Grand Manner is closing

Dave Bodley of Grand Manner has recently announced that he is retiring and that final orders for his painted resin buildings will be early next month. For full details see this link.

I first met Dave some twenty years ago at a shop in Evesham and have been lucky enough to both work with him and meet up socially. I consider him a friend as well as a colleague. I wish him all the very best for his well earned retirement.

Tony

September - Painting one mini at a time - part seven

Another 40mm scale miniature for my Typhon project - this time Hercules a conversion using the lower body from a 40mm Spartan Miniature, the body from a HeroClix miniature - Hercules (from Secret Invasion Marvel) and the head from the Spartan Miniature set. I used Green Stuff to 'blend' the various parts and a pre-decimalisation penny for the base.

The club was modelled from some 3mm plastic card and 'pinned' into the hand before being superglued.

After a Tamiya spray coat primer was applied, the flesh areas were built up over a brown wash.

And the detailing done with a Rosemary & Co 401 no. 3 brush.

The figure was both gloss varnished and then matt varnished before I added some static grass to the base.

The final image shows my converted Hercules and The Nemean Lion (another conversion - using a plastic zoo lion and some Milliput).

 Stay safe and

Keep Calm and Carry On Modelling

Tony

September - Painting one mini at a time - part six

These images show the progress on yet another 40mm Spartan Miniatures Hoplite. The mini was mounted onto a pre-decimalisation penny and the groundwork built up with Milliput. The basecoat was a little different to the earlier models as I used different washes to get an overall brown tone.

I painted the armour as white leather rather than metal and kept all the colours in the grey spectrum. While the shield was hand painted in a bright red colour with a black bulls head motif to give a strong contrast.

                                                             
More to come, but as usual, stay safe and

Keep Calm and Carry On Modelling

Tony

September - Painting one mini at a time - part five

The painting has been done with various acrylic paints. The horses body was detailed with washes of dark brown over a chestnut colour.

Once fully painted, the model was both gloss varnished and then matt varnished before I satin varnished the horse and gloss varnished the armour. The base was decorated with some static grass applied over PVA glue.

The final image shows the converted Centaur alongside a Spartan Miniatures 40mm Hoplite which I painted earlier to give an idea of the size of this unique figure.

I'll try to get some more Typhon models painted up and posted soon, but for now, stay safe and

Keep Calm and Carry On Modelling

Tony

September - Painting one mini at a time - part four

Here is the latest model for my 40mm Typhon collection - a Centaur, an armoured Centaur. I have used the upper body from one of the Spartan Miniatures Heroes and the horse from a 40mm Lord of the Rings collectable figure. The metal body on a resin horse was way too heavy and would have over-powered the two rear resin legs, so I reinforced one of the legs with a piece of paperclip wire. The wire was superglued into an indentation that was cut into the leg while the upper torso and horses body was 'blended' with Milliput and Green Stuff.

The Centaur was mounted onto a metal washer with the groundwork built over some old lead bases (to give it some stability) and then decorated with fine sand.

The resin horses body was then coated with Milli-butter (a mix of Milliput and Isopropyl alcohol - something I first saw on the Marco Frison You Tube channel - See this link) to smooth out any joins and add some strength to the model. In this image, I have undercoated the model with Tamiya spray primer in preparation for the main painting.

 Stay tuned for more updates, but for now, stay safe and

Keep Calm and Carry On Modelling

Tony

September - Painting one mini at a time - part three

In my attempt to paint up some of the miniatures I have on my to-do shelf or Lead Mountain, I came across this 40mm scale Greek Hoplite Hero from Spartan Games. I'm not sure if they are still available but occasionally came up on E-bay. The mini was mounted onto an old fashioned (pre-decimalisation) penny and the groundwork was built up from Milliput epoxy putty.

I primed the mini with Tamiya grey spray primer and used Vallejo putty (the white areas) to add additional detail or hide seams.

The figure was painted over a light brown basecoat and I used lots of washes to build up the colours.

I wanted gold coloured armour instead of the more usual bronze. The highlight was Vallejo Gold with the rest of the miniature painted with various acrylic paints and a fine No. 3 Rosemary & Co. 401 brush.

The base was painted in a light earth colour and after varnishing the model, I added some static grass and static grass tufts. The image below shows the simple shield design I choose.

