The Argo ~ Finished

So I managed to finish my version of The Argo on Christmas day.
I'm pretty happy with the results although I found painting freehand straight lines on an unusually shaped curved surface to be quite difficult. So the lines are a bit dubious in some places.

It's for a display/participation game so it's very colourful and can fit about a dozen 28mm figures on 25mm bases. However, I wouldn't expect that many figures to be on deck at any one time (it's assumed most crew members will be rowing or minding the ship while the "real heroes" are doing all the hard stuff).

The way 7TV works is that you have a small core of Stars and Co-Stars and all the rest are Extras. So in this game the Stars will be brightly painted in full armour ~ Jason, Medea, Orpheus, Atalanta, Polyphemus, Zetes (because he's got wings!). I'm not sure if I'll include Heracles at this stage. Medea and Orpheus are there as spell casters.

All the rest of the Argonauts will be represented by the unarmoured figures seen below. They are in their "Sailing the Ship" garb and a handful will act as Red-Shirts for accompanying the rest of the Away Team. The only one to be named will be Typhus ~ the navigator.

Anyway, here's the photos:

The reason I added a base is to keep the ship stable when moving figures around

as it isn't waterline and otherwise has to rest on the small sanded line of the keel.

Something New for 2015

Well it's been a very long while since I added anything to my blog. The reasons being illness in the family. However, things being resolved I'm back to modeling and sculpting and a new project for 2015 (even though it's still 2014 and I've already started).

The new project is a dramatic Jason & the Argonauts game for the new year which will be displayed at several Melbourne events throughout the year - Little Wars melbourne, Nunawading Wargames Accociation's (NWA) Open Day and for the month long Pirates in September again at NWA.

This is going to be a big game using the 7th Voyage rules by Crooked Dice and will involve a bunch of Greek Heroes, a couple of Olympians, Harpies, Skeletons, a bloke names Talos and the Argo.

And speaking of the Argo, I've already started making it. I saw another blog where a guy used a plastic kit of a viking longship as the basis to make the boat and I thought I'd copy his idea. I used the 1/72 scale Viking Longship model by Revel.

And here's what I've done:

The first thing I did was put the hull together and sand off the keel. I thin cut up the prow and the stern:

I then added some pieces of plasticard, balsa and modelling putty to make the chassis for the prow. I also made some plasticard decking and glued it in place.

More plasticard - this time held in place with rubber bands to get the curve required.

Then I did the same for the stern (you'll also note that I fixed some card above the bit where the oars stick out.

And here's what it looks like:

But that's not where I stopped...

I built up the walls on the prow, added a load of Miliput and sanded the crap out of it until I got thoroughly sick of Milipt powder all over the place.

And I added the decking:

And did the same to the stern...

Then I sanded more Miliput for what seemed an eternity and once again created snowdrifts of Miliput powder (you can see it all over the cutting board. 

Then I forgot to take photos for a while and ended up with this:

I was planning to add a fan/fin thingy on the stern but decided (after the last pic) to just sand it to a taper (just when I thought I had seen the last of powdered Miliput).

But that's not where I'm at... I started painting and will post more photo's soon.

More Regiments

I've been taking things slowly and painting a few more Napoleonic regiments.

I'm unsure what rules to use but at this stage General d'Brigade is looking like the most likely contender. I'm also unsure what army I'm making! I've traditionally played French and Prussian so I started on French and Wurttembergers. I then thought: "Why not try British?"

So I got some British and painted up a regiment. I started these with the thought of making up a Peninsular division but I've recently been thinking that I might convert them for use in the Anglo-US War of 1812. I mean, what could be better that Napoleonic Wargaming that also has the potential to include Native American warbands?

 I also finished the second battalion of the 1st Wurttemberg regiment and I also ordered another three battalions of them from Front Rank so I should get on to them.

All in all, what have I achieved?
Not a lot. But I have painted up a bunch of non-related battalions, some French Dragoons and no guns and I'm still wondering what to do.

Here are some photo's:

The Nap Sabbatical Continues

Once again I've been a bad blogger. And it's not that I haven't been doing anything it's just that I've been forgetting to put up any new stuff.

Anyway, I've been painting for the past month and here are the fruits of my labours:
The pics below are the both battalions of the 1st Wurttemberg Regiment (Prinz Paul) in their 1810-1812 uniform.

