Here are a couple of Kickstarters which might be worth considering.
I was lucky enough to receive some as a Birthday present from OS Miniatures so I couldn’t resist slapping some paint on them. I’ll post some pictures when they are finished.
The second Kickstarter is from Keta Minies. I backed a previous KS campaign and the quality was outstanding.
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/
That is the plague update.
It has been a busy week what with getting ready for; Austrian Salute (more details soon), redecorating Number Two Son’s room and keeping up with my New Year’s resolution/2020 Painting Challenge.
This week Jamie from Old School Miniatures posted that he was struggling and he proposed a quick challenge to motivate everyone. This was on Wednesday and those who wished to take part had to post a picture of a miniature that had not been started and it had to be finished tomorrow, Sunday.
This is my finished figure. A Halfling drummer from Warploque Miniatures sculpted by the talented Alex Huntley. I will be using him in my “not” Empire army.
http://www.warploqueminiatures.com/
For the regular 2020 Painting Challenge I managed to paint the command group of my Skeleton archers. These are from Scotia Grendel. Not my first choice of sculpts, these were in exchange for some laser cutting, I really wanted something to match my Bob Olley Essex Skeletons. So far I have not found anything that comes close.
As you can see my photography hasn’t improved much, but I will keep fiddling.
One of my two favourite figure scultors (Bob Olley being the other) has finally decided to set up his own dedicated webspace come shop. The one and only Kevin “Goblinmaster” Adams. I have been a fan of his work since the mid eighties and it was his figures and the accompanying fluff in White Dwarf that made me (until recently) Orc and Goblin to the core. If it ain’t a KA Goblin then it ain’t a Goblin. Although to be fair Brian Nelson gave it a fair old stab. Over the years I have tried on a limited buget to try and back various projects of his; 4A Miniatures, some rather nice Sea Goblins; Crooked Claw, a rock thrower; Greenskin Wars, armoured Orcs and Goblins; Ral Partha and Warmonger Miniatures.
Then there was the vicious attack upon him where he was seriously injured. This prompted various sculpters to produce figures for “Goblinaid”.
This brought Kevin back into the limelight and he has been busy, for other people. This looks set to change as he has just announced a new website.
http://www.goblinmaster.online
There are tentative plans to launch a Kickstarter on the First of February and from the photographs on the site there appears to be a new Pump Waggon. YAY!
The Facebook 2020 Painting Challenge group has spurred me on the get the unit of Skiing Dwarves finished. They had been sat for far too long on my desk and I think my sticking point was the unit standard. I am still not happy with it but once it was done the rest of the figures seemd to come on much easier.
These are available from
https://www.oldschoolminiatures.co.uk/
Old School Miniatures have a new project up for pre-order, The Battle of the Vale. Featuring Halflings fighting off various chaotic thugs.
The main attraction for me is the Dragon and the Thief.
https://www.oldschoolminiatures.co.uk/the-dragon–the-thief-43-c.asp
This has been sculpted by the depressingly talented Aaron Howdle.
You can visit his website and take a peek at his rather lovely illustrations.
Portfolio
The most excellent OS Miniatures company has a new Kickstarter.
More Gnomes!
As you know I have a great love for these figures and can’t wait to get my hands on this new unit and extras.
Please go and support it.
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.
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!
This is the first project from this year.
You may remember I have been growing closer ties with The Old School Miniature Company. These ties will continue to grow. I have reviewed my sales from this blog and they have amounted to zero. When it is time to renew my contract in March I’m not going to pay for the additional functionality, but settle for a more streamlined site and save myself seventy Euros. I’ll keep the dot com this year as I have had cards made up with that address, Next year I will get my own site and save more money. Maybe. OS Miniatures have their own shop and I have been getting a few orders from it. So for me it’s a lot easier to make one parcel stuffed full of bits and post it off and let them do the marketing, which I suck at, etc.
Anyway back on topic.
