What I had from Santa

There are many modelling posts detailing the various gifts and surprises that Santa brought this Christmas. Not to be out-done, here is a jewelers vice/grip that my daughter bought for me this year. (Bought from Hobby Craft).

The vice is a hand-held grip for holding various pieces of jewelry and watches. But is equally valuable for figure modellers. The large screw to the right - moves the jaws further or closer together and the metal pins allow figure bases of different sizes and shapes to be held firmly. In addition the wooden handle can be unscrewed and the smaller vice can then be held in a standard bench vice.

I have yet to use the vice for modelling, these two pictures were taken using a finished Flintloque Dwarf, for scale purposes, the miniature is mounted onto a UK 2p coin.

Other modelling project 'pressies' this year include Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future part one, Predators Gold by Philip Reeve and White Dwarf.

Tony

Flintloque Buildings Set part seven

The three main structures are now completed, just some additional detail work and basing to go.

For those who have followed this project - you will know that the plan is to produce a set of three Flintloque based buildings that can be used independently or combined to make one larger building. In these four photos you can see how the parts can be brought together and used to produce different terrain pieces.

The roof of the main building is completed (see earlier posts) and the other roofs are in the process of being finished. I plan on mounting each finished and cast resin building on to small square bases, allowing them to be combined or modelled as one permanent feature.

The progress over the Christmas period has been slower than I had planned but the production date of February 2010 is still very obtainable. The plan is for these to be a Limited Edition release, with lift-off roofs and internal detail.

The questions I still have are;

How much internal detail should I model?

and

Should I include 'clutter' to the outside - adding interest, but cutting down on the ability to produce different variants?

Tony

Flintloque Buildings Set part six

These photos show how the textured filler really 'brings the walls to life'. I've used Homebase Interior Filler, spread onto the plain walls with a small spatula and when partially dry, I have further textured the surface with a stiff brush. I still have some considerable work to do on this and the other two buildings, but I am pleased with the progress.

Thats all for now - I'm off to enjoy Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas everyone.

Tony

My son gets engaged

Congratulations to Gary and Beckie on the occasion of their engagement. I don't know where he gets it from, but he was very romantic - having the ring made and then proposing at the exact spot where they had their first kiss.

Good luck and best wishes from Mum and me.

Flintloque Buildings Set part five

Even with the freezing weather, I have been able to produce the first roof section. These three photos show the main building which was roofed with a section of resin roof tiles. The resin section was cast for me earlier this year by Dave at Grand Manner. It was produced by me from hundreds of small plastic tubes, cut in half and stuck to a section of thick plastic card. In theory the cast sections should have been easier than scratch-building each roof. In practice the amount of work required in tidying up and the wastage makes the whole project very prolonged and wasteful.

Once the resin sheets were cut to size, they were sanded to shape and glued together with superglue. The ridge tiles were glued on and then blended-in with some watered-down filler and uPVA glue. There is still some 'tidying-up' to be done, but even from these rough photos you can see the progress so far.

The next stage on this particular building is to start texturing the walls, plastering them is typical Spanish or Portuguese fashion.

Tony

40mm Musketeers from Eureka

I recently picked up some Eureka 40mm Musketeers from E-Bay. The sculpting on these figures is quite exceptional and I look forward to painting them. However there is an obvious flaw with the scale thickness of the rapiers, as you can see on the figure on the right!

I wanted to replace the too-thin sword blades with something a little more serviceable and this post shows how I went about it.

Photo One - Shows the modified 40mm Musketeer (on the left) with one of the original models (on the right). I have replaced the sword and scabbard with 32mm carpet tacks.

Photo Two - The finished conversion with a 30mm metal washer base and the sword replaced.

Photo Three - The Wilko brand washers and carpet tacks, aprox. £1.00 per pack. (Wilkinson's is a group of UK household stores - a bit like Woolworths).

Photo Four and Five - Show the miniature in greater detail.

The base is built-up with Milliput and then sprinkled with fine sand, while the carpet tack was first cut to size and filed to define the shape. The handle or grip of the sword was filed into a prong and inserted into a 3mm hole which was drilled out with my Dremel. The too-large hole was filled with superglue and 'green stuff' - giving a very firm bond. The scabbard was done in the same way.

