Over There

The Department Figure Preview

2012-01-29T16:18:00.000-08:00

Here is a preview of the new 15mm figure range that Effigy Miniatures is producing specifically for The Department.

The figure is sculpted by the very talented Tom Mason. Effigy is his new sculpting shop and I'm really pleased to be working with him to produce figures for the Department.

I'm really loving this figure. It captures the world of The Department perfectly.

Blast it all!

2011-11-14T13:48:00.001-08:00

You may have been wondering what I've been doing instead of gaming. Aside from furiously working on The Department, I've been finish up a freelance project I was working on before the Kickstarter took off.

I'm actually really proud of Blasters and Bulkheads. I've been working on the page designs since early June and it's really neat to see the whole project for sale. I'm really impressed with Joe Urban's cover art, and I'd love to see a mini produced of that character. Though I admit, it looks kinda like hes burning the hair off of the back of his neck.

You can snag a copy at Wargame downloads(which includes full color and printer friendly). So as always, buy loads so I get more work.

Now it's all Department, all the time until April. It's going well so far and I think the layout is going to be even better than Blaster and Bulkheads! There are a lot of concepts in B&B that I'm going to put in The Department.

A little Teaser for You

2011-11-11T10:14:00.000-08:00

Been real quiet here for a while because there has been very little gaming going on. I have been doing a lot of gaming work though, which I want to show you. Here is some artwork for The Department. It was drawn by Dave Powell and painted by me.

Back Scratching

2011-10-07T04:53:00.000-07:00

Been a bit quiet here at the blog latley. I've been busy finishing the Layout of Blasters and Bulkheads and organizing work on The Department now that the Kickstarter has finished.

The Layout of Blasters and Bulkheads is coming along well. I'm porduceing a "pretty" version and a printer friendly version. You get both when you order so everyone is happy. I'll try and post a preview of the page layout when I get the finished photgraphs from Sky.

And now to the title of this post. One of The Department's kickstarter backers, Tom Mason has started his own Kickstarter project. The project is already funded, but now is your chance to get in on the action. I'm a backer and I particularly like the sci-fi models. I've included a shot of the figures to whet your appetite.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1470153821/effigy-miniatures-a-new-sci-fi-and-fantasy-miniatu

We Made it Everyone!

2011-09-14T01:57:00.001-07:00

I have to say that I feel like George Bailey right now. The Kickstarter Drive has come back from the grave in a big way. We've shot past our goal with just a few days to go. May thanks to all of my friends and the gamers worldwide that have helped to make this project a reality.

Now the hard part starts, actually producing the game. In the next six months, we're going to forge this pile of rules and concept sketches into a great product.

Now that teh funding drive is over, we should get back the regularly scheduled programing on this blog. Scott just handed me the finished manuscript for Blasters and Bulkheads, so I'll be beginning the layout now. Stayed tuned from previews for that game. I've just bought a drawing tablet for my PC and I've done some new art that hopefully will make it in the finished book.

It's the Final Countdown

2011-09-10T02:42:00.000-07:00

We're having the final week of fundraising for our game The Department: Noir Investigation Skirmish. We've raised almost $2,700 so far, but we're still about $1,100 away from the goal. Pledges are coming at a steady clip, but we everything we can.

We've got a lot of great rewards for backers like t-shirts, posters, and of course copies of the rules.

Some New Art.

2011-08-15T23:49:00.000-07:00

Hi guys, just wanted to post some new promo art for The Deaprtment by the very talented Cole Jefferies.

Make sure to check out the Kickstarter as well.

Like us!

2011-08-14T13:32:00.000-07:00

I'd like to announce The Department Facebook contest. All you have to do is like our Facebook page. That's It! We'll select one person to receive a free signed print edition of the game. Three other lucky people will receive a free PDF, or, Ebook version of the game.

Note: This contest is null and void if the Kickstarter pitch is unsuccessful, as the game will not be produced.

The Department, Its live folks

2011-08-02T03:02:00.001-07:00

It's been another period of inactivity here at the blog, but not without good reason. I've been moving ahead on the artwork for Blaster and Bulkheads, but over the last few months I've also been working on my baby.

I'd like to present to you, my loyal readers, the Kickstarter page for a game I've been wanting to make for a long time.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1931671462/the-department-sci-fi-noir-tabletop-wargame-rpg

I won't rehash the pitch text here, since you can read it on the Kickstarter page, but suffice to say we're breaking new ground in skirmish wargaming. Building on the solid Goalsystem, we plan on releasing a full color 150 page book that lets you fight rogue robots in 2060s America.

While the rewards we have on the Kickstarter page are great, I'd like to extend an offer exclusive to my blog readers. The first ten people who make a donation to the kickstarter at $10 or more will also receive a small print of the above artwork signed by me as a thank you for being one of the first Kickstarter backers. I'll send this out next week(provided there are enogh donations), so you'll have your print right away to help spread the word about The Department. Just send me a message through Kickstarter to claim you bonus reward. Make sure to mention that you heard about it on the blog.

Even if you don't want to donate, I would greatly appreciate making a post about the game on any forums or your blog. The more people know about the project, the more chance we have of making this project a success.

Speaking Mecanically

2011-07-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some Sample pages for the new GWI Rules. I tried to select some that explain some key rule points and shows off some of the awesome art and Karl Perrotton's great layout that's in the book.

For those of you looking for some more information on the rules themselves I'll summarize some of the key points of the rules.

Alternate Activation - Units the consist of several stands of infantry or vehicles activate one at a time and their constituent stands (called fireteams) and vehicles operate within their units command radius.

Combat - Combat is resolved on a opposed roll on 3D6 modified by weapons quality, armour, and shields.

Extra Rules - The book includes rules for spotting, sensors, bailed out vehicle crews and psionics.

Combined Arms - Army list include rules for infatnry, tanks, hover vehicles and flyers.

Full Army Design Rules - Use one of the six included army lists or use the complete army design rules to create you own. The build system is meant to be flexible but balanced.

Hope that Helps. Feel free to ask any additional questions.

Galactic Info

2011-07-01T01:43:00.000-07:00

I've been patrolling the various news sites looking at the Galactic War I announcement, and one of the most frequent request was for some basic information about the rules. I figure I would take this opportunity to do a little write up about the rules.

First off, the rules are Company level rules meant with 15mm in mind. Though they can be used with 28mm with a little adjustment to the ranges and movement distances. Armies consist of several units which are made up of three to six infantry fireteams or vehicles.

The system includes rules for all kinds of cool sci-fi troop types that include walkers, grav vehicles, and giant fliers the can not only transport large quantities of infantry, but also vehicles as well.

The Universe is meant to be a pretty open and accessible space opera. It's not hard sci-fi, but its not Skullz(TM) either.

Ther are 7 forces to choose from that range from the forces of Terra, to mysterious psychic aliens.

Mercantile Collective: Mercenary companies that fight for a sovereign corporate free trade zone.

Universalist Military Forces: A militant religious movement that relies heavily on psi support for their armies.

Post Human Liberation Force: Escaped clone slaves that are fighting against those that would seek to enslave them again.

Orion Republic: Humans the rely on heavy armour and large flying dropships.

Terran Confederation: Humans that have a good mix of solid infantry and heavy walkers.

Ferreen Raiding Force: Psychic aliens that fight alongside other savage alien creatures.

The Arlocks: Nomadic aliens that use traded or salvaged vehicles from other faction in their armies.

Though the rules are meant to go with Blue Moon's extensive 15mm sci-fi range, several of the army lists have been written to allow other manufacturers' figures in the force without contradicting the fluff.

I hope that gives you a better idea of the rules. Feel free to ask any questions you may have ion the comments or shoot me an email or a PM.

Not so Long Ago in Galaxy Far Far Away

2011-06-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/2011/06/29/48100/

Its a good time me right now as a some freelance projects that have been in development are finally entering production. It with a proud tear in my eye that I annouce that Galactic War I has gone on Sale.

