15mm crew

In most games you do not need to show crew. So I usually do not bother unless the vehicle is open topped. However Jon Tuffney at GZG has at some shows a box of spare samples castings. Sometimes I take one and work out what to do with it when I get home. So these are 2 of the samples that I have taken from my "I'll get round to it one day!" box and painted up. GZG are here (LINK)and these are 15mm "Stargrunt figures"
I cannot say from that packs as they were free samples.

I went for the brightest orange I could to reflect the fact that they are not really combatants and may indeed be civilians. They may not but as free figures they do not actually fit into any organised units so from my point of view there is no reason not to use them as crew.

The vehicle is very old by the way, so old I forgot who made in and it is possibly no longer in production, UNLESS you Know better!

I Know not a major new painting venture and nothing to get excited about. I shall try to get more done for Monday but with England playing tomorrow I am not sure how much I shall achieve. Currently repainting my 1/300th scale Sci fi to colour match the moon boards so kindly bear with me a little longer! As I desperately try NOT to get side tracked onto WW2.

All the best Clint

3 different things

I have no excuse I get side tracked by the world cup! Certain of you I can hear "Tutting" as I type this. But here at least is what I have done!

Firstly some barrels. These are 28mm Ainsty Castings ( http://www.ainsty-castings.co.uk/) Find them in the Cargo Hold section if ordering online or just ask Andy is a nice guy and worth a chat if you see him at a show.)

I went for a VERY simple paint job. Simply gun metal followed by a Black wash. This should make them useable from about 1910 on to sci fi! Stuck them on MDF Bases, as you can see 4 on one base and 2 on another. It was either this or have them run around loose and risk loosing them.

So a quick and easy thing to get going with. No problems and easy to do an quickly managed and all done and dusted and very versatile.






Now at times I can be dense. (I know who you are and I can see you nodding!) At the Broadside show on the flea market there was 2 guys selling off some old "Snapdragon Studios" Castings. I can honestly say I wish I had purchased more from them, These 2 cost me £2 unpainted and they wee the only 2 of these they had. As far as I know Snapdragon only produced in 2 scales, 6mm and 28mm. That does not at all bother me as I do intend to use these as power generators on my 15mm sci fi boards! (See later). But with nothing to Scale them against and being science fiction how would you ever know!

In Retrospect I should have put something on to scale these. Oh well live and learn, (In my case sleep and forget it all). But I am very happy  with these and as hinted at they are without scale so could be used in any sci fi scale. Shame you just cannot get snapdragon any moae I used to really like them but could never afford to buy much.


Lastly for today! I hyad a little think and it has occurred to me that I might be better using my "Moon" Boards as and "Any-scale" sci fi terrain. Yes I know I am slow if off the mark and most of you would have thought of this before!


The conclusion of this epiphany is that I shall now need to repaint my 1/300th scale sci fi stuff from Ice Planet to desert planet! There fore here are 3 Civilian vehicles (Painted red so as not to be at all camouflaged). I started painting them red as they were going on an Ice planet and I did want them to stand out! But as it turns out bright red works almost as well for a desert planet! Lots more (2 armies) to do for these but at least I now have a start and can continue at my leisure..

That's it for today. I hope to have more on Saturday until then, take care paint if you can. All the best Clint

Yet 2 more Jungle Huts.

Yes 2 more jungle huts in 15mm for my Pacific WW2 forces. While I do not promise these will be the last, they should be in this scale for the foreseeable future. They are by Frontline Wargaming(LINK) Tim (of said company) was running one of the Flea market stalls (with me and Peter, as a club venture) at Broadside about 10 days ago. I had bought 2 of these before but well terrain is always a pleasure so at the end of the day he stil had these left and I had a little spare money and an exchange was made.

They were quickly repainted as they had a very few chips and scratches. And they are now part of my Pacific War terrain. Which means I just about have enough to put on a decent game of US vs Japanese WW2 in 15mm. Yes we can all want extras of everything But 25mm pacific buildings I should have enough as it was not then very built up and overpopulated.

