The books have arrived

The books have arrived, Huzzah!

Sue took delivery of both sets of books yesterday afternoon. I'd like to say that all went without a hitch, but the carrier DPD, had managed to damage some. When I returned home from work I first sorted out a replacement for the damaged copies and then unpacked all of the books. I signed and numbered the new More Wargame Terrain and set them out ready for packaging.

Each book is then wrapped in Shrink-wrap.

Packed in a purpose made A4 card wrap-over. Glued shut.

And then labelled ready for postage. Here you can see some of the first 25 parcels ready for posting.

The first books packaged were a couple (one of each) to Katie Lewis based in London; The books should be with you soon Katie and I hope you enjoy them.

I'll be wrapping, packing and posting more when I get home this afternoon.

For anyone interested in ordering please see the links above or go to;

Building Wargame Terrain - link

More Wargame Terrain - link

Thanks to all who have supported me in this project.

Tony

A Couple of Hedges

These two lengths of Hedge were built from the large, round scouring pads used to clean factory floors. I was given a used pad some time ago and thought they would be great for hedges and trees.

The bottom two images show the work-in-progress. I have cut the scouring pad with a sharp scissors, glued them to some 3mm thick plastic card and built up the bases with DAS modelling clay and sieved stones.

Painting was built-up over a Black basecoat and the foam foliage texture was glues over the top with uPVA glue.

A couple of simple pieces of general-purpose terrain suitable for a number of different games.

I have posted this piece of 'scratch-built' terrain earlier than the promised 1st of the month as I am expecting both sets of Wargame Terrain books to be delivered soon and I would expect the 1st August post to be about the Book/Books.

Should you be interested in purchasing either of the books, please follow the links in the top right hand corner or,
Building Wargame Terrain link.
More Wargame Terrain link.

Note;
I have already sold 40 of the 100 signed and numbered copies of More Wargame Terrain in just over one week. I would expect the remaining 60 to be sold out very quickly.

And I have sold 20% of the re-print of Building Wargame Terrain!

Tony

My Fink Regiment - part four

Progress on this group of eight Finklestein Dwarves moved along quite quickly - updates have been slow due to the Pre-Launch of More Wargame Terrain, for details go to this link.

The image above shows most of the painting finished, while the one below was taken just prior to varnishing.

I varnished the whole group with Ronseal Tough Coat and then Galleria Matt Varnish.

Then flocked the bases with some static grass.

All finished?

Not quite.

I was intrigued to see some finished models over on The Notables Yahoo Group, in which there was a pet pug.

Never one to ignore a good idea, I ordered a small Dragon off e-Bay (a Wizard's Familiar). This diminutive miniature was mounted on to a 1p coin and the base built up with Green Stuff.

The base was further textured with some sand and then painted Chaos Black.

The skin colour was built up from Blood Red and Bad Moon Yellow. Sorry about the poor quality of the images - this is a tiny figure and does not photograph well.

Painting progressed.

Then varnishing.

And finally flocking.

Here you can see the 'pet' Dragon, the regimental mascot alongside two of the Finklestein Regiment.

Finally, yes, really finally, here is the full group of 8 Dwarves and one pet dragon based on my olde school uniform, our breast badge was a dragon.

I hope you have enjoyed this On-Line Build. I have.

Tony

Building Wargame Terrain/More Wargame Terrain

Image taken from Orcs in the Webbe

Craig Andrews over on Orcs in the Webbe has recently updated his site with a short excerpt from my first book Building Wargame Terrain. For full details of the post go to this link.

During the writing, production and selling of Book One, I have tried to keep the articles off the Web, so that owners of Book One would know that what they have purchased is not a re-hash of available Web articles. However, I have also been asked to give a sample or 'taster' of what to expect with both Book One (and the newly released Book Two - More Wargame Terrain). I have therefore agreed for this excerpt from one of the articles included in Book One to be reproduced here. Thank you Craig.

The model is a Small Stone Warehouse built with a 'brick-on-brick' technique. The full article in Book One is 14 pages long with 48 full colour images.

