I've just been searching the interweb and came across this hobby site. The article I had originally followed was for using pink and blue foam for terrain, but on the main site (http://www.stormthecastle.com/) this article and video caught eye - making plastic from milk. To be fair he uses vinegar as well. But that's it. Apparently the idea was from Leonardo Da Vinci.
In a hobby where resin and plaster are commonly used to create scenery how good (and cheap) would it be if we could use milk & vinegar instead? More investigations are needed...
A blog dedicated to my hobby of Wargaming. Mostly Skirmish level Fantasy and Sci-fi.
Showing posts with label Frugal Crossposts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frugal Crossposts. Show all posts
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Saturday, 13 August 2011
The dreaded [War]-Jack Frost strikes again.
When the pictures of my new Space Marine Dreadnought were being taken, the model had not been varnished yet, due to a period of wet weather in up here in normally sunny Scotland (yeah, I know!). Finally I looked out of the window one breakfast time last week and saw it was dry and sunny. Excellent! So I rushed out to give the piece and quick coat.
Unfortunately, it would appear that it was still to damp or cold or at least clammy, as the dreaded varnish frosting hit my smooth clean paint-job. Now I've experienced this before on my Warmachine Slayer last year, so I was disappointed but not panicked by the prospect of trying to get it back to some sort of fit condition.
So first job - hit the effected areas with some gloss varnish. This is what I did last time, and it fixed most the problems. This time - not so good. It has improved some areas, but not all. The effect is more visible, ironically, because of my simple faster paintjob, as the imperfections show up on the simple flat surface more. On the areas with more variation (such as the scroll on the left leg) the effect has decreased enough for me to leave it. I will however try a "Plan B" for the front surface, as it is most evident there and if the need comes to repaint it's just a coat of blue!
Plan B is nail polish remover on a cotton bud. As you can see it seems to have taken most the varnish off and some of the paint. This is why I have shyed away from applying it to a more detailed area. It's still a little rough though, so some light sanding will be needed.
I did a small amount of light sanding (with some wet & dry paper) but the finish was still a bit rough. I stopped there anyway and re-applied the blue paint. Not as good as the original silky smooth finish, but alot better than I started out with, and should be fine on the table.
 |
| The dreaded frost |
Unfortunately, it would appear that it was still to damp or cold or at least clammy, as the dreaded varnish frosting hit my smooth clean paint-job. Now I've experienced this before on my Warmachine Slayer last year, so I was disappointed but not panicked by the prospect of trying to get it back to some sort of fit condition.
 |
| After a coat of gloss Varnish |
So first job - hit the effected areas with some gloss varnish. This is what I did last time, and it fixed most the problems. This time - not so good. It has improved some areas, but not all. The effect is more visible, ironically, because of my simple faster paintjob, as the imperfections show up on the simple flat surface more. On the areas with more variation (such as the scroll on the left leg) the effect has decreased enough for me to leave it. I will however try a "Plan B" for the front surface, as it is most evident there and if the need comes to repaint it's just a coat of blue!
 |
| Post nail polish remover |
 |
| Repainted |
Friday, 15 July 2011
The Dreaded Six Month Review
Gosh, hasn't it been quiet around here lately. "It's that time of year again" as the saying goes. Obviously its always that time of year for something. In my case it's Summer time (or at least what optimistically passes as Summer in Scotland) which means less hobby time, more garden tending time, more away days at the weekend (less hobby time), etc. So apologies for the lack of updates but here it is- the mid-term review.
We'll be quick here and move straight to the numbers:
Which makes me look at the bought/painted stats:
Converse to the cash spend I'm actually quite pleased at the number of figures I've finished so far. It helps that 40k ones are all pretty quick to paint, but that's fine. I am am suprised at the numer in the bought column as I wouldn't have thought it added up to that much - funnily enought it does though. Just goes to show how your perceptions and real facts often differ (especially in accrued lead).
2 days into the year I set out my stall with numerous plans (or dreams) for the coming year. Looking over this mighty document I can see that I've failed (or at least faltered in most of these). My Gladiator campaign lasted a few months until a new set of rules derailed me. My Songs Of Blades campaign still shows no sign of starting, I've not played with my 10mm dungeon (although I have been painting it), my 2 Sci-fi scenery projects haven't been touched, and I've painted zero modern era figures for my zombie gaming. And you can you add in the fact that the number of roleplaying sessions played can be counted on the fingers of Bugs Bunny's hand!
So the year's been a complete washout then? Well, no. If we look at the gallery page we can see a clue to something that has sneeked in - Space Marines (and Necrons) and using them toboot! Sci-fi gaming has hit the Hobby Shed with a vengence the last few months. It started with Arabiansquire's birthday present of some Space Marines of his own to paint, and he's been keen to play them ever since. Previous favourite fantasy gaming hasn't had a proper look in at all. To add to the Sci-fi feel of the year there have been quite a few Pod Racing Sessions over the last couple of months as well. Warmachine has also dominated the painting mat as I try to finish off my Cryx Army. Nearly there now though. I may actually get to play with them once it's done, as the local league play has somewhat stalled.
This seamlessly leads me into the next six months. I'm going to shelve (or box) my grand WWII plans. This fuse was ignited by Halo*Star, but he's not over so frequently just now and he still hasn't picked up any figures that I will leave it for later - I've a few other pots boiling at the moment anyway. I hope to replace it with something I go WOW! for - Doctor Who. This also has great playing potential, as the wee lad is Dr Who mad; in theory I need less figures (and I already own a few); being a time travelling adventurer I should be able to use many of my other figures; it's new and shiny (which lets be honest is why we all start!) But like all best laid plans we'll have to wait and see! I would also like to see a few more warbands (fantasy and Sci-fi) painted before the year's end, especially as I've bought a couple this year and it would be nice to see some more "bought and painted" figures rather than the usual "discovered and painted" variety!
- Cash Out: £243.46
- Cash In: 349.42
- 28mm: Bought: 95 Painted: 53
- 10mm: Bought: 37 Painted: 22
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| Bug's reads up on his gaming tactics |
Thursday, 16 June 2011
Chronicles Of Blood - a review
Chronicles of Blood - Solo War Game
First let me get something in the open. I never play massed army battle games (Warhammer, HotT, etc) so have nothing to really compare this game to, so bear that in mind whilst reading this. I picked up this game for a couple of reasons. I won't be shy and say the first reason was that the basic rule set (looked at here) is free. Further "premium" rule expansions will be released (one to date) for the princely sum of $1 (64p in real money!), so extra rules were not going to break the bank. next on the list of attractions is that it is a simple, solo, generic ruleset. This also grabbed my attention as Arabiansquire plays more often than I do, so it would be nice for him to have a simple rule-based opponent from time to time.
I will only be looking at the frugal free ruleset here. The army composition is pretty generic, as you'd expect, and focuses on a Good vs Bad force set up. This lets you mix Human, Dwarf and elven forces against Orc, goblin and undead alliances - very handy if you don't have enough of one race to fill and entire army list (as is my case). The "Units" are of regiment size, with each regiment having attack, damage, armour, health and morale stats by way of number or different dice types. So the weak goblins have an attack with a d4, where as the stronger Human Infantry have d6 attack. There are charge and flanking modifiers that can be added as well, and some ranged troops. The basic attack is just a comparative roll-off between meleeing regiments, winner rolls damage, anything more than the losers armour stat is translated into wounds until wounds get to zero. No saving throws, etc - pretty quick.
