Rare Confrontation model on Ebay

I've just put a rare Confrontation/Cadwallon miniature up on Ebay. It is the Misan the Clairvoyant model, and it is very detailed. I still can't figure out why Rackham have stopped producing these, and then destroyed the moulds/tooling.

I've also put some classic Skaven Gutter runners up for auction. I think GW have modelled them on the ravening hordes of little hooded vermin that pour out of the local schools at 4pm each day. These are only rare in the sense that they are not medium or well done. Having said that they are about 10 years old. So get bidding for Xmas.

Links to my auction listings will appear in the left hand column while the auctions are active.

Lots of Lots

I've just put about 30 items up on Ebay, including:

• Lots of 40K blisters
• Confrontation Familliars
• Fantasy Blisters
• WarMachine/Dark Age
• Resin scenery

These are items that I've held back while the Royal Mail strike was in progress (there now seems to be a truce until the new year).

Click here to see a list of auction items.

Fixed it.....

...well, as good as. There's no such thing as a free lunch. So when I tried to amend the header graphic, I found it was stored remotely. I think this is so the template provider can get stats on usage. Anyway, I've re-directed the call to my own hosted graphic, and voila! (that's French for big violin?), the header now has a nice graphic of my Praetorian bugler.

I've photographed him at an angle and sized him bigger than the frame, to make it look like he's coming out of the screen 3-D style. I've left lots of space in the header so that I can edit in more miniatures occasionally. I just need to fix some side-bar widgets now ;-(

If it isn't broke.....

A site visitor told me the blog was a little hard on the eye as the 3 columns were very close, and there was no border or background colour to clearly differentiate them. Being the helpful person I am, I tried to make things better....and I'm still trying!

Please bare with me while I salvage the adequately functional XML template that I felt the need to b*gger about with. I've got the columns working. I just need to sort the header out and re-write some of the widgets. Until then, enjoy the 1:1 scale working model of a butterfly built by God.

Quickshade Soft tone versus Dark tone

I decided to have a dabble with the Army Painter Quickshade products. I chose "Soft Tone" and "Dark Tone" (at £18 for each!). After checking various websites for examples of miniatures painted using Quickshade, I came to the conclusion that the Soft tone would not be effective on dark colours. So I painted up 4 Empire Pike men in very bright colours as test models. Basically this went something like:

• White undercoat.
  
• yellow & green for the tunic/pants.
• brown for the pike shaft, boots, straps.
• Chain mail for the breastplate, helmets, pike point.
• Elf flesh for skin.

I used very bright Bilious Green and 2 slightly different yellows (John Inman Lemon and Freddy Mercury Sunburst I think). After this I applied Dark tone to 2 of the models and Soft tone to the other 2. I used a brush to apply the QuickShade (I'll post another article about the "dipping" method). I'll let others judge the results from the above pictures. What I learned was:

• Apply good coats of base colour as the quick shade will show up weak coverage.
• Quickshade darkens everything, so use brighter/lighter colours.
• You need to brush away excessive pools of Quickshade that form on the model.
  
• Thin Quickshade with turps or white spirit - NOT Water.

Overall I think the Dark Tone is the better shade, although the Soft Tone will take the edge off flat areas of bright colour. Dark Tone exaggerates recessed detail - not a bad thing for miniatures (especially for cartoon/Manga stuff). QuickShade is definitely good for painting up large lots of rank and file troops to gaming table standard.

Nothing for sale

I've not put anything up for sale this week due to the impending Royal Mail strike. As soon as I can work out the impact, I'll probably put some more items up. I was hoping the strike could be called off through negotiation, but it looks like both sides are set on it.

I reckon anybody striking should be charged with treason as its still the "Royal" mail;-) Everybody has the right to strike, but at a time of increasing unemployment, the strikers will find it hard to get public sympathy.

