Tuesday, 15 September 2009

Aventine meets Gorgon

Hank at Gorgon Miniatures in the USA http://www.gorgon-studios.com/?page_id=2 has very kindly sent me a few more samples; this time of the new Etruscan range.  I thought it might be useful to post a couple of shots next to the recent Aventine range http://www.aventineminiatures.co.uk/


Above are two of the Gorgon "second class citizen spearmen" Etruscans, flanked by two of the Aventine Volscians.  I still know relatively little about this period, but what is apparent to me is that, as I had hoped, the two ranges are an excellent match for height and build.  Indeed, at one stage, I got the minis mixed up and couldn't tell which range they came from!  They come with a tidy rectangular shield (not shown), and are finely sculpted with very little flash, indeed.


Above are two hoplites and a phalangite; from left to right Foundry, Gorgon and Crusader (I couldn't lay my hands on a Crusader hoplite).  It is a pity that the light was poor because I couldn't catch all the detail on the Gorgon Etruscan 1st Class hoplite figure.  If you click, you still should be able to see the trim around the cheek plates on the helmet, and the scales on the composite cuirass are fantastic; the detail on this mini is exceptional.  These figures can also be used as Greek Hoplites.

So I'm delighted with my new minis; thanks Hank! It's likely that the next year (post-Zama) I'll paint up some units of mixed Aventine and Gorgon minis.

Wednesday, 9 September 2009

Hasty Hastati 6 - Mostly there!

These chaps are getting seriously close to completion!  I'm 11 sessions in and 3 more should finish them, including basing.  This is rather faster than the Triarii and should enable me to finish one legion by Salute.

In other news... Greg has kindly offered to paint some more miniatures, Hannibal's Bruttian veterans from Southern Italy.  These are going to be a mix of Aventine and Crusader miniatures.  Also, I've identified the materials for the base boards and will get on with them once I've finished my dissertation.

Sunday, 6 September 2009

The Eponymous Bat


I realised on Saturday that it is exactly 5 years since I launched the Bat that gave me its tag name, and I thought it might be fun to give him an anniversary outing on the blog.


"Batty" was built (over a period of 3 months) for the Berkeley HoTT contest in 2004. He represents the feared Crimson Bat, Weapon of Mass Destruction of the Lunar Empire.

The base he flies over is 6x10 cm. To keep him upright, I cast the core of the burning cottage of solid lead; a hundred or more little lead men gave their lives to keep Batty in the air. The crewmen are mostly Ral Partha 28s. His illuminating eyes were LEDs taken from MacDonalds toys.

The photos are hurried, and not the best, but are clickable. If you look closely you may be able to see the swarm of bats on the magus's staff, and the victim wrapped in Batty's tongue.

He doesn't get out much, but has featured in a number of games at Salute over the years...

BigRedBat's Littlest Invention


I thought I'd share my sole contribution to human knowledge with the readers of TMP and the WAB Forum!

Have you ever experienced problems getting your LBMS transfers to stretch over curved shields? Do you sometimes suffer from air bubbles and creases? If so, what you need is the hi-tech, patented BigRedBat transfer applicator!

Alongside the partially painted shields, you can see a small lump of bluetac, covered with clingfilm. After completing all the stages in the LBMS instructions for applying the transfer*, simply press the shield into the lump and hold it there for 10 seconds or so. The bluetac takes on the shape of the shield, and forces the transfer into contact with it, stretching the transfer to fit the shield. It's particularly useful with curved shields, such as hoplons, and has eliminated the creases on my shields. The clingfilm prevents the shield from sticking.

Available from all good stockists of bluetac!

*I'd strongly recommend the suggested step of varnishing the shield before applying the transfer- it makes for a much better contact.

Friday, 4 September 2009

Hasty Hastati 4

Here are the rapid Romans after 3 more painting sessions (bringing the total to 6). I think they are going to be quicker to complete than I'd anticipated- 4 more sessions should finish them, and with 2 for basing, that puts them around 2 weeks a unit.

This is just as well, because 160 beautifully painted minis thunked onto my doorstep this morning from Greg; vive la France! This means I now have rather more than 200 minis that I need to base for Zama; at least 3-4 weeks work. Gulp.

In other news, I've been fretting about how I'm going to (cheaply) make an 18' long table. I was planning to re-use Greg's excellent Dwarf Mine boards; but I have, instead, decided to make a new terrain that I might be able to adapt for future C&CA games. My latest idea is to go for a very thin (10mm) foam layer stuck to 9mm MDF boards. But MDF Comes in Imperial sizes, and foam in metric; I'll probably need to get the MDF cut specially. All needs careful thought...

Wednesday, 2 September 2009

Numidians- hordes of them!

http://gloarmy.blogspot.com/2009/09/peau-de-vache.html

Greg (above) has finished the second lot of 80 Numidians which look splendid! The photo is clickable, and well worth a click, too. Together with the 80 city militia he painted before, and my own cavalry and elephants (links to a few, below) they will give us the majority of the Numidian minis we need for Zama, next year.

http://www.displacedminiatures.com/BigRedBat/image/2331/21989/
http://www.displacedminiatures.com/BigRedBat/image/2331/22808/

Meanwhile I'm painting my Aventines. Over the last 2 nights I painted the flesh tones; no photo today. I'm trying to simplify my painting technique because I have so many figures to paint. I'm 5 days in and estimate the unit will take about 15 days overall to paint and base, which is pretty good, at around half the time I spent on the earlier Triarii.

Tuesday, 1 September 2009