It's Proving To Be A Far From Steller Week

Not the worst week in my life but I have been unhappy about the way a lot of things are going with my hobby life. This is the third attempt at this post as I have been blue screen of death'ed twice. I lost a whole load of work on my Viking game as well which I have had to redo. Mainly though, it's the painting.

Still work in progress

I started the week with a simple plan. There are nine figures, mostly part painted and what was left only needed a few bits doing to them. Having finished ten old Grenadier figures last week, I had some others that had been hanging around for years. As well as a few more soldiers, there were some agents and a couple of armed civilians. Most in a part painted state and the others were primed black. Experience tells me that figures primed black do not end up well but they were that way when I got them. So rather than create problems I opted to keep them in a black uniform. To be honest I haven't been overjoyed with the results. Still tomorrow is another day and I am hoping that I can bring them around.

But there is a limit to how much you can polish somethings

It is a little bit therapeutic in a way. These figures have been float around for a long time (1990 I am thinking) and whilst I was given some of these, I think they all came from the same shop about the same time. Because they are fairly generic, I can see a lot of uses for them. Modern is the most obvious use, but things like Fallout, Titansgrave, Shadowrun, Conspiracy-X and any number of post-apocalypse and sci-fi backgrounds are also out there.

There are some other figures on the bench, which I have also been playing around with. My secondary focus has been on these fantasy/dark age miniatures for the Viking/Skyrim game. I think one is Gripping Beast and the others are Westwind. Although there is still some work to do, I am much happier with these than the Grenadier stuff.

End Of The Week, Dark Age Leaders & The Coming Zombie Apocalypse

This has been a week where my energy levels have been at an extremely low level. The expression post-viral keeps springing to mind. It's odd that this has been my most productive week in ages. Being ill last Sunday lead me to this of a more modest goal than usual, four horses and start work on the riders and dismounted counterparts. All are now done and even based. During the process I even managed to find time to play about with a few new ideas.

The one on the left does look a bit like Keith Lemon

Aside from painting, I have done a lot of reorganising. This was really a space saving measure than anything else. Whilst not as effective as I was hoping, there is more space than there has been for a long while. I feel that I have reclaimed a little more territory.

FabLab has been extremely productive and more than a little bit of fun. I now have enough of the sabot bases for my wargame. As well as the stuff for the game, I have cut loads of figure base and some terrain bases. I am trying out a few ideas for a modular dungeon. This isn't as good as I hoped but it doe work (with a bit of, er, how would I put it, manual alterations?) I'm enjoying having someone to talk to. I have even got my uncle going. It turns out one of the other attendees went to the same school as him and he used to know members of our family.

Over the next week I have the Road To Zomtober. Not sure what I am going to do first yet. The plan is to go for painting half a dozen for every week. Maybe more if  I can find the time. I also want to finish off the sabot bases with  view to trying the rules out in a few weeks. A few weeks ago the plan had been to tackle some black elves. I ran out of the greenstuff I needed for the bases. I now have this so I might give finishing them off a go if I have time. There are no hard and fast plans for FabLab. I have other things to do on Thursday so I won't be doing anything until Saturday. If the cutter is playing ball I might have another go at the dungeon terrain.

Hobbits/Ratlings

I think I am prepared to do some long shots of these. Trust me, I have seen them close up and the look is not good. They are repaints so I am not expecting brilliance. Hopefully by the end of the week the first coat will be finished. I am not sure about finishing the, as tomorrow is the day before the big day.

I like the look of the models but they are busy miniatures. Lots of extra bits on the bases that make it look good but have to be painted. This is going to take an age. The plan is to make them look a little less military. They thought of a hobbit as a private military contractor or bodyguard seems to give me the giggles.

Shopping Spree

I know how to live large. Just eat a lot of pies right? I got a few hours off yesterday and found myself in town. I had an eye on buying some cheap bits and pieces for 28mm scale terrain. The pound shops are always a good place to start. I walked away with a small haul of bits and pieces that I can see being used in modern games, near future and most importantly, the planned X-Com RPG. After getting back, the vertigo came back for a bit so that put a bit of a crimp in the rest of my day.