After each armies turn, any regiment that's taken wounds rolls a morale check (again on a d4, d6, d8, etc) and on a 1 flees the battle field. The rule led opponent rules are pretty simple, basically order of activation runs with the regiment strength and engages the nearest enemy. To make things more difficult for you (considering the basic rules for the opponent) , at the start of each turn you have a 1 in 4 chance of having to roll on a random event table to determine what happens - anything from rain halving your arrow range to one of your regiments turning against you!
After running through a game I have to say I enjoyed it. The different dice used as stats moves along quite smoothly and the enemy actions are simple and intuitive. The brutal morale system and random event table really try their best to put a spanner in the works. A drawn melee results in a wound and hence a morale check, and when rolling on the event table you really do "pray for rain". It does give a feel of the rules being "out-to-get-ya", but as long as you realise that (and the rules are so simple you can't fail to notice) it's a quick and enjoyable game. I'll definitely being trying to induce the young lad to the rules (assuming I can tear him away from his new Space Marine fascination)
As a sub note I've bought the first premium expansion which adds extra heroes, simple magic and leaders into the fold, which should give the regiments a bit more individuality on the table.
Test Battle Report.
A quick run through the test battle for the above review. Hopefully the auto-changing gif won't be too quick and you'll be able to follow it. Also you should bear in mind that I as I never play massed games tactics were beyond me!
The graphics are from using Battle Chronicler, which is an excellent free battle report program (which my first time fumblings below don't do justice to!), and GIMP (the open source graphics package - NOT the bloke in the rubber suit in Pulp Fiction)
The forces were taken directly from the rulebook:
The Golden Alliance
I will only be looking at the frugal free ruleset here. The army composition is pretty generic, as you'd expect, and focuses on a Good vs Bad force set up. This lets you mix Human, Dwarf and elven forces against Orc, goblin and undead alliances - very handy if you don't have enough of one race to fill and entire army list (as is my case). The "Units" are of regiment size, with each regiment having attack, damage, armour, health and morale stats by way of number or different dice types. So the weak goblins have an attack with a d4, where as the stronger Human Infantry have d6 attack. There are charge and flanking modifiers that can be added as well, and some ranged troops. The basic attack is just a comparative roll-off between meleeing regiments, winner rolls damage, anything more than the losers armour stat is translated into wounds until wounds get to zero. No saving throws, etc - pretty quick.
After each armies turn, any regiment that's taken wounds rolls a morale check (again on a d4, d6, d8, etc) and on a 1 flees the battle field. The rule led opponent rules are pretty simple, basically order of activation runs with the regiment strength and engages the nearest enemy. To make things more difficult for you (considering the basic rules for the opponent) , at the start of each turn you have a 1 in 4 chance of having to roll on a random event table to determine what happens - anything from rain halving your arrow range to one of your regiments turning against you!
After running through a game I have to say I enjoyed it. The different dice used as stats moves along quite smoothly and the enemy actions are simple and intuitive. The brutal morale system and random event table really try their best to put a spanner in the works. A drawn melee results in a wound and hence a morale check, and when rolling on the event table you really do "pray for rain". It does give a feel of the rules being "out-to-get-ya", but as long as you realise that (and the rules are so simple you can't fail to notice) it's a quick and enjoyable game. I'll definitely being trying to induce the young lad to the rules (assuming I can tear him away from his new Space Marine fascination)
As a sub note I've bought the first premium expansion which adds extra heroes, simple magic and leaders into the fold, which should give the regiments a bit more individuality on the table.
Test Battle Report.
A quick run through the test battle for the above review. Hopefully the auto-changing gif won't be too quick and you'll be able to follow it. Also you should bear in mind that I as I never play massed games tactics were beyond me!
The graphics are from using Battle Chronicler, which is an excellent free battle report program (which my first time fumblings below don't do justice to!), and GIMP (the open source graphics package - NOT the bloke in the rubber suit in Pulp Fiction)
The forces were taken directly from the rulebook:
The Golden Alliance
- MaA1: 10 Human Infantry, Men-at-Arms 1
- MaA2: 10 Human Infantry, Men-at-Arms 2
- MaA3: 10 Human Infantry, Men-at-Arms 3
- DS: 12 Dwarf Infantry, Dwarven Stoneguard
- SOTS: 5 Angel Infantry, Soldiers Of The Sun
- KOTR: 5 Human Cavalry, Knights Of The Realm
- ER1: 10 Elf Infantry, Elven Rangers 1 (Ranged)
- ER2: 10 Elf Infantry, Elven Rangers 2 (Ranged)
- OW1: Orc Infantry, Orc Warriors 1
- OW2: Orc Infantry, Orc Warriors 2
- GW1: Goblin Infantry, Goblin Warriors 1
- GW2: Goblin Infantry, Goblin Warriors 2
- GW3: Goblin Infantry, Goblin Warriors 3
- GW4: Goblin Infantry, Goblin Warriors 4
- BD: Demon Infantry, Battle Demons
- DK: Demon Cavalry, Dark Knights
- SH1: Undead Cavalry, Skeleton Horsemen 1
- SH2: Undead Cavalry, Skeleton Horsemen 2
Monday, 6 June 2011
A Year of Open Accounting - May (with a bit of April)
cross-posted with A Year of Frugal Gaming
How Frugal is this - 2 months for the price of one. You didn't even have to pay me for the first 10 months either to get the first one!
The numbers:
I missed the April report as it was a quiet month and I got carried away doing other things so didn't get round to it. Money wise nothing was sold as I was looking to sell my wares at Carronade at the start of May (rather optimistically as it turned out). Purchase wise I kept it pretty tight, but managed to fall to a couple of naughty impulse buys. Well one, as "grass effect" mat was more of a chance discovery than impulse, but it's been a great bargain buy and I have no regrets. The other was an Ebay lot of 31 vintage figures. I'd just finished painting an old Ral Partha Ogre and was swept away in a fever of old school mini's. For the price they were still good, and although a few (most!) are unremarkable (elf archers, dwarves) the two Tree Shepherds and the Giant are great. I've been looking for some old Tree Ent like figures for a Forrester themed warband I've planned so very happy. I may even try to sell off some of the other figures to recoop some of the cash (and decrease that lead bought number as well!)
May began with one of my highlights of the year: Carronade in Falkirk (Scotland). Something different this year, as I had along not only ArabianSquire, but also a non-gaming friend of his, so the pressure was on to find the entertaining games. I still wanted to shift so of the Hobby Shed surplus, though. So I booked a Bring & Buy table for the first session to get it out of the way and provide maximum flexibility during the rest of the day for game playing. The sales were not too forthcoming. Having just the first hour of the show to sell was not the best, as most people show up 30 minutes or later after the doors open, look round the halls and traders, THEN have a peak at the B&B hall. Really the 2nd or 3rd slot would have maximised the single hour of selling (I noticed a quite few people have tables for at least a couple of hours). A grand total of £14 was raised which at least paid the modest table rent, my unplanned purchases at the show and cleared a (very) little amount of shelf space.
