Wednesday 30 March 2011

My 200th Follower

Earlier today J P Chapleau became my 200th Blog Follower.

Thank you and welcome to all and I hope you still enjoy reading about my modelling projects. I feel I have to apologise for the lack of recent posts, it is not because I am not modelling, but more down to the fact that a lot of the commissions I have been working on during the last three months are still to be published or cast in resin and I find it difficult to post details on models that are still to be made available!

I promise that as soon as I have clearance I will post details and photos here.

Finally, it is highly unlikely that I will be able to attend SALUTE 2011 although I am trying to rearrange holidays so that I can drive down and see the Gallipoli gaming board that I helped model from Grand Manner. Dave will be attending as a guest of Wargames Illustrated and I know that this fantastic display board will be the centre piece of the whole show.

Once again - thank you.

Tony

Tuesday 29 March 2011

Princess Juliana Chaseur Elite Now available from AA

The Princess Juliana Chasseur Elite Musketeers VEU03 are now available from Alternative Armies, see this link

The figures are available from Alternative Armies and form part of the New Releases which will be available from AA at SALUTE 2011.

Regular readers will know that the Regiment is named after my Niece - Juliana Cartwright who passed away earlier this year following a battle with Pancreatic Cancer. The Regiment is also being featured over on The Lead Painters' League, see this link

I would hope that this Limited Edition Unit will be a fitting memorial to Juliana.

Tony

Sunday 27 March 2011

Corydon and the island of Monsters by Tobias Druitt

One modelling project that always seems to be relegated to the back burner is my 40mm Ancient Greek or Typhon gaming project. Over the last couple of years I have bought a whole load of 40mm miniatures, a Typhon ruleset from Alternative Armies and even built some dual scale Ancient Greek terrain pieces (28mm/40mm) for Grand Manner. In addition I have a themed scrapbook, just full of information and ideas, which one day I really should upload to this Blog! All this is work STILL lounging in un-painted lead and pencil notes.

This week I saw this book for sale in a charity shop - just 30p and so I thought that it was worth a second chance. The story is loosely based on the legends of the Gorgons and in particular Medusa but brings a new and fresh character Corydon, a goat legged shepherd boy into play. (I am now on the look out for a 40mm boy who I can convert, so any comments/suggestions are very welcome).

The story follows Corydon, a young boy with one goat leg who meets the Gorgon Medusa when he is captured by men (Pirates) who run a travelling Freak Show. He quickly realises that Medusa and 'the other monsters' he meets are not evil and together they escape to an island where they live happily...until Perseus convinces an army of heroes that all monsters should be killed. It isn't long before Corydon finds himself leading the monsters against the Gods.

This 'children's story' offers a fresh approach to the standard Greek Mythos and offers many gaming scenarios for the Greek/Fantasy roleplayer and skirmish wargamer. In addition it adds some much needed 'colour' to this genre. I cannot yet confirm that my own Typhon project has been promoted up my painting and modelling list, but it has added much needed inspiration.

For full details;
Corydon and the island of Monsters by Tobias Druit (the mother and son team of Diane Purkis and Michael Dowling)
Published by Simon and Schuster
ISBN 0-689-87537-1

I live in hope that one day (maybe soon) this long-planned project will see the light of day, with the ultimate aim of a display game.

Tony

Thursday 24 March 2011

Birthday presents

For my birthday I was lucky enough to receive a number of modelling and gaming presents.

Gary & Beckie bought me a book about early ships/boats that is packed full of great black and white illustrations. Guess what my next modelling project is?

Sue bought me the Hobby's Catalogue 2011, which is a model-makers dream read, just full of great items. I also received a copy of the L. A. Carlyon book Gallipoli

Holly gave me the current issue of Wargames Illustrated, number 281. And later this week I received the WI, number 282 from Dave and Debbie at Grand Manner.

For my birthday we had a slap-up Chinese meal and a HUGE cake covered in butter icing and then spotted with Jelly Beans from Jen & Ivor. I still have some money from my Mother-in-Law which I intend spending later this week and the very practical present of a set of lounging pants and top from Mum.

Thank you to all.

Tony

Wednesday 23 March 2011

Greek Olive Press

A Work-in-Progress shot of a 28mm Ancient Greek Olive Press. For details of the finished resin casting, see this link


Here's an unusual post! A Finnish start-up company is using one of my images on their Web pages, see this link

Tony

Sunday 20 March 2011

Princess Juliana Chaseur Elite

I was lucky enough to get through the first round of The Lead Painters League with This set of Flintloque Dwarves. Round two is a little more tough as you can see here and down to the fact that it is not a new set of painted figures but a repeat of the initial round one post.

