Fall In 2010: The Vendors

Hey all!

Well, it is that time... time for the annual Photo Rundown of Fall In!

So, first up, I thought I would start with shots from the Dealers Hall.  There was a TON of beautiful stuff that anyone with a pulse would want to buy... I snapped shots of some of the most interesting.

Captions under each picture!

First up, a shot of the dealer hall!  I have to say, I enjoyed entering on the top floor and being able to look down on all the toy soldier goodness!

Architects of War... some VERY nice stuff, including some neat ACW looters (not pictured.)  Very nice stuff, with more coming.

The folks at Gale Force 9...  this table included some of the very nice buildings that you may have seen in Wargames Illustrated... all the buildings come apart, and the church in particular could be opened up in a nice way for troops to get inside.

Some very pretty little fields, woods, buildings, and grape vines from the fellows at Battlefield Terrain Concepts.

A very cool centerpiece from the guys at BTC.  However, the asking price (over 600 bucks) was a bit much I thought for what is ultimately flock, foam, and a few buildings.  However, still a very cool piece.

Scott Washburn's Paper Terrain ALWAYS looks great... there is a Mediterranean village he put together I want to straight up buy off him.  However, I thought the Middle Eastern buildings were also very cool.

The folks at Wargames Factory were, of course, there.  Despite owning no futuristic figures, I love those Shock Troops.

Some more of the HUGE number of sprues.  They did say they plan to start selling individual sprues soon.  In the front notice the Malburians.

Some more Middle Eastern buildings, this time made by the guys from Miniature Building Authority out of resin, instead of Scott Washburn and out of paper!:)

Ahhh... don't even like the era, but I'll take me some beautiful 40mm figures from Sash and Saber!

Not only do I love their minis, but Chris is also a fellow Duke grad, so getting to buy toy soldiers AFTER talking about how Kyrie is going to DOMINATE Larry Drew and Dex Strickland and Kendall Marshall is pretty much the best thing EVER.

A new 15mm fortress from the Old Glory/Blue Moon folks... my buddy actually bought the whole set to go with his upcoming 15mm Cowboy setup.

The Age of Glory guys, who are always good for some beautiful Perry figures... check out the neat little diorama in the front.

Didn't catch the name... but that is a lot of toy soldiers!

Even MORE toy soldiers... yes please!

Ahh, one of my old favorites; Rick O'Brien, the Flag Dude!  As always it was a great pleasure to see Rick, who is about as genuinely nice a guy as you could ask for... and for a new dad, he looked particularly rested.  

I always love Rick's flags, which I find to be the best to put on my miniatures.  I SHOULD have snapped some shots of his Big Battalion miniatures, which he sells as boxed sets... the are BEAUTIFUL.  I cannot say that strongly enough; they are among the most beautifully painted toy soldiers I have EVER seen... I wish I had gotten a few photos of them.  I do hope some of you folks out there who can afford to invest in truly beautiful miniatures can pick some up; while they are not as cheap as some of the cheaper Asian painting services, they absolutely BLOW them away in terms of sheer artistry.

A few shots from the Flea Market, which I really enjoyed.  Annoyed that I didn't find that 6mm ACW army that was being discussed on TMP, but I DID find this fellow.  While his minis were out of my range (and unneeded, to be honest) I loved how he based the ENTIRE unit on one stand.

Another shot of the same fellows stuff; I hope he sold them!

The theme this year was the Marine Corps, and they had a few great old Marine uniforms there.  Wonderful pieces, too... looked handstitched and to be in fantastic condition.

The ACW era Marine...

... and some later ones, including what appears to be a Rough Rider and a Doughboy.

Overall, the Dealer Hall was a great amount of fun.  I didn't blow as much money as usual (and my buddy positively SLACKED... I am not even sure he got through the 500 bucks he brought along, which is HIGHLY unusual...)

Next entry:  the games!

A neat present for the wife

Howdy all!

I know I mentioned a few weeks ago a neat Christmas present coming up... well, thought I would share.

So, my wife... she is beautiful, smart, hard-working, loving, warm, sexy... all the things a perfect wife is (except she cannot cook.)  Despite being a full-fledged grown-up with a job, she STILL has this strange failing for Harry Potter.  Don't ask me why; she adores it.

Now, I was thinking about a Christmas gift for her.  Last year I did the Soldier Bears for her.  What could I do this year?

Well, I thought maybe she would like some painted Harry Potter miniatures!

So, I looked, and looked, and looked... and holy cow, NO ONE does them.  In fact, I couldn't even find any decent PROXY figures.  Stupid expensive licenses!

After I put out a call to see if anyone could recommend any sculptors who might be interested in taking a commission for three Potter figures (Harry and his two best friends) none other than Soapy said that he would actually be interested in taking the commission!

Now, it isn't the cheapest present in the world (already told her she is only getting one gift and NOT to buy anything for me, and I am trying to sell some of my own miniatures now) but man, I can't wait.

The plan (illustrated by my TERRIBLE picture at the top) is for three figures... Harry, wand out, in an "action-y" pose, robes open to expose the jeans and shirt underneath a bit.  Hermoine would be standing in a more "reserved" pose, wand aiming up and elbow bent, with a thick textbook in her other army.  Ron would also have his wand aiming and out, and be holding a broom in his other hand, behind his body.  I think Ron also will have a scarf, so I can do the yellow-and-red colors of their house, although I wonder if maybe Hermoine should instead, since Ron already has the red hair... heck, maybe Harry should have the scarf, so I can do red on Harry with the scarf, on Ron with his hair, and maybe on the cover of the book for Hermoine?  Ohhh decisions decisions decisions!

