Foxy Wizard Vixen for Burrows and Badgers

I finished up the first of the critters I'm working on for Burrows and Badgers. Oddly, this isn't even for the warband I was planning for myself!? I'm working on a band of Highland Bunnies for myself. But I got it in my head to do some foxes for Amanda and somehow finished one of these first!?



She looks very friendly. I have a feeling all these critters are going to. Not sure why they'd be fighting each other... maybe they should all be friends and go on adventures together!?

I guess she is a FOX - a predator! And my warband is going to be made up of bunnies - FOOD! Not sure how excited Amanda is going to be about being the belligerent!?

(Who am I kidding, she is going to have a riot savaging my poor wee bunnies!)

The figure is based wooden peg doll that I've added milliput to. There is a wire armature under the staff and the arm holding the staff that was drilled into the peg.



Also a wire armature inside the tail that was drilled and glued into the peg.



The base on this one is a large metal washer, but I've since acquired a number of wooden discs to use for others.

I haven't really looked into war band construction that deeply to figure out what else I'd need to build. In my mind's eye I imagined a warrior or two (with sword and shield) and/or a ranger/archer type or two... Mind you, if I'm doing highland bunnies for my own warband, so maybe the rest should be in tricorne caps and red coats and carrying muskets!? (I believe there are rules for firearms in the game!?)


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog: 

I've been cleaning out the basement and done a complete sweep of the painting table and hobby room and putting EVERYTHING away so I can start fresh. Might be a few days before I get back to any painting or playing... Not sure what I'll be doing then. Hopefully back on track with THE PLAN and painting Necromunda stuff or Hellboy stuff...

Burrows and Badgers

Some time ago, Keira picked up Burrows and Badgers from Osprey Games - because cutesy, anthropomorphic critters! Who could resist!

Occasionally, she hints at wanting to play it.

I've had only the briefest of looks at the game - it is HER game, after all. I kind of expect that SHE should read the rules and teach ME!

I do have a PILE of Skaven that could be used as rats - and an assortment of other anthropomorphic animals that may or may not be of use. The problem is, most of the anthropomorphic critters we have are about the same size - "28mm-ish". The animals in the game, however, are supposed to vary in size - much like their real world counter parts. Oathsworn makes a bunch of really, very lovely miniatures for the game... but I think Amanda will likely execute me if I spent any more money on miniatures this year... but I did pick up those wooden pegs and got to wondering what I could do with them...

Well...



Conveniently Pegs come in a number of very different sizes! I have three so far 35mm, 42mm, and 55mm (I've also ordered a few that are 65mm and 75mm). I figured I could MAKE small war bands of animals using the various different sizes of pegs - 35mm for the small animals like mice and bats and small birds, 42mm for the medium sized animals like rabbits, cats, ferrets, and Toads, 55mm for the larger animals like foxes, hares, and hounds, and the 65mm pegs (when we get them) for the truly massive beasties (relatively speaking) such as badgers, beavers, large dogs, and large raptors.



I did some doodling in my sketch book. At first I thought I'd do them as "paint only" pegs...



And I tried starting with a highland rabbit



I don't know... I'm fairly pleased with how the tartan turned out....



but the ears aren't really working for me.

maybe if the eyes were a little lower and the ears started lower...



I started another one - this time with a Lochaber axe... but was feeling a little underwhelmed by it.

So I got to thinking...



What if I tried modelling on some slight detail with milliput...



I was thinking milliput because I knew my FLGS (Dragon's Den Games) had some and it was considerable less expensive than green stuff and, it's been a LONG time since I've used milliput, but I felt like it would adhere to wood as well as anything else... I'd kind of forgotten how... I'm not going to say "difficult milliput is to work with"... let's say "DIFFERENT milliput is to work with". It took some getting reacquainted with...



Some mice I started making with the small (35mm) pegs - trying out both types of milliput I picked up. (I has started on some feet with green stuff before I picked up the milliput).



Highland Bunnies! I am all about the bunnies (I blame Monty Python). This will probably be my main warband... if... y'know... I ever get around to FINISHING THEM (I started on these a few weeks ago, actually, but then had to put them away to concentrate on getting things ready for the Necromunda Weekend). These are done on the medium (42mm) pegs.

The one with the upright ears does have a wire armature underneath! - as do most of the critters with larger more extended tails!