After the stall was packed up we had a proper look round the halls. Now ArabianSquire's friend had previously played Heroscape a few time (which had been very much enjoyed) and was the basis of his attendance. He managed to highlight a couple of things that make our hobby confusing to the uninitiated. The first was the statement in the car on the way "I want to buy a game". I had a bit of difficulty explaining that most games there didn't work in that way. Relative expense was a second problem, as the £5 he'd pulled from his piggy bank wasn't going to go too far. I did of course just try to get him to hold back his spend. He ended up with a bag of Halo Clix figures that I didn't sell as a gift as he was so keen, and the generous man at Gateshead Gaming didn't charge him for the 3d6 he wanted to buy. A very generous gesture to a young lad new to the scene that didn't go unappreciated. It meant that his carefully folded blue note went back home with him as well.
As for games played, all 3 of us enjoyed a Great Escape game from RAF Leuchars and trying out Full Thrust, from the Glasgow Wargames club. Despite the fact we arrived 10 miniutes before opening and finished rolling dice 10 minutes after closing everyone had a really enjoyable day. I big thanks to all concerned at Falkirk for their efforts again. Even the new boy was happpy at the end after over 6 hours in an unfamiliar setting. I'll have to come up with some simple rules for his new soldiers, and we'll have a new gamer in town - hopefully.
Now obviously this is a Frugal Accounting post, not a show review, so let’s get down to spends. The bulk of the spend was taken up by a show pre-order from Pendraken Miniatures in the form of a 10mm dungeon booster pack and a couple of figure booster sets. The Bring and buy threw up a few bags of excellent old Orc and beastmen figures (which were marked down 25% on their already bargain price) and a bag old Space Hulk Genestealer pieces for 50p - enough to make a few 'stealers to add to my horde. To cut down on cost (and fussy 9yr old eating habits) we'd taken packed lunches - which was a nice break outside in the sun away from the claustrophobia of the show. My other wish list items never came up (or at least not within my price range) so that was it (barring entry, fuel & a quick snack).
With a purpose I fell upon Ebay to fill the gaps in my want list. And a reasonably priced Dreadnought and fix-up Rhino both were in shed before too long. In fact I enjoyed my Super Smurfy marines so much I picked up some shoulder emblems (and a nice captain figure) to round off the force. This pretty much takes me where I want to be with my Space Marines (which are just really a pleasant quick distraction), bearing in mind I have at least another half dozen old Terminators in the Shed waiting for paint.
So to sum up, May was costlier than usual, but not unexpectedly so. My net May bill still came to less than £50. Sales were a bit disappointing, but mostly covered the purchase of 2 fantasy warbands and a 40k Rhino, which isn't bad when you look at it that way. The "figures bought" column took quite a bashing with the vintage lot, a load of 10mm and the fantasy bargains, but in the run up I'd painted a bunch of 10mm (to justify buying the booster pack) and quite a few 40k quick paints, all of which have seen table time.
In the coming months I really must extract a digit from my posterior and get some more of the dwindling Hobby Shed surplus out for Sale to get some more cash in, before the buying urge happens again...
How Frugal is this - 2 months for the price of one. You didn't even have to pay me for the first 10 months either to get the first one!
The numbers:
I missed the April report as it was a quiet month and I got carried away doing other things so didn't get round to it. Money wise nothing was sold as I was looking to sell my wares at Carronade at the start of May (rather optimistically as it turned out). Purchase wise I kept it pretty tight, but managed to fall to a couple of naughty impulse buys. Well one, as "grass effect" mat was more of a chance discovery than impulse, but it's been a great bargain buy and I have no regrets. The other was an Ebay lot of 31 vintage figures. I'd just finished painting an old Ral Partha Ogre and was swept away in a fever of old school mini's. For the price they were still good, and although a few (most!) are unremarkable (elf archers, dwarves) the two Tree Shepherds and the Giant are great. I've been looking for some old Tree Ent like figures for a Forrester themed warband I've planned so very happy. I may even try to sell off some of the other figures to recoop some of the cash (and decrease that lead bought number as well!)
May began with one of my highlights of the year: Carronade in Falkirk (Scotland). Something different this year, as I had along not only ArabianSquire, but also a non-gaming friend of his, so the pressure was on to find the entertaining games. I still wanted to shift so of the Hobby Shed surplus, though. So I booked a Bring & Buy table for the first session to get it out of the way and provide maximum flexibility during the rest of the day for game playing. The sales were not too forthcoming. Having just the first hour of the show to sell was not the best, as most people show up 30 minutes or later after the doors open, look round the halls and traders, THEN have a peak at the B&B hall. Really the 2nd or 3rd slot would have maximised the single hour of selling (I noticed a quite few people have tables for at least a couple of hours). A grand total of £14 was raised which at least paid the modest table rent, my unplanned purchases at the show and cleared a (very) little amount of shelf space.
 |
| Bargain Beastmen |
After the stall was packed up we had a proper look round the halls. Now ArabianSquire's friend had previously played Heroscape a few time (which had been very much enjoyed) and was the basis of his attendance. He managed to highlight a couple of things that make our hobby confusing to the uninitiated. The first was the statement in the car on the way "I want to buy a game". I had a bit of difficulty explaining that most games there didn't work in that way. Relative expense was a second problem, as the £5 he'd pulled from his piggy bank wasn't going to go too far. I did of course just try to get him to hold back his spend. He ended up with a bag of Halo Clix figures that I didn't sell as a gift as he was so keen, and the generous man at Gateshead Gaming didn't charge him for the 3d6 he wanted to buy. A very generous gesture to a young lad new to the scene that didn't go unappreciated. It meant that his carefully folded blue note went back home with him as well.
As for games played, all 3 of us enjoyed a Great Escape game from RAF Leuchars and trying out Full Thrust, from the Glasgow Wargames club. Despite the fact we arrived 10 miniutes before opening and finished rolling dice 10 minutes after closing everyone had a really enjoyable day. I big thanks to all concerned at Falkirk for their efforts again. Even the new boy was happpy at the end after over 6 hours in an unfamiliar setting. I'll have to come up with some simple rules for his new soldiers, and we'll have a new gamer in town - hopefully.
 |
| Bargain Orcs |
Now obviously this is a Frugal Accounting post, not a show review, so let’s get down to spends. The bulk of the spend was taken up by a show pre-order from Pendraken Miniatures in the form of a 10mm dungeon booster pack and a couple of figure booster sets. The Bring and buy threw up a few bags of excellent old Orc and beastmen figures (which were marked down 25% on their already bargain price) and a bag old Space Hulk Genestealer pieces for 50p - enough to make a few 'stealers to add to my horde. To cut down on cost (and fussy 9yr old eating habits) we'd taken packed lunches - which was a nice break outside in the sun away from the claustrophobia of the show. My other wish list items never came up (or at least not within my price range) so that was it (barring entry, fuel & a quick snack).
With a purpose I fell upon Ebay to fill the gaps in my want list. And a reasonably priced Dreadnought and fix-up Rhino both were in shed before too long. In fact I enjoyed my Super Smurfy marines so much I picked up some shoulder emblems (and a nice captain figure) to round off the force. This pretty much takes me where I want to be with my Space Marines (which are just really a pleasant quick distraction), bearing in mind I have at least another half dozen old Terminators in the Shed waiting for paint.
 |
| Bought and painted in the same month. We may never see its like again |
So to sum up, May was costlier than usual, but not unexpectedly so. My net May bill still came to less than £50. Sales were a bit disappointing, but mostly covered the purchase of 2 fantasy warbands and a 40k Rhino, which isn't bad when you look at it that way. The "figures bought" column took quite a bashing with the vintage lot, a load of 10mm and the fantasy bargains, but in the run up I'd painted a bunch of 10mm (to justify buying the booster pack) and quite a few 40k quick paints, all of which have seen table time.
