Pimp my ride!

A while back I posted about the first of several LAV-25's I intend to build. That post can be found here.

Now if you read yesterday's post (if not go and read it now :)), clearly visible in photo in the background is the very same LAV. For the past few days I've been 'enhancing' the model. I was just not entirely happy with it, and decided it needed further weathering.

So this is what it looked like originally...

Now this is the updated version...

I've added more dust and paint scratches primarily. This time I took more care by adding a layer of dust streaks for example, sealing with varnish and then adding another layer to build up the appearance.

I'm much happier with it's appearance now and I very much doubt I will tinker with it any more. Though I have made an error. Looking back at my source photo's the barrel of the Bushmaster cannon always seems to be black. I'll probably leave this one green and make sure I get it right next time.

Next I intend to 'pimp up' the T-72M1.

That's it for now more to follow soon.....

Workbench Wednesday

Planning to make Wednesday, workbench day. Kind of speaks for it's self in the post title. Figured it will be a good way for me to keep an eye on just how things are progressing. So had a bit of a clear of the paint table.

20mm Moderns will be my main staple for a while. Cleaned up and based the last USMC squad in MOPP lvl1. Once completed this will give me a platoon. Also decided to move up my Cold War 6mm moderns. Not lost interest in this project but it just got pushed back down the queue. Time to show some love to the little fellas!

That's it for now more to follow...

Eat yer heart out 'Grand Designs'!*

This has kept me occupied for for the last couple of weeks. Another building for my Modern games, but with a slight twist.

Been collecting the bits and pieces to make this scene for a while. The building accoutrement's and paraphernalia come from 1/72 wargaming and OO scale railway sources. The building itself is 2mm MDF for the floors. The ground floor mounted on 3mm cork tile. The walls are 3mm cork sandwiched between embossed plasticard. The concrete uprights are 8mm square pine dowel cut to 80mm lengths and are covered in base render. 0.5mm copper wire used to represent the steel reinforcing bars.

To make up for the lack of walls building materials have been 'strategically' placed to provide cover.

The first floor can be removed to allow access to the ground floor. The ladder being used in lieu of a proper staircase is glued in place to the first floor, but will require careful handling. The oil drums at the back are there to provide some cover but I wanted much of the building to be open to make an interesting feature on the gaming table.

Since my background is not in the building trade or architecture I can only apologise if anyone believes that the structure would fall down in the reality. I did some research to get an idea of materials used in building houses in the Middle East, and used reference photos as a basis for the model. But it's for wargaming so as long as it's practical for  gaming purposes then it's a success. 

I may add in a few more small features at a later date but for now it's complete.

That's it for now more to follow.....

*Grand Designs is a UK TV show about people who build generally large and unusual homes. I don't tend to watch it. Pretentious nonsense!

The News at 10

Reporting from the frontline....

Created a small vignette for my on the scene news crew.

It was the best way I could come up with to make the figures more interesting. Had originally planned to base them individually on 1p coins like everything else. This way they should stand out in the crowd.

They are on a 40mm MDF circular base (from Warbases of course), with another cut in half and glued on top. Used green stuff to cover the pavement area and then carved in the individual slabs. Sculpture is not my strong point (though I can do a mean sandbag!), so put other pieces of detritus on top to hide any mistakes and draw attention away from wonky lines and different widths and depths between the paving slabs.

Overall though I'm happy with the finished product. The figures are from Elhiem. The reporter appears to rocking back on his heels in the close up photos. I did not really notice it when pinning the figure to the base. I also meant to pin the cameraman so he was 'filming' slightly more to the right of the reporter to offset the difference in height and give an illusion he was filming events behind his colleague, I only realised my error after the glue had dried. Oh well nevermind, life goes on.

That's it for now more to follow.....

Back on the Road Again....

Mojo back....Check
Painting time back....Check
Plenty to paint....Check
Know where to start....Check
Stop faffing and get on with it.....Check

Back to the 20mm Moderns at the moment. Bursting with enthusiasm. Much to do. To begin with nothing to exciting. But completed a group of nine of Elhiem Figures excellent Shadow Army figures. These sat on the workbench for about 6 months. Started them full steam ahead but then lost interest. Finished them a couple of weeks ago. They are great figures.

 

These consist of two packs of TAL26 and one of TAL32. Since I'm concentrating on OIF not OEF, I intend to use them to primarily represent foreign/veteran fighters in games. Their distinctive attire should make them more noticeable on the tabletop. 

That's it for now more to follow.....soon!

Gaia and Lisa

Another quick post with dreadful photo's just to prove in all the calamity I am still painting

Two Apocalypse Survivors. A couple of hardy girls to keep the dead at bay.

First up Gaia (not Michonne)

'Popped my cherry' so to speak with this one. This is the limited edition resin figure and the first resin figure I have ever painted. Painted resin scenery and vehicles before but never an actual figure. The detail was superb and I can see the attraction for resin. Since Gaia resembles a well known comic and TV character (and a personal favourite of mine in both genres), decided that the extra expense on the resin version was worth it.

Next up Lisa, just stay away from that hammer!

Both figures are from Hasslefree, where else could they be from?

The resin toppers are from Fenris.

Smile for the camera girl's.

Currently playing a Zombie fun filled campaign with some good buddies. Reports 1 to 4 can be found here The Secret Wargamer.

That's it for now more to follow.....  

Thank you Mr Patten

It may not be too evident from my blog but I am a big fan of Dark Age history. I have quite a collection of Viking, Saxon, Arthurian miniatures plus books etc. I must admit mostly unpainted. But recently I have been picking up the odd figure and painting it for fun, with every intention of returning full time to the period.

