June 2020: Hobby Productivity Blog #7

June 25, 2020June 25, 2020 wilbur2 Comments

I’m going to go against the grain of my usually self-deprecating nature and say I’ve made a qualitative leap this month.

After feeling like I’d plateaued with my painting (and not on a very high plateau, at that) I decided to try something new. I set aside some time to dive into the world of YouTube, and came away with the intention to try Zenithal priming.

I’d never heard of this method until recently. Basically, you undercoat everything black, then spray a lighter colour (white, or one of the contrast base colours) from the top down, hitting the areas the sunlight would, and leaving the shadows darker.

I felt this seemed to give me a much better starting point with a miniature. In fact, it almost felt like cheating. I’m not saying what I’ve done here is going to impress anyone other than myself, but it’s a decent leap forward from everything I’ve done up until now.

This little fellow might be familiar to kids from the HeroQuest era. He’s a goblin from the Battlemasters game, from around the same time.

The other minis here are mainly from Midlam Miniatures. I’m a huge fan of the “Oldhammer” vibe of their characters. Last month I painted some of their Kev Adams goblins.

Going up a level with my painting has got me thinking about all the miniatures I’ve painted in the last 6 months, and how I should strip them and start again. From all the advice I’ve seen online, this is a dark and ruinous path to go down. There be dragons, as the saying goes.

The final Midlam piece I’ve painted this month. He reminds me of a pub landlord who’s having to fetch his sword and sort out yet another brawl outside his premises. I picked up the much-recommended Song of Blades & Heroes rulebook recently, and will definitely be using these guys in my first warband.

In other work, I’m a lot less impressed with these guys. To be fair, this was just a quick “get them ready for the table” job, using about 3 paints. The first is a unit of knights from Perry Miniatures. I had built and painted 6 of them last year, and this was me finally getting round to the rest. Because of this, the bases look a little different. I’m not going to lose any sleep over it, though.

These Perry bowmen are going to be multibased on a strip of wood. They’ll be in a row of 6. I’m looking forward to seeing how that turns out. I should have it finished by this time next month.

I mentioned last month that I’d picked up some GW minis for the first time since my return to the hobby. The Necrons I bought are an absolute disgrace to build (alright, maybe it’s just my lack of skill, but let me have my soapbox) and they’ll be getting sold, or given away very soon.

The Chaos Marauders, on the other hand, I quite enjoyed putting together. The first one was good fun to paint, too. I actually managed to do some “proper” eyes on him. These were primed with Citadel Grey Seer before my Zenithal adventure, but I’m still happy enough with my work.

Finally, I managed a game with my new 6mm terrain. I invited the wife up to the spare room for some “hardcore six”. I think she misunderstood me. She looked fairly glum sitting there in her fishnets, repeatedly rolling ones, and wrapping her knuckles with a tape measure.

“I told you I’d give you a right pounding”, I said.

I slept on the couch that evening.

May 2020: Hobby Productivity Blog #6

May 31, 2020May 31, 2020 wilbur1 Comment

Update number 6 eh. So that’s me been doing these wee posts (amongst the other content on here) for 6 months now. How time flies, and how the world has changed in dramatic ways during that period. None of which has anything to do with me buying and putting paint on tiny little warriors.

And that’s exactly what I’m here to talk about. May saw me complete a trio of Kev ‘The Goblin King’ Adams’ gobbos from Midlam Miniatures. I’ve always loved his work, ever since I was a kid in the early 90s leafing through the pages of White Dwarf.

I bought some modern-day Games Workshop minis just before things shut down. They arrived recently, and I got to work building them. The Chaos Marauders were a lot of fun to put together. The same can’t be said of the Necrons, if I’m being honest. Unbelievably fiddly and a gruelling task for my clunky layman’s hands.

My adventures in 6mm wargaming continue too. I got my delivery from Baccus, containing some lovely roads, rivers, and bridges. I’ve started painting them up and here’s a few early ‘work in progress’ pics of my battlefield.