I realise that the new blade is a little over scale, but as I intend using the models for gaming, I believe that the compromise is acceptable. For anyone wishing to copy this technique - be aware that the point at the end of the sword is very, very sharp!

I prefer using a 30mm metal washer than the smaller round bases (which come with the figure and feature a larger, second base for keeping a record of wounds). Further posts will detail the painting.

Tony

Flintloque Buildings Set part four

These two photos show progress to date and although I have also started modelling the roof sections (individual Spanish-style pantiles) these is not shown.

In terms of style and size nothing has changed much since the initial sketches and the production date of February 2010 is still on plan.

For anyone seeing this set of posts for the first time - I am building a set of three Flintloque themed buildings which will be cast in resin by Grand Manner and can be used either as separate structures or linked and modelled as one (see earlier posts).

I estimate that the cost of the full set will be no more that £70.00 and please remember that the plan is for it to be a Limited Edition short-run set.

Should you have any queries, suggestions or like to order a set please contact me at;

dampfpanzerwagon(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk

Tony

Foul Mouth Freddy T -

Orcs in the Webbe - Advent Calendar for Tuesday 15th December 2009 features a short solo scenario for Flintloque which was written by me and edited by Craig Andrews; Foul Mouth Freddy Spikes the ****ing Gun. Full details of the scenario and further Alternative Armies scenarios can be found at;

http://www.orcsinthewebbe.co.uk/

The character is based upon a family friend, in fact my God Father, who is sadly no longer with us. Uncle Fred was a real character, and I was not aware of his nick name for many, many years! Foul mouth Fred had many (real life) adventures and with my father were one of the funniest double acts I have ever come across. I miss them both very much.

I can only think of one miniature in my collection that could even come close to representing Freddy, this highly converted Orc Sergeant.

Writing the background and scenario has brought back many fond memories and I would not be surprised if further adventures of Foul Mouth Freddie appear in the future.

I hope you enjoy the story.

Tony

With reference to the scenario, I would suggest that 12 barrels of Krolsberg maybe too many - try 6 to 10 and see how it turns out.

DJ Hero Desk Statue

Earlier this year I was asked by my son, Gary (who works for Free Style Games/Activision) if I could produce a desk-top statue of one of the characters from the new computer game DJ Hero. I agreed and the image below is a photo of the model I produced of the in-game character Cletus Cutts.

Photo One - A close-up of the finished statue - which stands over 10 inches tall.

Photo Two - I was lucky enough to be shown some pre-game images and this photo shows the finished DJ character as a mesh. I was very pleased with the outcome and feel that I have captured the computer character in the physical sculpt.

Photo Three and Four - Show the finished model on a wooden display plinth.

Photo Five and Six - Show close-ups of the finished model.

The statue is based on a 10 inch Guitar Hero figurine, which was stripped back to the bare mannequin, then re-animated into the pose seen above, re-built and clothed with a variety of different epoxy fillers and finally painted with acrylic paints.

The statue is now on display at the head offices of Free Style Games in Leomington Spa.

The whole project took some two months, to complete, with the main time being spent in sculpting and painting. It was a new challenge for me to produce such a large model and a subject matter that is quite different from my usual modelling projects. I have been allowed to use these images on my Blog with permission of Free Style Games - thank you.

Tony

Flintloque Buildings Set part three

The latest update on my 2009 Christmas Project details the work carried out on the second building - the tower. The model stands 120mm tall (without roof) and is 70mm wide and 70mm deep. The main structure is built from 3mm Plastic card with a double wall thickness to the upper section and individual carved corner stones superglued to the sides and door surround.

Since these photos were taken the gaps and joins in the stones have been filled with Milliput and the sides will be further detailed with even more stones prior to texturing and filling-in with a typical Spanish/Portuguese plaster finish.

The plan is for one side to have a (non-opening) door and the upper section to be accessible through the lift off roof.

Since the last post, I have been discussing the model with a number of prospective buyers and I have agreed to produce a small bell tower which can (if wanted) be attached to the roof of the main building making it even more versatile. Once I have images, I will post again.