Photo One - Shows another view of the 16 painted Dwarves, set against the LE Grand Manner Flintloque Building, for more details see this post

Photos Two to Seven - Show the 'master sculpts' and the finished castings from Alternative Armies. As you can see they are more like conversions or modifications than true sculpts from scratch, but I'm still proud of them. I would expect them to be available from Alternative Armies within the month, for full details go to this link






Photo Eight - Another shot showing the Dwarves and the buildings. A full background and history of this regiment is available here I hope you enjoy reading it.

Tony

Wednesday 16 March 2011

Alumwell Wargames Show 2011 - part three

Part three is really a 'miss-match' of various photos - WW1 Aviation and Sci-Fi. As regular readers will be aware my modelling interests are wide and varied and at show like the WMMS I tend to be a little snap-happy.

Photo One - Shows some early WW1 aircraft. I would also like to advertise an Open day at the Boulton Paul Aircraft Heritage Project to be held on Sunday, April 17th 10.00am - 4.00pm. there will be many exhibits well worth checking out. For more information please contact Jack Holmes on 01902 843573 or Cyril Palmer on 01902 843118. the event will be held at Moog Aviation, Wobaston Road, Fordhouses, Wolverhampton WV9 5EW.

Photo Two - More WW1 aviation.

Photo Three - A scratch-built Sci-Fi transporter. I particularly liked the wheel arrangement. Sorry about the quality of the photo.

Photo Four - A Baccus 6mm Sci-Fi tank, which reminds me of the OGRE tanks.

Photo Five - A beautifully scratch-built Mars Rover. Very atmospheric.

Photo Six - There were a number of similar Fantasy Sci-Fi craft displayed on the IPMS stand, this one caught my eye due to the stunning colour scheme.

There are some other photos that I plan to up-load at some time in the future.

Tony

Tuesday 15 March 2011

Alumwell Wargames Show 2011 - part two

My second Alumwell or WMMS post features some beautifully modelled and painted German experimental armour or Paper Tigers, German tanks and tank destroyer designs that were on the drawing board as WW2 ended. A sort of Luft46 for armour rather than aircraft.

Each of the designs comes under the classification of the E-Series or Entwicklungs-Serie (Development Series). The E-Series which would allow for maximum interchange of parts. These AFV's were to replace all of the existing German vehicles making future production, maintenance and service easier and cheaper.

The tanks were named by weight classification, the E-10 being the 10 ton weight class - There were six classes in all E-5, E-10, E-25, E-50, E-75 and E-100.

Photo One - An unusual design that allowed the large gun to be removed from its armoured shell and wheeled out to the rear. I also suspect that the hull has been lengthened.

Photo Two - I believe that this design was called the Crocodile.

Photo Three - I know that this has the Porsche Turret.

Photo Four - A late war paint scheme green and yellow over the red oxide primer.

Photo Five - A Maus hull with a larger anti-aircraft turret.

Photo Six - I think this is an example of the E-10.

Photo Seven - This design is based on the King Tiger hull.

I admit that I am not an expert in this field and I really should have taken notes, but I hope that you will excuse my lack of knowledge on this subject. Should any reader be able to identify the class and vehicle in greater detail please post replies.

Most of the information above was taken from the Internet and in particular this post

All of these images were taken on the IMPS stand at the WMMS, Alumwell on Sunday 13th March 2011 and all of the models are to 1/35th scale.

Tony

Sunday 13 March 2011

The Lead Painters League Round 1 - Princess Juliana Chaseur Elite

The Lead Painters League Round 1 has started. My initial entry is the Princess Juliana Chaseur Elite Dwarves for Flintloque. Check out this and other entries at this link

Full details of this particular group - its history and more importantly the naming of the regiment can be found at this link

Tony

Alumwell Wargames Show 2011 - part one

I have just returned home from a very enjoyable day at the West Midlands Military Show 2011 where I met up with a number of friends and wargaming contacts. The show which is in its 35th years was once again very well attended with traders, exhibition games and members of the public. I arrived just after 10.30am and am pleased to report that I was able to find a parking space - something that is a bit of a rarity for this show and venue. The £3.00 entry cost was paid with pleasure and within the first couple of minutes I was meeting and greeting.

