Ogre Bruiser - finished

As you can see, the Ogre Bruiser is finally finished, gloss varnished, matt varnished and static grass glued to the base. For full details of this conversion and how I painted him - see the earlier posts.

I'm pleased with how this conversion turned out, the use of donor arms from the Clix Mr Hyde figure and the removal of the large sword has meant that I now have a truly unique miniature in my collection.

A real Bruiser.

Tony

What paint brushes do you use?

I was recently asked "What paint brushes do you use?"

Although I have a number of different makes of paint brushes in my tool box, my preferred is the 401 sable/synthetic mix with long handle numbers 2 or 3 from Rosemary & Co full details can be found here.

I like the long handled version as it has a better 'feel' than the short handled version and the sable/synthetic mix offers the best of both worlds with good paint retention and a little bit of 'spring' to the point making it easier to control.

I hope that this helps.

Tony

Ogre Bruiser -part six

Part six and the Ogre Bruiser is nearing completion. I have to admit that I am more pleased with this model/conversion than the Trolka Thug from last month. I just need to varnish him and finish off the base with some static grass and he can go and join my boxed Flintloque collection.

Tony

Ogre Bruiser - part five

The painting continues. The trousers have been painted off-white, using Snakebite Leather to add a slight cream base colour before highlighting with Skull White/pure white. The gold areas were built-up over dark brown and highlighted with gold. I have also re-painted the red areas with watered-down Blood Red and red ink to add a deeper crimson colour and finally, this Ogre has had his hair painted very dark grey (almost black).

Tony

Ogre Bruiser - part four

The uniform was painted in the traditional British Red with green turnbacks and a white sash.

I think this second image shows the conversion better.

Tony

Abstract Acrylic Paint reduced at Hobbycraft

Abstract acrylic paint is currently being sold for just £2.00 a pouch at Hobbycraft UK. The quantity of premium quality, high pigment acrylic paint you get for your £2.00 makes it some of the best pound for pound value you can get. I'm not sure this product will remain in Hobbycraft following this promotion so - get it while you can.

My personal experience of this paint is that it is slightly thicker than the paint you get in pots, but can be watered-down and slightly thinner than acrylic paint sold in traditional artists tubes. It has great covering properties and a smooth finish. I have experimented with mixing it with other brands of acrylic paint and have had no problems. Brushes can obviously be cleaned with plain water.

Tony

I'm a Winner - update

I recently posted that I had won a £25.00 voucher from Warlord Games, see this post. After much deliberation and browsing the Warlord web pages, I decided to go with the tried and tested route of modelling paints. In fact the Russian Napoleonic paint set.

The paints arrived last week and I have started using some of them already - once again thank you to Big Lee.

Tony

Ogre Bruiser - part three

No real surprises here; I started with the flesh areas which are as usual built up over a Snakebite Leather base and highlighted with Snakebite and Skull White. I then washed the areas with the old blue topped flesh wash from Citadel/Games Workshop.

I would hope to have some more colour on this model very soon.

Tony

Ogre Bruiser - part two

The modified Flintloque Ogre has now been undercoated with 'rattle can' black spray paint and touched up with acrylic black. I'll be adding some colour soon.

Tony

Home made sanding sticks

I have found that foam-backed nail files are one of my favoured sanding tools, the sort that you can pick up for £1.00 in discount stores. However the last couple of examples I have bought have been very inferior (the abrasive material flaking off) and I have been thinking about making my own sanding sticks by sticking sandpaper to strips of scrap wood with double-sided sellotape. You can also use wooden rulers or lollipop sticks.

Home-made sanding sticks are one of my most used tools and are great for sanding wood, plastic, resin or metal. For details see this earlier post.

While searching the internet for some better examples of nail files I came across an e-bay auction offering over 100 sanding/abrasive foam off-cuts for just £1.99 (plus postage) and thought it was worth taking a chance. See the above image.

The foam-backed abrasive pads come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, but as any modeller knows, you often need to cut these sanding sticks back to fit tight spaces or for unique applications.