That's it for today thanks for looking and more in 2 days. All the best Clint

Least said soonest mended.

Yes it has been Just under a week since I last posted, No grumbles just real life getting in the way.
Also I have done NO painting except 30mins yesterday. So now when I pick a paint brush up again it feel uncomfortable some how.

On the plus side it has allowed me to do some thinking ! Which has lead me to question a good number of things about wargaming in general and Science Fiction Wargaming in particular. Firstly let me say FOR THE RECORD I like Science Fiction wargaming a lot. Yet I seldom play it at the club. I now that sounds strange even as I type it. Therefore I need to start playing it more.

HOWEVER.
And it's a big however! Everyone has a different idea about Science fiction wargaming. Take aliens as an example! Should they be men in a rubber suit? I would like them not to be. I am equally aware that someone would say symmetrical bipeds are the most logical way intelligent life would evolve. So (and this is where you come in) if I wanted some 15mm aliens who makes the best ones?

I do like GZGs "Chitters!" but I find them too expensive at £1 a 15mm figure. In addition I find the heads unconvincing so I would chose to do head swaps each and every time I wanted one. I have not ruled them out but if someone has a better suggestion I am more than willing to listen. So ideas are greatly appreciated as long as there is no film related! (A related film brings that film to players minds and that is not what I am looking for!)

As for vehicles I already have those all sorted ou, but as yet unpainted, from an eBay purchase about 5 years ago. It is not important to me that the Aliens and the vehicles look the same.. After all humans look NOTHING like any tanks we have ever produced ! As I already have a set of vehicles in 15mm that I want to use it is of no use to me pointing out company P produce the most fabulous vehicles and they go with these infantry! To do so is a waste of your time and typing skills.So forget all about vehicles for the moment!

Braodside Loot!

Just a quick post to show off my Broadside loot. Mostly I was running a flea market stall (garage sale stall for any across the pond), which meant I had very little time for shopping. Also you will be delighted to know I sold more than I bought so that is a bonus!

Top row Left to right

1] 2 packs of "Snapdragon Studios" 28mm sci fi terrain. For those that do not know Snapdragon Studios are no longer producing and when they were did make some lovely terrain. Bought on the Flea Market.

2] 2 packs of Blotz 15mm Solar panels. Although they coud be used for any scale and will be just as useful in 15mm ans 28mm.

3] I Pack of 6mm Sci fi from Brigade. I always thought if I sold enough on the flea Market I would buy these!

Second Row Left to right:

4] 2 as yet Unreleased Aeronef Figures of British Dirigibles. (Brigade Models)

5]  German aeronef aircraft carrier. Seriosly this does look very good. (Brigade Models)

6] More Brigade models, this time a South East Asian Village in Aeronef scale.

7] A gift from Peter (club member) for my "Back of Beyond" games. I suspect I will be busy!

Bottom Row Again left to right.

8] A miss cast Lanchester Armoured car in 20mm for the "Back of Beyond" IT miniatures.

9] 2 15mm Jungle Huts from IT Miniatures. Slightly battered and sold to me dirt cheap (as was the Lanchester)

10] 2 packs of Aeronef Figthers a total  of 12 triplanes from Brigade Models.

So after my spends I went home with about £90 more than I set of with. Result. Met loads of people I liked both new and old friends and passed out some home made fudge. So A good day. Well pleased.

Medics (VBCW and more!)

I finally painted these 3 figures. They are Foundry 28mm from the set "Dumping the body!". However I intend to use them as VBCW figures. In fact they are painted as normal VBCW figures (with no particular uniform with the intention that they can be used by any side.  I am not sure why I purchased them originally maybe I was thinking of a grave robbing game (I know that was a plan years ago).  But now they shall function as VBCW medics. No that is not the best way to move a wounded person, before anyone says, but at least it will get them out of the area of firing so they should not be hit AGAIN!

