The Kyng's Shilling

A St. David's Day special on Orcs in the Webbe. Yes I know its late, but better late than never!

For full details go to this link or search via the Orcs in the Webbe main page. The scenario was written to celebrate St. David's Day 2014, this Saints Day theme has been a long standing tradition on both Barking Irons Online and Orcs in the Webbe. I hope you enjoy this Foul Mouth Freddy adventure that pits Freddy and his Posse against some 'point-ears' led by Captain Chirac in a race to secure some bankers Gold.

Oh, and there are a couple of Toads, who have been employed by the same bankers to take back the Kyng's Shilling.

Tony

WMMS 2014 - part three

This is a model of the Curtis-Wright X19 that I saw at the WMMS this Sunday. At first I thought it was a 'What-if' or fantasy plane, but after speaking to the modeller, I was told that it actually existed and flew. For full details go to this Wicki link. A tilt-wing experimental transporter!

Here are a couple more images.

And a black and white image of the original.

It just goes to show that in many cases fact can be stranger than fiction.

Tony

WMMS 2014 - part two

I've started this photo report with images of these 1:1 scale vehicles that were the centre point of the main hall floor. A similar display was here last year, but I only took a couple of photos. This time I got many more. The rest of this post is full of figure displays which were featured on the two IPMS stands. WMMS is not just a wargame show, but has many different exhibits, from model displays, wargame displays, role-players and even re-enactors; A great day out.

Tony

WMMS 2014

I have just arrived back home from the 38th West Midlands Military Show which is organised by the Alumwell Wargames Society. I took with me the last two Building Wargame Terrain books (both damaged), hoping to sell them on the bring-and-buy table, but in the end there were no takers and I have brought them both home with me.

I did however come away with a stack of second-hand magazines, this strange resin model - labelled as a Dwarf Magic Machine, some paints and a pack of static grass tufts. The last of the Big Spenders!

I have commented in previous posts about how much I enjoy this show, I believe it to be one of the friendliest shows I visit. More like a day out enjoying fine company and meeting friends. This Sunday was a great day and well worth the £3.00 entry fee. In fact the only down side to the whole day was watching Wales get beaten by England in the Six Nations.

I'll post more images of the show over the next week.

Tony

Olde School Warhammer Archers

Today's post is another blast-from-the-past - A regiment of 20 Warhammer Fantasy Battles Archers that were painted by me many years ago. They have remained 'holed-up' in the attic and well away from prying eyes for some time.

They are a mixture of Copplestone Figures (the old Grenadier models) and Citadel Miniatures. I have mounted them on plexiglass or acrylic bases that were cut for me by a local sign maker. I have built up the groundwork with Milliput and painted them green and brown rather than adding static grass (which is my current preferred method of basing).

I have plans to take them to the local wargame show - WMMS at Alumwell this Sunday and see if I can sell them at the Bring and Buy. I will be sorry to see them go, but I have not used them in a long time and would prefer them to go to someone who would use them.

Tony

Holly Cottage

This piece of hand-built terrain is nearly twenty years old and illustrates how my terrain building skills have developed. The model is a 'cross-over' piece, that is to say a model that shows some of my very earliest inspiration, the cut-out-and-glue houses from Citadel (think Blood-Bath at Orcs Drift) and my sculpting of the thatch.

It is built over a simple card core, an open card core, as there is no base. A technique that I copied from the early Citadel terrain pieces. The beams were simple card overlays (added one at a time with uPVA glue), then the whole model was coated in a watered-down Polyfilla 'goo' before sculpting the thatch with DAS modelling clay.

Painting also followed the Citadel schemes of the day, Black Beams and bright heraldry! Of particular note is the texturing of the Daub panels - rather than sculpting the detail this was drawn on with a 0.3 drawing pen. A feature that has held up very well over the years.

From memory (it was a long time ago), I believe that the inspiration for this building was an Osbourne cut out card village. At one time I had a whole village of similar pieces, most were sold off some time ago, but this one; Holly House remains in the display cabinet. I don't think I can bear to part with it.

The single archer is an old Citadel casting on a 20mm x 20mm plexiglass base. I have a whole regiment of 20 figures painted in the same heraldry that have remained hidden in the attic for years. Maybe I'll get them down for a photo shoot later today - they deserve to be recorded.

Tony

Two recent book purchases

Happy St. David's Day. Sue has picked up these two books from various second hand book stores in Worcester. The first Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play was bought for the grand sum of (wait for it) 49p! OK it is a little damaged with some clear tape holding the front cover together, but even so "what a bargain." And as if to beat that - the second the LOTR Collectors Guide was picked up free of charge. Yes that's right absolutely free.

As you can imagine I was as pleased as punch with these two books and have spent most of last night with a huge 'Cheshire Cat grin' on my face, browsing the pages.

Thank you Sue - you know how to make my day.

Tony