Plans! (2018)

My plans are as always very fluid. However here are some thoughts for the new year. I will of course continue to paint for Matt (and other club members if they pay me). But that is not really a plan of mine for the new year.

Bellow are the things I want to achieve for myself I will try to only show the basic plans and hope this time next year I can cross them off. (I usually can't).

1] I shall continue with the BoB (Back of Beyond) Project in 20mm. This will definitely happen as I feel enthused by the whole game ethos.

2] Crimson Skies: While still reading the rules I see this as a club game that may actually take off. I still need to read all the rules but so far so good. It should make a very suitable game for the club and I am at present contemplating making some sky boards even maybe a zeppelin! Remember you heard it here first.


3] WW1 Historical. For this I really need to do a few things first. The easiest being talk to Tim at the club. When that is done I need to sell all my colonial figures (to raise funds and make space.) Tim has an UNPAINTED Turkish army and an UNPAINTED Imperial (British) army. So I will need to see what he says on Sunday and maybe start an army within 2 months of that. As well as Galipoli and Lawence of Arabia there are many other battles that did take place and it makes such a change from Western Front.

4] Dieselpunk. As I had the "Gaslands" Rules (osprey) for Crimbo I find I like the ules but dislike the setting and scale and therefore changes NEED to be made. As such I intend to make a scale change to 28mm. Easy done just enlarge the templates. I also want to take it back to a 1930's setting. Yes this will be loads of work to get the cars right.... in that they will need to be converted. But just imagine how spectacular it will look. Assuming I can get it finished. I know this is by far the biggest plan and fraught with difficulties but if it works it will be great.



In addition I will continue to work on my dark age aries (yes I have 2 started, one in 28mm and one in 15mmm) > These are not a priority at present so do not expect huge leaps to be made in them. I also have some Lord of the Rings figures to paint and hope to do one every 2 weeks.

Lastly I expect TO GET SIDE TRACKED. This is almost inevitable so do not hold it against me. Hope fully something will grab you as well. If so please feel free to leave a comment.

All the best Clint

And little can be done until a chat at the club but at least these are my plans.

5 Burpas more

Yes there  are always more Burpas. Mat says he has about 2 more boxes. As I do not know how many is in a box that does not help.....Oh well.

Anyway here is another 5. I suspect they are all "Foundry" but if you know better I am happy to be enlightened. All I do know is the next 5 are ready for undercoat. And I will be starting them tonight.

Flags will be added (BY MATT) to 2 of these figures so you will not see them finished until we have the next game using them.

Not sure what will come next it all depends on how warm my painting room will be. Might be more 28mm Burpas of GW LotR. I will have both undercoated by tonight so it all depends what I can crack on with.

Until then take care have fun and just promise me "NO FROSTBITE!"

All the best Clint

Tweak! 28mm

"Why has Tweak only got one ear?" The  young voice said.
 "Because I dropped him on the concrete and it broke off and shattered!"
Came the reply.
"Oh" was the only answer and the mystery of the one eared Tweak was explained.


Yes I did drop it on the concrete and it did shatter. Which IS a shame, but it did reach me from Dave (wargamesterrainworkshop.co.uk/) at WTWin a fine condition and NO blame in any way attaches itself to him because of my clumsiness.
The Character of "Tweak" should be clear to ant of a certain age who read 200ad comics. If you did not read 2000ad I can't help you but I can sympathise and suggest you had a deprived childhood!

Here is a comic book version. He appeared along with Judge Dredd and as a character Tweak  was not particularly enjoyed by me. But it was a free figure and as such was painted with much gratitude. I realise some people would have thought Tweak was the best thing since sliced bread and I mean to take nothing away from that view. Just saying to me he was a distraction and to me did not add very much to the JD storyline.





I suspect the figure was sculpted by Dave. (Thanks Dave) And It is a fine figure. As you can see I have stuck to the same colours as the comic and the figure does sit well with my other JD figures. However as I do not play Judge Dredd very much he is not likely to have very much table time.

Sorry the pics are so dark, It's winter and a flash will only do so much. Most importantly it is another figure done and one I will not (I think) be doing again.

I hope to post again in a few days but that does depend on how real life is in the mean time. So far it is being good to me.

Until then, take care, have fun and try to find something decent on TV (I can't|)

All I want for Krimbo is......?

Well I must say I am very pleased with the gifts I received this year.
And here they are.

 Firstly my mother is very nearly back to normal and this is the best gift.

As she was poorly she could not get any gifts so I treated myself. I bought the new Osprey rules "Gaslands" which I must say are rather quite good. While designed for a specific scale and setting there is a paragraph in the rules For changing the scale or the setting, so I think I will be edging towards Dieselpunk games.

