Checking back, I last posted on here on 25th October… a very poor showing on my part.
So, in an endeavour to actually do something hobby-related and justify finishing off some half-completed projects, I have decided to take part in Dave Stone’s Paint What You’ve Got challenge, which runs from 26th December up until 28th of February.
I decided to start big – with a terrain piece that has been staring down at me from a high shelf in disapproval – namely my Ghostbusters firehouse.
When we last saw it, it looked like this:
Assembled and undercoated in white spray paint. Realising that the majority of the exterior was red brick and that I didn’t have a paint in the right shade AND that there was a lot to paint, I trotted off to B&Q, as I realised that a 50ml tester pot would be cheaper than hobby paint.
I plumped for a colour called ‘Fulham,’ which seemed the closest to what I wanted. This was duly applied to all the red brick parts of the firehouse, giving good coverage and pretty much the colour I wanted. The dressed stone was painted using a Revell acrylic beige/tan. It probably has a proper name, but they only put a number on the dropper bottles, so it could be called anything.
Yes, that is a HUGE Ghostbusters picture on my wall and yes, the framed picture lying beside the firehouse IS a photo of the actual firehouse in New York, which I was using for reference purposes and looks like this…
Some grinning fool got in the way, but what can you do…
The above picture was taken before I had completely made my mind up whether the lowest floor was going to be painted entirely cream, like the actual firehouse, or if I was going to go with how the model has been built, with three sides red brick. I decided to go red brick, so have repainted the side to match the rest of it.
Since the pictures were taken, the pavement has been given an initial coat of grey, the stair well has also been painted brick red, and both the roof of the firehouse and the flat and angled parts of the stairwell have been stippled black, to try and suggest this is covered in roofing felt.
Whilst it doesn’t appear to be a big inroad, as it’s a fairly big model and the window frames are a little bit intricate, I’m happy with my progress.
I have also benched the Blackadder and Doctor Who projects for the time being, as I do really need to finish off this little lot;
The Santa Wars factions, supplementary figures, original Ghostbusters, Louis and Dana and, skulking off to the left just outside the picture, the Gingerbread Dragon and the rest of the Action Man project.
Some of the are very close to being complete, so hopefully this current challenge will get me motivated to finish them off.
The main problem with wargaming is not which rules system to use, your pile of unpainted miniatures or the many, many, many projects you’ve started and not quite finished, but space.
And when I say space, I’m not talking about outer space, but storage space.
True, most miniatures individually don’t take up a lot of room and you can buy storage cases to store and protect your miniatures, which can generally be stacked up, so these are not as much of a problem.
Scenery is another matter.
You may be fortunate enough to have your own dedicated hobby room/basement/shed and an understanding partner who just rolls their eyes when you spend far too long contemplating the Christmas village display in you local big box store, but not everyone in blessed with these things.
So, for those of us with limited storage space, what is the solution?
Modular scenery.
By modular, I mean stuff that can be disassembled into smaller components and therefore stored in a smaller space.
Obviously, you can go the route of wargaming mats in whatever shade you require, but these remain two-dimensional, no matter what the artwork depicts.
As anyone who has followed this blog will know, I’m a big fan of the HeroScape tile system and now that Renegade Games have reissued the game, you don’t have to hunt for additional tiles on secondary online marketplaces and get scalped on prices.
And whilst I’m not overly concerned about the reissued game (although the upcoming G.I. Joe base set has got me tempted), Renegade are releasing sets that are just the tiles.
They may have a rule sheet to explain how particular tile types work in the game, but you can buy a set of tiles representing the standard terrain types of grass, sand, stone and water, but also other terrain types, such as swamp and swamp water, snow and ice, volcanic land and molten lava, and cobbled streets – all backwards compatible with any tiles you may own from the original release.
And as the tiles lock together and stack, you can have a stable battlefield with different elevations that packs away neatly into a box.
So, with this in mind and as I have a fair few of these tiles already, could I create the necessary arena for a game of Santa Wars? Not quite.