I also started on a few larger (55mm) ones. A few of these I originally started as generic fantasy dungeon crawlers, but they're being converted into critters. I thought I might make a warband of foxes for Amanda to use - the Foxy Vixens!



Relative sizes... maybe not QUITE the size different between the actual real-world animals... but the foxes are bigger than the rabbits, and that rabbits are bigger than the mice, so...



Backsides - to show off their tails (and the pleats of the one kilt I've finished). Is that fox tail big enough? I didn't want to make it TOO HUGE...

Of course in practice, modelling on details (rather than just "paint-on" details) means that now each model will be an individual hand-sculpted master piece!? GAH!? Who has time for this!? Ah, well... I was having a LOT of fun doing this, and that's what this is all about, right? "Having fun"...?



Some wooden discs arrives in the mail yesterday - thought I might use these instead of the washers I've been gluing them on to so far... of course, these are not the same size as the washers... so I'll have figures on different sized bases which really tweaks my OCD...

Of course none of this was considered in THE PLAN, so, assuming I stick to it, I'm not sure when I'll get back to these... probably the next time Keira brings it up, I'll drop everything and start working on them again!

For some reason, one of my favourite lines from any movie ever comes to mind:

"You'll laugh at this one day. I'm laughing already..."


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

A painting update of some sort.

Might be finishing off some Necromunda stuff, as planned...

Or maybe a band of surly Highland Bunnies (with their wee mouse friends)!

(good grief...)

Wooden Peg Warriors

Because I don't have enough projects on the go, I thought it might be fun to paint up some wooden peg characters. I thought the kids might be into it as well, especially Keira. She is ALL ABOUT making things these days. Every single day she sews or knits something. At times I wonder if they're too intimidated by all the miniatures they've purchased over the last couple years - and not yet painted! Like, maybe they are self-aware enough to realize that there skills aren't at the level to make the miniatures they own look they way they want them to look when they're done? If that makes any sense?! I mean, I'M intimidated by the details on some models, and I've been at this for 35+ years!!

So I ordered some pegs from Amazon. They batch it got was about 60 of them in three different sizes (55mm, 43mm, and 35mm) for about $17CAD (can't go wrong with the price!) - of course then I went out and bought some Milliput to add bits - but that was only about $12 and it will go a long way!

Initially I'd thought these would be fun to use for custom characters in role-playing games - and then making a bunch of very simple generic baddies to oppose them - or maybe some smaller scale skirmish games (like Song of Blades and Heroes). Of course when they arrived and I saw the big bags of them, I suddenly started having delusions of grandeur - entire armies for Dragon/Lion Rampant or any of those other games by Dan Mercy! (Because, y'know, having scores of armies for each of those games in regular ol'28mm metal wasn't enough!?)



Before I'd even ordered them, I'd done a few doodles of ideas in my sketchbook.



Just a few very generic characters - mostly medieval/fantasy... but I was thinking about so many others things as well.

I also found a few web stites and blogs that were very inspirational:

Zen Wood Peg People Page

Funny Little Wars - Molatero

Wooden Warriors

Some great stuff on these pages - varying from very simple/paint only - to very elaborate with either painting detail or adding on bits and bobs of wood or putty...

Here is my first stab at it:



Baron Phillipe do Lapin

(because why have the same character in only one scale/medium)



detail of bunny on back of tabard.



Just gave this guy a belt pouch. Now that I'm thinking about it, I probably should have given him a scabbard as well.

Dungeon crawlers could be given elaborate backpacks festooned with kit and rope and 10' poles...



SUPER simple ninja...



HAvent' decided which size will be standard adult male human. I was thinking the middle one (like the ninja here) so the larger ones could be for larger creatures - big orcs, ogres, trolls, etc... But I could always get some larger ones (I think I saw ones that were 65mm) as these 55mm ones are a nice size for getting details on...



I have a pile of others cluttering the workbench that are in various stages of paint and/or modelling...

I should really just STOP and finish up a few more Necromunda things before the game weekend!!


Coming Soon to Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Hopefully more Necromunda...

Who am I fooling? It'll probably be loads more wooden peg warriors - at least until I run out of the current batch and have to order more!?

So... I Had an Idea...

... and a weak moment on Amazon...

Because, you know, I didn't have enough projects on the go...



Coming Soon to Tim's Miantiure Wargaming Blog:

I just...

I can't even...