Franco-Prussian War railway station - Wargames Illustrated issue 405

Issue 405 (September 2021) of Wargames Illustrated has the first of what I hope will become a regular feature showing how I scratch build my wargame terrain. The model was inspired by a black and white illustration of Courcelles railway station and a comment on this Blog by Lasgunpacker, see this blog post for more information.

The construction and painting is featured over seven pages of the magazine showing detailed step-by-step notes on how it was built and what materials I used.

For more information see this link. In addition should you have any suggestions for models or inspiration for future projects (particularly Buildings from the Movies) please get in touch via this post.

Tony

Warhammer 40000 Imperium - new from Hachette

The latest Hachette partworks is now available from W H Smiths. Warhammer 40000 Imperium part 01.

My first impression is that you don't get that much for your £2.99, just two plastic figure kits - a Space Marine and a Necron, six D6 and a plastic ruler plus all the usual printed stuff, but I still bought issue 01, just because I had money on my WHS gift card.

I don't expect I'll pick up any more issues, they are too expensive and there's no way I'll be subscribing.

For more information see this link.

Tony

Loki - Marvel Studios answer to Doctor Who

Sue and I have just finished Loki - the new Marvel series featured on the Disney channel and although we thought it OK, it didn't quite hit the mark. Although.....

Sue commented that she didn't like it as it was a little too much like Doctor Who. At first I couldn't see the connection, but as the series continued I couldn't help thinking that the BBC should be looking at suing both Marvel and Disney for character rights infringements.

Loki is an alien a god like creature with enhanced metabolic features, just like Dr. Who.

Loki has different reincarnations of himself (even a female version) just like Dr. Who .

Loki flits around in time and space, just like Dr. Who.

See where this is going.....

Loki has companions, I think Owen Wilson makes a great companion to Loki - just like those on Dr. Who.

Then there are the Time Keepers - sound familiar? Dr. Who has the Time Lords

UNIT Vs. TVA?

The more I watched, the more I thought that this is the new Doctor Who. Actually a better version of Dr. Who and although the first series was a little too complicated for it's own good, I do think it was better written than the newer Jodie Whittaker Dr. Who series. I hope that it continues and we see even more Dr. Who references. I'm sure Marvel will do a better job than the BBC have done with the recent franchise/series.

Loki - the NEW Doctor Who? Yes please.

Tony

Pershore Abbey

Earlier today Sue and I went for a walk along the river at Pershore. It's one of our favourite walks taking in the river, wetlands, park and town. At the same time I was studying a guide book and read about Pershore Abbey. Sue and I have lived in Worcestershire for over 30 years and I had never visited Pershore Abbey, today that was going to change.....

We had a great time walking the gardens, studying the architecture and listening to some church organ music. I can thoroughly recommend it as a great place to visit, a beautiful church with lots to see and do. I can see us having a return visit very soon.

For more information, see this link.

Tony

Wargames Terrain & Buildings - WW1 Trench Systems

I recently became aware of this book from Pen & Sword - Wargames Terrain & Buildings - WW1 Trench Systems by Douglas Hardy. Regular readers and followers will know that this is the third book in this series published by Pen & Sword, the first two being; Wargames Terrain & Buildings - The Napoleonic Wars and Wargames Terrain & Buildings - North Africa and The Middle East, both written by me.

I should make it clear that I have nothing to do with this third book, but thought it would be of interest and worth posting a link. For more information I have included this You Tube link.

Good luck to Douglas and Pen & Sword.

Tony

The Yellow Pelican Mining Co. - one year anniversary

This week is the one year anniversary of me starting The Yellow Pelican Mining Co. layout, I did a lot of basic construction and track laying in the first instance, but then moved on to the two main buildings as you can see here. 

I have added wooden supports to the larger mine building/office and a sign board ready for the official naming. Later I modified the front to include a couple of sliding doors (non-operating).

The final images shows how the two buildings will fit together. They are still separate as I find it easier to work on.

I can report that there has been a lot of additional work done on the buildings and the layout and I hope to be able to show images of the progress soon, but as stated earlier this is a long-term project and one that has not and will not be taking priority (at least for now).

Tony

Another charity shop find for Finley and Charlie

Earlier this week Sue and I picked up these two plastic children's toys from a charity shop in Evesham. They were bought for the bargain price of just £2.00 each.

I then re-painted them. The helmet was the easiest, just highlighting the gold areas and adding some extreme highlighting to the rivets while the shield had a complete update following an illustration I found in The Foundry Compendium. I chose to add F and C as they will be used by my grandchildren, Finley and Charlie.