For more on my progress at this scale, check out my posts on 6mm terrain, and making 6mm trees.

That’s what I’m chipping away on at the moment, then. Hoping to produce some final result pics by the end of June.

What about you? I always enjoy looking through other folks’ hobby progress. So if you’ve got a blog or site, be sure to pop a link to your latest update in the comments section, below!

6mm Terrain – Building a Little World

April 30, 2020April 30, 2020 wilburLeave a comment

I’ve really fallen in love with 6mm wargaming since my recent return to the hobby. It’s a scale that offers so much potential for creating huge sweeping battles. The sort of which I could only dream of hosting on a 28mm level. Recently, I’ve spent a bit of time building out my 6mm terrain collection. Here’s the lowdown so far.

The first thing I did was to buy a handful of buildings from Total Battle Miniatures. I’m mainly interested in playing the medieval/fantasy genre, and these are some great little sculpts. They were a lot of fun to paint, too.

6mm scale buildings from Total Battle Miniatures

When it comes to scenery, I tend to buy more stuff than I make. That said, I had a go at making my own trees to add to my 6mm terrain collection. Here are the cones I picked up during a walk in the woods.

Here, the woodlands start to take shape, based on blobs of Fimo Clay. Check out my full post on making the trees.

I must’ve started to feel adventurous with the Fimo Clay, and made another 6mm terrain piece. This time I simply pushed some tiny stones into a larger blob of the stuff. I thought this would make for a useful defence on the battlefield.

I decided to call it Broken Tooth Mound. It just needed a coating of sand and some paint.

I gradually worked through the painting of the buildings, and my 6mm terrain village started to take shape.

I mainly used a mixture of Citadel contrast paints and drybrushing on the buildings. My painting is still at a very low level, but I’m always trying to practice and improve.

a unit of crossbowmen patrol the perimeter

6mm Terrain: Next Steps

I’m pleased with how things are looking so far. I haven’t managed a game with it all yet, but I’m probably going to hang back a bit on that front. I’ve placed an order with Baccus for some roads, bridges, and rivers. Due to the current climate it might be a few weeks before they arrive (not that I’m lacking in anything to be getting on with). Once they’re painted up and added to my 6mm terrain collection, I’ll be raring to go!

Anyway, hope that was an interesting tour around my fledgling settlement. If you enjoy the posts here I’m always hugely grateful for them being shared with others you think might like them.

And next up, don’t forget to check out the post on putting my 6mm trees together!

April 2020: Hobby Productivity Blog #5

April 29, 2020April 30, 2020 wilburLeave a comment

I’ve managed to get through quite a few things in April. We’re currently in lockdown, though I’m still (fortunately) able to work. This has shaved around 2 hours of commuting time off my weekdays though, and weekend recreational opportunities are very limited at the mo. A good excuse to crack the paints open…

Last month was heavily focused on painting skeletons. I was in the market for some palette cleansers, and had discovered a horde of childhood miniatures recently. I decided to try my hand at this classic Warhammer 40k gretchen. I swear I used to have about 8,000 of these.

I’ve also been drawing up plans for some battles at 6mm scale. I ordered these superb medieval/fantasy buildings from Total Battle Miniatures.

I decided to try my hand at making some scenery too. Here’s how I made my 6mm trees.

I was basing the little cone trees on Fimo Clay, and I decided to try a sort of hill-based defence too. At this stage, it looks like a particularly gruesome pair of falsers.

My tiny village started to take shape and spring to life. Here’s my full post on building a 6mm terrain collection.

I’m really looking forward to getting a game with these. I’ve been using scaled down Kings of War rules, and the troops are by Irregular Miniatures.

Back up to 28mm, this big guy from Oathsworn Miniatures was a lot of fun to paint. My painting is still very early stage, but I’m always trying to improve and learn with each finished piece.

I also repainted the old Krell miniature I found from the 90s. I’ve ended up giving him a bit of a “meth mouth” but I’m quite pleased with how he turned out.

