Doug K at Battlefield Terrain Concepts does me a solid!

Hey all!

Well, while I do love the arrival of the new guy, he HAS made it impossible for me to attend Fall In!  I am sad about that... my buddy and I travel down there and drink and look at toy soldiers and buy stuff and generally it is awesome.  I also love taking photos of the games and dealer hall and then revisiting it when I miss it!  But what can you do.

However, I did get a gift card some time back for Battlefield Terrain Concepts for Christmas!  Talk about a great gift:)  However... now I won't get to use it!  That sort of stinks, because they make pretty cool terrain!  The corn at the top of this post is there, as is the hill to the left (which was actually a housewarming gift from my buddy!)

So, I got in touch with Doug K at BTC and let him know about having a gift certificate that I can't use.

And what did he do?  He agreed to let my buddy "redeem" it for me and pick some scenery up for me!  So I'll just mail it to him, and in return I get some neat scenery even though I cannot make it to Fall In this year!

Anyway... it is always nice when someone takes care of someone in the toy soldier hobby, and I am real thankful to Doug for taking care of me!

And if you need some scenery, be sure to stop by there awesome stand... these Spanish buildings to the right are from BTC as well!

Anyone know the manufacturer of this figure?

He is a bit small, and is wearing a hat of unknown style... it is certainly not a shako.  Anyone know the manufacturer?

:)

Can't wait to paint up his first army of toy soldiers!!  Only bad side?  No trip to Fall In this year:(  Booo!!

More chateau details being finished

Howdy all!

Working on some more of the "extras"... the well has paint and flock, but is still shiny from a coat of stain.  Did the boxes... got one more thing of barrels to do.  A buddy also has a woodpile that he said he would donate to the cause.

So!  Tonight I might make a few beds and tables and stuff to scatter around.  I started in on the gates, and they look good, except one broke because I was clumsy... and I am out of good glue to repair it.  So, eventually I'll get it done.

Stable walls for the chateau

Howdy folks,

Okay, in the midst of a weekend of relaxing (likely my last one before the baby is born... yikes!) I did five sets of stable walls for the outbuildings.  I left them loose so you can use them in other outbuildings, but for the photo I put them in the long barn.

I also added some straw scattered around the floor... it looks pretty good, even if the flash makes it look a little severe:)

A well for the chateau

Just working on a well for the chateau... never done this much green stuff work before, so I hope it doesn't suck!

Need to find a bucket now... I think I have one somewhere, but not sure where...?

And unfortunately I am out of black spraypaint.  I'll have to see if I can find any hidden away anywhere...

Epic Imperial Guard for sale

Hey folks!

Okay, while looking through my old Warhammer stuff, found a new box of epic Imperial Guard, still on their sprues!

Anyone want them?

If you are interested in buying them, shoot me an email... grenadierguardscampaigns AT yahoo DOT com

Man, I remember that picture on the box cover with SUCH affection... right when the Imperial Guard were first released.  Loved that shot... very non-40k in its own way:)

And if you love epic, let me know... I have a HUGE huge box of loose, unpainted guys just sitting around... hundreds and hundreds of figures... if you want them, better to send them to a loving home than have them wasted here by not killing each other!:)

Sorry folks, but these guys have already found a home!  Thanks though!

Now THIS is some OLD SCHOOL Warhammer!

Hey all!

Okay... was going through some old boxes of figures (a gent across the pond is interested in buying them) and thought I'd share what I found... some SERIOUSLY old school Warhammer figures!  For some it will be fun to reminisce... for others it may be a first time you see them!  Please forgive the paintjob... I was very young!

Some elf wardancers... these were the height of my childhood painting!

A bunch of old school elves... Skarlocs rangers (minus Skarloc and the wardancer guy who was the unit champ) some beastmasters with their animals, Elric, and the guy from a cool four horse chariot (which I couldn't find, dammit!)

Old school elf dragon rider.  He came off his base, but is fine.