The show was laid out in the traditional manner with traders around the walls of the main hall and exhibition and wargames to the centre. At first the 'bring and buy' was too busy for me, but later in the day, when the scrum had subsided I managed to pick up some bargains, more of that later.

I think the outstanding display for me for the WW2 re enactment group who had put on a really fine exhibition which also allowed members of the public to take part - very well done. Secondly I spent a great deal of time talking to members of the IPMS Birmingham and IPMS Stafford Groups, I will upload some photos in later posts.

The main content of this first WMMS 2011 post are a set of photos showing the 28mm Grand Manner AWI buildings that were sculpted by me. John has done a great job in painting them




I spent a great deal of time discussing current and future modelling plans and really should have taken more photos. However as I was leaving I once again got that 'glowing' feeling of a day well spent. Thanks to all who took the time to introduce themselves to me and a special thank you to all who offered advice.

It was commented on - that my Blog has been a little light or quiet in recent months. I can report that in fact I have been very busy, writing, modelling and painting. However most of these commissions are of the secret nature or having been produced and accepted are in fact waiting to be published, the real world operates at a much slower speed than the instant nature of Blogging!

My main purchases were some Flintloque Miniatures (no surprises there) from Gateshead Gaming, a couple of packs of Military Modelling from the 'Bring and Buy' stand and a rather fine 60mm figure of a Royal Horse Artillery Trooper Mounted Rocket Corps 1814 which I intend repainting and rebasing at some time. Even though I went with a fair amount of pocket money, this was one show where I enjoyed the company rather than the purchases.

Tony

Saturday 12 March 2011

Alumwell Wargame Show

Tomorrow is the West Midlands Military Show which will be held at the Alumwell Leisure Village in Wolverhampton, for full details go to this link

Given the recent circumstances both Sue and I have been busy visiting Swansea and arranging details for next week, so I apologise for the lack of posts.

I am planning to be at the show for 10.00am onwards and look forward to meeting up with fellow gamers. As posted last month, I'll be wearing my red jacket, if you think you know me, tap me on the shoulder and we'll have a chat.

Tony

Sunday 6 March 2011

The Princess Juliana Chasseur Elite Regiment for Flintloque

I had hoped that I would not have had to post this particular article for some time. The Princess Juliana Chasseur Elite Regiment of Dwarves is named after my niece, Juliana Cartwright who passed away earlier this week after a long and heroic battle against Pancreatic Cancer. Juliana leaves behind a loving husband and three young children as well as a gaping hole in the lives of all who knew her.

*****

The story of The Princess Juliana Regiment started some time ago when Alternative Armies asked if I could sculpt/convert some Flintloque Dwarves to be released to accompany the latest Flintloque 3rd Edition rulebook Bier & Bones. I produced a group of Dwarves which were quickly accepted by Gavin at AA and then cast in whitemetal. I was asked if I had any thoughts about a background for the regiment and wrote a short back story - see below.

I was also asked to base, paint and photograph the group of 16 miniatures and the three photos below are the result.



The Princess Juliana Regiment - The Chasseur Elite Musketeers

Within the tomes of Dwarf military history, there can be few stories that could out-do the Chasseur Elite Musketeers of the famous Princess Juliana Regiment for double-dealing. During the pre-Black Powder period, the regiment was blessed with extreme good fortune and strong leadership in the shape of a female dwarf warlord called Juliana, who through her foresight and planning won many, many battles. However the small principality of Growtonburger was doomed to be nothing but a ‘bit-player’ in the Great Mordred Wars.

While the Finklestein Confederation and the Krautian League were convening councils of war, Roberto Locke, the head brewer of the local Dwarf Micro Brewery was oblivious to how these petty little wars would turn his world up-side-down! Robbo was an average brewer, although he will remind you that he did come third in an Ostrian Beer Exhibition for his Olde Dodger, a very old style of dark and wheaty ale, - you could counter with that fact that there were only four entries and one of those was entered in the wrong competition! But I digress. Robbo was a brewer, he knew about yeast and wheat and water, he did not know about flintloques and shotte, black powder and the intrigue of War. He would have to learn, and quickly!

