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Wednesday, 20 July 2016

If I only had a brain.

I could while away the hours
Conferrin' with the flowers,
Consulting with the rain;
And my head I'd be a scratchin'
While my thoughts are busy hatchin'
If I only had a brain.
Sorry about that, it must be the sun!  That said, the old brain has been hatchin' a few thoughts lately including this addition to my wheat field.  In all honesty I'm not entirely convinced that this little bit of resin loveliness didn't, in fact, start the whole wheat field build in the first place.  Bought as a pack of three from 'Ristul's Extraordinary Market', which I now see is imported to the United Kingdom by 'Bad Squiddo Games', this was one of those 'must have' purchases.
Having cleaned away the wispy excess, which literally came off with a hot, soapy wash, I set about basing my straw man.  The obvious solution was to use some of the coir mat off cuts from the 'Fields of Gold' build and with the aid of my rotary compass cutter fashioned a section to fit a 30mm 'Warbases' MDF disc.

 However when I offered this up it looked a little forced so I started to hack away with my scalpel, varying the hight of the wheat and creating some space at the front.  Continuing the theme of adding livestock to the field a couple of 'Warbases' rats* took centre stage adding a bit of levity to the piece.  Once assembled it was a simply matter of painting the scarecrow with suitably muted colours, with the added bonus that the wheat field needed only a light dry brush.

*I have no idea what made me buy this pack either and my word they are small!
It was at this point that some more thoughts finished hatchin' as it struck me that what my scarecrow really needed were some crows to scare!  A quick root around the Zombicide plastic mountain that has formed, quite alarmingly, in the spare room unearthed a murder of crows that required the simplest of paint jobs.  
Based and dry brushed they were ready to take their place in the field and torment my scarecrow or possibly act as a fearful omen of some great evil about to befall the land.
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68 comments:

  1. MartinC20 July 2016 at 07:48

    Brilliant, I love how you've managed to make this into a dynamic terrain piece

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    Replies
    1. Michael Awdry21 July 2016 at 21:00

      Thank you Martin, I may have got a little carried away again. ;)

      Delete
  2. Dalauppror20 July 2016 at 07:49

    Realy lovely work Michael !!!

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  3. Clint20 July 2016 at 07:58

    The perfect addition to the wheat field.

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    Replies
    1. Michael Awdry21 July 2016 at 21:01

      Thank you Clint, really pleased with how they both work together.

      Delete
  4. Hobbyworker20 July 2016 at 08:10

    The field looks awsome!

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  5. TamsinP20 July 2016 at 08:33

    Lovely stuff m'Lord :)

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  6. Mike C20 July 2016 at 08:36

    Damnit, Michael. To the dice bag lady's shop again!
    Really good job - that looks amazing.

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    Replies
    1. Michael Awdry21 July 2016 at 21:05

      Whoops, sorry Mike, if it is any consequence I'll be putting a new order in myself soon.

      Delete
  7. The Angry Lurker20 July 2016 at 09:33

    The stuff of nightmares, excellent work Michael!

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  8. Phil20 July 2016 at 09:52

    Creative and awesome job!!!

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  9. Millsy20 July 2016 at 10:27

    Very nice indeed! I must admit I'd have been tempted to add a crow sitting on his hat :-)

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    Replies
    1. Michael Awdry21 July 2016 at 21:06

      Blast, should have bought about that, great idea Millsy.

      Delete
  10. Rodger20 July 2016 at 11:26

    Wonderful work Michael! The crows finish it all off rather nicely.

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  11. Da Gobbo20 July 2016 at 11:57

    Splendid stuff sir!

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  12. Unknown20 July 2016 at 11:59

    Fantastic! They really add to the mood of the piece.

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    Replies
    1. Michael Awdry21 July 2016 at 21:08

      Thank you Brian, I was pleased that I remembered the crows.

      Delete
  13. Paul O'G20 July 2016 at 12:47

    You really are quite annoyingly talented, in an admirable and brilliant way!

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    Replies
    1. Michael Awdry21 July 2016 at 21:09

      Quite possible the nicest thing you could have said Paul, thank you. ;)

      Delete
  14. Ian20 July 2016 at 13:49

    You really put the SCARE in that crow, the hangman's noose really ramps up the tension

    Ian

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    Replies
    1. Michael Awdry21 July 2016 at 21:10

      Thank you Ian, as soon as I saw it I knew it would work for my Witchfinder world.