Mainly I got cheap vehicles. These utility vehicles type trucks are pretty good. I have purchased some of these trucks before but I think I paid four pounds for each. A pound each in the pound shop. These are pretty good and have some nice details. The skip is just about the perfect and if I got one of these in resin it would cost about £3.

The buses looked better in the box and they are not the star of the show. Although only a pound each, I am sure I can still find a use. They are a little short and a fraction under scale but will do. One for best and one for wrecked. They are pretty flimsy though and the glass is actually painted plastic so might take some work to make it look bashed in. It has to be said that the real plan is to use them for terrain and nothing else. They will look okay on a modern street and will be fine for X-Com or Shadowrun if I ever go back to playing that. they are bad enough that spending any effort on them would be a waste.

Untouched and a little bit too tall

The police cars were a bit of a punt. I saw them months ago but thought they were too tall. Then I saw them online and realised that I could probably drop the chassis. This only drops a couple of millimetres but it's enough.

There is also a mechanical element on the axle which I am sure can be used for something else. Like the buses, they are pretty flimsy but might actually be an advantage when it comes to making them looked trashed. I know I have seemed to go to town on this but it seems to me that these have some potential.

There is enough texture to make them interesting. The plan would be to spray them but I might just do a test first. The seats are actually detachable so can be taken out and painted too.

some details and about the right size

Having had a closer look, the current plan is to buy some more. I don't have that many colours of spray paint so I might get some more.

dropped chassis

I was after some sandpaper to use as a road surface. I found sixteen A4 sheets of black sandpaper for a pound so I got a couple of packs. This will be cut to size and put on the road templates when I get it. A smoother, is a little to uniform surface, it will look pretty good when it has road markings and has been given a good dry brushing.

So I think I will try another shop, see if I can get some more of the police cars and utility vehicles. Even if they are not used as is, they are sure to look pretty good as ruins or scrap.

Normans - Really Bad Guys

Norman Knights By Crusader Miniatures

My ideas about Dark Age fantasy really involve more people than monsters. So I am always on the look out miniatures that will do for human bad guys for my Vikings and Saxons to stand up to. For the British (apart from the southerns descended from them) the Normans make good bad buys (even though a lot of us are descended from them). Being from the North (and from an area that particularly hammered during the Harrying) and probably of Celtic/Viking descent, the Normans are the prefect bogeyman. I know they are of Viking origin but they are heavily tainted by being at least part French.

Must Not Quote Monty Python

I had a small binge last year on stuff from Crusader Miniatures (Northstar) with Franks and Normans being the main part of the purchase. The Normans got done as a batch whilst the Franks are getting done a few at a time. I really liked the posing of the Crusader stuff, they seem to have a lot of life.

Normans = Dastardly French/Vikings

The Normans were done as a batch mainly because I didn't buy that many of them (only 16) and they were for the most part they are a simply paint job. It's all chain mail and helmets. This wasn't a long job and it was fun. 1066 is probably the biggest date in British history. If I was going to do another Saga army (a game I have still to play) it would probably be Norman as it would be a quick job to finish.

Urgently Need Funnier Captions

Winter Is Coming

I say the phrase Christmas is coming in much the same way Ned Stark used to say "winter is coming." The fear is almost real but one less thing to worry about for another year. Things are a little tight here at Jackson's Folly so Christmas has been on the cheap this year. Now that the snow has finally arrived I don't want to go anywhere other than my painting desk. Before things became really dark, this is my one hundredth post of the year and my blog, at least, is ticking over nicely and the snow is nearly gone.

I managed a trip to the Recon show in Leeds a couple of weeks ago and came back with some Reaper Bones minis. More of that in another post but that has been about it for spending lately. I have done some painting which is always a bonus. The number of painted figures on my paint desk now outnumbers the number of part painted figure, so I have been busy. Most still need to be based and sprayed.

These are some ex-Grenadier current Mirliton hobgoblins. I got these (and a huge number of others) at a bring and buy earlier this year. I think I paid £40 for them and I guess their current retail value is around £120 so substantially less than a pound a figure. They have been bought as army sized units. I have no real use for that number of figures, so I guess I will sell some of them on or find another use for them. Maybe I could used them for a fantasy SAGA army.

