldhammer" one but I still need stats for the figures...Games Workshop and the codex sales idea really grinds my gears.

Keep blogging Chaps.

Sigilist book club

Hi Chaps,

It could only happen in 28MM but I seem to have gathered a book club together! I started with the Scibor guy long before I had the Frostgrave set and things went from there....I like reading myself so figures holding a book seem great!

Ferom left to right, Reaper metal, Northstar, Northstar, Scibor and then a Reaper bones. I am not sure what to do with them all but as backdrop figures they are fine. The Frostgrave soldiers that i put together this week are fun and the illustrations in the book help with the colour scheme.

Pretty much a warband in a few painting sessions including the snipping and gluing....they look decent though I suspect others will be spending hours on fine detail as so few figures are needed?

I am really rather keen to play Frostgrave and if pushed I could form another band of desperate types from my existing figure collection. Part of the fun for me though is thinking of a background for the mini as I paint it. The brothers Grimm have always fascinated me and here they are in miniature, complete with a strip of red clothe taken from the saintly remains of a cardinal....

A work in progress! These two less than handsome chaps will stand in for the brothers, the guns will simply have the same rules as crossbows...as I play solo there will be no complaints!

Keep blogging Chaps, I believe Salute is in full swing which is great as the new releases at the show always push the hobby forward.

Frostgrave Sigilist and Apprentice

Hi Chaps,

I have been enjoying my new painting station immensely

and enjoying painting the Frostgrave soldiers and beasts even more so! It has been a decent week on the painting front and my first Warband will be photographed this weekend if the sun ever shines.
My camera is very basic and it will not let me change the white balance so an outdoor shoot is required.

Off to glue together a few more fighty types so that my son can take a warband into the frozen city over the weekend.

Keep blogging Chaps

New Painting Table

Hi Chaps,

Today involved much huffing and puffing and moving of accumulated rubbish. My Pops brought me a large desk which replaced the old sewing machine table I used to paint on. (It was an old Singer cast iron frame with a wooden top on it). So now I can fit my chubby little legs under the table as I paint (SO much more comfortable) and also have enough room to keep the damned thing tidy-god how I cannot abide hobby mess!

By way of celebration I had a post furniture moving/crap sorting painting session and managed three soldiers from the Frostgrave box....their Boss and line manager are almost done as well. The desk is big enough for 15mm games of DBA or for me to test out rules without too much moving of bits......I am very content with this item. Thanks goes to the Old Man for heaving this out of an office, into his car and then my back room.

Frostgrave is really starting to grab my attention. The building of a Warband is fun in itself if you delve into it. Despite what the rulebook says I am naming my soldiers and the campaign diary will have some detail about them in it....when one buys the farm his replacement will be a new figure! A shelf maybe needed for "retired" figures but what a novel way to build a fantasy collection!

The first game will be later this week so I will post a report on what went down....

Keep blogging Chaps!

Mordheim, Frostgrave and the brothers Grimm

Hi Chaps,

I have had an hour of sticking, cutting and gluing....oh and painting a toad. This hobby can be surreal!
It could just be that Games Workshop will be re releasing Mordheim-I missed it first time around but will definatley be buying this time...anyway as Frostgrave seems to be along the same lines I began my first ever Warband.

As a lifelong fan of the darker fairy tales one has to love the Grimm brothers. The excellent film "The Brothers Grimm" reinforced my liking of these two highly intelligent men...though it is a fantastic tale I am sure that they would approve! So my first two shooters for Mordheim or Frostgrave are the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm, the large book they both have is actually the German dictionary that they both worked on but never completed. Maybe I will change the heads or just attempt to give them hair....or paint on a shadow representing a shaved head?

Another 3d doodle today was the plastic/rubber toad thing that I found, it fits size wise for Frostgrave-I honestly never thought that I would ever paint a toad. It is a work in progress but what can you really do with an ice toad?

Lastly a package arrived today containing the Frostgrave Sigilists, pretty useful for either system I would think? I am looking forward to painting these up and would not mind an all female warband....I am an equal rights employer!

Just for anyone who may have missed one of Heath Ledgers best performances ever....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brothers_Grimm_(film)

And here are the real guys....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimms%27_Fairy_Tales

Keep blogging Chaps!

Betrayal at Calth and Pendraken

Hi Chaps,

I hope that you are all keeping well? When I am not painting (I had a few days or more away) I usually float around the internet catching up on various blogs. It does seem that the quality of work that everyone is putting out has improved so much over the last few years. No doubt this was started by Wargames Illustrated and then the baton was taken up by manufacturers. In turn great people such as ApotheticFish started to produce videop's on how to paint very acceptable figures

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKKG6T-kkMA

In short it has never been easier to be inspired, to find and to paint miniatures! I could write a rambling essay about "back in the day", Hinchcliffe 25mil and banana oil....god it was crap back then though.

Anyway these are my Word Bearers from the Betrayal at Calth set, the light seems to have bleached out some of the shading. They are not quite finished but without the internet I would have never been aware of them or even known what colour they should have been let alone how to paint them. Show winners they are never going to be but they will hopefully hold their own on any table.

Another internet purchase arrived today from Pendraken, some late Roman spearmen and command in 10mm. Boy is 10mm small! I have put these enigmatic looking little chaps to one side until I can find time to devote to them.

Have a good weekend and keep blogging.

15MM Houses Completed and making room

Hi Chaps,

The pizza base houses are finished at last...they hung around my workspace for a few days but mainly this was just to allow for the glue to dry before the quickest of paint jobs. Four 15MM Indian type houses for a pound or less! As a total cheapskate/parent this gives me immense pleasure!

Also I will be putting most of the 28mm Perry MoR on fleabay to make room for another purchase.

I enjoyed painting these little fellows but the very fine detail drove me mad! This year I am determined to actually play some games and paint more Warhammer Empire troops....and some smaller scale figures. It is a big list but a start has been made. Are there any good figures out there compatible with GW Empire figures?

Well I had best be off, son to feed, shopping but best of all when everyone is resting I have some figures to paint!

Keep blogging lads (and lasses) I need your ideas to steal.

Russian Civil War in 10mm....and WarHammer Generals Compendium

Hi Everyone,

This has been a strange few weeks. After almost completing the 28mm WoR Perry plastics I decided to clear out some old magazines, paints and general rubbish that had accumulated over the years. Nothing ground breaking was found except for some old Irregular miniatures 15mm colonial figures. Roughly painted (by today's standards) and based for an old rule set, I began to reminisce about just how much fun I had making my own army lists, buildings and on the spot rules. There was an old book that kept records of skirmishes and battles that these fellows had but alas probably gone forever.

 This preamble will hopefully explain why I have been scratch building implausible looking small 15mm buildings. Nothing for the pages of any magazine here, jusy old fashioned DIY to help me play out a few cheap games on my tabletop.

Of course the bridge is too wide but it needs to take a 40mm base and the houses need some paint, plaster and bases. In all the cost has been almost zero as a pizza base was used!

Despite not wanting to spend any money (as I am broke) I bought "Triumph of the Will" from Too Fat Lardies which is a very interesting set that will work well for the Russian/Spanish Civil wars in any scale. Well worth the £7 plus a couple of quid to get printed out.

A cheap ebay win snagged me "The Generals Compendium" from GW. I have never played or even really collected Warhammer Fantasy but the book has some great ideas....a lot of them similar to what I was doing solo in the 80's....just better written and presented!

Lastly I ordered some 10mm figures from Pendraken to see just what 10mm is like. It may be a great scale and help me actually get back to playing a few games which is a part of the hobby I do miss.