Billy (the) Piper - part two

Billy is now undercoated, GW Chaos Black. However I thought I would list the modifications I have made to the basic miniature.

The most noticeable is that the bonnet feather or distinctive 'red Hackle' has been extended and enlarged. I used a mix of Milliput and 'Green Stuff', plus a small touch of superglue to ensure it stays in place. The right stocking has been re-sculpted, again with some Milliput/Green Stuff mix. The backpack (not shown in these two photos, has been tidied up, there was a heavy fold in the side of the backpack, I'm not sure if this was a casting flaw or it was intended to be there as it appears on the initial piper model as well as this second casting. I partially filled it to make it less prominent). Finally I added a small circular badge to the back of the pack, I have seen similar badges on the backpacks of the 42nd Highland Regiment.

I will get around to painting some colour in the next post - but this should give an idea of how I prepare my models.

Tony

Billy (the) Piper - my latest on-line build.

It's been some time since I painted this Ratman Piper from the Alternative Armies/Flintloque box set - Highland Rat Infantry 44th Strathcarnage & Killmore (56502). Then earlier this year at the WMMS - Alumwell, I picked up a second-hand piper figure for £1.00. This prompted me to paint a second Piper (called Billy).

Photo One - Shows the initial finished and completed piper from my collection. It is based on a 2p piece and is painted in the same scheme as shown on the box front. It has already been featured here on this Blog at;

http://dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.com/2008/11/joccian-rats-patrol-catalutian-street.html

Photo Two - The second-hand miniature mounted on to an old 1d coin, in fact an Irish 1d, pre-decimal coin. Please Note that the casting was already painted/undercoated black when I bought it. I didn't feel that it was worth stripping the paint off as I normally work off a black undercoat.

Photo Three - I have built up the base with cork pieces, Milliput and sand.

I am not sure I have said this before - but these some of the very best sculpted Flintloque Figures in the whole collection, full of character, beautifully sculpted and with a 'hefty feel' and the piper is the best sculpt in the set. Does anyone know who sculpted these for AA?

The figure is 35mm tall (base of foot to top of head, 40mm to top of feather).

It is strange that since starting On-Line builds, I have found that I miss not having one on the go. I am also sure that they help to improve my painting techniques as well as being therapeutic! If any followers were to copy my example and keep a log of their on-line builds, I am sure it would be successful.

I am planning on some (minor) conversion work on this figure - what's the point of having two identical miniatures? I will give more details in my next up-date.

Tony

Scratch built Rocketship

I have just come across this post - a Flash Gordon style Rocketship built from a plastic bottle.

For for information check out;

http://ludstuff.blogspot.com/2009/04/tabletop-gaming-2-more-spaceships.html

And

http://ludstuff.blogspot.com/2009/04/tabletop-gaming-1-retro-rocketships.html

There are other bits and pieces on the Blog that should inspire.

Tony

Flintloque Dwarf Uhlans - finished

My latest regiment, the Flintloque Dwarf Uhlans are now varnished and based. For those who have followed this on-line build, you will know that the miniatures are converted Alternative Armies/Flintloque Krautian Guard (52502), modeled as dismounted Uhlans and not based on any actual regiment, but instead are a mix of Internet and Google searches for suiltable uniform colours and facings.

The final stages of painting include, painting the bases, GW Snakebite Leather, highlighted with Snakebite Leather and White, the individual stones are painted in various Grey's and highlighted with White. Additional detail painting included some Flesh highlights, a touch of Blood Red to the pompoms and small touches to the flag.

The miniatures were first varnished with Ronseal Hard Glaze and when dry I painted on three coats of water based Matt Varnish before adding the static grass.

I have so far not written any background to this, my latest Dwarf Sauerkraut Wars Regiment, but will have to come up with a story as to how they lost their mounts and found their huge blunderbusses!

Overall, I am very pleased with this cheap e-bay purchase, they have taken a little longer than I would have planned, but as I am in no hurry, I don't worry too much. Finally, I think the pale grey uniform colour actually works better than the 'official' dark blue/black uniform recommendation and the 'plum red' flag adds a great deal of welcome 'colour' to the finished group. I hope you agree.

Tony

Medieval Buildings - Update

The latest batch of new releases are now being featured on the Grand Manner Shop Site. In addition I have just come across this post by Darrell Hindley, who has some pre-release photos of the Modular Medieval Buildings, see;

http://darrellhindley.co.uk/?p=534

The Photo below shows the Two Storey House with Jetted Gabble End (ME58)

There is a whole range of similar (modular) buildings From ME51 - through to ME65 which were initially modeled by me. For full details check out the Grand Manner Shop Site at;

http://www.grandmanner.co.uk/home/index.asp?id=1

In addition the Flintloque/Napoleonic Building set is also included under LS43, 44 and 45, However at this time there are still no finished or painted examples - these really are 'hot out of the molds!' If you want to see examples - please check out earlier Blog entries labelled Flintloque or see;

http://dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.com/2010/03/flintloque-building-set-now-available.html

You will see from this huge new range of buildings that I have been very busy and just maybe have not been updating this Blog as often as I should. But with this new set of releases, I feel I can take a well earned rest - well that is until I start the next project, which at this time must remain a secret.

I'll update once I have painted examples.

Tony

PS.

It is quite common for Dave to amend my 'Masters' prior to casting, thicken walls, add membrane to windows and doors etc. The 28mm Dovecote has some great little additions that I think really add to the character of the casting. Dave has modeled four small doves/pigeons, three on the roof section and one on the ground. Well done.

An Easter visit to Worcester

Susan, my Wife and I decided that we would have a morning in Worcester, we were looking at picking up some alternative Easter presents (rather than just chocolate eggs) and decided that a visit to the charity books shops was in order. The objective was to pick up suitable books for Gareth (our son), Beckie (his fianceé), Holly (our daughter) and Mark (her boyfriend) who would all be visiting some time over the Easter weekend.

