Intergalactic Fried Chicken

So I went to IKEA on a saturday afternoon. Usually an experience that I don't like at all as I hate crowded shopping malls. This time though my eye fell on a set of wooden containers.

Using my thumb as infallible The Right Scale indicator I knew I had found what I was looking for. For a long time I've been experimenting with cardboard and bamboo containers but it didn't really work. These ones had the right size and the right Starwarsy form of doors to create a hive of scum and villainy. But more, I found the building for the Intergalactic Fried Chicken fastfood chain sign I made a while ago.

 

Venturing into the Dungeon

I played a game of Dungeon Venture with my daughters and it was great. The game is a Heroquest kind of boardgame. Very simple and elementary, but thats good. The players are represented by a group of four heroes: a barbarian, a thief, a wizard and a dwarf. if there are less than four players the characters get divided, which is great because this way you have NPC's or hirelings.
My little daughter didn't like the chainmail bikini barbarian pictured on the character sheet, which made me decide to change everything and use three Grenadier female characters and a duck, from Fenris Games.

The board was a standard set-up from the game, but instead of the original board I used WotC Dungeon Tiles I got off the Amazon Death Trap. I would have used the original Citadel Dungeon Floor Plans if I had them. Those had this special animated feature film kind of feel, not computer game graphics. I experimented a bit with some downloaded ones I printed (used in the pictures)but it didn't really work.
I used Reaper bones and Fenris furniture and the doors are from Thomarillion.

Then there were the monsters. The scenario was a story about the lair of an ogre terrorizing the local village. there was a room with Kobolds and the last room had the ogre and his orc guards. I also changed this in tiny 15mm lizardmen from Ral Partha Europe.

The orcs were substituted by a Great Goblin (36mm From Beyond ghoul) and his goblin guards (Harlequin and Midlam). All by Kevin Adams.

The game went great, me being the dungeon master. I didn't read the rules that well so there was a bit of confusion, but it worked anyway.

The girls loved it and after slaying the ogre and goblins, they wanted to go on so I improvised another door leading to a pool and a jail with a captive wizard guarded by evil saracens (Foundry). 

Then everybody got bored, so we didn't even get to the evil sorcerors laboratory, so that will be another story!

As you may have noticed, none of the mini's are painted, unfortunately I have little time. But I think a bit of white spray paint and, if possible, a dip works well enough to be playable.

All miniatures involved were sculpted by Kevin Adams and Mark Copplestone.

Drums in the Deep

As was to be expected, I got distracted by something completely different. First of all I've been busy starting up a side activity of linoleum prints, but miniatures related I started collecting a long desired Kevin Adams only goblin army. Over the last decades the Great Goblin Master did many goblins for many companies and I decided I have to get them all. I already had three or four packs of Harlequin goblins I got at the time they were released. They were amazing already then, being the complete opposite of the 'Gummi Bear ogres' Kevin sculpted the last years at Games Workshop. Unfortunately I didn't get all of them. To complete my collection I will need to get them all as Black Tree Design remixed the packs.

Next in the army are a couple of Midlam goblin characters, very nicely done dungeon villains. I need to get some more. The mass of rank and file are the amazing Crooked Claw goblins. A really well done and expanding range. These are backed up by Mannequin's Shadow Goblins and some Hasslefree characters. I also got some Graven Images monsters: a pack of Ghouls and two packs of scarecrows.

Graven Images was a project of the late Jim Bowen. Most of the 36mm range were his own sculpts but at a certain point Kevin Adams was invited to add to the range doing his very personal From Beyond miniatures (now available from Crann Tara). The ghouls are enormous 36mm monsters. To use as great goblins or half-trolls perhaps. The scarecrows were based on the scary dolls Kevin made as a kid to scare the neightbours. The lesser scarecrows work great as a goblin shaman's animated creations. In the back, at last, are the chaos marauders: a motley crew of (Black Tree-) beastmen, barbarians and orcs, inspired by the classic John Blanche painting.

Next on the program are Black Hat night goblins, Heartbreaker characters, Alternative Armies rabble, Grendel's resin goblin rabble testudo, maybe some White Knight renaissance goblins for a Labyrinth touch and probably some others that I forgot.

At the same time, I got some plastic Reaper Bones figs to start a Heroquest game with my daughters. Who knows I can get them into Dungeon Crawling! The minis here were washed with Army Painter shade and a drop of soap. The girls can paint them if they want to and we have to built our own dungeon board using printed out scans of ye olde Citadel 'Dungeon Floor Plans'. 

Liebster, Von Trapp and the Volksmarinedivision

Two months ago I got nominated for the Liebster Award by Phreedh. A great honour indeed. 
Usually I ignore chainletters/mails/whatsapps, which I think is why it took me two months to do something with it...

As it appears, accepting the Liebster Award means to tell eleven truths about oneself.

Truth n° 1: I'm not a gamer. I've been collecting miniatures for many years now, with a hiatus every now and then.
I'm a bit of a misanthrope and prefer drinking company, I never met gamers with the same interests as myself in real life, while my mates don't give a toss about my toy soldiers. And solo gaming makes you blind.
The internets fortunately is full Us.

