Old Ares and Dragon Magazines available online.

I recently came across a comment on The Miniatures Page - see this link that old edition of both Ares and Dragon were available online. Also seen on Miniature Wargaming (January 30th 2013) - link.

Both magazines were irregular purchases of mine, however this link looks like it could be worth checking out.

Enjoy.

Tony

Historcy a new Yahoo Group

The old Flintloque Yahoo Group has had a make-over and will now be called Historcy - in truth very little has changed as over the last couple of years 'other game systems' have crept in one at a time. the most recent S.P.Q.Orc - Pax Bochemannica has been previewed here on this Blog for some time.

Steve Blease (editor of Ragnarok, co-writer of the original Flintloque and all-round good chap) made the announcement earlier today, see this link from The Miniatures Page or this post on the new group.

Over the last couple of years the official Flintloque Yahoo Group - The Notables has become the main mouthpiece for Flintloque, ably supported by Barking Irons Online and Orcs in the Webbe. In addition the new Maveryc Blog promises to supply breaking news related to this new game. Given all of the above, it makes sense to have a New Yahoo group supporting all such Orcy-led games. If you are interested in joining, check out this link.

As well as S.P.Q.Orc - Pax Bochemannica,

and Flintloque,

There is the promise of some WW1 Dwarves and Panzerfauste. I look forward to seeing what develops.

Good luck to all concerned. Huzzah!

Tony

50 Years of the UK in Space

This morning I popped into the local library and picked up a free copy of the Summer 2012 issue of SPACE:UK (issue 35), Special Issue: 50 years of the UK in space.

Born in the late 1950's - a child of the 60's and early 70's, I don't really need an excuse to post these images. To me these are the iconic Space Rockets, silver, sleek and powerful as a school boy this wasn't just Sci-Fi this was the future, but sadly not to be.....

Photo One - By David A Hardy, the Von Braun inspired moon rocket.

Photo Two - Again by Hardy, an image of what the future launch site at Woomera might look like.

Photo Three - Also from the same magazine, this image of a Star forming. Taken from the Hubble Telescope (NASA).

Photo Three - Saturn's Moon, Lapetus.

Photo Four - Saturn's Rings.

Photo Five - The UK and Ireland at night, taken from the International Space Station.

The magazine is available from the UK Space Agency, bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency

Tony

Blue and Yellow don't make Green

Since Christmas I have been getting to grips with my main present - a new computer which was a gift from my Daughter, my Son and my Daughter in Law. It has taken a while as the programs are different and new to me. However I think I am now getting to grips with it.

As part of the New Google Chrome program I am able to group different Forum pages onto a single reference screen and this has led to me re-visiting some older forums or sites of interest. One such page is The Miniature World of Joe Videki a link to his site can be found here.

While browsing the earlier posts or updates I came across a review of the book Blue and Yellow don't make Green by Michael Wilcox and published by The School of Colour. In essence it is a technical manual on how to mix just about any colour - Watercolour, Oils, Acrylics etc. But this is not the main reason for this post.....

Many years ago, when my Son was still interested in painting model soldiers and building models with his Dad we would visit the Worcester branch of The British Model Soldier Society or BMSS. The meetings would be held at the home of Don Disley (one of the most knowledgeable modellers and figure painters it has been my pleasure to have met, sadly no longer with us). Modellers would come from as far afield as Leicester, Cheltenham, Shrewsbury and Birmingham and sit with Don around his living room table, to paint models, exchange ideas and read from Don's extensive library. Don's Wife would supply biscuits and tea while grown men (and children) would Oh and Ah at the latest model aircraft, tank or figure that was presented.

I was introduced to this group by a modeller called John Bowkett - who like a friendly Friar Tuck, welcomed new members into the group.

The cost for this priceless modelling education was 50p per adult, per meeting and as the saying goes "you don't know what you have till it's gone." I miss this camaraderie. Similarly it has been many years since I last saw John.

It was at such a meeting that I was first introduced to this book, borrowing it from Don, I was able to read it at my leisure before returning it.

Earlier this month when reading the Joe Videki review, I decided to search e-bay for a copy and earlier today my copy arrived. My version is the revision and not the original as lent to me all those years ago. But it has, as well as making me realise how much I don't know about painting and colour mixing made me think about those days sat around Don's living room table discussing modelling, painting and reviewing the latest Military Modeller.

Back to the review. Blue and Yellow don't make Green is a hard read - being in fact a technical manual on colour theory and how to mix colours, I would say that it is a book that you refer to rather than read from cover-to-cover, but for all that I would recommend it to all serious figure painters as the definitive reference work on colour and how to mix them.

It makes me realise that adding white to the base colour to lighten it rather than mixing a completely new colour is a bad habit that I have gotten into. I set myself the challenge last January to better understand both colour theory and colour mixing - maybe a year on I might get around to it.

I know this particular post has meandered a little away from a proper review - but I hope that you will forgive me this little indulgence. There are after all many reviews of this book on the Web. (for example).

Tony

Blue and Yellow don't make Green by Michael Wilcox
Published by The School of Colour
First published in 1987
This revised edition published in 1994
ISBN 0 9587891 9 3
Cover price $24.95 (although my copy was £7.25 from e-bay)

Aqua Vitae - part four

The Bog Orc Poteen Still finished. For anyone new to this series of posts, check out part one, part two, and part three for further details.

