"Men of the North" scene complete!

Hi all!

Well... my gift for my father in law is complete!

So, my father in law is a big lover of all things frontier... mountain men and Lewis and Clark and all the rest.  I've done one other scene for him, a Revolutionary War scene (another of his favorite periods) but I knew that he really wanted something from the era of the frontier... so!  This was born!

The idea was that I'd have a camp on a ledge with a few mountain men looking out to the mountains at night.  I knew I wanted to do a lighting element, and in this case did two... one for the fire, and one for the blue LED at the top of the whole scene that would make it feel more night-like.

Here is a shot of the main character of the scene, on the precipice, looking around the mountains.  I built the little lean-to at the back, and the fireplace and rocks, and all of that.  The guy in the background is actually a figure from Wargames Illustrated that I cut in half, and then I make a greenstuff blanket around him.  The guy at the foreground I did need to do a little converting with... namely, carving away his pistol and making it a rifle.

Here is the whole thing with the lights on.  It is remarkably difficult to get good shots of the light... there is, as mentioned, a blue LED in the top that sheds a blue light over the entire scene.  There is also an LED buried in the foamcore of the cliff.  The flickering looks incredible, actually... I build the back of the fireplace open so that you get a lot of firelight playing on the trees and the camp.

Here it is all closed up.  Overall I'm very happy with how it turned out!  Below I included a video of the lighting... it REALLY doesn't do it justice, but what can you do:)

Thanks for coming by and looking!

My newest 25mm Naval Scene gift

Hey all!

First off, sorry for being away for so long!  Not only have I been in the toughest part of the work year, but I've also had a little boy who got sick and then forgot how to sleep.  So the last six weeks have been really, really tough, with no chance for posting.

But that doesn't mean no toy soldier stuff has gotten done!

My boss, after years and years of work, retired just a few weeks ago.  He is a HUGE naval history buff and model ship builder, and had helped me on the Nelson scene for my father.

So... I wanted to make something more interesting than a gift card as a gift!

I picked up a British Naval Captain, painted him up, put him on a base, and voila!  I also got a nameplate done, with his name and the name of my work as the ship name.  He rather enjoyed it!

BTW, I have the other captain figure now sitting around.  Anyone need a British Napoleonic officer yelling commands?  I'll put up a photo soon.

25mm Battlefield 3 Miniatures - Metro and Seine- finished!

Hey all!

Okay, I FINALLY got a few minutes away from the baby to finish my two Battlefield 3 projects!

Now, I play BF3 pretty religiously... like, at least one night a week is spent rumbling around in a tank or blasted choppers out of the sky with my IGLA.  I have always loved video games, and the UNPARALLELED multiplayer of BF3 sucked me in like no ones business!

One of the things that make BF3 so much fun is two of the guys I play with!  One is a guy I "met" online; we played together, we were both good and could talk, so we buddied up.  Another is a friend I met through a very close friend.  The three of us have been playing BF3 every week for... well, for two years I suppose.  It is a good little video game group.

So, when I saw these BF3 miniatures from Hasslefree Miniatures, I knew I wanted to do up a little gift for each guy!

Here is the first one.  My one buddy is a pretty good sniper, although to be fair, he is good at every class.  He really enjoys Operation Metro, so I did a sniper going through the tunnels on Metro.  I tried to add all sorts of details from the game, including an ammo pack.  Other bits from the game include the warning sign on the edge of the platform, and of course the seats and the sign.  Overall I think it turned out pretty good.  Below is one of the photos I used for reference.

On to the next one!

This is the one for my other buddy, Bill.  He is a HUGE fan of Seine Crossing, and tends to camp out in the building that overlooks A and C objectives on Conquest.  So I made up a rough version of that door (as seen below).  Again, I tried to add a few details from the game, including a med pack and, on the stairs, a claymore.  Unfortunately I did make him an engineer, even though he is usually a machine gunner on this level, but what can you do!

Anyway... so, I'm going to ship them off in the next day or so; I hope they enjoy them!

Okay... both sides of "Zero Dark Thirty" lit... and a question

Well... both sides are lit.  In fact, it is just about done!  So I thought I would share both sides with the internal lighting.

So now I am stuck... I need a name for the plaque for this thing!  I don't think I'll go with "Zero Dark Thirty" because that is a bit too connected to the Bin Laden story.  Something like "Late Night Encounter"?  I can even do a two part plaque, with two sayings, one on the left and one on the right...
"Late Night Meeting" and "Late Night Mission" or something?

