Isolation

Posted on March 17, 2020 by grumpyoldtin

Unless you are living somewhere remote it can’t have escaped your attention that we are living in the times of a pandemic. Austria, like most of Europe, has told everyone to stay at home and only go out if it is strictly necessary. Schools have closed and gatherings of more than five people have been banned. England, however, has told everyone that they can, “Take it on the chin” and to be prepared to say goodbye to loved ones. After years of Tory austerity the hospitals are going to be hard pressed to cope.

Welcome to the Isle of the Damned.

It is day two of the lockdown. Luckily we have a garden to escape to and the weather has been rather pleasant. I have drawn up a list of little jobs that I have been putting off for, in some cases, years. There is no clear end date in sight so let’s see how long I last before going stir~crazy.

Two knock~on effects of the plague have been HappyLab closing and the cancellation of the Austrian Salute. The cancellation of Salute will affect me financially. I will be better off! Going always costs me money which I never recoup.

I had made a little freebie for the show. Hopefully It may get rescheduled for later in the year.

I had started making my annual freebie for this year’s BOYL event. Bring Out Your Lead, the annual gathering of the Oldhammer community.

https://www.bringoutyourlead.co.uk/

I hope it goes ahead. One year I will attend.

Painting progress, I have finished off the twelve skeletal archers for my Dragon Rampant Undead army.

As a bit of a palette clenser I am painting this figure, a Fattie from Judge Dredd.

I originally got into Toy Soldiers via Judge Dredd and 2000ad. I got the role playing game and started to get the figures that went with it. This was one figure and I had pledged to myself that I wouldn’t buy any more figures until I had painted it. After thirty five years I am making a start.

My next project is a bit of fun.

This goes with my Weird War Two ideas. I have the Doctor, Tardis and two “Ironclads”. I have Hitler and Churchill and a nazi film crew. I have managed to locate a model of the Ark of the Covenant. It should be a relatively quick job, chrome underneath and German camo on top. If anyone has a couple of Balkenkreuz going spare let me know.

After this I am prepping another unit of Gnome crossbows, kindly donated by

https://www.oldschoolminiatures.co.uk/

Banner ready for paint
Movement tray from MicroArts Studio
Sheet metal from Saint Martis
Scenic bases fashioned from cork

Scenic bases sanded and ready to receive the pinned Gnomes

That is the plague update.

Week 10 of the 2020 Painting Challenge

Posted on February 9, 2020 by grumpyoldtin

This is this week’s offering. A Chaos Hellbrute from G’Dub. Inperceptably the desk is starting to clear. Once I have decided on a unified basing scheme for my Dragon Rampant armies there will be three Spirit Hosts in very quick succession. The main project however, this month, is to paint up the Halflings I got for free from Wargames Atlantic. They are already glued, based and primed. I would like to paint them in a similar style to the Agincourt Salute figure I painted a while back.

What I did in my holidays

Posted on August 22, 2019 by grumpyoldtin

Every summer my Wife and the Boys drive down to Croatia for a holiday. Well somebody has to stay and tend to the chickens and cats. My chance to have a bit of time to myself and spread out and finish any projects that have been on hold for a while. I was a bit ill with a virus that made me very tired and demotivated so I didn’t do as much as I wanted.

Way back in 2011 I was approaching my redundancy at St. Martins and I used the time wisely. I made a whole load of these.

A plastic base, wire looped and glued into position, sand and PVA applied and primed in black. I didn’t do anything with them until now. This was the base build for some hedges. Following Mel’s videos on his YouTube channel I made a load of foam clump foliage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN16RxVNrvc Then following Luke’s videos on his YouTube channel I hade some flock. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsmD5774MOQhjYBkXqu3Jdw Using Luke’s videos I purchased some Tacky Glue, I must find somewhere here in Austria that stocks it because the postage was a killer. At my local DIY store I purchased some spray adhesive.

Stage One: paint base brown. Stage Two: drybrush base. Stage Three: apply Tacky Glue to wire and press on clump foliage. Stage Four: spray on adhesive and sprinkle with flock. I didn’t bother photographing these stages as you will get a better idea from the videos.

What I managed to do. There are some still to do but I had run out of clump foliage and the blender used for making it was awaiting a part from the UK.