The mini is a little 'flat' (two dimensional) but I'm pleased with the way it turned out and plan on painting some more of the Spartan Miniatures figures for my Typhon project - for more information see the label Typhon on the right. Stay safe and

Keep Calm and Carry On Modelling

Tony

Lead Soldiers Haul

I am well aware that Blog posts this month have been slow.....

I have been working on a couple of commissions and finishing off a number of magazine articles for publication later this year. But this week we have had visitors. My Brother and Sister-in-Law were up from South Wales visiting Sue and her mother. As well as bringing fresh Welsh cakes and faggots from Swansea market, I received this margarine box of toy soldiers or 40mm lead soldiers. I would suggest that they are new models from traditional moulds cast in lead. Possibly Prince August.

It's quite a haul.....

They are definitely lead. Bob found them while attending an auction.

A dozen mounted Hussars.

50 advancing infantry.

50 kneeling riflemen.

5 Flag wielders or banner carriers.

18 marching drummers.

12 Trumpet or buglers.

And 6 cannon.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing with this load of old lead - over 150 models but will keep you informed should there be any developments.

Thank you Bob and Anna.

Tony

Clay Golem for my 40mm Flash Gordon collection

I picked up a number of Heroclix miniatures when I visited Games Expo last month. The Clay Golem (26/44) was one of them. The plastic/resin figure is 45mm tall and I think it cost £2.00 - £3.00. I mounted the figure on to a 40mm round base and built up the groundwork with DAS modelling clay to give the impression that the feet are growing out of the ground.

It was a super quick project to modify and paint, taking only a couple of hours over a few days but I think it works well with my 40mm Flash Gordon figures.

It has been some time since I modelled or painted a figure for this collection - you can find more by using the Flash Gordon or 40mm Label to the right.

Tony

Foam Walls and 40mm Saxons - finished

I have varnished the whole model with Galleria matt varnish and picked out the metal areas with gloss varnish. The groundwork has been detailed with both ground foam and static grass tufts which have been glued in place with superglue.

The base is 100mm wide x 70mm deep and the wall section is 65mm tall.

The diorama has taken a lot longer to finish than I thought, but has been great fun and I'm pleased with the natural stone effect on the painted and scratch-built wall.

Tony

Foam Walls and 40mm Saxons - part ten

The painting is now done and I have varnished the whole model and base with Galleria matt varnish. The metallic areas have been gloss varnished and it is just a matter of adding some static grass and ground foam decoration to the base and the diorama will be finished.

Tony

Foam Walls and 40mm Saxons - part nine

I have mounted the two 40mm Jim Bowen miniatures onto the small diorama base, actually into the base or groundwork.

I used a Dremel Grout Clearing drill bit to make two oval holes in the groundwork and glued the figures in place with superglue. I used small slivers of spare balsawood to act as fillers and made sure that the feet of the two Saxons were level with the modelled groundwork.

The groundwork was then built up with DAS modelling clay before being textured with sieved stones and sand. The base was then painted brown, highlighted with a lighter brown and odd stones were picked out with grey, highlighted with a lighter grey.

I touched up the feet and wall stones where they met with the dark earth.

Before this image was taken, I had 'washed' the base with Dark Tone wash from Vallejo.

Tony

Foam Walls and 40mm Saxons - part eight

I have tried to keep the colours slightly subdued, but couldn't resist painting the second miniature with striped leggings.

With most of the painting done. I will be now be thinking of adding these to the diorama base.

Tony

Foam Walls and 40mm Saxons - part seven

Both Jim Bowen miniatures were painted over a dark brown basecoat/undercoat with the main colours built-up from a dark base colour to mid colour and then highlights. The metal areas on the figure on the left were painted with a bronze/gold palette and the one on the right with a gunmetal/silver palette.

The shield on the figure on the left has been modified by cutting off the moulded decoration and grinding it smooth. I then added a plastic boss with superglue before undercoating.

I have started to paint the large fur cloak by drybrushing with lighter browns.

Tony

Foam Walls and 40mm Saxons - part six

I have superglued the two Jim Bowen 40mm Saxons onto a couple of pieces of cork ready to start painting.

Tony

Foam Walls and 40mm Saxons - part five

I thought the walls looked a little too light and so washed the stone work with some black and earth coloured washes. I then gave the upper stones another drybrush..

Tony

Foam Walls and 40mm Saxons - part four

The walls and diorama base were painted using a palette of subdued greys and pale browns with a light drybrush of pale grey. The upper wall has had a number if individual stones/tile added to it. These were cut from thin slivers of green foam and glued in place with superglue.

Tony