That’s all for now. As we head into May I’m starting on some Kev Adams goblins by Midlam Miniatures.

I also got a few blog posts out this month, so be sure to have a look around if anything takes your fancy.

Stay safe everyone!

Making 6mm Scale Trees for Miniature Wargaming

April 23, 2020April 23, 2020 wilburLeave a comment

I wrote recently about my journey into the world of 6mm wargaming. I think playing at this scale offers tremendous potential to create the effect of huge, sweeping battlefields. I went and got myself a few little buildings recently from Total Battle Miniatures. Once I started painting them, I got thinking about 6mm-scale trees. How was I going to add some much needed greenery to an otherwise bloodsoaked battlefield?

In my adulthood I’m more of a “buy” than “make” person when it comes to miniature wargaming terrain. However, I decided to have a bash at creating my own 6mm scale trees for a few different reasons.

Firstly, I just didn’t see anything out there for sale that took my fancy, and at a reasonable price. That’s not to say there won’t be plenty great options out there, I just didn’t find them.

Secondly, as I write, we’re in the middle of a nationwide lockdown. This doesn’t mean I’ve suddenly got loads of free time, as fortunately I’m still able to work. But it does mean that I’ve been more mindful of ordering things, and a lot of companies have actually shut down their deliveries for now anyway.

Making 6mm Scale Trees

So I took to Google to see if there was a way to make some little trees. I found an excellent guide over at Elinderil’s Blog which gave me the idea to use cones found in the woods.

Cones look like miniature trees anyway, so they don’t need much work at all to get them table ready. And this was a great excuse to get out for a nice healthy walk in nature.

I collected a small bag of cones when I was out (I also collected a few strange looks from dog walkers, but hey ho). I then made some bases with Fimo Clay.

I’ve an old gun full of sealant under the stairs. I decided to pump a few dollops of that onto the bases, then trim the cone stems, and stick them on.

After the sealant dried, I did the old PVA glue/sand combo on the bases, then they were ready to take out into the garden for a blast with the spray can.

sand and green spray applied to 6mm trees

This was a simple and quick process, from collecting the cones, to having table-ready 6mm scale trees. I finished them off with a drybrush of darker green. Then, the bases got a coat of Ork Flesh, which is one of the Citadel Contrast paints.

I started small by only making 3 copse of 6mm scale trees. I figured I’d see how I got on before committing to building an entire forest. I definitely plan on making more. I’m just wondering about what type of base I could use to mount dozens of trees, rather than do them all in individual clusters. If you’ve any thoughts on that, dear reader, then I welcome your feedback in the comments section below!

And don’t forget to take a look at my post on the attraction of 6mm wargaming, and my steps in to playing that scale!

Now, I need to get back to painting those tiny buildings…

Escape the Dark Castle Review – Accessible, Fun, and Fast

April 16, 2020May 12, 2023 wilbur1 Comment

Escape the Dark Castle by Themeborne is a little gem of a game. I’ve been having a lot of fun playing it with my wife recently. I decided to do a quick write-up on it to help spread the love. There’s a number of reasons you might want to pick it up yourself.

First up though, I know it’s cool to say you’ve unearthed this amazing new game by overhearing a drunken dwarf in a tavern mention an obscure podcast that then tips you on to a barely-known Kickstarter, and… etc etc

Well, the reality is a bit less exciting. I found Escape the Dark Castle in Waterstones. I’m really glad I did too, because shortly afterwards, the big ol’ lockdown thing happened.

Artwork & Visuals

What drew me to the game, sitting there on the shelf, was the artwork. The picture on the front looked a bit like a grimdark Castle Duckula (I mean this as a total compliment) and I was intrigued to find out more. The in-game artwork shown on the back of the box turned me into that “You had my curiosity, now you have my attention” meme.

I’m pretty good about not just buying new hobby stuff on impulse, but as this isn’t a miniature game, I saw wouldn’t be adding to my unpainted “pile of shame”. This made it easy for me to part with the £30 and take the game home. I was really excited to try it out.

