Preparation for Hammerhead - The Savage Seas

Myself , MartinC and JamesM are heading down to Newark for the Hammerhead show. Martin wanted to put on something a bit different using some of oddities from his various collections, so we have gone for something Pulp based  in the South Seas. So here is my contribution of 10 native islanders with pointy sharp weapons! The terrain here I already had and Martin has more to add to it. i still have a big piece to finish for this , so its on the workbench this week

cracking figures by Bob Murch , from the Savage Seas range.

Pulp - G-Men and Cops

MAs well as completing the recently shown Guys and Dolls there was also a delivery of G Men and Cops. These are by Blue Moon. While in the raw they don't have the excellent sculpt of the Bob Murch or Copplestone figures they do I think they have something appealing about them, especially when you hand them over to a talented painter like Loki.

The G Men.. 

The Cops.

I think I may need a bigger Police House, and a few more bad guys, and some vehicle drivers and passenger.

Pulp - Guys and Dolls

Meet the newest additions to Serenity City. "Loki" over at Brigantes Studios has recently completed the commission work for my gangster collection, which will complete the figures I need/want for this - and what a job..

"Dolls"

 Copplestone Castings "Swell Dolls" set - they sure are.

"Guys"

 Copplestone Castings - "Honest Citizen" - hmm i think not - the "Boss" wears the snazzy Argyle sweater from now on..- great painting. The 5 o'clock shadow on the bag man is brilliant, and the detail on the paper seller is wonderful.

 

I really can't praise these enough - well done "Loki"

I also  have some more by Blue Moon which will be posted on the blog in the next few day, but for now these deserve thier own place in the sun.

Pulp - Meet the Band

A continuation on the theme. Here we have the Jazz Quartet by Bob Murch.

and with Miss Lilly Von Verde the front woman 

Just need to come up with a good name and build a stage set!

Another of the Femme Fatale range - Wanda Midnight

And the shot of all the employees of "Long Sarah's"

Pulp - The last of the Police Department.

Here we have the remainder of the "Serenity City P.D" . These are a set of Copplestone Minatures which were gifted to me by my Secret Santa (an idea originally devised by our very own Ian Willey and organised by Cath) this year - good choice Santa. These were a real joy to paint.

 The tough beat cops of "Serenity City"

The brothers Fran and Ray O'Shee (ok maybe he ain't so tough), Pat McKay, and Dan O'Donald (from one of my GxGrandparent who was a beat cop - often found in ale houses, and fond of an odd drop of the water of life..well that what his disciplinary record showed!)

These were painted using the Andrea Color Blue paint set. This can give very subtle blends and finishes easily. However you can lose it under a flat varnish so with 28mm figures I give them a coat of varnish and then add some extra highlights to the areas that need it.

Here is a full roll call 

 

I am on the look out for a good "Chief" figure and of course next I need some detectives and G Men..

Pulp - New Cops

First proper post of the New Year. The workbench is nice and busy with lots of thing in production. The Sudan stuff is coming along nicely, and inbetween the larger units I am completing some extras for "Serenity City" as there are some more re-inforcements due along shortly. Here we have the boys of the 2nd Precinct - a nice set of Pulp Miniature cops.

Very nice clean casting to work on. and they fit in well with my Dixon ones as well. My Secret Santa also sourced some Copplestone policmen so there will some good variety to the Serenity City P.D.

I have also completed another of the figures from the Femme Fatale pack - I found the facial detail a bit off on this one - she is no beauty thats for sure!  I had her down as the Ice Maiden , but I need to come up with a proper name for her - any ideas?

Back to the sands of the desert with work on the Second Brigade and the Cavalry progressing.

Pulp - Miss Lilly van Verde

In between doing the churn out of the Sudan units I have some Gangeter/Pulp stuff sitting on the table to provide some much needed colour. So here is the fiery tempered,  red haired chanteuse at "Long Sarah's" entertainment club. Miss Lilly - from Bob Murch Pulp figures Gangland Justice , Femme Fatale pack.

She is bound to be the source of trouble - voice of an angle and a black heart! 