In the coming months I really must extract a digit from my posterior and get some more of the dwindling Hobby Shed surplus out for Sale to get some more cash in, before the buying urge happens again...
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Free Reads
cross-posted with A Year of Frugal Gaming
Just a quick post, so you all know I'm still breathing.
This week (already) has seen the release of two of my favourite free pdf publications.
The first is the bi-monthly "The Ancible" - a magazine that specialises in Sci-Fi and Fantasy gaming, with no fixed game of manufacturer to promote, which is refreshing. This wee beauty started off as a pay-for product, but the plan has now fallen on advertising to pay the costs. The quality hasn't deminished however, and the adverts do not get in the way of the magazine. The new copy (Issue 9) has a walkthrough totorial of building and painting the mighty Warmachine Khador Battle Wagon, a couple of nice painting tutorials and interviews and much mech madness with an article on Metal Gear Arena and an "out the box" review of the new Battle Tech Intro box. I'm also eagerly looking forward to the next issue which the spoiler seems to feature some Aeronef action.
The second publication is the monthly e-zine for the friendly painting forum WAMP - Portal .The magazine is a bit of a monthly forum highlights magazine, so there are loads of nice gallery pictures that have been put up and some great tutorials as well, along with figure reviews of all sorts.
Really my descriptions don't do these justice, so give them your support and download away. It'll cost you nothing!
Just a quick post, so you all know I'm still breathing.
This week (already) has seen the release of two of my favourite free pdf publications.
The first is the bi-monthly "The Ancible" - a magazine that specialises in Sci-Fi and Fantasy gaming, with no fixed game of manufacturer to promote, which is refreshing. This wee beauty started off as a pay-for product, but the plan has now fallen on advertising to pay the costs. The quality hasn't deminished however, and the adverts do not get in the way of the magazine. The new copy (Issue 9) has a walkthrough totorial of building and painting the mighty Warmachine Khador Battle Wagon, a couple of nice painting tutorials and interviews and much mech madness with an article on Metal Gear Arena and an "out the box" review of the new Battle Tech Intro box. I'm also eagerly looking forward to the next issue which the spoiler seems to feature some Aeronef action.
Really my descriptions don't do these justice, so give them your support and download away. It'll cost you nothing!
Friday, 8 April 2011
A Year of Open Accounting - March
cross-posted with A Year of Frugal Gaming
On the financial ins/outs this month it has been pretty quiet. As forecast I purchased the new Gladiator rules for Red Sand Blue Sky (still unplayed), and towards the end of the month there was the unexpected arrival of some old Rogue Trader Space marines. I took March off from the Hobby shed sales which may have cost me in incoming column, but freed up some time that I could relax, and sometimes paint, in.
Talking of painting, I briefly, for a few hours, had one foot in the hallowed ground of more figures painted than bought (the Space Marines knackered that). Clearing the table blockage of a few Warmachine Warjacks has felt like a good strong dose of ex-lax, and I'm back feeling enthused about putting paint to bristle to figure again. Hopefully some quick painting of the marines and the push to finish (or almost finish) my 10mm Dungeon pack should see me push back to that heady moment of painting accounting again.
That brings me on nicely to April's plan of action. School holiday's are just about to descend, so that is going to hamper a bit of hobby time as . I want to finish my Space Marines for playing with Arabiansquire. I also want to get the bulk of my 10mm dungeon finished (assuming you can link 10mm figures and the word "bulk") before Carronade in May. Also, looking toward Carronade, I think I'll have to get some more old Hobby Shed stock up for sale to help finance the show. It could/should put a large dent in my gaming cash reserves and I'd rather prepare for the plummet towards the red figures with a bit of a buffer.
On the financial ins/outs this month it has been pretty quiet. As forecast I purchased the new Gladiator rules for Red Sand Blue Sky (still unplayed), and towards the end of the month there was the unexpected arrival of some old Rogue Trader Space marines. I took March off from the Hobby shed sales which may have cost me in incoming column, but freed up some time that I could relax, and sometimes paint, in.
Talking of painting, I briefly, for a few hours, had one foot in the hallowed ground of more figures painted than bought (the Space Marines knackered that). Clearing the table blockage of a few Warmachine Warjacks has felt like a good strong dose of ex-lax, and I'm back feeling enthused about putting paint to bristle to figure again. Hopefully some quick painting of the marines and the push to finish (or almost finish) my 10mm Dungeon pack should see me push back to that heady moment of painting accounting again.
 |
| 10mm Skeletons, patiently waiting around for company... |
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
The Period Drama Challenge
With the inclimate weather hitting Scotland this weekend, I sat Arabiansquire down to continue painting his space marine, having finished his first one a few weeks ago. After 30 minutes he'd done the blue and the guns on a couple of figures before the need for a break and a biscuit. The painting gear was left out, and took the brush down time to walk the dog for half an hour. So imagine my surprise when I returned to find him sitting finishing off his FOURTH figure on my return. How did that happen? He'd used a few speed painting short cuts (reduced palette, etc), but they are painted and will be good on the table.
My initial plan was to dry brush the background parts of the terminator and just use the main colour on the most forward sections of the armour. A drybrush of dark marine blue was rubbish. So I repeated with Space Wolf Grey. It also looked rubbish, so I abandoned this plan and went for a covering of Dark marine blue (the clock was ticking) on the armour and Space wolf grey as the base for the helmets (the intention being the helmets would be white) and a white shoulder pad. Next up was hopefully the final colour shade of Space Marine Blue. It didn't take me too long to realise that this was going to be too dark, but in the interest of consistency I painted all 3 termies in it. On the opposite end of the contrast range I also realised that Space Wolf Grey was way too light to pick up the sunken detail of the helmets, so I gave them a wash in blue. Whilst all this was drying some aged gold was applied to the motif on the shoulder. Gun bolt metal was also brushed on the weapons. Time was running out now, and I'd started to run out of options on my rushed palette. The ink wash had dried on the helmets so some white highlighting was done. A quick dash through the house had me "borrowing" ArabianSquires blue that he'd been using for his marine earlier in the day, which I only managed to get on one marine before the end credits had finished rolling. I'd failed!
Or had I?
Well, yes I had. But as compensation after less than 2 hours I had 3 mostly painted Terminators and I had learned some valuable lessons. I was always going to be tight for time from the start. Next time I should convince my other half to watch Gone with the Wind (although that's actually a film worth watching!). Spending so much time applying coats of paint (and the subsequent drying time) did me no favours. Having a rough idea of what sort paint colours you are going to use is no substitute for knowing what paint colours you are going to use. Also, not playing 40k, the models are not very familiar to me, especially all the small details in the sculpts that are not immediately apparent when they are bare metal. All these problems were all symptomatic to the fact I only thought of this with half an hour before the whistle blew.
And just to finish the piece here's a picture of the finished Terminators after about another hours work. No great shakes, but table worthy (see below):
The key to the timed speed paint is preparation. You must know your model, paints and methods. Know where you can save time with a big brush and what parts you can get on with whilst other areas dry. Know how long it'll take to work round fiddly bits or how you are going to tackle them. Know where you can shortcut with washes and a dry brush. With a plan you know will work you can efficiently get the paint on.
