West Midlands Military Show 2012 this weekend

On Sunday March 11th 1012 the Alumwell Wargames Society will be holding the 35th annual WMMS at the Aldersley Leisure Village, Aldersley Road, Wolverhampton WV6 9NW.

I plan on being there as the doors open and can recommend it as a great day out. I have said it before, I believe this to be one of the friendliest wargame shows I attend and also one of the less hectic.

For more details go to this link

Tony

Gingerbread Mania - part three

My latest Masterclass Terrain Modelling article has just been uploaded onto the Barking Irons Online Blog. It details what must be one of the most unusual terrain modelling tutorials ever written, How to build a Gingerbread House for the Alternative Armies Game - Flintloque.

For more details go to my previous post here. Before I write any more, I want to thank both Gavin Syme and Craig Andrews for allowing me this little bit of indulgence and then featuring it as a Masterclass article on Barking Irons Online. I am sure that when this modelling article arrived on their computers they must have wondered just how far they could 'push' the zany appeal of Flintloque? 

Craig Andrews (editor - BIO) brought forward the inclusion of this article by a whole month to link in with the release of the the latest VLE or Very Limited Edition from AA.

Photo One - Shows the finished Gingerbread House, which will be featured on the Alternative Armies/Flintloque participation or Demo game at next months Salute 2012. It is my intention to attend Salute 2012. But at this moment I am still not able to confirm that I will be there.

Photo Two - shows the construction complete and awaiting a coat of paint. Full details of the build and painting can be found here.

I am not sure of the gaming worth of such a piece of terrain, but I can confirm that it was a great deal of fun to build and I can honestly say that I had more enjoyment building this model than any of my previous Masterclasses. It posed product and construction problems that I had to think hard about and overcome, sometimes not in an obvious way.  I hope that you like it.

Tony

Gingerbread Mania - part two

Part Two of this months Pledge was basing and undercoating the Limited Edition miniatures.

Photos One and Two - show all four figures based on 2p coins with the groundwork built up with Milliput. And when fully set, sieved sand was sprinkled over some uPVA glue.

You maybe able to see that I have added a small amount of Milliput to the upper body of the Gingerbread Man to fill two small holes.

Photos Three and Four - Not much to see as the Black undercoated miniatures were photographed with a flash light!

Photo Five - The two Dwarves and the Head Chef have had their flesh areas painted. The Dwarves were painted over Snakebite Leather with some Bloody Red added and highlighted with Skull White. While the Head Chef was painted over Snakebite and highlighted with Ghost Grey to give a less healthy pallor.

Photo Six - The Gingerbread Man has been basecoated with Scorched Brown and highlighted with a Scorched Brown and Snakebite Leather mix. Once the paint was dry I washed the whole miniatures with Black and Brown washes.

Progress on this particular Pledge is moving quite quickly. I may even have time to start something else!

Tony

Foul Mouth Freddy by Edward Jackson

This fantastic image has already been featured on Gavin Syme's new Blog but what has not been mentioned is that I was given the original illustration by Edward as a much appreciated gift.

I already have a number of original Edward Jackson sketches but this one is my favourite so far, illustrating as it does my creation - Foul Mouth Freddy. For anyone not familiar with the character - Feddy is a 'toilet mouthed'  Orc Sergeant serving with the Grand Alliance and featuring in many short stories and scenarios based around the Alternative Armies game Flintloque. Freddy is loosely based on Uncle Fred who is sadly no longer with us but hopefully these images, miniatures and stories give some impression of the loveable character.

A Limited Edition metal miniature of Freddy can be bought from AA, see this link for more details.

Thanks to Edward for sending me this original artwork. It is my intention to frame the sketch and have it hanging in my computer room.

I can also confirm that at least one new short story has been penned about this lovable anti-hero and if all goes to plan should be included in a book featuring Flintloque -based short stories very soon. I will post details once I have them.

Tony

Gingerbread Mania

Back in December 2011 Craig Andrews - he of Orcs in the Webbe, ran yet another Advent Calendar. A series of daily posts which featured gaming articles, scenarios and various great stuff relating to Flintloque and other Alternative Armies gaming systems.

One of the stories, 'And he has Raisins for Eyes' written by Matthew Hartley, (who with Steve Blease was one of the original writers for Flintloque) pitted a group of emigrate Dwarves against their oppressive Ferach masters. The story is currently unavailable as Orcs in the Webb is undergoing an update, but we are all hopeful that it will be back very soon. and he had raisins for eyes link

The Dwarves produced a giant Gingerbread Man to help with their resistance (I believe that there is a similar Jewish Folk Tale/Legend where Jews who were  being persecuted built a huge stone or clay Golem to defend themselves). The story was one of the very best pieces of Flintloque gaming fiction that I had ever read and I immediately wanted to produce both the Dwarves and a piece of themed terrain. 

Photo One - Shows the 'scratch-built' Gingerbread House which was recently featured on Gavin Syme's new Blog Full details of design. construction and painting will be included on Barking Irons Online as a terrain Masterclass article very soon. The original Gingerbread House is planned to be featured on the Alternative Armies participation game at Salute next month.

Photos Two and Three - I was so struck with the story that I decided to model both a giant Gingerbread Man and some Patisserie Dwarves. The Dwarves and the sinister looking head chef were modified Flintloque castings. I think the leading chef looks a little like a certain foul mouthed Gordon Ramsay!

Photo Four - Gavin at Alternative Armies got to here about my Gingerbread project and almost straight away they were cast up as a Very Limited Edition set. Here is an image of the first test casting, showing the Gingerbread man, the Head Chef and the two terrified Dwarves.

Photo Five - The Gingerbread Man, standing nearly 50mm tall and ready to strike fear into the dastardly Ferach.

Photo Six - The Cooks or Patisserie Chefs. You will notice that the Gordon Ramsay style figure is armed with a rather threatening wooden spoon!

Finally, in an attempt to get these miniatures based, painted and varnished as soon as possible I have decided that THESE will be my next Pledge I know that it is breaking the set rules for my Pledge, as there are only four miniatures, but I feel I can be excused on this occasion. Before starting this series of posts I had to get special dispensation from Gavin at AA to show these images - thank you Gavin.

More to follow.

Tony

TRASH BASH 2012 - part five

Firstly - Happy St. David's Day.  Today is the date when all entries should be in, see these rules for full details.  As stated earlier there is no reason why work-in-progress shots cannot be shown, but I feel teasers are best until the entries are officially released.

These two images show the Juicy Drop Pop sweet or candy containers in their component parts. Take special note of the pieces as a number of them were used in the building or painting of this Aeronef. Full details should be available very soon. I hope you like the posts so far.

Thank you to all my followers for making February (my four year anniversary of Blogging) another 10,000 plus hits month.

Tony

New Dwarf Regiment - part seven

After a shaky start The Pledge is back on track and the first group of miniatures is complete; based, varnished and flocked.

Photo One - The finished group of eight Flintloque Dwarves led by a bossy she-Dwarf (a modified Forgemaiden from Warlord/Reaper - Valana, 14524).

Photos Two, Three and Four show the miniatures prior to varnishing. I am particularly proud of the Tomato Puree Flag and Battenburg Cake pole decoration.

Photo Five - The command group, a Standard Bearer, Musician and the Female Dwarf.

Photo Six - The five troopers.

I have called them Battenburger's after the flag design and some comments on this Blog. The main point is that regiment/group one was finished on time. Now for the second group, but you will have to wait until March for full details.

Tony