April Hobby Progress

Hello and Welcome back, 

Time for my hobby Progress report for April.

As you can see from my previous blog posts April has been a productive month hobby wise, somewhat helped by the Easter bank holiday. I got various bits Fogou terrain finished and blog posts written. I also began work on building a dusty space port town, featuring many Fogou desert buildings (and hopefully some reworked models from my collection). 

This cool model from the recent Diehard Miniatures arrived. I am looking forward to seeing this jet bike zooming around my Maddans world table.  As it is from a Kickstarter from last year, I am not including it in my Figures Bought stats.

In addtion to this I have cleaned the paint off a couple of Ebay finds. Yet more 40K Oldhammer space Dwarves. I still haven't managed to find time for a game.

The order from Ramshackle hasn't arrived yet. But then given the avalanche of work Curtis has I am not expecting them any time soon as he clears the backlog. I also put a order into EM4 and Heresy for some figures to flesh out various gangs. I expect they will pop up on my May Figures Bought stats. We shall see as Andy from Heresy also has long lead times.

Figures finished* = 7 *Figures that needed bases finishing from 2024

Figures painted = 12 (total so far 18)

Figures reworked = 6

Vehicles finished = 0

Vehicles reworked = 0

Figures bought = 0 (total so far 1)

Vehicles bought = 0

The figures painted is still more than the figures I have bought, so I am happy.

That's all for now.

Thanks for reading and take care out there.

Post Apocalyptic Nomad Warriors

 Hello and Welcome back, 

Typical, you hang around for ages waiting for a blog post and loads of them arrive at the same time. 

I am not getting many post apocalyptic figures painted lately. My focus seems to be on Science Fiction lately. But I did manage one that has sat in the to finish queue for some time. 

The post apocalyptic wastelands are filled with lone wanderers. Individuals who are often scarred and damaged in some way by the horrors of the apocalypse. They are unable to settle down or join settlements. 

Some blame themselves for the loss of loved ones or those they should have helped. They become bitter burnt out desolate shells. Out here in the wastelands, they learn to live again. 

Some of these wanderers believe that they have a personal mission to wander the wastelands, helping those in need. They believe they have a quest to help rebuild the world and call themselves "Post Apocalyptic Nomad Warriors". 

This figure is by Lead Adventure Miniature "the last heros" that I picked it up many years ago off Ebay, already prepped and primed. I suspect it is inspired by Eli, from the film about a bloke with a book wandering the wastelands. 

The Post Apocalyptic Nomad Warrior moniker was taken from a novel by Benjamin Wallace (part of his Duck and cover series) . Search them out, they are worth a read. 

Thanks for looking, take care out there. 

Star Port Scum 9.

Hello and welcome back, 

It's Starport Scum time. Hanging about the Space port bars there are many colourful, often dodgy (and usually not very sober) characters. 

Captain Kruces Magnusson

This armoured guy covered in animal furs toting a Shurkien Catapult (a weapon manufactured by the Fey GELFs), will happily tell many exciting tales of his exploits (for a drink) in the bars around the space ports. In addition to scrounging free drinks he uses these tales to encourage young and impressionable people to sign up for his crew. None of them think to ask why Magnusson needs new crew members regularly until it is too late. It is also a disappointment for them when they find out that they don't get fancy armour or weapons when they sign on with Magnusson.

There are many rumours about Magnusson circulating around the spaceports. One sayes that he is a pirate, while another claims that he takes his new crew members and sells them as slaves to the Fey GELFs. A rumour which is reinforced by the GELF weapon he sports.

The figure is a old metal 40K Space marine found on ebay. It was painted with Deep Coat Studio speed painter marker pens over grey primer. As you can see the colours are somewhat duller than over a white primer (see my last blog post). An army painter quick shade mid brown wash was added, while the metal and darker parts were treated to an Army Painter quick shade Dark Tone wash. Some details were then picked out with Coat d Arms and Nostaliga paints.

Oin Brassneck of the Big Red Mining Corporation 

Oin Brassneck is a Dvarg of the Big Red Mining Corporation. He hangs around spaceports listening for opportunities for the Corporation to exploit. The Dvarg have a practical approach to humanites pending encroachment of GELF space (good luck getting past all those war hungry ORCS). They are happy to trade and exploit business opportunities with the frontier worlds and colonies. Another reason is that Dvarg space lies beyond GELF space, so humanity isn't considered a threat.  

