Wales And Matters Arising

I've just been toWales for a few days. I was hoping to be able to post when I got there. Despite being about 20m from a telecom mast I wasn't getting much signal. For those of you who don't know Wales it's a part of the United Kingdom where the place names seem to have grown a few extra consonants, usually the letter L. The bit I have just been too looks like southern Spain only green and without cactus or donkey carts (lets see how many people I can offend).

I want to start of by saying that I love Wales. It's got the best views in the world. I can kind of see me moving there in the not too distant future. That said what it hasn't got is infrastructure. It doesn't need a theme park as the roads are in general more scary than even the biggest roller coasters. The internet seems to have passed it by. The RAF seem to use it as their play pen. It also seems to serve the worst fish and chips in existence. Us British love fish and chips, it is not  stereotype. I went to one place in Pwheli (that's Welsh not Swahili) where I was charges more money than I have ever been charged for fish and chips (even harry Ramsdens is cheaper) for possibly the worst tasting fish and frozen chips I have ever had in a place that truns out to be little better than the kiddies play area in McDonalds. The phrase less choice than a Welsh Fish and chip shop also sprang to mind.

Fish and chips aside, the place is lovely.

Some More 15mm Work

I alluded to some 15mm painting that I had done the other day. These were really just some characters I have planned for one of my RPG games so I put a bit of effort into them.

The first is a US Navy Officer although I am sure it would also do for a Bolivian Policeman or one of the crew off Loveboat. Think this is an Armies Army Figure I think. It would be perfect if oit ddn't have a blue tooth earpiece in. He seems to have got a nice strong jawbone but does seem to be pouting. What did I do before inks? The medals aren't really anything in particular because most of the bars are two small. Although you can't see it in the picture he has bars on his sleeves as well.

The following two have been painted as sort of Buddhists. The first actually is a Buddhist from the Peter Pig Vietnam range. You can see that the face was nearly as orange as the saffron robes. No it' not Roger Moore in his heyday. Although the figure is meant to male it is a double for a female buddhist character from my old Conspiracy X game.



The last figure is also from Peter Pig. This is a religious Leader Figure from the AK47 range. He has a dead body counterpart in the picture below. It seems like a nice striking pose that I think I can use in a few games I have coming up. He has the look of a slightly organge Captain Morpheus to me.
 
Lastly here are a few more corpses. One is meant to be a policeman like the ones I painted last year here. There is also a US postman and a few others for good measure. These were nearly all military types and I was hoping that I have turned them into something more civilian like. What do you think?

Catch Up Day

Owing to it being a slow rainy bank holiday Monday and the fact I am going away tomorrow, today has been a quiet day. This means I have had a bit of time to myself. It started off with me painting some bases around the 15mm figures. This has to be my second least favourite activity after flocking bases. For some reason I found the motivation for this and to tidy my desk.

When I had done that I got some 15mm figures that have been part painted and taking up some space. They would have gathered a lot of dust but for being hidden away in the blue draws on the desk. I have had a good go at those too. I'll post some pics of those tomorrow.

I have finished two 28mm figures today. The first is Adam Worth. He is a player character in a Savage Worlds Rippers game. He is based on a real person who was the known as the Napoleon of crime, a term later to be used by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Since I suspect that I might be going a bit steam punk in the not to distant future (and maybe a bit deadlands as well) I think he will be the first of many. I am hoping that I have got him to look just a little bit dodgy. Calling him a little bit dodgy is like called a cabbaged a little bit green and covered in caterpillars.

Next is the character I'll be using in tonight's Space 1889 name game. It's set on Mars hence the slightly unusual base colour. The game is just a little bit tongue in cheek I am today so a guess of making a big character. Colonel Sir Walter Richard Pollack Hamilton Hardwick VC (ret). Again another character freely taken out of history and changed just a little bit. Somewhere between an idealised Kipling Officer and General Melchett from Blackadder goes fourth only more so. I am fairly pleased with this one as I put a bit of effort into it. I might start doing a but more if I get to love the character.

More Pictures of GZG Trucks

I've been asked to post a few more pictures of the new GZG trucks. So here you go.

Rant, Referees Should Read the $%*ing Rules and Apply Them Fairly and a Picture of the Workbench

The workbench is still looking busy but is now at least a little tidier. I still feel pretty chaotic when I look at it as there are over a dozen different projects that I can see. As ever there are too many unfinished projects on the table. I might need to do something about that. Then again maybe not. I am in a completer finisher mood at the moment. So a lot of stuff has now been cleared away. I have a few bits to finish off and even more to put away. I have a couple of 28m figures which I intend to use for role playing. One needs to be finished for Monday.

