away with the Faeries...

right... a larger whole with a couple of small bits... first off, a Fairy Fort - ok, so the term is Irish, but I like it and it fits the job. Bit of a bugger to photograph, but somewhere in there is a corner of a long forgotten Iron Age hill fort, eroded and overgrown and too big to photograph properly sadly...

a simple enough construction, a block of old polystyrene shaped - it started off as a simple hill with smooth sides, but then thought about roughing it up a bit to make it more interesting. This eventually triggered a memory of the Fairy Forts and a few broken rings and ditches were made, with a well worn path to the top.

At the top I've made a round recess to take the old mini-discs I'm using for some basing so I can swap out what is at the summit. First up is a Fairy Ring, a natural circular growth of mushrooms.

I had been meaning to do one of these for a while, but getting the 'shrooms right was a pig as they never had that strong enough a join to the base. I ended up supergluing a ring of really thin plasticard to the disc, and then using poly cement added some plastic rod of varying heights - I had planned on adding discs for the mushroom caps, but then realised they'd be far too big, so just painted the tips of the exposed rods white and darkened down the rod with Devlan Mud. With the static grass added and a few clumps (as the mushrooms usually promote luxuriant grass growth as well), the rod pretty much is hidden and you just see the blobby tops in brilliant white. Job done.

Next up was a suggestion from LAF, a beacon. As they tended to be placed on prominent locations, the top of the fort seemed a good spot, so that was in mind when the hill fort was being built. I picked up a GW Bretonian Archer brazier, cut the top off and added it to a length of brass rod. The ladder was made from plasicard and plastic rod and made as rickety looking as possible. The bucket is from the Redoubt female villager who got turned into a ghoul.

the paintjob was a bit of a problem though. Bare metal didn't look right, so it had to be blackened ironwork - which then posed a problem with the coals in the brazier. I didn't want it lit or glowy and I had considered wood, but the shapes were too irregular. Not 100% with the difference between the coal and the ironwork, but it will do for now. 

of course, by a lucky coincidence, the gibbet is also on an old mini-disc and is also something that would have been placed prominently, so that made another option for the summit.

As I said, hard to photograph, but you get the idea.

A Field In England

 

England : 1648 AD

A small group of deserters flee from a raging battle through an overgrown field. They are captured by two men: O'Neil and Cutler.

O'Neil (Michael Smiley), an alchemist, forces the group to aid him in his search to find a hidden treasure that he believes is buried in the field.

Crossing a vast mushroom circle, which provides their first meal, the group quickly descend into a chaos of arguments, fighting and paranoia, and, as it becomes clear that the treasure might be something other than gold, they slowly become victim to the terrifying energies trapped inside the field.

 

Don't normally do this sort of thing, but I'm really looking forward to this film for obvious reasons. and that is a great retro poster. My only worry is the possiblity that it won't be an evil force, but just a bad trip from the 'shrooms.

 

As for normal updates, a big bit of scenery is almost done and should even have a fairy ring as well...

Judge Minty by Dwartist

obviously pending a base (and for all I know not finished paint wise - talented git that he is), this one is from Dwartist... really can't wait for mine...

Judge Minty by Kevin Dallimore

Just a slight nudge for the Frother's Charity mini thingy... Kevin Dallimore has finished one of the masters and it's stunning... the base and sign are his own and not the ones available to the big bidders, but even still a thing of beauty...

Check the Frother's Charity mini tags to see who to get one, as some are still available...

the Nine Sisters

a Salute purchase, a resin stone circle from the Square... on the face of it, a stone circle is easy enough to make yourself, but for £4 it's a hell of a lot less effort...

I added a base to the resin cast, just to help even out a slight kink (hey £4), and to give the entrance to the circle a more gradual slope...

base was textured, painted to match the other groundwork I have... I tend to go grey for stones, but wanted something different here to make it stand out (and many stone circles tended to have travelled some distance), so went with GW Karak Stone, drybrushed with GW whatever it's called now Bone... bit of dark tone wash and job done... grass, grass tufts and then flowers... may be over done for some, but I wanted an effect similar to the Rohirrim burial mounds in Lord of the Rings...

it's a generic, unscaled item on the Square's website, but works well for a small circle in 28mm...