And to finish, a picture from the following day as both sets of newly painted figures got table time.
Now where am I going this? Well I'd spent the marine painting time assembling a trio of old Terminators I've had lying about. Suddenly I'm behind, but "salvation" was at hand. ArabianQueen wanted to watch a Period drama (about Dylan Thomas) that night. So I wondered if I could speed paint the 3 terminators whilst "watching" it - 1hr 45 mins. (Question: why is a Dylan Thomas love triangle film set in WWII a period drama and hence OK to watch whilst Saving Private Ryan isn't and gets the thumbs down? The injustice of the world!) .
Now as this desperate plan was forged a mere 30 minutes before program start I didn't have time to test any colour plans, etc - just grab some paints I thought would work, equip the laptop painting station, pour a large drink and sit down before curtain raise.
 |  |
| Title sequence runs | An hour in |
My initial plan was to dry brush the background parts of the terminator and just use the main colour on the most forward sections of the armour. A drybrush of dark marine blue was rubbish. So I repeated with Space Wolf Grey. It also looked rubbish, so I abandoned this plan and went for a covering of Dark marine blue (the clock was ticking) on the armour and Space wolf grey as the base for the helmets (the intention being the helmets would be white) and a white shoulder pad. Next up was hopefully the final colour shade of Space Marine Blue. It didn't take me too long to realise that this was going to be too dark, but in the interest of consistency I painted all 3 termies in it. On the opposite end of the contrast range I also realised that Space Wolf Grey was way too light to pick up the sunken detail of the helmets, so I gave them a wash in blue. Whilst all this was drying some aged gold was applied to the motif on the shoulder. Gun bolt metal was also brushed on the weapons. Time was running out now, and I'd started to run out of options on my rushed palette. The ink wash had dried on the helmets so some white highlighting was done. A quick dash through the house had me "borrowing" ArabianSquires blue that he'd been using for his marine earlier in the day, which I only managed to get on one marine before the end credits had finished rolling. I'd failed!
 |  |
| 15 mins to go | The final credits roll |
Well, yes I had. But as compensation after less than 2 hours I had 3 mostly painted Terminators and I had learned some valuable lessons. I was always going to be tight for time from the start. Next time I should convince my other half to watch Gone with the Wind (although that's actually a film worth watching!). Spending so much time applying coats of paint (and the subsequent drying time) did me no favours. Having a rough idea of what sort paint colours you are going to use is no substitute for knowing what paint colours you are going to use. Also, not playing 40k, the models are not very familiar to me, especially all the small details in the sculpts that are not immediately apparent when they are bare metal. All these problems were all symptomatic to the fact I only thought of this with half an hour before the whistle blew.
And just to finish the piece here's a picture of the finished Terminators after about another hours work. No great shakes, but table worthy (see below):
The key to the timed speed paint is preparation. You must know your model, paints and methods. Know where you can save time with a big brush and what parts you can get on with whilst other areas dry. Know how long it'll take to work round fiddly bits or how you are going to tackle them. Know where you can shortcut with washes and a dry brush. With a plan you know will work you can efficiently get the paint on.
And to finish, a picture from the following day as both sets of newly painted figures got table time.
 |
| Space Marines and Terminators take on the Nekron menace |
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
A Year of Open Accounting - February
cross-posted with A Year of Frugal Gaming
Again mixed bag this month. Somehow I suspect every month will be! First of all lets look at the hard facts:
On the positive I managed to clear out a bit more space in the hobby shed. With a bit more re-arranging I'm on the verge of being able to re-organise some of my gaming gear to a more organised set-up. Result! It's also brought in a small amount of additional funds which never hurts.
Purchase-wise I've made a couple of "planned" no guilt buys - a magazine and a cheap(er) copy of the core Rapid Fire! rulebook. My lack of willpower, however, has led to an increase in my unpainted Cryx army courtesy of hanging about ebay too much monitoring by sales. Maybe at bargain price (for Warmachine mini's anyway) but I can't help feeling somewhat the guilty. Another unexpected buy was a set of Critter Commandos. However, although they most definately don't fit into any current project they can join my other unpainted CC figures. They are such fun and full of character that the anticipation of painting them makes them worth the price (and another bargain one at that this time). I may have to just have them on display to put me in a good mood everyday.
So what of the next month, I hear you ask? Well no more Cryx purchases for a start! My painting table is over flowing with them, so is my guilt trip so a purchase ban has been put on. March will hopefully see a few move to the painted cabinet. There's been a bit of a log jam caused by trying to paint a Slayer, Reaper and DeathJack all at the same time, but the corner has been rounded now (ie all the base coats are finally down) so I'm now optimistic about completing them and moving on this month. Two Hour Wargames have the new version of Red Sand Blue Sky release scheduled for March. Judging by the batreps being posted it looks pretty good, so that will probably be purchased and adopted for my running campaign. Aside from that I'm hoping to keep it to a minimum. I'm pretty sure the Post Office Workers are as fed up seeing me as much as I am making the journey to see them, so I'm also taking a bit of a break from Ebaying. This will have to effect of dropping the incomings, but also should stop potential outgoings as well. In Theory!
I'm also mindful that Falkirk Wargames Club Carronade show is but 2 months away (Saturday 7th May) which will hit my budget somewhat. I've mentally promised myself that I have to finish off my Pendraken 10mm dungeon pack before then so I can justify ordering up the expansion for show pickup. Also I anticipate some 1:72/20mm purchases. After all, Easter is the time time of "Fast before Feast".
Again mixed bag this month. Somehow I suspect every month will be! First of all lets look at the hard facts:
- Outgoings: £51.07
- Incomings: £101.68
- Figures painted: 10
- Figures bought: 15
Purchase-wise I've made a couple of "planned" no guilt buys - a magazine and a cheap(er) copy of the core Rapid Fire! rulebook. My lack of willpower, however, has led to an increase in my unpainted Cryx army courtesy of hanging about ebay too much monitoring by sales. Maybe at bargain price (for Warmachine mini's anyway) but I can't help feeling somewhat the guilty. Another unexpected buy was a set of Critter Commandos. However, although they most definately don't fit into any current project they can join my other unpainted CC figures. They are such fun and full of character that the anticipation of painting them makes them worth the price (and another bargain one at that this time). I may have to just have them on display to put me in a good mood everyday.
I'm also mindful that Falkirk Wargames Club Carronade show is but 2 months away (Saturday 7th May) which will hit my budget somewhat. I've mentally promised myself that I have to finish off my Pendraken 10mm dungeon pack before then so I can justify ordering up the expansion for show pickup. Also I anticipate some 1:72/20mm purchases. After all, Easter is the time time of "Fast before Feast".
Sunday, 13 February 2011
Warmachine - more Cygnar proxies
Way back in the sands of time (last November) I flung up a post about proxying Cygnar trenchers.
As promised (surprisingly) I managed to carve out a few more.
First off we have the Trencher Officer and Sharpshooter Unit attachment. Looking at it now I think the sniper scope is a tad long, but hopefully it'll look better once painted.
Next up in the Trencher Master Gunner. Blunderbus, knife and head from a GamesWorkshop Empire set.
As promised (surprisingly) I managed to carve out a few more.
And lastly the Trencher Rifle Grenadier.