Whilst I have black tiles that represent asphalt, so could do a central road and a handful of pine trees for cover, I sold my snow tiles many years ago when I was financially unstable.
But as I am now fortunate enough to have some disposable income, I can get this;
This set is named ‘The Snow Fields of Valhalla’ and comes with 2x 24 hex, 5x 7 hex, 2x 3 hex, 2x 2 hex and 2x 1 hex snow tiles and 20x 1 hex an 3 3 hex ice tiles (which are not as thick), as well as two snow covered evergreen trees. Recommended retail price in the UK is £59.99, but shopping around can get it cheaper.
Setting just the tiles from this set gives you this;
Which gives a fair bit of coverage, bearing in mind that each hex is approximately 1 1/2 inches flat to flat.
And it looks pretty good from an aesthetic point of view, although as the ice tiles are partially transparent, it’s probably best to lay some white paper underneath for a more “realistic” look.
But, even with this much coverage, as you can see from the size of the miniatures, I may need another couple of sets.
Will still need some suburban dwellings, but we’re getting closer.
Now, whilst Heroscape tiles are pretty good for non-urban landscapes due to their hex design, they don’t work as well for city streets, in my opinion.
So, modular option number 2 are these;
Non-branded building block road plates. Each plate is 10 inches square and you get 10 plates in the pack, which I picked up in Smyths toy store… for £9.99. Bargain!
You get 4x straight roads, 4x curved roads and one each of a crossroads and t-junction, which you can then set up like so;
If you’re prepared to ignore the studs (which as this is a non-branded product are blank), there are a couple of minor issues with these, which are easily rectified.
Firstly, unless locked together, the tiles will slide apart. However, a single building block plate placed at the corners, of whichever brand you have available, will lock the plates together. Problem solved.
Secondly, this pack only comes with road plates, so if you want an area that is not road, for placing buildings, etc. they will have to have a big enough footprint to cover the road on the plate or you’re going to have to live with the fact that they’ll be bits of road sticking out from underneath it. However, I did see a pack on the shelf that has non-road plates of exactly the same dimensions, but only one of the five plates was grey, the others being red, blue, green and a sandy colour. So, utilising the green, grey and sand tiles, you could have a 30″ x 30″ board, with waste ground (sand) and a park (green) in two of the corners, and a concrete area (grey) in one of the others, using 5 of the road tiles to create a crossroads and whichever tile you wanted in the other corner.
For total outlay of £17.99…
But does it work with 28mm figures and buildings, I hear you cry?
See for yourself.
I’d say that was a big fat Yes.
Obviously, I’ll now have to go back and get the other set, but as you can pay upwards of £40 for a similar sized printed urban mat that can only be rotated to provide a slightly different layout, rather than laying down the plates in the configuration you want, I’d say if you can get past the evident studs, this is a really good option.
Plus who does like mucking about with Lego, given the chance?
Now, as you’ve probably gathered, no real progress has been made painting wise, as October being the month of my birth, I tend to indulge myself in frivolous activities.
Or post videos on my YouTube channel…
So, if you want a small slice of seasonal silliness, follow the link below;
Thankfully, Prince Edmund took Baldrick’s suggestion (although he claimed the idea as his own), otherwise we’d be using this emoji – 🍆 – to refer to a cunning bastard, rather than what it supposedly means now…
Which is my introduction to the latest batch of historical “personalities” from the forgotten (i.e. expunged) reign of King Richard IV.
First up we have Baldrick, then Prince Edmund, Duke of Edinburgh and finally Percy, Duke of Northumberland. These three figures are from the Black Prince & Aidespack from Hayland Terrain.
And then we have King Richard IV and the Witchsmeller Pursuivant. The king is from Rogue Miniatures and the Witchsmeller also from Hayland Terrain, as part of their Medieval Mayhem range.
So, I know have the full casts from The Black Adder, Blackadder II, Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Goes Forth in miniature form. All I’m missing is a Victorian Baldrick, a modern Blackadder and the Roman versions of both characters. I have figures in mind for the Victorian and Roman versions, but a modern Blackadder is proving elusive. And I am tempted to see if I can find a suitable figure to represent Robin Hood, who is apparently a distant ancestor of a certain Lord Flashheart…
And as I was already ordering from Hayland Terrain, I got this too.