I'm sure they will enjoy playing with them.

Tony

Jason's Argo - part two

Today's post shows how the model Argo was detailed. The 28mm scale model is available from Grand Manner - see this link.

Tony

Micro Art Studio - Dwarf Haldar - part six

With the final detail painting being done I varnished the whole model and base with Galleria matt varnish and then applied some gloss varnish to the metallic areas before decorating the base with ground foam, static grass and tufts.

I used watercolour pencils to highlight the orange hair and a lead pencil on the metallic areas to give a more realistic shine.

I'm pleased with how the model came out, however I have to report that he was damaged when dropped and I have now had to repair the shield arm.

Tony

A German Farmhouse - Miniature Wargames issue 461

Issue 461 (September 2021) of Miniature Wargames features this highly modified MDF building from Warbases. For more information see this link. The basic model has egg box card stones and wood cladding with thin card roof tiles as well as a new base.

In these two images, you can see the before and after stages - the plain kit and the new modified model.

For more information on how this model was built and painted - see the latest issue of WM.

Tony

Micro Art Studio - Dwarf Haldar - part five

I have now completed most of the painting, just some final detailing and I can varnish the figure.

Tony

Micro Art Studio - Dwarf Haldar - part four

Painting has progressed well with skin, hair and armour colours being started and having the first highlights and even a couple of light washes.

I chose to use this colour scheme after reading the book How To Train Your Dragon to my grandsons. The illustration is used just to show the colours I want to reproduce and I am not attempting to infringe any copyright but am using it to illustrate how I take inspiration from many different sources.

Expect more soon.

Tony

Micro Art Studio - Dwarf Haldar - part three

The miniature was basecoated with a mid grey spray can and then highlighted with a 'zenithal' undercoat using dark grey in the shadows and lighter grey, then pure white drybrush on the upper surfaces.

 I'll be starting the painting next and will post updates.

Tony

Micro Art Studio - Dwarf Haldar - part two

I washed the resin miniature in warm soapy water before temporarily gluing the main body and shield arm to a large cork. The left arm (holding the hammer) was glued to the body with superglue.

I used a large saw to slice the stone base into a thin veneer and after sanding the bottom edge, I glued it to a wooden disc that I had in my spares box. The disc is 58mm diameter and 6mm thick.

I built up the flag stone base with some Milliput and then added groundwork from DAS modelling clay which was further textured with sieved stones and sand applied over PVA glue.

These last two images show the models ready for undercoating. You can also see the miscast on the little finger of the shield hand.

I'll be undercoating later today and will post images and progress later.

Tony

Micro Art Studio - Dwarf Haldar M00201

It's been a while since I painted a display mini and I've got out of the habit, so my latest On-Line Build will be this resin dwarf from Micro Art Studio that I picked up at a wargame show some time ago for just £3.00. The model is of a 54mm scale Dwarf Warrior and I'll be painting him in the colour scheme of the Viking Barbarians featured in the film How To Train Your Dragon, a film that I've been watching and enjoying with my two grandsons.

I'm not sure if this model is still available from Micro Art Studio's as it does not appear on the current site but images can be found on the internet.

The four pieces are very well cast with slight flash and only one area around the fingertips on the shield hand miscast.

I'll be working on the model alongside a couple of magazine articles, so I am not expecting this to be a super fast project.

Tony

Jason's Argo - part one

This particular model was built over ten years ago as a commission for Grand Manner. The model was meant to represent a small sailing/rowing boat and based on a number of illustrations showing reproductions of early Greek ships or Jason's Argo. The model is scaled for 28mm/32mm miniatures

This image was taken from a children's story book and became the main inspiration when planning and starting construction. The finished resin model can still be bought from Grand Manner - for more information, see this link

The main hull was built up over a sandwich of plastic card with foam, wood and Milliput used to define the sleek shape.

Detailing was done with more foam, plastic card and Milliput epoxy putty.

I will add more work-in-progress shots over the next couple of days but for now, I hope that you like seeing how I work on these master models.

Tony

Sherwood Forest Railway

We have just returned from a short three day break camping in Sherwood Forest. The highlight was spending time with the grandchildren and visiting Sherwood Forest Railway - a 15 inch gauge, 5/8th scale pleasure line that is just full of character. We rode on PET one of the steam engines. 

I spent time sketching some of the features - like the sleeper-built water tower and the abandoned V skip-based enclosed wagon both of which could find their way on to The Yellow Pelican Mining Co. layout.

For more information go to this link.

Tony