All these figures came in at the spookily familiar price of 41 pence, totaling £1.64, instead of the retail of the official figures of £19.85. I think I've pretty much done the trenchers now with these plastics (barring repeats to take advantage of field allowance).
Any further proxying will have to come from a different figure source.
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
A Year of Open Accounting - January
cross-posted with A Year of Frugal Gaming
Let the excuses begin...
We'll start with the cold hard facts first, then flannel out figures afterwards.
The month started off on the wrong foot, spending wise, with a ream of Warmachine purchases. Now I had always maintained that there wasn't going to be any more purchases for my Warmachine Cryx until I had finished painting what had already been bought and I was half a Death Jack away from fullfilling that pledge. However the proposed start of a Warmachine league at my Local Store brought forward some purchases that had been anticipated for later in 2011 (namely a unit of Mechanithralls and a second Warcaster). Also on the list of ideal next buys was a Cryx Warjack. I had thought about the new plastic Warjack kit and using magnets to give me 3 different options, but I ended up with 2 Ebay bargains of the same model types for less total cash spend. I don't know if "ideal" purchases count as frugal, but it was a bargain (dangerous words to use I know) and as they were pidgeon holed for 2011 purchases anyway I can give myself a pat on the back for being ahead of schedule. Sort of.
To coat these new purchases I also needed so spray primer. I sometimes use Grey Auto Primer from Halfords but I wanted black for the Warjacks and they don't do black Auto primer, so Army Painter is was (that's what the Local Store sold)
After all these outgoings on the account books I was starting to get nervous and guilty. So the Hobby Shed clearance sale was put into action. Items were targeted with bulk and space taken up as priorties, so a few games were put up for sale (shelf hogging boxes) as were a vaste array of Cthulhu RPG books I had sitting around to sell for someone else (for a % cut). It's been a while since I've sold on Ebay, and I'd forgotten just quite how much work it can be. Searching through ebay and finding their Turbo Lister software helped though. The old debate of how long to run an auction and what day to finish on reared it's ugly head as usual. In the end I plumped to finish on a Saturday night, as that would give me some time to pack the wins (hopefully) on the Sunday and get them out. All a bit of work, but the ball is rolling now, and with more modest auction numbers to come hopefully it'll take up less time over the coming months. More importantly I brought some money in to cover the Warmachine purchases and provide a nice buffer for the next couple of months.
All this has somewhat curtailed my painting time and energy. My six purchased Mechanithralls were done before the Ebaying started but there has been a distict lack of brush cleaning sounds comng from the painting corner of Arabian Towers since then. That and the progress of my DeathJack has been tortuously slow. That beast may have to have another brief hiatus to get the "numbers painted" count up.
Let the excuses begin...
We'll start with the cold hard facts first, then flannel out figures afterwards.
The month started off on the wrong foot, spending wise, with a ream of Warmachine purchases. Now I had always maintained that there wasn't going to be any more purchases for my Warmachine Cryx until I had finished painting what had already been bought and I was half a Death Jack away from fullfilling that pledge. However the proposed start of a Warmachine league at my Local Store brought forward some purchases that had been anticipated for later in 2011 (namely a unit of Mechanithralls and a second Warcaster). Also on the list of ideal next buys was a Cryx Warjack. I had thought about the new plastic Warjack kit and using magnets to give me 3 different options, but I ended up with 2 Ebay bargains of the same model types for less total cash spend. I don't know if "ideal" purchases count as frugal, but it was a bargain (dangerous words to use I know) and as they were pidgeon holed for 2011 purchases anyway I can give myself a pat on the back for being ahead of schedule. Sort of.
To coat these new purchases I also needed so spray primer. I sometimes use Grey Auto Primer from Halfords but I wanted black for the Warjacks and they don't do black Auto primer, so Army Painter is was (that's what the Local Store sold)
After all these outgoings on the account books I was starting to get nervous and guilty. So the Hobby Shed clearance sale was put into action. Items were targeted with bulk and space taken up as priorties, so a few games were put up for sale (shelf hogging boxes) as were a vaste array of Cthulhu RPG books I had sitting around to sell for someone else (for a % cut). It's been a while since I've sold on Ebay, and I'd forgotten just quite how much work it can be. Searching through ebay and finding their Turbo Lister software helped though. The old debate of how long to run an auction and what day to finish on reared it's ugly head as usual. In the end I plumped to finish on a Saturday night, as that would give me some time to pack the wins (hopefully) on the Sunday and get them out. All a bit of work, but the ball is rolling now, and with more modest auction numbers to come hopefully it'll take up less time over the coming months. More importantly I brought some money in to cover the Warmachine purchases and provide a nice buffer for the next couple of months.
All this has somewhat curtailed my painting time and energy. My six purchased Mechanithralls were done before the Ebaying started but there has been a distict lack of brush cleaning sounds comng from the painting corner of Arabian Towers since then. That and the progress of my DeathJack has been tortuously slow. That beast may have to have another brief hiatus to get the "numbers painted" count up.
Thursday, 18 November 2010
The Proxy Vote
No, not a mid-term election article, but an age old frugal debate.
First a bit of background. I generally play generic rulesets. I loath being tied into one particular range of minitures when there are so many lovely sculpts not attached to any game. Yes, yes I know that they tie in with the background fluff of the game and provide (can) provide a continuous feel across the army, but sometimes it feels that these factors are used to "extract the michael" somewhat whan it comes to pricing.
The past 6 months has seen me take up Warmachine, a game very much with it's own style. I've been happily collecting a small Cryx (undead) force, but for a few reasons have decided to expand to a small second force, Cygnar (tech humans). Now my main army is the Cryx force, which have very distinct figures, but the human Cygnar are slightly more generic. So to keep costs down I am going to find and use proxy miniatures in this army where possible.
This opens up the whole proxy debate:
PROS: Cost, choice, fun research
CONS: irregular force theme, wrong miniatures, difficult/irritating for some opponents, illegal for tournament play, in some cases quality of sculpt is worse.
As far as I'm concerned in this instance, as long as the replacement miniatures are reasonable representations of the official figures I'm good with it. As such, I don't plan to proxy the warjacks (robots) as they are very distinctive. I've bought some appropriate bases as well, as base size and position is important in Warmachine. I've already bought the Cygnar mkII Stat card pack.
Another good frugal reason to use proxies is that I already have some suitable minis waiting to be used. A few years ago I took advantage of a free postage offer from Prince August for their bag of 80 plastic Warzone figures - 40 Imperial, 40 Bauhaus. The Imperial Trenchers are WWI theme based and, to my eyes, ideal to replace the Cygnar Trenchers. I also have a load of them pose and customise, as the Cygnar forces have quite a few varying Trencher based troop types.
We'll start with the basic Cygnar Trencher. 5 Grunts and a squad Leader. I've snipped the gun slightly to make it less M16-esque and given a squad leader the head from the Warzone trencher heavy machine gunner to help him stand out. Cost per figure (inc full base cost) 41 pence - squad cost £2.46. Official squad RRP ~ £18.
Any other suggestions are warmly accepted.
First a bit of background. I generally play generic rulesets. I loath being tied into one particular range of minitures when there are so many lovely sculpts not attached to any game. Yes, yes I know that they tie in with the background fluff of the game and provide (can) provide a continuous feel across the army, but sometimes it feels that these factors are used to "extract the michael" somewhat whan it comes to pricing.
