Tengu Miniatures Kelly & Hal

As we edge ever closer to the start of the '4th Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge', there is just time to for these two 'Tengu Miniatures' to shuffle of the painting table.  Not finished in time for 'Zomtober' and as not eligible to qualify for the 'Challenge' as they already had paint on them it seemed like a good opportunity to get them cleared away before the madness ensues.  

Tengu Miniatures really are tremendous sculpts to work with and these two are no exception.   Great fun to do, but it's back to prepping and priming for me!

A 'short' Knight's Tale

A quick bonus post to publicly thank Andrew 'Loki' Saunders of 'Loki's Great Hall' fame for this rather splendid addition to my collection.  I have long admired Andrew's brushwork and so was thrilled when I heard that I had scooped this fine miniature as part of his 75,000 page view giveaway.

Even better in the flesh, as it were, I decided that this brave little chap needed an adventure all of his own and set about creating a silly story using the 'Comic Life' software that I invested in last month.  

Just as a bit of added fun I have created two versions, but can't decide which one I prefer - so I leave it to you, good reader to choose.  Do take part in the poll, published at the top of the side bar and I'll delete the runner up at the end of the week.  

 

So will it be the full colour version...

Or do you prefer...

I would like to point out that no Dragons, or for that matter brave Knights were injured in the making of this comic strip; in fact the Dragon was abled played by 'Spiny' the Spinosauras, a new arrival to 'Awdry Towers' - another splendid birthday gift from the 'Saintly Mrs. Awdry'!

28mm African Big Game

Just a bit of fun to mark the completion of 'Biggles Hunts Gig Game', some of my very own big game!  Discovered, lurking at the bottom of the lead pile, the lion and crocodile are from 'Steve Barber Models', whilst I think the Water Buffalo is from 'North Star Military Figures'.  

A quick size comparison shot with a 'Copplestone Castings' armed Archeologist, who was last seen fleeing the edge of the table closely followed by the snarling lion!  

Book Review#19. - Biggles Hunts Big Game

Every so often, one finds oneself reflecting on times gone by, reminiscing perhaps on days when the innocence of youth was blissfully unaware of the responsibilities of adult life.  I have many fond memories of this time, but perhaps one of the most endearing is that of my father reading to me at bedtime.  'Just William', 'Stalky & Co,', even Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress' were all dutifully read to the young, Master Awdry, but the favourites were always the rip snorting adventures of Biggles - Air Detective!

So it was that I caught myself perusing the pages of 'Fleabay' searching for copies of the fabled exploits, written by Captain W. E. Johns when I came across, 'Biggles Hunts Big Game'.  Before long a reassuringly tatty edition found itself on the doormat of 'Awdry Towers'.  The story sees our hero investigating some high quality counterfeit stamps and currency.  When an attempt to bribe him fails the villains have little choice but to try and kill him. Avoiding their clutches, the Team track down the counterfeiting operation to an exclusive hunting lodge in Africa.  There are twists and turns a plenty, with much derring-do and a spectacular comeuppance in the closing pages.

Although originally aimed at younger boys the story still holds some of its charm today and I have to confess that I thoroughly enjoyed been transported back to those halcyon days of childhood.  I have no doubt that a couple more editions might find their way onto the bookshelf before too long, but this story receives a favourably three crowns from me.

The Boer War in 3D!

This post sees the creation of yet another new page here at ‘28mm Victorian Warfare’ entitled, “The Boer War in 3D” and is the direct result of an impulsive bid on an online auction; the win, a rather splendid Stereoscope, which was then very kindly presented to me by my father.

This peculiarly, Victorian source of entertainment allows the viewer to gaze in wonderment as the characters from the Scriptures, fairy tales or even the news of the day miraculously come to live before their very eyes.  Viewing two identical images that are placed side by side through a lens ‘tricks’ the eye into seeing the images in three dimensions.  

Although my viewer came with a variety of slides it was the volume imaginatively entitled ‘The South African War Through the Stereoscope' that piqued my curiosity.  Here were thirty-six slides depicting events in the Boer War and published by Underwood & Underwood.  It is clear that there is an element of sensationalism to the images, many of which will have been reconstructed for the benefit of the camera, but they do provide an invaluable resource from the point of view of uniforms, equipment and even tactics of the British Army at the turn of the twentieth century. 

Those that have witnessed a stereoscopic image first hand, or perhaps its more modern incarnation, the 'Viewfinder', will appreciate that there is indeed a magical quality to it, not unlike the phenomenon of 3D cinema or television we have today.  It was whilst reviewing the slides that I was struck with the idea of trying to recreate them on this most humble of weblogs.  These days, if you are prepared to trawl for long enough, the World Wide Web will eventually deliver a solution as it wasn’t too long before I stumbled upon a various ‘fixes’ for my problem, the most common being to animate the stereoscopic slides as a 'GIF' (Graphics Interchange Format) and so that is exactly what I set about doing.  The process involved scanning both images, cropping as required and then creating an animation at the highest speed possible.  The results are not perfect by any means, with many of the images becoming difficult to view due to the jerky nature of the animation, but at their best, one or two actually start to give the illusion of depth!  

One of the original slides

Once an animated slide is ‘clicked’ on the page it can be viewed in more detail in the normal way.  It is also probably worth mentioning, purely as a disclaimer, that every effort has been taken to faithfully reproduce the text accompanying each slide at that any inaccuracies were as they would have been presented to the general public at the time.

A 28mm Glyptodon!

So as Dinovember comes to a close there is just enough time for one last prehistoric beastie to shuffle off the painting table.  Not technically a dinosaur, the Glyptodon was a large, 'armoured' mammal, not dissimilar to an armadillo that lived during the Pleistocene period.   

This lump of resiny goodness is a DeeZee Miniature purchased through the consistently reliable 'Arcane Scenery & Models', a company that never fails to deliver top quality service.  It comes with a substantially moulded base with rocks and vegetation and in the end I opted to keep it as it was, with just the addition of a few tufts.

He is quite a chunk of resin as you can see from the above picture, especially in comparison to Lofty Earnshaw, a 'Copplestone Castings' Dinosaur hunter.  Unsure how to paint him, I opted for a 'beaver' look for the head and then built the 'armour' up with a succession of dry brushed layers.

So as we usher in December it is time for me to head up to the loft to dig out the Christmas decorations, but before I do, I can enjoy one last look at the fun that was Dinovember.  Not a bad little haul and although a piece of self indulgent nonsense it did prove a wonderful opportunity to clear away some bits and pieces, that had for far too long, been cluttering up the painting table.

Birthday time again!

Although we may have stopped counting the actual amount of years that have elapsed, yours truly still gets excited by the prospect of another birthday, particularly if it involves pressies!  More often of late I have found myself embracing the concept of 'wish lists' and this year I have been spoilt rotten by the 'Saintly Mrs. Awdry'.  Imagine my delight when these two marvellous boxes arrived at 'Awdry Towers'.

Wonderful and shiny, but not lead this time!  Since my first couple of games with Mike, 'The Dark Templar' Reynolds, I was absolutely hooked on the X-wing miniatures game.  So much so that I have been quietly amassing a sizeable fleet of star fighters and this seemed like a wonderful excuse to add a 'KR Multicase' to the wish list, complete with pre cut foam trays.  

With the addition of an accessories case, I am able to pack my miniatures away safely and I have to say that I am absolutely thrilled, now I just have to find someone to play with!  With the birthday celebrations due to continue at the weekend, there is no denying that I've been a very lucky boy indeed and before long it will be Christmas!