 "I've been with thousands of men,
Again and again,
They pwomise the moon,
They'rwe always coming and going
And going and coming...
And always too soon"

This is a cracking figure to work on - mind had to get the magnifier headset out to do it justice. I filed down the figure base to be able remove the cast on base and drilled and pinned it to the slotta. The undercoat for the whole figure was an enamel grass green which i was hoping would give a depth to the green dress - it has worked IMHO. The greens are a mix of Vallejo Flat green , and the Andrea Color green set , with a bit of yellow added for highlights. The hair is a Vallejo Hull Red with highlights. 

The chequerboard on the base is hand painted on black overall with a mid grey and then light grey highlights. 

Michael Peterson commented over on the Challenge blog  (AHPCV)- and could well be right!


"I like her a lot - she reminds me of another redheaded singer, Alex Pangman, "Canada's Sweetheart of Swing" - in fact it could be a mini of her. Check out http://www.alexpangman.com.http://www.alexpangman.com/gallery.html"

 The backing band will be along shortly..

The Challenge kicks off

This weekend saw the kick off for Curts annual paint-fest event, it even comes complete with its own new, shiny dedicated blog The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. I have a few projects still on the go and am aiming to get a good way through them over the winter period.

My main aim will be the colonial forces for the Sudan - I want to get the collection to a point where I can do a decent size game. In between I have some figures to do for "Serenity City" various gansters, civilians etc to break up the khaki monotony.

There are also some side excurions into "Bonus Round" territory , some of which will fit into my aims, others which I will root around in the lead pile to see what can be submitted. I really enjoyed these last year as it meant doing something a bit different.

Having set myself a steep challenge target - about 20 points worth per day I shall however miss Loki and Kev this year to help in driving forward the point total, egging each other on worked well for me last year. Instead I just need to keep an eye on Millsy for point bombs and perhaps good old Sandbagger Ray who says he wont be painting much..

Anyway enough waffle you want to see pictures! So here is the first submission - some new releases Pulp Alley figures. Very fine they are too. The castings are clean and crisp and nice to paint. Only down slide is they are slotta bases - such a pain.

 "Long Sarah" - Queen of the seedy side of town

This one I am sending to Curt as the entry fee fo rthis years challenge. In my head its a John Dillinger "rogue" entry

So its back to some khaki clad fellows for a while to fill out the ranks of the Imperial forces in the Sudan - the Black Watch first up I think

Public Enemy #1 The Shamrock Hotel

I have completed the second building for the collection. The Shamrock Hotel, complete with snazzy working Neon sign - with 32 different options for how to make it flash! The paint job is fairly simple, a base colour , and highlight and then pick out odd brick work to break it up. This building is a different base colour to the larger warehouse for variation too.

I may just add another floor to this building yet - they are nice and expandable

 Ok i cant use the interior of this building - but worth it for the lighting effect

I have also now done 6 base boards and painted them an asphalt grey to give give a basic city look - bit more work to do on them yet , but I will wait until I have more buildings sorted - and there are another 6 on the way to complete the set up - an early Xmas present to myself..

I think I need to source another backdrop for the rear wall - something suitably Cityscape in black in white I think.

I have a few busy sessions in the man cave coming up in preparation for the winter season - I intend to also get the Sudan Colonial finished over the winter for a summer game.

Public Enemy #1 The Warehouse Part 3

Well , that is the summer season over with , back to darker more productive nights. So what do you need with dark nights - you need some lighting.  I picked up some LED street lights from e bay and have added one to the warehouse. One of the problems with model making / gaming in a more urban environment is the requirement for street furniture. I also picked up a classic Fire Hydrant to add on as well - and no I won;t be connecting to any water distribution thank you!

I have picked up a number of "neon" signs - these were O gauge items from model railways - the "Shamrock" hotel is also now open for business.

 I cant resist the black and white shots here - reminds me of old gangster movies.

 

 

 As for the electrics it's all pretty simple to connect - a battery box, a push switch and the LED light. The warehouse is a large building and has false floor with is about 25mm deep , so it was a case of cutting a hole to drop the battery box and switch in leaving the thin wire under the base and mounting the light into the pavement.

Now I know it's not going to be practical to do this with every building in the collection, but this one is the real centrepiece , and no doubt will be the scene of many a battle. Also i know the reaction when people see lights etc on wargames models - its invariable a smile! so worth doing I think.

While I do have some more bits n bobs in relation to furniture to do I will leave them them for now as they wont be fixed in place but switched between buildings as and when - so for now I am calling this one done.