Brassneck is the first figure of my Big Red Mining Corporation squad for the Skirm game. There will be more figures for this crew in future. I am planning more than the 6 required figures for a Skirm squad, possibly 10 or 12 so I can use these guys for other games such as Stargrave. 

The figure is a old metal 40K Squat/space dwarf, I found on ebay. The figure is missing the combat accessory. That seems to be a regular issue with old figures. It was painted with Deep Coat Studio speed painter marker pens over grey primer. As you can see the colours are somewhat duller than over a white primer (see my last blog post). An Army Painter quick shade mid brown wash was added, while the metal and darker parts were treated to an Army Painter quick shade Dark Tone wash. Some details were picked out with Coat d Arms and Nostaliga paints.

Note: The Wild Galaxy tweaked Big Red Mining Corporation fluff to follow as soon as I have finished the rest of the squad.

Maurice Ncnann

Maurice Ncnann is a Mercenary who hangs about Spaceports looking for work. He will happily join crews that need some extra muscle and he is not beyond joining pirate crews if the pay is right.

The figure is a old metal 40K Space marine scout found on ebay. The combat accessory was missing so another was fashioned from a plastic Void Junkers machete. The figure was painted with Deep Coat Studio speed painter marker pens over white primer. An Army Painter quick shade mid brown wash was added, while the metal and darker parts were treated to an Army Painter quick shade Dark Tone wash. Some details were picked out with Coat d Arms and Nostaliga paints.

Thanks for looking, take care out there.

Deep Cut studio speed paint marker pens.

Hello and Welcome back, 

I recently picked up some Deep Cut studio Army speed paint marker pens. These brush pens are filled with Army Painter speed paints. I expect most of your reading this will be familiar with contrast paint or speed paints so I won't explain what they are or how they work. 

In my eagerness to try these pens, I dug out the only two figures primed in white from the pile of shame. 

These two metal Strontium Dogs figures by Warlord Games were the first two figures to paint. 

To use the pens, shake them and then depress the brush tip into the end of the cap to make the paint flow. In addition to this the pens come with spare brush nibs and can unscrew the pen to refill it.

I found these Markers to be easier to use than ordinary speed Painter paints. Coverage was good but the work can need touch ups. If you miss a spot it is glaringly obvious as the white shines through. 

The figures look good, however I find it pays to give the painted figures a wash to make some of the details pop. Some touch ups and a little detail work can help, such as the eyes and SD badges. 

I find these paints to be effective and as they are in pen form will be useful if you want to paint figures to a tabletop standard while away from your usual paint station. 

I can see myself using these pens more in the future and I will be trying out the pens on grey primed figures soon to see how they come out. 

Thanks for reading, take care out there.

Fay GELF raiding party.

 Hello and Welcome back, 

Human frontier worlds along the edge of GELF space run the risk of GELF raids in addition to the usual risks of Frontier life. 

This Fay GELF raiding party arrives on world looking for usable loot and humans to kill and torture. The Fay are long lived and long memories of human cruelty. Many Fay are looking for vengance on their old oppressors. 

These figures are old metal 40k Eldar. The blue skinned figure is Sprangdryll the space elf pirate by Skull and Crown. 

Thanks for looking, stay safe out there.

Deep Space Engineering

Hello and Welcome back,

Deep Space Engineering (DSE) is a Corporation from the Liberty sector of human space. 

DSE specialises in building Space Stations, docking facilities, asteroid mining machines, terraforming facilites and other similar constructions. DSE can also be contracted to repair damaged ships and stations. 

Unlike most corporations operating in human space, DSE does not operate a military arm to protect its assets (or to hire out as muscle). The Corporation relies on it's staff to pick up weapons to defend its assets. Any complaining employees are reminded that the company pay, benfits and pension are excellent, so stop whining and go kill that bug! DSE thoughtfully provides weapon training and weapons but the staff have to provide their own load carrying equipment, armour and other military equipment. Sometimes the Corporation will call upon the Liberty military to help defend its assets if the danger to it's own personnel is too great.

The figures are old Kyromek Nexus Marines figures (from Scotia Grendel). There is also figures from Grenadier (from EM4) and Hasslefree miniatures. 

I orginally painted these figures as a penal brigade for a Post Apocalyptic city many years ago, hence the colours. The T shirts were touched up and DSE added to them. 