I have some orc figures but you can always use some non human humanoid figures. So I thought I would break with tradition and give them a red skin tone. Other than that, they are a pretty standard paint job. Whilst they are not really dark age, they have a few elements that make me thing they will do. I see (well maybe only when I squint) a certain amount of sub-Roman British in there.

I have started painting some up with a more human skin tone. I was working on the principle that they could be used as half-orcs in a fantasy game, if I ever get to playing a game with half-orcs in it. Maybe they could even be barbarians. I was planning on painting up some more hobgoblins. I figure this is not enough to keep the party occupied and I have some archers I haven't touched yet. I was thinking another eight figures would be about right. Sadly my thinking for this is that they will fill two foam tray strips which is a little on the OCD side for my thinking.

Still, moving on. I figured out how to not need the lamp stand for the magnifying lamp just before finding the lamp stand. That was the highlight of my week last week. So I can work on the details a bit more.

There is a load of stuff on the way. I have been doing a fair amount of gaming, so I will hopefully post about that as well as some board gaming and of course painting. I am hoping that Christmas will give me a but more of a chance to do some typing and maybe a few more posts over the Christmas period.

Paint Table Saturday - The Dark Age Continues

Things have a habit of going slightly off course I my house om a typical weekend. This weekend being one of them. Easter happened. Or was it Happy Zombie Jesus weekend. Pagan festivals with lots of chocolate? It's like it's fated that LARPing would start. This all served to make it slightly more complicated than normal but lets face, normal is a fairly abstract concept  at the best of times.

So this is paint table Saturday. I did most of this on Saturday with a few bits finished off this morning. It started with a brew, a change of water for the brushes and a clean up. This where I started:-

I had spent a bit of money when I went shopping. I had wanted to try some Windsor and Newton ink and whilst I was out I got some mineral gel to see if it worked for basing.

This is where I ended up. It was a day of finishing things off and starting a few new things. most of this had already been started, but now, short of a spray of varnish, a lot is now finished.

If you are wondering what the big pile of wood is, it's set to be the deck of a home made Viking Longship. It might take a bit of time to finish it and I have to work a few things out as  do them but it should be ready in a few weeks. the idea behind a lot of this stuff was to make the table top world a bit more interesting. I like games with a visual element and I was hoping that the world would look a bit more like the villages in Skyrim.

This is a big celtic cross from Ainsty. One of the images that started me going towards the Viking game was a celtic cross in a graveyard in the Lake District. If  was going to do a dark age game, I would have to have one. I swapped out the original base because i wanted something that would work better with grid movement.

 The sheep are from gripping beast. I thought I was doing okay but I have seen some done much better recenty that ut mine to shame.

More stuff from Ainsty. I like the way the cabbages turned out. Not much use for their wares but will hopefully trip the layers up.

More Gripping Beast stuff. A hand cart. This is more for trip hazard and cover than anything else. as I don't usually undercoat, it was hard work to get the paint to stay on. Once it has been varnished, it should be fine.

This is a bit of a mixed bag. Some of the barrels are Rendera and some I was given a long time ago. There are a few gripping beast bits and the rest is more Ainsty stuff.

Lastly, I got a bit distracted, I had some paint left on a brush, So I ended up dabbling with these figures. There was a zombie as well but I haven't got a clue what happened to that one. These are obviously a long way from being finished.

Paint Table Saturday - Dead And Wounded - Some Dark Age Types

A paint table Saturday post? This is my first. I am not sure I will be able to stick with this but I guess I will give it a try. I have had a little bit of moral support around this from  the bogosphere, so I figured - what the hell. So I hope the group will accept me. I managed to borrow my other half's phone so the pictures are a bit better that they have been of late. Thanks sweetheart. I am sure I will be able to pay for it later.

I spoke the other dead about doing some casulty figures for the Viking game I have coming. I wasn't sure about doing a proper paint job. It takes a lot of time and I really wanted something that would stick out a bit on the table. So I thought I would try some in shades of grey. I liked the look of some zombies I had seen over at Carmen's Fun Painty Time. So after a couple of test paints I decided I could make it work.

