Secondhand Games Workshop Elves

Hi Chaps,

Today was pretty productive and in the space of a couple of hours I had completed 12 Elves. These have had a hard life and I bought them painted off Ebay for around 50 pence per figure....I am on a tight budget and these (22 in total) figures will help create 3 spear units of 12 figures each.

As my objective is to get enough figures for a small army as cheaply as possible and as quick as possible the paintwork was basic, just one highlight. Still as a unit they look effective, just four more to paint and that will be 36 spears, 10 archers and a female hero. Next on the list are some of the dinosaur riders or the Mantic female types. I am not sure exactly what the Mantic figures are meant to be but they look as though they would fit in.

Keep blogging guys, this hobby can be done on the cheap!

Frostgrave thugs and an Elf

Hi Chaps,

Just a quick update-I am trying to mop up any odd figures before my move so this selection got a coat of paint. The Elf is a Reaper mini and sadly not one of their better castings. Too much tiny detail and a messy figure to do anything with unfortunately. The thugs will always find a role and they were much easier to paint....

Sometime after my house move I hope to start a new project and already many hours of "research" have been spent wandering around various manufacturers websites.....I cannot be alone in thinking that this is a golden age for the miniature gamer? So far the North West Frontier is looking very attractive, how do you Chaps pick a new project? Does it start with a film, book or figure range?

Keep blogging guys I need your information and inspiration.

The Zombie Project

Hi Chaps,

As I was having to pack these figures ready for the impending move I thought I would take some pictures of them together. I would hesitate to call this lot an army but it tops 100 figures and a good number of vehicles so maybe it translates to a small 28 mm traditional army?

The Zeds are all plastic and come from Warlord (much improved on the Wargames Factory models) and from Zombicide. They were fun to paint and I just painted the duplicate models in a different colour scheme to break things up.

The vehicles are pound shop buys or old Corgi's found on car boot sales, the Humvee is from Grubby tanks and was very cheap.

The survivors are Warlord, Airfix and the odd metal figure that seemed to fit in (Empress and Grubby I think). Again the Warlord figures are of much better quality than Wargames Factory. I decided to leave all the figure bases blank/black for this project.

Finally the scratch built houses and scatter terrain....much more are needed.

Thanks for looking, this was a fun project that hopefully will get some game time in the future.

Keep blogging Chaps.

Pizza (base) Hut.

Hi Chaps,

A few hours yesterday were spent cutting and scribing some extruded styrene into the shape of a cabin. Household tester pots provided colour and the base was a random piece of mdf. In all this item just cost me the time to make it...maybe pennies.

So now my 28mm adventurers have a cabin to call home! This was fun and proves that if we war gamers try our hobby is cheap.

Sorry about the photo quality, today it has decided to be autumnal and is duller outside than inside? I did manage to put one of the two sides to this building in upside down making one window lower than the other but I rolled with it as it adds to the randomness and well, you can't really tell.

The last pic below was taken during the build....pizza bases rule!

Keep blogging Chaps!

Old Games Workshop Goblins

Hi Chaps,

Well it is a very unBritish 28 degrees here so forgive me for writing this in shorts whilst sipping french Lager with ice (times are hard).

Despite the inclement weather some painting has been done on some rather forgotten little figures. These little chaps came in a boxed set from over 10 years ago and painted by my eldest. So, a repaint and I have a unit of Goblins which of course I have absolutely no need for.

The shields are a work in progress though I may just leave them alone.... as I was painting this gaggle of Goblins I also finished a barricade for my Bretonnian archers, there is a second waiting paint and two more waiting to be built.

On the rules front I have been reading about the new Congo set with interest and also the Men Who Would be Kings. Exciting times as my Zombie project has come to an end. Over 100 figures and 6 vehicles painted and based. Before I pack them away for the house move I may attempt to photograph them all as proof of a project complete.

So, what to do next? I cannot go on repainting old Games Workshop figures forever (though I have just bought some more). All this heat is pointing me towards the Congo-lots of cheap plastic animals to be had and some interesting terrain could be made.....

Keep blogging Chaps.

Reclaimed Figures, almost complete.

Hi Chaps,

This weekend will see the end of my Ebay Elves which are now mostly repainted. These figures had lost a lot of detail because of the layers of paint...or possibly there was another cause?

A couple of the figures had air bubbles in them which I have never seen on a plastic figure....also the spears seemed a little bendy. As these guys already had a coat or two of paint on them and were securely glued onto their bases it was impossible to tell if they were actually resin or plastic.

Whatever they were made of they are now painted and I have the basis of three units should I stumble upon anymore of these fine figures. I will not be rushing out to create an army but they were fun in their own special way-maybe I will be avoiding previously painted figures in future.........unless they are cheap like these!

Old Games Workshop Figures bought cheaply

Hi Chaps,

The current run on my household pound continues so I have had to get creative and expand my horizons-or is that lose some of my prejudices? At one time (which lasted more than a quarter of a century!) I would never have considered a fantasy game, although I did try D+D. Then we got Frostgrave and Dragon Rampant and I learned to relax a bit. (If this goes on I will be a tree hugging hippie in 150 years or so).

