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! 

Keeping the wolf from the door.

I have mixed emotions as I post this, as on the one hand it is lovely to share with you a gift that I have recently completed to commemorate my good friend, the ‘Provost Marshal's’, substantial anniversary* but at the same time I’m somewhat embarrassed as not only is it considerably belated, but this will be the first time that the good chap gets to see it!

*he is now officially old, so this still has a prehistoric connection as we continue, unabated with Dinovember!

That aside given his passion for the Napoleonic era, and more precisely the French forces therein, it seemed like a wonderful opportunity to order up some of the lovely new ‘Perry Miniatures’ retreat from Russia range to compliment my cantieree, an incredibly generous giveaway prize from the wonderful ‘Westfalia Miniatures’.  

Although I hate to admit it they were all great fun to do, probably because all that unnecessary frippery that normally adorns the uniforms of the time is safely covered by the mass of the greatcoats and sheepskin; needless to say there are no immediate plans to, yet again, switch gaming period – regardless as to how hard the ‘Provost Marshal’ tries to persuade me!

So with the final fluttering of fake snow, I am finally able to say, “Happy Birthday old friend”.

Dino Kill!

Continuing with the Dinovember theme, this wonderful piece of resin was picked up a couple of years ago at a Salute in one of those impulse buys that always begs the question, "why?" Well it just looked so very cool!  An 'Acheson Creations' dead Sauropod from their Primaeval Designs it practically called out to me from the 'Magister Militum' stand and before I knew it we were homeward bound.

A simple base colour followed by layers of dry brushing got the skin to where you see it now, which just left the gore to deal with!  The flesh was a simple red shade, but the rib cage and digestive tract, or certainly that which remains, were picked out in different colours before lashings of Tamiya clear red was added.  The secret, such that it is, is to apply the clear red in varying tones, I find some mixed with a diluted black wash helps to give a fresh, aerated look.

The wonderful thing about the blogosphere, particularly the warm, fuzzy little corner that '28mm Victorian Warfare' inhabits, is that there is so much to be inspired by and the following comes as a direct response to the wonderful battle reports that are published on 'Chris' Gaming Journal'.  The software is called 'Comic Life', but I warn you it is wonderfully addictive!

Do click on the pictures to get a bigger version, if you dare! 

Pay it forward...

…the draw!

So as promised the draw for 'Mithridates the Great' took place earlier today using the good old randomiser.

and the lucky recipient is...

Robert Audin of the rather splendid, 'Fiends in Waistcoats'.  My congratulations to Robert, but I require a postal address and the easiest way to do that is to email me at:

twenty eight millimetre (the first part written as numerals and abbreviations) little men at g mail dot (just a full stop will suffice) com

My apologies for the unnecessarily cryptic address, (I should also point out that there are no spaces either!) but I am led to believe that this helps to reduced the likelihood of additional unwanted spam, something we frequently plagued with; I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Dinosaurs Attack!

A new page added!

With the 'Mars Attacks!' Kickstarter now successfully funded* and the self indulgent frippery that is Dinovember gathering pace, I thought I would share another of my collections of Topps Trading Cards.  So this, then, is the briefest of posts to launch the new 'Dinosaurs Attack!' page; the tab is located just below the title banner, but be warned!

*My goodness that turned out to be an expensive introduction to the world's largest funding platform!

'Dinosaurs Attack!' is a trading card series by Topps, released in 1988, and containing 55 cards and 11 sticker cards.  From the offset it needs to made clear that these cards contain images of graphic, comic violence and gore akin to the 1960s 'Mars Attacks!' cards and even the 'Civil War News' collection.  While 'Mars Attacks!' was a parody of alien invasion movies, 'Dinosaurs Attack!' was supposedly inspired by monster movies such as The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and Godzilla.

The story, such as it is, tells of dinosaurs transported through time as a scientific experiment goes horribly wrong.  The imagery is very much of its time, intended to be shocking, but now looking decidedly dated.  Whilst many of our favourite dinosaurs are featured, they are often portrayed with glaring inaccuracies in a bid to sensationalise the series.  Laughably ridiculous in their design, the cards still hold a nostalgic quality of a time when all seemed lurid and vulgar beyond the pale - after all, do you remember fluorescent socks?