The sledgehammer-wielding Santa Claus portrayed by David Harbour in Violent Night. Which, if you haven’t seen it, you should. Think ‘Die Hard’ crossed with ‘Home Alone’, but the protagonist is a tired, grumpy, jaded Santa Claus, who’s about to meet some very naughty people…
Join me next time when I’ll be slinging paint around and hopefully getting some of the figures I’ve started actually finished.
As I’ve been a little busy, I decided that today would be a hobby day.
Having already made a few adjustments to the figures I was planning on using for the Regency Blackadder and the Prince Regent that I collected at Colours, I based all four figures.
Blackadder had the tricorn hat removed from his left hand and the excess metal removed, so the hand is now empty. Baldrick requires a bit of ‘fraying’ as his clothes are a bit too pristine, plus he needs a feather for his hat. The Prince Regent had his cane removed and I increased the size of his wig by adding Milliput to the top of his head, as the Prince Regent’s wig is stupidly big. Mrs Miggins remained untouched. I think they are going to work as the main cast of Blackadder the Third.
And yes, those are new paradigm Daleks milling about in the background…
I have also based the Crooked Dice 8th Doctor, who will be my Victorian Blackadder. Grand Admiral Blackadder has been given a bit more attention, as has his slave/minion Baldrick. My modern Baldrick conversion got an undercoat of white, followed by his coat being painted grey.
My conversion of a Killer B Militant into Tom Stone also got an undercoat of white, followed by his jacket and trousers receiving two coats of GW Rotting Flesh, as this is a pale green that pretty much matches the base colour of his camo uniform. Hands and face were painted Chocolate Brown and his beret Woodland Green. Action Man has had some additional detailing done too.
Venturing into the Whoniverse, the 9th Doctor has been based. The figure I’m repurposing as the Derek Jacobi version of the Master has had his waistcoat painted and the figure I’m using as Missy has had several coats of Worm Purple, as this particular paint is quite thin.
And I have started work on what will become the 16th Doctor. I also dug out my scratch-built Tardis, as it’s about time I finished it.
And the new paradigm Daleks got a bit of attention too, as they were in the same box as the Tardis and hopefully won’t take too long to finish.
That’s all for this post, join me next time for more of the same.
Saturday 6th September saw the Colours wargaming convention return once again to the Newbury Racecourse venue, so as this is a 30 minute drive from where I live, into the car I leapt and made my way down the M4.
There are several advantages to Colours being hosted at this venue, aside from how close it is. There is plenty of onsite parking, the convention is spread over three floors, so there’s plenty of room and, as I’ve visited it before, I know where everything is… including the bar.
And the best thing about the bar? No queue. It appears the rest of the attendees subsist on copious amounts of coffee and an equal amount of chips. This probably explains the ‘typical’ shape of most wargamers in attendance.
The ground floor is where the majority of the traders are based and whilst it has the greatest floor space, I do feel they could have spread them out a little more.
Especially when you take into account the additional room available on the first floor.
The second floor is dedicated to various demonstration or participation games run by local wargaming clubs. As most of these tend to favour historical conflicts, there was a lot of WW2, War of the Roses and what looked like a battle between ancient Persians and someone else. Not much in the way of fantasy or sci-fi and only one skirmish-sized game I could see, which looked to be set in the 1950s judging by the cars and seemed to be the US Army versus gangsters.
First order of the day was to return some 3D printed Cybermen I’d previously ordered from Twisted Pinnacle, as although listed as 28mm compatible, the figures turned out to be 40mm head to toe, so towered over everything else I owned. James from TP very kindly said I could keep these and I’d get replacement figures shortly, but me being me, I thought I’d give them back, as that way I don’t end up with more figures I don’t need and someone else could benefit from them.
Then it was off to Crooked Dice and Gripping Beast to collect my pre-orders.