Since the implementation of letter, large letter and packet sizes for inland mail a couple of years back, there's not a lot of difference between Royal Mail and courier prices. I think we are just a year or so away from the government giving out general postal delivery licences to TNT, bundesposte, DHL etc. (Especially if the treasury can raise money from them like the G3 mobile phone licences).

Mr.Sniketty

OK, this is Mr Sniketty. He is an incredible model, yet from a budget range. (I'll do another post about the supplier, Ramshackle). This mini manages to convey the fear of somebody very menacing under that coat! His lethal blades hide themselves nicely against the folds of his coat, meaning his victims probably let him get very close before realising their fate. He is everything Edward Scissorhands should have been.

On the other hand, he might just be some unfortunate person mechanically augmented with blades for a life of toil. He would be good at topiary, hair cuts, meat preparation and cloth cutting etc. (He would also have to be very careful when going to the lavatory).

To prove a point to somebody about wargaming on a budget, I painted him using some recovered dried-up yellow, silver and black paint. Click on Mr Sniketty for more detailed pics.

Confrontation miniatures for sale

I've acquired a collection of Rackham Confrontation blister packs. I will keep most of them as they are difficult to find these days. However, I've got a few duplicates, so I'm putting a few on Ebay. I might also put a few loose single miniatures up for auction (Where I can't resist keeping one from a set of three etc). The blisters I have consist of mainly limited edition mercenaries, and elementals/small minis like Pixie Tricksters. I guess these will become rarer and rarer as from what I've heard:

• Rackham have sold their remaining stock to 3rd parties.
• Those 3rd parties seem to have almost sold out.
• The sudden flurry of stuff on ebay seems to be from people who bought items from the 3rd parties to make a quick profit.
• The moulds and tooling have been destroyed according to several sources.
• Rackham are now producing plastic pre-painted stuff!
  

Anyway, these are simply the best miniatures around in my opinion, and I'll be selling a few over the next few weeks. (Check the "FOR SALE" list in the left column of this blog). Regrettably, I will not be selling the "Carranche the Bomblayer" figure pictured above.

Harry, Destroyer of Worlds

Once in a while, you find a miniature that resembles somebody you know. In this case, a Hasslefree produced miniature of an elderly man looked the spitting image of a guy I knew called Harry. Harry lived in an old peoples home who used to hold social functions in the same community centre where my gaming group held our games night. Harry, would wander in and watch some of the games, telling the younger players wondrous stories about his own military service as a younger man.

From other people I learned Harry had seen active service in Korea and was also in Malaya and Palestine for a while. However on games nights I recall Harry visiting nearly every table and recounting tales of his involvement with the battle being recreated by the players. It would appear Harry had been in major conflicts spanning a 200 year period, and he had served with the Army, Navy, Air Force and even had the honour of serving alongside Catachan infantry (in Cyprus for some reason).

Sadly, Harry is watching us from above these days, but I'm sure he'd love the idea of a miniature depicting him. The garish colours are intentional. Harry always wore a turquoise sweatshirt that seemed to have been badly tie-dyed. I think this was useful for the rest home staff when rounding up "wanderers" like Harry. His trousers seem to have been sculpted as leggings or "Max Wall" style trousers (Google Max wall if you are too young to remember him). These are pretty close as Harry always wore green Umbro tracksuit bottoms.

Once again I seem to have painted something other than the Brightorian Guard I should be painting.

Voland's Venators

I've just put a rare Dogs of War set of 8 voland's Venators on Ebay. These are new and have been sealed since purchase many years ago. There are 8 different models including Voland, musician and Standard bearer, with extra lances if an all-lance regiment is desired.

Further details on the auction: click here

Dark Elf sale

I have 25 listings on Ebay right now for GW Dark Elf models. I say GW, but a lot of them are the old Marauder models GW sold a couple of versions of Dark Elves ago. There are even some rare 1990 scouts!

You can see the top 5 listings in the left margin of this blog, or look at at the full 25 listings on this link:
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/pavillios/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=

All money made goes towards medical bills for my pet mouse Gerald, who was recently injured in a Scalextric crash.

