From The Ground Up - Vol. 1 "Battlecruiser in a Bottle"

    Welcome to a new semi-regular article wherein my exploits and adventures in the art of scratch-building are made known! I thought "From The Ground Up" was a fitting title as most of the materials I use are found literally lying on the ground somewhere on my daily travels. I've been amassing quite a collection and no doubt to an outsider I would seem insane, but you know the old saying: "One man's trash is another man's VB Class Industrial Freighter..." Let's git garn shall we?

"How are you going to get THAT in THERE?" Pt.1

    Various 'that's what she said' jokes aside, I found that questions of this nature were a reoccurring theme throughout my latest galactic venture. Everyone should be familiar with the old ship-in-a-bottle concept, yes? Well, I figured I'd give it a crack. So sit down, get comfortable, make yourself a cup of tea and have a nice, long and learned look at my aforementioned crack:

    Sorry about the horrible photos, the light in my room is awful and the camera refused to focus correctly! It was a bloody fiddly ordeal constructing this little bastard and there was no shortage of incidences involving far too much glue, far too little accuracy, and far too many fingers. Nonetheless, have at a couple of photos of what it looked like before I decided to get sloppin'...

 Now it's time to work on the base/enclosure! I'm going with the idea of hiding the wire with cotton fibre in a trail of smoke leading down to a dome at the bottom, painted to represent a planet. Who knows if I'll ever actually house it in the bottle but at this point I'm preeeeetty sure it still fits.
    Well, I've got a lot more that I've been sticking together as of late, so expect another installment of From The Ground Up very soon!

- The Witchfinder In General.

POOR BLOODY EFFORT MATE

   I realise now that I've posted an average of one measly post per year these last couple of 365's and, quite frankly, I am ashamed. I have a lot of time on my hands, being unemployed due to mental health issues I am currently trying get under control and I spend most of my time focusing on my main creative outlet: music, so all I have are two rather tenuous excuses as to my inactivity.

   BUT...
   Recently I've found adequate inspiration to start two projects I intend on completing before the year is through. The first being Space Fights, my poor man's Star Wars knockoff themed project, wherein I try to find appropriate models to represent certain identifiable characters from the films, but with a nice Rogue Trader aesthetic. Buggery knows why, but surprisingly the whole idea was sparked into motion upon rearranging the display shelves for my other secret love: classic Lego sets! It was when I was trying to find a nice place for my Snowspeeders (hardly classic by my terms, but brilliant models regardless) when I noted the aesthetic joy I felt for the Rebel Fighter Pilot uniforms, the vibrant orange, a colour I'd not yet been inclined to experiment with too much, really tickled my fancy and as I'd not too long ago picked up an old pot of Hobgoblin Orange which was uncovered in an old storage area of my not-so-local-one-hour-train-ride-away hobby shop, I thought to myself: GET TO IT SONNY BLOODY JIMBO JONES! This will be no means an easy task to undertake, as there are so many important characters I want to portray, but I'm planning on having at least 10 or so completed miniatures before 2016 is lain to rest in the sepulchre of time forever passed.
 
   The second project? "A Noble Cause" as noted by a fellow member of the community...

From The Stuff of Legends archive.

   I've always loved the style of these buggers, they've got more detail crammed into them than an extremely detailed comparison I'm at a total loss to think of! And the character! Oh what character! Though I do have a certain soft-n-squishy spot for the later marines, with their chunky legs and all, these original Bob Naismith sculpts really are the cream of the crop in these weary ocular sightglobes of mine. Produced a couple of years before I was even born as the first physical realisation of Rick Priestly's brief, these guys really hit the mark.

   A few painted examples can be found in Bryan Ansell's collection which can be viewed over at The Citadel Collector

   So, before I waste any more time on this wordy post: it's off to the painting table as I have a crack at the Death Squad marine, as the only other one I own at the moment (Missile Launcher) is taking a bath in acetone to remove some nasty blue enamel... Soon I plan to own them all, I've seen most of these guys in a fair abundance except for the Captain so I'm fairly confident I'll be able to complete this project before the year's out.

