Female Armour Sucks!

Here is a funny video that illustrates the inherent differences between male and female armour- It literally made me laugh out-loud

CollegeHumor's Favorite Funny Videos

Selling a Kroot Army

I don't normally bother reporting what I have to sell on eBay on my blog, but then again I don't normally sell an entire army. In order to raise funds for Salute 2012, I have decided to sell off one of my 40K armies, army a Kroot Mercenaries army I painted for the Grand Tournament. I am very proud of this army, as many of the figures have been converted into the unique troop types found in the Kroot list. All in all, it is 104 figures, of which no less than 32 have had at least some minor conversion or sculpting.

Here's a few pictures to show case them, and to give me something to remember them by.

My success at the Grand Tournament has never been that impressive, and I never qualified, but that despite that I have always had a soft spot for these hungry blue carnivores. It is with reluctance that I have decided to sell them, but I haven't played 40K for years, so perhaps it is time they went to someone who might get more out of them than I ever did.

Here's a link the the eBay sale, if you are interested. Kroot on eBay!

Good News Crossover

Just a quick note- Crossover Miniatures, the kick start company I blogged about earlier in the week, has just managed to raise the requisite $4000 they needed to begin production. I would like to congratulate those involved, and wish I could have contributed financially too. I am eager to see what comes of Crossover Miniatures, and will be following them avidly over the next few months.

Well done chaps.

Crossover Miniatures

A new start up model company has very recently come to my attention producing four colour superheroes and villains, in 28mm scale. This company is called Crossover Miniatures. As far as I know they are based in the USA. Here's some of their greens from their range. They plan to make 8 models, with interchangeable heads, plus a pack of four thugs and henchmen.



The sculpting standard so far looks very high, and the whole thing looks quite exciting. The thing is with this company, they want people to pledge money, presumably to contribute towards the start up cost, and in return you will receive some miniatures.

I have come across this start up pledge thing before, but have never participated. It seems like a good idea to me. The chaps running this one have just 13 days left to raise their target of $4000, and so the pressure is on!

Unfortunately, due to financial constraints, not least my wife loosing her job, I am not in a position to join in with this offer, although I would be tempted if I had a few spare $$$. I really want this project to succeed and get of the ground, and so all I can do is blog about it and hope that some one else who read this blog might be in a better situation than I and can help with the pledge.

Why not check out Crossover Miniatures at their website here.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/211492152/crossover-miniatures-a-new-superhero-miniature-lin

Disclaimer- I have no connection with Crossover Miniatures whatsoever. I am just an interested gamer spreading the word about an existing new project. Any questions, comments or queries should be directed to Crossover Miniatures.

Summer Holiday Trip to Warhammer World

Summer Holidays are here and I had to organise a day trip for the kids while my wife was busy. Where to go? Let me think....

Warhammer World of course! Warhammer world, Games Workshop's flagship store, is in Nottingham, less that an hour and a half from our house- I perfect chance to engage in a bit of gaming related shenanigans while maintaining the pretence of taking the kids out for the day. In my defence, I must point out that my son Charlie was a keen as I was to go. Eleanor was not so enthusiastic as she wanted to go to Florida, but then you cant win them all.

Charlie took the opportunity to expand his already massive Lord of the Rings Moria Goblin army. I added a few Hobbits to my Shire army. I had previously decided not to collect any more GW Armies, as they are just too expensive, but as this was more a case of adding to an existing army I felt that is was justifiable.

All in all, Charlie and I had a great time. The whole experience for Eleanor could have been enhanced by the addition of Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

Here's some gaming tables I photographed while I was there. Amazingly, if you turn up with your own armies, you can play on these masterpieces!

This just goes to show what you can do with a ware house of plastic kits if some one tells you to design something impressive.


This is a gorgeous Eldar vs Imperial Guard table- kind of half diorama and half battle board- amazing!

A sweet little Empire Village built just using the GW plastic buildings- A bit to built up for Warhammer, in my opinion, but great for Mordhiem or similar games.

