The suggestion for the competition came from me! So obviously, I'll be competing, however a beautifully written post by Mad Uncle Rogipoos (see the Notables for a full history of this eccentric Flintloque character) added further impetus, the full post is included here;
I am sure that there are titles that will appeal to followers of this Blog. For anyone in the area - the full details are;
Tucked away in my ever-increasing reference library (the garage or attic) I have an Eye-Spy book on identifying British Trees, it is great for giving basic information when modelling toy trees.
Photos Three and Four - A view looking down on the deck detail of this experimental Aeronef.
As I have commented on above, the Space 1889 site maintained by Mateen has been and still is a great source of inspiration for both me and others who are interested in the Space 1889 background, I am very proud of my model and the fact that it has been included in The Ancible, but even more pleased to see it featured on the Space 1889 site. Well done Mateen, I think it looks fantastic.
Earlier today I saw this Modelling Brush Set for sale in LIDL (a discount store in the UK). The set of five clay shapers are being sold for just £1.99. I quality terms I would say they are just as good as The Royal Sovereign model, however the tips or nibs are about twice as big.
This photos shows the Royal Sovereign and Lidl shapers alongside one another.
And here you see a detailed photo of the tips.
The packaging states that the brushes feature silicone tips and birch wood handles with chrome plated copper sleeves.
This is the first example of a painted model that I have seen. It was painted by Dave Bodley of Grand Manner to collectors standard. The American Continentals and Minutemen were miniatures lent to Dave for a forthcoming photo shoot and the photos were taken on my dinning room table.
I would expect similar images (actually better images) to be uploaded to the GM site very soon. Dave is planning a photo shoot showing off this and other 'new' GM models very soon.
There is not much more I can add at this time, but will keep you informed of any additional work carried out.
I have already posted that I have one article included in issue 2, another Modelling Masterclass detailing some of my conversions of the Obidiah Hogswill miniatures, but my favourite article is The Dirty Arf Undred or King of the Hill story and scenario by B. Dyer and G. Syme. A two player scenario pitting a stranded group of Orcs against some well dressed Ferach Cavalry. I particularly liked reading the detailed backstory and character notes, Flintloque is very good at individualising characters and miniatures to give them real personalities. I think this is why I enjoy the system so much, it makes painting up characters so easy, much better than rows of faceless and 'ordinary' toy soldiers.
The second is of St Peters Church, Droitwich, Worcestershire.
For those interested, I use artists quality, acid free paper and Winsor and Newton watercolour tube paint.
The two arms have been painted with the same colour mix and will be added to the miniature later in the painting cycle.
Photo Two - Reeves Water Based Oil Colour, Brilliant Red.
Photo Three - The base coated figure, three very light coats of Brilliant Red. I think you can see that the paint goes on very smoothly, giving uniform colour and coverage. My only criticism was that I found the red a little too orange - very Blood Angels Red and not the dark crimson I was looking for with this miniature. I was not too disappointed as my plan was to 'wash' the red armour with Baal Red Wash from Citadel.
Photo Four - This was not what I expected! The Citadel Wash, washed away the oil based paint! Leaving a very pinkish and grainy paint finish, as stated - not what I had expected at all. The thought of a Pink Abaddon was quite disturbing and as well as the shock (yes shock) of the paint being washed off so very easily, the wash had also highlighted a grainy paint finish.
Photo Five - I washed the miniature under running water and using a toothbrush was able to remove most of the red paint. The actual miniature is not damaged and I will now go back to my usual paints and build up the Red Armour with traditional modelling paints - Vallejo, Games Workshop and some Foundry acrylics.
In summary the experiment has been a total failure, but I will recover and future On-Line builds will not be using Water Based Oil Colour.
It's been some time since this model has seen the light of day - being relegated to the bottom of a figure case, but with the article in Barking Irons, I felt it was worth including him here.
I think the last two photos are the best for showing actual stonework, very haphazard and great for modelling inspiration - particularly the plants growing out of the cracks!
The second-hand miniature came undercoated in Black. I took the figure apart to clean up the castings and re-base it. I decided not to strip the black paint, but to paint over it, however at this moment I am still undecided as to which base/undercoat I will use - black or white, maybe even a mix of both!
This photo shows some Water Mixable Oil Colour from REEVES. I picked up this set of three tubes for less than £1.00 and thought that I could test out the Brilliant Red (a colour that nearly always disappoints when using acrylic paints) on the Abaddon miniatures armour.
This final photo shows the cleaned-up Abaddon mounted on to a Games Workshop resin base from the Citadel Urban Basing Kit. I've had the basing kit some time, (It was bought for me by my Mother-in-Law, a Birthday gift I think) and although I have used some of the stone and shale tubs, this is only the second time I have chosen a resin casting to be used as base decoration.
Both of the banner poles have been cleaned and re-glued with superglue, while the hands have been pinned (see next post).
The unmodified casting has the creature with outstretched wings and balanced on its tail, I trimmed the tail mounting tab back and drilled a 1mm hole into the main body, in addition I have animated each of the castings, by twisting the tails and/or head, straightening the wings, or mounting each of the Wyverns at different heights and angles. The Dragonettes have a wingspan of 85mm and a body length of 55mm.
The castings needed some tidying up, and were painted over a Black undercoat with various Greens which were 'washed' with Games Workshop Black and Green Washes prior to three coats of acrylic varnish.
I've added nameplates - Wyvern 1, 2 and 3, but am still to use them (or any of the other Aerofauna I have) in any game. Should any reader have any ideas for stat-ing these for the game Aeronef, or any of the other Aeronef Fauna included in this Blog, please contact me.