A little update on the painting

Posted on September 6, 2022 by grumpyoldtin

I have a few more pictures to add, since May. May? Where did the time go?

This is some armoured centaur legs, from the Makers Cult, scaled up from AT scale to 40K scale. The top half is an Armiger. This was a test of the livery I am using on my Titan, sat in a box awaiting paint. The lesson wot I did lern is to not apply gloss varnish until all the armour is painted. The gold was very problematic because of this. My next big print project is a Reaver Titan mounted on the Makers Cult 40K scale centaur legs. Warlord might be a bit much.

This is from the Tesseract Tomb Patreon. I have wanted a train set for ages and he is going to be producing parts over the next few months.

This is the Marauder Giant which is now starting to fetch eye watering prices on Fleabay. Many thanks to the Delta Squad who made this possible. First rule etc.

Finally a Spaash Mareen. Number One Son and I have been taking advantage of the 9Euro German rail tickets and have been travelling to Munich for lunch, As you do. I thought I would pop into WARHAMMER! and try out this newfangled Contrast paint that all the cool kids are using these days. The Red Shirt gave me a figure to try it on. While I was slappinig paint on he was inanely chatting to me in English, but in German was really (like really) pushing the hobby onto Number One Son.

One of our lunches. Nothing too extravagant, just a pork knuckle, potato dumpling, dark beer gravy and sauerkraut.

BUT as a result of the trip to WARHAMMER! Number One Son has expressed an interest in gaming. So now the modular table is getting some use, perhaps I need to get on and paint it? We are using our own version of One Hour Skirmish.

https://penandswordbooks.com/subject-categories/collecting-games-hobbies/wargaming/one-hour-skirmish-wargames.html

A system which utilises playing cards instead of dice which can make the turn system chaotic and fun. Highly recommended.

I also have been distracted by kittens, we are helping a neighbour rehouse kittens. Her farm is used as a dumping ground for unwanted kittens and she finds it a bit too much at times.

We also have been having family days out.

Display cases

Posted on February 3, 2022 by grumpyoldtin

Dagger and Brush wanted to know what my display setup was. Here is my response.

You will have to excuse the poor lighting, a project for this year. This is the current state of my hobby room. it tends to be used as an overspill while we organise the house.

This was my first display case, from Ikea about twenty five years ago. I thought that I would never fill it. Little did I know.

After moving over here i got these two from a second hand store.

I have recently just got these two. I should really have been a bit more patient because the shelves are only just bigger than A4. Holes have been drilled to add more shelves. The cabinet on the left has nine shelves from its original four and the cabinet on the right has (or will have) twelve shelves. As the bottom shelf was directly sat on the floor and I have built a plinth to raise them up. I have to admit to some pleasure in being able to go to my workshop, cut some wood on my circular saw and make it there and then. Trips to the local recycling are called for to get glass for the shelves. Again (thanks to my Post Grad in Glass) I have the tools and experience to cut the glass to size and linish the edges to make them safe. Illuminating the shelves will be another project for this year.

I’m not dead!

Image

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.

A reflection on life

Posted on September 10, 2019 by grumpyoldtin

Going off topic. Again. I thought I would post this little nugget while I think about what to post next.

Living a little higher (read what you like into this) means that you are in the sunshine whilst everyone else is in the mirk.

Transport skiff

Posted on September 4, 2019 by grumpyoldtin

This model was loosely inspired by a model I saw in the Trash Bash Bits group on Facebook. The original was made from a fly-swatter. It wasn’t quite what I had imagined but it sparked an idea.

The first iteration looked like this.

Standing figure from Moonraker Miniatures and the seated figure is from a batch of “O” Guage model railway figures sourced from eBay.

There were some issues, some of which I addressed in the next iteration.

The next iteration was like this.

Correction required.

Comparison shot of the two. You can see I have added some extra detailing to the cabin roof.

Iteration two with cargo and kitten for scale.

Iteration three will elimate these issues and hopefully be the final model.

Arsie’s Painting Toolbox

Posted on September 1, 2019 by grumpyoldtin

Now I have successfully trashed my following I can get back on track.

ars2 Confession time, I love painting books.

ars3 From G’Dub to Kevin Dallimore to CMoN via Angel Giraldez and Picca and Lappat. They are on a shelf above my painting area and frequently beside my bed for late night perusal. ars1 This book was recommended on the ‘Eavier Metal painting group on Facebook. I ordered it, it wasn’t cheap, a bit out of my current financial comfort zone.

The book arrived fairly promptly and I sat down to study it. People say that first impressions count. I was hugely dissapointed and I have had great difficulty picking it up again to look at. I’ve had several attempts and each time is the same.