Hopefully I will get to add more figures to this squad, as they are pretty generic looking. The Void Viridian line do similar looking T shirt wearing figures. 

The inspiration for DSE comes from the Corporation in the old Freelancer computer game. 

Thanks for looking, take care out there.

Fogou's Battle at the Farm set.

Hello and Welcome back, 

After the joy of painting Fogou's Fantasy ruins and Ringfort, I was still in the groove and eager to paint the other stone model set I have by Fogou - the battle at the farm set. 

For those of us of a certain vintage, the phrase "Battle at the farm" may make us misty eyed as we recall playing the battle using the counters at the back of the 40K Rouge Trader book. Even replaying the game once we had miniatures (painted or otherwise), most of us would have been using proxy models to make the farm. 

On seeing Fogou's set, I had to have it. 

The set has a ruined farm house, enough low walls and barricades to make up the defenses. It also comes with some scenic scatter. 

The models were painted exactly the same way as the Fantasy Ruins. The ammoboxes, oil drums and pots were painted with appropriate colours and also treated to the magic wash. Is there any model this wash doesn't improve? Maybe, the magic wash needs it's own blog post? 

This means I will have to replay this classic scenario at some point. 

Thanks for reading,

Take care out there.

Fogou Fantasy Ringfort

 Hello and Welcome back,

After painting the Fogou fantasy/dark age ruins, I was in the groove and pulled the Fantasy Ring Fort from the pile of shame. 

I ordered the Ring Fort after receiving the Fantasy ruins from Fogou, after a short period of oohing and ahhhing of course (less than 3 seconds). 

To be honest, I have no idea what I will use it for. Maybe a stronghold on a distant frontier world? 

The painting was done exactly the same way as the Fantasy Ruins. There was the additional step of using the Down and Dirty Moss effect paint to give it the mossy look. 

The painting of this large model was surprisingly quick. One thing I noticed is that it had no steps to get to the ramparts. I quickly ordered a couple of sets from Fogou. They arrived quite quickly and were painted on the day they arrived. That's how quick the paint process is. The longest part is waiting for the magic wash to dry. 

I also ordered the Kev Addams Fantasy gate for this model. When I decide what colours to paint it, there will be a follow up post. 

Next up - Battle of the Farm set. 

Thanks for looking 

Take care out there.

Fogou Ruins

Hello and Welcome Back. 

Time for a visit to some beautiful resin terrain by Fogou Models. 

I ordered the Fantasy Ruins from Fogou's Kickstarter campaign. 

They could be used for Post Apocalyptic too, but I intended to use them for either Frostgrave or perhaps Late Stone Age fantasy. 

A colonial defence force investigate some old ruins. 

Fogou's models are cast in a heavy Jesmonite resin. They are very durable on the tabletop. While being heavy the resin isn't brittle. One of the nice things about painting Jesmonite, is that it doesn't usually need a undercoat. Paint goes on nicely and doesn't wear off.

My painting approach was quick. The steps are: 

1. Despite what I said above, these models were primed with Acrylic rattle can primer. 

2. The models all got a heavy dry brush with Coat d Arms Mid Grey (I prefer to use paint in pots for terrain rather than dropper bottle paint). 

3. If you look at any old stone buildings the stones are not uniform in colour. I picked out individual stones with the following colours. Note: don't pickout too many stones, it is only to break up the colour.

I. Coat D Arms Hairy Brown

ll. Nostaliga 88 Snakebite Leather

iii. Coat D arms Light Grey

4. Lightly dry brush with Coat d arms Light Grey

5. Pick out the wood with Coat d arms Bone.

6. I give all the models a wash with my magic wash formula (wood included). This is mix of Burnt Sennia acrylic craft paint and Sepia Ink in a rough 80:20 mix. This is watered down to a 50:50 and then a drop of washing up liquid added to aid flow. Just apply the wash, dilute it in places. The aim is to get the wash into the nooks and crannies as well to tie all the colours together.The wash doesn't have to be even as when it comes to stone buildings uniformity of the stone colour doesn't exist. 

7. Once dry the wood parts of the models were given a further wash of Army Painter Dark Tone Quickwash.

I was thinking of adding tufts to these models but then I want to be able to use the models in different settings, including Sci Fi. I also like the rubble inserts for the edge of the walls.