For details of how to order Book One - Building Wargame Terrain by Tony Harwood go to this link, while details of how to order Book Two - More Wargame Terrain can be found here.

I hope you enjoy this short 'taster' article.

Tony

More Wargame Terrain Book by Tony Harwood Now Available to Order

SOLD OUT

Book Two More Wargame Terrain is now available to order. Like Book One, the first 100 books will be numbered and signed and again like Book One, once these have been sold I will hold a prize draw. The draw prize will be one of the 'scratch-built' models featured in the book.

NOTE - updated October 2018
All remaining copies have now been sold.

Note - updated July 2018
The last few remaining books have been discounted to just £12.50 each

NOTE - updated July 2018
After a spate of recent orders. I can confirm that there are only 5 copies of Dampfpanzerwagon Guide No. 2 - More Wargame Terrain left

WHAT TO EXPECT

The book will be;

A4 Size

Perfect Bound

Premium paper (170gms and 300gsm for the cover)

116 pages (plus full colour front and back covers)

8 full build articles from conception to finished model

over 385 full colour images

20992 words 

"Book one was (rightly so) targeted at the beginner or novice terrain builder, with tutorials ranging from the simple, through intermediate to a couple of detailed or ‘signature pieces’. In Book Two, More Wargame Terrain, Dampfpanzerwagon Guide No.2, I intend to develop this theme while sticking to a familiar format that I think works. Most of the structures or buildings chosen for Book Two are meant to be generic, that is to say not rooted in any one genre or period and suitable for a wide range of gaming themes or wargames. They are however all inspired by some actual building, model or illustration that I have seen and admired. In Book Two I have attempted to vary the styles and techniques used, but this is difficult and I would hope that readers will allow or accept a little repetition of techniques used."

Taken from the introduction - More Wargame Terrain

HOW TO ORDER

The books will be sold for £12.50 each. (Amended 16.07.18) Payment via (old fashioned) cheque or Paypal. 

Should anyone wish to order a copy of the book, could you please e-mail me at;  dampfpanzerwagon(at)yahoo.co.uk With your full name and address and your Paypal account details (so I can send you an invoice).

Please include the title More Wargame Terrain in the e-mail.

If you want to order both books or just Book One; please make sure you include these details in the e-mail.

Please Note; Due to UK postage size and weight restrictions. I will send two parcels if you order Book One and Book Two. There will be NO Discount on postage if you buy either both editions or two of the same books.

POSTAGE AND PACKAGING

Postage & Packaging will be;
UK - £4.50
Europe - £8.50
Rest of the World - £12.50
(Anyone who wants the book/package to be signed for - then please contact me at the time of ordering and I will amend the P&P cost).

Details of Book One - Building Wargame Terrain, including a number of reviews can be found here.

Reviews of Book Two - More Wargame Terrain can be found here;
A Fistful of Minis by Joao Sousa
Christian Cuello from An Inconvenience Rightly Considered
Kris Marquardt of Wargames and Railroads
Cianty Tabletop Blog
The Miniatures Page
The Lead Adventure Forum
David Drage (Iron Mammoth) and a You Tube 'flick through' can be seen here.

Tony

A Raised Grain Store for Pax Bochemannica

Craig Andrews of Orcs in the Webbe has posted another one of my 'scratch-built' models produced for the Fantasy-Romano game S.P.Q.Orc - Pax Bochemannica. For details of the full article/tutorial go to this link.

The simple structure took less than a day to build and would be an ideal model for the beginner to tackle. Similar 'starter' models are featured in my book Building Wargame Terrain - for details go to this link, while more detailed tutorials (more advanced) will be included in my second book More Wargame Terrain - details of which can be found here.

Book two is due to be launched in the next couple of days. I have arranged for a short re-print of book one. Details should be posted very soon.

Tony

An Upturned Boat

Earlier this month, I 'blogged' that it was my intention to post details of some new terrain pieces I had finished during the Football World Cup. My intention was to post one new piece every month on the 1st of each month until I ran out. For full details go to this link.

