Advanced Heroquest Reborn - The Heroes

The clocks went forward this weekend which means lighter evenings and hopefully more miniature painting. Unfortunately the lens for my camera has sadly expired and all my spares are either zooms or fixed focus lenses, none of which are suitable for photographing miniatures. Because of that I'm trying to use a tablet for photographing miniatures as you'll see below. 

For the Advanced Heroquest Reborn project the first two heroes are now complete, actually more to the point, the first two figures of the project are complete!

They are, the human fighter Heinrich Löwen and the dwarf warrior Sven Hammerhelm. 

 

Sven underwent a substantial change from when you last saw him to bring him closer to the artwork found in the rule books.

 Source: Terror In the Dark - Games Workshop / Colin Howard (1991)

The parts I used for these two figures are:

Heinrich Löwen
Body - Empire State Troops
Arms - Empire Free Company Militia
Sword - Original militia cutlass removed, replaced with an alternative militia sword
Head - Empire State Troops (preceding 5/6th edition plastic box set, now out of production)
Feather - As above
Pouch (dagger removed, side re-sculpted) , bottle, treasure chest - Bretonnian men at arms set
Rope - Mordheim accessories
Shield - 1990's blank circle shield, parts from dwarf shield sprue (unknown)

Sven Hammerhelm
Body, arms - Dwarf warriors (6th edition, now out of production)
Hammer head - Dwarf warriors
Head, helmet removed - Dwarf warriors (6th edition, now out of production)
Helmet - Dwarf warriors

Backpack, self sculpted, bag - Bretonnian men at arms set

Next I plan to paint a few of the henchmen before facing up to the challenge of painting twenty Skaven.

The End of An Era

Recent posts have sadly seen a few too many obituaries.This one is slightly different and is not entirely unexpected but marks the end of an era.

Empire Free Company

Bretonnian Men at Arms

Source: Games Workshop (2016)

This weekend the Games Workshop finally retired a large number of box sets as the Age of Sigmar moves forward and the Old World is consigned to memory. Two sets that will be missed are the Empire Free Company Militia set and the Bretonnian Men at Arms set. Even I can tell they're not going to fit into the new setting and so inevitably their time is up.

These sets have for so many years been the go-to henchmen across many games and gaming systems. For me they've been my first choice fantasy humans, not just in Warhammer but in Mordheim and potentially Frostgrave. Their latest use was as part of my Advanced Heroquest Reborn project as, you've guessed it, the henchmen.

I thought about bagging one more set however, with my last post in mind, I decided the let them go. I just about have enough spare parts for this project, but a future ones will have to feature models from elsewhere.

I've been brand loyal for many years but that loyalty is fading somewhat. The new Age of Sigmar models are a mixed bunch, the latest Dwarfs for example I feel are embarrassingly bad, which is quite an achievement given that the old Dwarfs weren't very good in the first place.

I feel, in particularly with the Empire set, that their demise is a bit short sighted. These sets went far beyond being basic foot soldiers in a Warhammer army, and they could be utilized in many different games, be they old Games Workshop games or those made by others.

All this means I'm finally going to start looking elsewhere. The new Frostgrave range looks excellent, and with the option of converting between sets to create henchmen, cultists and even undead.

Source: Northstar Military Figures and Osprey Games (2016)

So next time I'm in need of a few good men, I know where to to look.

Downsizing My Stash - How Much Is Too Much?

Outside of my hobby life I've recently been doing through a re-evaluation of my consumption with the aim of being more mindful when it comes to purchases I make. Of course the elephant in the room is my hobby stash and the way I go about purchasing models.

Having a stash of models is part and parcel of the hobby, but how much is too much and is it really necessary? I can honestly say every model I've bought I have done so with the intention of building it. I'm not a box collector, but I have unintentionally become one, and so I have a large number of models stored away and very little idea of how much I've spent over the years.

In my case so many models is becoming quite a burden, there's a feeling I'll never get them done. So much so that for the past few months I've found it really hard to focus on anything model related. Of course at the same time when it comes to thinking about downsizing I feel I've invested a certain amount of my heart and soul into them. They are all projects I researched and once intended to build, and so it makes it quite difficult to part with them.

On the miniatures side I have managed to accumulate a number of rare models, at no cost to myself, that are no longer available for purchase unless I pay over the odds on eBay. Generally speaking these models will remain for now as it would not make sense to sell and then realise I want to paint them. Of course I will periodically reassess them and I may at some point move them on.

So, starting from April the 1st, until the end of the year, I'm going to keep a record of every single hobby item I buy and how much I spend. I'm also going to record the kits I sell or give away during the year. However I don't want to put a price against them because I don't want sold kits, and their value, to be used as justification for unnecessary purchases purely on the  the basis that I can afford them.

So the intention is that going forward this will help me focus, make sure I get better utility out of the items I already own, and save me from making more unnecessary purchases. If I feel little less overwhelmed then hopefully this blog will be seeing an increase in hobby related project posts.

Completed Review - Airfix Boulton Paul Defiant (A02069)

Scale: 1:72, RRP - £8.99

This is probably the briefest review I've done; a few photos that I wanted to share with you followed by a quick summary.

This is fantastic kit, one of the best I've tried. Only issue I recall is for some reason the topside of the nose didn't quite line up. I've seen a few cases of this happening but it may just be down to how I fitted the cockpit. If you've had the same problem feel free to let me know.

The model was painted with Vallejo model air paints, I followed the steps I used in my Airifx Hurricane quick build. Panel lines and weathering were done with Flory Models' Dark Dirt and Sand washes.

The markings of this aircraft come from the dogfight double set (A50170) and are those of the highest scoring Defiant crew, Sergeants Ted Thorn (pilot) and Frederic Baker (gunner).

Eduard photo-etch was used for interior details and the gun barrels came from Master Models of Poland. That reminds me, the reason why I had to replace the guns was that the plastic ones are really difficult to remove from the sprue and in my case I snapped them. Montex masks were used during painting, I wouldn't recommend them for this kit as they don't really hold on the curved turret part (not too bad on the flat parts though).

As always you can keep up-to-date with all my builds on my Instagram page.

Overall Build Score: 4.5 out of 5, another excellent release from Airfix. The shape is finally correct and aside from slight fit issues and the poor turret guns the kit builds very well. The individual boxed version offers you the choice between the aircraft's two main roles, the early day and then the later night fighter. In addition the canopy, raised or lowered fairing, and landing gear options ensure you have all possible configurations available to build. The aircraft itself may have been considered a failure but this kit is a triumph!