Truth n° 2: this never stopped me from getting army books and designing armies. Designing armies is a great means to plan acquisitions and avoid getting carried away. Besides it's like a game in itself. Much more entertaining than Sudoku anyway.


Truth n° 3: I like drawing and printing and this is what I do:
http://ferenczk.tumblr.com/
Collecting miniatures and frothing on the internet is a total killer though, if you want to be productive. Since my kids were born I have very little free time but I did become much more productive and efficient.

Truth n° 4: I've got a soft spot for failed revolutions and popular revolts of the first three decades of the last century.. One of my long going projects miniatures wise are the German Revolution, the Maknovicina of the Ukraine and the Durutti Column. I've got most of what I need but never come to painting.

Truth n° 5: Bicycle punks are go! I love inner city urban cycling. Kind of risky at times but the adrenalin is good. A while ago I got a skate-board. I always wanted a skateboard but I couldn't afford one as a kid. My daughters are learning to use their roller-skates and I'm on my board. Looks great, doing the whole "almost 40 midlife crisis look I don't care about you squares" thing.

Truth n° 6: I'm Dutch but I live in southern Italy. I like beer, but the people here don't understand that if I order a beer I want it now and not after ten minutes. If they served the beers as fast as their espresso's I'd be very happy indeed.

Truth n° 7: I've always wanted to do graffitti. I only did a little bit of stencil art in my early twenties. The local graffitti guys I had met were all pretentious wankers and I don't care about painting words. Still a shame that I didn't went on with it.


Truth n° 8: I'm obsessed with having to know which Citadel, Grenadier or Foundry sculptor did what for which company. Like a connoisseur. I usually am right guessing the sculptor of random miniatures.


Truth n° 9: Space Orks were my first love Waaaagh, 'Ere We Go, Freebooterz. Endless frothing over catalogue pages.


Truth n° 10: I'm a Mark Copplestone fanboy. I love that way he sculpts; the hands, the feet, the faces. Most of my mini's are Copplestone's.


Truth n° 11: I got hooked again on Miniatures because I got online somewhere in 2001 looking for Copplestone figs. Wargames Foundry did a sales campaign in Europe so local shops started selling them. I recognised Copplestone's style and searched on Altavista or Yahoo Search to find out more and discovered Em4 and shortly after Mark started Copplestone Castings.


Phreedh's questions:


1. Which currently unfinished piece (model or terrain) in your collection have remained a work in progress the longest?
-I suppose that is my Mordheim city project.The buildings were finished another three are still there. falling apart after twelve years. I think last year i finally painted some of the wallpaper for the streets.

2. What’s your biggest, most guilty of musical pleasures?
-Lately I've been much into the Beastie Boys. I love some good Garage Punk, Surf, Doo Wop, old Hardcore. The pleasure comes from playing the most obscure shit loudly in my car with the windows wide open.

3. What do you cook for a friend or date in an effort to really wow them?
-I hardly cook really. I used to make marvellous veggie pizzas from turkish bread, with amazing toppings. Marinated tofu or seitan maybe.
Coming back to the Netherlands I wouls cook a bit Italian, which isn't hard at all if you know how.

4. Presented with the choice of three large cookies or five small cookies, what would be your choice and why? The total mass of cookie is identical, as are the cookies.
 -If it were the cookies of my choice it had to be the big ones as they are nicer. Offered home made cookies, I would choose the small ones to be polite.

5. If you were allowed to use only one web-forum for the rest of your life, which forum would that be and why?

-Probably Lead Adventure. Polite and supportive people.

6. Do you really expect to be able to paint all that stuff in your lifetime?
-No Way.

7. What’s your favourite go-to board game for a spot of recreational gaming fun with non-gamer friends?

-I wouldn't know. i payed the Labyrinth with my daughters.

8. Do you have an irreplaceable pot of paint that you dread the day it runs out?
-Billious Green, Titilating Pink...

9. Pets?
-I don't like pets, because I think it's not right. Nevertheless we have a cat and two turtles at home.

10. In 10 years time, what do you expect or hope being up to hobby-wise?
- What I did for the last ten years: switching from Post-Apocalypse, Dark Age Fantasy, Near Future in Yucatan, Freikorps vs Spartakists, RCW.

11. Which currently available miniatures range is your favourite?
-All Things Copplestone.But lately I've been obsessing by small companies who did goblins by Kevin Adams

I ought to nominate 11 other blogs now. I'm not going to do that. Most of them got Liebstered already anyway!!

Mega tank

Some years ago I found this G.I Joe Armadillo Tank in a sale. A remake of the eighties toy released with the cinematic release. I bought it with the idea to eventually convert it.
I stripped all the extra parts and the turret, and glued various bits of ancient plastic fake lego.

A year ago I found a scanned picture on a blog of the very same tank featured in a Rogue Trader era White Dwarf. The other day I discovered that the same fake lego brick I used as the missile launcher battery was used with the original Whirlwind Rhino tank conversions of the late eighties!