Additionally I found this dead body. so I thought it only right to paint it at the same time. While I do not at this moment have a use for the figure I am sure that in the goodness of time a reason of its painting  will some to mind. I thought it might be best floating in the water as being a little different to just lying on a grassy knoll not least because I had a bottle of unopened GLOSS varnish I was eager to try.
Now all I need is a water filled area, maybe a Victorian docks, in which to leave the stiff!


SECRET PROJECT no 2)

I also needed to make some flying bases. Mostly for Aeronef. Obviously the helicopter is NOT aeronef related so I shall talk more of that another time. To get the 6mm (1/300th scale )Helicopter "right" I shall need to finish the base. I will also need to cut the rotor disc more accurately. But the ideas work fine I just need to execute them better, so expect that to be done soon! When I say soon It all relates to a pre-order I have made with Brigade Models for pick up on Sunday at the Broadside show. I have some pre-orders already in place but most of my spendz will come down to what money I have once I sell a few things. But we can save that for a show report on Monday and a LOOT haul report on (I hope) Sunday night.

Until then take care have fun and paint and game  as much as you are able.

Sci Fi Scatter

Terrain workbench

Yep still on the terrain building. This is the scatter terrain I have finished SO FAR. Yes that does imply I have not finished. In fact I already have some started and at the show on the weekend I shall try to buy/acquire more.

The joy of making terrain is you can use anything, additionally it can be any scale particularly if doing Science Fiction which I am.

Wargames Terrain Workshop

Here are 2 Crystals from Wargames Terrain workshop. They have been seen on the blog before, but never used.

I did have to make and paint 2 new bases so they now match in with the terrain but all in all a quick fix and easily done. I suspect they will e for sale at the show. And it all comes down to how much I manage to sell. I am in two minds wheter on the clumps to stick with this colour or to change it up and go for Blue?  I will most likely wait and see what cash I have on the day and what is available at the show. Rochester Wargames and Train siop will be at the show and I know they will stock WTW so I will Just have to wait and see.


 Craters. Yes Built by me. On the workbench I have 5 finished and Until I make additional boards these 5 should be MORE than enough.

Again as you can see from the colours they fit onto the boards very well. One would almost think (and Rightly so) that I used exactly the same colours straight from a tin! The problem is the more scatter terrain you have someone (quite often me as it happens) decided the board can be "Improved" with. When sometimes more terrain make it just too cluttered.


 Next up are two hills. Trust me they are there they are just painted to blend in. I already have another hill on the work bench and can see several more being needed. These are a small hill at the back and a medium hill in the centre. Three more hills are planned but they should (fingers crossed) be gentle and easy to traverse. More on the gentle hills if/when I get them done.

You never know there may be some at the show and then money may stop me from getting all I could possibly want!


 Vegitation. In an ideal world I would have more of this. I shall NEED to keep my eyes peeled. these came as of casts from £land when I was looking to get jungle trees. The bases again were repainted to blend in with the terrain and they do now look the part. I am reluctant to buy more from £land as I only got 3 for the £ and I quite possibly need a LOT more.


Yet more Crystals from Warrgames Terrain Workshop, this time in BLUE. I like the blue a lot as they do stand out on the boards. So I am in 2 minds if I should stick  with the blue or get some of the maroon. Both options have merits and I am sure I will enjoy pondering the outcome and then on the day buy the wrong ones! These are mounted on square mdf bases which have been painted and textured to fit in with the boards.


Planned terrain. Clearly I need some buildings but other than that I am looking for what ever looks right. I shall enter the show with an open mind and see what is available.  I do plan to make a "farm" but I know from experience that players will try to identify the components. This does tend to P*SS me off as they are quick to criticise and SLOW to do anything themselves. I will need to overcome this thought process in my own mind if not in theirs. I will of course show any workings on a  "Farm" as it happens and as I get further along. At Present I am thinking of using fizzy pop bottles as the farm base and to hell with the critics.

