ACW Artillery base size and colour?

 I'm trying out two options here, the long 120mm x 60mm and the smaller 80mm x 60mm. The smaller one makes more sense with turning arcs etc but the longer base gives more room for diorama. I'm using Infantry for layout and positioning only.

 I've done a lot of research about the gun colours, Olive green is mentioned but these guns always look more grey/green to me. I've found some great Tamiya paints which should cover this, they also do a good grey green which so far is my favourite. It's the first one on the colour strip.

 Warlord ECW horses help map out the size of the Limber base (120mm x 60mm) just so I can get an idea of the over all size of the unit when attached to the Limber.

 The Artillery base sizes next to each other. I think as long as the canon is set back from the edge and towards the middle the base shouldn't look too big. This also gives some nice space at the front to place the rammer and bucket etc.

The last paint colour here is a blue from Tamiya again this will be used to paint a couple of Confederate pieces.

Back on the old ACW trail again...

 Just thinking out aloud about some Artillery bases. Looking through my MDF collection I found I had a load of 120mm x 60mm bases I had bought for a rule set that never happened. I was thinking these could do for the section base. They already fit the four horse limber team, but I thought they might be a little long for the gun section. I noticed the Perrys include 100mm x 50mm bases for their guns in their plastics kits so I'm not too far off. The extra mm could help with the larger redoubt figures...anyway food for thought.

It would be nice to use all six figures that come with most Artillery sets and a long base could be the way. The pics above are just to help me place the team around the gun and the spacing with the figures. My limbers will be on the 120mm x 60mm horse team base. 240mm could make for a long Artillery base when on the move...I'll have to see when I get home.

The Lady of the Forest...the Birch.

 I have been buying a lot of cheap trees from Amazon lately and giving myself the challenge of painting them quickly with spray paints. This is very rewarding and enjoyable, trying out slightly different colours. Some of these trees will be turned into Aspens with dots rather than stripes on the trunks.

 I will also give some Autumn leaves to add some variety. These birches will come in very handy when playing the French and Indian War. By sticking them on round bases I can scatter them around homesteads etc and provide some cover for sneaky skirmishers.

Had great fun preparing these probably because they are so quick and easy to do.

Flocking Middle Earth

 Moria is over run with goblins..! Bolg's bodyguard lead the assault and push the Dwarves back deeper into the depths.

 I found some time last night to put some extra touches on some recent eBay purchases. Gearing up for my 'Battle of the Five Armies' games, I realised I didn't really have any mountainous terrain. This is something I had to rectify!

 I love this model...and they call it a MINE...a MINE!

 This will be great for my Dwarven stronghold and make a great objective in a game.

 I also purchased some cheap hills/rocks. I thought these would be handy for must eras and fitted nicely with my latest interest in the French and Indian war.

 My eBay resin rocks finally get their flock and tufts and so are now finished. It's hard to make yourself crack on at night when your tired, but the sense of joy you get when everything is done is amazing.

 Some extra love was put into this already amazing model. I didn't really have to do much on this one just add some more flock and tufts.

 These large rocks were given patches of granite grey paint and green washes. Then flocked and tufted like everything else.

 They will also make great bases for my Goblins to spill out of. They are covered in deep cracks and crags, these from a distance look like deep tunnels and caves.

The sun finally comes out and the grass starts to grow again. Job done!

WIP Gundabad Troll

 This weeping giant is someone you don't want to run into on a dark night.

 Dark Alliance 20mm plastic troll with green stuff mask and wooden club.

Militia man French Indian War.

Militiaman 1746

A quick sketch I did on an I pad to teach myself how to colour the line of the drawing. It's very quick but does show my new interest in the French Indian war.

LOTR Snow Troll

 I have been playing around with the idea of creating some Snow trolls for my Gundabad army. This army is already getting very troll heavy as I bought two forge world 'War beasts' for Christmas.

 Any how, with the release of another box of Dark Alliance war trolls, I got the idea of creating two Snow dwelling nightmares. I took my reference from the non-cannon game 'War in the North' and the Snow trolls created for that game.