Anyone interested in purchasing one of these sets should contact me direct. Many thanks to those who have already agreed to buy one and for those who have asked, I will try to have estimated pricing prior to Christmas.

The production date of February 2010 is still on plan.

Tony

Forge World Photos Album

While clearing-out some older photos, I came across these images of Forge World resin miniatures and models that I had taken at the IPMS model shows, Telford in 2008 and 2009. I have included them here as inspiration.

All were taken from behind glass and some show 'flash-back' from the event lighting, hence the reflection and quality.

Tony

Aircraft Models by Gabriel Stern

I regularly check-in with the On-Line model aircraft build site Aircraft Resource Centre and in particular look out for scratch built models by Gabriel Stern. In my opinion one of the most gifted scratch builders I have ever come across. Not only are his models 'little wonders of construction and research', but the subject matter is so eccentric!

As an example take this Riout 102T, a dragonfly inspired French flying machine.

For more examples of Gabriels work, check out; http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Gal-Fea%20Archives/bi-planes/Gabriel-Stern/Gabriel-Stern.htm

Or pop over to The Aircraft Resource Centre at;

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/

I guarantee, you will not be disapointed.

Tony

Flintloque - 3rd Pavlova Grenadiers

Last month I was clearing out some old photos and rearranging folders when I came across a whole load of images of this group of Flintloque Undead. In particular the 3rd Pavlova Grenadiers (code 55518). The painted miniatures are over a year old and have previously been featured on this Blog and Flintloque Yahoo Group sites, but I still wanted to include them, as they are one of my favourite regiments and group of Flintloque figures.

Photo One - The Liche, Count Pavlov, which was a runner-up in an Alternative Armies single figure painting competition.

Photo Two - A group of eight Pavlova Grenadiers (the actual set 55518 contains six miniatures) , this group has two added and converted figures, an extra Grenadier with the head from a Heroclix Solomon Grundy figure (second from the right) and a converted Bog Orc command bugler from the Connartist Rambler Command (54034) blister pack (third from the right).

Photo Three, Four and Five - The same group, taken from different angles and in less bright light.

Photo Six - The group of six Undead and the contents of the 55518 set. This group was a winning entry in another Alternative Armies painting competition.

The gateway in the background is scratch built from MDF and two Gothic pens that were bought from Euro Disney. The barrel is a resin casting, the gates made from plastic card and the Ferach flag is sculpted from Milliput. It was modelled to be an entrance to a grave yard.

Most of the figures show some conversion or modification, extra trouser detail or added buttons etc. The standard was downloaded as a black and white line drawing from the Internet, then painted with acrylics and highlighted with the same techniques as I paint my figures. Each of the miniatures are mounted on to UK 2p coins, with the bases being built up with Milliput epoxy resin.

I feel that these miniatures show off my particular painting style to its best, a black undercoat and bright primary colours with some even brighter highlighting! 'Almost cartoony'. You will also notice how I have tried to vary the skin tones and colour, in fact the skin effects were copied from the Zombies in the Michael Jackson video Thriller! A great source of inspiration when painting the Undead.

Most of my Flintloque collection are locked away in storage cases, this small group is displayed in a glass fronted cabinet in the hall - very special treatment!

I hope you enjoy seeing them (again).

Tony

LAF's Build Something Competition - completed

Today is the final date for official entries in the Lead Adventures Forum - Build Something Competition. I built this 1/300th scale Space 1889/Aeronef, Rutledge Flier MkII, based on the Space 1889 game and images by Mateen Greenway (see earlier posts).

These two snaps show the model fully completed with clear flying disc and nameplate - The Privateer Emily.

It was a great fun build, taking less than a day to model and about the same time to paint and detail. The model is 78mm long and is based on a GW 40mm round base.

Tony

Flintloque Building Set part two

My plan is to build three separate but associated buildings (which can be modelled as three separate pieces or combined in to one larger structure) that are designed to be used with Flintloque miniatures. These four photos show the progress to date.

The walls are build from two layers of 3mm Plastic card with individual corner stones added from the same plastic card. Progress has been slow, as I have other work projects on the go, but I would hope that these photos will tempt others to commit to buy. I would hope to have some provisional pricing soon, anyone interested should contact me direct.

Tony