May I present the largest model I have ever painted.












Here is a picture heavy painting round up. Still struggling with fatigue and concentration. This is why I made this the first job of the day so it would get done.


These are walking troop transports for my Traitor Guard. There are 3D printed parts from Knucklebones patreon, resin parts from Ramshackle Games and laser cut parts.


I am not quite sure what these are. 3D printed, laser cut, resin parts and physical modelling.





This is from Redgozfasta Patreon. The guy doing this wants to work his way through the Epic Orks collection, scaling them up to 40k size. This month (May) is the Battlewagon. One of the variations is the Weirdboy Tower which I am very much looking forwards to. Entirely printed on my Ender 3 FDM printer. My genius neighbour took my printer apart and rebuilt it totally square. The results are amazing, not resin quality but pretty damn good.



This is a gun crew for my Traitor Guard. This is all from Knucklebones patreon.
https://www.patreon.com/knucklebonesminis/posts

This was from the paintpotchallenge (my elderly computer doesn’t have a hashtag) that was running on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/grumpyoldtin/?hl=en
Did I mention that I occasionally lurk on Instagram?

Finally on the painting is Khonshu imprisoned. Printed and painted in 24 hours for my youngest.
There is something big on the horizon. It has finished printing, now to assembly and painting.

For me this hasn’t been too difficult. I miss my weekly trips into Salzburg to do my laser cutting. Apart from that I haven’t had any significant changes to my routine. The Boys miss their friends and I think it is hard for them. The Playstation and Amzon Prime have helped. Doom Patrol and The Grand Tour have been liked.

Games Workshop have brought out these cute little Chibi figures. I really fancied a Skitarii (top left) and a Space Marine (centre). And didn’t mind the Sister of Battle (top right). I bought a couple at my local WARHAMMER! They are sold in blind bags so you don’t know what you are going to get. I ended up with the Assassin (bottom left) and the Sister of Battle.
As a side note I feel really sorry for the new store manager. The store is in a bad location so there is very little passing foot traffic. A site in the Old Town would have been perfect, rent skyhigh though. I was told, “off the record” by a n other previous manager that he had whole days where no one entered the store. If you have an area sales manager pushing for results….. well not an easy job.
Anyway, here is my repaint of the Sister.

I don’t quite know what to do with the Assassin, I don’t like the figure.
Next up I treated myself, I shouldn’t as I have so many amazing figures that I want to paint, but I did. I played “What a Tanker!” at last year’s SELWG and it seemed quite fun. I love tanks and I was debating whether to get some of the Rubicon models. They are not high detail like Dragon/Tamiya, but they are more designed for wargaming and are a more reasonable price. However I came across some tanks by Meng Models from their World War Toon range. Fun Tanks for a fun game. A couple of clicks on eBay and one was winging it’s merry way to me.









That was a fun model to paint. It did push me and I want to look at another technique apart from oil paints to weather the model. I definitely want to do some more. Something of note, Army Painter “Dry Rust”. Try it! It’s brilliant!
During this time I also finished my nazi UFO (pictures to follow), based and primed a unit of Gnomes, basic airbrush colours on another unit of ghostly undead, started Father Jack, made a tile set for “Four Against Darkness”, sorted through the Lead Mountain for my next project and made some high~beds for the garden.

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.

There are things that I like. Sculpts by Bob Olley and Kevin Adams. Gnomes from Ols School Miniatures. And parts from Ramshackle Games.

http://www.ramshacklegames.co.uk
I don’t know what it is, but when I get a box of bits from Curtis my imagination gets fired up. This part might fit well with this, ooh and then if I add this etc. etc.
I’ve known about Ramshackle Games for about ten years, maybe a touch more. I started off getting some fantasy models.

In my Lead Mountain I have a mahosive squiggoth-like creature which is destined to be for my Orc Overlord.
Then a few years back Ramshackle Games had a Kickstarter for sci fi troopers. This was my starting point for my necromantic “Not Imperial Guard”.

Ramshackle also make vehicles. Here is my command APC.


