Tag Archives: enormous wobbly breasts

A bit of an update

Posted on by
Reply

As I said previously, painting has more or less ground to a halt. Not that I haven’t been productive in other areas. My main push was to get stuff ready to sell at the Austrian Salute in March.
That was quite tiring and on the day itself I suffered with fatigue and a nasty gum infection, so I didn’t really see the day in a positive way. I made the grand sum of three Euro but the guy next to me, from Templates and Widgets, also selling some laser-cut accessories told me that at his first show he didn’t sell anything.
A far better report of the show, with pictures, has been written by Sigur of Battlebrush Studios
http://taleofpainters.blogspot.co.at/2015/03/show-report-austrian-salute-2015.html

A 180 degree view of the show.

A 180 degree view of the show.


Number One Son looking after business

Number One Son looking after business


The project I have been getting on with is this.
house
A laser-cut model from the old Warhammer Cities book. The only problem is that I can’t sell it as it is based on a design by GW. I have now started searching the interweb for pictures of medieval timber framed buildings for the next one. If I find the right design I can tap into the historical market as well.

Half steam ahead!

Posted on by
1

It’s been very slow on the painting front this month. I’ve been out of hospital and voluntarily stopped my pain management medication. I have to say that was really hard. If I had trouble after a week how do people manage who have been on that stuff for far longer. My head is now a lot clearer which is good.
The Austrian Salute is this saturday and it will be my debut. There isn’t much of a range yet and I really hope that people will like what I’m doing. The pricing worries me slightly as my bits are quite pricey. I’m making stuff that I would want on my gaming table, and it’s quite complex and time consuming to make. For example one small 40mm x 40mm x 40mm crate is working out at a sale price of six Euro! This is me paying myself 10 Euro an hour to do the cutting, material (more of which in a minute) and then multiplying by three, which is what they do in the catering/fine dining industry. This doesn’t factor in travel times and collating the big bag of minute parts you are gifted with at the end of cutting or designing and printing labels and buying bags to put the product in.
Material, here’s the joke. I had been buying 4mm ply at the local hardware store and it had been just under a fiver for a metre square and they cut it for free. It seems that the laser-cut industry seems to work on 3mm MDF. So I found a supplier not too far away and online the price was one seventy a square metre. Result, I thought. When I went to pick it up I was presented a bill three times the amount I expected. They charged by the minute for the cutting, by a trained sloth so it appears. Twenty 500mm x 500mm sheets in fifteen minutes! I can understand if I wanted differing sizes. Set stop position, butt wood to stop, cut and check that the first cut is the right size. Repeat.
So I either have to find another supplier or I work in 4mm ply. Which to be honest I don’t mind as ply is a lot more resilient than MDF.

So here is the laser-cutter hard at work. As you can see I don't actually get that much out of a sheet because of the layers and complexity

So here is the laser-cutter hard at work. As you can see I don’t actually get that much out of a sheet because of the layers and complexity


Here I am collating components in the front room.

Here I am collating components in the front room.

January/February work

Posted on by
1

It’s been a bit slow of late. Partly lack of motivation. Partly preparing artwork for the GOT shop. And also some health issues. I have had to go into hospital for an operation to remove some rogue cells. The after care medication is knocking me for six at the moment.
Anyway, I finished the Ratling Snipers and managed to do one base of my beloved Snotlings.
rat6rat1rat2rat3rat4rat5snot
I also did an illustration for someone attending this years BOYL, Bring Out Your Lead. The annual Oldhammer bash at Foundry HQ.Erik1
He wanted an eighties style of illustration. There’s room for improvement, but I haven’t really picked up a pen in years, so not too shabby. Not one bloody word of thanks mind you. Hmmmm.