Some representatives of THE original plastic set... missing from the photo are the dwarf and the elf!

An awesome regiment of black orcs with halbards.  LOVE the musician with the cymbals, and the champ with the BIG sword.  A very cool unit.

Rugluds Armored Orcs, minus the boss himself... also two random crossbow guys, and two OLD school Citadel orcs... some of the very first released I think.

Some more of the original plastic orcs, a cool orc warboss on a boar, an old school goblin chariot with swordsman and shaman, and a GREAT orc warboss on a wyvern (his wing is off but can easily be reattached.)

Agh, cannot remember the name of this skeleton unit (which is missing a few figures.)  Anyone remember it?

Argh!  Forgetting this one too!  A Dark Elf unit... something like Mengels Manhides?  Note it was half witch elves and half warriors!

Some GREAT original chaos dwarves... plus an original Jugg, some older chaos warriors, and a GREAT chaos mage:)

A few more elves.

Some original Golfags ogres!  I have a standard bearer and another trooper somewhere... I'll have to find them.

Here is that giant, pictured with a Foundry russian for scale.  Notice the painted toenails and fingernails... my giants are FIERCE, baby!

Two of the eight hobgoblins... seven are the trooper to the right.  I think I may have a standard bearer for them, I'll have to look.

The trolls!  I do love the old school GW trolls:)

Anyway... it was a lot of fun to look through these guys... hope everyone enjoys them!

Sorry everyone, these guys have found homes!  Thanks though!

Some sold figures get a new lease on life!

Hey all!

Just thought I'd post this up... I had sold these fellows some time ago, and their new owner has CERTAINLY done them justice... crap, if I knew how cool they would look I would have never sold them!:D

Anyway, please do stop by John's excellent blog, Wargaming in 28mm and Sometimes Smaller and give them a look... and while you are there, check out some of the other awesome miniatures!

Chateau interiors WIP... nearly done!

Howdy folks!

Okay, with some advice from some folks I got working on the chateau interiors.

I did the outbuildings with a stone floor, white painted interiors, and simple framing of the doors.  The stone floors I think turned out fairly cool... the dark spots from the glue are a bit noticeable with the flash, but in person they look fine.  Now I have to go back and touch up the white, create a few horse stall walls, scatter some hay in there (what should I use for that I wonder?) and maybe do a few crates or something in the corners.

The farmhouse I did a bit more on.  I added an upstairs, with a wooden floor and a rug.  I cut out a bit of a space for the chimneys so it would fit on easier (even though it leaves a little space when the floor is installed.  I also left a spot for where the stairs come up, which serves double duty as a finger hole for removing the floor!

When you remove it, you get a downstairs as well, that is split into two rooms.  It isn't totally finished (I need to do something to make the foam that holds up the second floor a little less ugly, but not sure what) but it is near to finished... again, a rug on the floor of the main room, as well as a fireplace (which you cannot see in this photo.)

Of course, now I am running into another question; do I do some basic furniture for it?  I could make some, which would be fiddly... or I could buy some, but would the money spent end up adding value when I sell the whole thing?  Not sure.

BTW... if anyone out there likes the looks of it and is considering purchase and has any questions, let me know at grenadierguardscampaigns AT yahoo.com  !

Thanks for all the help folks!

Advice on the chateau?

Hey all!

Okay... so, I have a plan for the interior of the farmhouse... floor in wood, walls in wallpaper.  I might do a second floor too... would be fairly simple to run a ring around the top and "set" a floor down on it.  We'll see, might be worthwhile.  You can see the basics to the right.

However, now I am not sure what to do with the barn and stable areas.  I am a bit torn... I think I'll paint the walls a simple white to represent the whitewash.  However, what about the floors?  Do I do the floors in the same wood as the farmhouse, to tie them together?  Or do I do paint it grey like a stone floor?