Anyway... anyone out there have any bright ideas for a title?

The Death of Nelson

Hi all!

Well... my greatest work, complete!

For those of you who saw that keep up with the blog, you may have seen my plans mentioned a few months back about a Christmas gift for my father.  My father, who was the one who started my love of toy soldiers with plastic Afrika Corps sets and amazing handmade forts, is a HUGE naval history guy, and like all naval history guys is obviously a fan of Lord Nelson.

So I thought I'd do a Christmas present for him based on Lord Nelson!

I've done a few miniature based Christmas gifts before... there is, of course, my Harry Potter gift for my wife (the only 25mm Harry and friends I've ever seen) and an AWI display for my father in law, but this was a pretty huge project compared to those.  It consisted of upwards of 20 figures, equipment, and most of all touched on a part of a period I know NOTHING about.  This made it very hard, and in the end I really had to go with display attention to detail instead of historical attention to detail.  For example, I had all of the blocks and tackle and line for rigging the guns (my boss is a ship model builder) but in the end it was just too much for me to tackle (no pun intended!)  Also there are fewer decks than the actual Victory, the colors might not be right, the decks are FAR too tall (this was on purpose... my hands are big and clunky and I was afraid of working in too tight a space) so... well, cut me some slack as far as the accuracy of the model:)

I did work in a lighting element... or two, actually.  First, in the bottom of the scene I rigged a yellow light that focuses on Nelson to draw the eye, as if there is a lamp above him.  The top photo is a shot, completely in the dark, with only that light on.  The photo does NOT do it justice:)

I also rigged up some flashing orange and red lights on the OUTSIDE of the ship INSIDE the box, which, when flashing, look like artillery fire outside of the ship.  It is hard to capture on film, but at least you can get an idea.

Anyway... let's get to some photos!

Here is the whole scene, with the front removed.

Here is the top deck, with the men preparing for a boarding action.

The first gun deck.  Love the powder monkey figure, even if he isn't very "kid" looking.

The next gun deck.

The orlop, with Nelson being attended to by his officers and doctor.

The whole scene, closed up.

And here is a shot of the whole thing with the lights on and low light outside... unfortunately, because of the shutter speed, the outside just looks red.  With the bare eye it actually flashes and looks like cannon thundering away.

So, that is my Christmas gift for my dad!  Hope he, and you all, like it!:D

Oh, and coming up... some fun ACW news!  Don't worry, I haven't forgotten you guys!:)

The Gem Saloon... finished!

 

Whelp, all done!

I started watching the HBO series "Deadwood" a few months ago, and was instantly hooked.  A FANTASTIC series, right in line with some great HBO shows like Rome, The Sopranos, and of course Band of Brothers.

And of course, everyone's favorite character from Deadwood?  None other than the great Al Swearengen.  Just the right combo of charisma, danger, and charm, the proprietor of the Gem Saloon is a real classic.

So!  After seeing that there was a company out there that made an Al Swearengen figure, I thought it might be nice to do a little scene of him!

So... did a scene of him in the Gem, cup in hand.  Ended up using another figure with some green stuff work to stand in for Dan.  Also gave Dan a knife, as well as a bowl of canned peaches.  Grabbed some 25mm bottles, and combined them with a few casks and boxes.  Did some of the signs from the show as well as the Lincoln portrait.  And of course there is the usual blood-stain on the floor at Al's feet... you know he scrubbed at it!

Overall I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.  It took a few tries to get the colors right, and even now I feel they are a bit too grey... the Gem is mostly made of newer wood, so I should have gone a bit more "brown" but what can you do.  The planking turned out just fine.  The plaster could have been better, but what can you do... live and learn!

I do have one last bit to do, but I'm a bit torn about HOW to do it... I need to do a nameplate on the front of the whole scene!  The thing is... how do I do it, with a plaque?  And more importantly... what should it say?  Any suggestions, folks?

So... that's it!  Now... what project next?:)

Harry Potter in 25mm... finished

Wow.

Finally done:)

Well, as anyone who has read anything on this blog in a while already knows, I've been working for some time on my wife's Christmas present... a set of Harry Potter miniatures in 25mm scale.

Now, there are no such miniatures around, so in a VERY kind move Soapy decided to clear enough space to take on the job of crafting the three main heroes of the books and films... Harry, Hermione, and Ron.

After a few months they got here just a few days ago.  In the meanwhile, I worked on creating a display base for the miniatures.  I wanted it to really be a beautiful piece, and really went beyond any previous work.

