Book Nook - part two, the painting

The book nook was built as a Christmas gift for my daughter, for details of how the book nook was constructed see this earlier post. In this Blog post, I will show how I painted the model.....

I gave the whole model front a number of watered-down acrylic washes following the initial inspirational photo image.

Darker washes and some stippling defined the basic colours and tints.

Detail painting came next. I used acrylic paints and a wide range of different paint brushes to get the desired effect. During this period, I painted the book nook in my computer room so that I could keep referring back to the computer screen and the colour image of the gateway I used for inspiration.

The PHOSCAO poster was cut from a model railway magazine. I choose a poster with contrasting colours to add some interest to the grey/yellow facade front. White the opera poster (on the left hand wall) was cut from a magazine and weathered.

The metal bars in the upstairs window were modelled from florist's wire and painted in aged grey colours. I tried to paint the woodwork in well-aged wood colours.

The final image shows the book nook between some soft-back books.

Merry Christmas Holly.

Tony (Dad XXX)

Book Nook - part one, the construction

My daughter had asked for a Book Nook for Christmas 2020. After lots of searching and head-scratching this is what I produced for her.

In this Blog post, I will give details of the construction.

A stout frame was built from 3mm thick plastic card.

The miniature gateway was based on an image I had found on the internet and then scaled to fit her book collection.

Blue insulating foam was used for the facade.

The doors and windows were cut out with a 'snap-off' bladed knife or 'box cutter'.

More blue foam was used to add raised detail to the door and window surrounds. These small pieces were glued in place with thick PVA glue and secured with dress-makers pins while the glue dried.

More raised detail was added following the initial image/plan.

I used DAS modelling clay and ready mixed filler to build-up the surface texture.

More filler and individual cracks were cut into the blue foam with a scalpel.

More filler and detailing.

Prior to adding the window shutters I painted the door and window opening with dark grey acrylic paint. The shutters were built from balsawood and scrap wood, detailed with plastic card.

The remaining doors and windows were added. Once again I used balsawood but detailed the door frames with green foam and card.

I'll try to get images of the painting and finishing book nook uploaded tomorrow.

Tony

Christmas 2020

2020 has been very different for lots of reasons, but we've tried to keep Christmas as normal as possible and I've included this short list of gaming/modelling presents that I was lucky enough to receive this year.

Art Materials;

A new Seawhite sketch pad and it wouldn't be Christmas without at least one pack of DAS!

Handy Crafts;

A book of reproductions from the vintage craft magazine Hobbies full of great projects for the New Year.

Innovation;

From Holly. A book called The Secret Life Of The Pencil and a couple of very special mechanical pencils from OHTO

Christmas Wish List;

Wizards Eye - The Art Of Frostgrave a book I had specifically requested and with some help from Sue I received a copy from Father Christmas. A great book full of fantastic illustrations - some of which I am already planning on reproducing as wargame terrain.

An Inspirational Gift;

The Auster Arrow model airplane kit. The Auster wins this years competition as the best ever Christmas gift for two reasons. Firstly; it was a gift from my grandsons - that should be enough but there is also a story to this particular model.

Back in early lockdown I would Skype Finley and Charlie and read or tell them stories. And one story in particular about how my father would make model airplanes - the flying kind, built from balsa and tissue paper inspired me to produce a short picture story-book called; Bampi and the Big Red Plane. The plane that was featured was a Red Auster Arrow and Gary has managed to find that exact model kit as a Christmas gift. So expect a sequel to the first book showing how I build my Big Red Plane.....

Merry Christmas and thank you all.

Tony

Orcs in the Webbe - day 23 A Halfling Hole

Day 23 of this years Orcs in the Webbe Advent Calendar and another Masterclass Terrain Modelling article written by me. A Halflings Hole - shows how I took a second-hand plaster casting and modified it for use with my Pax Bochemannica miniatures. For full details see this link.

The following images show some of the steps in re-purposing the e-bay purchase.

I still have a second similar model which I am hoping to use with some Burrows & Badgers figures.

Happy Advent.

Tony

Merry Christmas

It's been a shitty year but I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year.

Tony

Ranke & Vyle No. 55 of 300

The recently formed Retroloque Facebook Group has over the last couple of days been searching for editions of the Ranke & Vyle rule set. I have to admit to not realising that this particular rule book was first; a limited edition and secondly; individually numbered and signed.

I knew that I had a copy somewhere and have just found the A5 booklet in the attic, hidden amongst 4 boxes of Flintloque/Slaughterloo information and leaflets.

Here is my copy - number 55 of 300.

Tony

Retroloque - A new Facebook Group for more information see this link.

Ranke & Vyle - First published in 1997. Ranke & Vyle is Company Level Black Powder Warfare in the World of Valon and written by Steve Blease. See this link for more information.

Flintloque/Alternative Armies - See this link.

Terrain Essentials by Mel Bose

My copy of Terrain Essentials by Mel Bose (also known as The Terrain Tutor) has arrived. I'll give a more detailed review once I have had chance to read through, but my initial impression is that it is quite a hefty tome and the production values are top-notch.

I found this You Tube flip-through should you wish to see more - follow the link for a comprehensive review.

I first started following this Kickstarter back in April 2019 and agreed to the $45.00 pledge for a soft-bound book. Since then the page count has increased to 192 and the cover has become a hard-bound book.

I'll give more details soon.

Tony

Birthday Foot Stool

Today's post shows another of the home made wooden presents that I have built. This time a wooden stool for my daughter Holly's birthday. The stool was built from various pieces of scrap wood salvages from used wooden pallets.

The images below show various stages of construction.

It was great fun to build but took ages as I wanted to hide any screws with wooden pegs and ensuring the correct angles for the legs was a real head-scratcher. But I can report that Holly is very pleased with her Holly Stool. The wooden pegs were hand-made from some spare dowel with any holes filled with a PVA/sawdust mix before being sanded smooth.

The stool is 9 inches tall and 16 inches along the top. The Holly design was cut out with a hand-held jigsaw and the stool was lightly stained with light oak stain before being waxed.

Tony

The Man From U N C L E

Last night Sue and I watched The Man From UNCLE (the Guy Richie film) and once again (we've seen it a number of times) we really enjoyed it and can't believe that there hasn't been a sequel.

Browsing reviews and Wiki I was struck by the fact that it was looked upon as failure. Both Sue and I loved watching it and even though I know all the plot spoilers I still found it very entertaining and a great watch.

Possibly one of the most stylish movies ever made with a great comedy/light hearted story line.

Hopefully there will be a Man From Uncle 2 soon.

Tony

Retroloque a new Facebook Group

I have only recently been made aware of this Facebook Group - Retroloque is a site dedicated to the early years of Flintloque and Slaughterloo, particularly the years up to 1998. At this moment there are 47 members but growing every day.

I would suggest that anyone with an interest in Flintloque looks to become a member. You can find details here.

Good luck with the new project and I look forward to seeing more.

Tony

Bleak Falls Gaming Board - part two finishing off

Miniature Wargames Issue 453, (January 2021) includes part two of the Bleak Falls gaming board project showing how I finished this display/gaming board for Modiphius Entertainment.

The three page article written by me shows how the table was painted and how the snow effect was added.

For full details of Miniature Wargames magazine, see this link.

The final image shows the gaming table just before it was shipped off to Modiphius Entertainment. The finished gaming board is 1200mm long x 470mm wide x 760mm tall.

Thank you to Modiphius for allowing me to be part of this project.

Tony