  Until next time, when hopefully I'll have something more completed, Hail and Kill!
And thanks again to all 4 of my followers for your fleeting interest!

- The Witchfinder In General

SPACE FIGHTS

A long time ago in a painting queue far, 

far away....

Episode I

A NO HOPE

It is a time of space fights.
Rabble  spaceships, striking

from  their  invisible  hideouts,
have won an initial victory against

the purportedly bad Galaxial Imperium.

During the fights, Rabble spies

stole secret plans to the Imperium's
ultimate weapon, the DEADLY SPHERE,

an armoured space station with enough force to

destroy an entire planet and its inhabitants to death.

All this has no bearing whatsoever on Duke Skywarper, 

ex-Rabble starfighter turned mercenary-merchant-gun-for-hire.

Duke and his Robert-Man™ brand robot sidekick Artie.

    2015 was a busy and turbulent year, though my count of completed miniatures is higher than last year's, it's still not very many. I'd had an Iron Claw space pirate Dambo Kweltz sitting around for aeons, waiting for some sort of paintjob but I had no idea where to even begin! Then, in a spark of inspiration it hit me, and now: Space Fights is born.
    I've managed to scour my collection for suitable characters and, though incomplete, here's what I've come up with so far:

Prinn Zeslaja, the royal on the run.

  

Jann Szoło, losing his colour.

And finally, wearing only his primer...

Master Y'Odour with his legendary "Light Hummer".

    To be continued...

Two-timer

"ORF ME BLOODY PROPERTY YA TINY GIT!"

These two miniatures represent the entirety of my completed projects from over these last two or so years. That's right, two miniatures. Whoops, the building also counts. I don't get much time to allocate to the hobby as I don't have any reason other than my own enjoyment to paint, and I'm a slow painter as it stands. Anyway, here they are, my Grenadier halfling (Julie Guthrie sculpt) & Metal Magic/Hobby Products barbarian. They could do with a few more highlights in certain areas but I'm tired of never finishing anything I start so I'm willing to overlook it, for now... It'll probably be a while until my next post. The camera on my phone is pretty bad and the lighting situation isn't flattering but whatever. Enjoy.

- Witchfinder in General.

Daddy Broke-legs the Giant Spider

Couldn't find a photo that wasn't from someone else's blog so this post will be a TEXT ADVENTURE this time. Found one I took before the pinning:

From WHFB3:
"The darker and more secluded areas of the forest in the Old World, South Lands and Lustria are home to many forms of creature. The Giant Spider is one such monstrosity, a creature rarely seen, but frequently spoken of by those whose daily duties take them into the woodlands. Giant Spiders are known to inhabit the inner regions of the Forest of Shadows in The Empire as well as the Loren Forest of Bretonnia.

Physique. Giant Spiders are ugly, hairy, creeping monsters that shamble and skitter as they move, filling the forest with unnerving rattling noises. They are dark coloured and very difficult to see except for their countless eyes which catch the light like small black gems. Boastful woodcutters tell of creatures as big as houses. and who is to say that they are mistaken? Giant Spiders can certainly grow to a very large size.

Alignment. Spiders can be malicious and hateful creatures, although most are simply animals hunting in the only way they know how. They can be Evil or Neutral.

Base Size. 40 x 40mm or as appropriate for model.

Special Rules. 

1. Spiders are immune to all psychology excepting that they dislike fire. A spider attacked by fire weapons, or moved to within 4" of a burning building, must take a panic test.
2. Spiders cause fear 6" in all creatures under 10 feet.
3. Spiders attack with a poisoned bite that adds +1 to their strength. Models taking damage are not necessarily dead, but may be paralysed, although they are removed from the table as casualties.
4. Spiders are not only very powerful creatures, their mouth parts are especially designed for penetrating deep into a victim's body. Accordingly, any blows struck by them have a better than average chance of penetrating armour. An enemy's armour saving throw is reduced by -1 if struck by a Giant Spider.
5. A Spider's chitinous armour gives it a basic saving throw of 4, 5 or 6.
6. Spiders may move through wooded areas without penalty. THEY MAY ALSO ASCEND TREES INSTEAD OF A NORMAL MOVE - THIS PUTS THEM OUT OF CHARGE REACH OF CREATURES UNDER 10 FEET TALL. THEY MAY DESCEND TREES AS A NORMAL MOVE, OR DESCEND AND CHARGE UP TO 5" AS A CHARGE MOVE."

