Kennel Lane, Broadway - The base

The model has been based onto a piece of 5mm thick plastic card. I have built up the groundwork with DAS modelling clay and added texture my sprinkling fine sand over PVA glue. The base is 210mm x 220mm.

Tony

One Man, Two Guvnors - National Theatre Live

Last night, Sue and I visited The Vue cinema, Worcester to see the play One Man, Two Guvnors which was being shown as part of the National Theatre Live 10 year anniversary.

The evening started with a hand made pizza and a glass of wine in Sugo's and then on to the cinema for a rather novel experience - a play performance on screen in a multi-plex cinema.

The play is just fantastic, a real 'slap-stick' comedy with quick witted lines, superb 'one-liners' and pithy references as well as ad-libbing of the highest order and even audience participation. The result was a laugh-out-loud performance that had me laughing so hard, that I had tears rolling down my cheeks. A great night out.

James Corden led the cast and was first class as Francis Hensall - the two-time employed butler/minder to two guvnors. The play is a re-writing of a much earlier play called The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni which has been masterfully re-done in a 1960's Brighton setting by Grant Olding with intermission and added 'Skiffle' band music from a four-piece skiffle group (just like the one my father used to perform in back in the day). For more information see this link.

Fantastic, 10-out-of-10, five stars. WHAT A PERFORMANCE!

Tony

Flintloque Undead - part ten

Part ten - Undead characters

A mixture of Flintloque/Deadloque/Witchlands Undead from a variety of blisters, box sets and Limited Editions as well as the odd conversion.

It's been great fun cataloguing and photographing these Alternative Armies figures and I hope that you have enjoyed seeing them.

Tony

An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - The canal side ladder

Regular followers of this Blog will know that I have been working on an industrial narrow gauge railway layout built to 1:27.7 scale or 11mm = 1 foot. The choice of such an unusual scale has meant that much if not all items needed for the layout have had to be heavily modified and/or converted from existing models, completely 'scratch built' or sculpted by me.

In these latest posts I will update the Blog with 'work-in-progress' images and text showing how the initial project is developing. For more information look out for the Narrow Gauge Labels to the right.

This particular post is a little out of sequence, showing as it does the small canal side ladder and how it was made. I thought that this little addition deserved a set of 'how-to' images pre and post painting.

The main construction was plastic card and plastic rod.

Glued together with Tamiya thin adhesive. This image shows the added detailing, nuts bolts and welded detail.

Then the un-painted steps in situ at the side of the canal basin between the huge wooden strakes.

Next the painted and weathered ladder glued in place but still needing some small detailing touches.

And finally, the real-life inspiration. A ladder at the side of the canal in the Droitwich Spa basin, opposite Waitrose. Similar ladders are either newly painted white or as seen in my example very worn and rusted metalwork. Also note the colour of the water.

Tony

Away-Day Henley and Marlow

Sue and I have just returned from a weekend away. We had a long weekend visiting Henley-on-Thames and Marlow where these images were taken.

I was luck enough to pick up a couple of books and magazines, most of which I read while sitting in the glorious sunshine on the banks of the river Thames. The Camouflage and Markings - RAF Fighter Command 1936 - 1945 book published by Ducimus was a superb find and at just £2.50 from a charity shop - a real bargain.

Tony

Flintloque Undead - part nine

Part nine - the Moldsk Guard

Another mix of miniatures from the Moldsk Guard (LEU12) and Pavlova Grenadiers (55518), see earlier post for links to the Alternative Armies web page.

Tony

Flintloque Undead - part eight

Part eight - the Pavlova Grenadiers

A mixture of figures from the Alternative Armies Pavlova Grenadiers box set 55518 and Moldsk Guard LEU12.

Tony

Flintloque Undead - part seven

Part seven - Zoltan Dog Zombies

Eight zombie dogs from the Flintloque 666th Zoltan Dog Zombie box set 55506 based on 2p coins and painted with various acrylic paints with a scratch-built paper standard. A fantastic set of beautifully sculpted miniatures. For more information see this Alternative Armies link.

Tony

An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - Down in the weeds

Regular followers of this Blog will know that I have been working on an industrial narrow gauge railway layout built to 1:27.7 scale or 11mm = 1 foot. The choice of such an unusual scale has meant that much if not all items needed for the layout have had to be heavily modified and/or converted from existing models, completely 'scratch built' or sculpted by me.

In these latest posts I will update the Blog with 'work-in-progress' images and text showing how the initial project is developing. For more information look out for the Narrow Gauge Labels to the right.

