Thirteen years of Blogging

Today marks the thirteenth anniversary of my first Dampfs' Modelling Page Blog post. It's been quite a journey with loads of posts and images recording my hobby and other things.....

I am well aware that Blogger may not have been the best medium to record this journey as the formatting is a little restricting, but after thirteen years, I've just got use to it and regular posting is now a habit I would find difficult to break. The thirteen years have seen little change in the way that I enjoy my hobby. I still enjoy painting Flintloque miniatures, I still make loads of scratch-built terrain and I'm still a bit of a 'butterfly' with relation to different games and genres. I make less masters for molding, but write more magazine articles. I have produced three self published books and two for Pen & Sword, with plans for a fourth self published wargame terrain book in the pipeline, but painting and building wargame terrain or toy soldiers still remains the core of my hobby. Over the last couple of years I had started to build demonstration gaming boards for various companies, but the world health issues have meant that few of these pieces are seen as gaming shows have been cancelled or postponed. I would hope that more big commisions are forthcoming, as I enjoy the challenges of designing and building these pieces. In addition, I am always open to writting and building terrain pieces for 'other' people or companies, so if you have a requirement, please contact me via the Blog or through; dampfpanzerwagon(at)yahoo.co.uk

My plans for the rest of the year are to carry on doing what I have been doing. I have thought about producing a You Tube channel, but find it easier and more comfortable to continue with the Blog, so expect more of the same.

So for 2021 - stay safe and keep on modelling.

Tony

Flintloque Dwarf Landwehr with a twist

Part Two

My latest Flintloque On-Line Build will be a group of eight Dwarf Landwehr (52504). However they will all be converted.....

The standard box set has been on my to-do list for some time (read that as years) and are real miniature antiques being bought from Beatties, Bristol which closed nearly twenty years ago.....

But there is a twist.

Earlier this year I read a magazine article which featured an artist called Jakub Rozalski (AKA Mr. Werewolf) and in particular the series of painting in the Wolfpack 1863 series showing images of cold and frozen Landwehr facing huge and fierce werewolves which have inspired me to paint up my Dwarf Landwehr in the same uniforms. For more information, see this link or the official Rozalski site here. There is also a Twitter account for the artist which can be found here. As you can see there is an awful lot of information and images about this prolific artist.

My plan is two-fold;

I'll be converting my Flintloque Landwehr with modified headgear and then painting them in the drab grey brown uniforms shown in the illustrations. Later I plan to model a large werewolf miniature and hopefully have a small skirmish game - Dwarf Landwehr against a Monsterous Werewolf. Without getting too ambitious, I would also like to build a gaming board, a themed gaming board showing the same terrain features painted by Jakub to fight over. This is NOT a 'quick fix' modelling exercise but something that should keep me interested and inspired for some time to come.

Stay tuned for more updates, but be warned this may take some time. Jakub Rozalski and his fantastic Wolfpack 1863 illustrations have given me loads of inspiration for future modelling and gaming ideas. 

Tony

Another Dwarf Regiment for Flintloque

Part One

Over the next couple of weeks I will be posting updates of my latest On-Line Build, another regiment of eight Flintloque miniatures, this time Dwarves. But instead of starting the themed thread with images and details of the particular figures I've chosen, I thought I'd start with this.....

My silly hobby of Painting Toy Soldiers

and how it helps me deal with the preasures of both everyday life 

and in particular this latest lockdown

I'll start by telling you of a conversation, I had with my daughter earlier this year. Holly subscribes to a number of magazine titles, in fact she bought me a subsciption to Airfix Model World last year and the monthly deliveries help to brighten my day when the mag drops on my doorstep. Holly as well as Gardening and Home magazines, subscibes to a new publication called The Simple Things - taking time to live well. Holly told me about one of the most recent articles which talked about how hobbies were helping many to deal with the latest lockdown restrictions and hobbies like painting, gardening and model making were mentioned as some of the pastimes that were particulary effective at helping with wellbeing during these times. This got me thinking.

I have often written of the fact that I find the time I spend in my shed at the bottom of the garden so benefitial, in fact I'd go further and openly state that it is my 'Good Place' a retreat from the pressures of everyday life and a Tardis like place where I will say "I'm just popping down the shed for a couple of minutes" and three hours later I'll be called by my wife, who can't believe how time seems to operate when I'm in my shed/Tardis!