Figure for scale, available from Heresy Miniatures

I must mention that Mel has been hard at work and recently had a Kickstarter to promote a book all about making wargaming terrain. If you missed it, or like me don’t have a form of money that Kickstarter recognises…. you can get on board herehttps://terrain-essentials.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

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February

Posted on March 1, 2019 by grumpyoldtin

As a reward to myself, I am not a fan of batch painting, for finishing the Gnomes I painted this fellow.

I couldn”t get the figure I was after (see previous posting) so I got this guy. Originally from Forgeworld, I got him second hand from The Troll Trader. He’s allright for a Truro Boy. https://thetrolltrader.com/ He will be the squad leader in a unit of Beastmen in my Not Imperial Guard 40K army.

Obviously I got distracted after that. So rather than finishing the Dwarf Skiers from Old School Miniatures, sorry Jamie. I found these really cute Elementals on Thingiverse. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3388214 I wasted (no) time in printing off a load and here is a test paint of one.

These are going to be based up for use in Dragon Rampant. Not that I am ever going to play it, more’s the pity. At the moment in the queue I have a: Renaissance Army from a recent Kickstarter, Undead Army mostly comprised of Bob Olley Essex Miniatures (gorgeous sculpts, I ended up buying some more to fill the gaps in my collection), Orcs and Goblins from my spares box and now an Elemental Army.

And then a couple of weeks ago I got a box of bits from Jamie. https://www.oldschoolminiatures.co.uk/ I got more distractions in the shape of more Gnomes. I’d asked for a unit of Undead Gnomes to go with my Undead Army and in the package was this guy.

I had to paint him immediately. I made a totally impracticle 20mm base for him to go on.

Now I need to crack on with two Kill Team display boards which need to be finished in about six weeks time for a show in Germany.

Maybe learning to play the game might be useful?

So what have I been up to during radio silence?

Posted on March 10, 2016 by grumpyoldtin

Well I haven’t been painting prolifically as I have been mostly working on the house.
I joined a Facebook group called 1houranight which sets monthly targets and this has been keeping me motivated.
Anyway here is a selection of work. Apologies for the variable quality of photos, one of this year’s targets is to set up a little photo set-up so I can take decent photos.

The Adventurer, his Concubine, his Accountant and his Bodyguard.
These are from Moonraker Miniatures and are part of my Rouge Trader collection.

This was a Christmas present.
It’s from Mirleton. I was disappointed to find out that there is only one pose of this as I wanted a small unit of Skaven cavalry.

Another Christmas present a Female Orc from The Dice Bag Lady aka Bad Squiddo Games.

This is from Scibor and I bought it because a friend of mine is really into Dwarves. Seriously into them. And the thought of one of his little men consorting with one of the hated enemies will drive him to dispair.

This one is from Spellcrow I think.

This is Ozzy. He was a giveaway from Casting Room Miniatures. An offshoot of Foundry. Sculpted by none other than Kevin Adams. This plus a sale and free postage was too good an offer to pass up.

This is a test paint for my Imperial Guard Ogryn unit.

Some armour for my Imperial Guard. I think I may have gone over the top with dust and mud.

This is from Kromlech. They are doing some very characterful Orks and Goblins. I have my eye on some more Goblin Pirates.
Anyway that is a round up of most of what I’ve painted. That I can remember. Sometimes I am getting a bit “Senior”.

Consistency

Posted on March 8, 2016 by grumpyoldtin

It’s been a while, and it gets worse everyday thinking I must add some more content. And then you don’t. And then the guilt builds up. So I am biting the bullet and adding a bit more content. It wasn’t helped by the fact that the editor when using a iPad was decidedly arsey.
This is the next stage for my painting, consistency in basing. I have, now, several armies each with an individual look, so it is important that the units in each army have some cohesion in basing style.

I am already recording what paints I use in a journal.
This piece of wood has been laser-cut with spaces for some 30mm bases that I don’t intend to use. The plan is to make up these bases as I make my armies and record what I have done in my journal so I will have a written record and a visual one.
I also want to experiment with other basing techniques and record the successful ones for future use.

Shop

Posted on April 15, 2015 by grumpyoldtin

The keener eyed of you may have noticed a new “Tab” at the top of my Blog. Go ahead and browse. Maybe you’d see something you’d like to buy?