I worked on Galactic War I last year with Scott Pyle and Sky Hernstrom. I contributed some core rules, but I was primarily responsible with writing the army lists (Sky wrote all the flavor texts). My most proud moment during development was that I got to name the little 15mm Yeti like creatures that seem to be one of the more popular items in the miniture line. It tickles me to see a name that I made up used around the net.

The Twanax!

http://www.bluemoonmanufacturing.com/view_product.php?product=15ALN-114

You can purchase the book here. Buy the book and make sure that I get more work.

http://www.bluemoonmanufacturing.com/view_product.php?product=Rule%2004

Labors of the Layout Guy

2011-06-23T01:31:00.001-07:00

Well, I've been away for a while, but its not without a good reason. See, I have not been painting figure in order to do another gaming project. I've been working on Labor of the Gods, the first full colour Goalsystem book. Here are some sample pages from the finished book. I did most of the interior illustration. The cover was done by Dave Powell and has a cool retro feel to it.

I'm working on the new Goalsystem book, Blasters and Bulkheads. Hopefully I'll be back with some cool preveiw and development stuff for that book as well.

2011-04-25T03:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of my next Malifaux crew. I usually don't post unpainted stuff on this blog, but I'm particularly proud of the sculpting. I'm using the Lucius list, but I'm using it to represent a organized crime syndicate that is at odds with the MSU. This syndicate, which manipulates and exists within the guild's hierarchy, specializes in smuggling guild prisoners back over the breach. I wanted this crew to have a distinct Oriental feel, but not to be "The Malifaux Tongs". This syndicate is run by the shadowy sentient construct, the Clockwork Dandy(left centre). I'm using my Desperate mercenaries as Guild Guard and filling using the two pistol wielding gents as Guild Gaurd Captains and the guy with the eagle as an Austinger.

The Fallout from Fallout

2011-04-10T02:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures of some additional post-apoc games that I've played over the last week. I'm working on the rules and should be ready for campaign play this Thursday progress is a bit slow since I've been laying out the latest goalsystem book.

War.... War Never Changes

2011-03-31T14:29:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since I posted. I started a new job and the blog has suffered. I'm still doing gaming stuff, but I haven't had a chance to blog it. I'm hoping to load ups some of my pictures over the next few days to make up for it before I get back to the more or less weekly schedule that I have found for this blog.

But I figure I would begin with a bang. Here are some pictures of my 15mm Post-Apocalyptic game I played this evening. I used a modified version of the Infinity rules. Trading inches for CM and playing on a much smaller (48cm x 72cm). I really like how it turned out and I especially like the look of the game. The pictures speak for themselves. I really plan on refining my modifications and hope to publish them on this blog.

Do the Baba Yaga

2011-03-06T03:08:00.000-08:00

Here is geeky gift that I gave to my girlfriend recently. I was going through my collection with her and she mentioned that she thought an old Dreamblade Baba Yaga Hut looked rather cool. So I painted it up and gave it to her as a gift. I was originally going to use it for my 10mm fantasy Russian HOTT army, but I figured this is a better use.

Flying High

2011-02-19T03:39:00.001-08:00

Edo, 1870 - The Blazing son press office has just confirmed the launch of their newest aerial vessel, the IAS Tenshi. Capitalizing on the latest anti-gravity lifting device, the Tenshi is slated to replace the older war gyros that have comprised the emperor's aerial fleets so far.

Above are some pictures of my scout gyro conversion. The official models are not out yet, and I'm not too fussed with the preview renders, so I made my own. The one model for the Japanese Faction that I'm absolutly in love with is their flying carrier. I decided to do an all flying Blazing Sun's fleet. I really liked the detail of their much maligned "train ships" so I decided to turn them upside-down by carfully sawing off the pilot house and the AA emplacements. The conversion turned out well. I actually think the Japanese ships look more like ships when you turn them upside-down. Next I'll do a larger war gyro and fill the rest out with carriers. The advantage of flying models is that they are pretty expensive points wise, so I won't need to spend a whole lot of money to get to 1000 points.

Dressed to Kill...

2011-02-11T11:25:00.000-08:00

converted figures from The Scene UK

from left to right: Rebel Minis, The Scene, Rebel, The Scene, The Scene

Here are some 15mm Post Apocalyptic figures that I converted and painted for a skirmish ruleset that I've been playing with. These represent a reasonably dramatic theoretical shift in the way I aproach 15mm figures. I focused on keeping brush strokes small and paint very thin, which I think pays dividends in 15mm figures. Instead of doing two layers of highlighting after the normal wash of Devlin Mud, I did one especially strong highlight. I used small washers for the bases as well, which I think gives much more visual balance to the finished figures.

Each scale has its own painting challenges. I feel like I'm finally getting to grips with 15mm. The more 15mm figures I paint, the more convinced I am that they can truly supplant 28mm for small sci-fi skirmishes. I think that eventually, I'll be able to paint a 15mm figure just as well as a 28, it's just a matter of technique.

Appliances for all of your spaceship needs

2011-02-07T10:02:00.000-08:00

Are you tired of building all of your starship appliances yourself. Do you need ship appliances right off the shelf in a variety of styles and colours?

Well look no further than Joe's Appliance Hanger. We have all the appliances that a spaceworth ship needs to stay flyin'. These prices will not last forever. So come on down!

Here is the lion's share of my 15mm starship furnishings. After some feedback and sugesstion on TMP, I sculpted all of the furnishing that I figure would sell well for 15mm terrain. From Left to right: large veiwscreen, Wepons Locker, Vacc Suit Locker(could be used as a Cryo Chamber as well), Mainframe Cabinet, Computer Console, A chair, and a Bar/Living Quarters Table.

I opted not to do some of the stuff that I though was not useful to everyone, such as toilets and some of the other everyday things that do not get featured in action adventure type scenarios. Stylistically, I tried to straddle the line between sleek high-tech and totally retro. I could see these things used in a Traveller game, or inside a Fallout style vault. I still plan to do a bad and a regular desk and a bed, which should be good sellers as well.

In the meantime. These are for sale with full repo rights. I designed these with castability in mind. There are no undercuts and all the parts are thick enough to cast. Since this is shaping up to be a whole range, I'm willing to promise exclusivity for future pieces to the person who buys the set. If you are interested, email at Kingjoey85 at yahoo dot com.

The Information Age

2011-02-02T16:32:00.000-08:00

Here are some more 15mm scale control equipment that I sculpted this evening. I had a lot of fun sculpting these up. There a few minor details to finish and things to clean up, but otherwise they are finished. I was trying to emulate Copplestone's excellent resin equipment. The great thing about 15mm is that its about 1/10th the cost of 28mm. You can make a great control room with these pieces for under a fiver.

As usual, these are for sale with full repo rights.

Light, Crisp, Refreshing

2011-01-26T15:55:00.000-08:00

Two blog posts in one week, stop the presses!

Here are two vending machines that I sculpted. On the right is a modern vending machine and on the right is a "retro" version that would be good for pulp or PA. As always, these are for sale. I'll be doing a few more pieces like this for 15mm street/interior furniture.

I have a dream. That I will be able to build a furnish a 15mm sci fi complex without having to scratch build every piece of furniture.

Robots... When Robots Attack

2011-01-24T16:38:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of 15mm pulp style robots I sculpted today. These could be useful for any sort of retro space game or a certain unnamed post apocalyptic universe. These greens are for sale with full repo rights. Just let me know if you are interested and leave your email in the comments section and I'll get in touch with you to discuss(I'll delete the comment as soon as I contact you).

Pedagogical Techniques

2011-01-16T12:35:00.000-08:00

Ask and you shall receive dear readers. I'm devoting this post to my painting technique fore my Dystopian Wars painting technique. Here is picture of one of my painted and rigged battleships. I was bestowed one of the highest nerd honours last week when my FLGS offered a place in their display case for my DW fleet.

This is the first blog post that uses a photograph taken in my new photobooth. My pictures are getting better, but as they do, they are revealing the painting mistakes that the poorer photos hide.