Who Is Escape the Dark Castle For?

You can play with 1-4 players. It’s a co-op game, so you’re all working together to escape the castle. It only takes a couple of minutes to set up. The rules are simple to pick up, which makes it perfect for playing with kids, or if you have friends round for a few beers (when such things are allowed again!).

Because you can set up and get through a game in about half an hour, the barrier to getting started is really low too. It’ll satisfy your thirst for adventure whilst you’re waiting on your takeaway to arrive, then it can be tidied away as quickly as it was set up.

How Does Escape the Dark Castle Work?

It’s almost like a book. In fact, it reminds me a bit of the old Fighting Fantasy titles of my childhood. In particular, House of Hell. I wonder if that was an inspiration for the game’s creators?

You play the role of a character attempting to escape the castle. These characters are selected from a deck of cards, and each one has their own strengths and weaknesses.

The castle is “built” from a deck of chapter cards. You draw 15 cards to create your castle, so no two adventures are the same.

You turn these cards over like the pages of a book to reveal each chapter. The chapter presents a scenario to you – usually a gristly one. You and your comrades must decide on the best course of action, and will usually end up in a fight to the death with some grotesque undead fiend.

You pick up item cards along the way to aid you on your quest. Combat is a fun and simple dice-based system, with the strength of your opponents weighted, based on how many you have in your party.

If you manage to negotiate your way through all 15 chapters without anyone dying, you’ll then fight a Castle Boss. There’s 3 of them, and you’ll draw 1 at random to wait for you at the end of your journey.

So, Is It Worth Buying?

100% yes. If you’re looking for a game that’s quick to set up, easy to learn, yet still presents you with a challenge and endless variety, then Escape the Dark Castle is well worth your consideration.

I’m really grateful to the creators for putting it together, and a quick Google search shows there’s expansion packs available too. Scourge of the Undead Queen… Blight of the Plague Lord…

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

12 Quotes to Inspire Your Miniature Painting

April 11, 2020March 18, 2023 wilburLeave a comment

*“Thou shalt always paint thy bases with Goblin Green” – Was that Marilyn Monroe?*

It’s the internet, and you’re never more than 2 feet away from an “inspirational” quote.

But the fact that most social media feeds are gummed up with images of people in yoga poses with meaningless slogans printed over them, doesn’t mean we can’t draw on some sage wisdom for our own hobby.

With that in mind, here’s my (ever growing) list of quotes that absolutely weren’t about painting miniatures, but at the same time, are totally apt for the craft.

Let’s dive in…

“If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.” – David Bowie

“Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing.” – Salvador Dali

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” – Anton Chekhov

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” – Thomas Merton

“You want to know how to paint a perfect painting? It’s easy. Make yourself perfect and then just paint naturally.” – Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

“Creativity doesn’t wait for that perfect moment. It fashions its own perfect moments out of ordinary ones.” – Bruce Garrabrandt

“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future.” – Seneca

“Human beings, it seems, are at their best when immersed deeply in something challenging.” – Cal Newport, Deep Work

“The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day … you will never be stuck … That way your subconscious will work on it all the time. But if you think about it consciously or worry about it you will kill it and your brain will be tired before you start.” – Ernest Hemingway

“You set yourself a goal and carry it out – not all at once, but over time. You use your hands or your body to create something.” – Erling Kagge, Silence in the Age of Noise

“To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.” – Kurt Vonnegut

“In the end, mastery involves discovering the most resonant information and integrating it so deeply and fully it disappears and allows us to fly free.” – Josh Waitzkin, The Art of Learning

Is that you suitably inspired now? Ready to crack on and battle through that pile of shame? Great!

Be sure to bookmark this post. Next time you’re struggling to find the motivation, give it another once-over.

And I’ll be building it out over time with more great quotes as I either remember them, or stumble across them. Hopefully you’ve found it useful in some small way 🙂

March 2020: Hobby Productivity Blog #4

March 29, 2020March 29, 2020 wilbur1 Comment

At the time of writing we’re in the beginning of what is likely to be a long lockdown here in Scotland.