That's it for today. I really do need to get my armies prepped for the show and if not sold prepped for EvilBay.

Take care, have fun and paint like a crazy person!

WW1 Dismounted British Cavalry

Yes they could also be used as VBCW or the like. They are 28mm, not sure of the make or even if they come from just 1 manufacturer. And to be honest I do not greatly care. They are all painted for Matt and I am sure he shall find a use for them.


I was given a few examples to coly and I have tried to match the colours. I feel I have been quite successful.

Theer is a mixture of poses as well as 2 officers and a lewia gun and crew. So about as balanced a force as I could hope in a WW1 setting (although heavy on officers).

They were a pleasure to paint and I am glad to have them done, but I would happily paint them again. I did make a mistake and Matt was good enough to point it out in plenty of time for me to correct it. So the least said about that the better. I know someone will ask, it is simply I painted one thing as canvas when it should be leather. So out cane the brown paint and ten minutes later the problem was fixed.

That's it for today. I might be a bit sketchy on posts tis week as I shall be trying to sell some old armies and will need to freshen them up. That not being new  work I possibly shall not share it on the blog.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and paint if you get the chance and dream of playing a good game among friends. All the best Clint

28mm Victorianwarehouse stuff!

OK confession time. I know this is a foundry figure but I do not know from what pack it hails. I bought, you see, a bunch of Victorian foundry figures on eBay.  They arrived all jumbled together in a small box hence I have no idea what exactly they are.

So for me this will be a night watchman. he could equally well be a smuggler or a detective or a C'thulhu investigator. To me it matters not he was just a fun and easy paint. Looking at the first picture I shall address the eye as it seems FAR to big. Consider it done by the time you read this. (yes Done now). he is dressed quite smartly so none of the east end riff raff. I went for Victorian colours and a brown suit seemed to be the best option.  I did consider a black bowler hat as well but my hand just picked up a pot of grey instead so I went grey. I am glad I did , sometimes my hand knows better than my mind!


 For a base I went for just a few shades of brown feeling this would give the best solution. After all with a brown base he could be under a tree in a park on a road (in either a town or a city) or he could be indoors. I shall leave it to you to decide.

For now we shall just say he is the night-watchman of a warehouse in Victorian London, but he could be anywhere.

A nice fun and easy figure to get me back to painting some 28mm stuff.

 Just to support that idea I painted some AINSTY Castings crates that I purchased from Col Bill (AKA Stu.) I tried to vary the browns to give a more random feel such that they may have been made either at different times or at different locations or perhaps both.

There was a resin miss cast section. Rather than try to cut it out I painted it bright acidic green. It is clearly seen in the second photo second stack from the left. I have no idea what substance this is to represent, Nor do I care that way it can just be a box leak and thus easy to identify by the players if I need such a plot device.

Just braking me back into 28mm painting after about 1 month doing other things.

Thanks for looking and as usual another update in a day or two! All the best Clint

Terrain Work in progress WIP

Nothing finished as yet. I just could not get up the shed yesterday to do anything. I can hear you all playing very tiny violins! So at present this is unfinished.

My Sci fi "Moon Boards had suffered due to a number of reasons. So I decided to update them.

 I did decide to turn them into a crater infested desert. So I first painted them cream. the top 2 pics show them after 1 coat. But 1 coat of paint was simply not sufficient. So over the bank holiday weekend I painted a second coat.

 As you can see the board on the right has had a second coat and is now dry. The board on the left just one coat and ready this day for a second.

each board as long term readers will already know is 2' by 4'. So they are not all that small and yield a 4' square area.

If you are a new reader you will not have seen them as I do not use them very much which I thought was a shame.




2 coats on both boards. But still I was not happy. They needed to be darker and show a greater level of contrast.












 So on the Bank holiday Monday I went to the local DIY store and promptly bought the wrong shade! It is of course too dark!