The diorama layout is nearing completion with most of the modelling work complete. I have added even more foliage and greenery which has been modelled from a number for different sources, static grass, static grass tufts, ground foam and even an artificial button hole display bought from Webbs Garden Centre which was cut up and used as weeds. The images in this update show how the products have been used.

Most of the clutter has been used up but the figures, the workmen have still to be stuck down. I am enjoying playing model trains and moving them about deciding on where they look best.

All of these images were taken out of doors in direct sunlight with my Minolta camera.

Tony

Kennel Lane, Broadway - Detailing

Two updates in one post. Firstly, I have added the guttering and down pipes which were modelled from plastic tubing and plastic card. The handrail was constructed from radio-control servo rods (perfect for modelling as they can be bent into shape and take paint well).

Then secondly, I have added even more detailing to the stair end - I think the upper structure is for a telephone line. Once again modelled from a radio-control servo rod and plastic card.

I have begun to undercoat the model with Halfords universal grey undercoat which helps to seal all the different materials together ready for painting.

For larger images just 'click' on the photos above.

Tony

Flintloque Undead - part six

Part six - Licantzrop Jagers

I'm sure I have more of these werewolves tucked away somewhere. The image above shows just five miniatures , while the image below are some newly based and painted figures - all from the Licantzrop Jagers boxed set 55505 from Alternative Armies.

In addition you can see a Limited Edition Graf Von Orlock LE10 (centre), a converted Undead werewolf from Reaper miniatures (rear left) and a 'flock' of bats, also from Reaper (I think - rear right).

The second figure below is a conversion of the standard bearer with a flintlock instead of the standard.

Tony

Flintloque Undead - part five

Part five - Headless Zombies.....

Headless zombies, what are these?

Back in 2011 I wrote a series of three linked scenarios for Deadloque/Flintloque in which Margahrah, a Lyonesse Commissariat serving with Marshal Ney was tasked with confirming reports of headless zombies seen attacking the retreating Grande Armee du Norde. The three scenarios can be found on Orcs in the Webbe - here, here and here.

To support the stories I converted a number of Flintloque miniatures and details can be found on this Blog - for example see this link. In the image above you can see the whole force of 12 headless zombies.

Once again all the miniatures are mounted on to 2p coins and painted with acrylics before being varnished and the bases decorated with static grass or static grass tufts. They were great fun to model and paint and can be used as a separate force or integrated into the main Deadloque Undead force as featured in the earlier post.

Tony

PS.
I believe that these are the only examples of Witchlands headless zombies - if anyone knows of anyone else converting their Flintloque figures in a similar way, I would be interested in seeing examples.

Wargames Soldiers & Strategy issue 104

Wargames Soldiers & Strategy issue 104 has a two page article written by me called Building Fort Amiel. The building is based on the lookout post built in 1876 and was originally intended as one of the articles for the Pen & Sword book Wargames Terrain & Buildings - North Africa and The Middle East (which is due for release sometime in 2020). Due to space restraints and a focus on North Africa, the article/tutorial was cut from the book.

For more information and details of how to order your own copy of the magazine - see this link.

Guy (editor) has done a great job in reproducing this article on the pages of W S & S with loads of work-in-progress photographs and small information blocks highlighting different parts or techniques of the build and painting.

I think this is one of the very best modelling article page layouts I have ever seen in W S & S and look forward to more of the same.

The final images shows the finished Fort Amiel. For more information on this historical building see this link.

Tony

An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - More detail

Regular followers of this Blog will know that I have been working on an industrial narrow gauge railway layout built to 1:27.7 scale or 11mm = 1 foot. The choice of such an unusual scale has meant that much if not all items needed for the layout have had to be heavily modified and/or converted from existing models, completely 'scratch built' or sculpted by me.

In these latest posts I will update the Blog with 'work-in-progress' images and text showing how the initial project is developing. For more information look out for the Narrow Gauge Labels to the right.

I am continuing to add small details and foliage to the layout, but the main reason for this update is the Aqua Magic canal basin. I have added yet another layer of Aqua Magic and I now think that the canal basin looks like real water with a liquid shine. These top down images show what I mean.

In addition there are even more items of clutter added to the piles either side of the main building however, the workmen figures are unattached - as I am still playing with what will be their final positioning.

For larger images just 'click' on the pictures.

Tony

Flintloque Undead - part four

Part four - Ghosts.....