While I was browsing the shelves in WHSmiths, I picked up two magazines - the first was this months issue of Wargames Illustrated, I was particularly impressed with the Paul Davies article on page 68, How to build an Early Irish Christian Church and would recommend the magazine just for this one article! I can see the techniques being used in other building projects and I may even reproduce the stone church myself. Although I would use DAS modelling clay rather than filler.

The same issue also has the Grand Manner advert (page 58) which has already been commented on. Issue 270 is very well filled with articles and illustrations, more so than in previous issues, it ready is becoming a very well produced magazine, one that I enjoy looking at the pictures as much as reading the text - well done. I think the term 'Eye-Candy' (in a positive way) describes this particular magazine very well.

The details are; Wargames Illustrated, issue 270 - April 2010 with a cover price of £4.00.

The second purchase was the March issue of Military Modelling which I picked up for the fantastic article by Emmanual Nouaillier on painting advertising posters. I have commented on Emmanuel's work in previous posts, but this article, where he reproduces a Dubonnet poster with paint, is without doubt a fantastic piece of modelling and painting. If you have not seen this mans work before - please check it out, you will not be disappointed.

Other articles of note are; Panther in the Mud by Steve Zaloga, this author never fails to entertain and inform. I always look forward to reading his modelling articles. A second article by Chris Meddings called Ringer - the story of a Dieppe Churchill tank is also worth checking out. I am not necessarily a great fan of MM and rarely pick up every issue, however this one is well worth the £3.95 cover price.

Back to searching the charity shops and Sue had found a whole host of second-hand modelling and reference books and pamphlets in the Oxfam Book Store. The first is this reference and modelling book (a card cut-out and glue book) called The Merchant's House, Bromsgrove. The book features the very first building that was reconstructed on the Avoncroft Museum site, Bromsgrove. The model in the books looks to be 20mm/25mm scale, but with a little bit of work or re-scaling could be used as the basis of a 28mm historical reproduction. With so many on-going modelling projects on the go at this time, I would expect this to take a 'back seat'. But it would make a fantastic wargaming model. For more details of Avoncroft Museum check out;

http://www.avoncroft.org.uk/

My second bargain was this card-backed brochure of the Weald and Downlands Open Air Museum by R. Harris (who has also produced a fantastic reference work entitled Discovering Timber-Framed Buildings, which I regularly use for reference). The booklet covers a number of the museum exhibits with black & white photos and illustrations of the buildings that have been saved.

Finally (while Sue was still shopping) I took the opportunity to photograph some of the timber-framed building in Worcester City Centre, here are just a few of the photos that give a feel for what to expect if you do the same.

And the reason for these photos, I've been working on a group of generic and interchangeable Early Medieval Buildings (Town Buildings) in 28mm scale for Grand Manner, the plan is to have a selection of buildings with separate ground floor, first floor and roof sections that can be built in different configurations with the option of sections turned 180 degrees to give different frontages. Here is a Work-in-Progress shot of the first releases, all buildings feature internal detail with optional chimney & dormer windows.

"Of special interest is the way that the 'real' building are not 'square', there are some very obvious curves and wavy timbers, while the model buildings (due to the fact that they are interchangeable) are all 'clean and square'. Ideally I would have loved to have some seriously bendy buildings, but this will have to wait for single or signature models which will hopefully follow."

I am currently working on a couple of supplementary buildings, 'in-fill buildings' that can be used to offer variety to the street front. I would expect full details to be available very soon.

Back to the books, we did manage to pick up a book each for Gary, Beckie, Holly and Mark, (plus chocolate Easter eggs). But I came back with the best Easter presents - two magazines and two great reference books!

Happy Easter.

Tony

March 2010 Update

Yesterday afternoon I spent some time over at Grand Manner. I needed to drop off a couple of models for Dave to put into molds. A simple couple of minutes turned into a couple of hours and I came away with even more projects and books to study. A visit to GM is a great way to re-kindle your model making enthusiasm.

Dave is a little behind with all the mold making, he is estimating that close to 60 new models will be available and featured on the updated GM web page through April. I am always amazed at how quickly Dave can model and sculpt compared to my feeble (and slow) efforts. As already mentioned his latest advert features some of these new models and the SHOP section shows even more, see;

http://www.grandmanner.co.uk/home/index.asp

Finished projects that I have been directly involved it, include;

AWI/ACW - particularly the model of Hartwell Tavern and the Guilford Courthouse group in 28mm.

A European Windmill - a multi-part model of a generic corn grinding windmill, again in 28mm.

A Tudor- Style Dovecote - based on an illustration and the building at Luntley Court, Hereford. I believe this to be one of the 'prettiest building' I have ever produced.

A whole load of early Medieval Town Houses and Shops - totally interchangeable buildings with optional ground, first floor and roof castings, internal detail and various optional parts for the diorama builder.

A modular section of Harbour Wall which features the main wall section which is designed to be extended and/or displayed at 90' angles, a floating wooden walkway, steps and a section of upper paved dock.

And the Flintloque or Napoleonic Building Set (also featured here on this Blog).

I addition to this Dave has worked on Medieval Farm Buildings and a new large church.

All, in all, a very busy three months of model making.

Other non-GM projects I am working on include;

Another article for Barking Irons - the new magazine from Alternative Armies.

A Victorian Science Fiction (VSF) model of a Flying Aeronef in 1/300th scale to be featured as a written article in a magazine very soon and various outstanding Workbench articles for The Miniatures Page (TMP).

All of which will be detailed here over the next couple of months.

Tony

"They say if you want something done - give it to the busiest person."