Consiquently I repainted the boards again, only to realise when they dried. that they were too dark. Woops

So the dry brushing started! I added about equal amounts of cream paint to the brown and applied the first coat.

 All went well and I got another good nights sleep. Let's have no false modesty the boards did took good.












So yesterday I applied (despite the thunder storms) a lighter dry brush. And it has made a difference the boards have improved again.

I am now happy with the boards. Does That mean I am finished.... of course not! But I am currently on a pause




I have started 4 extra craters 3 hills ( a large a medium and you guessed it, a small) as well as 3 rock spires.  As well as some blue crystal areas. Additionally I have given thoughts to what buildings might be like. Do not tell me that this or that company make good buildings. While I am sure they do I want something less generic that every player has and having a degree in Architecture I feel I can design some buildings that will be more appealing to the terrain.  I already have ideas and will attempt to bring the ideas to fruition. in the next few weeks or months. So say nothing about buildings as what suits us in this century may  not on a different world in the next.

Additionally I shall restart my 15mm sci fi. Which I have always loved but just could not play at a club level due to any number of reasons, until lately! The next stage for me is to repaint the bases of the figures I already have to match this terrain. I did look at repainting all the figures as well but have decided to compromise and just do the bases as it will be quicker.

So as far as I am concerned 15mm Sci Fi is a GO! once more

I was not in the mood!

Yep yesterday was club day and I just was not in the mood. But at least we have seen Peter and Bob at the club. Both have had medical problems recently so It was a Joy to see them again. Welcome back to the club guys.

So anyway yesterday we, as a club played "En garde!" a set of rules by Osprey. To complex to write a AAR for as so many playing. But these were my force, just 3 cavalry. I had a horse with a light wound but otherwise survived the battle unscathed . Which  was commented on several times... Yeah Thanks Matt!

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!
Also since I last posted my mother has been feeding Rhinos at the zoo. Yes I know the Photo is on the side, it was taken on a mobile phone and has had trouble reaching me, so just be happy it is here at all. BEFORE anyone does try this the food was given to her by a zoo keeper (who looks after this particular Rhino) and was standing 2 paces away overseeing the whole thing. So guess who has been told about this several times even if I was not Invited to go my self.


So here is what I have painted. It did require a tidy up in order to find the pike. And Now that does complete the sprue of ECW figures. (Until I buy more of course!). Another Scott's covenanter and enough to get an "en garde!"force up to 100 points as I now have sufficient Pike and Shotte to put a force in the field (or on the table at least)

That's it for today. Back to building terrain but I am not ready to share that just yet. Have a good Bank holiday and I will see you soon.

All the best Clint

T 55 (6mm)

Firstly I am sorry for no posts for a while. I was not up to it. Alright now so Please say nothing and we can get back to normal as swiftly as possible. I would say a "Thank you to the person (hero) who did email to enquire. Cheers mate I appreciate it.

Not much of as post today. I am working like a swan though and all will be revealed in due course. Anyone asking will be ignored though!

 Here are a COMPANY of post war Russian T-55s. That's not true though I had extras so there is an additional PLATOON (Engineering) of 3 tanks. ( Right in the first picture).

Can I use them in 1980's "Challenger 2" WARGAMING? Yes of course! I can use them in a Russian Naval regiment OR By Bulgarian or Hungarian support forces, perhaps to invade Turkey in a cold war era game I have suggested. But that is years away just yet , and ONLY in my head.  I shall of course be adding to this force in the  coming month until my "Spaniel" attention span gives me other "shinies" to take a look at.

The models are all 6mm or 1/300th scale Heroics and Ros. As yet I do not have any boards to play on but that is all planned for the future. (BUT do not hold your breath).

I PLAN to be back posting ever 2nd day this week and should I think already have enough posts.

So pack up any worries you may have, enjoy your hobby and paint or game if you get the chance.

All the best Clint