Books for Christmas

In addition to a pair of spiral sketch books (one A5 the other A3) I received a huge selection of books and magazines for Christmas 2012.

The first is this hard back book called Monsters in the Movies which is crammed full of images and information relating to 100 years of Movie monsters.

Next up are three Thai language modelling magazines, which although in a foreign language are full of great content, illustrations and tips.

This Conan comic was beautifully illustrated, as can be seen by the black and white image below.

Two more comics - Rom and Alpha Flight.

I also had the new Terry Pratchett book - Long Earth which is written by Terry and Stephen Baxter. A small book called The Rambler's Guide by E. Mansell and a book of illustrations of Egypt by an artist called David Roberts.

The three comics were read over the Christmas break and I have just started the Terry Pratchett book. The Rambler's Guide and The Monsters books are two that you browse rather than read from cover-to-cover.

Tony

Aqua Vitae - part two

Another Wednesday and another update. In part one I wrote about the Lead Adventure contest that inspired this little piece of terrain, details of which can be found here. I particularly like the Catalina Flying Boat by Jonny Todd.

The fireplace was carved out of a block of Pink Foam and textured with a wire brush, while the barrel was a resin casting from Grand Manner. In this image you can see the groundwork built up with DAS modelling clay.

Prior to the DAS being added I spent some time moving the individual pieces around the plastic card base until I was happy with the composition.

It is obvious from this image that I have discarded the simpler Pot Still for a more ornate Chappel Still or Cognac inspires Still. This was built from two resin castings of antique pots or vases giving the distinctive bellied shape pot with the large cooling chamber on the top. From the bottom up the construction goes as follows; The Pink Foam fireplace - a plastic card base with some rivets from an Airfix construction set - a Games Workshop shield - two resin vases (with a plastic card and plastic tube door), a pot lid and then the 'swans neck'. On closer examination there are a number of plastic rod rivets while the joins are filled with superglue and sanded smooth.

My reasoning for changing from the simpler Poteen or Pot still to this more elaborate one is that I wanted it to stand out. In Flintloque gaming terms I imagine The Bog Orcs would have 'acquired' (read stolen) this better made copper still from the Ferach for distilling their own rough and ready liquor.

Once again I played around with placing the various items of clutter before supergluing them down.

This close-up of the Still shows some of the detail I have added. Most inspiration for this shape and detailing came from GOOGLE image searches.

I have a good supply of clutter items kept in a huge spares box. Here are some that were used on this project. The plaster barrels are from a company called Ten Commandments and are very easy to re-carve and detail. The resin box was found at the bottom of my spares box and might have been there for some time while the white metal pot and small barrel are from an unknown manufacturer. The green pot to the front is a modified KNEX joining piece which has been carved and sanded to shape.

In this image and the one below you can see the clutter glued down and the groundwork further textured with sieved stones and fine sand which has been applied over uPVA glue.

I have used fine filler and thick paint to smooth out the join between the swans neck and the metal paperclip pipe. The stack of wood is just that - a stack if wooden strips cut from some scrap wood.

Another close-up showing the scratch built green jug as well as the Chappel Pot in greater detail.

And finally for this post a view of the completed construction prior to painting. The image shows how the resin barrel has been hollowed-out and the paperclip pipe fits into it.

In the next post I will detail the painting and basing. I hope that you have enjoyed the construction article. It is possible to 'click' on the images - which will expand the photos and show construction in greater detail.

Tony

S.P.Q.ORC - Pax Bochemannica

I have now received my Pax Bochemannica Starter Set (PBO11201) from Maveryc Games. The Maveryc Web page has details of the box contents featuring both unpainted and painted minis - see this link for more details.

As a gaming system, I think the background and rules have been very well written and the miniatures are fantastic little gems sculpted by Dave Toone. Good luck to all concerned, it deserves to be a great success.

Tony

When the Comics went to War - at Poundland

Poundland, the UK discount store has this book for sale, for just £1.00! I picked mine up in the Kidderminser store earlier today.

When the Comics went to War by Adan Riches with Tim Parker and Robert Frankland. This hard-backed book has over 220 pages of black & white and colour illustrations and text with a list price of £19.99 - a real bargain.

I'll get around to writing a proper review later, but for now I hope that this 'heads-up' is of interest to others. I have always enjoyed Commando Comics and Battle War Stories, so this book is 'right up my street' and as my Mother-in-Law paid for it, yet another Christmas present. Thanks Mum.

Published by Mainstream Publishing in 2009. ISBN 0781845965549

Tony

Aqua Vitae - "The Water of Life" - part one

Late last year I became aware of a contest called Build Something III on The Lead Adventure Forum, for full details go to this link. The theme was Water and I searched around for something I could build. After much thought I decided to build this Poteen still, Poteen or boot-leg whiskey is also know as Aqua Vitae (the water of life). The rules of the contest state that images of the work-in-progress can be shown, but images of the finished piece cannot. As you can see this is an image of the finished piece! The reason is that this scenic base does not fulfill the rules of the contest, however I am pleased with it and thought I would post details of the build here.  In addition I am going to use the same format as I am using in my planned 'How to build Wargame Terrain' book, so this is a bit of a test to judge the reaction to my writing and style of model-making tutorial.