As Nurgle’s rot sweeps the planet, we’re being asked to stay at home to assist in the control of the disease, and avoid putting too much strain on the Imperial Medics.

Hobbyists can play a small role here by locking themselves in isolation, and working through their piles of unpainted minis.

Over the past month I’ve finally been able to finish my regiment of GW skeletons. They were enjoyable to paint, but – as is the case with most units – I’m glad to be done with them. It’ll be good to move on and try something completely different.

I've seen more meat on a butcher's pencil

I’ve called this unit Isaac Bonefingers’ Skeleton Guard. Isaac himself is a plague apothecary from Warmonger Miniatures. His “assistant” is an old GW metal ghoul.

I made the movement tray myself. Here’s how.

Isaac's assistant is an old GW ghoul mini

The skeletons were fun and interesting to build. As is the case with GW minis, they’re incredibly detailed and well made.

Isaac himself is a plague apothecary from Warmonger Miniatures

I’m still learning the ropes with my painting. I used Citadel contrast paints on the bones of the skeletons, and the remainder was done with my “minimum effective painting” technique of drybrushing over a black undercoat.

I do want to try and be more adventurous though. I’d like to test myself and learn some new skills. I decided my next project will be to work through an eclectic pile of miniatures I own.

A couple of Oathsworn Miniatures in there

Some here are quite old and were found in the attic. There’s also a couple of beautiful Oathsworn pieces which look like they’ll be a lot of fun to paint up. A good opportunity to have a proper play with the Citadel contrast range.

A classic Warhammer 40k 2nd edition Gretchen and a Battlemasters Chaos Warrior

So that should keep me busy for the next month as we ride out the pandemic. I also have some new board games to play with the wife and I’ll be doing reviews of those in the very near future too.

What have you been up to yourself recently, hobbywise? What are your plans for the coming month? Give me a shout on Twitter and let me know.

Stay safe, stay responsible, and use this time productively!

6mm Wargaming – The Attraction of Huge Tiny Battles

March 26, 2020March 26, 2022 wilburLeave a comment

6mm wargaming was something I got into as a kid, courtesy of Epic Space Marine, by Games Workshop. I got this game sometime in the mid-90s, when I pretty much wanted everything GW told me to want in White Dwarf.

I use the term “wargaming” loosely because I doubt my friends and I ever played the rules anywhere close to how they were written. However, we did have a lot of battles in that big cardboard city that came in the box.

A few things happened recently which prompted me to write a wee bit of 6mm wargaming. Firstly, I returned to the hobby after a long exile. I was immediately drawn back to the popular 28mm scale, which does remain my favourite.

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However, after a few games of Kings of War – which I love – I started to see how hard it’d be to organise a clash of two large armies over a sweeping battlefield. I don’t have anywhere near the room for a 6’4 table, and my (painted) miniature collection is still quite small.

I decided to pick up some 6mm-scale troops from Irregular Miniatures. I found the company after a bit of Googling. Not the best website, but good value minis and great service.

I like the Kings of War rules so much that I simply converted inches to centimetres. I later found out on Twitter that this was quite normal in 6mm wargaming circles.

A few early games of this worked really well, helping quench my thirst for large-scale battle strategy. Coincidentally, I also ended up back in possession of a huge box of minis from my childhood. Amongst the haul was a small amount of my old Space Marine stuff.

6mm wargaming diorama with old Space Marine minis

Here’s an attempt at a diorama I’d made as a kid. Because these minis were so small and so plentiful, I felt like I had more than I could ever need back then.

I even found some of the sprues, untouched after all these years.

6mm wargaming roughly painted minis from the mid 90s

A handful of my childhood 6mm wargaming forces. I remember there were Space Marine, Ork, and Eldar armies in the box. I also started collecting a Tyranid army for the game. I didn’t find any of those though, unfortunately.