Not So Scary Now

Here's what my ten year old son, Charlie did yesterday. It made me laugh to much it made me choke on my tea. I had to photograph it and share it with you.

Somehow a Necron just isn't as scary with googly eyes.

Here's My Gaming Table

My gaming table is, I think, rather unique. It’s my own invention, and I don’t know anyone else who has one like it, so I thought I would share with you how I made it.
For starters I wanted a roughly 6 foot by 4 foot table, that was light, easy to store, easy to move from place to place and was inexpensive. After trolling around the hardware and DIY stores I happened upon something that gave me a great idea- decorating tables!
Decorating tables are used when you apply paste to wallpaper. They are roughly six foot by two foot, and fold up. They are lightweight, and even come with a handle on the side!

My tables ready to be packed away in the garage- note the convenient carrying handle! Could they make it any easier?

I bought two of them, for about £14 each. Then, on a rare sunny day, set them up in the garden. I covered them in a layer of PVA glue, and then sprinkled on various grades of sand, to create areas of differing texture. When this was dry I used a roller to apply a couple of coats of thin white emulsion paint and PVA glue (50-50 mix) to seal the sand down and prime it at the same time. When this was dry I stippled the surface with paints. Initially I painted it red-brown, using Games Workshop paints. I would not really recommend this though, because it is too damn expensive. That was a few years ago. I have recently repainted it so it looks more desert coloured, to go with my wild west stuff, and I used some old GW paints and various coloured testers (little pots of emulsion paint you can buy from DIY stores to test your paint before you invest a load of money I buying a big pot).


Two tables clamped together makes a fairly stable, roughly 6x4 table

The two tables are clamped together with a couple of G clamps I bought from a pound shop. This creates a reasonably stable gaming surface. I made these tables years ago, and they have stood the test of time. They have been repainted, and have needed a few very minor repairs, but all in all, I think that for an initial investment of about £30, I think that have been well worth it.

Chuck a battle cloth on it, from Games Workshop, and it's easily transformed from Wild West, to rural England!

Tintin Vs Cthulhu

I so wish that some one would write this book. This has to be the greatest ever idea for a Call of Cthulhu adventure.
This is the work of artist Murry Groat, who has made four Cthulhu/Tintin covers, including Tintin in Innsmouth. It's very cleaver and right up my street.
It's kind of got me thinking, as Mark Copplestone already does a Tintin character, and some snow-bound explorers, it could be great fun to do as a mini project (And could possible tie in with my Pulp stuff).
Great, just what I need- another mini-project to distract me!

Welcome Newbies

Firstly, let me say a big welcome to new members Jfreeman2002 and the mysterious follower known only as S. I am still amazed that 22 people follow my blog- it's very encouraging to know that people are interested in what I slap paint on to.

This Blog has been criticised in the past (mostly buy my good mate Leon aka Pulp Citizen) for straying too far from it's core content, which is superhero related 28mm gaming. A quick view of the blog content will reveal that this is probably justified, as I have interest in other areas of gaming, but I will always return to the core Four-Colour theme. I hope you find something in the diverse mix of blog entries that peaks your interest, be is Supers, Scifi, Old West, Conan or Very British Civil War.

Link to a Great Battle Report

Just a quick heads up to 'The Baron's Blog', who had a cracking Golden Age Super Battle, and reported it in his blog here. I love the Barons blog, and the very wacky battle reports. Why not check it out?

Keep up the Good work Baron!

Check this out! I found it amongst the amazing art of Deviant Art, my favorite online art website. I have to say, this is an inspirational piece of knitwear.

This is the Cthulu Ski mask- and I love it. The artists gives the

details of the designs so anyone as crazy as he is can have ago at making their own! Do check out Deviant Art, if you are not familiar with it already. I loose hours of my like browsing the art there- It beats the Tate hands down, in my humble (and biased) opinion

I have just listed some old Games Workshop figures on Ebay (mostly from the 1990's), as well as some Role Playing Game books I managed to get my hands on when a local bookshop was shutting down. I am hoping to make a few quid so I can buy some nice scenery for my Very British Civil War gaming table. Why not take a look, and see if you can help me build a 1938 Liverpool?