So, we have Crooked Dice’s 8th Doctor, 9th Doctor and River Song. The 8th Doctor figure will be used as a replacement for the Tangent Miniatures figure I wasn’t happy with, the other two will be the characters they were made to represent.
The above four figures came from three different packs from Gripping Beast, GP2 18th Century Civilians #1,GP3 18th Century Aristocrats and GP4 18th Century Civilians #2. Each pack comes with 4 miniatures, so whilst I’ve cherry picked these, it does mean I now have eight other 18th Century figures yet to be purposed… although one of them might pass for Captain Redbeard from Blackadder II.
These were bought for purpose of doing the cast of Blackadder the Third. The far left will be Mrs. Miggins and the far right will be Baldrick. The two in the centre will become Mr. Edmund Blackadder, Esq. and the Prince Regent, but I’m not sure which I will use for each yet.
Which brings us on to some impulse purchases…
Modular Worlds had a stand and a rather extensive display of their 3D printed models. As these are resin prints and mainly monsters, I have no issue with the details on these, as they tend to be larger scale and exaggerated, so you don’t get the same problems you get with 3D printed models that are then cast in metal.
What is it, you may ask… well it’s a Cheese Golem, with three tiny melted cheeselings. I like golems, I like cheese and the painted display version they had on the stand was, as I told the guy when buying it, “fucking awesome.” So I had to have it and will make a great foe for my Ghostbusters.
And for those of you who are taking part in Orktober next month and have a tendency to buy Orky things off Etsy (and you know who you are…), this is for you;
My final impulse buy was this, a resin miniature from Black Scorpion. However, I didn’t just buy one dodo, I bought four and the only reason I didn’t buy more was there weren’t any left. I blame those Portugese sailors…
The website has this listed as £4.50 each, but the show price was £3.00 each. I do have a (sort of) reason for buying these – I had an idea a while back for a boardgame in which each player was a dodo and the idea was to eliminate your opponents through jury-rigged booby traps, like a jungle-themed version of the Spy vs. Spy strips from Mad magazine, to become “The Last Dodo.”
So, all in all, a pretty good show and much more enjoyable than Warfare last year.
And I may have convinced Karl at Crooked Dice to add the time-travelling Lord Blackadder from Blackadder Back and Forth to his Temporal Travellers range… but we’ll have to see. If he does, you know who to blame.
Whilst not a quote from Blackadder, it does apply to me and my cunning plans…
So, let us start, appropriately, with the Blackadder Project.
Having decided that the Tangent Miniatures figure I was planning on using for Ebenezer Blackadder was, to put it frankly, shite, I needed a replacement.
As I’d decided that I was going to repurpose the Heresy Miniatures 9th Doctor for something else (more on that later) and was therefore already looking on Crooked Dice’s website, I decided that with the appropriate paint job, this;
Would make a good Ebenezer Blackadder. So this was put into my basket, along with Crooked Dice’s version of the Ninth Doctor.
As it is Colours 2025 next weekend, which is just down the road from me, and Crooked Dice will be in attendance, I can pre-order these figures and not pay postage.
Cunning Plan #1…
Turns out that Gripping Beast will also be there and as they are the current owners of Front Rank Figurines, who have several figures that with some light conversion, will pass for Edmund Blackadder Esq., Mr S. Baldrick, the Prince Regent AND Mrs Miggins from Blackadder the Third, a further order was placed, so not only will I be getting the Victorian Blackadder, but pretty much the full cast from the Third series next weekend… with no postage.
Cunning Plan #2…
But you don’t come here for me crowing how very cunning I am, you come here to see painted figures, so let’s have a bit of eye candy next.
Continuing with the Blackadder theme, we have slave/thrall Baldrick and Grand Admiral Blackadder of the Dark Segment, who appeared as the far future versions of these characters in Blackadder’s Christmas Carol. Based, undercoated and given base flesh and GW Chainmail for Blackadder’s entire outfit, barring the cape and feathery shoulder decorations. These are also from Tangent Miniatures and may suffer the same softness that the other figure did, but I’m not sure where I’d find alternative proxies for these two.
