This blog ...


"We're playing a wargame not making a documentary." 26/1/'14
The Cardinal's 3rd paradox of wargaming .

Please feel free to contact me via email through the profile page..

Sunday, 16 January 2011

Mutineer Miniatures Indian Mutiny WiP..

big bunch of pics..started 100 of them on Thursday  60 done  now Sunday   last 40 finished tomorrow..yada yada yada.. big buggers..




















Tuesday, 11 January 2011

What does '11 hold for you and the hobby?

a pinched concept .. all the best one are .. I have the Prussian SYW project 28mm , the 900-1101AD project 28mm awaiting 3 boxes of Normans as I type, anybody after 33 Gripping beast Normans unpainted? ($90), The now grandly titled "The Pike and Shotte" project, 28mm figs and a good fast play rules, The Sylvanan Incident (18th C pulp adventure based on Peckinpah's Major Dundee), revitalise Wings of War..a mini campaign? Complete the Armies of Gluckheinm ,Dachsdortf and Bieberhof.., finish my railwya bridge and get in more WWII games..paint some nice fantasy ..sort out the Dreadnought thing..contemplate where I am going with Naspoleonics..yjink about the Decline of the West Project...look at my Hoplite collection and...and more TANKS...many more TANKS and ..
http://passageoflines.50.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1788

Thursday, 6 January 2011

Foundry Landsknechts

for FM, a WiP as they are unbased and in the main, weaponless..all painted in a 24 hour period..



Sunday, 19 December 2010

The Cardinal's Secrets to priming and varnishing.

People are always asking on forums about undercoating and varnishing and I always mention my preferences, now I will have a spot I can link to..huzzah!!!
For priming, and in the case of my cheaper paint jobs  undercoating I use these sprays, .I purchase them from Bunnings or Magnet  Mart or anywhere I come across them.  They are around $11AUD each. .These are superior  to other purely  hobby branded spray cans , being much more robust in their finish  and only half the price. The Primer ,I have been told is an acrylic lacquer, and  dries quite  hard, goes on easily and covers well. From that point I either spray them with  the Matte black or undercoat in Tamiya flat brown through the airbrush.Always allow 24 hours for the Primer to dry. It dries dead flat..if you have shaken it up well. The black, on the other hand being only Matte has an annoying sheen.
 When the miniature is finish I then coat it with the above, with a thick big brush..and allow to dry. If you are going to use  Testors dullcote then I find this to be a crucial process.this being a Matte, not a flat, dries with a bit of an annoying sheen..but..



then comes the final varnishing ..I am just beginning to use Dullcote again..I used it all the time when I painted in oils and enamels.. but I found Acrylics a bit delicate . It is usually safe if you have sealed your mini with the Jo Sonja's Matte..if not it can eat you acrylics right off to the metal.
But my favourite is  seen in the last picture .Gunze H20 flat clear..if you have let the Matte varnish dry completely, and conditions are  perfect, or near perfect, then I run it through the airbrush, mixed well in my paint shaker  for about 2 minutes,  with about  1:5  ratio of Windex window cleaner/Varnish  and spray away .
People don't take seriously the paint shaker..bad luck for them I say. An absolute must in my opinion. especially using tear dropper acrylics. I routinely  shake all my new dropper bottles before first  use., and it is a boon in "recovering" paint that has dehydrated to some extent..a small amount of Window cleaner and a five minute shake and you can usually bring  dieing GW paint back to complete a useful life.
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/rob/rob411.htm
http://www.robart.com/store/hobby-tools/paint-shakers


Saturday, 4 December 2010

General Stahl, the Undefeated ... a WIP part 2

amazing what a spray and a pic can do..found all the little annoying webs and wisps  etc not obvious to the naked eye..
when finished he will be  Friedrich  Phillip-Emmanuel Kristian  von GansPflücken, Baron Stahl, Count of Sontar , Proprietor of Ir10., von Sontar, of the Pangaean Reichs Armee Stahldof Kreis ,Member of the Order of St Daffyd, (The Order of the Black Duck), in the fetching General's version  of the  uniform of his Regiment " The Ducal Sontarans"



General Stahl, the Undefeated ... a WIP part 1

A WIP; green stuff , a bit of fuse wire and a small piece of plastic-card modification of a Foundry civilian.Work on the original..he had been started but I am very very annoyed with the lack of hats on figures outdoors..NOTE Manufacturers I am ANNOYED