South Cheshire Militaire Show Report - 26th Feb 2012 - Crewe

The South Cheshire Militaire Show held in Crewe, each last Sunday of Feb. Is usually the first "show" of the year for me. Though mainly a modelling show, it has aspects of wargaming, railway modelling and radio controlled elements. The show is held in Oakley Centre, opposite ASDA and has plenty of car parking nearby. Which thankfully is free on a Sunday.

I first went to the Militaire many moons ago. Sometime around the late 1990s, as I was studying for my degree nearby.

So, three of us, piled into Micks car early on a sunday morning and headed off. The trip there was very quiet.

The show was not as busy as last year in terms of visitors and traders and displays. This could have been down to the football matches etc on and also the economic climate.
Either way, it was still reasonably busy as I hope the photos will show.
I am not a modeller as such. But I do admire the skill and efforts of those who are. My neighbour is a modeller and was there with his local group, showing a selection of military vehicles.

So here are some photos, with notes where I can recall anything of particular note.

South Cheshire Model Club

The curtain, behind the stand, hides the model competition area, which was being judged when I was taking photos so, sorry no shots of the winners or entries in the various classes. But take my word for it. Some seriously nice models and painting standards on display. Not as many entries as last year sadly.

Part of the up stairs area, with RC bits at the far end. Bring and Buy was next to this, just out of shot.

 The show has two areas down stairs, The main hall, a side part of the hall, and the upstairs area where wargames games and RC and railroad bits and the competitions tend to be held.

This years only wargame I spotted. Last year there was much more.

 The wargames element was much larger last year with three or four traders and 3-4 demo games etc. This year I only spotted the one table and one trader who's primary stock was gaming related. He seemed to be doing a roaring trade, given his captive market. I grabbed a tin full of 40k bits and odds and ends for £15. Which had a few terminators in it, to finish me space hulk rpg/game (see other blog posts). Inc a couple of tech marines and some old OOP bits. So not too bad for the pennies.

Tiny scale model railways layout.

 When we first moved back to the UK, and I was about 7, I recall going to a model railways show in Brighton with my father. And I recall, wathcing a tiny layout, just like the one shown above. That Christmas my father bought me a hornby OO set. But I can still recall the fascination of the tiny layouts and the trains. This was a very neatly done layout.

RC Trucks and Trailers. Very impressive.

 Before I got into wargaming, I used to build and fly RC model aircraft. I build some pretty big ones in my time, including a 1/4 scale piper cub with working camera in its belly. I still have a love of all things Radio Controlled, be they trucks, cars or plans or helicopters. The trucks and plains are a regular part of the show and there were also simulators for people to have a try with.

A seriously impressive large scale RC aircraft. The work on the wings was lovely.

The netted area to the rear of the photos is the RC area where things were displayed in motion. In previous years RC helicopters and plains have been flown inside it. I didn't see any in flight this time. But it was popular with the youngsters.  

Little, medium and large.. The progress of electric model choppers is quite something.

 When I started RC flying, in the early 1990s, Electric planes and helicopters were in their infancy and very short duration. Motors were pricey and weak. Now days the technology has moved on considerably and is quite impressive.

Sorry about the lighting.

Very nice scene. Loves the texture and colours.

Scratch built bridging equipment. Very impressive.

1/35th scale models I think. Some seriously nice work.

Chester Model Club Stand. Up stairs.

This was on the South Cheshire Model Club. A Wasp attack chopper from GHOST in the Shell, with a Tatchkoma.

Tatchkoma omnipede tank from Ghost in the Shell, Animation Series.

 I think these ranked as my favourite models this year. I love the animated series, Ghost in the Shell and these models were very nicely done. Unfortunately was not able to find out if they were kits or scratch builds. I have seen a Tatchkoma tank, kit before. But not the Wasp attack chopper.

More ghost in the shell model shots.

View of the central area of the down stairs, from the up stairs landing. To the right behind the partition was another area.

The view down into the left side of the main hall.

I missed Vader! But R2-D2 was doing a great job of raising money for good causes. As he trundled forward and back.

 There were a few folks in various Star Wars Costumes. R2, was semi mobile, with an RC controller and lights and sound. Very nicely done. Did not see the darlek moving. But again was very nicely done. All I can say is people must have been garages to keep them in.

Captain Scarlet Models.

Space 1999 build in progress.

Hawk model, made with components from a myriad of AIRFIX kits.

Have seen a similar layout to this Y-wing. But still a lovely model.

Y-Wing prepping for flight.

Mechano - Big kids at play. Seriously nice working models.

My mechano never looked like this.

A very nice and neat display.

More models.

Vientam diorama. Very nicely done. Loved the mud effect.

The foreground seemed a bit sterile to me, but then its easy to moan, as I haven't spent the probably many many hours make ing it. But it was still lovely.

There were several traders selling a variet of model kits, or modelling related bits and pieces.

More models.. in the main hall.

This one reminded me of the display at Bovington Tank museum where the full size is on show.

My second favourite figure of the show.

The photo does not fully do these justice. The detailing was impressive.

More nice models on show down stairs.

I always am impressed by the large figure models and busts. There were some stunners, with brilliant paint work on.

Just one of the many stunning large figures.

Flat models. The scenese and painting on several of these were breathtaking. I just wish the camera could do a better job of showing the visual effect.

I dread to think fo the house in vested in these flat figure displays. The painting is something special.

Sci-fi models. Some nice bits.