Without further ado here is the recipe for my quick and easy DW paint scheme.

Prime White

Hull

Basecoat with Vallejo Model Colour German Beige Camo.
Wash with GW Devlan Mud(the thicker the better).
When dry, paint the panels with German Beige Camo leaving the areas around the rivets and seams darker.
Pick out the hard edges and the gunwales with Vallejo Model Colour Iraqi Sand.

Deck

Basecoatwith Vellejo Model colour Mahogony Sand.
Wash with GW Devlan Mud.
Drybrush with 50/50 mix of VMC Ochre Brown and Saddle Brown
Lightly drybrush with 50/50 mix of the above mixture with Iraqi Sand

Details

Windows were just filled in with VMC Deep Sky Blue
Metal was done with basecoat metal(GW Tin Bitz, Bolgun Metal, Etc), washed with Devlan Mud and highlighted with GW Chainmail.

I hope that helps. Its dead easy and makes a good, quick result.

Stay tuned. I photographed my process for rigging and should be releasing a tutorial soon.

Cardiff Steamer

2011-01-05T02:52:00.001-08:00

coming out from the other side of the application season, I finally got some serious painting. I succumbed to the new hotness at the local store here in Cardiff and bought a fleet for Dystopian Wars. Being the token Yank at the store I had to go for the FSA. It was convenient that they were my favourite models of the whole range. The figures are a joy to paint. I really can't compliment them enough. Spartan is really showing us the future of miniature making. I think the process of designing figures on CAD and having them 3D printed had finally matured where it can create models that are superior to more old fashion methods.

I'm really pleased with how these turned out, with the devlin mud adding a grungy feel. I went the extra mile and added a mast and some rigging. I think it adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the models. I have two battleships and some aircraft left to paint and then I'll be ready to enforce the Monroe doctrine at the barrel of a gun!

The Horsemen Are Coming Nearer...

2010-12-20T13:33:00.001-08:00

Just a quick post about what I'm painting right now. In the wait to the Christmas Infinty goodness, I have invaded my backlog and did some 15mm converting.

I love the new Ratnik post-apoc figures made available in Europe and the US by Lead Adventure. I wanted to see if I could get similar results in 15mm. Here are some crude shots of my efforts. I'll get some better pictures when I get them on some bases. I'm hoping to increase the productivity of the blog by putting up some work in progress shots.

To Infinity And Beyond

2010-12-16T04:30:00.001-08:00

This blog seems to have more comback tours than Cher. the dreaded "Real Life" has gotten in the way of the hobby. After finishing my Masters, I've been swamped with work (slinging satelite TV boxes) and fighing the good fight to get some PhD funding for next year. The application to extend my visa finally pushed out gaming in my freetime. Now that that is submitted, i can gte back to painting. Here is the first real painting that I have done in the last month an a half or so.

These are some Infinity Ariadna figures. I got these for cheap on Ebay and painted them in the hope of flipping them once a give a few rounds on the gaming table. The Infinty minitures are supurb and I really wanted to do them justice.

I tried very hard to "up my game" painting wise with these figures. I'm trying to incorprate more wet blending and I'm really focused on the fundementals (paint consistency, brush stroke, and highlight placement). The Camo pattern turned out well but was a real pain to do, being three times the work of a single colour. I'm really pleased with the results, though the photos leave something to be desired. I really need to get bigger lamps and a dedicated photo booth.

I do plan on playing infinity come Janurary. I have some Nomads coming for Christmas and I'm excited to get a brush to them. Stay tuned for mor miniature madness. hopefully I can get some more painting done in the new year.

Some Steamy Capitalism

2010-10-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

I figure I would post a photo and a link to a converted Malifaux crew I featured here a while ago, and is now up on ebay. There is a miss-spelling in the listing, so be assured that there is less competition for bids. Free UK shipping and reduced international shipping if it goes for over 60 pounds.

Thanks for looking.

Mechaniarachniphobia

2010-10-09T01:30:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of my first professional sculpt. Its a 15mm scale steam spider. It is designed for 15mm but as you can see by the last picture, it fits in with 28mm figures as well. The legs are separate and are on ball joints, so the figure is very poseable.

The figure will be produced by Aegis Figures.

Straight outta Malifaux

2010-09-28T14:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of my attempt at making some Desperate Mercenaries, a new unit from the second Malifaux book. These are converted from some Copplstone Castings High Adventure figures. I wanted them to be somewhat cohesive so I sculpted some cleavers out of styrene. I imagine them to be some sort of strange Malifaux axe gang.

I'm trying to improve my photography. I think the lighting is a little better, but I think that I still need to eliminate some shadows.

My Malifauxificent Return

2010-09-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

Desolation engine, Four A Miniatures.

Steampunk Abominations. Left two are Mantic ghouls, while the right one is Four A again.

Necropunks, Four A Miniatures.

Hollow Waifs. Right, West Wind. Left Copplestone.

I fell like I've done more comeback tours than Cher. I'm now settled into my new room in Cardiff and I thought that I would show you, my loyal readers, the fruits of my unemployment...

Here are some pictures of my freshly painted steampunk undead for Malifaux. After a three month painting hiatus, I tried to bring my A game to these figures. They are all pretty heavily converted with various bits I had lying around. I am especially proud of the Desolation engine, both in painting and converting.

This group of figures primarily uses miniatures from the relatively new Four A miniatures. I have blogged about them before briefly. This is the first time that I really had a chance to work on and paint the figures that I bought from them back in April. The casting is clean and well defined. The figures take paint well and gave me a chance to put some love into them. They are well worth a look.

I was also mightily impressed with the Mantic plastic ghouls. They are really detailed and at times have finer features than a metal figure ever could. Mantic is really showing what plastic can do. They were also a joy to paint. I'm going to be keeping them in mint if I ever need more undead stuff.

All done

2010-09-12T02:49:00.000-07:00

Well, the dissertation is all done, marking the end of my time here at Durham. I've written 15,000 words on smugglers and I'm ready for 100,000 words more, I just need to get someone to write me a check to do it.

I'll be moving on to other pastures in Cardiff. Thanks to everyone in Durham that made it a great year on and off the gaming table. I'm looking forward to moving to Cardiff and hope that the gamers there are as good as they are in Pittsburgh.

Stay tuned for a return to your (more or less) regularly scheduled gaming program. I bought two Firestorm Armada starter fleets and hope to get those pained very soon.

AE Bountiful

2010-08-27T03:16:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of last nights AE Bounty game. Despite being a rather large game(6 crews) the game relatively smoothly. We made a lot of mistake on the rules, but all in all the game made me really excited about this ruleset and I would love to play again. It was also nice to see the 15mm sci-fi figures that I have been painting over the last few months.

The HOTT sands of Mars

2010-08-06T04:55:00.001-07:00

Some pictures of last nights game at the club. We used the HOTT rules to play a game of British colonials versus Martian beastmen. there were 72 AP per side. The game was a blast and a the figures (painted by my friend Steve) were superb.

Some cool stuff

2010-07-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a cool thing that I found in the National Archives while doing my research. Its a schematic for some sort of still. I don't know what its for. there doesn't seem to be any documents around it that describe its function. It looks like its for distilling some substance that is stored in a tank under ground. I found this in a box of treasury documents. Judging by the age of the documents around it, its from 1770.

Anyone out there have any guesses as to what it is or what its for? I'm not using it in my dissertation, but I am curious about it.

So it Begins....

2010-07-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

Things have been quite a while around here. I just got back from a three week visit to the States. Now its time to really get cracking on my dissertation. I have 600+ document images that need to be sorted and organized. Things will continue to be slow around here. I'll be posting some game pictures and hopefully some cool document images I find.

See you all on the other side.

Greetings from The Humungus! The Lord Humungus! The Warrior of the Wasteland! The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla!

2010-05-31T03:13:00.001-07:00

Here's a quick picture of some 15mm Wasteland Raiders for my 15mm Post Apocalypse project. The figures are from Rebel miniatures. I tried to give them an appropriately scavenged look for the figures, giving them clothing that could be scavenged from a destroyed department store or army base.

