12 Day Modelling Challenge: Day #12

Day 12 and I feel it’s time to bring this modelling challenge to an end by writing about an overlooked part of my hobby, reading and research.

For me I rarely build a model or paint a miniature without some sort of reading, or search for inspiration, or in some cases, in-depth research into the subject area. This takes up hobby time, but currently has no obvious direct physical result. A completed model is a completed model, and the depth of research, and the time taken, is not obvious at first glance. I have estimated that with my models I spent an equal amount of time researching a topic as I actually do working on the model itself.

I’m very much a person who likes reading and then, due to my creative, hands-on nature, I explore those topics via my modelling. It’s important to take this journey, it helps build connection between the concepts and information I read and the, physical, real world object I create in my hands. There’s also the issue of accuracy. I get a sense of achievement by producing an accurate model. Again this is personal to me, as I’m not the kind of person who would take time to comment on the inaccuracies of the work of others, only my own work.


It’s slightly different when it comes to the miniatures I paint. In this case I’m trying to create a physical representation that fits a theme. An example of this is when I paint models for Warhammer and I’m trying to aim for miniatures which fit a certain era of the Warhammer world, both the fictional world and a point in time of the real world, something I have written about before.

This reading and research gives me time to engage with my hobby when I’m not sat at my desk working on the models themselves. Usually this is time during the week as I tend to only have time for actual modelling at the weekends. But until now it’s not really been reflected on this blog. When I’m not modelling it appears that I’m just inactive, which is far from the case. And so that’s why I’ve decided, going forward, to share my research here, as I get as much enjoyment from writing about models, history, my inspirations and interpretations as I do from actually building them.

In the coming weeks and months you will see two types of new posts, they will be called, History in Detail and Inspiration in Detail (and will be labelled as such to assist searching). History will typically focus on the real life historical aspects of a model I’m building. This might be a look at the type of aircraft I’m building, the pilot who flew the aircraft or broader themes such as the campaigns in which an aircraft or vehicle took part in. Inspiration will be more geared (but not exclusively) towards my miniatures projects. In this case it will look towards the literature, games etc. which influence the miniature that I’m creating or helped shape my interest in that topic in the first place.

April the 1st Comes Early?

Of all the strange things that have been happening as of late, here’s another. Yesterday it emerged that the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), in the UK, had written to the Games Workshop CEO, Kevin Rountree, asking that the miniature war-gaming brand ban 'fur' garments from all Warhammer characters.[1] They go on to claim “while we appreciate that they are fictional, draping them in what looks like a replica of a dead animal sends the message that wearing fur is acceptable – when, in fact, it has no more place in 2017 than it would in the year 40,000.”[2]

This is not satire.
Source: PETA

Before I continue I should point out my personal stance on animal rights issues. I believe animals should not be treated as commodities or exploited. I live in vegan household and the majority of the time I follow a vegan lifestyle (and when I’m not, I’m vegetarian). I believe that conversations need to be had about our relationship with the other species that we share a planet with. I also believe ill thought out actions and attention seeking publicity stunts by people like PETA benefit only PETA and undermine the serious and hard work people are doing to raise awareness and promote active change.

So back to Warhammer 40K. I have no intention of getting deeply into the lore, as I've been out of the loop for some time. I'm more Quorn than Khorne these days but even so, I’m pretty sure there isn't any active promotion of the exploitation of animals within the game worlds of the Games Workshop. To be honest what they’re targeting exactly seems a bit of a muddled mess. Are beast races in fantasy setting included or indeed the fantasy setting as a whole? What about historical miniatures made by other companies?

And then there’s the target audience of the Games Workshop. Are they more likely to wear fur or condone the wearing of fur after seeing these miniatures? I would say not, the war gaming audience doesn’t exactly strike me as big wearers of fur. I’d like to see some genuine, actual research, from PETA along such lines. Do plastic figures dressed in fur make people less compassionate towards animals? If such research took place and showed a link, then I’d be prepared to listen (and write a retraction to this whole post).

In the midst of all this PETA miss some genuine issues which they could have picked up on. As I mentioned before, things get missed in clamour for attention. Such as, animal products within items like paintbrushes, or the environmental impact of microbeads in textured paints and the plastic production itself. These are issues and criticisms which could have been legitimately raised to the Games Workshop but now will mostly likely be missed in the ridicule which is sure to follow this empty gesture.