How bloody cool is that last rule?!?!?! (CAPSLOCK FOR EXCITEMENT!). Imagine: a group of intrepid adventurers, slowly treading their own path through thick and foreboding woodlands... They hear a faint rattling from the trees above and before the elf in the group has the chance to recognise what danger lurks atop the canopy BAM! A giant fucking poisonous spider drops on top of them!

Well, unexpectedly this morning there was one waiting for me in my mailbox! It leapt out at me screeching "PIN MY BLOODY BROKEN LEGS YOU TWAT!" so I promptly got to work on doing so. I'll post photos when I've actually painted the blighter (I have an unhealthy habit of photographing naked lead, bloody susso). Until then: WATCH THE TREES AND KEEP THOSE HOLES IN THE SIDES OF YER HEADS PEELED FOR THAT EERIE RATTLING FROM ABOVE.

P.S. Next up I need to acquire myself a Giant Scorpion as I am both: a) A Scorpio & b) A massive fan of Scorpions (the band). So it only seems fitting that I have an 'eavy metal Scorp in my collection.

- The Witchfinder In General.

Newcomers & Outers

    The sleepy village of Fyndertowne is growing in population and I must extend my utmost gratitude to Craig at Turnkey Miniatures for including the little stowaway feline I wasn't expecting, Fyndertown is now safe from those dirty ratmen raids! But what about those rowdy drunken newcomers? There's a few Tom Meier & Murch sculpts in the mix here which is nice, but in all truthfulness my favourites are the Metal Magic recasts (on the left).

    And thanks to Mr. Conway on the FB group the FCR-87 now has a pilot!

Someone thinks he can steer with his toes... Bloody lazy bugger.

That's it for now I reckon, back to painting my woodcutter...

- The Witchfinder In General.

VIllagers WIP

    Right, well. I went for a nap at midday and woke up at 10pm yesterday. Today I rose at 4am, getting better but still off by a fair bit... A lot of sleeping and not enough hobbying, can't say it's been the most productive few days...
    I noticed the other night that I have a staggeringly low amount of unarmed/civilian types among my leadpile so I've set out to tip the balance. This week I am focusing on my entry for Chico's 7th challenge: a Metal Magic barbarian. In keeping with my recent obsession with civilian/townsfolk minis and with the help of a generous portion of green stuff I've begun work on a base for this guy to make it look like he's chopping wood (or, as it kind of looks like, attacking a bloated fungal stump-being deep within the forest). The model itself shouldn't prove to be too much of a hassle to paint as he's predominantly flesh tone but the composition of the base is what's troubling me most, I need to find the perfect balance between simplistic minimalism and over-the-top detail but I've probably gone and buggered it all by adding all those mushrooms. Here's what he looks like at the moment:

    I might have the tendency to go a bit overboard with these challenges and never actually finish anything and this time is no exception but I fully intend on finishing this guy before the deadline. The base just needs two more things: a woodpile & a section of log to cut (at the moment it just looks like he's about to take out his savage frustrations on an innocent tree stump).
I'm sick of seeing naked lead and green stuff so I'm making a start on the colorization process as soon as I hit Publish. I usually undercoat in white but I'm considering changing my ways for this model.
    Feels good to have some motivation again.

- The Witchfinder in General.

Amputee

Coming soon. 

May or may not have anything to do with Chico's 7th challenge.

May or may not be a mystery.

...

Stumped yet?

...

