Author Archives: grumpyoldtin

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About grumpyoldtin

An old git over the hill and declining disgracefully

Thoughts on the last three months

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I have spent the last three months either preparing to move, moving or settling into temporary accommodation. Being a sucker for smooth talking salesmen I succumbed to the charms of an estate agent and a removals company. All I can say is, lying bastards. They promise so much and deliver so little. The couple who bought my house did it on the strength of the tour my two little boys, aged two and four, gave them. The removal company’s “Dedicated packing service” was nothing of the sort. I am so glad I spent time earlier to pack my hobby stuff away.
These three months has given me some pondering and reflecting time whilst spending time in this hobby void. I have four armies that I want to base with some consistency. The first pair, my Perry British Eighth Army and my British Peninsular War Napoleonic army, I wanted a sandy colour. The second pair, a War of the Roses Yorkist Army and my Warhammer Fantasy Battle Albion Army, I wanted a dark “English” looking soil.
A quick aside, if you do have an interest in Warhammer Fantasy Battle, check out Warhammer Battle Reporters. They have some interesting alternative army lists; reviving some old GW lists like Regiments of Renown, some new ones like Halflings and bringing them up to Eighth Edition compatibility.
Two further asides: one is that the Ninth Edition rules are rumoured to be released next summer with the game play becoming more aligned with 40K; and the other is that a small (but growing) group of gamers running “Oldhammer”. Gaming using Third Edition rules and old figures. Have a look at the forum http://forum.oldhammer.org.uk/ there are some lovely old figures on display.
Digression over, I’ll get back to basing. Doing this amount of basing is going to involve several pots of paint. Being the tight bastard that I am I was trying to figure out how to do this cheaply and consistently. The answer presented itself while I was browsing a local DIY store. I went past the paint section and there on a display panel were hundreds of swatches of paint in every shade imaginable. Further enquiries revealed you could get 125ml sample pots for just under a couple of quid. That’s the equivalent of ten GW pots! This sounded ideal for me, so I posted my idea on the Froth Forum and got positive replies from people who had already used this technique. One guy had taken the idea further and painted his entire army using sample pots.
So now I have to: find a house to live in, get my stuff shipped over from blighty and actually finish an army.
No pressure there then?

Salute 2013

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Well due to our house sale being delayed, I’ve got the opportunity to go to Salute. This will be my ninth visit.

Embracing my autism I’ve been looking at every trader who is exhibiting and making my plan of attack.

Anyone who is attending must visit Ainsty Castings (TM105) and Fenris (TB02) and look at the greens for GoblinAid.imageimageimage

I got there just after nine and the queue was already sizeable. When I got in there was a half hour queue at Forgeworld.

The whole day passed in a blur and before I knew it it was five o’clock.

It was good to see collection tins for  GoblinAid all over the show.

Lunch was the usual “Campaign” style lunch with wine, table-cloth, candles, fresh bread, cheeses, cold meats etc. etc.

 

 

Revell brushes

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As you’ve been reading I’m moving to Austria and have spent the last month or so packing up the house. My Pro  Arte brush finally gave up the ghost so I dove into my stash to get a new brush. I must explain here, because I’m moving into the middle of nowhere with no initial income I’m building a little stash of supplies to tide me over until better times.

The first brush I picked up was a Revell Painta Luxus. Bad mistake, this brush just does not hold a point. A touch of paint and I might as well be using a chimney sweep’s brush.

As I’d bought it some months ago from Modelzone there was no way I could return it. There was only one thing for it, contact Revell direct. I sent of an eMail to Revell.de expecting a polite rebuff. Within twenty four hours I’d received a reply from Annette in their German office who promised to send out a replacement.

Two days later the replacement arrived.

Do they have quality control? It was exactly the same.

Another eMail sent off to Annette. Another brush promised.

I had thought that Revell was a purveyor of  quality products for the modeller. Let’s see.

Well I got a new parcel in the post today. Opened it up and there were four brushes inside. Three were useless and one might pass muster, just.

This is such a pity, Revell’s customer service has been exemplary, why can’t the product match?

Packing up

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Getting ready for the big move to Austria and have just about packed everything away. It took two days to pack away my glass cabinet!

Thirty five days to go. I had planned to finish a unit of Warlord’s Roman Auxiliaries for my Field of Glory Imperial Roman Army but I can’ t justify the time. A bit of a pity because it was the last unit to be painted on my list.

 

All I can say is, “Holy Shit Batman!”

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This is this guys full time job, but even so. The sheer quantity and quality of his work is astounding. All of this was produced in one year! I’d be happy to have enough for one photo.

Anyway enough waffle, feast your eyes.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/499013.page

Here is his website, with a gallery of more goodness

http://www.gmmstudios.com

 

 

 

What to do with your models

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One use for your soldiers

One use for your soldiers

Well apart from sticking them in a display case….

The artist Dominic Wilcox has fused them to form a bowl.

Instructions to make your own can be found here

http://voices.yahoo.com/how-bowl-melted-army-men-561244.html

 

 

 

 

 

Another use for your soldiers

Another use for your soldiers

 

Or….

