Euro Miniature Expo 2019

It has been a thoroughly splendid day here in the South East of England, made all the more enjoyable for spending it with my good friend the 'Provost Marshal'.  We decided to take in the Euro Miniature Expo in Folkestone.  After a fortifying breakfast we made our way to the venue and immersed ourselves in the variety of exquisitely painted miniatures that varied greatly in genre in scale.  This is the first time that I have been to the show since it has had a change of sponsorship.  I think it would be fair to say that it was down on both entries and traders, but still retained a quality that make it a great day out.

Below, then, are just some of the examples of the work that caught my eye.  Whilst I marvel at the amazing brushwork and the sheer impossibility of the skill on display, I find it so inspiring to see these pieces.  There might have been fewer examples on display, but my word they were impressive!

Desert Hovels

Just the briefest of posts to showcase a couple of dwellings, planned for a Tatooine inspired Star Wars: Legion Board.  These were from 'TTCombat' and were a simple cost effective solution to setting the scene.  Having put them together in no time at all, I was curious to see if they could be enhanced to disguise the angular, rather boxy look?  Wet strength tissue paper and PVA were used to seal the dome with the addition of some ‘eroded’ blue Styrofoam supports around the base.  This was all given a coat of All Purpose Filler.  On reflection I probably used too much on the first building and reigned that back a bit on the second attempt, striving for a crude, Adobe wall like effect.

Once dried additional sand texture was added along with some A/C Greebles from ‘Combatzone Scenery’ with the coiled wire and bulkhead lights coming from ‘Zinge Industries’.   The whole piece was then given a diluted PVA glue protective coat.  Painting just saw them primed in a suitable sand like colour, washed with Agrax Eathshasde and then dry brushed.

From start to finish, this was a refreshingly quick build, which went much as I had hoped.  I had everything crossed when I gave them a spray coat of matt varnish as this has eaten into the blue foam before, but the protective PVA layer seemed to hold and all was well.  With a couple of hovels under my belt and some new techniques secured, I am hoping to progress to a slightly more challenging build next.

Probe Droids

RIEEKAN

We've picked up something outside the base in zone twelve, moving east.

SENIOR CONTROLLER

It's metal.

 The Empire Strikes Back had me transfixed from its opening scene, as the adventures from a galaxy far, far away unfolded for a second instalment. Perhaps it was the fact that I was a little older or that the three year wait had whetted my appetite, but whatever the reason, ‘Empire’ has long been my favourite film of the Star Wars franchise.

So as my entry for the Reconnaissance Bonus Round in this year's 'Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge', I presented three Imperial Probe Droids as seen in that opening sequence. Dispatched by the dark lord, Darth Vader to the far reaches of space, the probe droids were an efficient way to track down the remnants of the Rebel Alliance without committing troops on the ground, their findings beamed back in code to the Imperial Star Fleet.

My Imperial Droids are from the core set of Imperial Assault by Fantasy Flight Games and are 28mm scaled plastic models.  More recently Star Wars: Legion, again by Fantasy Flight Games, has demanded much of my time, but I have been revisiting my Imperial Assault models and looking at which ones could possibly be incorporated into a ‘Legion’ game. Much has been made of the scale discrepancies between the two systems and yes these are a tad small for 'Legion', but I am more forgiving than most and felt that these might be used, in some small way, as scenic elements.

Painting wise they were a relatively simple win, guided as I was by another of the excellent Sorastro YouTube tutorial. I have based two for the ice planet Hoth and one as for a more arid climate, in the vain hope that I might get round to devising my Jawa Scavenger game – don’t hold your breath! Thanks to Barks for the tip regarding LensFX used in the first photograph.