Some more bits for my retail empire

Posted on by
Reply

Productive day today. I managed to get four batches cut today.

cont
The first was the shipping container. This time I got the setting right and didn’t have to spend an hour cutting it out. There are a couple of etch-lines which need attention. But I’m there.
case
This is a packing case. I probably won’t be selling this. Working on a formula of, “Three times time and materials” this works out at six Euro each. I don’t see many wargamers forking out that much for a single piece. So I need to make something a little less complicated in a cheaper material. This is made with 4mm ply rather than the much cheaper 3mm MDF. Which I have now sourced thankfully, now to find affordable acrylic.
los
“Line Of Sight” markers. These are designed for your less sporting opponent. For example, I have some of my Ork Stormboyz mounted on flying bases. So when they land behind a large obstacle anybody reasonable would assume they couldn’t be seen. So if you get anyone picky, “I can see your Ork, so I can shoot at the entire unit,” just replace your figure with a marker. “Can you see it now?”
alb
Finally a plaque for my Albion Army, when I finally get my display case out of storage.

Maybe something a little new

Posted on by
Reply

There has been a reason why I have been a little slow this month, I’m starting on a little side project. Yes soon you’ll be able to buy Grumpy Old Tin Products!
In the past I had access to a laser-cutter and made a few little gaming aids for myself. I missed that moving over here. Looking online at what is offered to wargamers I was really saddened at what shoddy goods were being promoted to wargamers (there are some notable exceptions). If you Goggle, “laser cut art” you will see some amazing and beautiful work. So why isn’t it filtering down to us?
Well the answer is that every Thomas, Richard and Harold who think they can draw a square in a CAD program is getting in on the act.
I want better than that. My aim is to start producing beautiful gaming aids and terrain/scenery and painting aids and you name it.
Everything is possible.
You’ll already have seen that I have started branding myself and have now done the social meejah stuff with a twitter (what’s the bloomin’ point) account and a Facebook page.
Here is the first prototype. Bit of a learning curve and a few rough edges.
The Boundary Country Shipping Container.
container

January progress

Posted on by
2

I’ve had a real slow month this month, a bit depressed and some minor health worries have taken my painting mojo. I have really been put to shame by the output of some other people, mentioning no names, amateurairplanes. My mood also hasn’t been improved by advised, by a builder we hired, not to buy the house we had been looking at as it had potentially too many problems and would end up being a money pit. So back to square one!
These guys were my first unit of the year and for a while the painting just didn’t do anything for me. It’s only been in the last week when I started detailing that they have started to pop. With a little push they won’t take long to finish.
ratling4

ratling3

ratling2

ratling1

ratling5
So obviously I’m behind this month and I’m very tempted to leave the painting schedule behind and just paint Snotlings this month.
But on a positive note, I have embarked on a new project, still wargaming related. It’s early days yet, but once I have something to show you I will.

Dezember’s finished work

Posted on by
1

tree
Treelady from Ultraforge Miniatures for my Albion Army.
I didn’t manage to do much over December, I wasn’t very inspired and this shows it. There are bits i am happy with and bits that are a bit bland and ho-hum. It was good practice with the airbrush getting some highlights and shadows.

Christmas and New Year freebies

Posted on by
Reply

loot
Here’s some of the bits I picked up for modelling over the holiday season.
The amorphous white blob on the left was some “Snow” used in my local shopping centre. I will be using this to make some explosion markers. Teased out, glued onto washers and airbrushed. Also in the future I plan to make some flickering musket smoke for my British Peninsular Army.
In the middle you see some nose cones from fireworks, very popular here for New Year’s Eve. These will go in my bits box to make rockets and random scenery for my Orks.
At the bottom are the left over wires from Christmas Tree sparklers. I was looking at Daggerandbrush’s, https://daggerandbrush.wordpress.com/, rather excellent tutorial on making trees and thinking about getting some florist wire to try it out.
Come Christmas we put sparklers on the tree.
spark
Tidying up the next day I was taking them off the tree and thought, “Umm nice pliable wire”. So these have been put to one side to be used soon.
I read Wargames Illustrated, it’s for the articles, honest! Looking at the December 2014 issue there was a photo feature on Brits versus Germans.