The past 6 months has seen me take up Warmachine, a game very much with it's own style. I've been happily collecting a small Cryx (undead) force, but for a few reasons have decided to expand to a small second force, Cygnar (tech humans). Now my main army is the Cryx force, which have very distinct figures, but the human Cygnar are slightly more generic. So to keep costs down I am going to find and use proxy miniatures in this army where possible.
This opens up the whole proxy debate:
PROS: Cost, choice, fun research
CONS: irregular force theme, wrong miniatures, difficult/irritating for some opponents, illegal for tournament play, in some cases quality of sculpt is worse.
As far as I'm concerned in this instance, as long as the replacement miniatures are reasonable representations of the official figures I'm good with it. As such, I don't plan to proxy the warjacks (robots) as they are very distinctive. I've bought some appropriate bases as well, as base size and position is important in Warmachine. I've already bought the Cygnar mkII Stat card pack.
Another good frugal reason to use proxies is that I already have some suitable minis waiting to be used. A few years ago I took advantage of a free postage offer from Prince August for their bag of 80 plastic Warzone figures - 40 Imperial, 40 Bauhaus. The Imperial Trenchers are WWI theme based and, to my eyes, ideal to replace the Cygnar Trenchers. I also have a load of them pose and customise, as the Cygnar forces have quite a few varying Trencher based troop types.
Next is a proxy for the HMG wielding Captain Maxwell Finn. All I've done is take the Warzone HMG trencher and replaced the head (which is now on the Trencher squad leader) with a spare from an old, partially used GamesWorkshop Fantasy Empire militia boxset I had lying around. Figure cost 41 pence, Official figure RRP ~ £9.
Next is a Journeyman Warcaster. He is armed with a pistol and a sword, so I've given my Imperial Trencher Officer a spare GW sword and a spare GW head (both from the same box set as the Cpt Finn figure). Total figure cost 41p (can you see a pattern developing?), Official figure RRP ~ £6.
And Lastly I have clipped the weapons off of an unused Mage Knight Steam Golum to proxy as Squire. No idea what I paid for this (it was in a job lot years ago). Official RRP ~ £6.
Next proxies? Well it doesn't take a great deal of imagination to see that the a carefully place bead or putty blob on the end of a rifle will make a Grenadier, and if I can find something to use as a sniper scope I'll have an officer/sniper Unit attachment (the peaked cap of the Warzone officer will come into play here), and perhaps even I'll manage a blunderbuss/sword conversion to make a Trencher Master Gunner. Moving away from the plastic trenchers, Void Viridian snipers could make a slightly cheaper alternative to Cygnar Rangers, and I'm toying with the idea of using ACW troops with their long muskets as Cygnar Long Gunners.
Any other suggestions are warmly accepted.
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Time For A Quick Wash
(a cross-post with the Frugal blog)
They say that time is money, so I thought that a tenuous enough link to be frugal with time - a post about quick painting with inks and washes. Now as ever I must say that I'm no expert painter, and this method of painting is truly the mother of all fast painting techniques so your not going to win any prizes. But for quick naked to tabletop colour it's very satisfying.
Before we start your going to need your inks and washes. I've collected a few colours now for a reasonable variety. I don't want to waste time mixing colours if I can help it. The aim is to do one quick coat and thats all.
As I've been playing a bit of Heroquest with my son recently I am using the Adventurer minis for an example. Usually I just paint the same type of figure to minimise colour changes between figures, less colour changes meant less time! So this will be a comparitively slow job.
The process can basically be boiled down to 4 steps: White basecoat, skin, clothes, metal.
It has to be white otherwise the colours won't show!
Next job is the skin. Get your skin wash (I've used Vallejo skin wash here) and apply it to the exposed flesh areas. Once this is done give the still wet wash a quick dab with your finger, being careful not to put your now inky/washy print on the pristeen white on the rest of the mini. This adds a slight highlight to the raised areas. Don't use a tissue as this has a tendency to soak up some of the wash from the non-hightlight areas, which we don't wont.
Step 3: Clothes.
Let the skin dry, and then your chosen apply colours to the other parts of the figures. Have a reasonable amount on the brush, as we want dark pools of colour in the recesses, but the ink/wash should sit more thinly on the raised areas, automatically giving you a highlight that would be missed using conventional paint. As ink takes longer to dry than your normal paint do one colour on one mini then move onto the next to give more drying time. Also try to colour areas of the mini that are not adjectent to each other, as this lets you keep progress moving along without risking the inks running into each other at the junctions. Multiple layers of ink (either when the first one is dry or wet) can produce some intereting effects if you fancy. As a note I ink chainmail black in preparation for Step 4.
Step 4: Metal.
Get your metalic paints and paint the metal areas of the figure. No, no - stop shouting "cheat" ( I'm listening to Slayer on 11 so I can't hear you anyway!). I said it was using inks and washes - I didn't say excusively. As these are for Heroquest (ie a bright high fantasy setting) I just leave the metal bright and shiny.
And voila, a painted base and good to go. With all these being individual minitures the colour differences and model changes really ate up the time. These actually took a comparitive while to colour - just about 2 hours all told (under 30 minutes each). To prove my own earlier point I afterwards inked the 4 goblins below, which came in at a much more reasonable sub 45minute time (I wasn't using a stop watch, OK?).
Like I say, not award winning, but on the table in quick time with a reasonable appearance.
Have fun.
They say that time is money, so I thought that a tenuous enough link to be frugal with time - a post about quick painting with inks and washes. Now as ever I must say that I'm no expert painter, and this method of painting is truly the mother of all fast painting techniques so your not going to win any prizes. But for quick naked to tabletop colour it's very satisfying.
Before we start your going to need your inks and washes. I've collected a few colours now for a reasonable variety. I don't want to waste time mixing colours if I can help it. The aim is to do one quick coat and thats all.
As I've been playing a bit of Heroquest with my son recently I am using the Adventurer minis for an example. Usually I just paint the same type of figure to minimise colour changes between figures, less colour changes meant less time! So this will be a comparitively slow job.
The process can basically be boiled down to 4 steps: White basecoat, skin, clothes, metal.
Step 1: White basecoat.
It has to be white otherwise the colours won't show!
Step 2: Skin
Next job is the skin. Get your skin wash (I've used Vallejo skin wash here) and apply it to the exposed flesh areas. Once this is done give the still wet wash a quick dab with your finger, being careful not to put your now inky/washy print on the pristeen white on the rest of the mini. This adds a slight highlight to the raised areas. Don't use a tissue as this has a tendency to soak up some of the wash from the non-hightlight areas, which we don't wont.
Let the skin dry, and then your chosen apply colours to the other parts of the figures. Have a reasonable amount on the brush, as we want dark pools of colour in the recesses, but the ink/wash should sit more thinly on the raised areas, automatically giving you a highlight that would be missed using conventional paint. As ink takes longer to dry than your normal paint do one colour on one mini then move onto the next to give more drying time. Also try to colour areas of the mini that are not adjectent to each other, as this lets you keep progress moving along without risking the inks running into each other at the junctions. Multiple layers of ink (either when the first one is dry or wet) can produce some intereting effects if you fancy. As a note I ink chainmail black in preparation for Step 4.
Step 4: Metal.