 When I saw the 20mm new hard plastic trolls from DA with a leather hoods I got the idea of an easy conversion. The idea from the game is that these trolls cover themselves in the remains of their victims high up in the mountains, so lots of fur and natural hide with horns and tusks.

 I like this idea as It does make them stand out from other trolls in Middle Earth and gives them a distinct character. Also makes them look very wild and feral.

 I took far too long puzzling over how to class them in Dragon Rampant but then hit on a fantastic idea. I will make them Lesser war beasts so they will be fast and fierce in combat. However the main selling point for me was the fact that they will have three hit points each, this is the same as all my other smaller trolls. This pleased me because I am sad...no I mean because I didn't want these trolls to be weaker than my others in wounds. Also I will give them the 'Venomous' trait to give them more chance of inflicting damage, this represents their immense strength and foul temper.

 As well as fur I left a lot of raw skin exposed on the hides and a few tusk like horns. I can't wait to start painting them up, partly because I have been waiting for YEARS to put some snow on a base...now's my chance at last.

Got to have some snow on a Snow trolls base right?!

Resin Rocks from eBay

 Still on my fantasy journey I bought some resin rocks from eBay. They will look great for the Battle of the Five Armies. These were pricey coming in at £25, but they are good and paint up very well. These are painted with GW granite with brown and green washes.

 These have been made by casting slate fragments, It's a good idea and the results are very effective. If I had the time I might even give it a go myself...but that is a pipe dream :).

4x4ft PVC Battle mat from Amazon.

 Treated myself to a 4ft by 4ft battle mat off Amazon. It is very nicely detailed and really does look good from a distance. My only niggle is that PVC has a slight sheen to it and does reflect harsh light. Still at £40 I still think it was a good buy. At this price you could collect a small collection for different battles. A snow one would be nice. Might need to do some more research...maybe a cloth mat that could be rolled up would be better.

 The pattern is heath land I think, I thought it works on a number of eras and scales from sci-fi to ECW.

Belated happy new Year!

VTOLs inbound

A sketch of my VTOL idea of three medium class and one heavy class.

 Slightly dis appointed last night as I went to add the liquid masking fluid to the last two models, only to discover it had gone really watery and unusable for what I need. I might try keeping it in the garage to cool down as it might have been the temperature that effected it.

Xeno Landing craft

As I prepare to paint my hi tech Soriogs from Khurisan I thought I'd would try my new camo technique on some Halo toys and give them something to ride in. As the Soriog are based loosely on the 'Elites' in Halo it goes without saying that anything from the Halo universe would look good with them.
 After a bit of looking around I found these toys on eBay. Just lately I found a larger version that will become a heavy VTOL. These flyers could be classed as attack craft with their huge forward plasma cannons, although I think I will use them as medium class VTOLs. Medium class can carry a single squad of Aliens (6) with the heavy class carrying two (12).

I imagine the hi tech Soriog wanting to get in close to their foes and quickly too. These grav VTOLs  should be the answer. The rules (GRUNTZ) say If a VTOL is shot down in flight all on board are lost, that could a way of taking out a whole squad of very deadly and expensive Aliens.

 Blue steel eyes really shine out of hull. This model will be given a wash of kleen floor varnish, this will give it a nice sheen and help blend the camo.

 I used a Tau decal for a bit of Alien looking insignia on the front of the VTOL, I think It works. I also painted some panels under the craft in Blue steel from miniature paints. This stuff is great for futuristic models.

 The basic spray job was washed with black to bring out the details

 IRON MITTEN TIP #34. Two paints that every Sci-fi painter should have in his paint rack. Tamiya Metallic blue and  Miniature paints' Blue steel. If you are painting anything Alien these two paints will come into their own.

The Soriog war machine is starting to gear up, those poor settlers on Proctos 9 are in for a hard time. The Heavy VTOL can be seen in the background.

Decal Heaven

 I used to hate decals, I even did cartoons about it back in the day,but I have to say when it comes to Sci-fi miniatures they are the best. These decals are from the Gundam range off eBay, I didn't worry too much about what they were just as long as they look good. They help add a bit of detail to simple brush work.