A couple of real-life cowboy guns...

In anticipation of some upcoming 15mm Cowboy shots, I thought I'd post a few REAL toys a buddy of mine picked up...  figured folks might enjoy these!  The .45 rounds they fire are just ENORMOUS... such a funny round to see next to the modern day stuff, which seems so small in comparison!

The pistol, btw, is a Colt replica... the rifle is a Winchester Yellow Boy.

A first attempt at putting together my 10mm Napoleonic Spanish buildings...

Based on plastic, spackled in, a little sand to give texture to the parts that won't be flocked, put in a few bits of bark for rocks on the back side of the main farmhouse... I hope it looks good when I paint it up!  I will be particularly curious how the sand takes a drybrush... was it really needed, at this scale?  And is the grit too big for this scale?  Oh well, live and learn.

BTW, I am going to flock the tree that is sculpted along the house... some green licheny stuff should work out nicely.


In addition to this, I have a larger church piece, and then a few random little houses.  I am also going to do an orchard, using the walls I have... I would love to do two, but I don't have enough walls.  Lastly, I am going to do a few grape vine covered hills.

Uh oh... Soapy seems to have disappeared from email...

Oh no.

Soapy, who kindly accepted sculpting my wife's sole Christmas gift, has been AWOL from email recently.  Hopefully he has just been busy, or maybe the emails are getting stuck in a spam box, but I hope it isn't anything serious... I don't have any other gifts planned, and more importantly I already almost finished the display base!  Plus, you know... I hope it isn't anything serious for HIS sake:)

Danger, Will Robinson!

Color suggestions for my 10mm Napoleonic Spanish buildings?

Hey all!

Well, I have to paint these guys up... my 6/10mm Napoleonic Spanish buildings.  I don't really have great paint colors for them, so I am stopping by the store on Tuesday to pick a few up.  However, I wanted to ask... does anyone have any recommendations for them, colorwise, from the GW range?

I am thinking of doing the roof tiles in EITHER Mechrite Red or in the Solar Orange, both of which are foundation paints.  I'll do the exposed bricks on the buildings in the same, I suppose... are Spanish bricks the same color as traditional bricks?  I am not sure about the buildings themselves... probably Bleached Bone should work.  Then dip them, and done.

So what do folks think on the roof tiles?  Red?  Or Orange?  Remember they will be dipped...

More work done...

Here is the latest... still need to finish up painting the fireplace, walls, telescope and book, but I gotta hit the sack for now.

The walls and fireplace in particular I need to think on... I may actually give them a brush of dip, just to mute the colors a bit and pull them all together.  As they are now I don't love them, but I think the dip will help.

A lot of work to go, but it IS coming together a bit...

Moving along on the project

Hey all!

Well, above is the latest... the walls are not glued down or anything, and I still have some work to do...

Plus, I am a bit stuck on a few bits... for example, how do I secure the ends of all the foamcore?  I am thinking I will paint the ends with a sand paint I have, and then paint it gray.  I also have to build the outsides in the back... do I do THESE out of foamcore also?  Or do I line the inside of the plastic box with simple black paper?  Oh man... so man questions.

The floor, I think, looks okay.  Drying it warped something FIERCE, but it looks like it isn't all that noticeable... I think:D


CRAP.  I fucked up.  Just realized... when I put the top pieces on, the plastic rock walls should go up to meet the top.  The ones I cut are too short by the width of a piece of foamcore.  Shit.  Now I have to recut the blocks.  Damn.

So.  That's it.  Now I am going to undercoat the walls and unpainted stuff (fireplace, logs) black.

I also will have a bunch of stuff leftover... wizard study stuff... I'll post what it is later, and if folks want to buy it...?

Some help needed...

Hey all!

Well, picked out some of the interior stuff for the display base I've been talking about.  It is supposed to be the inside of a castle, comfortably furnished.

So!  Now I am stuck... which sheets do I use for each thing?

Okay, above is Wall Option 1.  It is a more random, field-stone sort of pattern.  Unfortunately I did not put a figure in for scale; if I should, just tell me.  The stones are NOT that big, which is the main thing that holds me back... they would use BIG stones for a castle, no?

Here is Wall Option 2.  These are, technically, cinderblocks, and therefore modern, but they are a good bit larger than the stones above.  Plus, I think castles are built using regular blocks, not stone like a house.

Okay... because option 1 was KILLING it, and because I am honestly worried about scale with option 1 for a CASTLE wall, I am including this scale shot of a 25mm Perry figure along with both.

A shot of a castle wall, with a strange lady sitting in front of it...

On to the floors!

Here is Floor Option 1.  These are smaller, rounded stones.  Good for a castle?