Home Guard completed

The top picture shows the set with the "sea of potatoes" bases. The bottom picture shows the beach shingle look I should have done for the bases (from Seaford Beach). But who cares, these were such fun to paint!

I've found 2 more sets of foundry "England Invaded" models, which include Germans and a few civilians. I really should be painting up squads for my Brightorian Guard army, but I suspect I'll end up painting a few WW2 miniatures over the forthcoming bank holiday.

WW2 Sussex Home Guard

OK, its not an old WW2 photo. In fact its modern day Bishopstone station, being guarded by the 2 Home Guard models I painted the other day. Bishopstone station is an interesting building as it is Art Deco, with 2 hideous (but practical) brick pill boxes "grafted on". I think it was built about 1938. It is on the Lewes to Seaford branch line (now single track) between Seaford and Newhaven.

Newhaven harbour has a fort and Seaford has a Martello tower, and beyond both towns steep cliffs replace the beach. Therefore the beach at Bishopstone would definitely be an option for German raiding parties (or even part of an invasion). Probably a better option for taking Newhaven harbour and its strategic swing bridge, than a frontal assault past the fort and the cliff face pill boxes.

I think I detect the ingredients for a good WW2 skirmish scenario!

Dark Elves for sale

I've just put a load of Dark Elf items up for auction on Ebay (listings should appear in the left column of this page). This week I'm listing the mounted models i.e. cold ones and dark riders.

Next week I'll list the infantry and special weapons. It will take a few days to sort through them but so far I know I will be listing

• Witch Elves (see pic)
• Black Ark Corsairs (see pic)
• Spear men
• Repeater Crossbow men
• Champions and other command figures
• Repeating Bolt Thrower
• Characters e.g. Sorceress
  

All of these are metal and many out of production (Marauder models). The detail on them is better than the new plastics (take a look at the dragon skin cloaks on the Corsairs).

WW2 Home Guard

I could not resist painting these Home Guard instead of painting up more Imperial Guard. I've actually painted up 7 figures altogether, so I'll post the others after I've based them (with oversized beach shingle that looks like they're walking on potatoes!).

For reasons of copyright and trademark, I should point out these are from a range called England Invaded by Foundry Miniatures. Try not to confuse them with the soldiers in the clip below, although if you freeze the clip at 2:14, Pike and Wilson do resemble the above miniatures. Also at 6:58 Fraser makes remarks about Godfrey that would not get into a modern "PC" script today.

Brightorian troopers

The plan for this week was to build and paint a squad of 10 bog standard Cadian guardsmen, so that I could make some progress with my Brightorian Guard. What actually happened was 4 troopers were built and painted in different colour schemes, with 3 different types of heads!

In mitigation I ask is it possible to paint up a plain green squad when within arms reach I can see

• Dremmel tools and drills
• Westwind SRS heads (Indian and Paras!)
• 11 shades of green and blue paints (including jade green and ice blue)
• the tail end of my painting self discipline as it leaves the location

To say I am easily distracted would be an understatement. It might sound sad that I've made little progress with this army over the last 9 years, but I can assure you it's been 9 years of pure fun ;-)

Dogs of War for sale...

These are a few extra photos for an item I have up for one of my Ebay Auctions
Click the pics for a larger version.

Monty and Rommel

I still need to finish Monty's scarf and Rommel's cap, but I thought I'd post them as I can't see myself completing them for ages. I only paint these Japanese produced 1/48 scale miniatures for personal enjoyment so......Rommel is actually in the colours of an air marshall as I hate painting black wet-look leather with inks, and......Monty is actually in the colours of a reservist unit.

I think these two miniatures sum up the differences between the British and German uniforms. Rommel is in stylish cut leather, boots and cap that project authority, style and ruthless efficiency. Whereas Monty seems to have been dressed by his mum in a practical pullover, slacks, beret and a "keep it on or you'll catch a chill" scarf.