Planning progressed with an image search on Google and this simple sketch. The copper still filled with low spirit (beer, wine or boiled potatoes)  is placed over an open fire, the evaporated spirit is drawn up into the neck (sometimes known as a Swans Neck) where it condenses back into a liquid and flows down a cooling pipe and through a barrel filled with cold water. The stronger spirit can be returned to the still for a second distillation (and a stronger brew) if needed.

The clear Poteen is then dispensed into a simple pot or second-hand bottle for consumption.

This themed piece of terrain was built as an objective marker for my Flintloque Bog-Orcs. "They have to have something to keep them warm at night after their retreat from Kooruna".

The base is cut from a sheet of 3mm thick plastic card (the sort that can be bought as For Sale signs), cut into a rough oval and with the edges first trimmed and then sanded. The 2p coin gives some idea as to how small this model is. The base is 110 mm x 80 mm.

I have used some scrap Pink Foam to model a sturdy stone base for the fire pit. The individual stones were carved with a scalpel and then textured with a small wire brush before being superglued to the base.

The fireplace was also carved from Pink Foam (two pieces) before being carved and textured in the same way as the stone base.

In this image you can see my first attempt at a still. The main pot is constructed from a toy rocket nosecone (white) and a rocket blastercone (black) glued on top of each other. The neck is a a section of hair curler scraped to a taper and the joins first filled with superglue and then sanded to shape.

The resin barrel is a casting from Grand Manner which has been drilled out and then sanded to give the impression of an open barrel while the cooling pipe is a short section of twisted paperclip wire.

In this image you can see the resin barrel in greater detail mounted onto a carved plastic card, wooden pallet and the groundwork built up with DAS modelling clay. The DAS being applied over a thin coat of uPVA glue to help it bond to the plastic card.

In part two I will give more details of how this scenic diorama base was built.

Tony

2012 A Review

It is common practice at this time of year to revisit your Blogging year with a short review detailing notable posts or articles. This is such a post.

I'll start with something that I call The Pledge, an attempt by me to reduce my lead mountain and paint some miniatures. The Pledge was my own variation of The Lead Adventure Painters League which posts a new group of painted miniatures each week during the contest period. I have the goal of a group a month rather than one a week. A series of On-Line builds that has seen Joccian Ratmen, Todoroni  and even giant Gingerbread men finished and based.

I am fully aware that the initial aim has not been fully met, but I am pleased with the finished and painted miniature groups and see this as a great step forward for me.

I have also had a number of Masterclass Articles published on Barking Irons Online as well as two terrain articled published in Miniature Wargames. All this in addition to the on-going work on my own terrain building book 'Building Wargame Terrain' which is moving along well and expected to be published in the first half of 2013.

The later On-Line Builds featured on this Blog include a new Game called S.P.Q.Orc published by Maveryc Games, a game similar to Flintloque - in fact written by Max Coxhead, one of the driving forces behind the original Flintloque game that features heavily on this Blog and a game system that I enjoy collecting, painting and writing for.

2012 also saw a couple of large commissions - which although finished and completed, they are still to be officially launched and therefore I am not able to talk about them (yet). I have enjoyed these modelling interludes which offer me some serious modelling challenges.

I also renewed my acquaintance with SALUTE, my first visit to this iconic show since it was held at Kensington. It was a long and tiring day, but one that still lives long in the memory. I believe that the best, or more accurately the most enjoyable show was Scale Model World - the IPMS show at Telford in November. I also attended Games Expo - Birmingham and the Allumwell Show, two shows that as well as being local to me are great modelling and gaming shows. Two of the friendliest shows I know of.

Late in 2012, I finally got around to joining The Society of Fantasy and Science Fiction Wargamers (SFSFW) and earlier this month took delivery of my first ever Ragnarok as a member, even though I have previously written for the magazine and have many old issues in my collection.

So where do I go in 2013?

I am going to continue with The Pledge - setting myself the challenge to produce at least ten groups of painted miniatures during the year. The 'How to build Wargame Terrain' book will need some finalizing work before publication, but I am confident that it will be completed in the first six months of 2013. I will post details once I have them.

I have been asked to attend SALUTE 2013, but am still to make a decision as to whether I will attend - it is a very long day out and as I usually work weekends - a days holiday!  I will be visiting Alumwell and more-than-likely Games Expo, so keep an eye out for the grey Dampfpanzerwagon T-shirt!

I intend continuing with my gaming and scenario writing as featured in this years Orcs in the Webbe Advent Calendar 2012 where I had four such articles. This is something I enjoy almost as much as building terrain and painting model soldiers.

So there you have it - a short (actually not so short) review and look forward to next year.

2012 has seen this Blog reach its fourth anniversary, with 978 post (not including this one), 347 followers and a regular view total of over 9000 hits a month or 260,000 hits since I installed a counter - in May 2008.

Thank you to all who post comments - they are greatly appreciated and very, very welcome.

Happy New Year.

Tony

S.P.Q.ORC - Pax Bochemannica

S.P.Q.ORC - Pax Bochemannica is now available to order (and with a Paypal option). Go to this link for full details.

I have yet to order my boxed set. I've been waiting for the Paypal option to become available. I'll be ordering in the next couple of days, just as soon as my new Christmas present - a brand new computer, is fully installed.

Good luck to Mac and Dave, I hope that this new venture is a runaway success. It deserves to be.

Details can be found here.

Tony