Items For Sale

Note:  I am marking items SOLD as they go.

Trying to dispose of some things I no longer want/need.  Postage at cost.  Email me at miros@sc.rr.com if you want to buy something.

SOLD
1. 12 x 28mm US Army (Old Glory).  I think these are 82nd Airborne: $12

2. 28mm British mortar and 3 crew (The Assault Group BRT018): $6

SOLD 
3. Harold Godwinson and his Brothers (Gripping Beast) for SAGA: $11

SOLD 
4. 6 x 28mm Norman archers (Old Glory): $6

SOLD 
5. 4 x 28mm Norman Cavalry (Old Glory): $8

6. 10 x 28mm Dark Age Cavalry (Old Glory).  Can use for Scots, Welsh, Strathclyde, etc: $20

SOLD
7. Assorted 25mm Doctor Who figures: 2 x UNIT soldiers, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (baton is broken off), Davros and the Master (FASA): $2 each

SOLD
8. More 28mm Doctor Who.  The new series John Simms Master (Heresy, comes with a blaster and a 2nd hand holding a pistol) and K-9 (Black Tree): $2.50 each

SOLD 
9. Regimental Fire and Fury ACW Rules.  Brand new, never read: $25

SOLD

10.  Doctor Who Region 1 DVDs: The Ribos Operation (Special Edition, new); The Androids of Tara (like new) and The Armageddon Factor (new): $7 each

Terrain in Process

After getting bad cuts on 2 of the fingers on my painting hand (don't get in a fight with a meatslicer, you will lose), I have been working on terrain recently.  I need to build up my stock of 28mm urban terrain for a couple of Doctor Who scenarios I want to run in January.

First are 2 near-identical pieces of ruins I bought at a convention flea market sometime in the last 2 years.  They were already based and painted, though only a light grey with no shading.  I gave them a thin coat of black paint, then drybrushed successive coats of Ceramcoat charcoal gray and hippo gray.  I glued ballast to a few thin spots and added more static grass then sealed them with matte varnish.  They will be useful terrain for anything from Dark Ages to modern.  You can glimpse a primed checkpoint barrier from Ainsty in the background.

Next some items in process. From left to right, a large box from Ainsty, an antenna tower from Demo's Laser Cut Designs and 4 28mm Daleks from Black Tree Designs.  All were sprayed black, though the can turned out to be semi-gloss.  A quick brushed-on coat of black paint took care of that.  The Daleks will feature in one of the Doctor Who scenarios and be painted as the Cult of Skaro (gold and bronze paint scheme).  The antenna tower is made of laser-cut wood pieces.  It glued together very easily with Aleene's tacky glue and was a test before I built the items in the last picture.

Last are 4 stores, also from Demo's: http://demoslaser-cutdesigns.weebly.com/
I bought them with the antenna at the 2012 Little Wars convention in Chicago.  It took 2 1/2 hours to put together all 4.  The parts fit together very well and I am pleased with the result.  If you want a piece-by-piece look, check out Captain Apathy's excellent overview:
http://captainapathy.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/28mm-laser-cut-storefronts/

I still have to glue them to their bases.  They come with store signs, but I am waiting to put those on until after I have painted them.  I bought a can of flat black spray so I will proceed with priming and painting soon.

Thanks for looking!

Jason

Doctor Who Project - Doctors and Companions

After a long hiatus, here are some pictures of the man himself: the Doctor.  Well, two versions of him anyway.

First up are the 3rd Doctor (Jon Pertwee, 1970-74) and his last companion, Sarah Jane Smith.  Most of this Doctor's stories are set on Earth, where he had been exiled by the Time Lords.  This was also UNIT's heyday and provides a lot of scenario ideas.  These are both Black Tree Design figures and were painted in 2011.

The fourth Doctor (Tom Baker, 1974-81) was the longest running, the first one I saw and has always been my favorite.  These are his first group of companions, Sarah Jane Smith on the right and Harry Sullivan on the left.  These are also from Black Tree Design and painted in 2011.

