Rick Random - Space Detective

Earlier today while visiting Waterstones the book store I saw this new book. Rick Random, Space Detective. 10 classic interplanetary adventures.

The book was on sale at £14.99, which although similar in price to other collections of comic books seamed a little to dear. A Google/Amazon search found the same book for less than £8.00. I have never come across this particular series of adventure stories before, so cannot comment. I would however say that the book has been added to my Christmas list! The Google search brought up this link, which I feel could be of use to other retro Sci Fi enthusiasts. Also check out Google images;

http://uk.geocities.com/lordymike/random_bio.htm

Tony

Tom Corbett - Danger in Space

My brother-in-law, picked up this second-hand hardback book from an Oxfam bookshop in Swansea, Tom Corbett Space Cadet - Danger in Deep Space by Gary Rockwell for 99p.

It is a first edition from 1953 and although showing signs of damage, torn dust jacket, water damage etc, the book is in good condition for its age.

I have only just started reading the book and am up to chapter four. So far the best description I can give is that it is a good yarn! The three illustrations featured below show some of the images of 'what the future will look like'. They may prove useful for Retro Sci-Fi modellers.

The book is in a series of five - from the Venture Library;

1. Stand by for Mars! (another Tom Corbett Space Cadet Story)


2. Danger in Deep Space


3. Rip Foster rides the Grey Planet


4. Tarzan and the Forbidden City


5. Tarzan and the City of Gold

Tony

First weekend of November

Not a busy weekend, but a couple of projects are coming to fruition. The first is a Purple Worm (21/60, CG/CE 189) from the Dungeons & Dragons collectible miniatures game. The miniature stands a massive 110mm tall. I bought it for £4.99 (post free) from e-bay and mounted it on a 80mm resin base from Fenris Games, see; http://www.fenrisgames.com/ I still need to re-paint the figure and base before adding it to my Flash Gordon collection.


I picked up a selection of bases - 2 x 80mm round bases and 4 x 60mm round bases. I am very impressed with the quality of the mouldings and would heartily recommend the service. I will certainly be ordering more! The bases are cast in stone-grey resin and after a quick wash in warm water and washing-up liquid, the base of the casting was smoothed off with a couple of strokes over fine sandpaper, before the slightly modified Purple Worm was superglued on and the groundwork built up with a Milliput/Green Stuff mix. Here are examples of the 80mm and 60mm round bases.


The final photo shows my latest Aerofauna - a group of four 'sperm-like' floaters, built from a foam egg, a piece of paper-clip wire, fast-setting two-part filler and 'green stuff'. Each creature is 90m long. I still need to model the fins and add bases.

Finally I picked up 4 Games Workshop flying Tyranids, which I also bought from e-bay in the hope that they could be modified as additional Aerofauna. I am less confident that they can, but as usual I will keep the Blog updated.

Tony

Aerofauna

The following models are in response to a feature on another Blog, see;

http://leadpeople.blogspot.com/2008/10/aerofauna-sightings.html

I thought that the idea was fantastic and decided I needed to model a couple of Aerofauna of my own for my Space 1889/Aeronef games. The first photo shows the Sky Floaters - passive bags of gas with a small body and long tendrils, although they look harmless and can be easily avoided, the Sky Floaters do pack a nasty punch and can easily disable a crew with their stinging tendrils. The stings, although very painful are not fatal. These creatures float on the wind in packs and are not known to be aggressive.

The second model, a Canal Crab Apple is a totally different animal, being very dangerous and a true predator. The tendrils and tentacles can kill a man with ease and the creature has a tendency to hunt its prey, sneaking up on any living being through detecting sound and movement. Once stung the injuries are nearly always fatal. Luckily these Canal Apples are very rare.

The remaining photos show work-in-progress shots, The Floaters being made from the plastic balls found in roll-on under-arm deodorant and florists wire with torn strips of green scouring pad.

The Crab Apple was made from a wooden air-freshener in the shape of an apple, with broom bristle tendrils and tentacles made from paper-covered wire

They have been great fun to build and paint. I would expect to build a couple more. To give an idea of scale, both designs are about 32mm round and the bases are 40mm round Games Workshop bases.

Tony

In greater detail;

The Crab Apple was based on an in-car wooden air freshener which was turned up-side-down, the top (which used to be the bottom) has some DAS modelling clay added to modify the shape and the stalk was drilled to accept the broom bristles which were first cut from the broom, bound with fuse wire and glued in the hole. The tentacles are more fuse wire, first covered with silver foil and then newspaper, the thick end has a small piece of the fuse wire still showing and attached in to the base via a pre-drilled hole. I added seven tentacles (although I modelled eight) - I wanted the model to be more alien! I coated the tentacles with white glue and some superglue. On the top of the Crab Apple I added five paper discs, punched from a self-adhesive label.

I then added small smooth stones (picked up on a beach in Spain some time ago and sieved) to the base with PVA glue and even a couple individually added with superglue, once set they were 'fixed' with watered-down PVA glue.

Once I was satisfied with the shape I painted the model with a mixture of acrylic paints and GW washes. The base is a piece of radio-controlled rod, attached to a GW 40mm round base to which a metal washer has been glued to the underneath, the groundwork is sand over PVA glue.

'Double click' on the photo above for a better photo.

Lord of the Rings in 36mm scale

These are examples of my 36mm Lord of the Rings miniatures, re-modelled, re-based and re-painted LOTR figures from the Collectible Miniature Game (CMG) manufactured by Sabertooth Games and which use the CombatHex game mechanic.

I have painted them in the GW style and mounted them on 40mm round bases, which have been textured with cork, DAS modelling clay and fine sand. It was my intention to re-paint a couple of forces and wargame with the GW LOTR rules. I might get around to it one day. I find that the slightly larger 36mm figures have so much more impact on the table.

Tony

Inquisitor scale Necton Immortal

This particular model is a 'scratch built' Necron Immortal built to Inquisitor Scale. The model stands over 175mm tall and is based on a 60mm round base. The miniature is built from plastic card, balsa wood, part of a broom handle, plastic rod and Milliput.

The inspiration is a 28mm Necron miniature from Games Workshop - the Warhammer 40K range - Necron Immortal.

It is painted with a acrylic silver paints from a wide variety of manufacturers and varnished with a satin varnish.

Tony

Warhammer 40K Space Marines

Over the last couple of years I have based and painted a number of Games Workshop Space Marines as display pieces, rather than gaming pieces. Each of these miniatures is mounted on a plastic discs and then a small wooden plinths which I pick up from charity stores in the UK.

Each miniature is painted with acrylic paints from a selection of manufacturers over a black undercoat and mounted on to groundwork constructed from cork, small stones and plastic pieces from my spares box. The banners are scratchbuilt and hand painted.

Tony