The truth is that I have been a very 'busy boy' and as well as finishing a couple of articles for Craig Andrews over on Orcs in the Webbe, I have added to my terrain collection with even more models.

Here is one that was completed earlier this month. An upturned boat on wooden supports.

The boat model was from one of those part works (where you buy a magazine each month and build the model with pieces that are included - I think this one was HMS Victory). The boat is a metal casting that I have had in my Spares Box for ages.

I built the wooden supports from toffee apple sticks and mounted the model on to an oval of 3mm thick plastic card. The basket with old rags, is a 1/43rd metal casting intended for O Gauge model railway layouts. This work-in-progress shots shows the model finished and undercoated.

As stated earlier, I have used my spare time (down the shed and listening to Five Live - the BBC's sports radio station) to finish a whole batch of wargame terrain. This is just one of many.

I hope that you like it. More to come.

Tony

The Chains of Albion by Edwin Thomas

Here is a short review of the second book by Edwin Thomas in the three book Martin Jerrold series. The Chains of Albion.

Details of book one - The Blighted Cliffs can be found here and here.

Book two - The Chains of Albion sees Captain Jerrold in command of a prison hulk filled with French prisoners of war. When on of those prisoners goes missing Jerrold's life is turned upside-down and the search for the prisoner takes him across most of southern England in a twisted web of intrigue.

The Chains of Albion was the first book in this short series that I bought, actually picked up in a local charity shop, however I bought book one from e-bay and read that first (see earlier post).

I have enjoyed reading both, with The Chains of Albion, being a sort of 'Who Dunnit', Boys Own Adventure and Period Romp all mixed into one. I would recommend both as a jolly good read.

The Chains of Albion by Edwin Thomas
Published in 2004 by Bantam Press
ISBN: 0-593-05065-7
Recommended selling price (hardback) £12.99 - I picked up my copy for just 50p

Tony

My (Revamped) Workstation

Yesterday I picked up a huge sheet of 6mm thick white plastic card. I usually use this card for making the bases of my terrain or models, but this piece was ideal to revamp my existing home-made painting station. The design of which was based on the Games Workshop model. A couple of hours later and here is the result.

The white plastic card had some purple sticky-back plastic on one side (maybe a Cadbury's chocolate advertising card) and this I have kept on the main base. The rest had the sticky-back plastic removed  before marking-out and cutting.

The new paint station uses the same white backed Contiboard base (chipboard) as the original with the purple sticky-back plastic extended over the front (to tidy up the front edge), while construction is No More Nails, some small tacks and superglue.

The new work station is 620mm wide x 465mm deep. The back panel is 180mm high and the shelf 120mm wide. The paint station shelf holds 66 paint pots.

Finally, here is an image of the original which had given me over ten years of service.

I have now ordered an A2 cutting board to cover the base. The image above shows an A4 cutting board.

Tony

My Fink Regiment - part three

My first piece of painting proper is the flesh. I have built-up the flesh areas from Snakebite Leather, highlighted with Skull White, before being washed with some old blue-topped Flesh wash from Citadel.

As stated in my earlier post, the uniform colour is based on my old school uniform. The blue was built up from Enchanted Blue with just a slight highlight (added white).

Cuffs and epaulettes are red, actually Gore Red with Blood Red highlighting. In this image you can also see how I have started with the hair and beard colouring.

And finally for this post, a look at the backpacks and equipment to the rear of the miniatures.

More to follow and quite soon.

Tony

The Caroll Rule or Translateur Universel

Sue and I found this piece of drawing equipment in a small charity shop in Henley in Arden yesterday afternoon. We had decided that a day out to Nuneaton was in order and on the return, we took a detour through Henley and Stratford on Avon.

The Caroll Translateur Universel is a very well built rolling ruler with brass fittings and variable angle drawing arm. As you can see the rule came in its original packaging and with a single page information sheet - I don't think it has ever been used.

I have done an internet search for details, but apart from a couple of French and German e-bay entries, there was little to find.

I have already used it to sketch up some model plans, and look forward to doing more. The important question is; How much did I pay?

Just £2.00. A real bargain.