I was also VERY lucky and managed to snag (on eBay) a mint version of Crimson Skies. It really does not look like it has ever been played with so I am just going to have to play it like crazy! I have about 20 "Wizkid" planes and will be working on getting this game as fully 3d as possible. Maybe not straight away, but soon my precious soon!  More Dieselpunk!

My sister got me the DVD of Rocketeer so that will add to the dieselpunk vibe very nicely. It is what I asked for and I am grateful.


Lastly from Matt and completely unexpected I got some German Aeronef ships. These are Brigade Models and they are helping to lift my spirits immensely. Totally unexpected and again I am very grateful for them. Cheers Mate.

Not (so far) a bad Krimbo at all. Yes I did buy everything in the top 2 pics myself, but I got exactly what I wanted and am smiling like a Cheshire cat!

Another post (Assuming I get anything finished) in 2 days

Until then take care have fun and paint if the mood takles you.

Best Wishes and seasons Greetings Clint

2 things, Maybe 3)

Firstly here are he remainder of the BoB Punjabi Indians that I have purchased. As with the others they are IT Miniatures and 1/72nd scale. Or 20mm if you want it in wargames speak. (here is a link)

8 in this batch making 24 in total. Which should give me a platoon strength os as close to it as I am likely to get. Only 3 different posses this time, but when mixed in with the others no one will notice.  No Officers as at least 1 platoon should be NCO led. Just to make it realistic!

I hope to do a group shot of the whole force sometime soon.

As for what is next there are several things on the painting table so It could be nearly anything. (sci fi , Fantasy or Historical)



Secondly and mostly for a laugh here is my last Radish dug up this year. I call it Franken-Radish. It is real, it is editable and I dug it up on Friday Morning!

The figure being a 20mm tall miniature is just for scale. I have not been terribly successful with Radish this year. They taste fine but look damn ugly!

It grew in 2 bursts hence the strange shape. And this is one of the ones that does not look RUDE! Most of the rest did look rude. But they taste OK and that is the main thing.

I still have Carrots Beet root and Cabbage to dig up! I have no idea what they will turn out like! My first time with all three of those.

Lastly Have a great Crimbo and I will post again soon. I KNOW I will be getting 2 things for the passing of Christmas (I know because I bought them). So In a few days I will do a loot post.

Until then, take care have fun pull a cracker, graon at a bad joke and do your best not to eat and drink too much

Cheers Clint

Machine gun BoB 20mm

Not a lt actually finished hobby wise. But he oven and fire are now finished so I no longer have the excuse "I am too cold!"

Anyway back to the hobby stuff. Just a single IT Miniatures (LINK)Russian Civil war machine gun.  5 parts in total (3 crew and 2 parts to the gun). It is in the White Russian section on the web site but seriously I can be used be either side as the uniforms hardly changed and the actual gun did not change at all.

I do have another version of the gun but that is the gun in transit and while I shall do it soon it is nothing I have to finish immediately.

The figures are 20mm and are totally suitable for anywhere in the Back of beyond setting with regard to georraphy or almost time scale (unless doing frightfully early!

I hope to do one more post before Crimbo (you have been warned) and again that will be Back of Beyond (assuming I get them finished or near finished tonight.

It is worth mentioning that this is the shortest day of the year so I may not get anything finished. I may just get sozzeled instead!

Gaslands Pick-up

Well it is 5am and I am having trouble sleeping, so it must be blogging time. Today is another car for "Gaslands" this time a Pick-up truck. Purchased new from Wilkos for £1 or a very little less.

Conversion wise I just added "Microstrip" which is thin machine cut plasticard to keep it all the same thickness. I did try to add it just about on all surfaces to help break up the factory finish, One thing I did not do was add a load to the flatbed.


I could so easily have done and indeed may do in the future but for now I craved the openness and carrying capacity. IF I do add a load I will go for loads that can also be removed as this will offer the greatest Possible variety. You never know we might have one game where a specific cargo... like fuel drums is required. So by keeping as many options as possible I hope to make it as versatile as possible.

 It is a little more weathered than the last I make no excuses just to say I was heavy handed. The colours I have kept the same. It is not that I think in a post apocalypse only certain colours will be availiable but more that I know what players are like and they can more easily identify simple block colours. Imaging Keith saying "I have the Blue cars" it is just easier for all concerned.


The last pick shows them both together. It should make an easy cheap force for a game when I do indeed start making the blue ones. NO the red ones do not nessercarily go faster. Some one will ask if I did not say either at club level or on here.

That's it for today. With luck I get some house renovation done.... been without a stove or heating for 4 days. Living on Soup, take a ways and hot water bottles (but not eating the lkast ones!

But Oven was delivered last night so things may be looking up!

A Long over due post!

Last week at the club we had a game of "Canvas Eagles!" a WW1 aircraft game. I did play but I contributed nothing on the way of planes or terrain. So neither applaud me nor criticise me as I was but a mere player.