In his defence Javier Gonzales is a hugely talented painter as several Golden Demons and Slayer Swords attest.

So what is putting me off this book?

It is a combination of small things, the sum is greater than the whole.

The paper it is printed on feels cheap, slightly rough. All my other books, with the exception of the early G’Dub painting guides, are printed on coated stock. They have either a satin or glossy finish. They feel pleasant to handle. One factor in the perceived value of the book.

The next item is a design oversight which should have been picked up in the proof stage. ars8 In the corner of each page is a little black paint splash which is intended (I think) to have the page number in. What really annoys me is that this is the second edition of this book and this should have been picked up. Numbers have been added at the top of the page but they feel just like an afterthought.

The type has been set Justified and leaves too many widows which makes for hard reading. ars6

Text aligned left and less leading. Much easier to read.

Visually there is too much leading, the space between the lines, dropping down a couple of points would have helped.

It definitely would help with the next problem, the layout of the step-by-steps. Less line spacing would have freed up more space to enable better layout.

ars5 ars4 If you look at the other layouts you can see that every picture clearly references a corresponding block of descriptive text.

ON THE SAME PAGE!

No flipping back and forth between pages to read about the techniques applied in the image. This really disrupts the flow of the tutorials. The Author references other instructional painting books yet fails to apply what makes them so good to his own work.

In chapter two, “Preparing the Figure” the Author has a picture of the various tools he uses. ars9 Underneath is a numbered list of tools. But the numbers don’t refer to the picture which is unnumbered and some tools are missing. A couple of page later he refers to using a brass disc with a hand-drill to polish the surface of the model. What does this brass disc look like? How does he hold the model?

I wish I could read Spanish. Miniature painting is a subject the Author knows well and he has a passion for it. I think the translator has done him a disservice as at times the text is stilted and at times hard to make sense of.

Some of the images are out of focus and some diagrams are pixelated.

Is this book worth buying: No.

Would I recommend this book to other people: No

BUT with some work, noted above, the third edition may be worth considering.

“I’m not the messiah!”

Posted on August 27, 2019 by grumpyoldtin

“Hello” to my new followers, or rather I should say “Hello” to my new random followers. I’ve visited your blogs. We have nothing in common.

I am a curmudgeonly old git with no social skills or graces. There are no pearls of wisdom to scatter before you. If you think that using someone elses quotes and random unattributed stock photos is going to set the blogosphere alight. well ….

Somehow I don’t see myself ever being an “influencer”. Already that word is starting to have negative connotations.

If you take the trouble to examine my site stats you can see that I barely have a handful of followers and lurkers, hello Ruth. I am certain that there are a couple of bots and one is a dog. Добро пожаловать мои верные товарищи-роботы! И собачий приятель.

I blog to keep sane.

I blog, badly, about a very dull niche topic.

I blog about nothing that would help you raise your blog profiles. In fact linking to my blog would probably kill your traffic.

So please

Feel free to unfollow.

Images are Copyright their respective owners. Used without permission.

Queenie Snufflebum

Posted on August 23, 2019 by grumpyoldtin

Finally we are a four cat family again. One cat for each of us. May I introduce Queenie.

She is my replacement for Brian who sadly died a couple of years ago. Very much a cuddle cat, except when play hunting, But as yet she hasn’t learned to curl up on my lap when I’m working.

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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Electric Love 2019

Posted on August 21, 2019 by grumpyoldtin

This was my fourth Summer working here and I think my last. I greatly enjoyed the production side of the job, the actual making and preparing for the festival. But working at the festival under the supervision of “Team Leaders” who liked to show off their status and avoid actual work was not so much fun.

So let’s crack on with the pictures. Look away if you are at all squeemish. It was my Summer job, but on the first day it snowed.

Production has moved away from Thalgau, a bike ride away, to Hallein which is much further away. Production has now taken over what was an indoor kids playground where we used to take to Boys.

I had a little mishap. The “official” story is that I was in a container and dropped a big box of screws on my toe. The end result was that I ended up in hospital with a broken toe. I’m waiting on what is happening with sick pay. HR have been nice to me so far, and I had two weeks working in the storage/supplies, in theory with my foot up as recommended by the hospital, in practise errr… no.

Immediately after my mishap. I didn’t think it was too bad, until I took off my shoe.
Sewing toe-nail back on.
Wooden block and grip-tape so I could cycle back home.

As usual we had to contend with the rain

On the first day of the festival Red Bull put on an amazing display, which my old camera was far too slow to capture. Four aircraft, two WW2 Planes and an acrobatic plane and jet. The whole display was wasted on the crowd who were seriously indifferent.

