Creating a simple dice tray

I bought some felt for £1.70 off eBay and stuck it into an old coin tray from a car we had long since parted with.

 

I used PVA glue so there wouldn't be any lumps or bumps in the felt. I smoothed it down with a bottle of glue to make it super flat and level.

Then tried it out with glee. Simple things please simple minds.

The Duelists

Last week I went along to the local wargames group to check it out again. While I was there I was approached by someone who heard I used to paint for the Guardroom in Dunstable. I said I didn't paint for money anymore but he was quite persistent.

I declined many times but as I got up to leave I felt so bloody guilty, I offered to paint a couple for free to help him out.

 

To help me out I just copied the painted examples on the Perry's website. I watched the film to get the colours of the grey/blue 3rd Hussars, but in the end just copied the Perry's dark blue example.

The Perry's example has this guy in dark blue trousers.

Painting these figures did give me the chance to try out this new mirror silver marker. This should give the impression the savers are razor sharp.

This figure had a slight mould line on his face that I turned into a slight wound.

It's hard when trying to make new friends and feel your way into a new group.

UPDATE: The very last things to do are the varnishes. Over the last few years I have really come to appreciate what different varnishes can do on a figure.

 The Halfords matt varnish is great but it can leave a slight sheen. I left this on the boots but coated the rest of the figure with Ultra- Matt from Ammo. This is the best I've found for taking away any sheen. The actual saber I coated in a lick of Kleer floor varnish to make it catch the light and give it a metallic feel. I think it really makes a difference, especially with the uniform and shirt.

Making 28mm Torches

To help give this force of Dwarves a Moria feel, I thought it would be a nice touch to give them torches. This of course to help them in the gloom of the Black pit...Moria.

This is an easy thing to do with the help of some cotton and brush bristles.

This dwarf even has a giant torch to help light the way.

Once the brush bristle was cut and drilled into place, I covered the tip in super glue. Cotton was then wrapped around it, soaking up the glue as it went. This creates a nice torch, I made sure to cut some wood grain into the plastic bristle.

 A covering of glue in readiness for the cotton.

To make the fire a bit more animated, I stuck some packing material to the end. This does cover the cotton but hopefully should look good when painted. The cotton level could be skipped but it does look good for unlight torches.

I found this packing fome in a figure box and thought it would make great fire.

I did buy a few torch bearers from Alternative Armies, but it's also quite easy to convert other figures.

Having learnt my lesson with the shields on the last batch, I took the extra time to green stuff some straps for the stowed torches. Using the spare putty to create a little bag.

When the super glue was dry, I coated the flames with PVA glue to keep them in place. This keeps them in shape and also the spray paint will help this too.

Handy spare torches for the campaign.

This dwarf got a spare shield to add some variety to his sculpt.

Just a tiny strap is all that's needed to secure the torch to the belt. Hopefully, these little extra details should make the difference when painted.

Almost set for the endless dark of Moria.

Spare torch, it's nice to see the cotton.

I was pleased with myself for managing to give this dwarf his axe back that I had cut off. I simply drilled it into his other hand holding the shield. 

Undercoated and drying in the wind.

UPDATE: WIP on these guys. I've decided to paint a couple of these torch bearers to include on the first bases.

These have most of their base paints on at the moment, it turns out I paint the beards last.