A good friend, and regular gaming buddy of mine here in the UK, is setting himself up running a painting service. His target market is for whole armies, painting quickly (and he is quick, I wish I could finish single units as quickly as he finishes armies!), and to a good gaming standard.
I'm actually going to be chucking an army I'm buying up on ebay at the moment his way myself shortly, not that he actually knows that yet... suppose I ought to tell him really!
Anyway! I'll stop gabling now, though I'm sure you'll see some of his work on this blog soon! Go take a look at his new blog, 'Blood & Boltguns', at the below address.
http://bloodandboltguns.blogspot.com
Friday, 29 July 2011
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
New Praetorian Roughriders (Part 2)
Well then, in assembling the Roughriders I was a bit disappointed to have discovered a minor flaw which appears in the models, but was'nt really noticeable when it was just bare metal. Along the mold line where the legs join the tunic there is a imperfection where the metal has'nt flowed properly. You can see this below. On the bright side it is very easy to fix, just filling in the 'dent' with a little greenstuff.
The other points to note were more expected. Though the models are designed to fit the WFB Empire Pistolier horses, the saddles of the three different designs of horse vary slightly. The figures fit perfectly and snuggly on one design, the others are a bit too snug and require that you push the legs apart slightly (being metal there is only a little give, but this is sufficient). You are also left with a gap between the legs and saddles on two of the designs, which looks best if filled, though this is by no means essential.
In addition for best results its good to fill in small gaps between the joints, these are generally tiny as you can see below where I've filled them.
These fixes done the models assemble pretty damn well, with the addition of a head from Secret Weapon I spent an evening paint brush in hand and following the blue/white schemed I've used previously. The following is the result and I'm really pleased with it, now to get on with the rest of the unit! One quick tip though, I'd recommend attaching the legs to the horse for painting, and assembling the torso, arms, head an lance seperately, only joining the two together once they're finished, its much easier then trying to paint a fully assembled model.
The other points to note were more expected. Though the models are designed to fit the WFB Empire Pistolier horses, the saddles of the three different designs of horse vary slightly. The figures fit perfectly and snuggly on one design, the others are a bit too snug and require that you push the legs apart slightly (being metal there is only a little give, but this is sufficient). You are also left with a gap between the legs and saddles on two of the designs, which looks best if filled, though this is by no means essential.
In addition for best results its good to fill in small gaps between the joints, these are generally tiny as you can see below where I've filled them.
These fixes done the models assemble pretty damn well, with the addition of a head from Secret Weapon I spent an evening paint brush in hand and following the blue/white schemed I've used previously. The following is the result and I'm really pleased with it, now to get on with the rest of the unit! One quick tip though, I'd recommend attaching the legs to the horse for painting, and assembling the torso, arms, head an lance seperately, only joining the two together once they're finished, its much easier then trying to paint a fully assembled model.
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Praetorian Chimeras (Part 2)
I'm certainly keeping busy at the moment, Roughriders, plaster bust's (I've managed to rescue another mold!)), Wedding suits (the wedding is two months today, slightly scary!) and now Chimera's as well!
I've been meaning to get the four Chimera I have painted up for ages, because in this age of the Mech lists even the Praetorian's need to mount up occasionally. I started them a while back, but I've now started making headway on the first one, another full days painting should more or less get it finished, so roll on the summer.
I've been meaning to get the four Chimera I have painted up for ages, because in this age of the Mech lists even the Praetorian's need to mount up occasionally. I started them a while back, but I've now started making headway on the first one, another full days painting should more or less get it finished, so roll on the summer.
Saturday, 23 July 2011
Thursday, 21 July 2011
New Praetorian Roughriders (Part 1)
Well look whats turned up!
Five freshly cast metal Praetorian Roughriders, all laid out ready for assembly, all these chaps are short of are heads, horses and lance shafts - soon sort that one out though.
The lance shaft is easy enough, I designed these models to take a 5cm length of 1mm thick piece of plastic or metal rod. The lance arm and lance tip are drilled out with a pin vice.
...and all fit together nice an easy! This gives a sturdy fit which should'nt break easily.
