Aeronef over the Aegean

Earlier this week I downloaded the 17 page Aeronef Scenario/Campaign Aeronef over the Aegean by Paul O'Grady and David Crook. I am not going to review the game Aeronef by Steve Blease as there are more than enough great reviews and comments on this Victorian Science Fiction (VSF) aerial combat game, however this new PDF booklet and Mini Campaign has only just been released.

Before I start, please note that you will need the the original rule book - Aeronef by Matthew Hartley and Steve Blease to run this campaign, for more details see;

http://www.blease.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/WG.aeronef.html

The campaign booklet follows the revenge attacks of Baron Lantoz and his battle cruiser the Syren in a series of three linked scenarios, with battle damage being cumulative across the scenarios. In addition there is a very strong and intriguing 'back-story' which helps to give the campaign some 'gritty' realism, something that I felt worked very well.

I am yet to play any of the three scenarios, but enjoyed reading the story and notes on each of the scenarios. I will not give to much away, but will say that the writing and and quality of the scenarios allow the reader to fully sympathize with the hero (or the opposing forces). Very well done.

The booklet also contains some rules amendments, not all of which I agree with, but as I have said earlier - I am yet to play the games, so I will reserve judgement until I have tested them. Further sections give ship profiles of the main protagonists (plus, optional reinforcements) and details of the Brigade Models Aeronef miniatures that are available for this campaign, see;

http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/NoFrames/VAN/index.html

The whole booklet is further enhanced with some quite stunning terrain and model photography, courtesy of Steve Blease. All in all a hearty recommendation - ten out of ten.

Tony

PS.

The cost of this PDF - $1.00 is being donated to the Doctors Without Borders - Haiti Earthquake Response appeal. $1.00 very well spent.

January update

The Flintloque Building Set is now with Dave at Grand Manner and I would hope to see the finished resin castings within a week - to ten days. My next commission is a 28mm European Windmill and this is now 50% finished and once again should be fully finished within the week. Other modelling projects continue alongside these, but at a slower rate.

Earlier today I received an e-mail giving details of the second edition of this book; Model Design & Blueprinting Handbook volume 1. I bought the original book some time ago as a present for my son, who was at the time at university studying Computer and Web Page Design. However, on his return home he allowed me to have the book for my modelling projects.

In shorthand, the book is full of technical design articles about how to produce plans (blueprints) for models from photos or illustrations and hints and tips on reproducing models from these drawings. It has been very helpful when producing models from photos.

This book covers a very specialized subject and as such I would recommend it to scratch-build modellers or modellers who are looking to produce their own designs and drawings only.

For more details see;

http://modelersnotebook.com/

On a separate note Steve Blease of Wessex Games has launched an Aeronef supplement called Aeronef over the Aegean, a mini campaign based on the revenge attacks of Baron Lantoz and his flagship the Syren.

The book is being offered at a nominal fee of $1.00 with all proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders - Haiti Earthquake Response. For further details see;

http://www.wargamevault.com/product_info.php?products_id=78217

2010 has started well with new modelling commissions and projects being delivered on time. I am aware that The Miniatures Page (TMP) will be running a couple of Workbench Articles very soon and Alternative Armies are planning on releasing a magazine that features an article or two of mine. I am sure that there will be loads more to fill the pages of this Blog in the next couple of months. I hope you enjoy them.

Tony

Andreas Press

I was recently lucky enough to be lent two books from Andreas Press (Andreas Miniatures), the first is Bireme, a card-back book that details the development and history of the Roman Bireme warship and the building of a 1/32nd scale sea-scape diorama featuring a Roman Bireme ramming a Carthaginian warship.

For me this was a fantastic read, and pure 'eye candy', the book is full of information about these early warships and the section on modelling and painting the diorama is just fantastic. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in modelling, painting miniatures or scratch-building. Ten out of ten.

Please note the copy I was lent is the English edition and not the Spanish one as illustrated below.

The second Andreas Press book was even more 'jaw-dropping' a hard-backed book detailing the history and development of the German U-Boat called Das Boot.

Once again the pages are full of photographs and illustrations showing the history of submarines and the development of the different classes of German U-boats, then the second half details the building of a 1/32nd scale diorama featuring a Type VII C in dry-dock, being repaired and re-stocked for another tour of the Atlantic.

If the Bireme book interests you, then this one will really impress you, a diorama that features as its main part a huge 1/32nd scale U-Boat, but also features a dry dock, a section of French dockside, a railway, a mine store and even a scratch-built tug. Once again ten out of ten.

The book I was lent was the English edition and not the Spanish one featured in this illustration.

Full details are;

Bireme (2004) - from Andreas Press. ISBN 84-96527-13-1 and

Das Boot (2002) - from Andreas Press. ISBN 84-96527-03-4

Both books and others are available from a number of model book specialists, but can be seen on the official Andreas Miniatures site (catalogue/publications) at;

http://www.andrea-miniatures.com/index.php

I have in my personal collection a number of Andreas Press books, each one a great read, full of beautiful illustrations and in most cases, step-by-step/work-in-progress shots.

