Yet more prevaricating

Posted on November 4, 2016 by grumpyoldtin

Earlier this week we took a trip across the border (luckily nobody mentioned the war) to visit the Hans-Peter Porsche Traumwerk. A new toy museum in Bavaria.
Link here http://www.hanspeterporsche.com/

This was a really well laid out and beautifully curated museum, and as is typical of Porsche no expense was spared.

An unusual camouflage scheme which I imagine would be hard to do in real life

The lighting was a bit too subdued to take proper photographs which was a pity, but you have to also understand that they are also conserving the exhibits. Upstairs was a large collection of tin toys. This description does the displays somewhat of a disservice as the exhibits covered circuses, zoos, ships, a small amount of military, fire engines and of course trains. Lots of them.
There was a gallery looking down to the main attraction, a vast train layout.

Again this is an understatement. There were wall projections of clouds and a lighting sequence that cycled between day and night. Clouds passed over the mountains and an immersive ambient soundscape.

I’m not really a train person, but I wouldn’t mind tapping into that market, so the trains weren’t all that exciting. But the scenery was to die for.

Really well done, again it was attention to detail. You would look into the windows of a house and see that it was fully furnished.
Well worth a visit, but bring sandwiches as the restaurant was expensive (I’ve never had a meal that has been up to scratch in Germany) and the kids adventure playground was very well designed.

So how is the Dragon going I hear you ask.
Well…..
I am going to stick with the colour scheme, but I have been prevaricating. Again.
Continuing the Undead theme and the Bob Olley addiction.

So now I have a command group.

And this chap, sculpted by Justin Coutange from the Oldhammer community.

This was another entry to the Warhammer Salzburg “Spooky” painting contest. I finished him with a couple of days to spare, but I didn’t get into town to submit him.
Late news.
The figure that I did enter came second, so not too bad.

And finally this figure from Grimskull Miniatures. A bit T&A but I thought she would go nicely with my Raging Heroes Not DKK army.
So there you have it. Time to tidy the desk and knuckle down with the dragon.
Honest!

Save

First splash of paint

Posted on October 27, 2016 by grumpyoldtin

dragonhead Here is my first attempts at a colour scheme. I think I need to step away for a couple of days and re-assess it. The pale colour is a little bluer than it appears here.

There’s something in the air

Posted on October 20, 2016 by grumpyoldtin

Mostly paint particles.

I decided to strike while the iron was hot and try airbrushing the wings. The set up for airbrushing isn’t quite right yet, but a few small tweaks should get it there. More practice is required. Firstly getting the paint to the right consistancy and secondly getting the airflow/needle balance right.

And patience. Take time and build up the paint slowly otherwise it runs.

Most importantly wear a mask.

Clear the decks! The dragon is coming!

Posted on August 11, 2016 by grumpyoldtin

I haven’t painted for four months.
There has been the Puppet’s War Robot sat on my desk half done for all this time and I think I have been using it as an excuse. So I have packed it away and cleaned the desk away of any other distractions.

Tidy desk

So the next project is the dragon.

Image copyright Heresy and is used totally without permission.

Here is the post I’d written before, for the benefit of my newer followers.
https://grumpyoldtin.wordpress.com/2015/05/21/jobs-a-good-un/
This project has also be an excuse to crack on with my workshop where I plan to airbrush and do some of the dirtier jobs.

Workbench

I’m going to have a permanent airbrush set-up as before I had been packing it away after every use which I found that it put me off using it.
Part of my equipment is a single action airbrush which was being used for primer and for varnishing. I wanted a double action but the expense put me off. I use Facebook, probably too much, and one of the groups I subscribe to is the “Artblock Social” for people who went to Camborne Tech in the 80’s. The good old days before computers when there was Letraset, Cow-Gum, Type Scales, Grant Projectors, Magic Markers and of course Airbrushes. Anyway, earlier this year was a chat about Type Scales, how totally useless they are these days and why do we still have them lurking in the bottom of our drawers. So this got me thinking, and I posted that if any of the Technical Illustrators had an old one kicking about I’d gladly take it off their hands. I got a message back from one of the guys that he used to be a demonstrator and had a spare airbrush in his garage. He sent it to me and I was half expecting something quite well worn, not that I wouldn’t be grateful. When I opened the parcel I had quite a surprise, a brand new boxed DeVilbiss Aerograph Sprite!
On to the Dragon. I’d met Andy Foster from Heresy earlier this year at Salute and I had promised that this year I would be painting it. It appears that most of the dragons are boxed up on a shelf somewhere.
The next question was what colour? Red? Or green? These are your two classic colour schemes which most painters seem to follow. I was undecided. That was until last week when I had a trip to the zoo with my Boys.
Then I came across this and had my mind made up.

This is a Caiman crocodile and I was very taken by the orange and grey markings.
I think another trip to the zoo may be in order.

Job’s a good ‘un

Posted on May 21, 2015 by grumpyoldtin

It’s arrived at last! And it’s huge! Flippin’ huge!
I am of course talking about the Heresy Dragon. I ordered it before Number Two Son was even thought of.
Andy, the creative genius behind Heresy, has had an absolute nightmare producing this. Originally he thought it would take a couple of months to produce. Since then…
http://heresyminiatures.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=260

Here is a scale shot with a 28mm figure just to give you an idea.
The pity is that now it has to go back into the box for a couple of months until my man-cave is set up in our new house.
Did I say, “New house”? Yes, I did. More on that to come.

Image copyright Heresy and is used totally without permission.

Now go to Heresy and buy something!
http://heresyminiatures.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=7&zenid=663b39432d06ba7ae00dc76821cede6a

Heresy Kickstarter

Posted on August 19, 2014 by grumpyoldtin

If you can’t beat them, join them!

