Resin Foodstuff Basing Kit from Ristulsmarket

I was recently tempted to buy these resin foodstuff models after seeing a link on The Miniatures Page (TMP), actually a Tango01 link. For details go to this post.

The models arrived very quickly and well packed in a plastic clam-shell and large bubble-wrapped envelope.

For your EURO 8.75 you receive eight resin blocks with between three and eight resin items on each. I will point out that the blocks are very thin and easy to remove.  The detail on the castings is exceptional and I look forward to using them as 'clutter' items on my scenery/terrain (and miniature bases), in fact some of the items are perfect as miniature baggage to add to my Flintloque figures.

I am yet to use any (they only arrived yesterday) but am very pleased with the quality and the detail. I have only one criticism and it is a small one, I think some of the pieces look a little small, for example the water bucket. But this may be as I model Flintloque/Slaughterloo miniatures and these can be a little larger than traditional minis. I think they would be fine with 25mm - 28mm figures.

Additional items and models can be found on the official WEB pages here.

All items are priced in Euros. I paid for my items with paypal.
Full details;
Ristul's Extraordinary Market, ristulsmarket, Poland
www.ristulsmarket.com

Tony

Country Buildings - Downes Plans from Peco

I picked up this little gem from a charity book stall at my local doctors surgery. It was just sitting there amongst a whole load of second-hand magazines.

A 28 page card-backed, black and white book full of character and period building plans plus illustrations of finished structures for the model railway layout.

My only criticism is that the 'how-to' parts could have been a little more detailed.

Downes Plans - Country Buildings
Published by PECO in 1977
ISBN 0 900586 47 8
I have seen the same book for sale on e-bay for anywhere between 99p - £5.00

Tony

Model Trees - part two

More model trees, well some model trees anyway!

I have continued to re-flock the bases of my terrain pieces. Image one shows some more trees, these are on larger MDF bases with some additional scenic items.

The rest are part of my HUGE collection of scenic items built up over many, many years.

The crop fields are modelled from a rubber-backed door mat.

The long grass is modelled from broom or brush hairs.

The repairs and re-flocking has given them a new lease of life.

Tony

Model Trees

This afternoon I decided it was time to tidy up some of the gaming items that I have in the garage. I have spent a considerable amount of time taking new photos of my models for the upcoming book on Wargame Terrain - More Wargame Terrain (Dampfpanzerwagon Guide No2). At the same time I realised that a number of my tree bases or forest bases needed repair and re-flocking.

I have repaired and/or re-flocked most of my tree bases and thought it would be worth photographing the terrain pieces.

The following five images show most of my tree bases. Many are mounted on to MDF, but a few of the smaller pieces are mounted on to thick plastic card.

The models come from a wide variety of sources, some specifically designed for Wargaming or Model Railway layouts, but others are converted Christmas decorations.

Tony

Dwarf Lager on Orcs in the Webbe

 

Craig Andrews, over on Orcs in the Webbe has just uploaded the (re)published tutorial - The Dwarf Lager which was first published on Barking Irons Online back in July 2011. With the demise of BIO Craig has promised that most of the old Masterclass articles will be updated and republished on OITW.

The latest update took me by surprise, I was not aware that Craig was going to upload it so soon. For full details of how this model was constructed and painted go to this link.

It is worth pointing out what a great resource Orcs in the Webbe is becoming. As well as the annual Advent Calendars there appears to be a renewed interest in all things Flintloque (as well as other games). Try to support Craig by popping over for a browse to Orcs in the Webbe.

Tony

On-Line Build for June - a teaser

The 54mm Highlander model that has been featured in earlier posts was painted some years ago and so not really a current on-line build. Also, Book Two is now off being proof-read and formatted so I needed something different to fill my free time. The answer is a Flintloque regiment, but can you tell what regiment based on the conversion posted above?

The standard miniature (on the right) highlights some of the uniform modifications I have done.

The Notables (Yahoo Group) have a couple of Slaughterloo On-Line Builds going on and I thought it about time I threw my hat in the ring with this group or regiment. More to follow in June.

Tony

(I know I'm a tease!)

Dicing with Dragons

BBC Radio 4 Extra is broadcasting a 30th anniversary article entitled Dicing with Dragons. The history of Dungeons and Dragons.

For full details go to this link

NOTE;
The BBC I Player will allow you to listen to this broadcast for just one week!

Enjoy

Tony

Building Wargame Terrain - book two update

Now with updated mock-up image

Last week was a landmark for the production of Book Two. The models have all been finished, the articles written and now it is over to the proof reading and page formatting.

At this moment (it is subject to change) the book looks like this;

112 pages (including front and back covers

8 full build articles from conception to finished model

over 385 full colour images

20992 words 

And the most important decision - it will be a purple cover!

I am also looking at producing a limited re-print of Book One. So anyone who interested, please contact me via this Blog.

More details to follow. Hopefully very soon.

Tony

Sherlock Holmes and the Hentzau Affair

Last weekend I watched the Stewart Granger film, The Prisoner of Zenda (1952). It was being screened on one of the TV channels as an afternoon matinee.

When it finished I remembered that I had picked up a short story from one of the discount book stores - Sherlock Holmes and the Hentzau Affair by David Stuart Davies. The story is a fusion of a Sherlock Holmes mystery and the skulduggery of the Anthony Hope's novel The Prisoner of Zenda. This is only a short book, 128 pages and I was through it in a flash and enjoyed both the story and the style of writing.