Below you can see my first two sanding sticks, stuck to off-cuts of modelling plywood with double-sided sellotape and then trimmed back with a new scalpel. The 2p coin in the foreground gives an idea of the size of these sticks.

While this image shows the plywood side.

The abrasive comes in many, many different grades, while the foam backing gives it a bit of 'give'. I am sure that firmer sanding sticks (without the foam backing) can be customised by removing the foam layer.

I now have a life times supply of abrasive pads, which can be custom built to suit a multitude of different jobs. £1.99 very well spent.

Here is the link to the e-bay auction;

Tony

Flintloque Ogre Bruiser

Following close on the heels of last month On-Line Build comes yet another single figure conversion. Using the huge KGL Officer 56006 from Alternative Armies I cut off both arms and the sword and replaced them with resin arms from the HeroClix Mr Hyde (see below). The shoulders and epaulettes were re-modelled with Green Stuff applied over small drops of superglue.

Additional uniform detail was built up and sculpted from more Green Stuff.

The model has sat on my workbench for (literally) years with the basic red and white uniform partially completed. Hopefully this 'new' Bruiser will inspire me to finish the paint job.

These images show just how 'rough and ready' my Green Stuff sculpting is. I really should try to smooth it out a bit!

Tony

One Month, Two Magazines, Two Articles

As detailed in earlier posts, this month I have had two articles published. one in Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy and the second in Miniature Wargames. This is not the first time that this has happened, but it is rare enough to be very special.

This image was taken in the Stratford-upon-Avon W H Smiths store earlier this week showing both current magazines displayed for sale.

I think the extended layout and inclusion of so many work-in-progress images in Miniature Wargames is my favourite of the two articles and I would like to thank Henry (editor) for producing such a comprehensive feature. I have recently read that Henry Hyde is stepping down as editor of Miniature Wargames with Battlegames and will be succeeded by John Treadaway. I wanted to thank Henry for supporting my fledgling article writing career and publishing so many of my how-to articles in his magazine.

Thank you Henry and good luck to John.

Tony

I'm a winner!

Earlier today I noticed a 'spike' in my Blog viewing figures, upon further examination I came across a post on Big Lee's Miniature Adventure, see this post informing me that I had won second prize in his Prize Draw.....

Thank you Lee.

Tony

Making More Hay - Miniature Wargames 401

Henry has published part two of my model haymaking project first seen in Miniature Wargames issue 392. This model is of a covered haystack, a novel (but reasonable common) design that kept the hay off the ground by supporting it on a raised platform, with a movable roof section that could be raised or lowered as the hay was stored or used.

The design was inspired by a lithograph print found on the internet. Full details of construction and painting can be found on pages 50, 51 and 52 of this months Miniature Wargames with Battlegames - issue 401 September 2016.

Details of the earlier and more primitive haystacks can be found here.

The magazine also includes a terrain building article by Diane Sutherland in which she builds some rock outcrops using bits of natural cork - a project that I have been planning on doing for some years.

Full details of Miniature Wargames with Battlegames can be found here.

Tony

A Napoleonic Redoubt - Wargames Soldiers & Strategy 86

Issue 86 of Wargames, Soldiers Strategy features this Russian Redoubt built by me to support the Russian themed issue. The article gives a step-by-step account of how I built and painted this large model.

The model was inspired by the Borodino Battle Panorama Museum in Moscow and uses metal guns from Alternative Armies and a whole load of scratch-built and bought resin, metal and plastic clutter.

The following images show some of the detail that was added to the model, which was intended to show an over-run gun redoubt during the ill-fated Russian campaign.

It was great fun to work on and being one of my largest stand-alone terrain pieces it allowed me to practice my policy of building terrain that told a story or terrain as stand alone dioramas.

The issue is a Russian Themed special featuring Russia during the Napoleonic Era. There has been much written about 'themed issues' in the modelling and wargaming press recently, in this instance I think Guy has 'pulled it off' with a great mix and balance of themed and non-themed articles and is well worth checking out at this link.

Tony