A while back OS miniatures did a Kickstarter for a Gnome army suitable for Warhammer Fantasy Battle. This came complete with Army Lists for Third Edition and Sixth Edition. They looked like a nice fun army and Jamie from OS Miniatures obliged me with a set.
I’ve painted them in a quick and dirty style. Base colours, a wash and highlights on the flesh. The banners probably took more time than the units they are with. The image is scanned from a book. Resized in Photoshop and printed out in BW on my laser printer then painted. Each base is magnetised and the movement trays are from a big batch of Micro Arts Studio that I got on the cheap from Troll Trader. The grass tufts and flowers are made by me and will soon be on sale at OS Miniatures.
Some of my longterm readers may remember a post from early 2015
https://grumpyoldtin.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/januaryfebruary-work/
Well I never heard a word of thanks or received a t-shirt. I was a little disheartened by this.
Anyway, earlier this year somebody posted on the Oldhammer Facebook Community page that a group from Exeter was planning to attend BOYL.
BOYL, Bring Out Your Lead, is sort of THE event to attend for Oldhammerers. Hosted at Wargames Foundry it is a chance for people to meet up and play games with old figures and game systems.
https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/pages/oldhammer
I posted asking if anybody knew Joe Bloggs, the guy who’d asked for the illustration. I got a response asking why and I replied that I was the illustrator and I was still waiting for my t-shirt.
I did get an apology from Joe and the promise that the t-shirt would be sent.
But I did get another message. Would I be intersted in letting my illustation be used for a new miniatures company? There would be some lead and a t-shirt in exchange.
This company had just run a Kickstarter for a very Oldhammer Gnome army which I had fallen for big-time but didn’t have the funds to back.
My response was immediate and in the affirmative.
Just after this Joe sent the t-shirt. It was a less than positive experience. The shirt had been worn and then washed, for which I was grateful. I don’t know why, because most of my clothes these days come from flohmarkts (I’m not very cash rich at the moment),I just didn’t want to touch it. But more dissapointing was the fact that the design had been printed in white on a black t-shirt. Had I have known I would have produced reversed artwork. The t-shirt looked awful.
A couple of weeks ago I got a parcel from OS Miniatures.
In it was;
A t-shirt
And some minis from a new Kickstarter
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/882426675/old-school-miniatures-presents-the-alpine-dwarfs?ref=profile_created
And a gnome which I couldn’t resist painting
I’ve had further good news.
My illustration is the basis of a miniature sculpted by John Pickford.
AND would I be interested in producing some more illustrations, potentially to be used for future miniatures.
A nice little project for those long winter nights.
http://oldschoolminiatures.blogspot.co.at/
(sorry, no balloons)
Olleys Armies Miniatures Blog, News and Workbench
Just a little bit about my hobby activities.
Let's build.
a maker, a teacher of making
Wargaming made simple and fun!
In a world of poems, words steal love and put it on a blackboard
The adventures of my Greenskins, Dwarfs, and Bretonnians
A game designer's view of gaming
I play for fun... all else I take seriously
Collecting and Playing Orks
A Miniature Wargaming Blog
Turning Over a New Leaf
Fantasy, sci-fi and historical miniature gaming
Miniature painting, wargaming terrain tutorials, reviews, interviews and painting guides
A Gaming Podcast
Miniature painting and gaming from under the stairs
Custom Creations from Aaron Verbal Arcand
A fantasy war gamer grumbles into his beer.
My time well wasted
A wargamers hobby blog
Delving into Wargaming, Miniature painting and Modelling, History and other related topics
Miniature wargaming and the occasional zombie
Wargaming
A YouTube channel about tabletop wargaming and the miniatures hobby, mostly.
a site for those who studied and taught glass at CSM as well as glass enthusiasts
Video Games, Comics, and Shenanigans.
An old git talking about toy soldiers and enormous wobbly breasts
genuine grumpy old tin 