Anyway as I like painting but have very little disposable income I searched for fantasy figures and found some 4th or 5th edition Elves. It turns out that these are great sculpts but unfortunately they seem to have been painted more than once and then undercoated again. As I was a "real" wargamer I missed these the first time around and how I regret that missed opportunity! Did you know that a "bad" elf army has dudes riding dinosaurs!?

Here are a few pics of the Elves as they were painted, they are currently awaiting their bases being completed-the command will be undercoated tomorrow and hopefully join the oddball rank and file. The figures cost 40P each...at this rate I will have an army to fight my Templars in a few weeks and they may just scrape passable in my cabinet.

The Goblins have been in a drawer for around forever and they seem to have painted up OK, there are lots of them, (did they breed?). The units are small but can be expanded now at my leisure though I am definitely going to purchase some witches and the cool dino riders who may well get some female heads just to add to the craziness.

Take a bow Games Workshop, I will use Age of Sigmar rules and war scrolls to get stats for the elves-thank goodness the codex thing is dead. I do hope that 40K gets the Sigmar treatment next-it means that I could afford to play it.

Sorry about the long post, keep blogging Chaps!

Reaper Miniatures Mage

Hi Chaps,

Another early start before dawn saw this little guy finished off, I have to say that he was really irritating to paint as there was too much detail. Reaper miniatures (I buy mine off ebay UK) are a really good source of figures for the financially challenged such as myself,

So now I have some sort of magician, possibly for Frostgrave (never played it yet though the rules are seem very good) or maybe Sigmar....

Thanks for looking.

A Horus Boss

Hi Chaps,

I had some free time this morning and finished this figure which has been lurking on my desk for months. I have no idea who or what he does-he is from the Betrayal at Calth set that my eldest kindly bought me. There are enough figures on my shelves for an army now....I just need a walkthrough of the rules to start playing 40K. I have several rulesets dating back to the 80s but have always been put off playing against others because I am not paying for codex X,Y and Z just to know what my opponent can do!

Time GW took 40K down the Age of Sigmar route I think.

There are 10 more marines on their sprues waiting to be assembled to be honest I can't look them in their little plastic lenses just yet. I have been hunting for plastic Bretonnians on ebay but I would have to sell a body part to afford some of them....rarity really does seem to be driving the prices of these figures.

Keep blogging Chaps!

Mounted Serjeants

As you can see the last six figures of my recently acquired medieval s are almost complete. This little side project crept up on me so it is back to saving my meagre sheckles for a boxed set from GW. With 30 infantry and 6 cavalry painted and based I still need another 12 cavalry to complete a Lion Rampant crusader army so it will be a while before that purchase is made.

To be going on with I have 16 Israeli infantry to paint in 20mm and a few bad guys. Possibly more middle east modern terrain will be made but the internet and its wonderful photo's of amazing figures is proving a huge distraction.

Keep blogging Chaps and keep sharing your hints and tips I literally feed off them!

Chapel for Templars out of a pizza tray

Hi Chaps,

You may have noticed over the years that I am on a budget-though my miniature defense budget should increase soon, So in an attempt to keep down my spending I fashioned a chapel for my 28mm Templars using a pizza base and some pics from my local church.

The photo is of the chancel of St Andrews in Leyland, the land was granted to the Templars in 1218 and they began building soon after....the inside of this earliest part of the church is very interesting-sadly it was locked when I visited but one day I will find it open with camera in hand. The gothis windows are a later addition, possibly as early as 1485 when a new tower was added-the earliest windows would (I think) have been arched.

These are the grave markers of what must be some of the first Templars around my home town....

Which brings me to my 28mm Chapel made from the bottom of an old drawer, a pizza box and the inevitable cereal packet for the roof tiles!

So here iot is, maybe a couple of pounds at most....budget intact. Maybe next my mini Templars will be asking for a hospital or even a keep? As I have just purchased a couple more units of little plastic men I may consider an expansion for them.

Keep blogging Chaps I need your ideas...

Oh and err ignore the desk it is now clear again.

A Good Wife and an improving Games Workshop.

Hi Chaps,

I have been busy on the hobby front mopping up bits and pieces before embarking on any new projects. There are still a few zombies left to fill a few painting hours but the last of the Space Marines and 20mm Taliban have been completed (actually that is a lie I have around 20 left but they are not undercoated).

This led me to begin thinking about my next project and to my own shock I am thinking of buying the Age of Sigmar handbook. Games Workshop impressed me earlier this year by providing free online rules and army lists and the book now makes this whole "thing" seem even more attractive. Indeed the starter set may follow the book purchase-Games Workshop have really upped their game as far as I am concerned......

....which also led to me buying some Conquest Normans and infantry (hence the Good Wife) just to fill out my medievals -these will be OK for Lion Rampant and Age of Sigmar. Playing solo has the advantage that no one cares what a Bretonnian in my house will look like!

As you can see my desk is a bit random at the moment-the Marines are just odds that someone had painted very thick black-in future any of these odd figures will be painted in this colour scheme to remind me where they started from. It is odd but I seem to end up with a few GW Marines every year?

The motorcyclist is from Grubby Tanks which is a fantastic company-their products are instantly recognisable and full of character.

Well, I hope that Second City (from whom I ordered the plastics on ebay) have just as good a delivery schedule as Mr Grubby.........if so next week will be better than expected.

Keep blogging Chaps!