I know I am lucky to have quite a few of Fogou's models in my collection, to my mind these models are well worth the coin. 

Note: I am not affiliated with Fogou in any way other than being a fan of their models. 

Next up, the Fogou Ringfort. Keep watching.

Thanks for looking

Take care out there. 

Dusty spaceport town building pt1.

Hello and Welcome back, 

One of my plans is to build a space port town on a dusty frontier world. You know the sort of thing, adobe mud buildings with bits of tech and suchlike. 

I have been making a start in the past with these models: 

Fogou resin models 

Trashbashed plastic tub

Reworked gift box. 

3d print from Amazon.

In my pile of shame is a lot of resin desert buildings by Fogou, from their Kickstarters. As I have been on a terrain push this year, I plan to crack on with these. There are several old models in my collection which I plan to rework to fit the setting. 

One of the beauties of Fogou Models is that the resin can be painted directly without priming. One thing that has stopped me working through these models is that they are lacking suitable gubbins to make them fit into a Sci fi setting. Coincidentally I have been collecting lots of detailing bits for a long time. Time to use them up. I might also have to add some scratch built bits to the models. 

First up, there was some crumbly ruins. They had oddbricks picked out with Coat d arms Bestial Brown and desert sand. The wall coatings were painted light grey. My magic brown wash was applied (70:30 Burnt Sennia craft paint and Sepia ink mix, diluted to 50:50 with water and then a drop of washing up liquid added. Its a lot cheaper than buying model paints/inks). As you can see it looks decent once dried. I still have to do some dry brushing to finish them off. 

The power Generators are also WIP, they have had the details picked out (pipes, hatch and control panels). My next move will be to dry brush them with desert sand and Bone. The details will need finishing too. 

This WIP building had some Fogou pipes and vent added as detail. A Mantic aircon vent was added to the roof. The air-conditioning unit has been painted and super glued onto the roof. Like the power Generators, this model had some details painted up, before hitting it with my Magic Wash, drybrushing and weathering.

My other plans for this building is to maybe add some colour to it and possibly a sign for the building. 

Thanks for looking, take care out there.

Hobby Progress- Scatter terrain and Objectives

Hello and Welcome back,

Just a quick catch up with what I am upto hobby wise. I have been catching up with finishing some scenic scatter and objectives for the tabletop.

The pots, kiln and barrels are Fogou, the mdf crates/vending machine & lockers are from Miniature Scenery in Australia (can anyone explain why the post from Australia is cheaper and quicker than across the Atlantic?) and the desk, cabinets, weapon rack and screens are mantic.

I have also been reading through the Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland RPG rulebook. It is a D20 based Post Apocalyptic RPG with a 80s vibe. Looks a fun game. 

In other news I am planning on doing more work on my dusty space port terrain collection. Hopefully I will have some updates on that soon.

Thanks for reading

Take care out there.  

March Hobby Update.

 Hello and Welcome back, 

Time for my hobby Progress report for March. A little late I admit. Again spare time has been short and my hobby mojo has been a bit hit and miss this month. As well as the usual drains on my time, I managed to get my Bike MOTd. It passed with a clean bill of health. I am looking forward to get some miles on it this year. There has been a bit of car hunting and getting my current car's scratches repaired.

The old Eldar figures I started in February are still on the paint table and the dwarf conversions have stalled. They have both progressed a little before another bunch of projects distracted me. 

Terrain wise, I have finished some Fogou Ruins and their rather wonderful Ring Fort. Currently work is progressing on Fogou's Battle of the Farm set. I am hoping to get some decent pictures and blog posts up soon. 

In addtion I have been working on a few small scatter terrain bits by Mantic for my table. Hopefully I will be able to show them off soon. As these Terrain sets can be made up with several items I have taken the Terrain tallies off the list. 

No figures bought during May, although I did order some stairs and the Kev Addams Fantasy gate for the Ringfort from Fogou. 

The order from Ramshackle hasn't arrived yet. But then given the avalanche of work Curtis has I am not expecting them any time soon as he clears the backlog. 

Figures finished* = 7 *Figures that needed bases finishing from 2024

Figures painted = 6

Figures reworked = 0

Vehicles finished = 0

Vehicles reworked = 0

Figures bought = 1

Vehicles bought = 0

That's all for now.

Thanks for reading and take care out there.