I liked this array of four viper bays. Its the kind of model I would love to have made. Not too clean.

A motely crew of sci-fi classics.

An aerosan lurking on the top right, with a variety of other military vehicles.

I couldn't get to the bottom of this display. As the chaps were always busy when I tried to enquire. But it looked interesting.

Airfix Members Club stand.

All airfix kits.

A view back toward the cafe / food area.

Some more lovely aircraft.

Some moden era kits.

Sci-fi small scale pieces.

25lber and 3" mortor with bren, GPMG and bits. A nice display.

I would love to have a go at firing a 3".

The side area down stairs.

Some model trucks and 1950s displays.

The local RC Boat club always have a good display.

Yes, that is a working titanic and this one floats.

Some impressive models.

Liked this C130 Gunship.

Some of my neighbours and his club mates work.

I was trying to identify the tank, but my brain has failed me.

Mick, attempting to run away.

My purchases for the day were some more x-acto scalpel blades, a new small handle, some plastic weld glue and tin of GW 40K random bits and bobs. So not a fortune spent, but the blades were needed.

So not a bad day out. Was good to get out and see new things and pinch ideas and tips from various places and generally have a good wander.

So now it is a case of two more weeks and it is WMMS.. the next and first full Wargames Show of the year for me.

If you are not too far from Crewe, and have not been. Then why not pop along and see the Militaire next year.

Paint Stripping - Part 2

Well as a bit of follow on from my previous article about paint stripping and the agents in use by some of our gaming community and my preference for Dettol.

Today, I picked up a bottle of "Acetone Free" nail varnish/polish remover. I have been told by a fellow club mate, that it is the agent he uses.

Also, the enquiry was made, what about Coca Cola.. of either variety.. it certainly eats teeth, so will it eat paint.

So anyhow, some expericements shall be following in a day or two as I test out these agents and see if they can be added to the armoury of paint strippers.

So, watch this space.


(See Paint Stripping Part 3 for more info) 

Clutter - The gamers evil addiction..

So you are a wargamer, right.?

You have a dedicated painting table, correct.?

But somehow the world conspires to cover it in masses of ever growing clutter..

It is a conspiracy it tell you. Last year I had a pretty good clear out and managed to get the point where my painting chair was free to use and the painting table.
Now I can barely see either. Hmmm where did it all come from. And what is it?

The answer is, its stuff I hauled out to look at when I had a whim and interest in something and then somehow never got to put it away. Worse, the place that is came from has now been filled, with something else.

So, yes, its storage problems partly.. and just the fact that was gamers, I am not alone in buying new things here and there without really contemplating if I needed them. I just had grand ideas which have yet to be realised in the main.

So.. yes, it is time to be more strict and cut the clutter and buying. To paint what I have and to keep it organised and tidy.

Hmmm de-ja-vu is springing to mind.. was this not what I said last year..

So anyhow, it was and I am know it was. So operation table clear #2 is now about to commence. The aim to liberate my painting table.
However moving the clutter aside will not suffice this time. I need to sort some longer term storage of paints and tools etc to keep it the table tidy. Not only so I may paint, but also so I may be able to tackle some of those modelling jobs where cutting etc is required.

So, paint storage.. this will be one issue to investigate. Lots of commercial options out there, but most are pricey and most don't fit what I want. I need some sort of paint rack to take vallejo paint bottles and hold them horizontal, so i can mount the rack vertically against some shelves. I can see some engineering being needed.

Anyways, this is one project to get things started. The other is also a clear out of some non progressing projects and miniatures.

Will post some photos of how things progress in the coming weeks.

Stripping Paint - The wonders of nature..

Apologies for another gap in postings. I have been busy with other life issues. But managed a bit of work the last couple of days. Not painting as such, but preparing for painting. Had a few older minis, with dire paint jobs that needed stripping back to bare metal.

I have been using the same basic technique for a while. And I thought I would pop down some tips here.

Stripping Agents

Simple Green - Firstly if you search the Internet you will get lots of info about how our US cousins do it. Using "Simple Green", an environmentally friendly cleaner that is hard and pricey to get here in the UK.
Its a good agent, not nasty and works on both plastic, metal and resin and won't eat or soften green stuff.

Brake Fluid - (yukkk), some people swear by it. But frankly, it stinks, its nasty, you have to wear gloves with the stuff and you cannot under any circumstances pour it down the drain in the UK. The Environment Agency / or SEPA will jump down your neck as they regularly test for the stuff and it ain't worth the fine. You can of course, take it to your local council waste refuse collection point, who should have a safe disposal method. This works on metal, metal and metal.. put it on some resins it will cause reaction. And it will dissolve some plastics.
BUT if you metals were made with some stranger alloys, brake fluid can taint the metal. Just ask anyone who's had a car, vandalised with the stuff. It requires the surface rubbing back.
So frankly.. for the hassles, avoid like hell is my advice..

Fairy Power Spray - This is a UK brand domestic cleaner. Works on metals. Will weaken super glue and it reacts with green stuff. Works on some plastics. Best to test before hand.

Nitromors - Industial grade, paint remover.. nasty, horrid stuff with lots of fumes. But it will eat anything paint wise. Also will eat your plastics like no tomorrow into big sticky glupe that may catch fire! But on metals its fine. But the usual safety proviso, you cannot pore this down the drain either, its wickedly horrid to wild life etc.


