Friday 29 April 2011

Hasslefree troopers...

...for Jeremy (slight additions and conversions his own) posed with the APC












and the Zebu

Zebu cont'd

another filter (same as before - Mig blue for Panzer Grey); more precise black oil washes to define detail; edging to define form and the tyres painted black with a little dk.grey and lightly dry-brushed with a slightly lighter mix of the base colour































Monday 25 April 2011

nova-Rus Zebu...

....then camo PEA version. Airbrushed (base coat and some panel fading), a Mig filter (blue for panzer grey),an oil filter (raw umber) and a lamp black oil wash in the recessed areas. Still a little wet here

































oh, and the front 'fender' is not fixed in position as yet...

Wednesday 20 April 2011

A few minis....

....for sale. I will be having a bit of a clear-out over the next few weeks and will give the blog followers first option before posting elsewhere. Please leave a comment here if you wish to declare an interest.
First up - Pig Iron Heavy Infantry and one of their AFV's. Troopers have had Hasslefree head-swaps and the afv driver has been heavily converted. (I'm going to tidy and update the finish on the afv before quoting a price). More detailed pics to follow...

Monday 18 April 2011

Zebu Cruisers and the next 'Bear'

great design and casting on the latest vehicle released by Antenociti's Workshop. I bought my two at Salute and as yet they haven't appeared on the website. They're busy stocktaking so keep checking back...
























The kit comes with the option of adding a fire support position on the roof - open or closed - and i've 'borrowed' one of the open ones to add to a 'Bear'. Ive marked the position and drilled and cut out the aperture on the roof to fit a figure.I'm not a fan of painting an area black and adding a half-figure so will probabley leave the hatch off the Zebus or add the closed option.


















I've also cut out the rear doors to have one open for loading/unloading scene.

















with a trooper















and compared to the Zebu

Jet-Bike...

...close-up


















Mean in Green: missing photos...

...from the last update. Still a little work to do regarding the finished look.


























































Sunday 17 April 2011

Salute 2011 - God bless the ladies...

...who worked while the men in their lives played! I hope it was a very successful day for all involved - the least the ladies deserved.
It was my first ever Salute and the first wargames 'get-together' I have attended since Golden Demon in 1991 from which I returned with a lovely little souvenir. Although I returned with a bag full of goodies (two, lovely 'Zebu' cruisers, PEA snipers, another APC from Antenociti; a couple of the new Sedition Wars, Vanguard trooper and a wonderful re-imagining of the LT. Kara Black mini from Studio McVey - one of only five available! - and loads of other bits and pieces) the highlight for me was meeting some of the people I've 'met' on various forums. Mike McVey was charming and found time for a little chat and for a little praise for the two finished troopers I took to show him. He doesn't look any older than the first time I saw him at that Golden Demon comp.
I also took the vehicles I'd painted for Antenociti's Workshop G.O.T. range - the 'Bear', 'Warthog', Skorpion (and newly finished jet-bike) and, of course the recently completed, APC. These were met with great enthusiasm from Jed and Tim creators, modellers and painters of their splendid range of figures and vehicles and also of an elaborate and magnificent urban games table. Unbelievingly the interiors of the individual floors had been detailed right down to the inclusion of a toilet in a holding cell! Wonderfully mad! The guys were absolutely brilliant and made me feel very welcome and very much a member of their little team.
I was a little disappointed to find that my painting efforts were not really visible  - obviously a very different lighting set-up to what I have at home when painting and photographing the vehicles - but they seemed  to attract a little attention from the gamers and spectators. In contrast both the gaming tables and display cabinets figures and vehicles, painted by Jed and Tim  looked fantastic. I know Tim's figures had received some harsh criticism on one forum in particular regarding the high contrast between the white armour and black lining of plates but I was mightily impressed with the quality and consistency of finish. Tim modestly explains that they were painted to a gaming quality but for me they far surpassed this standard. The high contrast worked to perfection in the subdued lighting of the hall and I kept returning to the display cabinet for another look. Lots of good things to come....
I've already built the two Zebu's and used one of the open 'turrets' on the hardtop of a 'Bear' (pics tomorrow).
Despite the early rising (5am), long hours travelling (almost six hours there and back) and the huge queue awaiting entry even with advance tickets (very frustrating to see the much smaller 'pay-on-the-day' queue diminishing rapidly as I meandered along with several hundred other gaming enthusiasts up to the end of the hallway, along to the left down another hallway and then turning back to repeat the journey in the other direction before gaining entry) I thoroughly enjoyed my first Salute.
A quick hello to the Frothers I met and to Kev, Sally and Steve on the Hasslefree stand. Funny, you have a picture in mind of the people you 'speak' to but never meet and they always look entirely different. Sally was the exception (well Kev too but I'd seen his photo) - she was just as I pictured her except for not being blonde!
Thankyou all for a great day. David

Friday 15 April 2011

Mean in Green: at Salute tomorrow!

...although it may look little different to the previous post on the subject. I've kept the weathering to a minimum (so it will be finished in time for Salute) but since the last series of photos the APC has had decals added, a tan Mig filter, several oil filters/washes (various mixes of green, ochre, yellow and brown) a little chipping and some pigment dusting. All the hatches have now been added although the rear ramp is not quite finished as I wanted it in the down position with some cabling attached (it's just clipped into place at the mo') but I can do that at a later date (I know the base looks a little daft...)



































































the base is the new, oval 120mm Sulaco from Ian at Fenris...

Skorpion with Jet-Bike...

...for scale purposes. Rider is a slightly converted Mantis Monowheel crewman (arms and legs bent a little to fit the jet-bike)















Monday 11 April 2011

Mean in Green...

...I had intended to paint his magnificent war machine in camo again (albeit different to the PEA vehicles) but as soon as painted the base colour I new it had to be monochrome green! Painted with an airbrush with a 'nod' to zenithal highlighting then lined and edged. Filter; decals; washes; chipping/scratches; lots of detail work and dust still to do all by friday night!






































































Friday 8 April 2011

nova-Rus APC...

...painted. Just a few little details to finish, some dust and dirt and a little tidying up. Photos below are of the driver's and gunners area as this will only be seen through the driver's hatch. With all hatches and the rear ramp open the troop area should be quite visible. Control panel details come with the control panels and are printed on thin card. they've been glued with 'white glue' and gazed with very diluted GW washes green/blue mix then black.Wetting the card's surface has caused the coloured inks to run a little and the result is a blurred, non-descript image a result I was seeking. I'll add a coat of gloss when dry.


























Fire Wasp...

...parts

Tuesday 5 April 2011

Fire Wasps...

...arrived this morning. Excellent service - ordered the third of April. Castings are perfect and the minor modifications (eg wheels) are a major improvement. Although I still have some reservations about the figures  they are much more crisply cast than the first set and details  are sharper. I'll post a parts breakdown later...

nova-Rus APC primed

driver's position with new steering wheel column









































and the rear cabin

















Fire Wasp: update...

...on the first one.



































Sunday 3 April 2011

Fire Wasp

Re-released. Originally made for AT-43 and now available again. A little smaller in scale than the other vehicles and figures in the range but ideal as a vehicle for Hasslefrees sci-fi troopers/adventurers. I bought one when they first came out and it's a great little model but the crew need a bit of work. You can see it here with the driver's head swapped for a Hasslefree 'Marine' and the rubber tyres that came with the original swapped for GW Space Marine bike tyres. I looks as if the new version has resin wheels and tyres - a great improvement. Here it is partly painted (it's still a WIP)