Frothers 4th semi-annual charity mini...

UPDATE: Donations open now...

and it's a humdinger...

Dags over on Frothers wrote:

The official start of the Frothers' Charity thingy isn't until early next week but, as it's already on the web, here's the green for the next figure (sculpted by Kev White of Hasslefree Miniatures)...

For those interested in the background to the mini have a look here: http://www.judgeminty.com/

I'll post how you can get a copy once we go live.

But there is a Facebook page for those not FBphobic (or Frotherphobic!)...

https://www.facebook.com/The4thSemiAnnualFrothersCharityThingy

I've been following the Judge Minty blog for a while (scroll down and look right somewhere), so am salivating at the anticipation of such a cracking mini... spread the word, it's for a good cause...

UPDATE:

Dags over on Frothers wrote:

This year’s Charity mini is a sculpt of the eponymous hero of the forthcoming Fan Film Judge Minty sculpted by Kev White of Hasslefree Miniatures based on the character written by John Wagner that introduced The Long Walk in 1980.

 
There will be approximately 400 Judge Mintys cast – 200 in Metal and 200 in Trollcast.

As always, there are numerous people that deserve huge thanks for getting this project off the ground….

The cast and crew of Judge Minty, in particular, Steven Sterlacchini, Steve Green, Daniel Carey-George and, Minty himself, Edmund Dehn – without them it would not be happening.

Matt Sprange from Mongoose Publishing and the guys at Rebellion for allowing us to infringe on Mongoose’s license and 2000AD’s IP. Again, without Matt’s help this would not be happening.

Kev White for the sculpting (and Sally for letting him do it!)

Pete Brown and Ed Fortae for the casting

Ian ‘Geronimo’ Brumby for the bases

So how do you get your Judge Minty mini?

Easy…. Make a donation to one or both of the Just Giving Sites:

MS Society - http://www.justgiving.com/CharityMinty1

Cancer Research - http://www.justgiving.com/CharityMinty2

Then, and this is the important bit because it’s changed from past years, send an e-mail to charitymini AT gmail DOT com with;

1. Your Name
2. The address you want the mini sent to
3. Your Just Giving reference number
4. Your preference as to Metal or Trollcast or both

You won’t get an instant reply but will get an e-mail informing you of dispatch

There is no minimum donation per se. I've always hated telling people what they should give; it should be what you can afford but if you would like multiple copies I'd suggest £15 per mini – all money is going to the charity of your choice.

However, to shamelessly cash in on the Kickstarter fever that appears to be gripping most at the moment, the more you donate, the more you’ll get…. The first extra will be an exclusive Frothcity 1 base designed and cast by Ian (Fenris Games) Brumby (assuming he’s still alive and hasn't died of pleurisy!) that will go to everyone donating £25 or more. There’ll be more, hopefully to follow. 

Postage is being covered by a mystery Frother but, especially if you’re outside the UK, take that into account when making your donation and add in a little extra J

When will you get your miniatures?
Even though we’re a bit more organised than usual these things take time especially as everyone is doing this in their spare time around their usual work.

Firstly Grey Matter will be moulding and casting a few in resin. Then he'll be of to Pete for Master moulding & master casting. Those masters are then shipped off to Ed in the States. Production moulding and casting and return shipping all takes time especially with the holiday season approaching. Hopefully they’ll be going out in late February.

Lastly, a huge thank you to you guys; without your generosity we’d never be able to continue.

carry on camping

ok, just to explain that I haven't been completely idle for the last few weeks - although due to a couple of weeks required for cat sitting in November, can't guarantee how much will be happening next month... anyhoo, this little project has been bubbling away for a while and mainly involves the simply splendid APEX Investigators from Fenris... what those figures initially led me to, was a kind of field research team, useable for UNIT or even a SG-1 kind of set up... the main requirement was a main research tent and that took some working out... but I got there in the end...