Mr Muscles oven Cleaner - An oven cleaning foaming cleaner. Seen it used, but never tried it my self.

Dettol - The brown, smelly stuff, that turns white and cloudy in water. Yes, detol. It contains an natural agent called "pinesol". In fact this is the same active ingredient in simple green I believe. It does smell. But as long as you wear gloves, or your skin on your hands will go dry, and you have an open window nearby to mitigate the fumes its, perfectly safe. Its also not as nasty to be pored down the drain. This is my cleaner of choice for a couple of reasons.
It works on metals, plastics, it does weaken super glue, but it won't eat green stuff.

Water - Yes, good old H2O.. Simple and can be very effective. Pop the miniature into warm water and leave and leave.. if you are in no hurry, leave for weeks on end. Occasionally swishing the water round. Add a bit of salt as well, to make it slightly salty and it can lift off and soften some paints. Or some orange juice/citric acid. Its a slow lengthy process and might not work with some heavier paints.

So those are the agents that I know people have used or have used my self.

So how do you use them..?? I hear the voices in the gallery cry.. well..

Oh OK, I suppose it would be mean to just leave it there..

With the oven cleaner and power spray, people tend to put the minis in a bag. Spray in the cleaner, close the bag and leave 24hrs. Then rinse under water and scrub with tooth brush etc. can take a couple of treatment's to get lots of layers of paint off, and out of the deeper recesses in the mini.

With the likes of detal, simple green etc, just place figures into an air tight container with lid, cover with the liquid and soak for 24hrs. Remove, scrub and rinse. You may only have to do this the once. But sometimes a second soaking will work. Bits of paint will come off as they soak and so each batch or jar full will usually do about 10 to 20 minis before it becomes horrid and grim and needs disposing.

Break fluid - Well you are nuts if you use it. So don't!

Tools

Time - Yes time.. leave the figures to soak. Don't rush. The longer the better. I see on forums people saying a few hours of soaking is enough, then they comment that it takes ages scrubbing the paint. If you use Dettol like I do, I leave for at least 24grs and most paint will come off, inc glossy oils. I tend however to leave models soaking for weeks.. I have one resin bridge currently in a bath of dettol now 12 months. Why.. errr because I forgot about it.. lol. The paint has all bubbled up nicely and it just need a scrub.

That is one things to note. None of the above will work without some mechanical work. They will soften the paint and break the adhesion to the figure, but not the dissolve it completely.
Toothbrush - No not the one you use to actually brush your teeth, but a cheap new one (old ones tend to have worn out bristles at funny angles). Best tool in the box. Work the brush in straight strokes and then in circles. Circular motions help get the bristles into the deeper details and nooks.

Toothpicks - Wooden tooth picks are great for those hard to reach stubbon spotts of paint. Some people use metal tools, but on plastic figure you can easily scratch them and leave visible marks for when you come to repaint.

Ultrasonic Cleaners - These machine generate sound waves that create bubbles of air that vibrate off dirt. And can work on loose paint. The problem is, they tend not to work and a sole solution. You still need to soak your minis in something first to loosen the paint and then you still need to scrub them up afterword. Though apparently the scrubbing takes a lot less time. But unless you are doing a lot of stripping and I mean a lot, and invest in a high quality one (probably over £100 worth with heating ability/timer/variable settings) you won't see any real benefit.


Notes

Note there will be fumes with dettol. Nothing too bad, but enough for some people to find horrid and so opening a window helps.

Watch out for small parts. It is easy to miss small parts in the bottom of your solution, and tip them away only to discover it later. So don't work with running water over a sink with the plug out. Run the water in a bowl and periodically tip it out.

Gloves & Glasses.. - I would say wear gloves always. The sticky soft paint residue is horrid and never mind the effects of long term exposure to the chemicals. Just wear gloves. Good old marigolds work a treat. And a set of safety specs or goggles is a good idea too. Dettol or cleaner flicks when using a tooth brush. Don't get it in your eyes. Its not nice.

Kitchen town is always handy. And newspaper. I tend to have a bowl with an old sieve in it, that I put the scrubbed models into and then soak in water to remove the detol residue. A couple of rinses in clean water and then dried, and you are ready to paint.

Then I can examine them and either give them a second soaking or return them to mount galena to await their time on the hallow table of artistry.!


So.. there you go.. bet you are glad you read all the way to the bottom..


(See Part 2 for more!)

Scarily nice terrain..

Further to my previous post about finding people with skill and their production of scenery that makes you just a little envious.. ok,,  a LOT envious..
Have a look through this German site..

http://gidian-gelaende.de/

And his gallery on his Mordhiem board..

http://gidian-gelaende.de/Material_HP/Wolfgang/Mortheim/album/index.html


Seriously impressive work.

Blogs.. Great finds..

Now and then, and usually by some random chance. I come across a blog or miniatures site that has lots of inspirational photos and articles.
I really appreciate the time people take to help other gamers like me, by putting their own ideas down as we can follow them..

Well this is my latest discovery!

http://www.blackbirdmedia.org/miniatures/?view=articles

Great tips and articles on painting, on sculpting and on other areas.
Some really nice photos too!

Gaming update for 2012.. Errrr!

Hi Folks,
Well its the 5th of Feb. Already over a month gone into 2012..
My zombies projects has hit a brick wall.. A wall in the shape of me getting side tracked into doing a fantasy campaign.