An interesting painting competition

Posted on November 19, 2014 by grumpyoldtin

Well worth checking out the Massive Voodoo blog. There are lots of interesting articles and of course, this competion.

November’s workbench

Posted on November 1, 2014 by grumpyoldtin

This is what I have planned for this months workbench.
The main job is to finish a unit of Mantic Undead which will be used as Fir Bolg in my Albion Army.
Next up is to finish a unit of Home Guard for my Bolt Action Army. The figures are from Foundry and feature some well known characters.
I want to get a Penal Unit, top center, prepped and ready for painting. They are from Victoria Miniatures and they look very very good and I can’t wait to paint them. Maybe in the New Year? These are destined for my 40K Imperial Guard/Not DKK Army. Finally on the right are some Arcworlde figures, just for fun.

Oooh shiny! So much for discipline!

Posted on September 26, 2014 by grumpyoldtin

There I was, being disciplined in my painting, and along come the Orcs from the Lancer Miniatures Kickstarter.

Shiny!

So what happens? I stop painting what I was doing and start these.

Here is a view of my production line. This is pretty much what I do when I have a unit to paint.

Magnetising the bases with neodymium magnets

Cleaning the mold lines with my new Dremmel attachment

Basing with sand and PVA

Undercoating the shields. I’ve been a bit lazy and used an old can of yellow primer that I had lying around rather than using my airbrush.

Wood basecoat.

Metal painted. A test shield with wash and in the background you can see the beginnings of a movement tray.

Test shield with rust, wash and wood highlights.

September

Posted on September 18, 2014 by grumpyoldtin

Well I managed to finish painting the thirty strong unit of Celts from Warlord Games. All that remains is to finish the movement tray and the shields. The shields can wait because the transfers provided by Warlord were frankly very disappointing. They looked as if they had been printed on a cheap laser printer that was running low on toner. I’ll wait until I get to Salute and get some shield transfers from Little Big Man Studios.

http://www.littlebigmenstudios.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1_173_182&products_id=2046

Next on the workbench are some Ork Planes from Puppet’s War which I will be using as proxy Deth Kopters in my Orky K Army

August progress

Posted on August 12, 2014 by grumpyoldtin

This month is not going to plan and this month’s work is going to probably be finished in September.
Why?

Days out at Wallersee, our local lake.

Mountain walks with Number One Son

And wanting to try out some weathering effects on the Command Vehicle from Ramshackle Games.
Here it is with the chipping waiting for a coat of hairspray.

Then sprayed white then distressed with warm water and a cotton bud. It is slightly depressing to see the hours worth of painting disappearing under a coat of paint only to reveal a small part.

Next I get to try out some AK Interactive weathering products on the plough. So far my impression that it isn’t that amazing. It’s basically an expensive jar of Humbrol paint. This may change with more use. Next to the plough you can see that I have been making a start on the Celts. It has been a bit of a slog, clipping, cleaning mold lines, basing and then painting the flesh.

This is the unit with the flesh starting to take form. I’m using Foundry paints for this. Standing on a pot is the unit champian.

What is on August’s workbench?

Posted on August 3, 2014 by grumpyoldtin

This is a unit of thirty Celt warriors for my Albion WHFB army.

July’s workbench

Posted on August 2, 2014 by grumpyoldtin

This last month saw me more involved with the Boys so there was less time devoted to painting.
I managed to finish two squads of Ramshackle Games “Iron Brotherhood” troops from the Kickstarter campaign, but I didn’t manage the command vehicle.

These will complement my Anvil Industries “Tox Troopers” and the Raging Heroes “Toughest Girls of the Galaxy”, another Kickstarter I backed.
As you can see, a far amount of work to go before I even start on the camoflage.

July’s Workbench

Posted on July 7, 2014 by grumpyoldtin

This month I will mostly be painting two squads of Iron Brotherhood troops. I got these from the Ramshackle Games Kickstarter last year. I will be using them as zombie troops in my Not DKK Army alongside the miniatures from Anvil Industries (already painted) and the Iron Empire troops from the Raging Heroes Kickstarter. I plan to add some real DKK and the Leviathan from Dreamforge Games.