Some players think terrain is important, others think well painted figures yet others think it all comes down to the rules. The rules for this game are very good but you will never understand that from photos. And teh game DOES play very well indeed but for me I would like it a little more pleasing on the eye. But that is my only complaint!

I flew an Albatross III a german plane it is a good alrounder but fails to excel in any areas but then again nor does it have very many weaknesses given the time frame we were allotted. So generally I was quite happy.

Over the course of the day I had 2 planes. The first plane had very little damage at all but did run out of fuel and left the board with just enough to limp back to base if it glided some of the way. My German commanded was not happy with me leaving the game and did suggest that I would be court-marshalled when we got back to the hanger. Personally I think I needed to leave with the fuel I had left or else I would not make it back to the hanger, and neither would the plane.

So I started another plane again an Albatross DIII this did get a few more holes in it but by the same token it did put more holes in the British planes. I hasten to add that my planes either singally or together gid more damage than they received. so I think they performed well and did all that was required. I did not shoot anyone down and neither was I shot down. So just an OK flight with no disasters and no going back to base for tea and medals.

That's it for today. And I will be back as the paint this morning.

Kindly let me know if you want Mad max or Back of Beyond next. I should have both finished this afternoon and what I do not show Tuesday will get seen on Thursday.

Until then, take care have fun (at least twic as much fun as me if possible) and I will see you all soon.

Cheers Clint

LotR Orc Dol Guldur banner

Yes I know I really do the banner should be red and black according to the books. Trust me I Know. But I am sure you will all forgive me, black and red just looked wrong on the model.  And I do not believe Orcs would really care too much at all so the banner has turned out Pink and Brown! Purists will no doubt be going up the wall. But who cares, not I!

After all if you are trying to accurately portray Fantasy there is something wrong somewhere.

So Just another orc probably for Dol Guldur. Which as we all know is the lair of the Necromancer (Sauron) in the second age. Yep the nasty bit in the Nan anduin Valley close to Mirkwood which even in the later part of the third age was shunned!

Like all Tolkien Orcs he is "black skinned" as all Orcs should be. This Green skin rubbish is GW through and through! Likewise all clothing and armour is dirty, rusty and shabby. This is not to say that Orcs cannot be fine craftsmen only that they don't care about aesthetics very much! And there is much to be said for that outlook if you believe that Form follows function.

Other than this orc I have been busy in real life. All Crimbo pressies are now bought and wrapped. Even those that I have had to get for myself. Not that I am getting much for myself and let's be honest I dare not let my sister pick anything for me. Heaven only knows what she would get! As she always buys everything on Christmas eve! yeah and you try finding a decent pressie then with no for planning. She is getting better though and being fair I suspect those days are now long past.

So this week I treated myself to the Mad max Computer game. It arrived yesterday and I am still loading it as I type this. In addition I bought a toy car from Wilko's for the princely sum of £1. While I have started my last BoB figures (when I say last I mean Last for now, already planning more).

So everything is pretty much back on course! Unless of course you know differently!

Have a good weekend, all the best Clint

 

Punjabi BoB so far.

Yes still cranking figures out for Back of Beyond, although not as fast! Here is another unit of Punjabi Indians for the Back of Beyond. The last 2 pics do show the 16 completed figures in the force I know some of you will already have skipped ahead!

 I Apologise for the picture quality it is just to dark here at present to take good pics. (Not that I usually can anyway).

So this is "Theoretically" my second unit of Punjabi Indians for the Back of Beyond. I still have 8 to paint. As yet I am not fixed on unit size so while there could be 3 units of 8 there could equally be 2 units of 12! Only time and playing the rules will tell.


The last 2 pics show all done for this force SO FAR! There will be more. As with previous BoB figures these are 20mm IT Miniatures (LINK) made and supplied by Tim at the Wargames club.


 Meanwhile back on the ranch! I have STARTED working on the next 20mm gaslands vehicle. Expect to see it next week IF it turns out OK. If it does not I have a handy bin in my hobby room and it will never see the light of day!

That's all folks have a good few days and I will try to as well. Try to be productive in hobby terms either playing or painting or reading or well you get the idea!

gaslands (1)

Well trying to post regularly here is my first vehicle for "Gaslands" . Some of you may have already bought the rules while others have yet to hear of them. Now for me I needed cheering up so I ordered them and will get them at Christmas. My Mother will give them to me then, she cannot get out and about at the moment and even if she could wargames rules are not something you can buy in many high-streets!

I did watch a few vids on Youtube and did decide they were my cup of tea. As such they were purchased. After all which very boring wargamer does not like Mad Max.  There must be one but I have not met them.

As such I thought to start building some (OK 1) car(s). I still have not decided is I will stick at 20mm (1/72nd Scale) or leap up to 28mm. We will both have to see how it plays and if I like the game and if the upscale is worth the effort as the rules are meant for Diecast cars of a certain size.