But hopefully I can keep both projects going at the same time.
My SST projects is on the shelf for the moment. And I have still yet to decide quite what I am actually going to run as a game at Gauntlet this year.

My painting rate has dropped completely due other factors getting in the way.

But that should chance this week. I have some Lord of the Rings figures to paint for my skirmish fantasy campaing.

This weekend, my friend Steve and I managed to get some play testing done for the rule set I am going to use for my fantasy campaign. And we are quite pleased.. a few minor tweaks still needed I suspect. But for now, its good enough and we are happy enough to get a game going. I just need to get the figures sorted.

Well.. end of this month is South Cheshire Militaire, at Crewe. And this marks the start of the show year for me. I will be taking a big pile of bits to sell on the bring and buy. And what ever they sell for. Shall determine what I can spend. Though I don't have much other than sundries such as paints and glue on my wants lists right now.

Though of course, a national lottery win, would always go down rather well about now!

Seriously though, with the exception of some GW LOTR bits I want. (And refuse to pay full GW current prices for). I have little else I am after for themoment. An odd situation.

As usually I have a mass of things I want and lots of side projects and ideas. But for once, I don't.

My big aim was to get more paint onto lead this year. And so far, its not looking too great. Plenty of time left, but I do need to progress some more painting.

However that in turn means I need to strip some paint off miniatures to repaint them. So thats another task to get done.

So anyhow, thats a brief update of the year so far and a complete load of waffle. If you got this far, cheers for reading and I hope to have some far more interesting posts shortly.

Warrior Heroes - Second Game

With nothing planned by Colin this week and me and Dave being free again. We settled on another quick game of Warrior Heroes. This time, we had to fight our way back into the city, we had left (to destroy the screaming skull catapults) and save the Lord.. also the chap with our cash!

This time, Colin decided unliving were not as crunchy as he liked and so it was daemons.. winged flightless catapult demons (I will explain more shortly). It was interesting.

Steve turned up late but in time to get his humans into the fight..
The dwarfs and my elves, elected to climb back into the city over the walls, using the ropes we had handily left behind us, when we left to get the catapults..

The humans snuck in a small side door..

The dwarfs managed to loose one chap, who fell to his death, failing the climb roll with style.
The rest, or should I say, all bar the healer and leader, got over.

My elves got over the wall and waited for one last member.

The demons, in the city, the big bad one, decided to launch a strike against the dwarfs who it could see. This is where the winged, flightless catapult comes in.. basically the rules gave the demon some odd properties.. wings, but it couldn't fly. It was not a caster but it did have a ranged fireball type weapon so classified as a catapult for the purposes of deviation etc from what I could gather.

BAAAAM! And all but two of the 6 five dwarfs over the wall perish in blaze of evil fire! Ouch! One OOF, and two dead.. 50% casaulties and so far we have not all got over the wall.

Well the demons came on aggressively.. charge! The humans, launches some arrows at another demon big bad and got its attention. Its fire ball took down a few of them. It was not looking good.

The dwarfs (those still living) charged a band of minor demons. My band diced to open fire and dropped one demon who came into sight. The dwarfs cut down a couple but then the big winged catapult dude arrived and laid them low.. in one swing! Two dwarfs OOF and then my elves had to charge! The fight was brutal but thankfully the first round, forced two of my archers back and my hero.
The next round, when it came, the archers launched a mass of arrows (first roll ;) ) and the big bad, stuffs his roll. I get 5 successes and he gets one.. Ooof! Yay.. my elves step in and dispatch the oofed bad.
It was looking grim before that catastrophic change in luck. The humans fought some desperate fighting as the rest of the dwarfs got over the wall along with my last elf.
Thankfully the one remaining healer, (a dwarf ) then quick began to recover those laying on the floor.. those still alive.

Three dwarfs in total survived the demon barrage and the minor demon fight, and then the big bad..
I lucky only to have one elf oofed and thus recovered.
Over on the human side, the casualties were mounting, but a failed charge by an enemy caster type thingy, saw it run like a big girly off the table.. thank the gods,, err which ever ones the humans follow..
It was looking bad, if the demon hadn't.. then we searched all the houses.. and there were a lot of houses.. and then at last we found the lord.. and the Big Big Bad.. who bravely, launched magics at the crazy sole surviving bwarf bezerker who was charging toward him.. but the human leader step up and tickled him unde the chin, as he muttered the major words of power. and the Big Big Bad, was Oofed by his own backlash of magic!
And promptly had his head caved in by the humans.. Huarryy! We won..
With the city ablaze, the key to getting paid, sorr the lord in our grasps, we did what all good heroes do when winning!.. RUN!

So over the walls we went leaving the dying city to its fate.. some how I didn't manage to loose a signle elf this time. My war band did quite well. Archery is lethal, as we found out if your lucky.
It was a fun and furious and chaotic game with much debate about the bad guy strengths.. the demons are tough and without some completely opposite success and failure rolls, I think it would have been  demons 11, parties 0..

Its not a bad rule set. It is certainly different. I am happy to play it, as it gives mad fights with odd consequences etc. And it plays quickly. So for club nights its good.

I think our brave heroes, survivors etc are now heading for a village in desperate hope of finding some more people to hire. Our rolls for experience etc at the end, went arry and the dwarf leaders rep went down.. my elv leader went up, but failed my hardiness.

So.. shields and heavy armour! Its what every WHAA hero needs..

So, next instalment shall come to pass at some point in the future I suspect..