And these are two of the 4th Doctor's later companions: Leela of the Sevateem and the robot dog K-9.  Leela is from Black Tree and K-9 is made by Heresy Miniatures.  The body is sold as a 'D-06 General Duty Robot' and the head is sold as a 'Security Upgrade'.  Both were painted in 2011.

I am planning on returning to my Doctor Who project in the near future in order to prepare a scenario I want to run at Siege of Augusta in January 2014.  Thanks for looking!

Jason

Doctor Who Project - Villains

This post covers some of the villains I have painted for my Doctor Who project.

First up are the 'KGB Men' and 'More KGB Men' packs from Copplestone.  I use them as generic bad guys.  There are 3 miniatures in each pack, however I have mixed them up for these pictures.  They were painted over a couple of days in January 2012 for use in a game I ran at that year's Siege of Augusta.

Below are 2 packs of 'Guards in Hard Hats', also from Copplestone.  I had a difficult time painting these figures for many reasons.  The miniatures themselves are fine.  I decided I wanted to paint them in orange jumpsuits to be generic guards for a factory, refinery, evil mastermind's lair, etc.  While I had a dark orange paint I liked for the base color, I tried many lighter colors before finding a bottle of Ral Partha/Iron Wind Orange at the Little Wars convention in April 2012.  After finishing the painting, I applied my usual wash to add some shading but for some reason I don't think it looks as good as normal.  I was then struck by the infamous 'matte spray fog' and had to repaint sections.  In the end, I don't like them very much.  I'm not sure if it is how they look or because of the long process.  I will still use them in games though!

Next is a group of 6 Ogrons.  From Wikipedia: "Ogrons are low-intelligence, ape-like hominids who live in scattered communities on an unnamed planet on the outer fringes of the Milky Way, far from the central spaceways. The dominant lifeform on their home planet is a giant slug-like lizard named the Eater, and the Ogrons both pray to and are preyed on by it.  Ogrons are hired mercenaries. Those who have employed their services include the Master and the Daleks.

Ogrons appeared in 3 stories of the 3rd Doctor: Day of the Daleks, Carnival of Monsters and Frontier in Space.  Here is a picture from one of the episodes:

                                          

And here is my take on the Ogrons.  These are Black Tree Design miniatures and I painted them in the spring/summer of 2012.  There are 2 different poses, but only the position of arm with the gun varies.

Last, but certainly not least, are 2 versions of the Master. Below is a picture of all the Masters from the show in order of appearance.  The first 3 in the top row are from the original era of the show, the 4th from the 1996 movie, and the 5th and 6th from the newer shows.  I have miniatures of the 2nd, decayed one and the 6th but have not painted them yet.

                                                   

On the left is the original Master, as portrayed in the 1970s by Roger Delgado.  On the right is the 3rd version, played in the 1980s by Anthony Ainley (my favorite as he was the first one I saw).  Both are by Black Tree Miniatures and were painted in 2011.

Thanks for looking!
Jason

Saga Project - Anglo-Danes

I've started on another Saga army, Anglo-Danes.  I'm working on a 4 point starter army from Gripping Beast.  Below is a picture taken earlier this week after priming and painting the bases and metal.  I've since done the hair and am working on the flesh highlights.  The warlord is in front, with 2 units of Huscarls on the left and 2 units of warriors on the right.

I have a few more units for the Anglo-Danes but they are still being cleaned and assembled.  My plan is to complete the starter army, then work on the other units perhaps alternating with some Normans if I need to do something different.

Long live King Canute!

Jason

Saga Scots WIP

It says WIP in the title, but the army (7 points of Scots for Saga) is actually completed.  I experimented with a new basing style for this army.  I added static grass last night to a couple bases to see if I liked it; I liked it enough to go ahead and do the entire army at once.  Here is a picture after finishing the bases.  I started them in late August and had the goal of finishing them by my birthday (5 November), but life interfered towards the end.  I'm very pleased with how they turned out though!

I have a game scheduled for Saturday, so they'll see action soon.  I'll take some pictures of the units and post them and maybe some in-game pictures as well.

Finshing Old Projects & Starting a New One

I started out the year well but hit a slump in the late spring and into summer.  In July I picked up the brushes again, then I took a week to demolish our master bath.  Fortunately for everyone involved, a contractor is rebuilding it.  I've also relocated my painting area to an old entertainment center/cabinet as our hobby/guest room is being converted to a bedroom for our third child due in January.  As those projects wind down I hope to start posting more frequently.