Image copyright Wargames Illustrated. Used without permission. Taken from issue 326 December 2014. Article Brits versus Germans. Page 105. By the Derby Wargames Club. www.wargamesillustrated.net

Image copyright Wargames Illustrated. Used without permission. Taken from issue 326 December 2014. Article Brits versus Germans. Page 105. By the Derby Wargames Club. http://www.wargamesillustrated.net


Now I’m a sucker for good scenery and ideas for making it, especially on the cheap. I kept returning to this image wondering what was familiar. Then it dawned on me that the crops were in fact bits of carefully trimmed artificial Christmas tree. All I had to do was keep my eyes peeled after the festive season for any discarded trees.
loot1
What turns up? And in the bins in the block where I live, so I didn’t even have to leave the building!

My review of 2014

Posted on by
3

Overall I have achieved a fair amount of work this year, although I did peter out in November and December. I managed to hit most of my painting targets for last year. Still to finish are a unit of British Infantry and to finish the Albion Faeries and Ork Jets which I’d started. Purchasing wise I bought 76 figures and managed to paint about 202. So the lead mountain is slowly getting chipped away. Although I am getting to a very competent standard of painting there is always room for improvement.
I figured out how to make movement/display trays for my round based troops and the result looks good.
Over the year I have received a lot of support and encouragement from the blogging community. Special mentions go out to: DaggerandBrush, Skarach’s World, AmateurAirplanes and Sigur from Battlebrush Studios. And of course a big shout out to my old gaming buddy Mug’O’Dice.
This coming year I want to engage more in Social Meejah and promote my blog a bit more. This will mean embracing Goggle+, banner advertising and actually engaging with the Blogosphere. Something else I want to do more of this year is laser cutting. I used to have the services of a laser cutter at my last job which was so useful for making markers and tokens.
Plus I want to pluck up the courage to post my work on CoolMiniOrNot.
There are two products I would like to suggest for Product of the Year 2014.
The first is Vallejo’s Metal Medium. This adds a beautiful highlight to your metalwork and can be mixed with ordinary paints to produce any metallic shade you could wish for. I must recommend that every painter has this in their arsenal.
The second product is Baking Parchment. It’s uses are many and varied. Painting base edges where you’ll have a wet surface potentially sticking to the table-top. Making a non-stick surface when cutting out a spray mask. Applying washes to a row of shields. Etc. etc. etc.
I still want to paint a unit a month. If I knuckle down I could finish an army. However this would be really dull and repetitive. I prefer to have some variety. I would like to enter some models into the Massive Voodoo competition, which runs until April. I don’t stand a chance of winning, against Golden Demon winners, but it will push me to improve. This is what I propose to paint this year.
* A unit of Ratling Snipers and an empty scenic base.
* Napoleonic Artillery
* Albion Sword Maidens
* And if they arrive in time a unit of Raging Heroes Troopers
After I have dealt with the Massive Voodoo competition then it will be, in no particular order:
* Finish my Roman Army, this is not so bad as it sounds, one fortified base and one commander.
* A DKK squad
* Napoleonic cavalry
* DKK Death Riders
* A unit of Centaur cavalry for Albion
* Another squad of Home Guard and a squad of British Infantry
* A Squig Mangler for my Orc and Goblin Army
* Albion Skirmishers
Other options with I may slot in are:
* A Dreamforge Titan
* The deodorant speeder for Rouge Trader
* Some Titanforge Undead Goblins
* Some 4A Miniatures Kevin Adams Goblin Seafolk
* A squad of Fallschirmjäger as opponents for my Home Guard
This year will be about smaller units and treats, rather than batch painting which I’m finding a drag.
This could be academic if we do settle on a house because I’d like to focus on making it habitable. And of course making my “Man-Cave”.
I would like to to ask if anyone has experience of insuring their collection as I am increasingly looking at my collection as my Boy’s inheritance.
So without boring you further, I bid you a creative and motivated 2015, and to quote from the late great comedian Dave Allen, “May your god go with you.”