And just so I'm not completely hating on them, their recipes section is pretty good, do go check that out.


References

 1. PETA UK (2017) PETA Asks Games Workshop to Ban 'Fur' from Warhammer Characters. [Online] Available from: PETA UK [Accessed 31 January 2017]

 2. PETA UK (2017) Why is PETA Asking Games Workshop to Make Warhammer Fur-Free? [Online] Available from: PETA UK [Accessed 31 January 2017]

12 Day Modelling Challenge: Days #10 & #11

The last couple have days have seen me start one of the planned models on my 2017 wish list. The model is the Airfix 1:72 Bf 109E-7/Trop. I’ve had this model for some time, I picked up it last summer for just £2.99 before it was discontinued by Airfix.

I initially thought it was an older boxing and so had decided to sell it as I wanted to purchase and build the newer Bf 109E-4 kit, a kit which I’d owned and started before then destroying with a bit of overzealous conversion work. It was only after a quick look on the scalemates website that I realised the discontinued Bf 109E-7/Trop kit was actually exactly the same kit with an extra sprue for the external fuel tank and bomb load of the later variant. Presumably the similarities were the reason why it’s been discontinued as Airfix seem to be consolidating their range and getting rid of any duplicates.

So I’ve been here before, construction has started with the cockpit, I’ve even managed to salvage the instrument panel from my previous attempt. I won’t be using any of the other interior photo-etch as this cockpit will be occupied and the model will be portrayed in flight.

As for the colour scheme, I’m going to opt for the lesser known Bulgarian scheme, in the markings of an aircraft flown by Bulgaria’s highest scoring pilot, Stoyan Iliev Stoyanov. I’ve recently been reading about smaller WWII air forces and pilots, particularly those from the Balkans, and so this fits in nicely with my research.

Bf 109E-7 - Bulgarian Air Force - 1942
Source: Airfix

12 Day Modelling Challenge: Day #9

Day 9 and a book recommendation! It was time to continue with the Airfix 1:72 Typhoon. The topsides had been washed with Flory Models Dark wash, mixed with the grey wash, a slightly darker mix than I’d used for the undersides. It took a few hours of meticulous cleaning before I got it to a point in which I was happy with it.


The undersides I’m really happy with, I’ve not gone for heavily washed panel lines, rather a slightly weathered and dirty finish that you’d expect a used combat aircraft to have. Topsides, I honestly think there’s little you can do here, mostly just adding a tiny bit of contrast to the grey areas but again, trying to make sure it doesn’t look overdone.

I was about to seal it all in with a flat coat, but then, searching through my bookshelves (in an un-related clear-out) I found I book which I’d forgotten about, Osprey’s Painting and Finishing Techniques by Gary Edmundson. I’ve spent so long looking for articles on the internet that I forgot I have everything I need right here!

After a brief introduction to some fundamentals, the kits used in the book, paints and the tools used, it works through the various stages of painting and finishing. Focusing primarily on 3 model aircraft, (plus a couple vehicles and a small piece on figure painting towards the end) it works all the way through step by step, painting shading, camouflage, weathering, dirt, panel lines and more. Most of paints used are Tamiya, and there’s a preference towards using oil paints for panel lines and weathering, rather than clay washes etc. but it is well explained with plenty of photographs for each stage.

The 3 aircraft are a WWI Albatross, a Bristol Beaufighter and fortunately, a Hawker Typhoon. After reading this it’s finally persuaded me to try using oil paints, so my Typhoon build will be taking a little more time to complete.

For me has been an extremely useful (re)discovery which I’d highly recommend. So much so I’ve included a link below should you wish to purchase it yourself. As I said, I’d forgotten what it was like to have all the information in one place, easily to hand. I think there’s a tendency for us, when using the internet, to pick up little bits here and there a lose sight of the complete process of painting and weathering a model from start to finish. Having said that I think book can allow you to pick and choose what to try so, in my opinion, it is book suited to all skill levels.

In the next few days I’ll pick up some oil paints, and with any hope, I’ll have some good daylight (which I think is essential for this stage of finishing a model) and I’ll show you how I got on.

Purchase:
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12 Day Modelling Challenge: Day #8

Day 8 and I’ve actually reached the end of the time I’d set aside for this modelling challenge, mostly due to what’s becoming a Christmas tradition, a dose of man flu. I’m going to extend the challenge through the rest of the month although it’ll be strictly weekend endeavours for the rest of the month.