I have been trying to finish off everything on my desk.  Tonight I spent 2.5 hours sealing 98x15mm and 12x28mm miniatures.  I use a brush-on coat of black or brown paint mixed with varnish to add shading, then do a final coat of clear varnish or spray after it has dried.  I tend to do this in larger batches, but this one was huge.  Below is a picture.

On the left side, there is a 15mm Axumite DBA army (Feudal Castings).  On the right side, the front group is assorted 15mm Hellenistics (l-r): Egyptian phalangites, thorakitai, and some Asiatic archers and slingers.  The mounted figures are 2 prodromoi.  Behind is most of a Sub-Roman British DBA army (Splintered Light); only the 9 heavy cavalry are missing.  I still to need to add the shield decals.

The 28mm figures on the green board are all for my Doctor Who project: 6 Ogrons in front and 6 human guards behind.  The group of figures in the rear just had some minor repairs done.

Still in progress are a dozen 15mm cavalry, then I will be concentrating on a new project: a 28mm Scots army for Saga.  I've started prepping a unit of 12 levies; I need to glue their javelins on and they will be ready for priming.  I'm looking forward to painting the Scots, it has been a long time since I started on a new rules set.

Jason

2012 Project Update

Just a short update on the progress I've made on my project list.

I have stalled on the Doctor Who guards I mentioned in my previous post; the base colors are finished but the highlights need to be done.

I finished the 16 Romano-British spearman and am happy with how they turned out. I primed a couple of R-B archers and my next batch will include the other 16 spearman.

I've made most progress on the Hellenistic project. I painted 8 Thorakitai and 8 mixed Persian/asiatic light infantry in April. Currently on the painting table are 8 pikemen that I am painting as Egyptians that the Ptolomies raised for the Raphia campaign. I am using Gladiator 'poorly equipped phalangites' so they look different from the regular phalanx. I'm also repainting 3 old figures as Seleucid Persian agema. They are Museum figures and I had to replace their broken spears. As my 5-year-old daughter was watching while I did that, I gave her a quick lesson on why you don't want to get superglue on your fingers.

Game Report - Doctor Who

I've finally downloaded the pictures off my camera of the Doctor Who Miniatures Game scenario I ran at the Siege of Augusta convention on January 20th.

The game featured a joint attack on a coastal UNIT base in Scotland by the Sea Devils and the Master.  It was loosely adapted from one of the scenarios included in the DWMG rulebook.  I had designed it for 6 players, but we squeezed in a 4th UNIT player.

Here is the table just after I set up the terrain.  The Sea Devils entered from the ocean on the left of the table; The Master and a group of hypnotized thugs entered from the far edge; UNIT was spread around the rest of the table.

A shot from the beginning of the game.  The Sea Devils are advancing up the beach and UNIT is moving to hold them.  The Brigadier is leading from the front behind the middle clump of brush, Captain Yates is in the ruined building at bottom right, while Sergeant Benton is observing from atop one of the oil tanks.

The Sea Devils focused their efforts on the flanks.  Here they are moving forward on the left flank while one of the Master's goons attacks the cottage from behind.

At the other end of the table, the Sea Devils are attempting to destroy the storage tanks.  In the distance a Sea Devil is lurking next to one of the houses.

Late in the game, UNIT has fallen back towards the buildings.  The Doctor and Leela spent the whole game in the HQ building working on an invention, which he completed on the last turn.

The Master is captured by UNIT.  He had previously disposed of two soldiers on the ground floor but his luck has run out.

The points ended in a draw; UNIT's heavy losses were balanced by capturing the Master.  Most importantly, the players had a good time and I enjoyed running the game.  Thanks to Crooked Dice (the creators of DWMG) for sending me a bunch of  DWMG/7TV postcards to hand out to players and passersby.

Jason

2012 Project #1 Completed

It took me 6 days after posting my 2012 project list to complete my first project.  I finished the 32 Axumite infantry March 2nd; the 4 mounted & 1 elephant were completed on March 7th.