Speaking of role playing I am still in mourning for a playing character I lost this week in a Traveller game.  I am not going to mention the name of the referee but I will say that I will never be involved in a game with this guy ever again. :-)

My main gripe is that most of the damage was done that killed me  came from one of three shots. This shot was at the end of a six second turn in which the npc had decided to jump, jumped, moved 150m (which was a difficult second action in a system that only allows one significant action), landed, acquired a target which would theoretically be prone with some cover, in the dark, firing an ACR, in microgravity, shot and hit. The NPC doing the shooting had a low level of skill. If the referee had thrown a twelve and not a six and not specifically prohibited me from doing the same thing two or three combat rounds previously. 

This was of course all done when the referee had made a scenario for 12 PCs/NPCs harder that it was in the book and when two of the players had already dropped out.

New GZG 15mm Ground Vehicles

As well as the civilian mechs I got at Triples I got some of the new trucks. These are now glued together. They have a nice rugged 2300ish look. I'll not do too much about them here but I'll post a bit more when they get closer to being done. The one on the right hasn't quite set right so I've had to re-glue it.

I have been playing about with some of the GZG vehicles. I started on the military ones the other day. These are still at a very early stage. The trucks are really what I was after. I know they are vehicles but in many respects I see them more as scenary. The aim for them is more as things to make the terrain more interesting than it is to use them as vehicles.

I like the buggies as they have a nice Space 1999  vibe. This show is one of the best bits of scifi cheese even now. These too are a long way from ready.

Gunfighters

It's just a quick one today really. Life has been a bit too busy to get anything completely finished. I had forgotten what a drag painting 28mm was as just these ten figures have seemed to take forever. Well they have been sat around for a few days now. Not the prettiest figures I have ever done but they have a certain something. I had I hope they look better on the table than they do on the internet.

I guess I have some 28mm steam punk ish figures to paint now as well. Hopefully they will be easy. Somehow I doubt it though.

Just Because I thought It Was Funny

Swimbo found me asleep on the sofa yesterday morning. Just after the cat also found me asleep on the sofa. Foolishly I had left my phone hanging around. No cats were harmed in the production of this picture although some feelings were.

Star Wars Anniversary

The twenty fifth  is the day (not May the fourth) that Star Wars opened in America in 1977. There can be very little out there that has had such an effect on my life (or bank balance). To this day I am not really sure why. Something about heroes and doing the right that right thing that follow me even now.  The characters just make yiu want to get involved even when you shouldn't.

I was caught up with everything. Palitoy Star Wars figures where what my life was all about foe a long time. I can still recall seeing them for the first time in the window of closed toy shop. I just had to have some. I still have my Star Wars comics in a box, one of the few links I have left with my childhood.

I love it enough today to be shocked by George Lucas selling up and elated by the fact that Disney (why Disney George? Why?!!!!) will be making some more films.

Take a moment to remember what the world looked like after the first time you saw Star Wars. Carry that moment with you.

A Few More Things

 I've had a few ideas on top of what I was doing earlier. The lab idea comes out in the the form of the flask. The mug is another idea I have been playing around with. It was originally more to do with the blog. Born out of my love of a cup of brown joy. Watch the video, it's very funny. You Americans will love it. I was going to use the mug as a project rating, as in a "three brew project" meaning it will take a little time. Thought I could use it for rating the level of complication of laser cut kit projects.

Any thoughts?

More Business Ideas

Well I have settled on a name for the business which is "CraftLAB," I have just about worked out a logo as well. The colours are going to stay the same not sure about the layout. Something with less ink is likely to win out.

At least I seem to have something more of a purpose over the last couple of days. I have done a fair bit of painting but haven't really focused on any one thing. My situation at home looks like it's about to change. Not drastically but enough that I might have a bit more time and some money available to put into setting up a business.

The painting is difficult because I am still business focused and keep thinking of ideas to set up something in the gaming line, I thought I might put some thoughts into action. Much as I would love to get into miniature casting I don't have the kind of money to set this up. As well as the laser cutting I have been thinking about what else I can do. I've had a go and making some flock today. It all seemed to turn out okay and I managed to create two sample colours. Not the hardest job in the world but it would be quite hard work to make a living at it. I've also had a go at making some basing compound. This was a bit more complex. I was hoping for something like basetex only a bit thinner so it might flow onto the base a but better. I got what I wanted but It's not as quick drying as I might of liked.

I've also ordered the software I intend to use. It should arrive in the next day or so. I have some time set aside to learn it and develop some products. By the time I have finished with this I should have enough money to buy the laser cutter. 

Triples

I've been to the Triples wargame show yesterday. This is the biggest show in the North of England and the highlight of the gaming year. It's been a good day with some good mates. And a burger van. Mustn't forget the burger van. One was missing but he'll be down in a few weeks instead. He's vistied for just about every Triples for the last twenty years so it felt a bit odd but nothing I won't get over.

I got the feeling that there weren't quite so many people there this year but there were still plenty of traders. There seem to be a few new traders and the established ones seem to be doing okay.