Next we have the modified Street Thug with Knife from Killer B Games, who is on his way to becoming the modern day Baldrick from Blackadder Back and Forth. His knife was filed down to a stick and a blob of Milliput added to the end. This will be filed down when set, as it isa little large, but will represent the lollipop ‘lever’ from the time machine. As the Thug had rolled up jacket sleeves and a short jacket, I filed down the sleeve cuffs, the extended the sleeves and bottom of the jacket to better replicate Baldrick’s main outfit from that special. You can’t see it, but the far side of his extended coat also has a clearly defined exterior pocket. A little bit of judicious filing and he should be ready to paint.
The Black Major and Baron Ironblood have had additional coats of dark grey and white respectively and the main red accents of each figure’s outfits applied.
Captain Zargon got a dry-brushing of light grey on his black bits, then a black wash over everything except his visor. His eyes have also had their initial coat of Bogey Green, but I was a little heavy-handed with this, so I will have to tidy up the eyes sockets, as it looks a bit rubbish at present.
Unlike the Skeletrons, who are pretty much done. Base tidied up, black wash on their guns and red glowing eyes. Having attempted to paint the upper chest inset black as a base for the red and blue ‘buttons’ on a single figure as a test and realising it wasn’t working, I decided to give the upper chest inset a full coat of Enchanted Blue, with a lower chest ‘button’ being painted white. This kind of mimics the colours on the original action figure and acts as a better contrast than my original plan
So, that’s the figures, let’s move on to Cunning Plan #3…
As a long-term fan of Doctor Who and now having a bit more disposable income, I decided it was high time I bought myself a Sonic Screwdriver. Being me, I naturally didn’t want an instantly recognisable one, because I wanted to think of myself as either a distinct Time Lord separate from the Doctor or an incarnation of the Doctor no-one had met yet.
Yes, I know I’m a huge geek/nerd/fanboy and I don’t care one jot what anyone thinks, because it makes me happy.
Anyway, I looked at custom Sonic Screwdrivers available on Etsy, but they were looking for £200+ for one and whilst different, none of them spoke to me.
I then thought to myself I could get a cheaper one and customise the shell, so I’d get the lights, sound and functionality of an actual replica, but with its own unique look, so went hunting…
And then I found this;
Ooooh, shiny…
This is a limited edition online exclusive variation of the 14th Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver, the silver version of which appeared on screen in only the three specials that David Tennant came back for, before he bi-generated into Ncuti Gatwa. Doctor Who fans will know what I’m banging on about, no-one else cares (and some of the fans consider it a load of old bollocks too).
But this one’s gold…
I know it’s only a cosmetic change, but it does make it look like a completely different item – more steampunky.
Anyway, I have used it to scan my entire flat and you’ll be pleased to hear there are no hidden alien threats anywhere on the premises.
So, this got me thinking… if I was the next Doctor, what distinctive outfit would I wear? I mentally catalogued the clothes in my wardrobe, had a rummage, picked out various items… and then tried them on.
And it not only worked as an eclectic Doctor’s costume, I looked pretty good in it.
Which means if I AM the 16th Doctor (and why not?), I obviously need a figure to represent the 16th Doctor/Me.
And the version of the Ninth Doctor by Heresy Miniatures, with some light conversion will work, as my hair is that short and my ears do stick out that much.
So, expect to see that figure also being progressed, along with everything else.
Not sure my version of the Doctor would be entirely appropriate for teatime viewing, though…
“I’m the Doctor. You have two choices – either leave peacefully now or I will fuck you up…”
If you’ve completed all your ‘must do’ tasks over the last couple of days and all you have on your agenda for a rare day off is a pub quiz that evening, you can get quite a bit done…
So working our way forward through history, let’s first revisit the Elizabethan era;
Blackadder has received a coat of dark grey over his base coat of black, to hopefully add some depth to his predominantly black outfit and a wash of GW Tanned Flesh, which is my go-to for bringing out the features on the flesh-coloured parts of my figures. Percy has had his day-glo orange outfit calmed down somewhat, by receiving a thin coat of yellow with a hint of oranges as well as a wash on his pallid features. Baldrick only received a wash… probably the first he’s ever had.