I want to bring back the old classic monsters in resin as it’s so much nicer to have 3 or 4 large chunks of lovely smooth resin to assemble rather than a dozen chunks of hard to put together metal.

To raise the funds for this new project – which will be shipped post-Dragon, in February next year, so don’t panic, Dragon queue, you’re still being sorted out first! – I’ve turned to that Kickstarter that they have now and that everyone seems to love.

Here’s the link, it’s live and you can pledge RIGHT NOW.

The most exciting bit?

The NetherLord Mark 1, spined and winged versions, will be exclusively available as part of this Kickstarter campaign!

Yes, all those of you who have waited years and pestered me about it at every show and buy email, this is your chance, your one chance, to get that model you missed out on a few years back. Not only is it back, but it’s beautiful. None of the problems with assembly that the metal one had, and a lovely smooth surface to paint. Also you don’t need an arm like the Hulk to hold it up to paint! There are a few early bird special offers and one or two very limited reward levels on the campaign. Just go take a look and see what catches your interest.

I’m going to be constantly adding new Large Monsters and Minions and Fallen Ones and Merch and all sorts of wonderful, evil things over the next two weeks. The Kickstarter ends Wednesday the 3rd September.

Even if you don’t want to take part yourself, please tell your friends! This might be the chance to turn things around for Heresy (and if things go really well indeed, maybe even take some time off to concentrate on clearing the dragon queue or get some new staff to help out!). I have such sights to show you, but I need you to help me get them out there!

Go, go, go!

All the best, and good luck!

Andy Foster

Heresy Miniatures Ltd

More thoughts from the void

Posted on November 13, 2013 by grumpyoldtin

First off, a confession. I have bought two copies of White Dwarf. Admittedly they have been in German, so I have just been looking at the pictures. I do wish I had looked before I bought the last copy as it was just full of Space Marines tm and bugger all else. The new edition is devoted to the new Dark Elf releases so I will carefully examine it before purchasing. I still do not think it is worth the money, especially as the first forty odd pages are a glorified catalogue and twelve pages are store directory.

Something that I have done over the last year has been to support crowd funding projects. The first was Mantic’s “Kings of War” Kickstarter. This was a huge disappointment. The Goblin figures I received lacked any sharp definition, as if they were cast in soap. When I rang to complain I was told, “Well they paint up OK.” I don’t want to spend my painting time fudging up details that should have been there at the start. Subsequent stretch goals have been received and on the whole are jus as poor. This was one Kickstarter I wish I hadn’t backed. As a result of this and the poor customer service I won’t be buying any new Mantic. The new Orcs from the Deadzone Kickstarter look rather nice, but I’ll wait and get them from Fleabay.

The second project that I backed was an Indiegogo one, Goblin Pirates sculpted by Kevin “Goblin Master” Adams. I’ve been a fan of his work since the eighties when I first started gaming. Nobody makes Goblins as charactorful as his.

A quick digression, sorry, I do this quite often as my thoughts often flit round from topic to topic without rhyme or reason. 4A Miniatures produce some beautiful Sea Goblin figures sculpted by KA. They have some more miniatures in the pipeline which I await eagerly. If you are lucky enough to attend Salute, go and visit their stand.

There is another collector who is commissioning KA to sculpt an old skool Goblin army. Search for Crooked Claw Miniatures on Goggle. I bought the Catapult and it fits in beautifully with KA’s “Machineries of Destruction” released by GW in the eighties. If I can justify it (not really as the lead mountain is high enough already) I’d love their Goblin Infantry.

And finally, Ral Partha Europe have released all the Goblinaid figures sculpted in aid of Kevin Adams after his vicious assault earlier this year.

Back to the Pirate Goblins, I had some problems with delivery and had to contact the guy via Facebook to get a result. Nice figures worth the wait.

Massive Voodoo was the next project I supported. MV are two German professional painters, Raffaele Picca and Roman Lappat, who blog about their work. Their blog is worth looking out out for not only for the figures but also for the tutorials. Their goal was to raise enough money to print a book of their work. I got it in the post a couple of months ago along with a bonus documentary book and some stickers. No regrets with this campaign.

The Iron Brotherhood was a Kickstarter campaign by Ramshackle Games. If you haven’t as yet encountered RG yet, please do. RG produce resin figures and vehicles. The vehicles are multipart and individual parts can be purchased from the website to form your own creations. The models aren’t quite as detailed as Forgeworld’s, but the casting is crisp and you’d be hard pressed to find any bubbles. Did I mention free worldwide postage and excellent service? RG’s Kickstarter aims to produce two squads of troopers, heavy weapons and a support vehicle. The troopers look as if they are wearing heavy chemical suits and I think they may fit thematically with my next Kickstarter which is from Raging Heroes, “The toughest girls of the galaxy”.

I’ve always had a soft spot for Forgeworld’s Death Korps of Krieg, who honestly hand on heart hasn’t? Raging Heroes produce the Kurgonova Sisters, female DKK kommisars, fetish stylee. One of the three factions in the Kickstarter campaign is the Iron Empire, basically female DKK troopers. Some of the fluff mentions dark necromantic powers and I thought the RG troopers would fit the bill as rather squishy reanimated corpses contained within a chem suit.

On the topic of DKK proxies, have a look at Anvil Industries “Tox Troopers”. A very passable and affordable alternative. I visited them earlier this year at their studios and very affable they were.

The one project that got away from me due to funding problems was “Arcworlde”. Run by a young chap who is showing unbelievable sculpting talent and deserves a huge following.

Not quite a crowd-funding, or maybe it is as it started before this particular wave, is the Heresy Dragon. An immense beast, look at the photos on the Heresy website. I don’t know how long this particular saga has been going on, but there have been some major casting problems due to the size and complexity of the model. It’s flipping huge and I can’t wait to get it.