On the Road Again...

2010-05-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

The blog has been quiet for a while since I have been away doing dissertation research. Here are some 15mm Post Apocalyptic bikers from Rebel Miniatures. I have done a few conversion by swapping torsos with their PA gangers and a few head swaps using GZG heads. I really like these models. The casts are really clean and the bikes are ooze detail.

These are the first figures in a new 15mm PA project I'm working on. There are several good PA projects out there in 28mm but not too many in 15mm. Stayed tuned for more 15mm PA.

A fair bit of comparison

2010-05-14T05:22:00.000-07:00

From left to right, West wind(heavily modified), GW, Privateer Press, Four A, Heresy

I wanted to post a quick review and size comparison of the new tophat miniature from Four A miniatures. Four A is a new company based out of county Durham. I'd like to add that, even though Andy at Four A and I are realtivly close in proximity, I am in no way affiliated with the company. I have only met Andy recently and I have never gamed with him. Rest assured this review is objective and independent.

Tophat is arguably the most promising figure form the new range. I was immediately drawn to the figure as a substitute in Malifaux for Hans, since I was not too fond of the stock Wyrd miniature. What I really like about this figure is that it dosent go overboard with the steampunk elements, somthing that Privateer and Wyrd have been guilty of in the past. This figure suits me fine. The details are crisp and the casting is very clean. Although, I would expect this since its coming out of brand new mold.

The figure is listed as being 38mm from the feet to the top of the hat. This has drawn some flak on the LAF, being rather large for a 28mm figure. The turth is that this is a very large 28mm figure, but a 28mm figure none the less. You can see from the comparison above, that Tophat is much taller than other heroic 28's. That being said, the proportions are similar to the more popular lines out there. I think he'll fit into my existing figures as a taller man.

Overall I would recommend this figure for any steampunk or sci-fi gamer. Despite its size, it fits well with most existing line and should fit even more with official Malifaux miniatures. I hope that all of Four A future figures are not all so big, but I think this one provides some good variety in a Malifaux crew. A great start for the fledgling miniature company.

A Thin Skin Against the Void

2010-05-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

I've begun a new 15mm sci-fi project. Skirmish being my first love, I wanted to utilize the benifits of 15mm's small size. I designed these paper ssci-fi corridors and textured them with free sample textures that I got from Marlin Studios.

Some of you may remember my ship sections built around junction boxes. I really like the results I got from this method, but it was too expensive and slow. I designed the paper corridors in order to cover a 4'x4' table quickly and cheaply. The complex above cost me £6 and took me the better part of an afternoon to cut and assemble. Its not quite finished. I need to make more door clips and lots of stuff needs to be black lined. But it is playable as is.

I also made some adverts and signage for the corridors. I wanted this terrain to have blade runner/star wars feel. I imagine that residents in the had city would be constantly bombarded with advertising and holographic images. Right now, I only have signs printed on paper. Once I figure out to print hem onto acetate, I will hae a whole bunch of holo screens and signs.

I have three sizes of section so far. a 4"x4", a 6"x4" and a 2"x7". I plan on making other sizes. The system works by butting these whole sections against one another and connecting them with door clips. The door clips are made out of styrene with a paper texture pasted to them. I'm really pleased with the system.

The Unusual Suspects

2010-05-04T13:13:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of some 15mm sci-fi stuff I have painted recently. These are mostly Critical Mass Games mercenaries with some 15mm.co.uk stuff thrown in.

I really love the Critical Mass aliens. They are not only the cleanest models I have ever taken out of a package, they are a joy to paint as well. Simple but characterful. I wish critical mass would make a few more packs for this range. When it comes out. I would love to play AE Bounty in 15mm.

These models will be residents of a 15mm sci fi city I have in the works. I have been designing some paper ship/installation corridors similar to my plastic ones I made over Christmas. I hope to get some posted when I get them done. Hopefully paper will enable me to make them faster and cheaper. My goal is to fill a 4'x4' table with them.

Its Electric! Boogey Woogy.

2010-05-04T04:28:00.001-07:00

Here is a pic of a more unusual figure for my Malifaux Arcanists. As far as a know, Wyrd doesn't make a figure for the electrical creation, which is essentially a walking bomb that the arcanist can summon to the battlefield. There are a few versions of the construct on the web. I made mine from a foundry Ancient German that I had lying around. I removed the head and the bits from the figure and replaced the head with a ball of greenstuff. I really wanted this figure to be humanoid, but have no distinguishing personal features. I really think Malifuax is an opportunity to play with some subtle horror themes. The fantasy Inuit and the electrical creation are a few 'studies' I did with faceless miniatures. I'm trying to use that facelessness to make the figures slightly disturbing.

The painting was really simple. I tried again to practice the source lighting. This was a really interesting piece since I wanted to give the effect that the whole figure was glowing and casting a pool of light on the base. Overall, I'm pleased with the results.

Some Naked Capitalism

2010-04-29T02:44:00.000-07:00

This isn't this weeks main blog post, but I have decided to sell me painted wab ancient German army. Don't worry, I'm still heavily invested in barbarians. Back in the US I have 12lbs. of unpainted ancient German figures. I'm getting rid of these in the interest of space and that they are more useful to me as cash rather than sitting in my case. I cant say I'm terribly fond of the WAB rules either. Warhammer isn't as much fun without the dragons and magic. Also I figured out that I will never paint enough Germans to have a decent army. This collection here represents around two years of work and only comes to around a 1000 points. Onward and upward. Its time for some new projects.

Here's a picture of the whole army.

Here is a link to the ad on the miniatures page. I would like £450 but I will accept all reasonable offers. you can see the full details in the ad.

This type of post will not happen often. This is just a big sale and I want to make sure I get all the offers I can.

Ice Ice Baby...

2010-04-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

Here they are, my contribution to the Song of Baldes and Heroes Backlog Challenge on LAF. I think these turned out well. There are a few things loft to do. I want to string the bows and hit a few area with an extra highlight. I tried to keep the palette cool with a lot of blues and cooler grays.

I decided to sculpt some masks for the ice demons. I really like those Ral Partha orcs. They are easy to paint but are not too ridiculous in their proportions. I may go back and add some tattoos.

Here is a closeup of some of the characters. I'm still practicing source lighting on every figure I paint. I think the lighting on this one is a lot more subtle than my previous attempts. I think the trick is to use thin layers of paint that shade the existing painting, rather than covering it up.

Chilling

2010-04-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

A quick mid week update. My friend Scott Pyle made me aware of the Song of Blades and Heroes Backlog Challenge on the Lead Adventure forum. Even though I had a whole lot of orcs and ancient Germans that could do the trick, I wanted to do something different. After rummaging around my backlog, I decided to do a fantasy Inuit band. These are based off of the Copplestone Inuit warriors pack. I wanted to show off the unpainted conversions because i did a lot of greenstuffing on these figures. I use a lot of reference material from the net but my biggest influence is this picture. The two creatures in the back are old Ral Partha Gigantic Orcs that I'm using as ice beasts.

Stay tuned for Painted pictures of these.

More Magnificent Malifaux

2010-04-16T05:03:00.000-07:00

I've been going forward with my Malifaux figures. Todays pictures are my Arcanist converted from the West Wind european vampire hunters set. I originally was not too keen on these figures. Some of the old West Wind figures suffered from strange poses and some odd feature(club hands, no ears, etc.). However these figures provided a really good base for some resuclpting and positioning. I so far have used every figure from the pack save for one. They fit the Malifaux feel pretty well. These guys will the the fleshy component for for a Miners and Steamfitters Union themed crew. Next thing to paint is the small horde of steam spiders.