I ordered some flags (from whom I won't say) which took over a month to get to me and when they did finally arrive I wasn't very happy with the product. So I took some time and, armed with my trusty Photoshop CS5, I made some of my own within an hour or so.

So here they are:

A Napoleonic Sabatical

Due to "real life" I haven't had much time to sculpt so I took the opportunity to do a bit of painting.

I've been intending to start back into Napoleonic wargaming this year so I made a small start with a French line battalion and a Squadron of dragoons.

Asrovak Mikosevaar

Greetings again folks.

I've continued to sculpt figures for the Eureka Miniatures Runestaff range through the oppressive heat of our summer here in the new inferno called Melbourne.

Today I have a few new figures and one of them is Asrovak Mikosevaar Warlord of the Vulture Legion. I quite like the way he turned out as I was aiming for a rather arrogant look combined with a style that implied that he was very capable of dealing some nasty blows. His armour consists of three types: Plate, chain and scale, and his shield as you can see is a stylized vulture head. His cloak is a separate piece so he can be modeled with it either on or off.

I've also finished another flamelance which has had the barrel thickened as they were fat too flimsy when cast in metal. All the other flamelances that I've done so far will require this fix before the production moulds are made.

And last, but not least, the second Vulture cavalryman.

Vulture Cavalry

I've continues to slog away at the Runestaff figures (even during our recent heatwave). I managed to finish a few more of the Vulture Legion including the first cavalry figure and a musician.

The thinking behind the cavalry is this: The Vultures legion is made up of Muskovite mercenaries so what better than a cossack style. Looking at the other beast orders this give us a chance to make a light cavalry element.

With the musician I was going to do a horn/trumpet but I began to think about other options. Initially I thought why not a saxophone? But that wouldn't have worked. So I settled on a gong.

Add to this the last couple of flamelances and that's what I've done during the past fortnight.

Painted Runestaff Figures

Eureka have commissioned someone to paint some of the Runestaff figures but, being a rather impatient chap, I decided to paint some myself to see how they came out.

This was a bit of a test to see how they tuned out as well as seeing if my idea of a colourful pallet would work. I'm pretty happy with the results.

Wars of The Runestaff

I made this image the other day. The reason being that I was chatting to Nic and Tony at Eureka and they said that they were going to add a new section to the Eureka website dedicated to the Michael Moorcock, Hawkmoon/Runestaff project. What they are thinking is a very 70's look. So I took it upon myself to design a page banner. I did it using Photoshop and found a free Roger Dean type font on the net.

I don't know if it will be used but I enjoyed making it.

Stuff for Pulp 28's

Well, I've had these figures waiting since last year (December) and I've been so intent with sculpting the Hawkmoon/Runestaff stuff for Eureka that I've been putting off getting these guys painted, photographed and added to my Pulp 28's webstore. But finally, at last... I've done it.

Zombies, Survivors and Space Guys #2. All are now available now at  Pulp 28's at a very reasonable price!

Here are a couple of pics:

After the Yuletide

Well, the Christmas over and the New Year is upon us and even thought I haven't posted anything here for a while I have been busy. I've made quite a few figures that I haven't posted (mainly because I've been pretty busy) so I'll post them today.

I also have a bunch of figures from the first lot of castings. They are not available at this stage as Nic & Tony at Eureka are waiting until they have decent selection beforehand. They have sent some to their hired painter Rod and I'm keen to see how they come out. I'm going to paint a few myself too!

Well here are some figures:

This first one is the Order of the Wolf. He was done as a prototype to make sure the look worked out right. Here he is in one piece but he has since been cut up into three parts.

Another Vulture. The Order of the Vulture is close to completion. I also have another few figures that are almost complete.

Order of the Board and the Pig. Both of these were built on basic leg and torso sculpts that I made just for this purpose. By removing the heads I can also use these torsos for other orders if needs be.

Order of the Fly: Now this is one of my favorites so far. He is a little different to the others in that he is armoured in a totally different style. What I like to think of as Insectile Chic. Another aspect with this figure was to try and get him looking a bit crazy. Future Flies will have weirder poses. They need to look erratic and need to convey a grubbiness of mind.