However here is my first car. Nothing very special at all. Just a reinforced front bumper and  some spikes and possibly 2 gun ports facing forward. Al in all a very quick and easy conversion, but better than just a bought car from a supermarket, at least in my opinion!

I was going to put more spikes on, but I am glad I showed restraint. There are enough to make it look aggressive but not to many to stop it being undriveable. But even if there were too many it would not be a problem as it is for a game and not real life!

The Grill on the front and rear windows was also hand made and just some spare "Plasticard" so nothing very exciting. Having said that it did need something to make it look more survival than road use. That and a tarpaulin on the back (tin foil painted ) and some dents and scratches on the roof and the beast is ready to go.

For a base it is on an old credit card! Fear not I have about 20 more that were used as door opening devices at work and were thrown away when new doors were fitted.  So I recycled them and they are no use at all for anything other than scrap.... or anything a wargamer can model out of them. They have NEVER had any money on them and they can no longer open any secure doors!

That's it for today. With a little luck I am now back to posting normally. next time will most likely be more BoB unless I get carried away and make another car! (I bet somewhere a child is weeping that I have done this.....  I also imagine several jumping up and down and loving the idea!)




Always worth showing the intention!

Still BoBing along... but only just

Sorry for the delay. My Mother has been ill since last Sunday night. The knock on effect is I do not get a whole lot of hobby stuff done. There is still an AAR (actually 2) to be done. But I am not here to talk about that today. Firstly before anyone asks my Mother is recovering 3-4 more days and she will be back to normal.... well normal for this family!

While I have not done much , here are some more BoB figures. My alternative Back of Beyond force. All the figures are IT miniatures and cast by Tim (a mate/club member) and available here ( CLICK to link). As an alternative force I thought a British intervention might be in order. Thus I went for Indian troops, to be more precise Punjabi Indian Troops.

In the Back of Beyond you can get away with a huge variety of troops and as Britain at the time had Indian as well as European headquarters they did not always talk to each other, let alone cooperate. This did lead to some interesting situations including the British army uniform in India being dyed Purple for a few weeks, don't ask you are seriously better off not knowing. But this is what the uniform should be! Look at the pic on the right!

And that is how I hope you will see I have painted them. If it looks vastly different to this please adjust your computer screen! Again their is a difference in the Sikh and the Punjabi Uniforms Mostly based about the Turban at least for us poor wargamers.  So my second force will be Indian troops serving under the British.  This is as much because I like the figures as any other reason, but it still fits the background so I am alright with that. Maybe if my interest holds I will do another Russian (Cossack or sailors) force or Chinese or Tibetan who can tell. But for now this is my start of an opposing BoB Indian (Punjabi) force.

Thanks for looking more (I hope) again soon. Have a good weekend and paint like crazy IF you have the opportunity.

All the best Clint

Wee Beastie!

Sorry no post on Monday Illness is rife here. all OK and all recovering slowly. Thanks for any concerns

I shall do an AAR on Friday from a great game at the club.

Until then here is a wee beastie I have finished for Matt.

I am sorry I have no idea of the make or the scale so feel free to make them up to suit yourself. I did put flowers on the base as Matt does tend to prefer 28mm figures so that would be my best guess. But it could easily be of any scale including MUCH larger than real life. I just do not know. So your guess is as good as mine.

As for what Matt will use it for again I have no idea. I did ask what colour it should be and Matt said any colour I like! I have fond D&D memories and do indeed recall a purple worm so guess what colour I painted it. No not Brown, but purple!

The last Pic does show scale or more accurately size as I have included a coin of the realm . That should make everything clearer!

That's it for today, thanks for looking all the best Clint

And it is Blooming cold now!

More Aeronef.

Yes painted some more Aeronef models for Matts ever growing British fleet. I know there is more to come and I have no idea when or how many. But here today are another 8 vessels.

All the Models are by Brigade games, Click this link to visit the web store (LINK). As you can see most of the vessels are on the larger size.

there are 2 Torpedo boats
2 Albion class Aircraft carriers. (Seriously why would you need 2 in a fleet!
2 Audacious Class battle Cruisers
and
2  Britannia Class Battle cruisers

This fleet is now at least twice the size of mine. Probably 3 maybe 4 times the size. And I have NO aircraft carriers. Still it is his choice how he spends his money so why should I even comment. Well as I am most likely to be his opponent it does seem shall we say that the game is stacked against me. Still It is his money and his choice.

Any way whine over I hope you enjoy the fleet and only time will tell what else is included in the force. I do suspect bigger ships still to come though.

Thanks for Looking, More again planned for Monday. maybe an AAR of the club game on Sunday, and maybe another LotR figure. (As one is on the painting table as I type.

All the best Clint.
have a great weekend.