Tony

Flintloque Buildings Set part twelve

As I come to the end of this particular project - I feel it would be worth repeating the reason behind this set. I wanted to produce a Flintloque themed set of terrain that could be cast in resin and sold via Grand Manner. The three buildings can be used either as individual buildings or combined as a single larger feature piece. In addition and following comments on this Blog plus personal e-mails I have also modeled a bell tower which can be used on the roof of the main building, adding even more variety and 'game-ability'.

It is also worth repeating that there is no official connection between these models, Grand Manner or myself with Alternative Armies, the producer of Flintloque/Slaughterloo.

Photo One - Shows the completed 'masters' - the main building, tower and 'lean-to' out-building.

You will also notice that the bases of each building have been reduced to allow the three buildings to sit closer to one another with less of a gap between them (see earlier posts).

Photo Two - The finished Main Building with the separate bell tower.

Photo Three - A photo showing the internal detail of the main building, a tiled floor, plastered walls and barrels.

Photo Four - Detail of the main door and entrance. I wanted to model a more decorative and solid door.

Photo Five - All seven pieces, showing the three main buildings, the three removable roofs and the (new) bell tower.

The masters will be with Grand Manner next week and once I have a finished resin casting I will post a photo.

The Limited Edition, resin model sets should be available for early February and via this Blog, my personal e-mail at;

dampfpanzerwagon(at)yahoo.co.uk

or Grand Manner at;

http://www.grandmanner.co.uk/home/index.asp

The cost is £70.00 per set.

On a personal note, I wanted to thank all followers and personal e-mailers for the messages of support and orders. This has been a long-planned modelling project that I have wanted to produce for quite some time. Now that it is finished I am very pleased with the final result and even more pleased that it will be put into production as a resin set. I now look forward to painting a set (or two) and seeing the terrain on a Flintloque/Slaughterloo wargame table.

Once again - thank you for all the support during this project.

Tony

Watercolour painting - Mumbles

And now for something completely different! I occasionally dabble in watercolour painting, these two paintings are of Mumbles Head, near Swansea, South Wales. The subject matter is very close to my heart, having been born and brought up near to the sea and with this very striking headland always in view during my early years. In fact an Uncle and Aunt still live in Mumbles and my Mother and Father ran the St Anne's Hotel, Mumbles for some time.

Both images were copied from photographs of Mumbles that I took for a project my son was doing in university and I have painted them as an anniversary present for my Brother and Sister-in-Law. I will give one away and keep the second.

"I think I like the wooden framed version more that the one in the silver frame!" Both were painted on Winsor & Newton Cotman paper 14inch x 10inch and painted with a mixture of Winsor & Newton Cotman and WHS watercolour paints.

Tony

Flintloque Buildings Set part eleven

As mentioned in the earlier post - the Tower is now finished and these photos show the Outbuilding fully modelled. A simple, single storey 'lean-too' outhouse that can be used either as a stand-alone building or attached to one of the larger buildings such as the Tower.

This model has a 'foot print' of 75mm x 58mm and a maximum height of 65mm, although small, it is full of character and would make an ideal shed or store house.

The model has a lift-off roof with a plain interior, featuring a tiled floor. The door is cast shut, but can (with a little work) be modelled open or ajar.

This final photo shows the outhouse alongside the tower. As unmodified castings there is a slight gap between the walls, but (again with a little work) this can be reduced by sanding both castings and re-modelling them as one larger model.

As stated earlier in this series of Blog entries. I intend modelling two Flintloque Building Sets - one as three separate castings and a second as a fully integrated, larger single structure (see earlier illustrations).

Now that the two lesser buildings are completed, I will be concentrating on finishing the main building and the promised Bell Tower.

Tony

Flintloque Buildings Set part ten

The Tower is now 99% finished. These four photos show in pictures more than I can ever write about the amount of detail and surface texture I have modelled.

The Main Building and Outhouse are nearing completion and finished photos of these and more detailed photos of the whole set will be available very soon.

The Tower features a lift-off roof and fully modelled upper floor, internally there is a wooden planked floor and a (non-opening) trap door. The ground floor has not be modelled.

In this photo you can see that the tiled roof section sits proud of the background surface - this is because there is a 6mm thick plug, which fits into the top of the tower.

I would expect that all three buildings will be with Grand Manner for casting by the end of this week. I will keep updating progress here on the Blog.

I am very pleased with the progress of this particular project and feel that I have firstly captured in this model the 'Flintloque style', so obvious in the range of miniatures from Alternative Armies, secondly - I believe that this model has improved my modelling or sculpting skills. I now look forward to seeing it cast, painted and featuring on battlefields all across Valon.

Tony

PS.

There is no reason why this terrain piece could not be used with other gaming genres, - 40mm Peninsular Wars, Pirates or Musketeers!