Queen Victoria visits Deadhorse

My son Charlie has been doing about the Victorians for a school project. What better way for him to be educated, informed and entertained at the same time than to paint a 28mm scale miniature of Her Majesty. OK, it's probably not that educational, but it was fun, and I think he has made a really good job of it. He already paints better than me,and he's only ten!

This miniature is one of the Eureka range. They are an Australian company, but they are available in the UK from Fighting 15.

Here's a pic of my latest silly purchase. It is a computer from a Primeval action figure. I bought it from Tescos in a sale for £1.95. It came with an action figure which, as it's unlikely to ever be collectible, I chucked in the bin, and a set of five walkie talkies, which I kept for in my Bitz Box. It was the computer screens I was really after. Three for under £2, and with nice computer displays of global satellite images- too good an offer to miss. Imagine them gracing a mad scientists lab or the control hub of a super hero head-quarters. For now they will end up in my growing pile of 'will do that one day', but may be some day soon they will be dug out, receive a quick paint job, a new base, and be ready to grace my gaming table.

Last week I finally got round to tidying up my garage.

After we moved house lots of stuff got dumped in there, as people often do- boxes of yet to be unpacked ornaments, pictures, books etc. Some we will, I am sure, get round to using again, others will be forever stashed in the loft for sentimental reasons, while yet more will be destined for the old car boot sale. On top of all that stuff was dumped yet more junk- unwanted furniture waiting for recycling, badly stowed garden tools inherited from my father-in-laws house, the Halloween decorations that never quite made it into the loft and so on. You can see that it was quite a daunting task to tackle, and one that I have been procrastinate about of late.- "I am too busy with work/allotment/writing/blogging/on forums/painting for the lead painters leagues" (delete where applicable).

Last week I finally ran out of excuses, and plowed on into the garage. After a fair few hours work, I have converted the household dump into a fully functioning gaming room, complete with designer red velvet sofa and permanent gaming table!

It might not be the poshest gaming room in the world (I have seen pictures of the Perry Twins gaming room- sweet gaming paradise!) but it's a good start. Next payday I am off to Argos to buy a kettle, tea bag storage jars and some mugs etc. What else could we possibly need?

By the way, yes, my gaming table is made of two Homebase wallpaper tables clamped together. I covered the surface in sand and stippled on various shades of brown with a brush. Clamped together, its not too wobbly. It's a very inexpensive way to make a board, and easy to transport too, should the situation warrant it. The whole thing cost about £30. It measures 3 foot 11, by 5 foot 11, so it's almost regulation size.

Welcome to member number 13, Duck Sauce, I hope you like what you see. I would guess your planning to do your own superhero miniature blog, when you get around to it, and look forward to seeing what you have got to show us. I also hope you last longer that the last Number 13 who seemed to disappear after a could of days...

Last week Leon (Pulp Citizen) and I got together for a game of Pulp City. We played two games. The highlight of the first was when Rook took out one of Leon's hero by pounding him into the asphalt with a trash dumpster. We also used the trial beta rules for creating minions to create some zombies, which were quite fun (an very hard to kill!).
The second game featured two level three (ie VERY hard) characters. That was a lot of fun, because they can use their powered to enhance the performance of their lesser team members. We ran out of time for the battle, but by the end it was obvious Leon's heroes had taken the day, but not without loosing a lot of their own to my evil minions.
No pictures this time, but next time we will do a full battle report and take loads.

I realise that it has been a long time since I blogged anything, but I have been very busy with the things that get in the way of blogging: holidays, trips to hospital, work and grocery shopping. You know...life. I have also been very buys with the Lead Painters League competition. I have just dispatched my finally entry, an odd collection of Steampunk/Victorian Scifi figures and vehicles, including a scratch built stream tank.

It's a relief to get it over with, as it had been a long haul, but I have really enjoyed it, and I have painted a large number of figures (41 and two vehicles) that I otherwise wouldn't have got round to for some time, if ever. Over all, I think it was a positive experience.