Five freshly cast metal Praetorian Roughriders, all laid out ready for assembly, all these chaps are short of are heads, horses and lance shafts - soon sort that one out though.
The lance shaft is easy enough, I designed these models to take a 5cm length of 1mm thick piece of plastic or metal rod. The lance arm and lance tip are drilled out with a pin vice.
...and all fit together nice an easy! This gives a sturdy fit which should'nt break easily.
Monday, 18 July 2011
English Civil War Parliamentarian Soldier Bust
This might seem a little random and out of the blue, so I think it might help if I explain the background behind what I'm writing about in this post.
This bust is not my own work, the original pieces were sculpted by my grandfather at least a decade before I was born. He used to sculpt, mold, cast and paint these for his own enjoyment, though he also sold them alongside oil paintings and wood carvings. I've always been very close to my grandparents, and particularly my grandfather, having spent much of my early childhood living with them. Indeed I think its fair to say that its from him that I gained an early interest in military history, sculpting and painting, so I've got quite a strong attachment to his work. Though it has only been relatively recently that these interests, and especially the creative ones, have combined in my hobby and works. I'd even like to think in a way that maybe there's a bit of talent in the genes!
I was recently horrified to discover that my grandfather as part of a clear out of 'rubbish', for reasons I won't go into, was disposing of a number of old molds and other odds and ends. After convincing him how important it was to me that these were preserved, I ended up rooting through the bins and was able to recover a single salvagable mold. After a few days cleaning off all the accumilated mould and gunk of a couple of decades in damp storeage conditions I had this 40cm bust of a ECW Parlimentarian Infantryman.
Sadly the others had deteriorated too much in storage, including a Royalist counterpart to this one, though further digging unearthed an unused plaster cast of the Cavalier and two more of an British Napelonic Infantryman of the 88th Foot - I'll be making molds of these at a later date.
This evening I tried my hand at making a cast from the mold, in order to create a new master using Gedeo Resin Plaster. Essentially this is plaster of paris, but tougher. I decided to use it in case the mold disintegrated with the first pull, so I'd have the best quality copy possible.
However, as it turned out I need'nt of worried. With a great deal of satisfaction, and a little emotion I must confess I've pulled a 'new' master of the bust from a mold older then I am. This is the new 'master', which has I'm sure you'll agree turned out pretty well!
My plan next is to store this one in the best possible conditions in case the mold fails in the future, and do a second cast with standard plaster of paris. This next version I'll fit with a hook and paint up for display.
This bust is not my own work, the original pieces were sculpted by my grandfather at least a decade before I was born. He used to sculpt, mold, cast and paint these for his own enjoyment, though he also sold them alongside oil paintings and wood carvings. I've always been very close to my grandparents, and particularly my grandfather, having spent much of my early childhood living with them. Indeed I think its fair to say that its from him that I gained an early interest in military history, sculpting and painting, so I've got quite a strong attachment to his work. Though it has only been relatively recently that these interests, and especially the creative ones, have combined in my hobby and works. I'd even like to think in a way that maybe there's a bit of talent in the genes!
I was recently horrified to discover that my grandfather as part of a clear out of 'rubbish', for reasons I won't go into, was disposing of a number of old molds and other odds and ends. After convincing him how important it was to me that these were preserved, I ended up rooting through the bins and was able to recover a single salvagable mold. After a few days cleaning off all the accumilated mould and gunk of a couple of decades in damp storeage conditions I had this 40cm bust of a ECW Parlimentarian Infantryman.
Sadly the others had deteriorated too much in storage, including a Royalist counterpart to this one, though further digging unearthed an unused plaster cast of the Cavalier and two more of an British Napelonic Infantryman of the 88th Foot - I'll be making molds of these at a later date.
This evening I tried my hand at making a cast from the mold, in order to create a new master using Gedeo Resin Plaster. Essentially this is plaster of paris, but tougher. I decided to use it in case the mold disintegrated with the first pull, so I'd have the best quality copy possible.
However, as it turned out I need'nt of worried. With a great deal of satisfaction, and a little emotion I must confess I've pulled a 'new' master of the bust from a mold older then I am. This is the new 'master', which has I'm sure you'll agree turned out pretty well!