First is the Victor Strausborg, budding mechanical sorcerer and tinkerer. I think the source lighting turned out better this time. Its a lot more subtle. I think this will make a good alternate(I don't like the word proxy) Ramos. I can honestly say that this is the first time I have ever sculpted eyebrows on a miniature. I'm not really happy about the flame in his hand. Fire was always something that i have had trouble painting. It goes against every painting instinct that I have accumulated over the years. Instead of highlighting the tips of the flame you need to highlight the base, where it is brightest. Its good enough for government work. I find there is a point on every figure where you should jsut stup messing with it, or you'll make it worse. I think I'm at that point with this figure.

Next up is the Slobodan the hunchback. He will standing in for Johan, Renegade Steamfitter. I wasn't too keen on the stock figure from Wyrd. He just didn't look like the "working man" that the fluff portrays. He looks more like he just stepped out of the Ultimate Fighting Ring. I did a lot of conversion work on this figure. The goggles, bandanna, and hunch on his back were all added with greenstuff. I tried to make the figure look greasy, like hes been elbow deep in some engine all day. I use liberal amounts of Valeo Smoke to acheive this effect. While Devlan Mud is a better general wash, Smoke is really good a for a variety of special effects. I use it for deep shading when I'm doing source lighting and as a grease when painting machines of various sorts.

I also received my Malifaux rulebook in the Mail today. There are plenty of other more extensive reviews out there, so I will not go into too much detail. Suffice it to say that I really like the rules. Not only the system, but the way it is written as well. Despite being a departure from the norm, the books is well laid out and written. I'm having no trouble understanding the rules and getting a grasp of this very innovative system. I hope they later release a system for constructing our own custom characters, since I think these rules would be great for some light role-playing.

Back Again and Building Steam

2010-04-09T02:44:00.000-07:00

Again the heady responsibilities of studenthood keep me from my Blogging obligations. That and not having anything worthwhile to show you. Anyway, I have been working on some cool steampunk miniatures in preparation to play the new skirmish game Malifaux. I love historicals, but sometimes one needs to work on something a little whimsical. I really feel that deep down, fantasy steampunk is my favorite genre to paint and play(cyberpunk be a very close second).

I included some pictures of the unpainted conversions. You may recognize the Captain Alister Cain conversion I did a while ago. It now has a coat of Paint and is ready to shoot down neverborn and witches of all stripes. I haven't bought the book, but I think that I will be using these as Guild gunfighters. The figures from Wyrd are very nice, but I wanted something a bit different. The other miniatures are the Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team. I really like these figures, they are finely sculpted and are not too busy with details, something that modern miniatures are prone to be. Also in the picture are the steam spiders that I constructed out of beads from our local bead shop(which is called Libeado, clever). I like the Wyrd Brass Arachnid, but I am poor student so I had to improvise. I did buy one Bras Arachnid to get the stat card. I think that these would also be very useful for role-playing. I am particularly proud of the the small centre spider. The legs are made from suspension struts from an Airfix kit that I had been converting into a grav tank.

I sculpted all the bases out of greenstuff over standard lipped bases, which was not as hard as I though it would be. I carved a manhole cover for the top had wearing character's base. I'm rather pleased with the result. Although I wish I had my Dremel here so I could mill more circular pieces of styrene.

I had a lot of fun painting these. Took my time and really tried some new techniques in painting these. It felt like I spent just as much time trying to get the bases to look right as I did painting the models! There was plenty of reference material to go around. Durham is full of cobbled streets which I could observe and really get a feel for. The advantage of living here instead of just visiting is that I can see cobbles(and other surfaces) in various conditions, which is real help when painting. How do cobbles look when they are under a street light? All I have to do is look at them when I go into town next.

I tried to do a bit of source lighting on the magic user. This technique is really a holy grail of fantasy painting for me. It gives a sort of mysticism that really suits certain universes. Malifaux is one of those dark settings where the bleakness is punctuated with glowing magical effects that really stand out. I'm not entirely convinced that I succeeded with the overall effect. The more I look at it, the more I think its off somehow. I would appreciate if any of the expert painters on the intertoobz could shed some light on the subject.

Thats all for now. Stay tuned for more photos and ramblings.

A squad here, a squad there

2010-03-22T03:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick pic of some GZG alien mercenaries that I painted a few days ago. These were a test to see if my new wash over white undercoat technique scales up to 15mm. I'm really pleased with how these turned out. They painted up very quickly with a good result. I have few more packs the need to be painted.

In Medieval Russia, figures paint you!

2010-03-20T04:17:00.000-07:00

Here are two units from my new 10mm Medieval Russian army for the Warmaster Medieval campaign that's starting up at the club. These figures are Kallistra with a few leftover Irregular and Pendraken mixed in for flavour. I really like the Kalistra Medievals, but they are huge! They are much taller than Pendraken and dwarf Irregular.

I tried to paint these a little brighter than usual. I think it went a little overboard on the blue. I'll have to tone it down on the next batch.

Over all, I have 7 units finished with another 8 to go to make 1000 points.

Guess Who's Back...

2010-03-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

...back again, Joe is back, tell a friend...

Alright, school has has grabbed a great deal of my attention and I've neglected the blog a bit. However, I am back and I will hopefully get back to a more regular posting schedule.

I'm going to start some heavy playtesting for Blue Moon's new Galactic War I rules and I figured that I had Better beef up some of my 15mm sci-fi forces. I have been painting 10mm ancients for the last month and Its time for a change. Although stay tuned for pictures of my new medieval Russian army that I'm going to use in a club Warmaster medieval campaign.

Here are a few vehicles that I plan to use to bolster my gang militia that has been previously featured on this blog. I'm modelling the army after my concept of African militias that one sees on the news occasionally. These are the first three vehicles that I have converted from mainly GZG models. However the pick-up truck looking thing is made from a Pendraken 10mm "not aliens" colonial marine APC. I tore off the turret and turned it around backwards. I think it looks pretty good in 15mm.

I hope you enjoy the picture. Stay tuned for much more 15mm sci-fi as a hastily create two serviceable forces for GWI.

The Horsemen are Coming Nearer...

2010-02-19T10:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a shot of my newly completed 10mm Arab cavalry. The figures are by Iregular miniatures and are based for Warmaster ancients. I'm going count these as Bedouin cavalry.

These have been painted using the technique already mentioned in my previous post on this army. I broke from tradition a little by basing them three figures to a stand. Usually, cavalry are based four to a base. I did this for two reasons. First is that I am a poor student, and I need to get as many points per dollar/pound as possible. Second, I think it looks better to have my Bedouin cavalry in a more “Irregular” formation. I think this basing better reflects their fighting style, as well as adding two more units than I would not have had if I had based them four to a base.

Stay tuned for a few shots of a Warmaster game I played this Thurday.

A very Geeky Valentine

2010-02-16T02:25:00.000-08:00

You may have been wondering why I was sculpting 28mm food. It as was for the Geekiest valentines day present that I have ever given. I knew that my girlfriend was really into hobbits, so I made her a diorama of the hobbits having dinner. She really liked her present. Which was good since I wasn't sure if she would like it.

The hobbits are the excellent GW Lord of the Rings hobbits. Their swords have been removed and and replaced with eating implements and food. Te rest of the diorama was built with wood styrene, and a healthy dose of green stuff. I was pleased at how the model turned out. I'm particularly pleased with the source lighting, which is a technique that I don't often use. I need to buy a more saturated yellow to get a better fire effect in the future.

Stay tuned for more Arabs and perhaps a whole new recurring segment.

10mm Jihad

2010-02-14T13:50:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of my new project, a 10mm Warmaster ancients army. These are the first five units of what hopefully will be a 200 point army. The miniatures are made by Irregular miniatures and are some of the best 10mm ancients that I have had the pleasure of painting. I was somewhat apprehensive of ordering the from irregular, since the painted pictures of tehr miniatures are all pretty bad. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the figures. The pictures on irregulars website truly don't do them justice. The details are crisp and the cats are very clean. I really appreciate that irregulars 10mm figures are so well proportioned. From my experience 10mm historicals tend to be a bit big-headed for my tastes.