Melchett also received a coat of dark grey and the Tanned Flesh wash. Queenie now has the requisite ginger tresses, flesh wash and the majority of her raiment received a coat of linen mixed with gold, to show off that she’s got pots of cash to spend on gowns. Nursie had a wash of GW Marine Dark Blue to darken her gown, as well as the flesh wash.
We now move forward in history, to the English Civil War…
Captain Blackadder had a pretty much all over coat of dark grey, as this particular paint, when used for multiple layers, slowly gets darker until it’s almost black – the idea being that once it’s nearly there, I can give him a wash of black, rather than trying to highlight or drybrush black with a lighter colour, as I find the former easier than the latter. He’s also had the requisite flesh wash, which EVERYONE got, so just take it as read, as I’m bored of typing it every bleedin’ time.
And onto the reign of Queen Victoria…
Dark grey on top of the black. The flesh wash did highlight that this figures features aren’t as well-defined as traditionally sculpted figures, which tend to be a little exaggerated. This is one problem I have found with computer designed, then 3D printed figures which are then cast up in metal. It might look good as a 3D render, but loses definition and softens once transferred to another medium. This is why I’ve never ordered from HeroForge, as the end result nevers looks as good as the software depicts.
And onto the first World War…
You know what they’ve had done, so no need to say it…
And the same here…
Finally, on the Blackadder front, a bit of flash…
Or Flashheart to be more accurate. Whilst both blonde, checking the source material, Elizabethan Flash in considerably blonder than WWI Flash, hence the difference is hair colour. I also added a coat of dark grey to the historically older Flash and another coat of white to his doublet. The dagger got a coat of Chainmail mixed with a touch of black, as this gives a duller, more realistic metallic than just straight Chainmail.
And now we’re in the late 70’s/early 80’s…
The Black Major got two coats of dark grey, taking his whole uniform closer towards the overall black outfit he wears, as well as his pistols painted in the Chainmail/black mixture I used on Flashheart’s dagger. A coat of dark grey on Baron Ironblood’s gloves and boots, Chainmail/black fior his helmet and another coat of white on his torso. Captain Zargon got a coat of dark grey too, which was then followed up with Chainmail/black on his gloves, boots, pistol and exposed circuitry/electronic chest and back panels. Not entirely figure accurate, but it’s pretty close. The visor got another coat of white, followed by some GW Bogey Green, which pretty much matches the colour of the transparent visor the original figure came with. Those of you who are familar with Captain Zargon can now see why I chose this as my base figure.
Action Man has had his boots and beret done in two coats of dark grey, Khaki trousers, army green jumper and metallic parks of his rifle done with the Chainmail/black mix. Quarrel also had her crossbow done in the same way and her flowing blonde locks given a base coat of Canary Yellow, which will be toned down with a wash of darker yellow next.
And finally, the Skeletrons…
Who are almost complete and looking damn good. Their techno-bone (which wasn’t a word until I made it up) parts were touched up with linen, then given a wash of Burnt Ochre. The red torsos were then also touched up where necessary and the guns given a coat of Chainmail/black. All that’s left to do on these is a final black wash on the guns, tidy up the bases, detail the eyes and see if I can replicate the skull and crossbones logo from the original figure. However, as the figures I’ve used do have a inset section on the chest with two raised ‘buttons,’ one circular and one square, I mat just paint this black and do the red and blue panels, rather than driving myself insane trying to do a skull and crossbones logo that’s only a couple of millimeters wide at this scale. Obsession only goes so far…
And we’re back in the modern day. Next time they’ll probably be more of the same two projects, as I’ve now based up the other figures I’ve got, although both modern Baldrick and Tom Stone need some conversion work done.
And possibly you may be introduced to the 16th Doctor… and it’s not bloody Billie Piper.