 The figures are made by Warlord Games and Gripping Beast. Strictly speaking, the Warlord games stuff are Celts but I figured that they were close enough. There are a touch cheaper than the Gripping Beast stuff and they make a nice all round look.

The figures are a pretty simple three grey highlights. I think I actually spent more time on the bases. I added a few weapons and shields on some of the repeated figures to give them a bit of a different look. I was quite pleased with the end result and it was a project that was pretty quick to complete.

I have moved on to the next project as well as finishing some of the other stuff I have started. I'll post the pics when I have some more time.

There Really Is A Difference Betwen This Post And The Last One

I've had a bot of time on my own today. So between chores, power outages, dog walking, house cleaning, child wrangling, I got some stuff done. Again, not much actual figure painting but there was a little bit. I have finished the last of the Army of the Dead which leaves with twelve including those seen here. When I have access to a better camera than mine, I will post the pictures. I've also done a little bit on the dwarves I started at the weekend and yet to finish. They are all but done, I think I just can't let them go. then there are still some Saxon/Vikings to finish off. They only need the shield transfers putting on, another task I love to avoid.

I have done some work on the bases for the Kobolds but in all honesty, they haven't progress much. I got a huge batch of eBay several, maybe even ten, years ago. I almost finished half of them (twenty one) some time ago and went on and forgot about them. I was going to finished what I had started and then start on the untouched ones but the colour I used last time has dried out. If anyone has a tub of GW Scab Red they don't want, please let me know. So I guess they may just have to wait around for a bit. I'll see if I can pick some up on eBay or at a show.

So after yesterday's blood, sweat, sand and glue mission, I got round to painting the bases. I've dry brushed some of them and put some texture on a few. I might get round to doing a bit more to give them a bit more colour. This again became a bit of a mission so lots of stuff got dragged into the bash. Most will need a little bit of ink to give the base some depth and then I might get some static grass out.

The next project looks like it will be some casualty figures. I am planning to use these on the table in the Viking game. It will give the players something to move around and maybe trip them up. Just a tabletop complication. I haven't made up my mind f I am going to do a proper paint job or just do something very simplistic. I've like what been done for some zombies on Carmen's Fun Painty Time
 so I might give that a try.

Bonus Post - Basing Bash

Well the painting continues. I am still a little too woozy to do anything too detailed so I thought what the hell, I have been planning on doing the basing anyway. I was hoping to "touch up" a few more zombies, if that is the right phrase. Hopefully I will be feeling better tomorrow so I can do a bit of work on them. In the meantime, the basing bash continues.

The basing bash continues.

The process is quite simple. PVA glue followed by some fine sand. This is left to dry for about a day or maybe a bit less. Most of the colour on the bases is emulsion paint. In the UK, Wilkinsons seem to do the best colours for my purposes. As these are fantasy figures I used mainly brown and green. there are a few bad guys n grey painted bases. I also had some sandy coloured GW basing texture I wanted to use up before it went off completely. Then I added a few dabs of green to give the look of small plants. I will move on and dry brush and maybe add some inks. I may even add a bit of static grass if my enthusiast continue. 

Most of these are destined fr my Viking/Skyrim Savage World RPG game although there are a lot of generic fantasy figures in here. I may even take up Saga at this rate.

eBay Vikings

Feeling a lot better today. My fingers don't feel quite as swollen as they have done and I am not sneezing wheezing or complaining as much. After what I thought was a good day on the blog yesterday, where I got just short of 250 posts, today I have had my best ever day with over 450 hits so far. If you are one of the people who spent a lot of time looking around my blog, feel free to say hi.
 
I "won" several Vikings off eBay last week and now have the energy to go out and pick them up from the parcel office.

They are not bad. I just want some more to pad out the collection for the up-coming game. The figures themselves aren't the greatest but the paint job is pleasant. The basing is nice but I guess when I get round to doing the basing, I will put them onto round bases eventually.

I have no idea whose models they are, if any one knows, please let me know.