Warrior Heroes - Tried it out for the first time.

Had my first ever game of Warrior Heroes last night at the club. Was very interesting. I have not really tried any rule sets which use a "reaction" system as such. Well one as controlling as the Warrior Heroes Armies and Adventures one. That is for sure.

The game was simple. Three hastily put togather warbands, attempting to sally forth from a city to wipe out some beseiging enemy artillery. In this case, some undead screaming skull catapults.

I dug out my D&D pre painted plastics to play the part of an Elf warband. All Rep5. Four Archers, two sword and shields and one healer with a bow on and my Hero of course.

The other two war bands were humans and dwarfs. The game started well enough. Then I moved, my band forward and promptly got a reaction test from a PEF or possible enemy force marker. The result, my archers stood and shot. My warriors piled in recklessly!

This was the start of a trend. well sort of. The humans and dwarfs then got stuck in, but my band got whittle down, as I lost one archer Dead, and one OOF.
The skeleton arhcers and warriors thankfully didn't manage to kill my hero or my warriors, before some of the skele's got drawn into other fights.

For a short while an almost grande mele broke out, but the dwarfs, charged on with some human berserk and made it o the trench line. Just as my hero finished off the last of the initial skeletons warriors. Then the artillery fired for the second time, the first having gone wide somewhere.
The deviation, meant it clouted my hero and a pants roll of the dice by me and a good one by the evil GM/monster player Colin, meant it was curtains for the brave elven hero! Splat!

Oh well, my remaining war band members, fought on, the healer helping support the human shield wall and rescuing one human as he went down to a mounted skeleton. This was short lived however, as the following round both he and the human were promptly killed.

Over the in the earthwork trenches, the Mr Big-Bad, the undead has stepped up to the dwarfs only to discover his trenches were not wide enough to allow an out numbering bonus and so, dwarf ve Mr Bad, came down to a slugging fest. One in which the Dwarf prevailed.

About now we started to worry about the dreaded reinforcement roll, and knew that any moments the undead could get more help. So as the elves and humans on the hill top tried to wipe out the lastof the undead cavalry the dwarfs piled through the trench, taking out one then the other of the war machines at last.

Just at the final roll of activation the bad guys got their double needed to bring in the reinforcements.. but but them, it was done, the siege engines were dead, Mr Big-Bad undead was down and destroyed and the survivors were hell bent on getting back to the city for beer and biscuits..

All in all a fun game.

What did I think of of WH:AA .. hmmm well.. its ok. I try and make sure I don't settle my mind on a rule set till I have played around three games as a whole.
I can see why it does things it does, but I think the randomality is a tiny bit hi on the reactions.. Its a rule set i was considering for my own fantasy campaign, and will try a game or two more but I am more likley to go with my home brew rules I think.
I will however try and get another game in. Some things we learnt.. Snori the dwarf is a killing machine! Infact, dwarfs are killing machines. Screaming skulls hurt. Shields are a must.. everyone must have a shield.. its just that simple!
Magic is risky. There is never enough loot and out numbering is always good if you have the numbers.

Warhammer Fantasy - Maps Resource

Warhammer Fansty Role Playing Game was one of the first RPGs I ever bought. Infact I think it was the first. Anyhow.. here is a link to a map resource site for the old world.
Useful for any Warhammer Fantasy Battle players too.

http://www.gitzmansgallery.com/Warhammer_Maps/index.html

Well worth a look, if you are interested.

Penkridge Table Top Sale - 22nd Jan - Staffordshire

Like many folks I love hunting for a bargain. And today I managed to pick up a few. My self and a few club mates, have been to a number of the Warboot Shows organised by Paul Ried at MAWS club, in manchester (see previous show reports) and have generally managed to find a bargain or two, and deal to be done that makes a trip out for half a day or a day worth the effort.

So today four of us, piled or should be crammed into my car and headed over to Penkridge in Staffordshire. From North Wales it took 1h,20mns to get to Penkridge. Straight off J13 of the M6.

Parking at first was a problem, being a Sunday and the church being just next door as such, but a local gamer pointed us in the right direction, namely, a bit further up the main road, a hundred yards or so and on the left next to the Methodist church.. Free car parking. And only a slight walk to the hall.

There were a mix of private sellers, shops/business's and semi traders as I tend to call them. People who regularly part time trade in minis or games etc.
So here are some photos of the show, firstly, before you say "not many people there", these were taken at 1pm after I got tired feet and a lot of visitors had already come and gone. I didn't manage to get any shots of the re-enactors either. It was quite busy till around 12hr.

I will discuss my bargains later.. :)

(Click on the images to expand them & Apologies if I have miss labelled any traders)

The central area, with Lesleys Bits Box on left. Demonstration game on stage.

Minisryou - Selling painted GW figures

Left wing area, with snack bar at end.

Minisryou definitely the smartest table, next to the South Stafford Models.

Minisryou 40K painted army for sale. Looked impressive.

Errrr central area again and trader I have forgotten the name of. Sorry!

Chaps from www.magicgeek.co.uk with lots of card games

www.tritex-games.co.uk Stand, selling prepainted plastics individually and sets.

Tritex-Games again.

Magic Geek stand. Lots of CCG stuff and games.

e-collectica games stand. Really really nice suppliers of boards games. They have a website!

And a market stall soon too! With an openning day discount. Seriously if you play board games, gives these folks a try.

Wargames Miniatures stand, lots of resin items, and scenery. Inc some build buildings.