(couldn't help myself)

- The Witchfinder in General

Minimal Progress

    Not much to report this time, just thought I'd drop in and put up some photos of the FCR-87's progress. She's getting there slowly but things are starting to fall into place inside, outside is a whole other kettle of fish. I really don't know what I'm gonna do with the exterior at this point. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cockpit improvements, swiveling chair.

What kind of a spaceship would it be without joysticks?

Captain Mainwaring takes no notice of the guitar strings used as pipes & inspects the ongoing construction.

    The metal components in the cockpit and by the exit hatch are from Antenocitis Workshop (cheers to Gareth over at Drums in the Deep for the recommendation), the brass components you see are from an old model ship kit I found in a bin (particularly proud of the joysticks I might add) and the ladder in the third photo was an absolute nightmare to assemble! I was dealing with components far too small for my clumsy fingers and suffice to say there was a lot of swearing and glue-caked fingertips involved. These were the ingredients: wire and these bloody tiny and frustratingly difficult to work with key shaped whatsits:

What I had to do was glue one "key" to the end of the wire, cut it to length, glue the other key and then trim the keys to fit in the wall. Sound easy enough... except these bloody keys were tiny!

The key what opens yonder door of hardship.

    I think I might be struggling out of my paintless slump though, the age old remedy that is buying more minis has got me inspired. It may not be much but it's either a start or a desperate cry for help:

Looking crate.

     The crates are also from Antenocitis Workshop, they've got some nice stuff there. I've ordered in the Spacelords range Ship's Crew and some other miscreants from EM4, some Metal Magic civilian types from Turnkey, a Citadel giant spider and a huge lot of GW dungeon tiles (two sets boxed, two others loose) from ebay & a pilot from the RT landspeeder to sit at the helm of the FCR-87 from a legend on the Oldhammer fb group, cheers for that mate! Can't wait 'til the mail starts getting chunkier.

- The Witchfinder in General.

Creating the FCR-87™

    Well, due to complications unforeseen, I've failed the 6th Chico's Challenge. I got a bit too excited and decided not to strip my LE02 marine of its previous black undercoat and just spray on a quick'n'thin layer of white over the top. But to my dismay, however, whoever had this mini previously had undercoated it in something strange which reacted with the white spray and blobbed up, obscuring details. So naturally into the Dettol he went and he's sitting in front of me with a fresh white priming, waiting patiently to be painted.

I might've failed to paint up the marine in time but I decided shortly after my last post (after weeks of deliberation, procrastination and design sketches which kind of went out the window once I found something suitable to use as the main chassis) to assemble some sort of spacecraft for my growing (yet still naked) warband while the marine sat in the hospital grade bath. The following is a press release sent out by FynderCorp® whilst the vessel is in its construction and conception stages:

    Small time merchants beware... there's a brand new compact cargo runner coming soon and it's got its eyes all over your hard earned credits! Introducing the latest in lightweight transporter crafts, the FynderCorp® FCR-87™ (FynderCorp® Cargo Runner™) aka: 'The Facker'™.

    This compact craft is simply stunning! Licensed to carry 6 humanoids comfortably (or 7 at a squeeze) with no cargo on board, plus its very own pilot (pilot not supplied). What it lacks in storage is only doubly compensated with it's speed and manoeuvrability, due to it's aeronautodynamic™ design specially forumulated™ by a congress of the universe's top leading ahead-of-the-rest engineers. And the extras!

    The FCR-87™ is a fully equipped cargo, transport & reconnaissance vessel with all the functioning capabilities implied therein! The sleek design accommodates for convenience with the spacious fold-down* airlock stair laden side-exit doorway hatch, allowing easy access to or from the lush interior. An even roomier aperture lies directly opposite: the beautiful fold-down* cargo bay, allowing your cargo to be easily loaded, accessed and unloaded with all the comforts of home or away. Speaking of home, let's take a look inside!

[:End Report:]

There's a lot of work still yet to do!

    I'm short on technical supplies at the moment but I've ordered in some parts... Does anyone know where I could find some suitable interface type doodads to flesh out the cockpit with? It's bare as hell in there.

