The Hay-on-Wye Festival 2017

Holly, Sue and I visited Hay-on-Wye yesterday mainly for a walk around the Festival, which this year is celebrating its 30th anniversary, but also to mooch the secondhand book shops. The weather was OK with some cloud but mainly sunny and the festival was its usual mix of different activities and exhibitions.

None of us came away with much, but we all enjoyed our picnic on the hill below the castle.

More details here.

Tony

Models For Wargamers Book - a further update

60 books have now been sold. 

The first 100 copies of Models For Wargamers are going to be numbered and signed. Should you wish to purchase a copy of this or Dampfpanzerwagon Guide No. 2 - More Wargame Terrain Please follow this link.

Once again thank you for the support.

Tony

Oldhammer Kickstarter - update

Here is an example of the painted Apothecaries Rest. The image was taken from the latest update on The Lead Adventure Forum, for details see this post.

The masters for most of the buildings were sculpted by me and cast in resin by Rob Alderman of Hysterical Games. Further images can be found here.

I think you will agree the painted example looks fantastic.

The Oldhammer Kickstarter is now planned for launch very soon and I will update the Blog once I have more information.

Tony

Paintbrushes for Christmas

This week, I received a late Christmas present of five paintbrushes. The brushes are sable or sable mix and range from No. 2 down through 0, 3/0, 5/0 to 10/0. The smaller sizes are a little unusual for me, but will be useful when painting eyes and super detail.

Thank you Nigel and Louvaine.

Tony

Westwind Dwarves for sale on e-bay

NOW SOLD

I have places a number of Westwind Metal Dwarves on e-bay. The miniatures were bought many years ago with the intention of painting them up as a warband and then as characters in a Frostgrave campaign but they have sat, un-loved in a wooden box for too long and I think I should be passing them on.

For full details see this link.

Tony

The Traders Shack for the Apocalypse Miniatures Kickstarter

The Traders Shack is yet another scratch-built master for the Apocalypse Miniatures  OldHammer Kickstarter due to be released later this year. I will be keeping the Blog updates with details once I have more information.

Tony

Spring Clean part three

With all the work I have done on the exterior of the shed, I thought it was only fair to clean up the inside. Here you can see my North-facing workstation with my (antique) paints. I treated myself to a new A2 Cutting mat with the old one being cut up to act as lining for the shelf and use as a surface protector.

I really should be getting on with the last of the scratch-built models for The Pen and Sword terrain book, but with weather this good, I think I can allow myself a little me-time.

Tony

Spring Clean part two

Following on from the earlier thread, see this post, I have spent most of the weekend painting the shed with wood preserver. Hopefully, I will get a couple more years out of this 17 year old shed.

Tony

Charlie William Harwood

Yesterday at around 2.45 pm, Charlie William Harwood was born. Charlie is our second grandson and earlier this evening Sue, Flo and I got to see him for the first time.

Lots of love to Charlie, Beckie, Gary and Finley.

XXX

Tony (Bampi)

Models For Wargamers Book - the first 60 copies have been sold

Sales of Dampfpanzerwagon Guide No. 3 - Models For Wargamers continue with book no. 60 being ordered earlier this week. Remember the first 100 copies will be numbered and signed.

For details of how to order your own copy of this limited run, self-published book, please go to this link.

Thank you for all of the support.

Tony

The Stone Bridge for the Apocalypse Miniatures Kickstarter

This is another image of the finished stone bridge that I built for the Apocalypse Miniatures Kickstarter Campaign. I am particularly proud of this model as it used a new DAS sculpting technique rather than a core structure covered in DAS. When the shape was fully defined and the DAS was set, I carved the stonework with scalpel, before refining the shape with a large needle. Additional texturing was done with sandpaper and a wire brush.

I have a resin cast (cast by Rob Alderman of Hysterical Games) and I will be painting it up very soon.

The Kickstarter is due to be launched later this year and I will add further details once I have more information.

Tony

Spring clean.....

Over the last two days, I have been Spring cleaning the shed-at-the-bottom-of-the-garden and doing some much needed repairs and updates to the shed walls. Last year I lined one of the back walls with roofing felt in the hope that this would protect the wood from the conifers that grow behind the shed, Yesterday, I clad the second back wall with 20mm thick wood (ex-pallet wood) that was given to me for free.

It took most of the day to break down the pallets, but now that it is all done it does look good - I just need to paint on some wood preserver.

The shed is now 17 years old and with these and the earlier updates I would hope that there is at least three to five more years left in her. (The shed).

Tony

New Brushes.....

I've just treated myself to five new miniature painting brushes.