Tony

Games Workshop Metal Miniatures For Sale

I am having a bit of a clear-out of older Games Workshop Miniatures over on e-bay. please check out the auctions here.

There are Bloodbowl figures.....

Warhammer 40K figures.....

And even Warhammer Fantasy.....

I have started each of the auctions at 99p. So get bidding now.

Tony

My Finklestein Regiment - part two

Regular readers and followers will be very familiar with my processes for modelling, basing and undercoating figures. I like to customise my figures, add small details and uniform modifications with Green Stuff before basing them.

In this first image, the main feature will be the HUGE feather on top of each of the Shako's. These were modelled over a small piece of paper-clip wire glued into a pre-drilled hole in the Shako. I built up the Green Stuff over a small drop of superglue and textured the feathers with a scalpel.

Photo Two - After basing on 2p coins, I build up the groundwork with Milliput two part epoxy. In this example I have used Fine White Milliput.

Photo Three - The groundwork has been further textured with sieved stones and sand applied over dilute uPVA glue.

Photo Four - The eight Dwarves have been painted Black. I have used a 'rattle spray can' then touched up any missed parts with Chaos Black from Games Workshop.

I know that this image does not show that much, but in terms of preparation this is one of the most important steps in my painting process.

In my next instalment, I will start the painting proper.

Tony

My Finklestein Regiment - part one

During my last On-Line Build, there were a number of posts over on The Notables yahoo group about different Finklestein (or 'Fink') regiments and even a couple of painted examples. I wanted to join in and paint-up a regiment but as I was partway through The Legion Irlandaise On-Line build (see this link for details), I thought it better to wait until July. So here it is. My latest On-Line build a Group of 'Fink' Dwarves.

However it was a post by Elton Waters also on The Notables that got me thinking.....

For details go to this post.

Question One;
What Race is the regiment?
Answer; All Dwarves.

Question Two;
What Models?
Answer; Eight Alternative Armies Dwarves - I have chosen a mixture of Dwarf codes to base my small regiment on. Most are from The Princess Julianna (LEU 03) set which is currently on offer at Alternative Armies.

Question Three;
What is the State known for?
Answer; Mining - or in particular Ore Mining

Question Four;
What colour scheme?
Answer; I decided that I would use my old school uniform colours. Blue blazers and grey trousers. After all the choice was up to me.

Question Five;
Hackles or Plumes?
Answer; At first, I was not going to add plumes, in fact I had cut off the small Shako decoration found on The Princess Julianna Regiment. However, well see my later posts.

More to come.

Tony

Two RIKO Model Trees

Over the last month, while listening to the World Cup on Radio 5 Live in my shed-at-the-bottom-of-the-garden, I have been working on re-flocking some of my older terrain pieces and finishing off a number of either un-finished or brand new terrain models. Up to now I have completed over a dozen new pieces of terrain.

Some of these pieces have been sitting on my workbench, started, but not painted, or even as ideas in my head for a considerable time. Now that they are FINISHED, I have decided that I will post images of at least one finished model or models on or about the 1st of each month between now and when they run out.

The impetus for finishing these models was/is two fold. Firstly, I wanted to model something simple, following the completion of More Wargame Terrain - Dampfpanzerwagon Guide No.2 which is now finished, but still going through the processes of being proofread and format-ed for publication (more on this later in the month). Secondly, Craig Andrews of Orcs in the Webbe is looking to hold a Flintloque/Slaughterloo tournament or gaming day later this year in the Bristol area and I had said that I would supply some of the terrain for the gaming tables.

This pair of Model Trees was bought in Shrewsbury earlier this year, see this post for full details. The two trees have been based on rough ovals of 3mm plastic card and detailed with small stones from the garden and DAS modelling clay. Both have had the bases weighted down with either coins or metal washers before the DAS was added over uPVA glue and then textured with sieved stones and sand.

This final image shows the two model tree stands prior to painting and flocking.

Look out for further updates and pieces of terrain on or about the 1st of each month. I hope you will enjoy reading about this new terrain Blogging project as much as I enjoyed making them.

Tony