For round 8 of the LPL, I was forced to 'cheat' a little, and posted some more of the Pulp figures I painted a while back. This bought me more time to work on my superhero team for round 9. This lot are a motley collection of spies, femme fatale and dastardly henchmen. The majority of the figures are from Artizan Designs, one of my favorite companies, but the ravishing redhead is by Pulp Figures, a Canadian company who have a wonderful range of pulp era figures that is always expanding.

The superhero team will be unveiled individual of the next week or so- with better pictures than on the LPL site (Again I struggled to get a good picture). The Team has a tight 'uniform' look, similar to X-men or Fantastic Four. I think that visually this makes them work better together, something that my super villains were lacking.

Leon and I are off to Salute 2010 in London tomorrow. I have got to get up at 0520 to get the train. Salute is the largest Wargamming Expo in the UK, and just about everybody is going to be there. This is my first year, and I have a long shopping list of things I am after.

It's the 1st of April, and today it is my birthday. Thirty seven years old! So here is just a quick blog to let you know what I'm up too, because this is my first proper day off for some time, and i an acutely aware that I haven't been able to blog for some time.

Firstly, let me say thanks to my mate Leon, who sent me a very cool moonpig card featuring a picture of Hellsmith, from Pulp City, that he painted himself- and the Kick-Ass graphic novel. I have read a few pages of the novel already, and I am very impressed- very funny. We're all off to see the movie next Thursday, instead of our usual fix of Conan RPG (can't go out tonight- I'm off to the theatre with my wife to see the Hobbit- a birthday treat).

Leon and I got together last week for a couple of games of the excellent Pulp City, and this time I remembered to take my camera to record the event for my Blog. I am supposed to be posting them on Lead Adventure Forum, but I have been having problems with Photobucket's Bulk Uploader, which means I have to upload each image one at a time, which takes ages, but he's a few pics to wet your appetite.

The Bad Guys -Sister Bedlam and a couple of sentry 'bots, Mourn, Hellsmith and Nuke.

The Good Guys, Howler, Nuclear Jones, Six Feet Under and Harrier.

All the figures and scenery are Leon's (check out his Pulp Citizen Blog)

I was going to write a battle report for one of the games, but sadly I have lost the scrap of paper I wrote it on, so I will have to just write a summary from memory- I will post it in a few days (hopefully).

I also what to add a big Hi to James, who is my new follower- hope you like what you see here, and please feel free to comment etc- this makes me feel that there is more than just me and Leon reading the Blog.

We went to Warhammer World in Nottingham for the school holidays. For those who might not know it is the head store, gaming facility and museum for games workshop.

My son Charlie and I had a great time. My wife and Eleanor enjoyed the facilities of Bugman's Bar (a warhammer Dwarf themed pub- I kid you not. It's like Disney world, only with severed orc heads nailed to the wall!)
I used to be a fanatical devotee to Games Workshop, and have, over the years, spent terrible amounts of money an their products. most of my lead mountain is old GW stuff. In the past few years I have diversified my interests, and have been buying my metal and plastics from other, often very small, independent, manufactures.

Seeing the 'Evey metal and Golden Demon-winner painted models up close has reminded me that GW still produce a lot of very nice figures, and have a huge back catalogue of figure ripe for conversion. I think I might have to return to my lead mountain soon, if only to paint one or two show models, rather that a whole army.

Charlie, by the way, spent his holiday money (well, my money, to tell the truth- he had already spend his) on some zombies. Being nine, and into heavy metal, he naturally has an unhealthy interest in the living dead, and the gorier the better. He has painted two so far, and I think they are rather good.

This is my garden in the snow, last week. Looks very pretty, but the cold weather was interfering with the Games Workshop black base coat spray I use, meaning I couldn't get any of the undercoating done on my new superheroes, which was annoying. I have been wishing for warmer weather...
The warmer weather is now here at last, but it's not all good news. This is a picture of my garden this week, under about three foot of flood water. I could go fishing off my patio! But still, at least I got my figures sprayed.