Anyway... I plan to make a "movement tray" for the three (although it will be more of a DISPLAY tray than anything else) and then paint them up as a great Christmas gift!

Soooo.... looking forward to it!

25mm Napoleonic British Command

Hey all!

Well, good news and bad!

Good news; I am finally updating this thing!

Bad news; I am home sick from work with a monster cold:(  Sore throat for days, totally exhausted... I hope some rest will fight this thing off.

But in the meantime... Perry British!:D

First up, the commander.  I like this figure quite a bit; he clearly isn't very flustered... a tough man to shake.  I think that his sideburns actually came out really good.  I hope that his plume (I think it is supposed to be all white?) and uniform are the right colors... it seems so tough to find the right information for each bit and piece.

The other two figures were definitely trickier... the first guy is a standard bearer, carrying the regimental colors.  Again, I hope I got it all right, including the headgear... it just seems to be very tough to figure out who is supposed to be wearing what.  The biggest issue with this figure, however, is that he is MASSIVELY overbalanced.  The flag is just at an angle that makes the guy flop right over.  I filled the base with stuff and then put a rock on it, and for now it is a delicate balance... hopefully he won't go over.

The other guy was a problem... I had used the body intended to be a flag bearer for a sergeant!  I didn't have a proper body, so I improvised.  I decided my second guy would be a regular infantryman, who picked up the colors when the original bearer went down.  This guy just would not allow the colors to fall!  I put a discarded musket on his base, to represent the weapon he dropped in order to pick up the flag.

Overall I am pretty happy with how these three turned out... I'll get a shot of them with the rest of the crew sometime soon... but for now, I'm back to bed:(

Updates on the way!

Hey all!

Sorry I haven't posted recently; I had an eBay auction that I wanted to keep front and center.  Amazingly, my skaven didn't sell!  It sort of blows my mind, as they are really pretty well painted, and at 20 bucks I would think 10 troops would totally be worth it!  Well, if you know anyone who wants some skaven, point them this way!

Anyway, over the next few days I'll post a few new bits, including my first 25mm Napoleonic British standard bearers and non-Rifle officers, and a REALLY neat story about an upcoming Christmas gift!

So stick around!:D

Selling some miniatures on eBay!

Hey all!

Just wanted to let folks know, I am selling some Warhammer Skaven on eBay... they are sharp looking fellows, and are in need of a home, so if you want some pet rats, or know someone who does, please give it a look!

My eBay listing!

Ah, staying the whole weekend at Fall In... recommendations?

Hey all!

Hah!  Staying the whole weekend now!

So... can anyone recommend a good game to join?  I really like visually appealing games, and ones that are fun (duh!) 

If you have any you can recommend, please do, and I'll see everyone down in *blech* Lancaster!

Going to Fall In!

Hey all!

Well, despite the fact that Fall In this year is in a boring-ass place that I couldn't care less about, I am going to get down there for a day... arriving Friday night, leaving Saturday afternoon.  I almost don't want to register and just sneak in so that the organizers don't get to count me and can't add me to the number of people who show... I'll be honest, moving Fall In out of Gettysburg was the worst piece of toy soldier news I've gotten in my 35 years, and it really still makes me SO damn angry, but...

Anyway, looking forward to going down.  I won't be running a game since I am not staying long, but maybe I'll find a Friday night game to play... we'll see:)

Cowboys all finished up!

Hey all!

Well, the cowboys are all done!  Generally I went for a mix of earth tones with them, with a little color in the vests and bandanas.  Once again, despite a three day wait for the dip to dry, I got just a little weird result from the varnish, but only on the black colors... I am beginning to wonder if the problem really is a dip/varnish related one, or maybe the problem is the varnish?  I emailed the guys at Army Painter about this; I hope they get back to me soon with some guidance!

And kudos to my buddy who matched up foot figures with mounted figures; they do NOT come together and they are not meant to go together, but man, they certainly do seem that way!

Bear in mind, they are not based; my friend is doing that so they all match his collection.

Anyway... on to the minis!

First up... this fellow in a brown duster.  I gave him blond hair and a bluish-grey vest to make him stand out a bit.

Next up is this dark, intimidating fellow. His black coat and hat match his black horse.  I kept him fairly dark, wanting him to look a little mean.

Next we've got this guy with the grey hat.  I painted him in slightly lighter colors than the other chaps.  He is, of course, more noticeable because of his shotgun and his green neckerchef.

This chap is the only guy not wearing a coat of some kind... maybe he thinks his vest is more fashionable?  I also gave him red hair and sideburns... I am pretty sure his nickname is "The Scotsman."

Finally we have this guy.  I think his mother was actually a Mexican.  I also went for lighter colors with him, and his sky-blue bandana certainly marks him as a man of some fashion taste!

Anyone out there want to sculpt three figures for me?

Hey all!

Not sure if there is anyone out there who would be interested... but I think I would like to commission three 25mm figures being sculpted.  I am not sure if anyone out there would want to do it, or how much it would cost, but is there anyone out there who is interesting?  It would be a fairly simple sculpt; no cross belts or anything!

Anyway, if anyone out there is interested, drop me a line!