My plan next is to store this one in the best possible conditions in case the mold fails in the future, and do a second cast with standard plaster of paris. This next version I'll fit with a hook and paint up for display.
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Trading Post - For Sale (2011 Update)
The below is a list of items I've got for sale, updated for 2011, with new items being added now and again, if your interested in anything from the list please get in touch at the usual address, I'm happy to ship world wide and accept Paypal (all goes to the hobby fund!), additional pictures are on request. I also trade through a number of websites including eBay, Bartertown, Warseer, Dakka Dakka, and 40k Online, if you'd prefer to trade through one of these that's fine by me, and indeed preferred on my part.
Items in RED are sold, pending payment, items in BLUE are under offer.
Warhammer 40k
Space Marines (inc. Variant Chapters)
OOP Dark Angels Standard Bearer PIC
Mint @£2.50 + P&P
Imperial Guard
1x Classic Commissars PIC
Sold as seen @£3.00 each + P&P
1x OOP Basilisk Loader PIC
Sold as seen @£3.00 + P&P
1x OOP Tank Commander PIC
Sold as seen @£3.00 + P&P
2x Valkyrie Missile Pods PIC
Sold as seen @£4.00 for both + P&P
4x Valkyrie Missiles PIC
Sold as seen @£1.00 each + P&P
OOP Catachan Missile Launcher PIC
Stripped @£3.00 + P&P
Chaos Space Marines
Vehicle Accessory Sprues PIC
Sold as seen @£5.00 + P&P
Warhammer Fantasy Battle
Wood Elf Mage PIC
Sold as seen @£5.00 + P&P
Dogs of War Galloper Gun Crew PIC
Sold as seen @£4.00 + P&P
9 Chaos Hounds PIC
Sold as seen @£5.00 + P&P
Misc Dwarf Sprues PIC
Sold as seen @£5.00 + P&P
Classic Demonette PIC
Sold as seen @£2.00 + P&P
Misc
Town Cryer PIC
Good Condition @£2.50 + P&P
Planet Killer #1 PIC
Good Condition @£5.00 + P&P
Items in RED are sold, pending payment, items in BLUE are under offer.
Warhammer 40k
Space Marines (inc. Variant Chapters)
OOP Dark Angels Standard Bearer PIC
Mint @£2.50 + P&P
Imperial Guard
1x Classic Commissars PIC
Sold as seen @£3.00 each + P&P
1x OOP Basilisk Loader PIC
Sold as seen @£3.00 + P&P
1x OOP Tank Commander PIC
Sold as seen @£3.00 + P&P
2x Valkyrie Missile Pods PIC
Sold as seen @£4.00 for both + P&P
4x Valkyrie Missiles PIC
Sold as seen @£1.00 each + P&P
OOP Catachan Missile Launcher PIC
Stripped @£3.00 + P&P
Chaos Space Marines
Vehicle Accessory Sprues PIC
Sold as seen @£5.00 + P&P
Warhammer Fantasy Battle
Wood Elf Mage PIC
Sold as seen @£5.00 + P&P
Dogs of War Galloper Gun Crew PIC
Sold as seen @£4.00 + P&P
9 Chaos Hounds PIC
Sold as seen @£5.00 + P&P
Misc Dwarf Sprues PIC
Sold as seen @£5.00 + P&P
Classic Demonette PIC
Sold as seen @£2.00 + P&P
Misc
Town Cryer PIC
Good Condition @£2.50 + P&P
Planet Killer #1 PIC
Good Condition @£5.00 + P&P
Thursday, 7 July 2011
Mk3 Roughrider Sculpts - Finished
Yep, that's my new Praetorian the Roughrider sculpt done and dusted.
Here the master is shown assembled (albeit with blue-tak, hence the dodgy fit) with a Secret Weapon Pith Helmet, mounted on a WFB Empire Pistollier/Outrider.
And here are all the components, the lance shaft is intended to be a thin section of plastic or metal rod, which can be drilled through the arm and to which the lance tip component can be fitted.
Next stop - time to arrange casting.
Here the master is shown assembled (albeit with blue-tak, hence the dodgy fit) with a Secret Weapon Pith Helmet, mounted on a WFB Empire Pistollier/Outrider.