My original Witchlands Ghosts came about when I needed some Flintloque Undead at short notice for a weekend game. I had read of unpainted miniatures being used in a similar game with black undercoated minis being used as demons and white undercoated minis used as ghosts. Not being one to display unpainted miniatures on the wargame table I set about painting some ghosts following the techniques I had seen in White Dwarf - the Army of the Dead from Lord of the Rings. Details can be found in this earlier post.

I believe the original inspiration came from an article written by Steve Blease in Ragnarok - the in-house magazine of the Society of Fantasy and Science Fiction Wargamers or SFSFW in which black undercoated minis and white undercoated minis were mentioned. In addition there are ghost like figures featured on the box front of Deadloque - ghouls moving through the mist and fog which also inspired these figures.

Since the original set of 12 miniatures the group has grown to this regiment of 23 with mainly Alternative Armies figures, but also including a couple of conversions and models from other manufacturers all mounted onto 2p coins and painted with acrylic paints.

I have to admit to liking the effect however I am still at a loss as to how to use them in games of Flintloque/Deadloque. Should any reader have suggestions - I would like to hear them.

More details can be found on these Blog posts - here and here.

Tony

Flintloque Undead - part three

Part three - the Undead Snowmen.....

This collection is a mixture of Alternative Armies (the limited edition Christmas Vignette), modified Copplestone Castings and a limited edition Mage Knights Frosty the Snowman all mounted on to 2p coins and painted with acrylics.

After seeing these images on the computer - I repainted the snow on the Flintloque miniatures as they looked too dirty.

I also have the latest snowmen from Alternative Armies and should get around to painting them soon.

Tony

Kennel Lane, Broadway - Tiling the roof

The roof was tiled with individual card slates glued in place with PVA glue and further detailed with small slivers of plastic card while the roof capping stones were also card - folded in half and attached to the apex. The original building did not show much of an overhang and this is how I have modelled it. Any gaps were filled with DAS modelling clay.

Here you can see the card I used for the slates. Each slate was 10mm x 5mm. In addition I have included the small section of additional Cotswold stone wall that was attached to the side of the building. This was modelled from a section of Plaster of Paris that was carved to shape and then topped with some green foam slabs.

The final image shows work-in-progress. Notice how I apply the first layer of tiles over a backing strip (sticking out from the lower roof), this is so the angle of the roof tiles remains constant all the way up the roof and is something that many modellers neglect when building tiled roofs.

Tony

Flintloque Undead - part two

Part two - Witchlands Undead.....

As promised in my earlier Blog post, I have included an image of some Flintloque Undead miniatures as part of my Flintloque or Deadloque month.

The image shows just some of my Witchlands Undead from Alternative Armies which have been painted in the traditional Witchlands or Russian Napoleonic uniform colours. Without exception all of these minis have been based on 2p coins and painted with acrylic paints. There are one or two customised or modified figures in the set.

The scratch-built wall was built some time ago and features two demon figures that were originally found as horror themed pen tops.

My intention is to post more images during the month.

Tony

Miniature Leaf Cutter

Another Charity Shop find.....

Earlier this week, Sue and I visited Pershore where we enjoy walking along the river bank and feeding the ducks and swans. On our way back to the car, I visited one of the many charity shops and saw this die cutting punch of a sunflower for just £1.00.

I am well aware that there are similar cutters available from many different sources, but also at greatly increased prices.

The image above shows the punched leaves with a ruler to show the size. The image below shows the cutter alongside a punched design (I used a dark magazine cover to show the design). The final image shows the cut out in greater detail.

I can image using the punched leaves on my narrow gauge layout as well as some with my 28mm/30mm wargame miniatures. Each leaf is approximately 4mm - 5mm long.

A great find.

Tony

An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - Adding foliage

Regular followers of this Blog will know that I have been working on an industrial narrow gauge railway layout built to 1:27.7 scale or 11mm = 1 foot. The choice of such an unusual scale has meant that much if not all items needed for the layout have had to be heavily modified and/or converted from existing models, completely 'scratch built' or sculpted by me.

In these latest posts I will update the Blog with 'work-in-progress' images and text showing how the initial project is developing. For more information look out for the Narrow Gauge Labels to the right.

I have applied two layers of Aqua Magic to the canal basin and started to add foliage to the layout. The foliage comprises a number of different materials including the sample matting mentioned in the earlier post, some paint brush bristles and static grass tufts that I use to decorate the bases of my wargame miniatures.

In the final image (below) I have placed more clutter items along the side of the canal basin to produce a visual break between the canal and the main narrow gauge layout.

Although the layout is nearing completion, I am still tempted to take the amount of foliage and greenery even further.

For larger images, please 'click' on the pictures.

Tony