Flash Gordon - Princess Aura

I am very proud of this - the latest addition to my Flash Gordon collection of 40mm figures, Princess Aura.

This second photo shows the completed miniature alongside Flash Gordon (from the Graven Images 40mm Cliffhanger figure range).

The base miniature is from the SuperFigs range manufactured by West Winds (and now very hard to find). The miniature was picked up from the 'bargain bin' at Waylands Forge, Birmingham. Ref; SuperFigs SF - BR2 Brick 2 (Giantess).

http://www.fourcolorfigs.com/catalog_brick.html#

The unaltered figure is very difficult to describe - being 28mm scale but standing well over 55mm tall with a standard or slightly larger upper body and very, very long legs. The conversion started by cutting the miniature in half at the waist (around the belly-button) and removing at least 2mm. Then another couple of cuts and 10mm was removed from the knee area on both of the legs. I added a metal pin to all three joints and built up the body with 'green stuff'.

Once I was satisfied with the proportions, I started to clothe the miniature with a mixture of Milliput and 'Green Stuff'. The dress design is one that is copied from an Alex Raymond Flash Gordon comic strip. Princess Aura begging for Flash's life in front of Ming.

The miniature was based with a piece of broken cork, small stones, DAS modelling clay and sand. Painting was built up from a black undercoat, with more subtle flesh tones than normal. "Well normal for me and my painting style!"

The miniature is 45mm tall and mounted on a 40mm round base. At long last and after many false starts I believe I now have my perfect heroine, Princess Aura, daughter of Ming the Merciless. I can also use her as a more attractive Dale Arden figure when needed.

Tony

Flash Gordon - Fire Warrior

The latest addition to my Flash Gordon figure collection - The Fire Warrior of Kronos

Standing over 9 feet tall this giant flaming entity, was once thought to be a God by the inhabitants of the volcanic Kronos. We now know it can be defeated by water and cold based weapons, which instead of killing the creature can shrink it down to a tiny spark!

The miniature is a ZZAX figure from WizKids, the Marvel series (ZZAX 126 #25) and was picked up at Waylands Forge, Birmingham for a couple of pounds earlier this year. I would like to tell you that I have completely re-painted it, adding washes and highlights to achieve the finish you now see. The truth is that I cut it from the HeroClix base and glued it on to a painted 50mm round base with nothing more than a touch of paint to the eyes and mouth!

The miniature is cast in orange-tinted clear resin and stands 60mm tall, it is mounted on a 50mm round base - one of the simplest Flash Gordon conversions I have even done.

Tony

Foundry Miniatures Compendium

When I first read that Foundry were to produce this compendium I was really looking forward to obtaining a copy. Within a day of reading about the release on TMP and The Lead Adventure, I had ordered a copy.

The book arrived just a couple of days later and after work I eagerly opened the package settled down on the sofa and quickly glanced through the pages. I was not impressed, the construction articles promised in the preview were far to few for my liking and I can remember passing comment to my wife and daughter that there was little of interest to me.

Since then I have read most of the articles and feel that my initial impression was a little harsh, in fact I would now reconsider the book to be good, not great and still below my (very high) expectations but a good read.

I must now justify the comments I have made. The initial previews led me to believe that there would be more constructional articles, more Gary Chalk articles. In fact there are two, both of which I already have as they were initially printed in Wargames Illustrated and I have them filed in a clear-pocket scrapbook. The previews also suggested a 'rounded selection of Foundry articles or features', they are there but of such a varied selection that I would suggest the book reads more like a large magazine. I do not think that the reviews were misleading, just that I had hoped there would have been more.

I have, as stated above now read all but a very few of the articles from start to finish and must admit that I have enjoyed them and found them informative and easy to read. I still think that Foundry could do better and a compendium of Roman, or Inca, or Gladiator articles in a single book might be a better way forward, rather than this miss-mash of different magazine pieces, brought together with little or no cohesion.

I still look forward to a compilation of constructional articles, which I feel would be a good project and sell well. In conclusion, I would say a good read, but could have been so much better. Plus the £15.00 price ticket (no P&P was charged on this order) could be seen as just a little 'over-the-top'.

I hope that this review helps others who are looking to purchase the book decide if it is right for them, maybe the best piece of advice is to check it out at a show, before buying.

Tony

HMS Dauntless 1/180th scale

Anyone familiar with this Blog will know of my scratch built 1/300th scale Space 1889/Aeronef models and the 1/600th scale Luther Arkwright Aeronefs. This particular model was an experiment to test a third Aeronef scale - 1/180th or 10mm.

I choose one of my favourite British Airships - HMS Dauntless (not the prettiest - but to me it just sums up the whole VSF Space 1889 ethos) as the first model and built it from plans found on the Internet.

The first photo shows the 'naked' model built from white plastic card, a pen barrel, a cocktail stick and scrap plastic. The second photos shows the completed model alongside the 1/300th scale HMS Dauntless (see the Space 1889/Aeronef section). The third and fourth photos show the completed and painted model (still to have a name plaque added).

There is no doubt that the slightly larger scale allows additional detail and was great fun to build, however the extra work and rather 'flimsy' detail, makes this more of a model than a gaming piece.

The model is 175mm long, 50mm wide and 70mm tall, from the bottom of the compass house to the top of the mast.

I like the finished model and am currently using it as a desk ornament, but I feel much more comfortable with the 1/300th (or 6mm) scale models and I would not envisage building any more. Well maybe just one Martian Hullcutter!

Tony

PS. I forgot to add the cotton wool smoke!

The Rock Kings Throne Room

The following series of photos show my skirmish terrain board - The Rock Kings Throne Room, that was completed earlier this year. Photos and comments have appeared on a number of sites, but so far not here!

The first photo shows the finished board, populated by some of my 40mm Flash Gordon miniatures, while the remaining photos show a simple chronological 'how I built it and how I painted it'. I have a great deal more photos of work-in-progress, but these give a pretty good impression of how it was built.

For anyone wanting better pictures - just double click the photo you want and the image should be 'super sized'.

For reference the board is 2 foot x 2 foot and about 18 inches tall.

It's been great fun to build and given me the opportunity to try-out new techniques, I would say that I am looking forward to my next project - but I've already started and finished it.

Tony

Comic inspiration

Over the last couple of years I have been searching-out old sci-fi comics and books, particularly 'retro sci-fi' and illustrated comic books.

Here are just a couple of appetisers;

Adam Strange - an earth man who regularly travels the 25 trillion miles between Earth and the planet Rann, via the Zeta-Beam.

Captain Comet and the Synthetic Men, man-made, indestructible creations that threaten the survival of humanity.

Tommy Tomorrow - a time travelling hero from 2060 who visits 1960 America and is arrested by the police.

In Trackless Space, a real 'boys own story of adventure', very un-PC, but great inspiration for either a Victorian Science Fiction (VSF) adventure or a Retro sci-fi romp.

I hope these can inspire some new adventure scenarios.

Tony

Flintloque - Artillery

This most recent batch of photos show some of my Flintloque artillery pieces and how they have been built or modified, plus how I have based them.

A Ferach field gun (slightly modified Flintloque miniature) with scratch built faggots, broom bristles tied with wire.

A resin casting from Grendel, highly modified, engraved and cleaned-up, with a modified Flintloque crew.

Scratch built gun carriage with Flintloque barrel - the cannon balls are the heads of round headed pins.

A completely scratch built mortar, using plastic pieces from my 'bits box. The terrain pieces came from AA and the cannon balls were mapping pins.

Finally a large resin mortar with scratch built field works and pieces from AA. The sand bags are DAS modelling clay.

Tony