Lest we forget

For The Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,

England mourns for her dead across the sea.

Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,

Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal

Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,

There is music in the midst of desolation

And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,

Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;

They sit no more at familiar tables of home;

They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;

They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,

Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,

To the innermost heart of their own land they are known

As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,

Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;

As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,

To the end, to the end, they remain.

Robert Laurence Binyon

28mm Velociraptors!

More fun as 'Dinovember' strives to clear some long forgotten ideas from the periphery of the lead pile. These two sets of beasties, both from 'Ral Partha Europe', were prepared over a year ago and so it is with some relief that they are finally completed.  

Quite different in appearance the miniatures are actually very similar when it comes to scale and so it was a relatively easy decision to make to paint them the same.  The slimmer versions below, were actually a two part piece requiring one of the forearms to be attached before painting.

Once again I can take little credit for the paint palette, this time the inspiration is taken from a post by Paul Pogge on the 'Lead Adventure Forum' where he used the same livery to paint his Tamiya Velociraptors - the fabulous results of which can be found here.

Now I appreciate that current scientific opinion would have us believe that they had feathers, but accuracy be damned - I want my Velociraptors fast and menacing, just like the ones in Jurassic Park!  As Muldoon says,

"They're lethal at eight months, and I do mean lethal. I've hunted most things that can hunt you, but the way these things move…"

Finally another reminder of the 'Pay it Forward' book giveaway, details of which can be found here.

Cheap and Plastic!

Now there is a title to conjure with!  Sadly nothing more  provocative on show than these chaps that I picked up in 'The Works', whilst waiting for an eye appointment.  I've often heard stories of great finds to be had in this most wonderful emporium of tat, but up until now I'd lucked out!

Reasonably sculpted in a 'hardish' plastic I decided that the two Parasaurolophus models needed a more substantial base and were duly attached to a 'Warbases' standard MDF 70mm base, loosely garnered with some pieces of slate, stones and foam packing.   

After a quick spray they were given a succession of colours dry brushed on, taking the marvellous work on display at 'Carmen's Fun Painty Time' as inspiration.  All that remained was to pick out a few details with the brush, which included the eyes and toenails and the transformation was complete at a fraction of the cost that these beasties normally retail for.  

Finally a quick reminder of the 'Pay it Forward' book giveaway, details of which can be found here.

Paying it Forward!

Now this is a post that is long overdue and must be righted immediately!  This book, 'Mithridates the Great', by Philip Matyzak is available to anyone that is interested, but the recipient must be prepared to 'Pay it Forward' once they have finished with it.  This charming idea, with regards to the book, was started when Ian of 'The Blog with no Name' offered up his prize from Seb's 'Back to the Minis' blog   giveaway!  The only provision is that after you have read the book you then either do a blog giveaway for it (if you have one) or simply pass it on to someone else you know with the idea that they do the same. Think of it as a 'Blogging' lending library doing the rounds and enriching as many people as possible!

Ian wrote of the book,

"I really enjoyed the read and learnt about a character I knew nothing about. The book is well written though Philip Matyszak trys a little too hard to be slick and funny, not a normal style for military history but on the whole it works for him.

At 168 pages of written text it romps along and I was soon finished. A few possible battles to wargame if desired and it's worth reading if only for the end. 

So it's a good general read and even better for those who have an interest in this period of war. If your not really interested in the period it still would be a good read, the style and length of the writing making it a quick read that maintains the readers interest."

I have to say that I wholeheartedly concur with him, as not an aficionado of the historical tome, my well documented short attention span preferring the more lighthearted jaunts of MacDonald Fraser for example, successfully navigated this with ease and jolly glad I was too!

If you want to be included in the draw and are happy to abide by the principles of 'Paying it Forward' when you have completed the book, then leave a comment below.  The draw will be held on Sunday 17th November.