The general shell of the craft is an AirWick scent dispenser that was lying around unused, figured it'd be a nice shape to start with.

And here's a fitting shot of the FCR-87 from behind as we reach the end of the post...

- The Witchfinder in General.

*Does not actually fold down.

Chico's Challenge 666

It's been a while since my last post so here's something to sink yer dirty chompers into...

Time to step up to the challenge! Chico's Challenge that is, this week being sci-fi themed (how very apt as I've just watched the featurette on the models used in Red Dwarf). I have a few naked Rogue Trader minis that have been waiting for a lick of the sable for yonks now so I thought I'd start off by painting up my LE02 Space Marine, the very first of its kind (as I'm lead to believe (seewhatIdidtherehurrr)). After the painfully painstaking task of removing the mould lines (they were atrocious, still not completely satisfied with the end result) comes the task of selecting my colours.

I've had a geez around at painted versions of this mini and I can safely say, although tempting as it is, I'm going to shy away from the silver scheme as portrayed in the mighty tome Heroes For Wargames and possibly outfit this magnificently detailed miniature in a shade of either green or yellow (or both if want to get all aussie about it, but I don't because that's gross and he's not exactly competing in the commonwealth games now is he?). But after seeing how well oldm8 BlueyVT's Alternative Armies Ion Age not-marines turned out with their olive and bone scheme (which reminds me, gotta finish Problemfoot), I'm inspired and thinking of doing something along the same lines... But I'm a terribly indecisive man so who knows how this will turn out! (or if it will even turn out at all!)

Given that the challenge begins on a public holiday for us convicts down south I don't really have much of an excuse not to get started!

Right... enough of the blue wafflling and onto the painting! Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Stay tuned for photos of my efforts if I actually get around to making any.

- The Witchfinder in General.

Sculpting II

Layer 2: Feet & Pants.
   Haven't done much today but I have managed to add another layer. It's looking pretty dodgy at the moment but I'm hoping I can fix it.

- The Witchfinder in General.

Navigator Concept Sketches

Been doodling around with some ideas for my RT navigator and I was thinking (there I go again...), as you can probably tell from the scan, of taking the 'third-eye-mutant' description and taking a little stroll with it. I'm not convinced on most of them (it's gonna be hard to sculpt thtat third eye) but I'm liking the one with a cable running from his third eye into a handheld display unit. It's bloody stupid. Keep in mind these are just sketches, have a geez...

Far-left 'Saturday Night Fever' trooper.

Most of what I've done looks too much like imperial guard troopers, which I'm trying to avoid... Back to the drawing board I guess. More to come probably.

- The Witchfinder in General.

Sculpting?

I've been thinking (usually a bad sign)... I need a Navigator for my RT warband... and since I don't have one I thought: bugger it I'll try and make one meself! Thus what follows is my first experimental foray into sculpting with GS... I'm not expecting great results, I've never done anything on this scale before but here goes!

First step: The Wire Frame.
   I couldn't find any paperclips lying around (and it's too late to go down the shops to get some) so I used a bit of copper wire I found. Stripped the insulating plastic and wound the sucker round itself til it was sturdy enough. Made a basic humanoid shape (glued the arm/chest section on for stability)... Forgot to take a photo before I started adding GS, got a bit too excited.

Second step: Fleshing it Out.

Surfing kung-fu navigator navigating.

   I've managed to get this little bugger to strike a dynamic pose, designed to look like he's navigating (pointing) which way to go. It's peen a little difficult to keep the pose due to the softness of the wire being used but I'm hoping that once the first layer of GS dries it'll stiffen everything up. I'm pretty happy with the pose so far and I think he's gonna size up well to the RT minis, somewhere in between 25-28mm. I'm gonna have to cut his wire head off when I get started on that area but it's a nice little indicator at this point of his proportions. Time to do some concept sketches while the first layer hardens so I have a rough idea of what I want to achieve...


coming soon: 
Third step: More Fleshing Out. Time to start working on the clothing...