I so wanted to paint Monty in Rupert the Bear clothes, but I've too much respect for this WW2 hero. When painting WW2 officers I find it helps to think of them as characters. There is plenty of reference material about but I think this scene from "A Bridge Too Far" says it all. This is how a British commander deals with being surrounded, out of food, out of ammo, out of medical supplies and with no help on the way.....

Terminator Captain and Ratling Sniper

I think these were the first miniatures I ever painted. The termie captain won many games for me by teleporting into the heart of the enemy with a terminator squad. I used to do a lot of that until a game where I lost 2 squads to the perils of the warp by rolling double ones.

The ratlings have earned their keep over the years. The new Imperial Guard rules appear not to limit the ratlings to 10 snipers. I hope this is right as I've managed to accumulate 18 different ratling models across the different 40K versions (admittedly one is a Hasslefree model and 2 may be squats). For once, giving the eyes an excited gaze actually suit a miniature.

Brightorian Guard desert troops

Here is a typical progress report on my 40K Brightorian Guard army. I managed to paint up a second squad of desert troops (using GW Tallarn models). I've faithfully painted them to the scheme I settled on, which was based on some Indian troops I saw in the Rajasthan desert a couple of years ago.

However, I've taken longer than planned to do them and as a result have not completed a third squad that I was asked to supply to somebody else. I've done the honorable thing and said they can have their pick of the 2 completed squads, while I finish the 3rd squad off. So I've not made progress, but I've not gone backwards either.

I'm really pleased with these squads. I've not converted them in any way to look Indian, but I believe I've got the colours right for the Rajasthan desert (see 2nd pic of model superimposed onto photo of the desert). The bases might look a bit colourful for desert models, but from experience, I can say the Rajasthan desert has a lot of colourful plant life in some places, and sometimes the sand has areas of crushed rock almost like coloured gravel. Oh, and just like the major cities, there were cattle wandering about getting in the way of vehicles!

Sadly, the Indian troops would not let me take pictures of them or their vehicles, but I've managed to find a couple of officially released photos. These show that the Rajasthan desert lends itself well to military training exercises.

The Empire strikes back

I don't actually have or play a WHFB Empire army, but I painted these 4 gunners for use in Mordheim and skirmish games. Being part of a mercenary warband also gave me the option of painting them in any colours I fancied trying (I'm not a bad painter - just a lazy and non-disciplined one!).

Due to a) words having a different meaning these days, b) I live too near to Brighton, and c) I am terrified of saying something politically non-correct.....I would describe these colours as "bright and merry". My next paint job will be something a bit more butch like storm troopers or space marines (i.e. no long boots, no panteloons, no blousons, no feathered hats etc).

Brightorian standard

I've been using this design for the regimental standard for years. It is based on the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. It is a popular piece of imagery, and even looks quite cool in green (as used by Brighton and Hove council).

The 4 guardsmen are from the 40K Praetorian XXIV box set. The officer is the "disgraced commissar" from the Schaefer's last chancers box set, with the lasgun replaced by a close combat knife. The Chimera is actually a software CAD model that I rendered into the background.

Tales of the Brightorian Guard #1

These are some work-in-progress models for my 40K Imperial Guard army, the Brightorian Guard. I've been trying to put this army together for 9 years now! The trouble is I keep sodding about and changing them, usually as a result of watching bank holiday repeats of various war films on BBC. My latest distraction is a desire to give most of my miniatures calf or kid-skin boots.

Anyways....left to right is a commissar (lovely boots), a medic guardsman with his medical kit in some bags, a coms guard with bugle and storable lasgun, and a ghurka/gharka inspired officer. Next up will be some India themed guard squads, which no doubt will be altered as soon as I finished watching the Mangal Pandey film.

Pete's Miniatures becomes a blog!

I've moved the miniatures website to this blog as it is easier to update than the miniatures website. I've been meaning to get a blog for ages as they make good pets, guard property, fetch sticks etc. Blogs are tons better than cats, any day.