I wanted to work on my Doctor Who project so I de-flashed 9 miniatures (6 guards and 3 other gunmen, all Copplestone) on Friday, then had to wait until Tuesday afternoon to prime them due to heavy rain and high winds.  I also added a new project to my 2012 list: a 15mm Romano-British army.  My friend Mike and I bought a bunch of Splintered Light Miniatures years ago and split them in half.  They've been patiently waiting for attention ever since.  I picked out 16 armored spearmen, superglued their shields on, and primed them along with the DW miniatures.  So far I've painted the metal areas on the Brits and the base coat of black on the guns/boots for the 28mm.

Jason2012

2012 Projects

Well, January and February have flown by.  I spent most of January preparing the Doctor Who scenario that I ran at Siege of Augusta.  I'll have some pictures of the game in my next post.  After Siege, I started painting an Axumite DBA army that I purchased at the convention from Time Portal Hobbies.  I finished most of it in 1 week, then illness/work/family intervened and I haven't painted a thing since.

I have spent some time thinking about my 2012 plans though.  My first project is to finish the Axumites.  Second, I have more Doctor Who miniatures to paint, either single character figures or small groups of 6.  I'll be doing those in small batches throughout the year with the aim of having them all done in 2012.  Third, I want to fill in some holes in my 15mm Hellenistic collection and already have all of the unpainted lead.  Fourth, I have a 15mm ECW Royalist army that I started on in late 2010 but only finished a few units.  I'd like to make some progress on that as well, but it depend on how quickly I proceed on the other projects.

I'm ready to start painting again and intend to get started this week.  Thanks for reading my ramblings!

Jason

Doctor Who Project - Sea Devils

I thought I'd get one last post in before 2012 arrives.  This post covers my28mm Sea Devil force for my Doctor Who project.   Despite appearing in only two stories over the years, 1972's The Sea Devils and 1984's Warriors of the Deep, the Sea Devils are one of my favorite monsters from Doctor Who.  They are a race of sentient aquatic reptiles that went into hibernation in the prehistoric era to avoid a catastrophe caused by the Moon being captured by Earth's gravitational pull.  Their 'alarm clock' failed to go off and their scattered colonies are still in hibernation.  Their land-dwelling cousins are the Silurians, who have appeared in 1970's The Silurians, 1984's Warriors of the Deep and 2010's The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood.

My Sea Devil force consists of 26 miniatures, plus 1 allied Silurian.  I bought about 2/3rds of them directly from Black Tree Designs and the rest on eBay. Three of them are from the old FASA line of Doctor Who miniatures.   For these photos I divided them into 5 squads of 5, plus 2 leaders.  I painted them at various times in 2010 and 2011.

I painted them in a color scheme similar to their appearance on the show with one difference; the clothing of the unarmored Sea Devils had a turquoise color on tv that I've never cared for.  I substituted a metallic blue that was from a very old bottle of GW paint.  I think it looks good with the skin color and is suitably aquatic.  I painted their weapons with Ral Partha/Iron Wind Copper, and the skin is a base of GW Terracotta highlighted with Howard Hues Middle East Flesh.  The armored Sea Devils are painted in P3 Black with a drybrush of Ceramcoat Charcoal Grey.  The bases are painted with one of the Ceramcoat tans, I forget which one.  When I initially based them I used sand from the beach at Charleston, SC.  However the grains looked too big to me, so I substituted Woodland Scenics ballast.  They were sealed with 2 coats of Krylon Matte Finish.

They are based on slottabases with metal washers underneath to provide balance and for use in my magnetic storage system.

You can click on the photos for close-ups.

First is the Sea Devil leader (l) and an allied Silurian (r).  I painted the details of his armor gold in order to distinguish him from the others.

The first squad consists of armored Sea Devils, "Elite Group Two" for those of you who are Doctor Who fans.

The second squad of five:

The third squad of five:

The fourth squad of five:

The fifth squad of five.  This one has an extra leader figure, with armor details painted in metallic blue to match the rest:

And just to show that I haven't just been shuffling around the same miniatures, here is a photo of the entire force together.

Thanks for looking!

Jason