And what about interior walls?  Originally I was going to make a few standing stall walls for the stable that could be moved around as needed, but in my mind I was putting them in the barn, which is huge (the long building to the left in the photo to the left).  I realized that they would most likely be in the L shaped part of the building... namely the piece attached to the farmhouse, with the two big doors which look awful stable-like.  However, that part of the building isn't long enough to really hold any stable walls.  So... what do I do?  And what about the smaller building part at the end of the L shape from the farmhouse?  Should they all just be painted white interiors with wooden floors, and skip any interior walls?

So... anyone have any thoughts about what to do with the interiors of the outbuildings?  Wood floors okay?  What about interior stuff?

Starting to do some mockups of the chateau interior...

Hey all!

Okay, after a long and exhausting week of work, and spending a big chunk of the day preparing for the arrival of the baby, I did take a few minutes to mock up some interior stuff for the chateau.

I'll do some framing for the windows and doors, and probably do a few fireplaces and an interior wall that can be moved around.  Still haven't decided if I'll make or buy furniture... we'll see.  Then I'll move on to the barn and stables.

Thoughts?

Trees for the chateau, and some extras painte

Okay, doing a little thinking about trees... I am obviously going to glue on some bushes, but I am thinking about doing a large tree as well... probably on the front left corner, but should it go elsewhere?

I am also a bit sorry that I didn't offset base now that I found six perfect little old school Warhammer trees that look SO much like trees from an orchard... that would have looked awesome.  I may have to do an accompanying orchard just because.  Here are three pictured to the right.

I also did up one of the sets of barrels... I based it so that it would both match the chateau grounds as well as be useful independently... so it looks best placed towards the side, where it hooks up with the grass already in the chateau, although it could be center placed if you wanted to.

Chateau is glued down, flocked, and getting close to finished

Hey all!

Okay, had to set up the outside workbench for this step... AND go through a LOT of flock... but the chateau is coming along!

Here is a shot of the courtyard.  You can see a few of the "extras" I am painting up to scatter in there, including some barrels and some crates.  You can also see some grey gravel in front of the doors... that is proper colors now.

I have to figure out how to mount the doors... here you can see a failed mechanism.  However, I am including the small stone wall to indicate that the door is barricaded.

The corner.  You can see the back door of the farmhouse here.

The back side.  You can see a bit of grey scatter here... that is in front of several doors that didn't get grass and needs to be painted to match the other ground.

Angle shot of the back side.

Here is a shot with the roofs off... I painted the insides black for now.

I am not sure how detailed to do the inside.  I am tempted to leave it, but the idea of a semi-finished interior is awful tempting.

I have a buddy who jokingly said "Drop it off here for a month and I'll do it."  He loves doing the interior stuff, and LOATHES leaving stuff half-finished.  As a sample, here is some interior work he has done in the past.

So... do I attempt it myself?  Or drop it off at his place and let his natural instinct to model (and his inability to not work on something in front of him?) knock it out? :) 

Anyway... some outdoors work left to go, but most of it small-scale.  Then the interiors, and then off for sale!

Base is made... painting comes next

Howdy all!

Okay, the base is done.  I went with the center mount, even though everyone turned out to recommend the offset mount!  Dammit, I was sure no one would like that idea:(  I have to admit, I am a little sad now, but I cannot bear the idea of redoing it (plus, it took all of my white glue and all of my black spray paint, so I can't).  Shucks.  Oh well... hopefully it looks fine anyway:(

Here are some shots WITHOUT the flash so you can really appreciate the weathering I did using a light stain.  I'll get the base painted up this morning.

Okay, need some help... thoughts on mounting?

Okay, keep the randy jokes to yourself.  I mean the mounting of the chateau!

So... do I center mount it (as seen at right) with about 3 inches all around?  Bad side... harder to run a road right up to the edge.  Or do I offset a bit so you CAN run a road right up to the gate?  I would then have a bit of space on two sides I could fill in with a garden or something similar.

Thoughts?