Most people will be familiar with the story of The Prisoner of Zenda, either the book or one of the many films. Before I go on, I will say how much I enjoyed the 1952 film version. A traditionally worked film, that had a great story and good acting. If only modern films were as well thought through! The book moves the story on four years when Prince Rupert is ill and Count Hentzau is once again looking to take over the throne.

As stated, a great short story and well worth the discount price of just £1.00. (I am sure that I picked it up from Poundland).

Sherlock Holmes and the Hentzau Affair by David Stuart Davies
Publishes as part of a series of short story called Tales of Mystery and Supernatural by Wordsworth
www.wordsworth-editions.com
ISBN 978-1-84022-548-8
Available from a number of retailers, but this review might help.

Tony

Highlander from Thunderbolt Mountain Miniatures - part three

Photo One - I have completed the painting of this fantastic figure. I have then varnished it with Galleria Matt Varnish.

Photo Two - The base has been flocked with a variety of static grass styles applied over uPVA glue.

Photo Three - The finished Highlander from a different angle, showing the embedded French cannon ball at his feet.

As stated in earlier posts, this particular model was meant to feature in a TMP Workbench Article but for some reason this never happened. I am pleased that after so much time I have been able to upload the images.

The Highlander character was given as a gift to some family in Thailand and now resides in a purpose-built Whisky cabinet in Bangkok.

I hope you have enjoyed the images.

Tony

Highlander from Thunderbolt Mountain Miniatures - part two

Photo One - I commenced the main painting with light coloured washes.

Photo Two - These were refined with layers of both darker shade areas and lighter highlights. The Tartan has been started.

Photo Three - More work on the Tartan, The red uniform has been finished and some detail painting of the white strapping has now been done.

Photo Four - The white strapping has been finished and lightly washed. I enjoyed painting the loose stocking.

Photo Five - The groundwork has been painted, the ginger hair highlighted and more detailing to the uniform particularly the kilt.

More to follow.

Tony

Highlander from Thunderbolt Mountain Miniatures

This particular model is a 54mm resin Highlander (R103) produced by Thunderbolt Mountain and sculpted by Tom Meier. For full details of the figure go to this link. I originally produced this Workbench Article for The Miniatures Page (TMP), back in 2009, but for some reason it was never published. See this link for further information.

The miniature is part of a small range of Napoleonic caricatures after the 18th Century drawing of Gilray and Rowlandson. The whole range includes, Napoleon R001, French Infantry R102, Highlander R103 and British Infantry R104.

Image Two - The Highlander has been cleaned in warm soapy water and primed with Skull White.

I decided to mount the figure on a 40mm x 40mm Games Workshop plastic base. The groundwork has been built up with Milliput and a round headed pin was inserted into the groundwork to represent a French cannonball. The groundwork was further textured with some sieved stones and fine sand added over uPVA glue.

Image Three - The flesh areas have been built up from my trusty Snakebite Leather from GW and highlighted to a very pale skin tone.

I will upload the rest of this article over the next couple of days.

Tony

The Blighted Cliffs by Edwin Thomas

I came across book two of this series in a charity shop earlier this year and after reading the reviews thought it was worth picking up book one to read first. The Blighted Cliffs introduces us to Lieutenant Martin Jerrold R.N. who always seams to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Having survived Trafalgar without an ounce of credit, Martin is dispatched to Dover and there he stumbles across a corpse on the beach! 

I enjoyed the fast paced story with some interesting plot lines and although this is no 'high-brow' tale, I thought it well worth the time to read.

I am now thinking of an Orc shore-party to add to my Flintloque collection, battling some Cornish smugglers.

Details of this and the two later books can be found here.

I thought it a great yarn, a Boys Own Adventure full of twists and turns. I look forward to reading book two - The Chains of Albion.

The Blighted Cliffs by Edwin Thomas

Published by Bantam Books

ISBN 0-553-81514-8

Cover price £6,99 (but readily available from Amazon and Ebay for less.)

Tony

Adding Talc to Acrylic Paint - part two

Click on this image for a larger view

I was so intrigued by the last Blog post that I made up this simple swatch of six colour boxes.

I have used Vallejo Game Colour Bloody Red (72010) painted on to artists sketch paper. I made sure that I shook the paint bottle prior to conducting this experiment.

I have started with the 100% Bloody Red, then added talc in roughly 10% increments.

I used Johnson's Baby Powder - a perfumed Talc.

Results;
Vallejo Game Colour has very good coverage.
Vallejo Game colour does dry with a very slight sheen.
Adding talc does effect the colour, best seen in the 40% box.
At 10% there does not seem to be any change in the colour, but I would suggest that the colour is a little more matt.
The opacity seems to have been affected, with 30% and 40% affected most.
By adding 50% talc, the paint became much thicker and too thick to be used for painting miniatures.
I needed to add additional water to the 30%, 40% and 50% boxes as the paint was too thick to use properly.

Conclusion;
I can see a case for adding a small amount of talc to acrylic paints. I would suggest that 5% - 15% maximum.
I would like to conduct further tests - possibly over a Black undercoat to see if the paint performs differently or has different opacity values.

I hope that this helps.

Tony

Updated 13.36 02/05/2014
This post from Vexillia gives more details.

Adding Talc to Acrylic Paints!

While browsing the Internet, I came across this interesting article on adding Talc to Acrylic Paints. I am still to try this, but thought it was still worth passing on. I consider myself a knowledgeable painter, but this was new to me.

For details go to this link.

Tony