I haven't had a lot of time today but what time I have had, I have spent tarting up the figure bases. They are now starting to look a little like they are properly finished. They are good enough, but not finished. Hopefully tommorow will see some more time and maybe some truly finished minis.

Another Day, Another Struggle

Today has been another struggle to get something online. Time is against me and there are a lot of demands for my time. But what the hell. So I'll make it short.

 

I have at least managed to finish another figure off. He is a Viking sailor for the upcoming Viking game. I have him in mind for an NPC who will be the captain of the ship I am likely to put at the players disposal.

Viking Women

In my head I have a bit of catching up to do with my blog. I have developed this idea that I am am going to post every day during February. Today has been really hard to get my mojo going. My parents have been staying with me for a few days and they have now gone. This means that I probably won't see them for a few months, which is not so good. My and my other half have colds and there are one or two things about to change.

Rapidly becoming the bane of my life

One of the changes I want to make is to finish of these damn Viking women minis. I always have to have a few civilians lying around for games to give the games a bit of local colour. These, and some overly complicated mage types have been hanging around in various forms on un-completion for months. So before the week is out, I want these minis boxed off, so to speak. Then I can concentrate on something I feel is more meaningful.

Viking Game - What's On The Workbench

Most of my attention is focused on the Viking game at the moment. It is due to start in twelve weeks so I have a bit of work to do yet. I don't know if I am going to finish painting them alll off. I suspect that I will concentrate on adding finishing touches to stuff off closer to the game such as basing and shields. In the mean time, I'll see what models I can finish off.

What I am short of at the moment is bad guys. When I have previously painting Opfors in fantasy games I have chosen a colour scheme that stands out. I have spent some money on eBay buying up old GW stuff that should hopefully fit the bill. There are some Army of the Dead miniatures and some small ent monsters. I am hoping that these will be quick to do. Whilst the painting might involve a bit of work, the colour palette is limited on them so should be quite quick even if I put the work in.

There is a fair bit of stuff from Mirliton to do. These are mainly elves, magic users, clerics and barbarians but there are some nice evil dwarves too. There are some more warriors from Gripping Beast to round out my forces. There are even a few more civilians to do most of which are from Foundry. Amongst the odds and sods are some Warlord casualties. These may be a bit of a cheat as they are supposed to be Celts but if I don't tell anyone, I am sure no one will notice.

I wonder how many I am going to finish.

Dark Age Buildings For The Viking Game

I already own quite a bit of dark age terrain but you can never have enough can you? This is my current temporary obsession and I have no idea how much longer this is going to last. I didn't set out to buy any more but this is mainly because I have a of of bits to paint already but when I saw this stuff I thought what the hell. So when I saw some stuff by Gripping Beast last week at Varpantak in York I thought what the hell. Most of the stuff I have was by PMC which is now owned by Caliver. This is pre-painted and fairly pleasing on the eye. Compared to this, the Gripping Beast stuff is expensive. That said the old PMC stuff is now a lot more expensive than it used to be.

They were quick enough to paint. There isn't too much in the way of creative choices to make here. They have been inked and I am still trying to figure out whether or not I want to highlight them. They have a nice period feel but I still think I prefer the PMC stuff.

Dwarves - Some Work In Progress

I think I just hit forty thousand hits so today is a good day. Not so good that I want to make it an extra post but good enough.

This is really a work in progress post. I haven't finished much off in the last week but I am trying to get some things up on the web so that I feel like I am making progress. I have been out gaming today, playing Nuts. It's a WW2 game but more of that another day.

I always liked the Grenadier fantasy miniatures. I have been thinking about buying some off Mirliton but when I found these on eBay, I thought what the hell. I am currently working on eight of them and I think there are about another dozen to go. They don't look like much now but I am pretty sure that they will polish up quite nicely.

 

I was hoping to get something either dark age or Norse looking and to be honest these will do nicely for that. There is a lot of mail and a bit too much plate but it does mean that they should be a fairly easy paint job.

Today, for me the war is over. Valentine's day is coming earlier in my house so I think I won't be doing much of anything else for the rest of the day.