Building Wargame Terrain - book two

April has seen me feverishly beavering away at the models, the photographing and the writing of book two. I now have 88 pages of text and photographs waiting to be proof read with just one more model to complete.

The planned launch of August 2014 is still on target and I hope to have more information very soon.

For anyone who has purchased Book One, there will be no big surprises with the layout of Book Two, however the models and techniques featured will be both more details and more advanced.

I will be posting details of the book over the next month or two.

Like Book One, I am planning on having a limited production run with the first 100 books signed and numbered. I am also planning on having a prize draw, with one of the featured models being given away to one lucky customer.

The big discussion point is "what colour the cover will be?" As like book one I'm after a 'retro look' based on the old Patrick Stephens Ltd Airfix Guides. Front runner is Purple like the Ancient Wargamming Guide No. 9. And which new model will feature on the front cover?

More information very soon.

Tony

Ludwig Von Barkhoven - finished

Ludwig is now finished, fully painted, varnished and based. I have enjoyed the On-Line Build, this characterful miniature almost painted himself.

Photo Two - The gold buttons have been painted and washed, the groundwork painted and drybrushed and the base flocked.

Photo Three - In this image you can see the added buttons, two to the back of the frock coat and one each to the large coat cuffs.

Photo Four - another image from a different angle.

Ludwig Von Barkhoven is available from Alternative Armies for full details go to this link.

Tony

Inspirational Tutorials from David Neat

I recently came across this site and thought it was well worth re-posting.

David Neat - a Maker, a Teacher of Making.

In David's own words;

"My own ‘making’ encompasses sculpture, model-making, painting, graphic work and design. My ‘teaching’ involves undergraduate or post-graduate lecturing/tutoring both here (England) and abroad; running my own short courses, whether independently or hosted by institutions; writing instructional books and articles. I am, for example, author of the (fairly successful) book Model-making: Materials and Methods"

For details see the main Home page at David Neat Wordpress or check out this great post giving details of creating surfaces.

I have bookmarked this site and can see me popping back to read and re-read the posts.

Truly inspirational.

Tony

Ludwig Von Barkhoven - part three

The painting has progressed with Barkhoven's cuffs, shirt and breaches painted. The manuscript was painted in a light cream with white highlights.

Photo Two - The neckerchief has been painted blue (to add some more colour to the model) and I have highlighted his hair with charcoal.

I have painted the base in my usual Snakebite Leather from GW.

Photos Three and Four - the model at the same stage of painting, but from different angles.

As I have said in the earlier posts, this is a fun miniature to paint, full of character and a joy to work on.

Tony

Nabbing a bargain in Shrewsbury

With the glorious weather, Sue and I took Holly and Flo (my Mother-in-Law) for and Easter Friday day trip to Shrewsbury. The intention was to have a quiet walk around the town centre and stop off at the Regimental Museum gardens at the top of the town for a picnic lunch.

On the way back to the car, Sue saw these bargains in the Save the Children charity shop window and I walked away with a great haul of terrain bits and in particular tree making materials for the bargain price of just £7.00.

Item one was this pair of Riko Scenic trees. £1.50 for the pair.

Item Two was 45 cubic. inches of Foliage Clusters from Woodland Scenics. The most expensive item at £2.50.

Item Three, a pack of Woodland Scenics Green Grass Turf. £1.00.

Items Four and Five were a pair of tree roots or tree branches (I'm not too sure what they are intended for). £1.00 each. the Flintloque figure is included for scale.

I will keep the Blog updated as to how they are used.

Tony

Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve

I came across this book earlier this year and bought a second-hand copy from a local charity shop for just 95p. It has taken me some time to get around to reading it, but on Monday evening, I finished it.

Written by Philip Reeve, this re-telling of the old Arthur legend, promises much, but I cannot give it a glowing review for one simple reason. The writing style is awkward, clumsy and in many cases nearly unreadable - it needs a B***dy good 'going over' by a competent editor.