These figures are a departure from my normal painting technique. I'm usually a die hard black primer guy, but this time I primed these figures white and used thinned down paints that acted as semi washes. I finished them all off with a half thinned coat of GW Devlan Mud. I'm rather pleased with the effect. I'm especially happy with how fast it was. I finished these units in a short afternoon. Next up is a large block of Arab cavalry.

28mm Turkey With all the Trimmings

2010-02-10T13:16:00.000-08:00

Here is a small sneak peak of my girlfriend's Valentines day present. I sculpted the individual components individually (turkey, pie rolls and basket). The table is made out of scrap wood. I glued all of the components together afterwards.

After the holiday, I'll reveal what this piece is for.

Two Countries Separated by a Common Hobby

2010-02-08T10:39:00.001-08:00

My French line troopers just before they were gunned down.

A crusades DBM game. I wish I would have gotten more closeup pictures.

I finally remembered to bring my camera to club night. Here are a few highlights of last weeks meeting of the Durham Wargames Group. I was really pleased that Durham had such a robust gaming community. All the club members are a great bunch of guys and the clubhouse is packed to the gills with terrain.

I played (technically I'm still plaing it) a game of Sharp's Practice(SP). SP is a blackpowder skirmish game that is about the same number of figures that an average game of 40k. There were three players a side, each getting about two units of troops. Our objective was to take the fort pictured above. I was playing the French. I failed.

I'm not sure how I feel about the rules. On one hand I'm a big fan of rules that use card driven activation and random movement such as the Sword and the Flame. On the other hand, it just doesn't feel right when Sharp's Practice does it. I think the difference lies in how SP does its unit activation. TSATF uses a simple mechanic where black cards are natives, red cards are British. It doesn't matter what unit a player moves, so long a unit doesn't move twice before every other unit moves. SP assigns a specific card to each unit. The deck is shuffled and units act as they are drawn. In addition there is a 'tiffin' card that immediately ends the turn and reshuffles the deck. Units that have not acted when the tiffin is drawn can select from a limited list of actions, but may not move. I feel that this mechanic puts too much randomness in the game and makes it a bit too hard to plan for my taste. It also make multiplayer games a bit dull, since a player can go a few turns without doing any meaningful actions, particularly at the beginning of the game. The rest of the mechanics are pretty standard and really are not not worth mentioning. I was really excited to play a Two Fat Lardies game. Unfortunately, I was somewhat disappointed.

Id like to take the time now to share some of my observation on the differences between American and British wargming. I have noticed that there are some definite cultural differences between the two countries. Not that I cannot speak for both countries as a whole. I'm mearly stating my observations, having gamed in Durham and Pennsylvania. I feel that I am reasonably qualified to comment, since I have gamed in several clubs, groups, and stores on both sides of the pond.

1. Game size: I have noticed that the British tend to like bigger multiplayer games. I credit this it the fact that the centre of British gaming culture is the private club , rather than the FLGS. The British love to have loads of lead on the table, while Americans want a smaller relatively quick game that they can set up, play and pack up in an evening because their main gaming venues have a definite closing time. Even when Americans play in a club, where they could keep something setup from week to week, they choose to play a one evening game.

2. Rulesets: It seems like Americans prefer lighter, faster rulesets that are a little less detailed, whereas the British prefer slower more detailed and accurate historical reulsets. Of course, the major, rulesets like DBM and WAB are common in both countries.

3. Genre: It seems to me that a lot more adult gamers in America play Sci-fi and Fantasy rulesets. The historical rulesets that Americans play tend to be lighter ones closer to fantasy rulesets than serious simulation. The British, on the other hand, play rulesets that are more 'granular' and by extension, slower.

Note that these are my opinions, and like a certain part of the human anatomy, everone has one. I may revise these as I game more in the UK. I just thought people might be interested in the viewpoint of someone who has lived and gamed in both countries.

Stay tuned for WIP progress pictures of my girlfriend's super secret valentines day gift.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

2010-02-03T12:04:00.000-08:00

I though that I had sworn off paper modelling forever. However, I'll do just about anything if a pretty girl asks me to do it.

My girlfriend, who insists that she is too cool for gaming stuff, took a fancy to one of the new Dave Graffam paper models. She bought one of the kits and I, being a good boyfriend, offered to assemble it.

I was really impressed with this model. The details are great. The kit comes with a large amount of high-res files. One set is "single layer" which are ones which you can simply print out. The other "multi layer" have lots of options to subtly change the colours and patterns of the components, so you can print several buildings and have them look different. The model pictured is the single layer sheets printed out on thick paper.

My girlfriend managed to get the most complicated model of the range, the Westgate. It contains a lot of little components that really make the model shine. They also make the model very time consuming to build. It took me about three evenings to complete the model. I would like to note that the balconies are supported by two beams that are fully three-dimensional pieces. I have no doubt that these balconies would support any heavy metal figures.

I can see an entire table populated with these buildings. I'm sure I'll be building more for my girlfriend and myself in the near future. The whole project cost about 8 pounds, including the kit and the printing. It should only be about six pounds, but the print shop here in Durham charges a 2 pound handling fee. Paper buildings have their advantage of being much cheaper than resin or plastic terrain, but I'm not convinced that they save any time.

Overall I enjoyed this chapter in my paper modelling career. Stay tuned for a Broadsword Adventure after action report and an expose on British wargaming.

I Drink Your Milkshake!!!!!

2010-01-29T03:00:00.001-08:00

I drink it up!

Here are a few pictures of a conversion about to get some paint. I have always wanted to do some steampunk fantasy skirmish, but didn't like the ridiculousness of most of Privateer Press' models. So I decided to convert a few to meet my steampunk needs. The above figure is a conversion of a variant of Allister Cain. I romoved the steam generator on his backpack and resculpted the arms. The revolver in his hand is from Wyrd miniatures and the other pistol is an old 6mm plastic space ork heavy weapon from epic 40k. I think he kinda looks like Daniel Day Lewis' character in There Will be Blood. He would work well for any steampunk game, including Warmachine. I figure he would also work as some sort of officer in Rogue Trader.

Styrene corridors in the Steel city

2010-01-22T04:31:00.000-08:00

Well, I have returned to the UK and I'm back in the swing of school. Lots of reading and some PhD applications on top of that. Hopefully I'll get to do more gaming this term.

However, I did get to use all the 15mm projects over the last few months in an actual game. My friend Scott Pyle and I got to play some 15mm Savage Worlds in my newly painted coridors. Scott has posted the photos on his blog.

http://four-color-figures.blogspot.com/2010/01/15mm-sci-fi-ship-corridors.html

I wasn't real happy with how the paintjobs on the corridors came out. However, they were rushed and were servicable. Over all I'm happy how the project turned out.

I would like to reiterate the gratitude to Danny Microwave for taking the photos.

Finally Some Gaming.

2010-01-08T11:31:00.000-08:00

The man of the hour. He killed two warp beasts and a face hugger.

The crewman with the melta gun was not so lucky.

My friend Steve meditates on his tactical options.

The "testicle monsters"(as my friends have come to calling them) surround an unlucky kill team member.

The Rogue Trader Victor Von Gregor accompanied by his first officer and three kill team members.

Chief Engine Seer Mordicai Obscura leads a group of armed crewmen.

A big post today. I finally got a chance to do some actual wargaming a few days ago. My friends an I played a skirmish scenario using a slightly modified version of the Dark Heresy roleplaying rules. The game revolved two landing teams from a rogue trader vessel searching a pre heresy planet for valuable archeotech and an ancient STC design for a portable warp portal generator. Unfortunately, this planet was infested with various xenos and warp beasties that made life difficult for our plucky rogue trader and his crew.

The game was a blast. I was really pleased at how our modification made the rules playable for larger numbers of figures. A good time was had by all. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Tommorrow I'm off to Pittsburgh. Stay tuned for some exciting after action reports involving my 15mm gangers and spaceship corridors.

A Starship Not of the Jefferson Variety

2010-01-04T13:20:00.000-08:00

All of the starship sections are assembled and furnished. I have used all of my boxes to construct an engine room, two cargo holds, two crew cabin/state room clusters(that contain two cabins each), a corridor, and a bridge.