Later Ramshackle ran a Kickstarter for the parts to assemble Jet Bikes. Obviously I sucumbed. I have only constructed one so far. Painting it would be nice.


Then I have recently been in the mood to bash up some tankettes for my Orks. Curtis, the ever obliging, helped.




Very recently I ordered some parts to make up a robot walker type machine. In the box was included a few other bits and bobs. This one was a personal project of Curtis’s for his Realm of Chaos warband. I saw it and it called out for a little floating platform. A sort of mini Slann.


Here is the walker.


And it is accompanied by a floating sensor/gun platform. Based on a Kinder Egg with extras from Ramshackle.


If you haven’t as yet come across Ramshackle Games do have a peek at the website. There is bound to be something there for you. Would free world-wide shipping be an incentive?
Just say I sent you
This is the second board that I made for the Tabletop Knights gaming day. My kind Daughter gave me a copy of Destiny 2 when she gifted me her old PS4. One of the worlds you visit is Nessus.

I fell in love with the visuals and wanted to recreate them. In the small space of a Kill Team board I wouldn’t be able to do it justice, but maybe I could give a taste.

First up was to make flocking, My local DIY store gave me a small piece of pure white foam and the poundshop provided cheap paint to colour it.

Planning out the board

Laying down 10mm of foam under the “metal” floor plates. I wanted them raised so there was some variations in the floor level.

The buildings

Adding the sides for extra strength.

Glueing parts into position

The crane

Adding colour and weathering.

More details.

Some of the columns in place with vegetation.

Set dressing.
Over all I wasn’t so happy with this board. There were a few tiny mistakes. I didn’t like the colour scheme on the buildings. I would have approached it differently next time. I have no idea where I am going to store it now. I did offer it up for sale at the event, but no interest.
This is the first post of three regarding the Tabletop Knights show in Germany.
This will be about the first display board, Gone?

I saw this image, credit to whoever did this (if you let me know I will credit that person here) and thought, “I want this!” If you are interested I have a Pinterest page devoted to scenery. Look for Nik Green. I highly recommend Pinterest as a resource for keeping ideas from all over the interweb neat and tidy and in one place.
I got the dimensions of a Kill Team board, thirty by twenty two inches, and got two sheets of chipboard cut.

Clamping the sides

Burning the splinters off the cheap wood frame

Trimming the foam for the inserts with my Proxxon

Foam inserts fitted

Playing around with ideas

Track chopped out and starting to detail the edges with strips of cork tile

A Lego wheel being used for detailing

Gravel from Walersee and fine river silt used for detailing


Building before and after painting

Starting to build up the layers

I made a pipeline out of some scrap pipe from a skip and some laser cut supports. I magnetised the feet so it could be removed for transportation.

Everything in situ

Silt! Silt everywhere!






Paint and weathering applied

Tuft mania


And then scatter
I think the scatter needs to be more yellow to match the tufts. Added to this was some water effects. Overall I am very happy with this board. Some minor tweeks as noted are required.
I think I have found some ideal figures to represent Abhuman Beastmen in my Not Imperial Guard army.
Moonraker Miniatures Phagons were in the running, but these popped up in my news feed this morning.

This comes from Albedo Combat Patrol Miniatures Game
http://acp164.com/
There will be a Kickstarter later this month so I will keep updating with more information.
So now the search is on for this miniature to be the squad Leader.


A really quick and dirty job. These are from Dreamforge Games and I’ll be using them as Storm Troopers in my Not-Imperial Guard Army. It was a quick hose with the airbrush and a few little brush additions. Not my best work, but I just wanted to knock one out and have something on the table in a couple of days.
These figures actually deserve a bit more time and attention as they have some lovely detail.

This, I expect most of you know this already, is the eighth iteration of the Warhammer 40K rule-set. I hadn’t played since Rogue Trader, the first iteration, back in the eighties.
I was lured to this by a new streamlined ruleset and the promise of not having to lug around armfuls of codices like the previous editions.
Something simple for me and the Boys.
I used the money earned from gardening towards this coupled with a discount from my “Local” (ha ha) gaming store.
The box is rather beautifully presented and it feels value for money. Fifty odd figures, thick rulebook and dice etc.
No complaints there.