The side sponsons look a bit shit as I had the bright idea to use uniposcas to paint the missiles which turned out a mess.

I saved the pic but forgot the blog I got the picture from:

another Grav Tank

A fast and furious little grav tank. I made this as a gift to somebody. [edited]I've been trying out uni-posca pens for the markings.

Dervishes of Tishtrya IV (painted)

The first painted experiment of my Afghan Sufi Dervishes I wrote aboute last month. Foundry Baluchis, a Grenadier Powered armour suit and an Artizan Moor in flak armour with an old Lascannon.
I imagine the dervishes have a forcefield device somewhere hidden in their robes, allowing them to use traditional close combat weapons without being mowed down by miniguns and lasers.

The desert planet they are operating from is Tishtrya IV (being Sirius in old Persian).
I'm trying to avoid Dune derived crypto islamism, although of course Dune is a huge influence. My knowledge about sufism and islamic tradition though, is less than superficial at the moment and I'm aware this whole project is borderline orientalism. But now I'm obsessed by this idea and its about time far future space opera gets beyond white anglo saxon grim-dark or Atreides savior of the natives. But Abdul Goldberg might show up.

Moisture Vaporators

Today the latest models of our E-class Moisture Vaporators.

These were made with pencaps, bottlecaps, toothpastecaps and other pieces of broken toys and bits of plastic. At least a decade of collecting waste!

Space Pirates

Here are a bunch of miniatures that I repainted already a couple of times. I've had them since the late 1980's I think. Rogue Trader a gogo.
At the time I cut off the undefined chainsword of the center figure (an inquisitor, according to the old catalogues) to be replaced only recently with a pistol. On the right is Rutger with his white hair. I believe all are Bob Naismith sculpts.

Eldar Drop Troops

A bunch of old eldar hawks, converted to be a more tough looking urban combat team.
I ditched the wings and replaced them by beads, and I cut off the barrels of the guns to make them look like pulse rifles. White death-heads on grey urban camo. 

Dervishes from the Outer Rim

So what have Baluchi Sufi Dervishes got to do with a powered armour suit. Good question. I'm not very sure myself yet. But imagine an Afghani dervish cult colonising a desert planet on the outskirts of human-space. Think Fremen, with a wink to Tusken Raiders.

 
They'd be muslims of course, but with their own particular interpretation. In the far future, with high tech equipment available but vowed to use only traditional weaponry. And Force Fields. From their hill fortresses they control their territory. But they do have suits of powered armour, vehicles, thopters or aeronefs and planetary defense lasers. But no A.I.'s, no androids. Androids are an insult, blasphemy, a parody of creation.
In times of war they could ally with scavvy desert nomads, native humanoid rodents, mutants and mercenaries.

Space Rats

Here are the space-rats. Conversions as decribed a few months ago last year. Press-moulds of the old plastic skaven heads on 2nd Ed. plastic Gretchin.
They turned out quite well. While painting them I decided the next batch will be all with reddish tunics to echo the Jawas. Originally these were described as 'rodents' in the Star Wars concept sketches and script.
One or two eventually will have a palestinian scarf.

Original Star Wars concept sketch:

Took Powered Armour

A squad of Took (or To'ok) by Zombiesmith, the guys who do the Quar.
I really like this range.

I'm settling for now with the term 'Rogue Trader Redux' do describe what I'm doing: old style platoons and squads using available miniatures that match that special feel. :P 
So not related really to any particular game or company in the end.

Alien Mercenaries

Ever since they were released, I wanted these Camel Corps figs by Eureka to use as alien mercenaries. 

I used them basically as they are, cutting only a part of the barrel of the guns to have a more modern/SF look about them.

Mobile Infantry

Here are the Mobile Infantry, badass marines in powered armour. 

Figs by Black Hat from the Cobalt range by Bob Naismith, who at the time sculpted many of the original Rogue Trader miniatures.

This is the season of the Lead Painters League, an informal, gentlemanly painting competition on the Lead Adventure forum. For the first time I managed to get organised enough to join in. Here are a two teams I submitted:

a band of goth raiders

pillaging Uruk Hai fighters

These photos where made wih my phone. a bit shitty but still acceptable.
I'll redo some photos I don't like enough with my camera and will post them later on.

Eldar Grav Tank

I built a new grav tank from a mouse. An asymetrical mouse that had to be an eldar scout vehicle. Spoons, beads and pins and bits of alluminium tape mostly. I'm actually quite happy with the lack of detail and it's rushed appearance. Old School, baby.

Recently I got hold of a bunch of Atomic Café miniatures at half price, and it triggered my old obsession with all things post-atomic. Here be a couple of armoured cars built by the Greasers.

Both are resin armoured cars from the Spanish Civil War by Force of Arms (a range recently obtained by Warlord Games). Post-atomic hot rods. I basically left off the gun turrets of both kits, as these are civilian vehicles.

I finally finished a backdrop to make more atmospheric photo's.
 

Here's a first test picture, made with my phone!