And here are all the components, the lance shaft is intended to be a thin section of plastic or metal rod, which can be drilled through the arm and to which the lance tip component can be fitted.
Next stop - time to arrange casting.
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
Pysker Battle Squad (Part 2)
A long time ago I painted up one of the Sanctioned Psyker models, never really intending to do more then a couple more over time. Then we got Pysker Battle Squads. I've used them in a few lists for friendly games, because lets face it they are pretty damn nasty, especially when mounted up in a Chimera. I never got round to painting up the squad though, until now.
So now the lone Pysker has eight mates to go scare people off the board with, still no Overseer though. I'm still pondering which look I want to go for this one. On one hand a Sinister cloacked and hooded character would mesh nicely with the unit, on the other I also like the idea of a armoured Pysker Handler, something like those which appear in Sabbat Martyr by Dan Abnett, armed with heavy pistols, shock mauls with there eyes, ears and mouths replaced or upgraded with bionic components to make them more resistant to pysker tricks. Or maybe a combination of the two.
Any thoughts? What do you think an Overseer should look like?
So now the lone Pysker has eight mates to go scare people off the board with, still no Overseer though. I'm still pondering which look I want to go for this one. On one hand a Sinister cloacked and hooded character would mesh nicely with the unit, on the other I also like the idea of a armoured Pysker Handler, something like those which appear in Sabbat Martyr by Dan Abnett, armed with heavy pistols, shock mauls with there eyes, ears and mouths replaced or upgraded with bionic components to make them more resistant to pysker tricks. Or maybe a combination of the two.
Any thoughts? What do you think an Overseer should look like?
Sunday, 3 July 2011
NUSU II Tournament Report
On the weekend of the 25-26th of June around 30 gamers descended upon Exeter Inquisitions first public Tournament, Nut Up or Shut Up II, held at Queen Elizabeth's Community College in Crediton, in the UK.
Three individual events were being held, with tournaments being run for 40k, WFB and Infinity. 40k saw five 1500pt rounds being played over the weekend, WFB five 2000pt rounds and Infinity managed to fitting eight rounds at 200pts.
At the end of a hard weekends gaming, and following the Best Army vote from, from a choice of three selected by the judge (hmmm me) from each system the final results were as follows.
Warhammer 40,000
Warhammer Fantasy Battle
Infinity
The full results are available HERE.
Which just about wraps it up for this year, we're planning to run another two day event in the same format next June if this has wetted your appetite - theres also talk of us hosting a one day event in November - watch this space.
So finally a thank you to the team from Exeter Inquisition who worked tirelessly to make the event happen, to our sponsors, Secret Weapon Miniatures, Total Wargamer, Wayland Games and the Wargame Trader, and an extra big thank you to everyone who attended, we hope to see you all again next year!
Three individual events were being held, with tournaments being run for 40k, WFB and Infinity. 40k saw five 1500pt rounds being played over the weekend, WFB five 2000pt rounds and Infinity managed to fitting eight rounds at 200pts.
 |  |
|---|---|
 |  |
At the end of a hard weekends gaming, and following the Best Army vote from, from a choice of three selected by the judge (hmmm me) from each system the final results were as follows.
| 1st | Richard Morgan |  |
| 2nd | Tayakorn Kupakanjana |  |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd | Jason Withey-Tebby |  |
| Best Painted | James Fox |  |
| 1st | Jonathan Clack |  |
| 2nd | Dave Petit |  |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd & Best Painted | James Cockburn |  |
| 1st | Robin Sealey |  |
| 2nd | Alex Withycombe |  |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd | Richard Deane |  |
| Best Painted | David Boardman |  |
The full results are available HERE.
Which just about wraps it up for this year, we're planning to run another two day event in the same format next June if this has wetted your appetite - theres also talk of us hosting a one day event in November - watch this space.
So finally a thank you to the team from Exeter Inquisition who worked tirelessly to make the event happen, to our sponsors, Secret Weapon Miniatures, Total Wargamer, Wayland Games and the Wargame Trader, and an extra big thank you to everyone who attended, we hope to see you all again next year!
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