The August Bank Holiday stretches ahead of me, pregnant with possibility and as I have only a few things planned, paint will come out and figures will be progressed.
However, I have not been idle since my last post, so a quick update is in order… along with some exciting news. But I’ll get to that shortly.
First, let’s take a look at the cast of Blackadder II;
The flesh paint came out and everyone got a more natural complexion. Both Baldrick and Percy have been given a bit more work, although I may need to tone down Percy’s outfit, as it’s a bit too orange.
Melchett, Queenie and Nursie have also been “fleshed,” with Melchett’s fur and Nursie’s dress also painted. I will be darkening Nursie down, as her costume is a darker blue.
Next, a brace of Flashheart’s. Next to each other, there’s a clear difference in height, but as each figure matches the approximate height of their companion figures, I’m not overly bothered.
And on the Action Man/Force front…
Quarrel got some make-up and Action Man himself has been based and undercoated.
As have Baron Ironblood and the Black Major. I did some additional work on both the Cavalier and Victorian Blackadder’s, as well as fleshing the rest of the WWI cast, but nothing of real note, so no pictures.
I have also now received the figures I ordered for Grand Admiral Blackadder of the Dark Segment, his thrall Baldrick and the two figures I intend to convert into modern Baldrick from Blackadder – Back and Forth and Tom Stone, so expect to see them appearing soon.
Now, on to the exciting news.
As 2026 will be the 10th anniversary of Forgotten Heroes, I thought this needed to be marked in some way.
So, I hatched a cunning plan…
I would design an anniversary pin badge, get them made and anyone who takes part next year gets one sent to them in the post, once the challenge has been completed.
The company I contacted not only nailed the design, they were about half the price of the others I approached.
And they arrived today, so I thought I’d show you all what could be yours to proudly display on whatever item of clothing you choose.
And if your first thought on seeing this is not “That is SOfucking awesome!”, there is something seriously wrong with you.
Thirty badges exist, one of which I’ll be keeping for myself, but the remainder should cover everyone who wants to take part next year.
Am I good to you or what?
Hell’s teeth, if I continue like this, I’ll need to get a merch store…
Join me next time for more Blackadder and Action Man fun, the crossover no-one saw coming.
As stated in my last post, today was a rare day off, booked to ensure the engineer being sent out DID actually install my broadband. As this was an morning slot, which ran between 8am and 1pm, with no specific time, I decided that rather than sit around staring at the walls, I’d get on with some hobby stuff.
Now, I did say I wasn’t going to order any more stuff… and I haven’t. What arrived yesterday I’d already placed an order for and, as usual when ordering from certain companies, the box the item came in was significantly bigger than item itself.
I was just about to break it down for recycling when I had a bit of a brainwave…
Rotated, it made a spray booth, which meant the Ghostbusters firehouse could be sprayed rather than labouriously painting by hand.
Still stank out the flat, even with the door to the balcony open, but at least that’s one job done.
Then the paints came out and we began progressing some of the models.
Lord Melchett, Queenie and Lord Blackadder have had their main colour added.
As have Lieutenant George, Captain Blackadder and Private Baldrick.
As well as Captain Darling and General Melchett.
I also based and couple of figures and secured the missing parts from the two enemy figures.
Baron Ironblood now has his distinctive coal-scuttle helmet and the Black Major now has his left hand attached. I did remove the longer barrels from his handguns (which I assume were Lugers) as one was so bent that any attempt to straighten it would just result in it snapping off – plus the original Black Major figure was packaged with a normal automatic pistol, as it was just a repaint of the mail away Action Force Commander figure.
The final figure on the far right is a Crooked Dice Army Marksman, as I suddenly realised that his outfit matched the original Action Man Soldier with eagle eyes, and if he’s got eagle eyes, then he’d be a bloody good sniper, so this is MY Action Man. Tom Stone is still on his way, however.
But Quarrel has been progressed;
As has Captain Zargon.
I will be adding a cape, but decided to do this after I’d fully painted the figure, similar to what I did with the Tornado for FH 2023.