Floor Option 2.  This is actually a paperish sheet of hardwood design.  Not as nice, maybe, as planking it with balsa, but it has a nice grain and color AND is a bit easier... I am not sure that you would even be able to tell when all is said and done.

Floor Option 3.  Actually doing the floorboards out of balsa.  More work for sure, especially when I have to plank round bases, and I am not sure the textures will look nice.

Anyway... I am putting a POLL up on my blog, so if you folks can give me some help, I would TRULY appreciate it!

Below, btw, is Wall Option 2 and Floor Option 2.

Some early work done on Harry Potter display base...

Hey all!

Well, I got a bit of work done on the stuff that will help make up the display base for the Harry Potter figures I have coming...

First up, I had to use a bit of green stuff to make The Sorting Hat, and to make a cloak to drape over the chair... it will be the Invisibility Cloak.

Next up I painted everything up and put it in place.  I did a quick rough of how things will look as they get going... give it a look!

Two painting notes... first, I don't know what color to paint the "shroud" of the lamp on the desk... any advice?

Second... the invisibility cloak is going to be a real, real tough one.  If anyone has any advice on how to paint it, I am ALL ears!

The frames (I ordered about 8 of them) and a few other pieces (a telescope, a spare chair, the fireplace and accessories, a few other bits) are on their way... I'll have more as I get it done!

More plans for the Harry Potter figures...

Hey all!

Thought I would post the two more recent sketches for the Harry Potter figures that I am getting for my wife for Christmas...

I put together a pair of more detailed sketches... one of the three characters themselves, and one of the display base I am going to make for them.

The figures will be mainly in blacks and flesh tones, with some wood and other random colors.  I'll be using yellows and reds as spot colors... red for Hermione's book (and possibly a tan pant,) a yellow and red Gryffindor scarf for Harry, and red hair and a tannish/yellowish tipped broom for Ron.  I figure the colors will help tie them together a bit.

The display base will be quite an undertaking... I am going to paint it to look like a room in the castle.  I picked up a slew of frames from a doll house place and will be doing portraits all over the room much like the books and films feature... I'll be sure to include one of Dumbledore sleeping, and probably one of the Fat Lady.  I've also got a fireplace, telescope, and shelves coming, and already have a rolltop desk and some other shelves.  I plan to do the fireplace with a cutout so it looks particularly deep, and then the window will be cutout too, with a slit in the top of the box in order to let some light in... I plan to have a moon and some towers of Hogwarts in the window.  I'm going to do a wooden floor out of balsa planks, and possibly a carpet as well, although I'll have to think about how to pull that off.  I also plan to sculpt the Sorting Hat out of greenstuff, and I am going to drape a cloth over one chair and then paint it to look like the chair underneath it in an attempt to convey the feeling of the Invisibility Cloak... we'll see how that turns out!

So... overall, I hope it turns out great.  I have infinite confidence in Soapy's sculpting ability.... not as much in my own ability to pull off the

Fall In 2010: The Purchases

Hey all!

Well, here is my final Fall In post... the purchases!

Now, I had a very small selection of things that needed buying... with the wife's Christmas present taking up all my available "fun" money I knew there was not a lot of wiggle room.

Still, that doesn't mean I bought NOTHING!

First up, the major purchase was a collection of 10mm Spanish buildings from Battlefield Terrain Concepts... namely some Timecast stuff.  This will enable me to do some battlefields in Spain, and frankly will up the table a bit; they are nicely detailed and will look good.

I also bought a few things of Timecast walls to go with my Spanish buildings.  It is a decent amount of wall, with an example of each piece here... they include some ruined wall, walls with a gate, and walls with a small, personal gate.  I am tempted to permanently attach some of them to some sort of base, but let's see what happens.

I also picked up some coarse flock to mix in with my table scatter; it looks pretty good on there right now... it gives the flock a nice "depth."  I also picked up some lances for my 28mm Russian Cavalry... however, I only need a few, so if you are interested in buying the remains off of me, lemme know!

I picked up a few things to read, including a Wargames Illustrated (maybe not a smart purchase... there are no eras I am interested in in it) and Sharp Practice (maybe also not a smart purchase, as I probably won't play it, and I hadn't seen before that there are no photos!  Oh well, live and learn.)

Last up I picked up a few packs of furniture from a vendor... I don't remember who, but I did think that one of the guys who worked there was a bit rude.  Anyway, I picked these two packs up to decorate the display base for the Harry Potter figures I am getting for my wife for Christmas.  I still have some more pieces coming, including a telescope, some more shelves, a fireplace, and a bunch of frames for the portraits on the walls.

So... that's it!  As I said, not a huge spending Fall In, as there wasn't a ton that I really needed for current projects, but still, fun as always!