This most recent lockdown has been more difficult as the winter weather and muddy garden mean that trips to the shed are less frequent, but now as Spring aproaches and the days become warmer, I am finding that I can work down the shed with the doors open. The new Facebook Group, Retroloque (focusing on early Flintloque rules and miniatures) rekindled my love of these 'chubby' toy soldiers and as anyone who follows my Blog will know, I've modified and painted up a number of figures over the last year. These latest posts will give details of a new Flintloque Dwarf regiment that I am currently working on, from the inspiration, through the modelling and then on to the painting.

I find that having a project like this helps to focus my day and gives me even more of an excuse to spend time down the shed.

As you can see I don't take my hobby too seriously - I'm just thankful that I can spend time building terrain, painting toy soldiers and writing articles for books and magazines. In fact should anyone want to commission me to model or write for them, please contact me at; dampfpanzerwagon(at)yahoo.co.uk, I'm always open to new challenges.....

Stay safe and keep modelling - It's official

Playing with silly toy soldiers is GOOD FOR YOU

Tony

Flintloque Orc Line Infantry Officer - all finished

One final image showing the group of eight Orc Line and the newly converted Orc Line Officer on my scenic gaming board.

Tony

Flintloque Line Infantry Officer - finishing the base

I painted the metallic parts after I had varnished the miniature then added some static grass and static grass tufts to the base for decoration.

The final image shows the Orc Officer leading his gallant Orc Line into battle agains those cowardly 'pointy-ears'.

The conversion and painting were great fun and I can see me doing more Flintloque figures and regiments this year.

Tony

Flintloque Line Infantry Officer - the painting

1 - Undercoated with Tamiya grey spray paint, then painted with a dark brown/black base.

2 - The flesh areas were built up over a brown wash using a Snakebite Leather colour and then highlighting with white added to the mix.

3 - Some more skin highlights and then the red uniform and grey trousers were painted.

4 - Starting on the detailing with Apple Green cuffs and the red/white cockade.

5 - Nearly complete - just the metallic bits and varnishing to do.

Tony

Flintloque Line Infantry Officer - the construction

I was working on this single Flintloque miniature at the same time as the group of eight Flintloque Orc Line Infantry (see earlier posts). My intention was to use it as an officer figure for the group. The base miniature is from the Dismounted Dragoons (3 Orcs) 54013 blister with legs donated from a Ferach miniature. the legs and body have been glued and pinned.

The figure was mounted on to a 2p coin.

I built up the groundwork with some Milliput standard grey/yellow epoxy putty.

Then added detail with a Milliput/Green Stuff mix. The base was further textured with some sieved stones and sand applied over PVA glue.

The cloak to the rear of the figure hid a lot of ham-fisted sculpting and was further refined with a scalpel once fully set.

I then used Green Stuff to sculpt smaller or more intricate features such as the ribbon on the Bicorne and refine the buttons on the figures cuffs.

Hopefully I can get additional posts uploaded soon.

Stay safe.

Tony

Practical and Simple Wargame Terrain - part nine

Another month, another Miniature Wargames magazine and another article written by me. The Theme Park Cottage was inspired by an image  I found on the internet and built from cardboard, foamboard and egg box card. For full details of the build, see Miniature Wargames issue 455 (March 2021 issue).

This is the ninth chapter in the series showing how I construct and paint Simple Wargame Terrain built from everyday materials, the earlier tutorials are; 

The Prussian Barn

The Stone Cottage

The Timber Frames House

The Round Dovecot

A Thatched Cottage

European Barn

Wooden Shack

And Thatched Hovel

I can confirm that there is at least one more model in the series, then hopefully, I can try something new.

Tony

GW miniatures for sale on Ebay

I have a number of Games Workshop metal miniatures for sale on Ebay. Check them out at this link.

There are also some non GW minis - here a couple of examples.

Tony

Scratch Built 40K Gobsmasha

Today's post is a real 'blast-from-the-past'. A scratch built Orc 40k Gobsmasha that was built nearly thirty years ago using plans included in an old White Dwarf magazine. The model was built during a holiday at my Mother-in-Laws and uses bits and pieces found around the house. The finished model was featured as a showcase model in the old Swansea Models and Hobbies store, Swansea.