- the Witchfinder in General.

Terrain: Hedgerow

It's been a while since I've attempted to make any terrain. Everything I've started so far, many a bald and naked hill, has yet to see completion. I'm going with something small and simple, a hedgerow. This way I have no excuse not to finish it as I have all the materials and tools I need.

I started by sawing a 11cm (well, 10.9) by 2cm section of 0.5cm thick wood to use as the baseplate, I had a bit of this wood lying around from the old house as I figured it be perfect for a sturdy baseplate. Anyway, from there I cut a section of polystyrene roughly 3cm high and 10cm long and glued it to the base, pva and sand and bob's your mother's dad's brother in law, ready to paint black.

Foundry mini for scale, cat for cat.

From here it was simple; drybrush the base, paint the polystyrene section a dark shade of green & glue on some "Spring Undergrowth". There ya go, a hedgerow in buggerall time.

- The Witchfinder in General.

Secrets of Photography 101

     I learnt something astonishingly astounding whilst taking this photograph of an updated Problemfoot... I learnt that the key to a successful photograph of your miniature is...

Beer.

A slab of it.

Containing VHS tapes.

    Problemfoot still seems to have a problem with his foot but the colours are starting to appear elsewhere... Bugger New Zealand and Peter Jackson's portrayal of halflings, Tasmania's own Jimmy Boag's got it right.

- The Witchfinder in General.

Oldhammer Legacy Warband: Contribution: Parte the Firste

Problematic foot.

     As no doubt some of you out there will know, over on the Oldhammer forum there’s a bloody great painting challenge going on right now. Yes friends, I speak of the legendary interracial Oldhammer Legacy Warband muster for which my entry is a halfling from Julie Guthrie’s Personalities range originally released by Grenadier (I think) and then picked up by Mega Miniatures (from whence I aquired it not long before the collapse). I chose this particular model mainly due to the smooth and bare shield. A little oldschool shield painting is definitely in order! The design that sprung to mind is fairly basic, being an icecapped mountain with either a blue sky or a sunset behind it and the arrow of law below. I might be getting a bit ambitious though, it’s been a while since I’ve touched brush to lead with paint inbetween. I hope I do both the miniature and the warband justice. This is the progress I’d made so far two nights ago:

 Stage the Onest: Thee Fleshe.

     I started writing this post (primarily the intro) as a distraction from painting the bloody right foot. I’ve tried three times now to get it looking right but it just doesn’t want to look good! One foot looks passable at this stage, but oh no, not the other one. In the end I just gave up and began working on the clothing, which is the stage I am currently at: Stage the Seconde: Thee Cloathe, more to come on this in the next couple of days.

     

    In other news I’ve finally moved house, being reunited with my lead after so many months, to a nice quiet place out where things are generally greener all around. It’s a lovely change from the squalid inner city hovel of untold dirty secrets I previously inhabited, though I will certainly miss its charm, the pleasant memories and its close proximity to everything. On my latest venture into the land of scraped skies I picked up a pot of Hobgoblin Orange and some old Yellow Wash, both practically full (the wash was unopened!) which was a nice little suprise on such a wet and miserable day.

     I almost forgot! A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a $20 box of 160+ mainly early 90s/some 80s miniatures at the op shop (charity store to you foreigners), which I promptly purchased! When I got home the real fun began as I started to sort out what was inside. Turns out it contained a small High Elf army (100+ models) circa 1992 with a high contingency of Marauder minitures, two bolt throwers (but only one crew), two High Elf chariots, four ‘92 halflings, four 3rd ed plastic orcs, a bunch of 3rd/4th ed card buildings and to top it off a bloody (albeit in considerable disrepair with a snapped wing and gluegloop detail obstruction) Maraduer ‘Thaindon’s Dragon’. Bloody bargain!

Well, it’s time to quit the babbling and get to painting. 

Until we meet again: 

Arise all ye faithful to the sword!

- The Witchfinder in General.

Some things what came in the mail...

Some heroes for wargames...