I'm really pleased at how these turned out. These rooms can be reconfigured into a lot of configurations and can be added to or subtracted to make any size of ship. The current configuration is 23.5 inches end to end. There is plenty of room to fight an maneuver. Maybe I will add some more sections before I leave but first I have to paint the ones that I have.

I also need some door clips. I have a made a master for my doors, but I need to figure out the best way to cast it. I have been thinking of using plaster.

Next up should be some painted pictures of the sections and accessories. Stay tuned for some after action pictures as the ship makes it maiden voyage to Pittsburgh.

Also, I am stumped as to what the name of this vessel should be. Please post your suggestions in the comments below. The name chosen will receive a shout out in the next blog post!

Styrene Corridors

2009-12-29T10:55:00.000-08:00

I finished one of the junction box cargo bays with another on the way. The above pictures are of the two rooms connected with one of my prototype doors. The doors are actually styrene clips that hold the rooms together and indicate the position of the door. Later I am going to drill holes at the top of the clip which will hold pegs that indicate whether the door is open, closed or locked. I'm not really happy with the initial door design. I plan on making more doors based off of some interesting packing material that I salvaged from a new printer.

The airlock in the third picture is removable and will have the same peg system as the doors. The figures in the pictures are the GZG "Not Firefly" crew.

More spaceship interiors to come. Next up are the crew quarters and the bridge.

A little Change of Pace

2009-12-21T14:40:00.001-08:00

After being sealed in various flying or rolling tin cans, I am finally back on American soil. I did not bring my paints so I'm limited to modeling and painted with limited colors. I was trying to figure out what hobby project i will undertake during my month home, when i had an epiphany in the shower about how to make some really cool 15mm terrain.

I went to Lowes and bought a bunch of plastic junction boxes used for household wiring. After cutting off the external tabs, I embellished the interior with styrene and parts from an old spaceship model that i bought a few months ago. Above is my first attempt at one of these rooms. Its an engine room.

The idea behind using junction boxes for rooms is that they can be butted up against one another to create a whole bunch of different ship and or building interiors. They're also pretty cheap, about 1.50 from Lowes. And since its 15mm, it is reasonably compact and storable.

More ship interior moduals to come. Next up is a larger cargo bay made from two boxes. I also have a cool idea for the doors and bulkheads thats on the list of things to do.

Bald is Beautiful, Part Deux

2009-12-14T05:04:00.000-08:00

He did it officer!

I've painted the 15mm gangers that I showed in the green stages in an earlier post. They painted up well, especially the aliens, of which I am particularly pleased. Again the bases are left raw sand for the time being while I figure out a basing scheme that I like. Again these figures are all from GZG and come from the ravengers, alien mercenaries, and crusties packs.

I have one last gang to convert and paint, the Knots. More on that in the coming weeks. I'll be heading home to the states for a month over Christmas, so I will not have the materials to paint anything. However, I do have several projects lined up, including the complete rebasing of my ancient German horde. Stay tuned for more hobby goodness!

Do You Feel Lucky....... Punk!

2009-12-11T05:49:00.000-08:00

Here is the second major gang in my 15mm sci-fi city, the Hawks. The Hawks had their origins in a human supremacist movement but expanded into criminal activity shortly after. They are characterized by their distinctive coloured mohawks and intentionally rattly clothing.

The models are all converted from GZG ravagers. I trimmed down the hair with a pair of dikes and sharp knife. I sculpted the mohawks over the resulting bare head. The heavy weapons guy is a GZG alien mercenary "i.e. their not Fifth Element aliens" with a head swap and a greenstuff mohawk. I also added the belt feed over his shoulder with greenstuff. In hindsight I probably should have made the rounds on the ammo belt a little more pronounced. I'm still getting the hang of converting 15mm figures.

That being said I'm having a much easier time converting 15mm than I thought. You just have to "think in scale" and make sure you don't try and add details that are too small to be noticeable. If you look at some of the figures faces, i may have strayed a little with my knife, giving some gangers impressive scars. I kinda liked the effect and decided to go with it whilst painting.

I'm not sure what to do with the bases yet. right now they are just bare GW modelling sand. I may paint them to look like asphalt or just leave them the deserty colour in case i want to do some Post-apocalypse gaming.

I hope you enjoy them. There is more 15mm sci-fi street violence on the way!

It Ain't Easy Being Greens

2009-12-08T03:21:00.000-08:00

I usually don't like to post pictures of unpainted figures. However I wanted to show off the conversion work on these figures before they get a lick of paint. Above are one of the three major hair-defined gangs that will inhabit my future city, the Domes. The Domes are known for wearing long coats, shaved heads, and shades that conceal their eyes.

The original figures are all from GZG. The humans (bottom picture)are their ravagers with haircuts and dusters modelled on where appropriate. The centre figure and the one on the far right are from their "not Firefly" pack. You can see where I greenstuffed the shades, long coats and collars where needed.

The aliens are also from GZG. The far left and right centre are from their new crusties pack. I got the pack for free with my Christmas deal. The figures are great with a lot of character, perfect for district 9 style games in an alien slum. I think I'll clip the guns off of the remaining figures and make them civilians. The far right is one of GZG's alien mercenary "not Fifth Element"aliens. I added the long coat and extended the gun with the muzzle of a plastic Kroot long rifle. The left centre came about as a happy accident. I was trying to remove the hair from a female figure in order to make another type of ganger. After the hair removal was complete, I found that I had made this cool spikey fringe around the models head. I'm not sue if I'll pain the model as a human with a wacky collar or as some funky alien with shoulder spikes. Either way she has descended into a life of crime.

Here are pictures from the originals from the GZG website.

More 15mm sci-fi stuff on the way! I have another gang and civilians painted up. I'm just looking for a better bulb for my light so I can do them justice in photographs.

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack...

2009-12-06T05:59:00.000-08:00

After A long hiatus, I have finally gotten back to painting. I've spent the last two months acclimating to Durham and English university life. I haven't had much time for hobby related stuff between coursework and socializing(having the student bar 100 yards away from one's flat dosen't help either).

Since I'm planning to live transatlanticly for a while, I figured that a major move to 15mm would facilitate transporting figures across the pont. Also, on a student budget, 15mm makes more sense. There are some really great 15mm manufactures out there producing figures every bit as characterful as the best 28s out there.

Above are some splintered light Saxons that I have painted for a planned 15mm Dark Age skirmish project. These figures were a joy to paint, i lavished a little bit more detail than I normally would on 15's. The pictures are not my best work. but I'm getting used to photographing miniature in my room.

Stay tuned for some 15mm sci-fi. I took advantage of GZG's Christmas deal. I'm working on a whole gaggle of sci-fi civilians and gang bangers for a 15mm sci-fi city inspired by my friend Scott Pyle's Starport 3030 project.

Durham

2009-10-12T12:58:00.000-07:00

Its been while since I last posted. This is partly due to the fact that I am getting aclimated to living in another country, and partly due to the fact that I have not painted a miniature in the last month and a half.

That being said I figured that I would post some pictures of my new home, for the time being. Durham is a beautiful place, an idyllic english town settled into some pristine English countryside. There is apparently a rather large wargames club here that I may check out on Thursday.

Until then, enjoy the pictures.

Some Lazy Sunday Lord of the Rings

2009-09-28T07:41:00.001-07:00

Yesterday my extended family came down to see me of to England. It was great to see everybody and I got to play a quick game of Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle game with my cousin. He picked up the rules quickly as we battled over an ancient Dwarven shrine.(You may recognize it as my HOTT army camp.)

We played on a 2' x 2' latex mat made by Zuzzy(link below). I usually use this mat and terrain for Hordes of the Things. It was a littel out of scale but worked in pinch. I really liked playing SBG on the 2' x 2'. It completely changed the dynamic of the game. You really have to plan you moves and pick your fights very carfully. I would like to try another game using a lot more terrain.