My preferred brush of choice is the No. 2 and No. 3 Rosemary & Co, 401 - sable/synthetic mix with the long handle. I find that the sable/synthetic mix works best for me as I like the 'spring' that the synthetic bristles give and I can abuse them more than a pure 100% sable. I also like the feel of the longer handle; although this is just personal choice as the heads are the same on the standard and long handled options.

Details of Rosemary & Co can be found here.

Tony

Apocalypse Miniatures Stables

This is a pre-production image of the latest model made by me for the Apocalypse Miniatures Kickstarter - The Stables. Like the earlier models this 28mm/30mm scaled building should be released later this year as part of an OldeHammer Kickstarter featuring around a dozen buildings and terrain pieces.

You can see some more posts on the Lead Adventure Forum by clicking on this post.

Tony

Model Making Wood for FREE

I have in the past spoken about making use of scrap wood, the wood that you can pick up for free from greengrocers or from open-air markets. Earlier today Sue and I were in Stratford on Avon, dropping off some models for a commission and we decided rather than drive straight back we would visit Henley in Arden. As I walked around this quiet and quaint tourists destination, I saw a simple wooden packing crate being thrown out.

Back home and after five minutes work with a pair of pliers, I have enough scrap wood to last me for three or four timber framed buildings. In fact I have;

2 x 5mm thick strips (sides)

2 x 4mm thick strips (handles)

2 x 3.5mm thick strips (the ends)

3 x 1.5mm thick strips (base)

For free.

Tony

Apocalypse Miniatures Resin Farmhouse

This is an image of my very latest master for the Apocalypse Miniatures Kickstarter, which I have been working on. The model is of an Old Farmhouse and will be dropped off to Rob at Hysterical Games tomorrow. Details of the Kickstarter can be found either on my Blog using the Oldhammer label or on the Apocalypse Miniatures Web page. In addition, I am aware that Ryan is posting images and comments on this Lead Adventure thread.

The official launch is due later this year, with comments on all sites, mentioning a late Spring/early Summer launch. I will keep this Blog updated with any developments.

Tony

Models For Wargamers Book - update

I can now report that the first 50 copies of Dampfpanzerwagon Guide No.3 - Models For Wargamers have now been ordered, paid for and posted. The first 100 limited edition copies will be numbered and signed.

For details of how to get your copy please go to this link.

Tony

Hundreds of Role Playing Guides and Books for sale

Earlier today, Sue and I decided to visit Harborne, Birmingham. We needed to do some general shopping and drop off a bag of donations to the local charity shop.

When in Harborne, I like to visit the Oxfam Charity Bookshop on the High Street, but on this occasion left without buying anything (which is unusual for me). As I stood outside, Sue pointed out this notice which was displayed in the shop window. As you can imagine, I promptly went back in and asked to see the manager.....

I was told that there had been a huge donation of Role Playing books and guides donated to the shop by two women and that the number of books meant that they could not be displayed in the store. I wasn't expecting what happened next but the manager asked if I would like to see them. I think you know the answer to that question.....

Upstairs I was shown literally hundreds of Role Playing and gaming books from the usual Dungeons and Dragons and GURPs to many titles I was not familiar with. The books range in price from £10.00 to £40.00 and I can confirm that they are indeed in perfect condition, if you are in the area the store is well worth a visit.

The sheer number of books means that it is unlikely they will be catalogued or listed one-by-one, however the store is worth contacting if you are interested in rare or obscure gaming books.

Details of the store are;

  Oxfam Book Shop

  171 High Street,

  Harborne

  Birmingham

  B17 9QE

Or use this link

You can contact the manager, Julian on 0121 4274784. I have told Julian that I will be posting details and he is very happy for me to do so.

Good luck.

Tony

New Resin for Pax Bochemannica

Images borrowed from Hysterical Games WEB site

I picked up two new packs of miniatures for Pax Bochemannica when I visited Hysterical Games last week, The Auxillary Arches (x 4) and the Noman Auxillary Ogre (x 1). I now just need some spare time to mount and paint them.....

Other projects are taking up most of my spare time - projects that require me to work to a deadline.

The resin figures are available from Hysterical Games at a cost of £8.00 a pack.

Tony

More resin from Hysterical Games

Another post and another look at some of the new resin casts that Rob Alderman of Hysterical Games has produced for me from my originals. These particular resin pieces were original intended as 'clutter' items for the bases of my scratch built terrain models, but I'm sure you can twist Rob's arm should you want a set (or two).

The first image shows some barrels, all of which were sculpted or modified by me from some earlier sculpted models I had made. The image below shows a book case, lots of small bottles, pots and pans which were once again modelled by me and intended as clutter. Should these and the earlier mushrooms prove popular, I can see me producing more.

Happy Bank Holiday.

Tony