After varnishing the whole piece with Galleria Matt Varnish, I added some railway scatter or dyed sawdust to the base edges (as I do with all of my terrain). I have also stuck down a couple of static grass clumps to add interest to the finished piece.

Photos One and Two - Show a modified Uncle Rogipoos sampling some of the Rot-Gut Liqueur in his morning Cocoa.

Photos Three and Four - show the Flintloque themed terrain piece from the front and the back, showing just how 'busy' this little scene is. The base just is 110mm x 80mm.

Photos Five, Six, Seven and Eight - are close-ups or detail images showing the finished and based model.

Photo Nine - An over-head shot of the finished piece that was originally built as an entry for the Build Something Contest held over on The Lead Adventure Forum, for full details go to this link.

I have really enjoyed this little bit of terrain building. I think it fits in with my other Bog Orc themed terrain and certainly fits in with the ethos behind Flintloque.

Tony

IPMS Scale Model World 2012 part five

Part four - Aircraft from an era that I consider to be the Golden Age of Jet aircraft, 1950's - 1980's Including some of my all-time favorites - The Phantom, The Vulcan, The Lightning and The Canberra.  I hope you enjoy these images (only a fraction of the photos I have on file, so much more to follow).

Tony

January 2013 update

Already nineteen days into the New Year and so much to report.....

The recent bad weather has curtailed any chance of either model making or painting miniatures. This is an image of the-shed-at-the-bottom-of-the-garden. Taken yesterday afternoon before the worst had come!

Although I have heating and light in the shed, this cold weather plays havoc with my plans.

Another milestone for this Blog. My followers have reached 350. Welcome one and all - I hope you continue to like what you see.

Craig Andrews at Barking Irons Online has promised three updates or items of new content every week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I look forward to seeing the result of this promise.

Finally for this short update - Dave Toone has started a new S.P.Q.Orc - Pax Bochemannica Blog for full details go to this link.

Enjoy.

Tony

The Troll Bridge - a White Liar short story

The Troll Bridge

It has been a while, but here is another Flintloque inspired short story called The Troll Bridge which has been  penned by me. Details can be found over at Barking Irons Online, while this link will take you straight to the story.

The whole idea of the White Liar short stories were inspired by Uncle Rogipoos (the brave, heroic, handsome and adventurous alter ego of Roger Willcox, a regular contributor over on The Notables) and a desire by me to write some gaming fiction. The White Liar short stories are based in part on a Games Workshop Comic strip called Tales from the Ten-Tailed Cat which introduces characters and adventure threads to Mordheim and Warhammer Fantasy.

While the illustration below was drawn By Edward Jackson after an idea by me. The now famous White Liar at Broomcoat.

I hope you enjoy this (and earlier stories) - they are great fun to write and develop new gaming ideas - in this I have introduced Don Juan, a sharp-shooter Cacadores of the Al Garvey Army.

Tony

Aqua Vitae - part three

In part one and part two I showed the inspiration and construction of this piece of Flintloque themed terrain. With construction finished it was on to the painting. For details of part one - go to this link and for part two - this link.

The model was undercoated with a Dark Chocolate Brown, a mix of Charred Brown and Black. I am finding that a dark brown undercoat is less harsh than a pure Black base for painting. This tip was passed on to me by Kate Bodley (of Grand Manner - one of the best terrain painters I know).

In this image (and the two below) you can see how the colours were built up over a basic dry-brush.

The colours were then developed - the jug, earthenware pot and wood kindle are examples of how this was done.

The Pot Stills I have seen on GOOGLE images tend to be dark grey with just a hint of underlying Copper. The Still was painted with Dwarf Bronze mixed with Charred Brown and then over painted with Dark Grey (almost Black) before being 'washed' with Badab Black to give a well-used and neglected look.

As the painting progressed I was conscious of a number areas where I wanted more detail. In these three images you can see the additions I have made. Firstly I have added some bandages between the Swans Neck and the cooling pipe - this was modeled with some modelling paste and when dry painted with Snakebite Leather/White. The Fireplace now has some fine cinders added - just some sand painted over uPVA glue and the larger Earthenware Pot (used to fill the Still) now has two plastic card handles.

The three-legged wooden stool for the Bog Orcs to sit on when waiting for the Still to work was build from a small disc of 3mm plastic card with bamboo skewer legs. The bottle was carved and sanded from some spare resin, the stopper being a sliver of plastic rod.

I noticed in some images that Cognac Stills have a 'White Bloom', something that I wanted to include. The 'Bloom' is in fact grey and tends to accumulate in joints and hollows. I painted watered-down Grey and then watered-down White in streaks around the main joins on the Still and then 'washed' the areas with watered-down Badab Black.

The base or groundwork was built up over Snakebite Leather with varying amounts of Skull White added for dry-brushing. The small stones were picked out with Black/White and again 'washed'.

I have kept the main Furnace or fireplace dark, as in the images I searched out there was no chimney!

This image shows the Pot Still with the Grey 'Bloom' and the handles added to the earthenware pot.

This final image - looking down, gives some impression as to how 'busy' this little scene is, with lots going on in a very small area. I am particularly pleased with the 'Bloom' and the way that the kindle has been painted.

In the final post (next week) I will show the finished terrain piece, varnished and flocked.

Tony