Zuzzy Mats. The mat in this post is the 2' x 2' verdant fields.

http://www.zuzzy.com/

Steel Corridors in the Steel City

2009-09-22T08:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend I returned to Pittsburgh to visit some friends and game at my favorite purveyor of fine miniatures, Phantom of the Attic in Oakland. My friend Stuart was kind enough to teach me the new edition of Space Hulk. It was a dark day for the Imperium of Man as the emperor's finest were sliced and diced into a fine pate by the alien genestealers. I had a great time, but needless to say, I lost horribly.

I was really impressed by the production values for the new set. The tiles were solid, but did tend to warp. The miniatures are beautiful and the rules fast and furious. I'm a bit regretful that I did not jump on this set when it came out.

Bald is Beautiful

2009-09-15T08:51:00.001-07:00

Here are some Sci-fi miniatures that were recently sold in the great lead purge of 2009. They are "Slicks" from ERM miniatures. I really love these figures. I was always a fan of the Delaque miniatures for the game Necromunda. There's just somthing about a gunweilding guy in a trenchcoat that screams Sci-fi to me. The Slicks are really sppoky sculpts that have a variety of gaming uses.

These miniatures were really fun and easy to paint. I tried to make it look as if they had black coats with glowing patterns and trim, and I am really pleased with the result. Above are the ones that I sold. I still have a few of these that I am going to keep for my own collection.

Some Steampunk Inspriation

2009-09-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

http://www.clockworkquartet.com/

Here is some inspiration for you steampunk wargamers and RPGers out there. This group performs what I would call "Steampunk Ballads". They only have two songs, but their production values are good and the performers are talented. These songs get me in the mood to do some Gothic Horror miniature gaming.

Steampunk Ipod Work in Progress

2009-09-08T07:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some scans of the finished woodwork. I think the carving on the back is a little crude. However, I'm very please with how the clockwork in the back turned out. I'm debating on how finish the wood work. I'll probably end up staining it and topping it off with urethane to give it that classic wood finish.

The final brass work has been a bit problematic. I can't find brass that's thin enough to work with. I'll probably have to wait until I visit Pittsburgh later this month and buy some at the art store.

I'm also not exactly sure how to finish the top edge. I would like to fashion it after the top of a pocket watch, with a metal loop and a winding knob. I'll have to go back to Michael's to look for suitable beads.

Short Hairy and Naked

2009-09-05T16:03:00.000-07:00

Today I present one of my 10mm HOTT(Hordes of The Things) armies, Feral Dwarves(or pre-hold Dwarves 1200B.C.E - 900B.C.E. if I'm feeling snooty). I wanted some Dwarves, but not the standard Tolkienesque Dwarves that everyone fields. I began to wonder what Dwarven civilization would be like before the formation of complex states(i.e. Dwarf holds). I imagined it would be something between ancient Celts and Polynesian natives. Essentially, a warrior technocracy that was heavily into ancestor worship.

I built an army using 10mm Warmaster miniatures from GW, The giant yak is a mage knight miniature with a scratch built howdah. The giant heads on the stronghold were carved out of polystyrene foam.

Hi germani barbari sunt

2009-09-04T07:15:00.000-07:00

I figured that I would post a few pictures of my main wargaming project, 28mm barbarians. I have a fascination of all things savage. I did my undergrad thesis on barbarians and I own Conan the Barbarian in at least three media.

Last summer, I began painting 28mm barbarians. I wasn't sure why I was painting them, other than I liked barbarians. Over the year it became an almost meditative exercise. It was always a good standby when I didn't know what to paint. In one year I have managed to paint a collection of about 200+ barbarians.

Those pictured are not the whole collection. I only photographed what I could fit into my 15 War of the Ring bases, which is about 120. I also traded away about 80 painted barbarians during a purge of sculpts that I didn't like. The unpainted barbarian horde remains uncounted, but it weighs about 12 pounds. This will be my main painting project in grad school. Just about every manufacturer that makes barbarians is represented in the horde. See if you can name all the manufacturers.

More Stuff From My Photo Archive

2009-09-03T11:42:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of an Ork Speed Freek army that I built I while a ago. I have since sold the army. These photos were taken during my yellow phase of photography.

Some Notes and Sketches

2009-09-03T11:31:00.000-07:00

I was working on the steampunk Ipod today and I figured that I would post some of my concept sketches. Sorry for the crude scan. These sketches were completed a few weeks ago and have been traveling at the bottom of various boxes ever since.

I wanted the final case to have a lot of Victorian scroll work along with the other, more traditional steampunk elements. Since I am a very poor artist, I had to play around with the scroll work untill I got some patterns that I liked.

The wood carving is nearly done. Next comes all the brass work.

We're all just a cog in the machine....

2009-09-02T06:05:00.000-07:00

This is for all of you steampunk aficionados out there. I picked these up at Michael's craft store yesterday to put into my steampunk Ipod(more on that later). They retail for $4.99 and come with an assortment of gears, cogs, and flywheels that are all about 1 - 3/4 inches in diameter. These would be great for steampunk vehicles or scenery. I think they were in the scrapbooking section, of all places.

Goblins

2009-09-02T05:50:00.000-07:00

There I go, breaking a promise that day after I start the blog. I'll make up for it with two miniature posts today. First are some pictures of a 15mm goblin horde I painted a few months back. The figures are all from Splintered Light Miniatures and are sculpted by the venerable Bob Olley. I really like the Splintered Light fantasy range. They get some top quality talent to sculpt their figures and they charge a reasonable price. If Splintered light keeps it up, they may be able to replace the now discontinued Demonworld line, of which I was big fan. I have since sold these figures, but I still love them. Splintered Light has since come out with other really great 15mm fantasy figures, including Orcs and Dark Elves.

Monster Hunters

2009-08-31T19:09:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of some Victorian monster hunters that painted for "Chaos in Carpathia", a game written by my friend Scott Pyle. These guys spent an entire campaign getting maimed by various creatures of the night. One thing you will come to find, gentle readers, is that while I love miniature wargames, I am very bad at them. I blame my lack of skill on a youth spent playing Orks in Warhammer 40k. One does not learn subtlety charging masses of greenskins into the teeth of Space Marine heavy weapons.

But I digress. Here are the monster hunters.

The left most figure is the West Wind Watson figure from their Vampire Wars range. Vampire Wars has some real gems, but they show their age when compared to West Wind's newer figures.

The left center is a West Wind Victorian civilian with an added torch, pistol and bowler.

The center figure is converted from the Foundry Christmas set "The Chestnut Seller." The original chestnut bag was clipped away and replaced with a stake made of an old wire spear. The mallet was made from a paper clip and a section of plastic Q-tip stem.

The right center is a Foundry cowboy with the chestnut sellers head. I suppose I could also use him as a Pinkerton detective in Old West games.

The right figure is an unconverted Vampire Wars figure which has been given a suitably dandyish paintjob. I used him as a mesmerist in Chaos in Carpathia.

Beginning

2009-08-31T18:39:00.000-07:00

This is the first post for my new blog "Over There." The primary purpose of this blog is to chronicle my various miniature related hobby projects and act as a gallery for photographs of my painting, miniature and otherwise. This blog is also meant to act as a repository of my photos and anecdotes regarding my studies and adventures in the U.K., for the benefit of my friends and family in the U.S.

Before I start with the declarations and promises for this blog, I fell that I should provide a little background on myself. I am a 24 year old student that originally hails from Carlisle, Pennsylvania. I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2008 and will be attending Durham University in October to complete my MA in Early Modern history. Between my undergraduate and graduate studies I spent a year working several jobs including: laundromat attendant, substitute teacher, and insurance claims representative.

I have been gaming for almost a decade. Currently, I am primarily a skirmish gamer, with a heavy interest in sci-fi, fantasy and ancients. I will try to post pictures of my new painting as well as photos of any games I participate in. My goal for this blog is one miniature related post per day, with other post being included as they are warranted. I may revise that promise as I get heavier into my studies; but as I am now happily unemployed, I have no excuses.

I hope you enjoy the blog.