all very army surplus and Time Team and I have two of them - it's essentially made from a basic frame of metal tubing which kept the basic cereal card cladding in place, additional tubing was added inside to represent the rest of the frame, thin wire was glued on the outside to match the inside upright tubes and then clad over in normal paper (did experiment with tissue paper but didn't work)... the roof is lift off, and is essentially a normal build for any kind of roof, but with tubing and paper cladding to give it some more shape and I reckon it works... the only stumbling block now is whether I try for a wooden sheet floor or plain grass - both appear equally common on photos of the real thing....

now, all the lab equipment inside needs power, so I needed a generator... this came from a handy sci-fi crate again from Fenris. I added some wire for the stand/handle thing, added a petrol cap with some tube and g/s and tweaked some of the detail to show as somekind of dial indicators, need to add some buttons still...

now the crate had no detail on one side from the casting, so I press moulded the grill pattern on one side with siligum and made a g/s copy on the otherside (sorry Ian)... it's not brilliant, does the job and may well get hidden a bit by a bush or something, but after the 2nd attempt, I was happy enough...

a bit big maybe, but for a chunky robust portable generator it does the job...

next was some flood lights, annoyingly this was the greatest time sink after the field tent, as I was happily press moulding the lights I'd made as and when I had a spare bit of g/s - but when I came to add them, I realised that design wouldn't look right - they are good, and will come in handy with the planned bunker as they look more like wall emergency lights I now realise... my second attempt has proved not very press mould friendly, so I need to rethink... but I have a few of these at least...

the final need for this little project were tents for the field workers themselves, so I cut a bit of bluefoam to shape, added wire for the supports and g/s'd it to get a nice smooth(ish) finish... a bit of detail was added for the access flap, seams and so on and tried to make it match one from Argos... there is a vent flap on the back, but it doesn't show up on the photo... all it really needs now is some cleaning up and adding the zip tab thingy... not sure how well that will press mould though as I would like a couple...

strong box cart

I had to make the order up when I got the new windows for the blacksmiths from 4ground, otherwise the postage would have been more than the windows, so I went for this strong box cart...

apparently equally used for powder storage as well as money, it's a nice little kit, very easy to assemble...

of course, I had to tart it up a bit, but that was easy as well, a bit of thin card (one of those business cards you get in with your ebay order actually) to make the main supporting beams stand out a bit more, and some narrow plastic rod put into the hinge recess...

I had toyed with a big sheet metal cross on the back, so the hunters could use it as a mobile altar, but this was a) too GW and b) bordered on the kind of thing puritans didn't do anyway... but as it was more likely to be used with the hunters anyway, it went black... hey ho...

and, as I realised I hadn't done a comparison shot for the blacksmith...

Blacksmiths

As with the other buildings, it only just fits in the lightbox, so photos may not be the best, but, for better or worse, the Blacksmiths is finished... 

As I said in the WIP, I removed the wall extensions from the wooden frame, it made more sense without the roof to only have them on the walls - they are now on the inside of the roof which I neglected to photograph...

 

It is of course an absolute swine to get a good photo of the inside, but hopefully this covers it. The forge floor was a conundrum at first, I didn't want wood, and stone seemed a bit too posh, so, after a pleasing result in the plague house, went for a compacted dirt/clay floor within a brick frame... didn't quite get the same result as the plague house, but it will do... I added a few clumps of grass where the floor could have cracked and seeds taken a foothold... strange fisheye thing happening with the photo, it is straight... honest...

 

and of course, the Smithy himself... rather than track down a blacksmith mini, I decided to go with stuff I already have (a sign of things to come I feel), and this chap is from the Warlord Clubmen set... as a cleaver was included in the weapons options for the set, I had always seen him as a butcher, but a g/s hammer and a brown leather apron and a perfectly compact and rotund blacksmith will do...

 

blacksmiths ooops

ok... this is really for anyone following/copying what I've been doing and buying the window packs from 4ground... the blacksmiths has been a bit of a slow slog, the thatch really annoyed me so I kind of stepped away for a bit and got distracted with some tents I started a while back and did some pressmolding and stuff...

anyhoo, back on with the blacksmiths and painting is all but done (getting the compacted dirt floor right was a pain), which is when I fit the windows... now I bought the market hall windows pack as it had more windows in it than the cottage windows pack so better value I figured... sadly, the market hall windows are a different fricking shape to the cottage and of course I used the cottage as the basis for the frames in the blacksmith... so they won't fit...

my fault I guess (not sure if it's on the 4ground site) but there you go, I'll find a use for them, but now need to order a new set of windows before I can get finished with it... sigh...