Back to the present day, I had bought a set of two armies from Irregular. Medieval French and English. I split them into two balanced-looking forces, formed them up into units, then stuck them onto bases. The 28mm scale bases I had lying around worked for most, but for the archers, I had to make them with Fimo Clay.

6mm Wargaming Terrain

Initially, some of the terrain I’d bought from GameMat scaled down well enough to provide features to my 6mm wargaming battlefield.

Shortly after, I treated myself to a handful of buildings from Total Battle Miniatures.

Whilst painting these up, I decided to try my hand at making trees. I picked up some cones during a walk in the woods, which I think work really well, both in shape, and in scale.

Here’s my full post on how I made trees for 6mm wargaming.

As I was using Fimo Clay as the tree bases, I decided to try and make a little defensive hill position too.

Here’s my full report on putting together my 6mm wargaming terrain collection.

I’ll be looking to add more terrain and miniatures going forward, but this stuff has been more than adequate to get me started in the world of 6mm wargaming.

It was also a nostalgic journey looking over my old Epic Space Marine miniatures. I found a lot of other stuff on top of those, too. If you’re interested, check them out yourself.

And here’s my other 6mm wargaming posts;

Next up: 4 Great Reasons to Give Solo Wargaming a Try

Miscellaneous Old Miniatures: Ghosts in the Attic #5

March 19, 2020March 19, 2020 wilburLeave a comment

I found a lot of old childhood miniatures in a box in the attic recently.

Now I’m down to the miscellaneous bits and pieces. But there were still a few nostalgic finds…

There was a page in White Dwarf with all the different Space Marine legions and their paintjobs. I was always fascinated with The Legion of the Damned. I had no way of finding out anything else about them at the time. Here was my (somewhat rustic) attempt at creating my own.

This Beast of Nurgle was re-painted and re-based multiple times, from what I can remember. I also made this “terrain piece” from the classic plastic Chaos Warrior. He was glued to a bottle top along with some skulls, and painted gold.

How many childhood “to-do” lists were dominated by these guys in the early-mid 90s? To be honest, I never enjoyed trying to paint the High Elves. The Gretchen (and Orks) were a little more fun, until you got to about your 600th one.

One armed Chaos Space Marine, and friends

The guy on the left is a mystery to me. I don’t think he’s anything to do with GW. He was originally on a hexagonal base. We’ve also got a one-armed Chaos Space Marine, and a Necromunda gangster who came free with an issue of White Dwarf. Evidently, tanning salons are a big thing in Hive Worlds.

Krell and a Chaos Warrior from Battlemasters

The mounted Chaos Warrior here is from Battlemasters. I plan to relaunch his career as a harbinger of death and misery, and he’s now enjoying life on his very own base. Krell too, will be getting a makeover. He’s not actually painted badly at all, but I like the miniature and will enjoy painting it again.

An eclectic trio here. A Space Marine with a bald head and an artificial leg puts a brave face on his misfortune. A Valhallan Ice Warrior keeps his coat on no matter where in the universe he’s fighting. And, by contrast, the Vindicare Imperial Assasin wears only his Lycra. Apparently, “it feels like he’s wearing nothing at all.”

Stupid sexy Assassin.

A selection of Battlemasters veterans. Up close, they’re not the most detailed on minis compared to what’s on offer today. But what they lack in detail, they certainly make up for in nostalgia points.

The Battlemasters cannon was one of the first old minis I found after my return to the hobby. I’ve already given it a bit of a makeover.

“A box full of miscellaneous”, as they say on Storage Wars. I’ll be sticking this up on Ebay soon. I’ve no use for them myself, and there’s no point in them staying there until I die.

A few little pieces from Space Marine. Never had a clue how to play this, to be honest. But still had a bash at moving troops through that big cardboard city.

There were a lot of miniatures in the Space Marine box, from what I remember. I was obviously feeling so flush with them, that I attempted to make a diorama.

I still have some of the tiny Space Marine sprues too. I probably never got round to them because of those bloody High Elves.

Anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed this whirlwind tour of some eclectic old minis. And if you haven’t checked out the other finds yet, here they are…