Still Not Dead vs. Prussians

No, I did not have West Nile Virus. I was just a little under the weather. I mean, what else would you expect after walking through clouds of very large mosquitoes? I'm not dead. I am fine. My monitor is dying, however. That'll make it difficult to process my photos of recently finished minis. I've got three units lined up to be done this week. I wish I'd be able to get more done but there's a lot of stuff keeping me busy. This is a shame because I've got quite a few Prussian lined up for painting.

Did I happen to mention that I'm working on my VSF Prussian forces at the moment?

Yep, I've been slowly building up various units that I can use in the greatest variety of scenarios that I can. I want to use units that would be seen in a European theater and units for colonial conflicts. I also want to see how much I can overlap them to get the most bang for my buck. I'll be aiming to have them represent the German Empire in a science fictional war between the years 1890 and 1900. The infantry is grouped into units of ten. This number will work with the three games I'm thinking of using; Gaslight, Vor or Space 1889. Here's what I've got so far;

1 unit of dismounted female Hussars (almost done).
2 units of Prussian line infantry.
1 unit of Prussian Jaegers (almost done).
1 maxim gun manned by Jaegers
2 units of Bavarian line infantry.
1 unit of mixed dismounted cavalry (dragoons and hussars).
1 unit of German South West Africa infantry (to use either in Africa or say, Venus).
2 units of African Askaris (to be used either with German or British forces).
1 steam tank of medium size.
1 steam powered walker armed with maxim gun.
1 unit of Martian sepoys (to be shared with British forces depending on scenario).

Here's what I'm still planning to add;
2 units of Venusian Lizardman Schutztruppen (I need to assemble them still. It'll take a bit of work).
Maybe 1 or 2 more units of Prussian line infantry.
1 or 2 units of Seebatallion.
A couple artillery pieces.
At least one unit of cavalry.
1 flying machine of some sort. Probably a zeppelin.

That quite a bit there considering I still have British, Martian and French forces on the line too. Yikes.

Dear Internets

I tried to varnish some recently finished miniatures today. However, I could not get the child proof lid on the thinner to open. I ended up not varnishing those minis. I did affix some newly acquired minis to their bases and do some repair work on a German East Africa trooper's rifle. I also cooked some paella on the grill. I think I might have a case of West Nile Virus. Which is probably not good considering the only symptom I'm familiar with is death. A friend of mine had a horse that died from it.

More to come!

Thoughts on painting

Not too much to add here. Just a few random thoughts from recent experiences.

I've started to use Windex to thin my paints. This works surprisingly well. I use the clear, "natural", eco friendly kind. I'm not sure what the regular, blue kind would do the colors so I'm not even going to try and find out. Anyway, I find that it makes paints flow from the brush better than water. The paint literally goes where you want it to go. Nice. Only problem is that it appears as though the mixture encourages the paint to flow right up into the brush's fuller. Not so good. Gotta clean the brush extra regularly.

I finally managed to get my hands on a couple of the new GW washes. I'm liking them better than the old inks. Not as shiny and they flow better. They do seem to be a little too subtle on just one coat. It looks like washing will need to be done in layers.

I like the idea of painting outside. After being stuck inside all day at work, I really don't want to sit at the old workbench and paint while the remainder of day is busy being beautiful. There are a lot of problems with that though. I have to pack everything up for the expedition. I will forget something important. You would think the sun would be great for painting. No. It is either too bright or not bright enough, usually in turns. The combo of wind and sunlight also dries your paints crazy fast. Ah well, enjoy it anyway.

Machinegunmobile

Alright, I opened up my big mouth on the Lead Adventure forum about how I'd like to put together a mechanized machine gun contraption. This means that I'm obligated, nay, oath bound to construct this beast.

Here's what I'm talking about;




What you see there are a Davidson four wheeled gun carriage and a three wheeled version. I like the three wheeler best.

The trouble is finding the parts for the thing. The machine gun is no problem. I've got a plastic gun shield lying around from who knows where, so that's covered. I was hoping to find a plastic model kit of something roughly close to 28mm scale to use for parts. I find out that there is nobody at all making automobile kits from the late 19th century and early 20th. Not even horse drawn buggies! The earliest you get is the 1920s. So, I'm going to have to scratch build this puppy. Maybe even the wheels!