Get your metalic paints and paint the metal areas of the figure. No, no - stop shouting "cheat" ( I'm listening to Slayer on 11 so I can't hear you anyway!). I said it was using inks and washes - I didn't say excusively. As these are for Heroquest (ie a bright high fantasy setting) I just leave the metal bright and shiny.
Like I say, not award winning, but on the table in quick time with a reasonable appearance.
Have fun.
Saturday, 26 June 2010
The Circus of Rome?
One key factor it this project was that it had to be quick. I've a Warmachine Battle box needing to be painted and if this stalled I knew it would sit half fininshed for a while. Also I don't play RSBS that often so it is a bit of a luxury piece. So detail level is accordingly set to "background".
The arena is open down one side. I'd prefer a completely enclosed area but there you go. Access to the figures would be easier are a result - no disaster. The actual battle floor is eliptical and 18" x 13" at the widest point. Smaller that the recommended 2"x 2" area in the ruleset, but it 1-on-1 battles (ie the vast majority of the time) it shouldn't make much difference. You can see two 28mm Foundry Gladiators in the bare arena here.
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Frugal In Falkirk
(also posted on the Year of Frugal Gaming blog)
Well I made it to Carronade in Falkirk on Saturday, armed with two cardboard boxes full of offerings and a bag of change. I'd forgotten how frantic the Bring & Buy section of a convention is. I arrived there just as my pitch was starting, With a 5 minute swap over time I was suprised (and jealous) of how quickly the two guys either side of me were set up, with their wares well presented to the hordes, whilst I tried to ladle the contents of my boxes onto the small space available.
The majority of the items for sale being sold for someone I knew (with a healthy commission), so as I unpacked I was gutted to know that one of my neighbours had had enquiries from someone searching their "Holy Grail" - a Call Of Cthulu core boxset, which I was putting on the table.(Thankfully he came back round again so we were all happy). The 1980's Citidel mini's (at a bargain £1) were popular and over 50 went in the hour. I'd seperated the themes into seperate boxes which really helped browsers, as well as giving a discount for large multiple buys. At the end of a frantic hour the vast majority of stock was still there, but about £100 worth of business had been done, and with so much stock being Cthulu RPG suppliments it would have taken a constant stream of Cthulu RPG enthusiasts to clear me out. So I finished the morning happy with more cash in my pocket than I arrived with, lighter boxes and having enjoyed the time chatting & haggling.
After a bite of lunch the focus moved to the other two purposes of attendance, gaming and bargains. As I had Arabiansquire with me, who had been very patient during the B&B we looked out for a game. Looking round the Participation games available, and considering what time we had left, a couple of seats were swooped on for a Magnificent Seven game presented by RAF Leuchars Wargaming Club. They always have excellently presented and thought out games every year, so I was looking forward to it. It really ticked every box in what I look for in a Convention P&P game. Gorgeous to look at, easy to pick up, fun to play and enthusiastic and friendly folk running it. We played Britt and Harry in the village square ambush, and not only did the assembled players manage to take out all the bandits (bar one), but Arabiansquire managed rack up the largest bandit count to win overall (for which the greatful villagers gave him an extra piece of "reward". Great fun. (I fact in the time it's taken me to write this report it was awarded Best Participation Game. Congratulations, well deserved)
This brings us onto the last part - swag. Now being entrenched in this frugal business I found that very little tempted my wallet. Don't get me wrong, there was loads of nice stuff up for grabs, but I kept reminding myself that I wasn't looking for it, or it wasn't a game I was playing or (more commonly if I'm honest) I still had similar unpainted items in the hobby shed. However I did pick up a bargain in the Bring and Buy in the form of a repainted car for some Necromunda action, and the buildings from the Dark World expansion Village Of Fear. I also picked up magetic basing components for the staff, after an informaitve chat with the staff there on what I needed. I also picked up a free quality printout of the Doctor Who miniatures game intro "Battle for Canary Wharf" from a freindly fellow (sorry, I can't remember your name) promoting Crooked Dice Game Design and had an interesting discussion on Doctor Who, licensing and more.
In conclusion, a good day was had. There aren't any details of the games out on the tables because I didn't actually have time to get round and see them all properly. The selling really did put a pinch on the available browsing time. In hindsight, as I wasn't really looking to buy much I should have spent less time at the stalls and more time looking round the games, but hey-ho, there you go, Can't undo what's done! I did come out with more money than I went in with, I played a great game and I picked up a bargain. Sounds like a sucess to me.
The majority of the items for sale being sold for someone I knew (with a healthy commission), so as I unpacked I was gutted to know that one of my neighbours had had enquiries from someone searching their "Holy Grail" - a Call Of Cthulu core boxset, which I was putting on the table.(Thankfully he came back round again so we were all happy). The 1980's Citidel mini's (at a bargain £1) were popular and over 50 went in the hour. I'd seperated the themes into seperate boxes which really helped browsers, as well as giving a discount for large multiple buys. At the end of a frantic hour the vast majority of stock was still there, but about £100 worth of business had been done, and with so much stock being Cthulu RPG suppliments it would have taken a constant stream of Cthulu RPG enthusiasts to clear me out. So I finished the morning happy with more cash in my pocket than I arrived with, lighter boxes and having enjoyed the time chatting & haggling.
After a bite of lunch the focus moved to the other two purposes of attendance, gaming and bargains. As I had Arabiansquire with me, who had been very patient during the B&B we looked out for a game. Looking round the Participation games available, and considering what time we had left, a couple of seats were swooped on for a Magnificent Seven game presented by RAF Leuchars Wargaming Club. They always have excellently presented and thought out games every year, so I was looking forward to it. It really ticked every box in what I look for in a Convention P&P game. Gorgeous to look at, easy to pick up, fun to play and enthusiastic and friendly folk running it. We played Britt and Harry in the village square ambush, and not only did the assembled players manage to take out all the bandits (bar one), but Arabiansquire managed rack up the largest bandit count to win overall (for which the greatful villagers gave him an extra piece of "reward". Great fun. (I fact in the time it's taken me to write this report it was awarded Best Participation Game. Congratulations, well deserved)
This brings us onto the last part - swag. Now being entrenched in this frugal business I found that very little tempted my wallet. Don't get me wrong, there was loads of nice stuff up for grabs, but I kept reminding myself that I wasn't looking for it, or it wasn't a game I was playing or (more commonly if I'm honest) I still had similar unpainted items in the hobby shed. However I did pick up a bargain in the Bring and Buy in the form of a repainted car for some Necromunda action, and the buildings from the Dark World expansion Village Of Fear. I also picked up magetic basing components for the staff, after an informaitve chat with the staff there on what I needed. I also picked up a free quality printout of the Doctor Who miniatures game intro "Battle for Canary Wharf" from a freindly fellow (sorry, I can't remember your name) promoting Crooked Dice Game Design and had an interesting discussion on Doctor Who, licensing and more.
In conclusion, a good day was had. There aren't any details of the games out on the tables because I didn't actually have time to get round and see them all properly. The selling really did put a pinch on the available browsing time. In hindsight, as I wasn't really looking to buy much I should have spent less time at the stalls and more time looking round the games, but hey-ho, there you go, Can't undo what's done! I did come out with more money than I went in with, I played a great game and I picked up a bargain. Sounds like a sucess to me.
Thursday, 11 March 2010
Frugal postings
Anyway have a look at it and the other fine articles (by others) and as always feel free to add to the experience.
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