South Stafford Model Club display. Some very nice pieces on show.

Un known trader, with mix of stuff, mostly in westwind and dystopean wars.

Stafford Games stand. FOW and Warlord Games and Mantic etc.

The other view of model stand.

James Resins Stand, a mix of resin terrain pieces mostly for 15 and 20mm scales. Some nice stuff, but too small obviously..!

James resins price lists. Always good to see an upfront and clear pricing.

KRGames 1:600th figures - www.krgames.co.uk

The organisers own stand with lots of GW, BTD and other bits and bobs.

Well my shopping haul for the morning was;
9 x LOTR metal figures, bought loose for 50p to £2ea depending.
1 x LOTR strategy battle hardback book (worn) for £2.
2 x Boxes of plastic LOTR figures for £10
1 x 2.5oz Pot of Masters Brush Cleaner £3 (The stuff is brilliant btw)
And..

1 x Figures in Comfort Legion Case! (RRP £200) for £40.

The case contained three triple depth vehicle trays, a couple of un-used single depth pick and pluck trays and another used, figure case in side. Looking very similar to battlefoams stuff from the USA. Though not quite sure its the same. Anyhow, for £40! The case alone empty was worth it, as it will happily store and transport my FIC Correx "Company Boxes" that I have.

So all in all a great trip out. The tea and coffee, food and snacks were well supplied throughout the morning, with burgers and cup cakes available to purchase from the snack counter too.

I did feel however the show was maybe a bit heavy on the "Business Traders", rather than the individual sellers, but then someone has to help pay for the hall and tables etc.

So all in all a great day out, some good bargains grabbed and, apparently the organiser is considering maybe doing another in 6 months or so. As long as it does not clash with anything else I am going too and I have some pennies to spare, it is one I will definitely consider again!

Thank to the organisers

Let the Zombie Horde Begin - Part 3b Painting begins.

I have managed to get some more work done on the first batch of zombies.. the bases are now done, and more importantly the gore is added and they have had a wash.
So what do you think? 

Gore and bases done! Only varnish left to go!

 The gore was done with three colours of red.. a dark, a middle and a bright red. The burnt cadmium was the dark. Basic Red was the middle and the fresh blood was Game Colour blood. This latter is pretty bright and without a wash over the top, is too bright I think.

I started with burnt cadmium and covered lower edges of wounds and did some blood marks on clothing. I wanted them to look gory but not over done. I think making a figure look bloodied is an art. A lot of people get too heavy with the blood, and they forget dried blood looks almost black. For a first attempt, and with no previous work to go on, I am pretty happy with the look so far.

Close up the bloody and gore and wounds.

More blood and gore.. the light is making the red a little bright.

Those these were cheap figures, the details comes alive with paint on.

The detailing may be softer on VFM figs, compared to others, But you find more as you get painting.

So you can see the group as a whole. The bases were done with my usual three tone system. A dark, a middle and a light. The dark base colour is bases on to completely cover the base. The middle tone goes on with a moderate dry brush. The lighter tine then goes on last with a light brybrush. I chose the grey, as usually I go with brown and I use Silfor Tufts to detail the bases. But I decided the grey worked well and as often these will be in a modern environment, (when I make the buildings, that is! ) I went with grey. Also I think I made do my hero's and survivors with brown bases. That was its easy to tell them apart. But time will tell. 

First 15 zeds ready to roll into the varnish shop!

Zombie Dogs, bases dones the same way.

As you can see I have done the zombie dog bases the same way. I could get some off white and pick out a few individual stones on the bases, to break them up a bit, but give the time and number (still over 100 zombies to go!) its a lot of work. I will see.

The final step will be a gloss coat of varnish as a protective layer. Maybe two coats. As I suspect these figures will get a lot of handling. Then a matt varnish over the top to get rid of the shine!

I see a lot of people using matt only varnish and frankly its a waste of time. Matt varnish will not protect your figure. It will give it a nice flat look and add thin layer, but it is a thin layer. You need a sealing gloss varnish to protect your figures.

Note, the other advantage of doing a gloss layer followed by a matt layer, is as the matt varnish wears away, you will see you figures getting shiny. When that happens, its time for another coat of matt varnish. Before the varnish layer is completely worn away.

Warning - The following may come across a bit patronising!

A tip with varnish. Many people get a white milky look! And scream "nuts" or words to that effect and swear they are not varnishing their figures ever again..

There are a couple of reasons why this happens.;
1). Read the instructions, I don't mean just look at them, I mean follow them. If it says shake the can for 2-3minutes. It means it. Get a watch, and time it. Shake like hell. Your arm and wrist will ache! If they don't you haven't shaken the can enough! The propellant chemicals and adhesives chemicals will not be fully mixed. That means you get cloudy looking finish.

2). Peas - No not the green things you eat. Nearly every good quality can of undercoat, varnish or lacquer has a metal "pea" in the bottom. If the can has stood in the same place un moved for a long time. This gets stuck on the bottom of the can. You need to bang it to free it. This can take a serious clout. Be careful, don't hit it on or with anything sharp or the obvious will happen. But if you don't hear and feel that pea, rattle, then you will never get a proper mix of propellant and varnish. See note 1).  It can take several bangs and some serious hard ones to get the pea loose.