September is looking like a dry month for updates, but I have been doing stuff, just not finishing...

Mast Beast...

and the Mast Beast is painted...

happy with this one, painted two at once - the one on the d/s base will be destined for the Fenris display case and webstore...

and the resin master - see, a new foot!

Black Dog

painted the Black Dog... not 100% happy with it to be honest, the eyes work quite well, but the paintjob as a whole isn't winning me over, but I figure I better step away from it... and annoyingly it's still shiny, after several coats of dullcote...

I did resculpt the muzzle from the WIP shot though, the nose is narrower, but the snout is slightly shorter and taller, makes it a bit less wolf-life hopefully...

and for size comparison...

so, he'll do for now - I have more of the basic Wild Warg model, so can always revisit this...

blacksmiths part 2

very productive couple of days... quite surprised actually, I'm such a good procrastinator... anyway, the basic build of the blacksmiths is done...

foampvc with bits of plasticard in spots and dressed with balsa, need to do the render, and add woodgrain texture to the supports and beams of the forge area which are plastic girder and foampvc for strength (balsa would have been a non-starter)...

not sure what to do with the chimney, will probably do a couple of extra layers of brick on the chimney so it has a hole as it were... the forge pieces aren't attached yet, I need to texture and paint the main building first, the base is made from thin plasticard layered to a decent thickness and to allow the forge and bellows to sit in cutaways designed for them... it's reasonably sturdy now, and should be quite solid when finished...

the building is based on the 4ground buildings (obviously), so the room has the same footprint and it will take the same windows... learnt a bit as I was going, and had to add a wee bit to the side walls as I hadn't allowed for the gap once the roof was added (may remove those from the forge sides and add them to the roof)... but it's been a fun job - although the roof was a complete pig, I've got it good now, but it was a bit disconcerting... the roof alone is making me rethink my plan for the pub...

Black Dog WIP

a quick WIP of the lone phantom dog...

it's a GW Wild Warg, the head was cut down, lower jaw removed, back hair removed, and generally the whole head got trimmed down to a vaguely more doggy head shape... loads of g/s so far and it's looking ok, I need to redo the lower lip as that was left from when I'd given it a thicker lower jaw, but that is thinner now to help make the snout more pointy... new ears were a quandry, as I didn't want it too wolf-like but floppy mastiff ears didn't look right and as it looks like it's stalking, the forward pricked ears helped with the body language... the problem is, I don't want it too wolf-like as they are always described as big black dogs - although the last wolf was killed a hundred years before my planned period, the sightings of the dogs go back far enough for the witnesses to know what a wolf looks like... I plan on making the feet slightly bigger, and am pondering on the tail... a short tail would remove the wolfishness of it and a bushier tale would just add to it, so a short tail seems likely... but would make it a bit more hyena-ish, but I can live with that... and of course, as it's a Warg under there, it's big, and is currently on a 30mm base...

now, the various Black Dogs are usually harmless, but mostly the theme is that they were a portent of death... in game terms, aside from some tweaking for the shapeshifting Capelthwaite, this doesn't really offer much in the way of a danger, unless of course the reason that they herald a death, is that they are doing the killing...

erm... and yes, I added the demon dogs lipstick down there as well, just seemed wrong not to... no balls yet though...

blacksmiths part 1

not much to show on this so far, but it's a start and is probably the best chance to show the chimney off as I doubt it will be very visible once the building goes up...

the forge is from Ainsty (and comes with the bellows), the anvil was very nicely donated by a Frother... the chimney is blue insulation foam, brickwork carved on, then liquid g/s to have crisp up the edges a bit and to toughen up the foam...

am really torn on which design to go with the building itself, have been checking out various ones on the market... so watch this space for that...