Obligatory selfie in front of the Q Dance stage

I had four days, during the featival, zooming around the site on a Gator

Sound systems from around the campsite. Some people didn’t even bother going to the festival and spent their time partying there.

And Paris Hilton came to visit. She didn’t say, “Hi!” though.

Updating

Posted on August 20, 2019 by grumpyoldtin

So that’s the Summer done and dusted. I have been a little slow on the progress reports. A combination of laziness and the Black Dog.

Look forwards to a flurry of updates, well maybe one or two. Let’s start with the painting done before Electric Love.

These two are from the Old School Miniatures range. “The Circus of Corruption” Jamie sent them to me and it seemed rude not to paint them up.

https://www.oldschoolminiatures.co.uk/circus-of-corruption-15-c.asp

More from Jamie. These are from the abolutely gorgeous Gnomes range. This is part of the Baggage Train. I swapped out the goat and replaced it with a snail which I thought was more appropriate.

https://www.oldschoolminiatures.co.uk/alpine-gnomes-3-c.asp

As you might have guessed I love this Gnomes range of Jamies. Some scenery is forthcoming from me and this is the first.

Next up is from Alternative Armies. This guy will be used in my Beastman unit in my “Not” Imperial Guard Army.

GRN53 Zarglain High Prefect

I couldn’t get (rather couldn’t afford) the Beastman Squad Leader, so I settled for this guy from Forgeworld.

More updates on the painting coming soon. KEEP WATCHING THE SKIES!

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Tabletop Knights Gaming Day 2019

Posted on May 3, 2019 by grumpyoldtin

I really should have written this much sooner, as always laziness overtook me.
For a far more eloquent account of this event I will direct you to
https://www.battlebrushstudios.com/2019/04/show-report-tabletop-knights-games-day.html
I decided to forgo Walter’s Austrian Salute this year. Walter has no intention of expanding and with last years event with a lack of sales and culinary disaster I wasn’t keen to attend.
Christoph’s event, Tabletop Knights, was a bigger event and he is keen to expand.
Preparing for this event has taken a couple of months making two display boards, Nessus and Gone?
Two days beforehand i was struck down with the lurgy, cold, tired runny nose. Great!
First day of the school holidays, which would normally be spent sleeping in, we got up extra early so we could drive to Germany and set up for nine.
There were a couple of traders there.
Obviously Christoph with his lasercut Roostermodels products. Which reminds me to get a banner made up.

Roll The Dice. I had made some little give-aways for them and Martin appreciated them. I had hoped that he would bring some paint along as I have a few gaps with need filling. Sadly no.
Spiele Cafe had a tombola, which my Son’s happily indulged in, and some demo games.
Spellebrette (can’t read my writing) had discount GW.

My table set up

The day was started by and address by Korbi.

View of the hall

There was a 40K tournament running downstairs

So on to the tables and games.
Roll the Dice had two demo games. Wild West Exodus and the Warlord Games ripoff of Wings of War.

GW Night Vault.
Unpainted figures.

Summoners
Interesting models.
But not another rule set?

A Song of Ice and Fire

Gates of Antares
Interesting cardboard scenery

Last Days
Yet another zombie apocalypse!

Test of Honour

Frostgrave
With Christoph’s scenery

Dead Man’s Hand
Something that potentially of interest to me.
Christoph’s scenery

Freebooter’s Fate
Nice scenery from 4Ground

Guildball
Bloodbowl anybody?

Age of Sigmar
‘Nuff said

WH30K
Nice scenery from Deathray

WH40K
With added Tyrannids, a lot of them!

Walter playing Saga

The usual Star Wars
Legion and Armada

Painting competition

Trade was very slow. Until lunchtime my biggest sellers were some coffee mats that I’d made with scraps of wood from the Happylab recycle bin. I managed to sell my entire box of scrap off-cuts from laser cutting. I had a couple of enquiries about making some custom token trays. Sadly nothing has come of this. Martin from Roll the Dice bought some of my static grass to test out the waters.
I did enter the painting competion, and got a third place in the single figure catagory with my Earth Warden.
There was no culinary disasters and the food was hot, plentiful and reasonably priced.
Overall the day was a bit of a disapointment. Low sales, a supposed gaming opponent didn’t show and a long wait due to the 40K tournament for the awards ceremony. If I do attend next year I will not be putting such an effort into a display board.

Picture this

Posted on March 5, 2019 by grumpyoldtin

One day I will learn how to take decent photos of my painting. Maybe if I stop gadding about from project to project? One thing that I have seen has been a little photographic scenic corner made by one of the Oldhammer Community. That would be useful and wouldn”t take up too much space. So I set out to make one. This is my work in progress and I’ll post when finished.