3). Atmospherics. Yes, atmospherics. what??? I hear you scream.. two things.. humidity and dust! Varnishes, don't react well to humidity, spray one in a damp atmosphere, the water vapour in the air sticks too and is trapped in the varnish as it settles on the figures. This gives you a cloudy finish! It also effects the life of the varnish.
Like wise with dust. The fine spray of particulate varnish, is electro statically charged as it turns into an aerosol, as it leaves the can. That charge, makes it attract dust. So try and make sure you spray and leave you figures to dry in a dust free place.  (This is the one thing I struggle with, majorly, its frustrating, but my extrator helps, and with the fumes).

4). Coats, No not 1970s Afghans with furry collars.. ;) I am talking applications and layers. Apply your first coat. Apply it in short bursts, don't apply it too heavy. Work with smooth sweeping motions, don't hover over a single target or you will over dose it! If the coat/layer is too thick! It will go cloudy and look horrid. Better to under - coat it, and apply several thin layers. BUT, ensure its dry between applications. If you put another layer over a curing layer, the chemical reaction of the base layer will effect the second upper coat. The volatiles in the lower layer won't beable to escape, and will effect the second layer!
That leads to a white milky look or can lead to bubbling in the varnish.

5). Too much Matt - Yep, matt varnish, when over applied, goes satin and can even go glossy. It doesn't take a lot of Matt varnish to kill the shine. So make sure you go lightly.
Putting Matt varnish over a gloss when the gloss is not fully dry is another cause of milkyness.

6). Stick to same brand - I personally rate the HMG varnish sold by Figures in Comfort and some other retailers. I like it. It works. I use both the Matt and the Gloss. However if you are tempted to mix manufacturers, heed the following. Different makers, use different combinations and cocktails of chemicals and putting one over another may lead to a variety of issues. Firstly, none setting. Secondly milkyness. Thirdaly peeling in extreme cases. And some cheap chinese varnishes use some pretty horrendous banned chemicals that can react and catch fire, according to an artical in a train magazine, a friend of mine told me about.

So, you are now fully aware, well at least aware of some of the issues that I know of or have come across with varnishes!

Ok, in all scineretly I hope the above is handy and informative!  Despite all that above, it is very much worth varnishing your figures. They will last a lot longer. And there is nothing worse than half way through a game, reaching for a figure, only to notice a chip in your fabulous paint job, which just spoils the enjoyment of the game!

So, anyhow.. that 20 something zombie dogs and 15 human zombies done! (with exception of varnish). To save on varnish I will do them in batches and so these first sets of figures will get put aside and I have to wait for a dry none rainy (humidity) day.

So.. whats next.. I hear the my masses of followers ask in eagernes.. ?? errr. hmm well 15mm sci-fi.. 

Only kidding! My club mates are busily amassing some serious volume of 15mm scifi, from various sources and had a great looking game last week at the club. It looked really good. And yes I would be tempted if I hadn't already got a mass of stuff and my current projects on the go!

So, the next step is to de-mount the figures from the 6" nails they are on and look to getting the next lot mounted and undercoated.

I see VFM have a new set of additions out to their horde range! Going by a post on their blog too. And thus this week I will be following the mantra of " I must not buy more zombies, I must not buy more zombies..!"

Hope you like the look of the ones above. And I will keep you update with the progress of the next lot. I need to get a few more "ordinary, colours". My paint collections are pretty military in nature and I need a few more shades of colours and ideas, before I wind up with too much of one colour in the horde.

Not I have the gore and bases colours sorted out, I hope I can crack on with them.

Please stay tuned for the next update.

A quick update..

Hi Folks, Apologies for the lack of updates recently. Life has hit the hetic button once again.
I have however been able to get some painting done on the zombies, batch 1. And they are looking quite good, if I do say so my self. I will try and get some photos up and a full update shortly.

I have also been looking into more storage options for figures. The perenial problem of an expanding lead mountain.. where to put it all!

As an aside and remember I said I wasn't starting any more projects.. well.. err.. it kind of got started last year mind. But I am looking at a fantasy skirmish campaign to run at the club.

I think I have narrowed my idea down to Middle Earth, the 4th age. 500years after the end of the war of the ring or so.. may be a bit longer. Why? Well it means I can write some new stuff, inspired by my MERP info and yet still keep the players familiar with much of the general geography and peoples, without too much change.

Oh and I have been playing with gore! Its actually harder than I thought to make a zombie look good. Seriously.. the drawn, gaunt, mindless expression, are great. But simple paint jobs, lead to simple looks. So to give my victims, sorry zombies some, impact, I experimented with gore.. three tone red combination has kind of worked well. The end result is ok. I would like to say it is awsome, but I just don't know.. I will leave that to you guys to decide once the photos are up.

Anyhow, thats it for now. Just a quick update. More to following shortly.

Let the Zombie Horde Begin - Part 3a Painting begins.

I thought I would post a quick update on the horde. I managed a little painting over the holidays. Not quite as much as I had hoped, but that always seems to be the way with painting miniatures. You never quite seem to get as many done or quite as far with a figure as you would like in the given time.

Anyhow, here are the latest shots. All of the first two sets of zombie dogs are now painted (excluding bases). I have also started on my first batch of the VFM zombie figures. The first 15 are coming along nicely as I hope you can see.

The first 15 zombies progressing along nicely.

The first 15, still some work to go. But taking shape.

The second set of zombie dogs, the pink ones from Part3, now done.

The other side, I really like the way these came out. Still have the bases to go.