In an attempt to remain independent, some of the elder Dwarves, well I say elder, I actually mean ancient Dwarves, (so ancient in fact that some were actual statues) had decided that a treaty with the Ferach and their allies would (hopefully) mean that This Principality would be passed by in the wars between Dwarf and Dwarf! (Ferach, Dog soldiers, Ogres and even the cute little Bunnies did have some part in the war – but let’s not get ahead of ourselves). Robbo was happy to go along with this, continuing to brew beer and write his weird memoirs. Then the bombshell! The Ferach wanted a regiment of able-bodied Dwarves to take part in the next offensive and as proof that the signed treaty was honoured. Now able-bodied Dwarves were a thing of great rarity in these parts and really the only able-bodied workers were the brewers and draymen (I mean Dray Dwarves). It was therefore decided that the first Juliana Chasseur Elite would be made up of brewers and dray Dwarves. The obvious choice of leader – Robbo the Head Brewer!

The small regiment, in number (and stature), was actually very well equipped (Brewers are some of the richest guild members after all) with a new Ale-brown jacket and Froth-white trousers, piped in gold to mimic the golden hops and wheat so evident in this area and so key to the brewing of fine ales. The whole regiment were given serviceable (but rather antique Dwarf Muskets Mk II) and huge Black Shakos. The standard was actually a cut down paddle (used to stir the fermenting beer) topped with a white flag, actually a beer soaked rag used to clean out used barrels, that’s beer barrels. All in all the first time the Chasseur Elite marched from the brewery the air was full of the sweet smell of hops, beer and dregs!

The resplendent Dwarves were also rather old, all white beards and bent backs, something to do with drinking too much beer and a droopy brewer meant that younger dwarves were a great rarity?

For the first couple of months a complaining Robbo made sure that he kept his head down and the regiment was rarely if ever called upon to do more than guard supplies or clean the camp. There nickname amongst others was the Welching Brewers. Then one night the unsettled calm was shattered, when an argument broke out amongst some un-educated Dwarves about the merits of Karlsberg, verses Kronesburg brews. As well as two deaths, fifteen seriously injured Dwarves and over a hundred minor injuries, a huge Finklestien Ogre had his rock-hard nose chipped. The blame for the gravel injury was fixed upon Robbo, who was the only Dwarf left within a hundred paces of the Ogre when the damage was discovered. He was actually innocent of the crime, having taken shelter beneath a large supply wagon when the disagreement broke out. However such blood-feuds are nothing to be sniffed at and Robbo decided then and there that discretion was truly the better part of valour. That evening Robbo and the Brewers blew out of camp and retired from active service, well that was the plan!

Three days later and with many disagreements within the regiment they were found by a band of Krautian Jagers, who were acting as an advance guard to the main League forces. Thinking quickly Robbo greeted the enemy soldiers with a smile and ‘well met’, telling the Captain that they were a regiment of Brewers wanting to enlist in the struggle against the Ferach invaders! The 1st Juliana Regiment was accepted almost immediately, after all who had ever heard of a Dwarf regiment changing sides (or a brewer lying).

Once again Robbo kept his head down and guard duty was the order of the day. Well three days to be precise. On the third day a huge mixed force of Ogres and Dog Soldiers attacked the Krautian army and most were routed. Robbo was left in charge of part of the supply chain and in a moment of greed, decided that two full wagons of supplies would be a great pension for him and his passive Welch Brewers!

For days Robbo and the smiling Dwarves marched home, counting and re-counting their ill-gotten gains when a Squad of Finklestein Hussars mounted on huge war-boars trotted up alongside. “Vat have ve heir?” was the simple enquiry from the commanding officer. And once again Robbo, thinking quickly (unusual for Rob) said “urgent supplies for the Confederation, very urgent supplies”, “Ist sat zo?” was the reply, “in zat caze ve vill accompanies youse to ze mainz campz”.

A double desertion! What a reputation old Uncle Walruss had gained. Uncle Walrus being a term of endearment bestowed on Robbo by his men, due to the huge and now very white moustache that adorned his face.

In all The Chausers Elite of the Princess Juliana Regiment never fought in any battle, in fact some of the initial weapons are now museum pieces, pristine and never fired! They swapped sides another three times and never got caught. They therefore make the perfect Flintloque Wargame unit, being uniquely uniformed, can be used by either side and never suffer any casualties (due to the fact that they swap sides rather than fight!)

It is said that the strong aroma of Beer or Dwarf Ale that accompanied the regiment and the quick thinking of Olde Uncle Walrus was a major factor in the survival of this regiment, that and being so old, that others just thought of them as Grandfather figures and harmless!