Top left, an old Chaos Marine from the eighties. Centre three figures from the Death Guard “push-fit” box. Rear right, a plastic Chaos Marine from the nineties?
As usual I’m far behind in my posts. Laziness, a trip to Legoland and starting work at Electric Love Festival. The ELF is my work for the next seven weeks with some very long days ahead the nearer the festival gets, so don’t expect much posting from me. If all goes to plan I want to by a small (400mm x 300mm) laser cutter with the money.
This was the event that I had been invited to the previous year and due to communication problems I didn’t make it. This year I did. Okay there were some problems with road signage and autobahn exits that were closed, but I was there.
It was advertised as a gaming day and it most definitely it was. There were three tournaments that day; Warhammer 40K, Infinity and Firestorm Armada. Also being played was Saga, Bolt Action, the ubiquitous Frostgrave, X-Wing Age of Sigmar, Kings of War, Force on Force, Kugelhagel and a very brief appearance of Test of Honour (replaced by Halo Fleet).


It was held in a much larger space than the Austrian Salute. The thing I have found at gaming days is that I felt very slim. The average physique on display was, politely, well rounded.
Something I like to do, in the evenings (life permitting) is mucking around with sound. I want to make my gaming a little more immersive. This is one of my attempts. I am not able to post directly here, so here is a link to my website where I am hosting it.
http://www.payattention.altervista.org/Atmospheres/intercepted%20transmission.html
A few years back, when I was at CSM, the canteen was having a clear-out and I came across these plastic plates.

We used them in our greenhouse, back in London, to put plant pots on. But always in the back of my mind I thought they might be useful for something hobby related.
Over here now and getting settled. Time to start unpacking boxes and I came across them. Tick tick tick, hmmmm?

I laser-cut a base and some gubbins to make it a bit more interesting but I seem to have missed out photographing the base painting and the chipping.

Here we are masking the structure to add a white stripe.

Masking the whole structure to avoid overspray.

As you can see my airbrushing was not very successful. Instead of gently building up the layers I blasted away with the end result being this where the paint went under the masking.

This was remedied by adding a line of marker pen.

Adding rust streaks with oil paint.

The finished product. I wanted to provide a quick photo as I’m certain it is going to feature in more photos in the future.
If I can point you in the direction of this blog
http://port-imperiale.blogspot.co.at/
It’s Blogs like this that keep me on my toes.
Now that reminds me…. I’ve got some small flowerpots I picked up at Ikea because they had some plastic grass in them.
I wanted some civilians for my future games of Rogue Trader/Rogue Stars so it’s not just two groups of fighters slugging it out. I’m now trying to figure out some form of group dynamic. Maybe three or four influencers to roll direction/scatter dice for and everyone else following them. This might make life interesting for the fighters if they have a crowd charging towards them in the middle of a firefight.

The Patron, his Concubine, his Bodyguard and his Accountant. These are from Moonraker Miniatures

Colony 87 from their Kickstarter

Citadel Paranoia ‘bots and a certain melancholic android from Denizen Miniatures

Speeder Bike from Denizen, scratch-built easel and Painter Kevin from Foundry

Slave Market. Minions, not sure about them I got them in the 80’s. Naked girl and man with staff from Unfeasibly Miniatures. Kneeling girl from Brother Vinni. Bodyguard from Warlord Games.

These were from some freebie figures I got at Salute. Maelstroms Edge with bits from Warlord Games, Victoria Miniatures and Perry Miniatures.

A Fatty from Citadel’s Judge Dredd. Privateer Press and Ramshackle Games.

A Cartographer from Ral Partha Europe. Traders from Lead Adventures and a Gentleman from the Slaver set from Unfeasibly Miniatures.

Moonraker and Reaper

Reluctant to be photographed, Meridian Miniatures and Moonraker in the center.

Denizen

Denizen
My target is for about fifty. Getting them painted would be good.
And yes, I am prevaricating about the Dragon.
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