The core construction was some thick card, which had been 'layered' with more card to give a strong basis on which to add detailing.

Some of the scrap material used includes, Christmas decorations, pen barrels and tops, a Pritt glue stick for the gun barrel and rivets sliced from artificial flower stems.

The wheels were cut from beer mats and covered with more card and detailed with more cut up beer mat card and some spare washers.

The model was undercoated with grey primer (a rattle can spray paint) and the treads on the wheels are lentils/split peas, stuck in place with PVA glue.

The whole model was 'textured' by splattering the tank with watered-down Milliput epoxy putty which gave the model a solid base for painting and added some subtle interest to the basic and plain panels.

Painting went a little haywire; tiger stripes and lots of rust. I particularly liked the eyes painted on the front.

The exhausts were painted in a basic rust colour and the exhaust staining was drybrushed black.

Some time after it was on display in Swansea Models and Hobbies, it was returned to me and I thought I had placed it in the attic. I am sorry to say that I no longer know where it is. But at least I have these images, which were found when I was searching through some old photographs earlier this week.

I hope you like the Gobsmasha - it was great fun to build and paint.

Tony

The Steam Ram Florence

In memory of Florence Lock. 

1924 - 2021

Link

Flintloque Line Infantry - finished

The group of eight Flintloque Orc Line miniatures are now finished.....

The figures have been both gloss varnished (for strength) and matt varnished (Galleria matt varnish) as well as having the metallic bits re-glossed. The bases have been decorated with either static grass or static grass tufts and the main image shows the finished group on my gaming board with some scratch-built clutter. The image was taken in diffused sunlight, outdoors.

The figures have been a joy to paint (even though they have taken so long) and have greatly helped with my mental wellbeing during thes trying times. They are cram-packed full of character and I can't wait to see them in action on the tabletop.

I have been working on one additional Orc miniature alongside this group and I will be posting images soon.

Stay safe.

Tony

Flintloque Line Infantry - part fourteen

The painting is now finished with all of the metallic parts complete. I just need to varnish them and add some decoration to the bases which should be done later today - if the weather holds.

As usual they've been great fun to paint, full of character and come out OK. I think my dark lining and over-the-top painting style matches the 'cartoon-y' AA sculps perfectly. In addition they have been a great distraction for me during these troubled times. I also think they have been very patient with me - having waited on my To-Do shelf for twenty or so years!

Stay safe.

Tony

 

Flintloque Line Infantry - part thirteen

Another day, another update. This time the bases.....

I find it easier to model my miniatures with integral bases from the start, then prime and paint them. I know this is not the norm, but for me it just works. In todays post, I have painted the groundwork before finishing the models. The bases were painted in a Barbarian Leather colour to which I have added some yellow - I find that this is as close to Snakebite Leather as I can get. I then highlighted the base colour by drybrushing with the Barbarian Leather to which I have added some white. The final drybrush sees me adding even more white. I then pick out individual stones in grey, highlighted with white before I paint the shoes and soles of the shoes. In the case of these eight Orc Redcoats, each of the models had the soles of their shoes painted to some level or another.

Hopefully I can get these Orcs finished soon, although, as I have stated in earlier posts, I'm in no rush.

Stay safe.

Tony

Flintloque Line Infantry - part twelve

With the white stapping and the decoration on the shakos painted I feel this group of eight Orcs has taken on a life of their own and are now individual characters rather than just plain lead castings. I am well aware that they have taken much longer to paint to this stage than I would have expected, but there is no doubt that they have helped to keep me grounded during this most recent national lockdown. In fact I have written about this before - miniature painting for me at least, is my mindfullness activity, the hobby that keeps me 'sane' and helps with my mental health. 

When Sue bought me the shed-at-the-bottom-of-the-garden 21 years ago little did she realise just how much time I would be spending down there. As I often say - it is my TARDIS; "I'm just popping down the shed for 10 minutes and three hours later I reapear with absolutely no idea just how long I have been modelling."

Like fishing, I feel that time spent painting model soldiers is time that God does not count against you.

Stay safe.

Tony