The manner in which this regiment operates requires some special rules, namely that the regiment is allocated to one side or another at the beginning of a scenario. The choice can be left to the umpire or diced for, then during the game the regiment can change sides (usually just once per game, but we all know how fickle this group of turn-coats are and it has been known for Uncle Walrus and the Brewers to sneak off twice in a single battle!)

For ease of playing this regiment, you should consider them more of a hindrance than a help and giving them conflicting game or scenario objectives can offer a considerable amount of confusion! And fun.

Alternatively, you could paint them in dark green jackets and call then Jagersmeisters!

Note;

Juliana is the name of my niece; currently undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer, Robbo is based on her Father, you should see his moustache (my Brother-in –Law). I am sure that this VLU and background story will add a very welcome smile to their faces and offer gamers an added headache.


The above story was written by me some time ago in the hope that it would raise the spirits of Juliana and Rob. Readers will be pleased to know that Juliana saw the finished and painted miniatures and read the story before being admitted in to Ty Olwen Hospice last month.

The miniatures will be available from Alternative Armies within the next couple of weeks, they are to be the third Limited Edition Unit (LEU) and will be a limited edition pack of 100 boxes of 16 Dwarves. Princess Juliana Dwarves LEU03, for full details please see; this link

The figures were painted over a black undercoat and mounted on to UK 2p coins. The painted building is a very limited casting of a Flintloque inspired building set that was sculpted by me and cast by Dave at Grand Manner. Please note that the run has now sold out and the mould has been destroyed.

I had planned on releasing these photos in the opening round of the Lead Painters League 5 over on The Lead Adventure Forum, but given the sad circumstances I have now posted the images and the background story here.

Finally I know that Juliana enjoyed reading the story and seeing the miniatures, this is a small and heart felt tribute to a beautiful person. God Bless.

Tony

Friday 4 March 2011

Altaban the Magnificent by Sebastian Baczkiewicz

On BBC7 earlier today I listened to the radio play Altaban the Magnificent by Sebastian Baczkiewicz and staring Clive Swift. the WWW2 story of a magician who was found hiding in the ruins of Berlin following the end of World War 2. I know the story can be found elsewhere, but this particular performance was very good, in which a young British surveyor studying the sewers of Berlin and looking for the source of water contamination comes across a mute and seven foot tall magician who can perform quite fantastic feats of magic.

There is loads of scope for inserting this special character into any WWW2 background.

For full details see;

Further details can be found at;

Tony

Thursday 3 March 2011

The Notables - Flintloque Yahoo Group Painting Competition

It's that time of year again and the Notables (a Yahoo Group dedicated to games from Alternative Armies - Flintloque, Slaughterloo etc.) are discussing the latest painting competition. You can follow the progress so far by searching out this link

The main reason for this post is to gather information from readers/followers as to how they have organised painting competition in their groups or clubs and for constructive comments about how this years competition should be organised.

I am hoping that the latest painting comp. will be themed as the last one was, where not only did you have to paint a specific group of figures, but also invent a background or regimental history for them. For inspiration here are details of my entry

I have kept each of the entries from last years competition on my hard-drive and regularly refer back to the very inventive and humorous entries.

The Notables cannot be the only group that organises such competitions and I would be very interested in reading about how others are structured and judged as there has been a comment that there should be a panel of judges as opposed to Group members voting for their favourite.

Regular readers will know that I am a strong supported of the Flintloque/Slaughterloo gaming system and background and plan on entering a figure/set of figures once the full rules are agreed and posted.

Tony

Wednesday 2 March 2011

Thunderballs-up

To commemorate St. Davids' Day Craig at Orcs in the Webbe has uploaded a brand new Flintloque scenario entitled Thunderballs-up. Written by C. J. Hooper and featuring that famous International Hobgoblin of Mystery Austin Powys. The story and scenario continue that long established tradition (well it is one year old) of writing themed Flintloque scenarios to commemorate the UK Saints days.

In this photo you can see Ophelia Whitebits (in the red dress) being accompanied by her entourage while being guarded by an Ogre in the employ of Bruno Von Bruno. "Does that wagon in the background contain Ophelia's unmentionables?"

For more details go to this link While further Saints Day scenarios can be found at this link

Enjoy

Tony

The wagon has a 'scratch-built' body with metal wheels from my spares box. The plastic canopy is from a metal bodied pencil sharpener toy which has been shortened while the horse is a modified cake decorating toy. the model featured a fully loaded interior and is mounted on to an oval of MDF.