The good points; It is an inventive re-telling of the Arthur legend and imbibes the main character, Gwyn with some warm emotions and real humanity. The story should move along quickly as the short chapters mean that the reader is soon engrossed in the story.

The bad points; The writing is very confusing, with many areas that are just poorly written, by this I do not mean that the areas that should be ambiguous are confusing, I mean that the writer has obviously not spent the time to read through and correct grammatical errors or plot lines. There were many times that I felt like throwing the book away and giving up on it.

I could recommend this as a book to give gamers many scenario ideas for a game of SAGA or even LOTR. But this is once you accept that it is going to drive you crazy - with the poor writing. The story is full of small skirmishes and raids that any SAGA warband of 20 - 30 figures each side could prove to be a great evenings entertainment. Maybe even a campaign based of the story could keep a club interested for a couple of weeks of evenings.

There are many glowing reviews, the book has even won awards, but it should have been better written. Here is a link to the official Web pages.

Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve
Published by Scholastic in 2007
ISBN 978-1-407103-58-7
Cover price £6.99

Tony

Ludwig Von Barkhoven - part two

I decided that Ludwig would be a hound dog and painted him with a Brown and White sectioned face. The Brown was basecoated Charred Brown from Vallejo and highlighted up to 100% Snakebite Leather.

The White started as Stonewall Grey and was highlighted up to pure Skull White.

Prior to starting the painting, I added a couple of large buttons to his sleeves and a couple to the back of his coat.

Barkhoven's coat was always going to be Red/Brown and I mixed up some Charred Brown and Blood Red as a base. Highlighting to pure Blood Red on the jacket collar and shoulders.

This Special Edition miniature from Alternative Armies is just full of character and a real joy to paint.

Tony

An Away-Day in Evesham, Worcestershire

Sue and I visited Evesham and I took this miss-mash of images. My main reason for taking them, was to record different timber-framed buildings, but as you can see the 'brief' got a little bit blurred.

Image One is of the beautiful Bell Tower that overlooks the riverside park.

The second image shows some detailing of the timber framing as well as the stonework.

Image three is obviously a reproduction, but a very fine one and worth recording for the attention to period detail.

I'm sure this is called The Round House! And below are some detail shots.

The next eight images were taken in the Bell Tower Park. Where after a picnic on the grass, I went looking for different types of stonework to add to my reference material.

Another Timber Framed building.

And finally, a very intricate door hinge.

I hope you enjoy them.

Tony

The Great 1980's Dungeons & Dragons Panic

I recently came across this news report from the BBC and thought it was well worth passing on. For details see this link.

Thirty years on, I have nothing but fond memories of playing D&D and now wonder what all the negative fuss was about.

Tony

Ludwig Von Barkhoven - for Flintloque

The latest Limited Edition miniature from Alternative Armies is this metal dog, Ludwig Von Barkhoven (code 56131). For details see this link The miniature is being given away free with all orders for Salute 2014. I received mine when I ordered some figures earlier this month.

Ludwig comes in a poly-pocket with one of those 'new-fangled' MDF bases.

I've mounted my mini on to a 2p coin - which is my usual basing material and built up the base with Milliput.

Decorated the base with some sieved stones and fine sand which was applied over uPVA glue.

Then undercoated the figure with spray paint Black and washed the figure with a dark Brown wash, ready for painting proper.

He's a characterful figure, full of personality and I look forward to painting him.

Tony

Salute 2014

Just one week to go to the premier UK Wargame Show at ExCel, London. I did not visit Salute last year, and once again I'll be staying away. I know it's a great show and there is loads to see (and buy) but the day is far too long for a 'Grey Beard' like me and to top it off, I'd have to take holiday to get the day off work!

I have been following some of the special builds on TMP and lead Adventure and look forward to seeing images on the Net. Good luck to all who are attending and displaying. Maybe next year?

Details can be found here.

Tony

Timber Framed Buildings in Solihull

Just back from a day trip to Solihull. These images were shot while walking along the high street. The Manor House 1495 has some fantastic detail.

While this store EAST has some great looking features. The plaque on the wall states three dates 1571, 1845 and 1924.

Tony