The next problem is finding and converting a crew. Which army is this going with anyway? I guess it'll go to the French. The Germans are getting enough goodies as it is. Nobody really makes seated soldiers of the Victorian era. There are some gun limber crews that are seated. Mostly Prussians though.

Next. What kind of engine? Should it be steam? Eh, it doesn't have to be. I'm not really doing "Steampunk" here. This is Victorian Sci-Fi. I could see this as an internal combustion engine that's about a decade ahead of its time. I mean, the Davidsons pictured above are from around 1900.

There's this too;


Machine Gun Quadracycle baby!

Winged Sea Serpent Reported in Levant!

So read the title of an article found in the Sunday, August 13 1922 edition of the New York Times.

"Currant-Laden Felucca Sunk When Sailor Belts Reptile With Pomegranate.", the title continues. The creature, "Has Eyes Like Sidelights" and "Zooms Aloft Like Airplane - Wrecks Caciques With Figs and Pistachio Nuts."

The sea serpent began its rampage off the port of Euboea in the Aegean. It then flew off to the port of Izmir at an altitude of about 5,000ft. It was also sighted off the mouth of the Nile, and around the islands of Crete and Lesbos. Greek authorities sent gunboats after it but had no luck in destroying it. One witness, a Turkish rug merchant, was taking a ferry when the creature rose up from the water near the boat. It appeared to be 15ft wide and 50ft long with a head 10ft across. It had huge, glowing eyes which seemed to bake the people on board the ferry with some kind of heat ray. It then slapped the ferry with its tail, nearly tipping it over and disappeared.

More on this article can be found in Fortean Times issue 248.

This would make for a great miniatures scenario!

I imagine four players. One player is the Sea Serpent, another a Greek Gunboat, there should be a dirigible piloted by an eccentric adventure and his companions and finally, the vengeful Mümtaz Effendi, Turkish Pomegranate Magnate in his cannon armed Dhow. The three human players will attempt to destroy or capture the Sea Serpent. The Serpent will be at a considerable advantage with its size, ability to fly and dive, and its heat ray vision.

I'd set it a bit earlier, the 1890s but it would be great for pulp era games too. I don't have a rules set picked out for it but just picture the game!

New minis and things

Thursday video!


So, last time I was talking about Aero-Kayaks for my, as of yet, forthcoming French, Victorian Sci-Fi army and how I was selling miniatures in order to fund this project. What has come to be expected is that I spent some of the money on something completely different;





These excellent miniatures depict Princess Viktoria-Luise of Prussia dressed as a Death's Head Hussar accompanied by her unit. Based on this photo of her;


They can be had here;
http://hinterlandminiatures.weebly.com/

Of course, this means I'll probably be doing Germans as well. Not to mention home service British. But first! The French.

I very much want to build a French force. The uniforms are interestingly colorful. They wear Kepis which are my all time favorite sort of hat. Not to mention Zouaves. Or the Foreign Legion! Yes, I'm going to have to do it.

Update?

So, I've been busy. Got a new job. Been doing a lot of gardening. Also selling a few of my unused miniatures on various forums so I can build a few of these;


Aero-kayaks from the Miyazaki movie, "Howl's Moving Castle." For my, as of yet, imaginary French, Victorian, Sci-Fi army. Still working out what materials to use.

I also dug up a "how to" I put together a while back about how to make gabions for your minis. In case anybody is wondering, a gabion is a basket made filled with dirt and rubble used to quickly erect a fortified position. Kind of like sand bags.

Step 1
I made a ring of green stuff and stuck in lengths of styrene rod like so;


I then dabbed some super glue at the base of each rod. I let the green stuff cure and those rods aren't going to come off easy.

Step 2
Took some modeling clay (the kind that doesn't dry or cure) like so;


Then stuck it in like this;


Step 3
I wove rubber bands between the rods. The clay is there to help keep the shape of the basket.


Keep weaving more bands in until done. You could also use raffia or dental floss, maybe wire. I started out trying green stuff but it was too tedious and I couldn't get a consistent shape to the "wicker".

The clay will push up as you go so you'll need to scoop some off the top near the end. Don't scoop too much as you go or the basket will get all conical. The last thing is to cover in a coat or two of white or wood glue and sprinkle a little sand and rubble on the top of the basket.

Finished;






Of course, as is usual, it still needs to be painted.