Now, you may be thinking that if I had the entire day, I haven’t really progressed the figures since very far.
There is a reason.
I decided that whilst having named single villains was all well and good, I really needed some goons for my heroes to mow down.
I considered some Zargonites (Captain Zargon’s faceless space minions) and also some Red Shadows, but both of these would require additional purchases.
Then I had a cunning plan…
One of the final mail away figures from the original Action Force line was Skeletron, described as “a mysterious new Enemy Creature, created by Baron Ironblood’s laboratories. He works alongside the evil Kraken with the aim of defeating Action Force!”
And he looked like this:
A slightly effeminate robotic skeleton thing, who looks like he’s about to audition for a Broadway show.
Cool concept, crap figure. However, if you take this concept and apply it to some Mark Copplestone sculpted skeletal robots from Forlorn Hope Games (part of the Future Warriors range) which you’ve already got, then you get this;
As these were originally painted as proxy terminators, the ivory for limbs and head took two coats to cover the metal, hence the extra time needed.
Need a little more work, as currently they look like skinheads…
But I think they’ve turned out pretty good and didn’t involve me spending any more money, so that’s a win.
Next time, they’ll be more Action Man, more Blackadder, possibly some Ghostbusters and maybe some Santa Wars.
As my last post was bereft of eye candy and I’ve been busy beavering away getting my vast horde of new purchases based, I thought it was about time I showed some actual progress on what I’ve been doing.
First up, the Blackadder Project…
From Blackadder II, we have Baldrick, Lord Edmund Blackadder, Lord Percy and Lord Flashheart (Hoorah!).
Based and undercoated, so ready to be painted.
And the rest of the cast…
Lord Melchett, Queenie and Nursie.
From Blackadder Goes Forth…
Captain Edmund Blackadder, Private S. Baldrick and Lieutenant the Right Honourable George Colthurst St. Burleigh.
And Captain Kevin Darling, General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett, driver “Bob” Parkhurst and Squadron Leader the Lord Flashheart (Hoorah!).
All based and ready for a lick of paint.
And finally…
Sir Edmund Blackadder from Blackadder: The Cavalier Years and Mr. Ebenezer Blackadder from Blackadder’s Christmas Carol. Both based and one undercoated.
But wait, there’s more…
Way back in 2021, in this post, I did start a couple of conversions into toys from my youth, to accompany the “Ballistic Man” figure kindly gifted to me by Roger of Rantings from Under the Wargames Table fame.
However, it was my intention to bolster each side (goodies vs baddies), so they could have a scrap.
Here is the current compliment of figures;
Bullet Man, Atomic Man and the Intruder, all ready to go. But they need some allies…
In the shape of Baron Ironblood, the Black Major, Captain Zargon and Quarrel.
The first two are Commander Kuro and the Red Baron, both from Crooked Dice and were definitely sculpted to resemble those characters. And yes, I know they’re both missing parts at present, but the Baron’s head and the Major’s hand came separately, so need securely attaching.
The third figure is a Space Phantom with Fear Pistol from Killer B Games, already slightly modified with a Milliput chest panel and shoulder pads cunningly crafted from blister pack plastic.
The final figure is a Reaper Bones Black figure called Tara the Silent. I can’t claim this as an original idea, as someone else has already used this figure in this way (although I can’t find his blog now, so can’t credit him), but it looked so effective, I borrowed his idea.
The figures I’ve finally plumped for to represent both Action Man himself and Tom Stone are winging their way to the Crow’s Nest, these being the FINAL two orders I’ve placed to complete this project.
Okay, I may have bought some paint yesterday, but if I’m painting military personnel, I need some Khaki and Army Green surely, so that’s allowed, right?
Anyway, as next Wednesday is the second attempt at getting my Internet installed, I have the day off, so rather than mope about waiting for them to turn up, I’m going to take the opportunity to paint up some of these little buggers.
I’ve discovered that if I leave them in ranks on my bookcase, they stare accusingly at me every time I walk past, so this encourages me to paint them.
Carrion Crow's Buffet 