So earlier in the year I discovered that Colin Patten the man behind the original 'Gripping Beast Miniatures' (with his brother Duncan), before it was took over by Andy and Darren and became the monster we all love, had launched a new company called Saxon Miniatures. I took a look and the figures are as per usual, in my opinion, excellent. So I ordered the Warlords Deal, and why not! 

(Photos from Saxon Miniatures)

About a month had gone by and nothing had turned up, but the site does say it could take that long for delivery so I was  not concerned. But then I had e-mail from Colin explaining there was a delay with casting and did I want to wait or have a refund. I chose to wait, no contest really. Colin did say he would reward my patience due to the delay.

The figures arrived and are lovely and are sitting in the painting queue at the moment, I'm afraid. I was happy and thought no more about it. Then on Friday a 'Jiffy' envelope arrived and inside was a very pleasant surprise.

These are from the new Arthurian Knights range. Very nice too! These will probably get painted first. I've being in the process of building an Arthurian army since the WAB days. Then I bought Dan Mersey's 'Glutter of Ravens' rules.

and then, several years later, the TooFATLardies rules, 'Dux Brittanniarum'

I have enough Early Saxons completed to use with 'Dux', so I will (by the end of the year, hopefully) have a Romano British army to use with both sets of rules for fast play games. So a project I probably started 10 years ago will be completed or at least part way!

So a big thank you to Colin. I'm sure you like me have other stories of the good service received from the many companies which support and provide for our hobby. But this time I decided to mention this kind gesture.

Here are a few Vikings I painted recently just to prove I have been painting Dark Age figures. From Gripping Beast and if I'm not mistaken sculpted by Mr Patten!

So there you have a rare glimpse into the clutter of my painting desk. The figures in the background may give an idea as to what is my main focus at the moment.

That's it for now more to follow....soonish...

A Short Recess

Yet again I am having to 'close' the blog down. But for what I believe is a worthwhile cause. My good lady has recently set up a site to help sufferers of PTSD, and things are starting to pick up

She is doing this voluntarily and at the moment it is a one woman show. I will be helping out on a voluntary basis, but consequently for a while I will have less time for wargaming. I still intend to carry on with projects and attempt to keep up with everybody's blogs. But posting on my blog will have to stop to make room for other matters.

Thank you to those who have been good enough to follow me so far. I hope to return to the blog at some point in the future. 

I will be on the look out for Mr. Awdry's Batman adventures, the BigRedBat and his excellent large scale ancient games, The Silver Whistle and his stunning photo's of figures and games Mr Mersey's upcoming fantasy rules, Scott's continuing adventures in Middle Earth and keeping an eye on everyone else so I know what's happening in the wonderful world of wargames.

I'm sure that some of the my future games will appear on the site of my good friend the The Secret Wargamer. He likes to inject a bit of humour into the after game reports; I'll leave it upto you to judge the comic value.

More of my time will be directed to this Safe Horizon UK 

So a big thank you to everyone who took time to comment on my posts the kind words were a great encouragement. 

So that's it for now......

Star Wars Armada...first game

Wednesday night has become gaming night. So this week it was my turn to play host. The perfect opportunity to play my brand new Star Wars Armada.

Unfortunately one of our little group couldn't make it. So I was left to entertain the The Secret Wargamer himself. Now despite being a fine fellow; he is ex-merchant navy and likes to regale all who will listen with stories of 'During the Cold War' . 

Since he used to command a tramp steamer between Skegness and Ostend, I knew Armada would be right up is alley. Being an ex-nautical man he would insist on referring to the port and starboard etc etc. So I concocted a cunning plan to use psychological warfare by referring to the left and right side of my starboats. I could see the steam rising in my opponent but as will be seen it was to no avail.

The seen is set....

The Rebel fleet. Under the command of my good self. A CR90 Corvette, a Nebulon B Escort Frigate and four squadrons of X-Wings. How could I lose?

The Imperial fleet (boo, hiss!). A Victory class Star Destroyer and six squadrons of TIE fighters.

 
 

The fleets begin to close.

First blood. 'They're going for the Escort frigate'

The faster Rebel ships close with the Imperials. TIE fighters swarm around the mother ship. In the far distance a Rebel and Imperial squadron are engaged in a desperate dogfight 'I can't shake him! He's on me tight!' 'Hang on Red Two!' . 

The Star Destroyer shrugs off damage like a an elephant swotting flies (or a bantha swotting womp rats!)

Noooo! The Nebulon B takes a full broadside at close range from a 'Fully armed and operational Star Destroyer' . KaBOOOM.

Now the Rebels have to make use of their greater movablility. Long range sniping may win the day!

  

First to deal with those TIE fighters.

The chase is on! It really is a David Vs Goliath contest. The Star Destroyer can pack a punch and take a punch. But she can't turn for toffee!

It's getting close. With TIE's dispatched, the X-Wings join the fray.

But it's too late. The Empire wins the day!

We played the introduction scenario, so no upgrades and played it out for the six turns specified in the rules. the winner being decided on points total at the end of turn six. The loss of the Nebulon B meant a clear Imperial victory.

The game took about two hours, but it was learning the rules and a few mistakes were made along the way. In fact the time taken is not too bad as that is given has a rough guide for game length. Six turns is the recommend game length but of course you can ignore that and just keep playing.

So overall thoughts? An excellent game. It is X-Wings big brother. Don't expect the fast play of X-Wing but if you want a game which captures the flavour of Star Wars big ship battles this is for you. Both of us fully enjoyed the game.

What I need now is more ships. With Wave 1 due to hit the shops soon and Wave 2 just announced by FFG, this is one game I can see being played a lot. The potential for big fleet battles, with multiple players and campaign games beckons.

If you like Star Wars and like X-Wing or even like naval games buy this.

That's it for now more to follow.......