So as you can see they are progressing. The second batch of dogs from Part 3 (the pink ones) are now all looking rather gruesome! The quick dark grey dry brush, with a pick out of the bones has given them a kind of almost burnt / charred flesh look.. grizzly!

Once the first set of 15 zombies are done, I will move onto the basing. The skin tone is looking good on the zombies. I went with stone grey. It is an almost greenish grey without being too green. I aim to give each figure a wash of newton&winsor nut brown ink, before the are done. This will change the tones a little.

I still have the "gore" to do and wounds on on the zombies. Its easy to splash on red paint, but often it looks a little too bright for my taste.. So some experimenting here shall be needed. But so far, so good. Am pleased. I just wish I could get more done faster..lol.

These will definitely not be my finest work. Simple because having so many do to, and they are a "mass" collection, there is no need. I suspect the survivors shall be hosing them down in their hundreds so to speak. But I still want them to look good. I just won't be putting them in the display cabinet.

Right, back to painting I think!

Dice - Ever thought about them.. I mean seriously?

Over the years I have bought lots of dice. I have bags of them. I got some free in games. Some free in give aways. Some I have found on the floor, under the table after role playing sessions.

We all have them, and we all tend to have loads we never really need. Well certainly the role players do. Me included.

Well I watched these two videos.. worth a look.

And

I have to admit i recall looking at a set of sharp edged die and seeing the blemish and just walking away. But I probably shouldn't. As I have to say, I do indeed have some favourite dice. And it is because the do seem to roll well. Conversely i have a friend who has dire luck with dice.

Now I didn't think that these small amounts of edge rounding, difference in size etc could matter that much frankly! But when see quite how much material is taken off the dice in the smoothing process to remove and polish them. You realise how it can easily start to each near 0.5mm! No wonder a lot of my D20's are not the same size. They all started out that way, but depending on how long they get polished for, the sizes alter. And the chances of rolling numbers.

I think this chap sold his business on, since these vids were made. But I am rather tempted to get a set of Game Science dice and see how they perform, compared to my RPG set.


Something for Free! - Basic Fantasy Role Playing

You see a lot of "free" things on the internet here and there. And generally you write them off as cheap promotionals or purely free hooks to get you too take out your wallet to buy something else.

But I am actually a little shocked and a very pleased to be able to say, I have found something quite good. Infact I think it is very good. A free D20 Roleplaying system. It says it is mobified version of 3.5.. now not sure if they mean D&D 3.5ed, or the generic D20 system. Probably the latter.

I decided having found a link on TMP, in a thread about dungeon crawls and "light" rpg games, to flick through and see. And I must say I was impressed.

Having read a lot of free publications on the net. This one is very well done and worth alook if you like D&D and roleplaying games.

http://www.basicfantasy.org/main.html

So, if you enjoy fantasy table top roleplaying. Why not take a quick look.

2012 - A new year of gaming..

Happy New Year - my dear readers. Hope you all had a good holiday season, where-ever upon this earthly globe you happen to be.

So 2012, its here..!

The painting schedule is already behind, given I am 6 days into the new year, it is a little frustrating, to say the least! But hey, I have plenty of time to catch up.

So far, zombie skin tone has been decided upon. Model Colour Stone Grey. Over a white undercoat, comes up nicely. I will do an update as the zombies progress.

Plans for 2012

Having sat down and cast a serious look at my model collection, I have in keeping with the spirit I started this blog in, decided to keep my gaming projects limited. Firstly for monetary reasons and secondly for time and probably just as important at the others. Space, in terms of storage.

So.. in no particular order I plan to continue my slow progress on my Startship Troopers figures. My Vietnam and a fantasy campaign skirmish project that is in the early days of planning.

"So what about the zombies..??" I hear those awake in the front, scream loudly! Well these are my first project of the new year. The others are on hold till the zombies are done! Now the skin tone is chosen, I can crack on. I still have to settle on a rule system, to use for the games I have in mind. AR:SE may not quite cut it, but we will see.

So.. that's the plans for 2012.. and so what did I find my self playing this week at the club.. Future War Commander in 6mm..

Ok, ok,, its not 28mm.. but I have for a while fancied a foray into a smaller or larger scale game, depending upon how you look at it. My regular group at the club have gone heavily into 15mm, to play FWC and Tomorrows War with. Mostly a mix of GZG and cheap toy shop buys. In fact some £1 shops have had an array of VAB type armoured troop carriers, and cheap tanks and sci-fi type flayers. Quite amazing.

Anyhow, the game was great. I won! How I am not quite sure, but it had something to do with me rolling snake eyes, twice during commands. This meant a free extra action for the unit I was issuing orders. In both cases it was my squadron of four red guard tanks. Which were able to pore fire into main cluster of my enemies, AFVs and APCs.. the resulting couple of rounds of firing, tore out his central push, then a luck round of artillery, deviating onto his commander, meant his commander was put out of the fight.

Its a very different rule set that I am generally used to. The fact you cannot be certain, your units will do as you wish, does make you think differently and more strategically. And I can see a certain appeal. I look forward to seeing how my club mates get on with it, in 15mm, as I have usually seen FWC, or Blitzkrieg Commander II or Cold War commander played in 6mm.

But until I can resolve my storage issues, I won't be investing in another scale for now.

So, anyways I have prattled on long enough for tonight. So hope your gaming projects all go as planned and everyone has a good year ahead. I will aim to keep more regular updates here throughout 2012.  So all the best.