Mecha Bodies

Mecha Arms

Having just started painting some GZG vehicles I had the excuse to buy some more. I purchased three of the new civilian mechs and some of the new trucks. I haven't got round to doing anything with the trucks yet. I have had a look at the mecha. I haven't put them together yet but this a is a view of the basic mecha kit and the three weapon systems with the mechs. They are not as grufty as the military versions but they are a lot cheaper. I can see some use for them in a range of scifi games and maybe even Fallout when the game comes back for the new season later on in the year.

One of my mates was talking about doing Empire of the Dead last year. It's something about steampunk being the new black or staying in or something. I am guessing that this is another game that is going to die on it's arse but I thought I would give them a go (he said looking at a pile of 6mm French Napoleonics that are gathering dust). I figured that I cold use one of them as an RPG character in an upcoming space 1889 game. I had the idea for an aging Kiplingesque general with a boderline mental health problem. The figure, with smoking jacket, revolver and swagger stick, seemed to be the right one. The rest of them could be used in another game or maybe even Empire of the Dead if there is someone willing to give it a go.

15mm GZG SciFi Armour

I have purchased a large amount of  GZG 15mm vehicles that have have been sat around for a while now. In terms of weight in the lead mountain, this is the single biggest purchase I have made in ten years. I wanted some stuff that would fit in with my ideas for Tomorrow's War. Sort of 2300 meets Aliens. So lots of mid-tech stuff with wheels and tracks are the main order of business. I have a some srmoured grav vehicles which I think  will do for a more advanced focred just for good measure. Mostly I wanted some civilian looking vehicles to use more as scenery rather than vehicles. All of which now require some degree of attention.

They have been taking up limited storage space ever since I got them. I thought it was about time I did something about it. Sooooo...... If I put some paint on them, it means the project has been started and is not at the gathering dust stage. I can justify buying some more stuff to stick in storage when I go to Triples later in the month. Then I can sit back and admire an even bigger lead mountain. In general, the lead miuntain has been getting smaller (or did I just stop buying 28mm figures?)

Wondering why there is a picture of a mountain at the top of the post? Well that is lead Mountain Colorado. No, seriously it actually exists, it's not just a clever metaphor :-)

20,000 Page Views

So 20,000 views in just over twelve months. I am taking that as a success. Not sure I am planning a party for the occasion but I am quite happy about this. I think it was probably someone from India who seems to have looked at half the blog. Assuming you aren't some kind of spammer thank you for helping me get there.

I've even had a new follower Barks  who has his own blog somewhere. Any follower of mine is worth a plug. I am a little jealous of Big Lee who has just managed 500 followers. He must be doing something right. What's the secret? I mean other than all the hard work and painting.

I haven't done much this week other than play about with graphics software. I have been umming and arring about buying a laser cutter this week. Every time I look at what I want the price seems to have gone up by a grand. It's now getting on to that amount I paid for the last new car I brought.

Still off to Triples in Sheffield in the morning.

Moving "Swiftly" On

Well it's been a busy week gaming, well for me at least.  Having played some Traveller on Monday my gaming juices have been going all week. Trouble is my other half picked up a chest infection and this means that I have been coughing  all week too. It's been so bad I have lost two nights sleep. I  could have modeled for some zombie miniatures around Friday and no one would have known I was alive.

I was involved in a 15mm fantasy wargame the other day. I had a lot of fun but didn't seem to do any appreciable damage to the enemy. For once I wasn't on the losing side although I think it was a no score draw (well there were a few casualties but nothing significant). For some reason (it was one of those you had to be there moments I'm told) they use Tercio as the rules. They a a set of renaissance rules by tabletop games I think. Not sure why these rules but they seem to work. I think there are other sets of rules that could be used to accomplish the same sort of outcomes much quicker but the guys at the club seem to like them and I don't want to upset the apple cart too much. I know old school is popular right now. Retro might be hip but maths isn't and there is a lot of maths in this.

I have the urge to do some more buildings. I am running a scifi game in a few months and want to do some stuff for that but couldn't quite run up enough enthusiasm for it today. I did do some more work on the cowboys which are now more or less done. I need to put some pupils on the eyes and varnish them and they are done (well further progress will be abandoned).

I am having problems with Blogger or my PC. Not sure which but I am habing problems posting pictures.(Cured this now, obviously). They are there, they just don't seem to be showing up.

I kept picking stuff up and putting it back down again. I have really forgotten how involved 28mm figures are. I tend to be quite basic and they still seem take an eternity to get them done. I don't much like the absence of variety either. I need some vac suited figures for my up coming game. There are few manufacturers in 28mm and to get what I want will cost about £70. In 15mm there still is a massive number of manufacturers but there are at least 25 different poses in several different styles. I might get a few more before the game (as of I need an excuse)