Dave Farnham has posed them with pyrotechnic fuse wire and photographed them.

http://www.davefarnham.co.uk/index.html

Puppets War Ork Warbus

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Puppet's War Orc Warbus 1

Puppet’s War Orc Warbus 1

Puppet's War Orc Warbus

Puppet’s War Orc Warbus

Finally finished this. It has been sat on my desk for almost a year.

I stumbled across Puppets War over a year ago. They are based in Poland and they produce resin parts most definitely not for any 28mm figures produced by EE.

If you compare their prices against Forgeworld’s you’ll find them very reasonable along with ridiculously cheap postage and packing. Customer service is excellent, I found that my parcel was missing a couple of pieces, contacted them and received the replacement parts with a few extras as way of an apology.

The kit is in several pieces and have a couple of different options. You can choose to have caterpillar tracks instead of wheels at the rear. Or it can be built with an open back instead of the enclosed “bus” body. There are enough grills to cover the windows or enough guns to have one at each window if you desire. The model was well cast, with one exception, and there were no air bubbles. FW/EE please take note.

This more of a display piece rather than a gaming piece as some bits, like the wing mirrors or guns are a bit flimsy.

I am very pleased with the model and on the strength of that I’ve ordered several more models.

Warbus with figures to show scale

http://www.puppetswar.com

Products of 2012

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There have been three products that have stood out for me in the last twelve months.

The first was, The Army Painter, Quickshade Ink, Strong Tone. It has been invaluable in basing, base colour, Quickshade and then highlight. Useful for leather, flesh and metals.

The second was Games Workshop’s (yes I’m praising the EE) Lahmian Medium. Part of the Technical range from their new paint range. I first saw Phil Stutcinskas use this last summer when he gave a demonstration of weathering. You can use this to make glazes and washes and it doesn’t leave tidelines unlike watered down paints.

The third was Foundry paints. I tried a palate and was very impressed. So impresses that I went and got almost the entire range. The coverage was great, supposedly due to pigment levels and the three colour system works really well. My portrait is painted with Foundry paints. The customer service from Foundry is second to none.

What’s in my lead mountain

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Here is a list of what is lurking in my loft and workroom. Like many of you I buy stuff that one day I’ll “get round to” painting. My excuse now is that it’s my Boys inheritance.

Warhammer Fantasy Battle

This is my first love

Orcs and Goblins

Skaven ( a small 500pt force)

Undead/Vampire Counts (a small 500pt force)

Albion (a fan army from Warhammer Battle Reporters)

Warhammer 40K

I played this a couple of times with Rogue Trader but now like the sculpts

Orks

Battlefleet Gothic

Orks

Field of Glory

Imperial Romans

Yorkist War of the Roses

Flames of War

Eastern Front SS Army

Western Front  Wehrmacht Army

Black Powder

British Peninsular Army

Bolt Action

Home Guard

Kev Adams goblins for 4A Miniatures

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I have to admit that Kev Adams’s goblin sculpts for Games Workshop in the eighties were what got me into modelling. So when I came across these recently, I just had to have them. Picked them up at SELWG this year and I was not disappointed. Well cast, characterful  and the seafaring feel is a welcome change from the usual fantasy fare.

The photos are copyright 4A  Miniaturesimageimage

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My desk

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My desk My old painting table

This was my old set up back in London and I am planning to have a similar set up in Austria.
What you can’t see are boxes, filing cabinets, printer and light table all stuffed underneath. I don’t plan to do that again. It meant that my chair could only be in one position.
Starting from the left is my chest of drawers filled with Foundry paints and some GW paints. Above, just out of shot, are some smaller drawers with inks, washes, milliput/greenstuff, scalpel blades and tweezers.
Along the top of the picture you can see my two lights which have been fitted with daylight bulbs. Also just out of shot is a big magnifying lens with daylight bulb. I haven’t really got on with it, maybe one day I will.
At the back on the left you can see a small stained glass panel of an Ork’s head. This is a test piece for a larger 50cm by 50cm panel which needs leading up.
Once I have my permanent painting table established I want to display my large  leaded panel of the Emperor from the 40K universe. It just happens to be exactly the size of the windows at GW’s Warhammer World. Long story.
Further along is my brush rack. Next to this are some plastic drawers with my Vallejo paints, spare brushes and some fine brass wire for pinning. Above this you can see my brush soap and between the two dragon heads are three of my notebooks; The Show Book, The Recipe Book and The Book of Everything.
There are three more things to note on the tabletop.
Teacup, no explanation needed.
A sheet of plywood for cutting, drilling and gluing on.
And a ceramic “Gentlemans Relish” bowl. The bottom half I use for water and the top half (hiding behind large black undercoated squiggoth) as a palate. I plan to experiment with a wet palate when I get set up. See “Tabletop Minions” vlog for a sensible explaination.
What else?
The chair. As you are going to be sitting in it for a long time get the best you can afford. Your back will thank you. I went for the classic Herman Miller “Aeron”. No regrets with that decision.
Cat. Sheds hairs and wants attention at the most inappropriate times, and yet so relaxing to have a purring friend on your lap.

My desk