The display base had a few firsts for me:

1)  It was the first piece I have done in a plastic display case, requiring me to plan and matte out a large portion of it.

2)  It was the first piece that used electricity and lights... the fireplace was done using a fire LED kit that considered of three different LEDs, along with a painted piece of celophane.  I had to not only wire it all up (very simple!) but also make it able to be turned on and off with a switch I worked through a hole on the side.

3)  It was the first time I've had to match bases exactly up with a floor pattern.  The floor, which is a patterned piece of paper, really worked out well.

4)  It was the first time I had a window scene with an attempted secondary light source, so that it really stood out.  Above the windows but OUTSIDE of the wall is an opening for light... that way the outside feels lit independently (i.e. by the moon) and is not dependent on the main light source!

5)  It was the first time I've tried to paint something that is invisible!  The Invisibility Cloak, which is draped over a large armchair, was a real challenge.  Sculpted out of green stuff, I had to paint it in such a way as to give the impression of invisibility... not an easy feat!  I settled on the angle I thought it would get the most views (dead on) and then tried to paint a shelf and book through one part of it, along with some impression of brown floorboards and the pattern of the chair itself.  This was a SERIOUS challenge, but I think worked out fine.

Note The Marauders Map sitting on the floor... as a reader suggested, it looks almost as if the cloak and Map were being used on some nefarious night mission...!:)

And lastly...

6)  It was the first time I had to paint commissioned figures... better not screw it up!


Hedwig the Owl was a later planned addition, and only made possible by a donation of a GW Owl from Lloyd in Sweden!  He sent it across as a bit from his son's GW Dryad set, and it just fits in perfect.  Above Hedwig hangs a painting my wife and I bought on our last trip to Italy, which hangs in the center of our dining room.

 

The Sorting Hat, which sits under a portrait of Professor Dumbledore asleep (clearly after his death) was made with green stuff, and turned out really sharp.  The fire also turned out awful sharp.

Now, when they finally arrive, the three figures looked pretty good!

Harry was excellent.  The hardest part was capturing his good will in his face... the glasses, which in real life do not obscure his eyes, really made it tough to paint convincing eyes, which I think are essential to really getting a character across.  The casually untucked shirt and the loose tie really help connect Harry to his "prep school" roots at Hogwarts.

Hermione I thought was the best.  The hair of the sculpt really connected the piece to Emma Watson, who is the first person you think of when you visualize the brainy heroine.  I made sure to write, on the cover of her book, "Spells & Charms"... she is clearly ready to rock!

Ron looks excellent.  With his red sweather (A Weasley sweater?  A Gryffindor sweater?), along with his broom from his later Quidditch adventures, really helps tie the character together.

Here are a few random shots....

A shot of the cover of Hermione's book... "Spells & Charms".

A shot over Hermione's shoulder, showing both the writing in her book as well as the scrolls in her pouch.

One more shot of Hermione...



A shot of Harry from the front... the scar was SO carefully sculpted it was crazy:)

A shot of Ron from the side... he is a very dynamic figure, really looking ready to roll, broom out!

Another shot of Ron...

A shot of Harry straight on... notice the Gryffindor patch.

\
So!

A very, very long project, thankfully finished up.  The wife ADORED the gift (her only gift, other than an iTunes giftcard for a few songs and a DVD.)  It was a lot of fun to work on, although waiting for the figures to make their way through customs was NO fun at all.  Overall I am happy that she now has a one-of-a-kind set of 25mm Harry Potter miniatures, unique in the world.

Anyway, thanks so much for stopping by... I hope it was an enjoyable project to follow!

An old 15mm ACW gift

Here is a piece that is actually no longer in my collection!
I made this piece as a gift to a gent who very generously gave me the original 1864 double pack that I have in my wargames room. I know he is obviously a big Civil War buff, and I know that he also enjoys painting larger soldiers, so I figured a nice little scene would be a good return gift!
Obviously the scene is a bunch of Confederates holding a fence. There are actually about four dead men among the feet, and if you look closely you'll see three more taking hits... one clutching his stomach, another his face, and a third running off, having also taken a minie ball to the face, groping blindly for help. There is a mounted officer in the back, just stopping by to yell some orders before galloping off. The rocks are just some drybrushed bark pieces, and the fence made from some simple balsa wood.

All of the figures from the scene, with the exception of the dead, are from Battle Honours 15mm. The dead are Old Glory.