      Delete
  15. Blaxkleric20 July 2016 at 15:34

    Great stuff, Sir Awdry. Plenty of scare and crow in that scarecrow ;-)

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  16. Paul´s Bods20 July 2016 at 15:51

    Bizarre..only just yesterday I was lookimg up subjects about Moll King aka Moll Flanders..(yep the story was on R4, well a buggered around Version ..what else do I expect from the BBC ?) and Research about her (Moll king´s) life led me onto the subject of pickpockets and a short film titeled (On YouTube) "Murder of crows" Worth a look.

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    1. Paul´s Bods20 July 2016 at 15:57

      Anyways...last comment went mildly off Topic. Love the GallyBagger...I´ll have to make me one for my Imagi-Nation

      Delete
    2. Michael Awdry21 July 2016 at 21:21

      As always Paul, your comments open a line of enquiry that I would never have stumbled across myself, once again my sincere thanks.

      Delete
  17. A J20 July 2016 at 16:33

    Delightfully creepy! Nicely done.

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  18. Luca Tempesta20 July 2016 at 17:23

    absolutely great!

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  19. tim20 July 2016 at 17:25

    That is spook-tastic!

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  20. Terry Silverthorn20 July 2016 at 19:26

    Fantastic stuff Michael!

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  21. Curt20 July 2016 at 19:41

    Lovely. Filed in the 'Must Shamelessly Copy' file. :)

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    Replies
    1. Michael Awdry21 July 2016 at 21:27

      Thank you Curt, good to know that I'm not the only one with that file. ;)

      Delete
  22. Michal DwarfCrypt20 July 2016 at 20:09

    fantastic scarecrow!!!

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  23. Moiterei_198420 July 2016 at 20:56

    Now, that's spooky! Just the right thing to set the scene for your Witchfinder project.

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    1. Michael Awdry21 July 2016 at 21:28

      That is very kind Nick, I certainly found it far too tempting to pass up on.

      Delete
  24. Dannoc20 July 2016 at 21:30

    Amazing so much character to this piece. Still like the fox but those days really add to this too.

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    1. Dannoc21 July 2016 at 08:10

      Oops predictive text - days should have been rats !

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    2. Michael Awdry21 July 2016 at 21:29

      Thank you Dan, Warbases have a lot to answer for.

      Delete
  25. Carrion Crow20 July 2016 at 23:21

    Now, if you could rustle up a pumpkin field or two, Michael, we would have the perfect setting for some headless horseman action. Or Scooby Zoo. Or Ghostbusters...

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    1. Michael Awdry21 July 2016 at 21:36

      Now funny you should mention that as one of the other sculpts has a pumpkin head, then there is that headless horsemen sculpt I backed as a Kickstarter and don't even get me started on Ghostbusters and Scooby Doo!

      Delete
  26. Finch20 July 2016 at 23:58

    Another outstanding addition, Michael. (One might even say that scarecrow is outstanding in his field.)

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    1. Michael Awdry21 July 2016 at 21:37

      Oh that is very good and very kind, thank you Mr. Finch.

      Delete
  27. pulpcitizen21 July 2016 at 07:20

    Love the scarecrow, great addition to the wheat field terrain piece. :)

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  28. Ubique Matt21 July 2016 at 10:27

    Very creepy. Excellent results as always.

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  29. Cyrus21 July 2016 at 12:29

    Brilliant scarecrow, wheat field, rats and crows!

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    Replies
    1. Michael Awdry21 July 2016 at 21:39

      Thank you so much, I seem to be building up quite a menagerie.

      Delete
  30. danny21 July 2016 at 12:35

    Hola
    Magnifico si señor
    un saludo

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  31. DaveD21 July 2016 at 17:24

    Excellent creation Michael. The crows are really good addition

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  32. Simon Quinton 21 July 2016 at 19:14

    Thats superbly creepy Michael even more so with all those nasty crows around him as well!

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    Replies
    1. Michael Awdry21 July 2016 at 21:40

      Thank you Simon, so glad I remembered them.

      Delete
  33. Dick Garrison22 July 2016 at 18:33

    Smashing stuff Michael, the addition of the rats really add some character to the piece.

    Cheers Roger.

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  34. Stefan (aka. Monty)24 July 2016 at 16:49

    Nice work on all the pieces but a simply perfect arrangement on the picture with the field, the scarecrow and the crows. Splendid work, my friend!

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  35. Samuli25 July 2016 at 11:47

    Great looking stuff Michael! The rats on the base are a lovely addition :)

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  36. Zabadak26 July 2016 at 18:59

    I have to admit that you have certainly skill in turning the mundane into the sublime - what a cracking piece.

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