I wasn’t feeling like airbrushing, as coughing and sneezing tend to upset precision painting, so I thought I’d sit down and chop up some plastic. After completing my test Empire miniature I set about raiding my bits box with the intention of creating a few figures for a Mordheim war band.

As I’d previously mentioned the Empire State troops are somewhat limited in poses, or more accurately, pose, as there’s only one. The Empire Archers set, mixed with a few different sets of Empire arms, however offer much more flexibility and as I want to paint up a wealthy band of Marienburg Mercenaries the long, expensive, coat look fits very nicely with the theme. These guys are going to be better dressed swords for hire, a cut above your average militiaman.

I really like to spend time testing poses and trying to make the figures look dynamic. This set, of which I had a nearly complete box of, offers plenty of opportunity to create such figures. After an hour or so of test fitting this is what I have, heads will be added later once I get more of a feel for the each figure.

12 Day Modelling Challenge: Day #7

Day 7. I was happy enough with how the grey wash, that I tried on day 4, came out and so started washing the undersides of the Typhoon. Even though I'm still waiting for it to dry I can see a huge difference, it works really well on the panel lines, much more subtle than the dark wash that I've used previously.

I also got the Bandai Y-Wing started. Black undercoat to start with followed by several lighter shades of grey before a very light coat of white. And then, a coat of grey wash, which may or may not take it all the way back to being grey again. Guess I'll find out when it dries.

12 Day Modelling Challenge: Days #5 & 6

My Christmas modelling challenge continued on day 5 with the completion of the Airfix Typhoon's decals, no pictures as there's only so many pictures of an unfinished model that a man can take...

After that I started adding the missile racks under the wings which usually the kind of slow and fiddly task WWII modellers get to avoid, but not in this case.

While I was waiting for the glue to set I started test fitting another model, a Bandai 1:144 scale Y-Wing Star Wars fighter, that I'd recently received from Japan. In fact it went together so well that it turned into an accidental part-build!

What a kit! Just four small sprues (plus a sprue containing a stand) but the amount of fine detail packed into such a small scale is incredible

After a few months of modelling malaise I find, suddenly, in such a small kit, my motivation comes surging back. If this kit is anything to go by I can't wait to try out a few more Bandai Star Wars kits. As well as the detail the way the kit is engineered is simple brilliant. For example, the two engines on a Y-Wing, at first glance, look the same. But actually there are slight differences and the kit is engineered so that the internal clips, pegs etc are shaped and positioned in such a way that you can't get them the wrong way round.

I honestly can't see myself bothering with any of the Revell offerings now.

12 Day Modelling Challenge: Day #4

Between ongoing decals and paint stripping I decided to revisit a few miniatures tasks I'd been meaning to be getting on with.

First up was finishing off a test paint scheme for some Warhammer Men-at-Arms. I was reasonably please with the colours, green and purple, so I think this has potential for a future Mordheim, or Frostgrave, war band.

As an aside these Empire State Troops, or Freeguild Guard, as they're now called, paint up nicely. You're pretty much limited to the pose above, or swaping out the spear for a sword and shield which is the only downside, if I was going a war band I'd want a bit more variation.

Next up I decided to do a bit of base work. You may remember my moving skeleton diorama, I've disassembled it with a view to updating the base and reusing it for a new, yet undetermined, diorama while the skeletons will be tidied up and individually re-based.

After repainting the individual tiles to add more variation I gave them a wash with Flory Models Grey wash. Firstly this was to see if it improves bases and secondly out of curiosity as I want to use it for the first time on the undersides of the Airfix Typhoon to compare with the Dark wash which I've used before.

Now I just need to let it dry and see if it adds anything to the base.

12 Day Modelling Challenge: Day #3

Day 3, one of those tasks that just has to be done, paint stripping...

I've got a large number of second-hand metal miniatures that need paint removing from them and that meant sooner or later I was going to have to break out the Dettol (for those in the UK, it's the orange liquid antiseptic disinfectant).

Dettol liquid antiseptic disinfectant

Dettol is my preferred paint stripper for removing acyclic and water based paints.It's pretty simple to use, submerge the models, leave for 24 hours, then scrub with toothbrush in the Dettol to remove the paint. Leave the models  to dry before brushing off any remaining paint residue. One thing to remember, don't add water to the mix. Adding water to any paint residue will turn into into a very sticky substance which is very hard to remove.

12 Day Modelling Challenge: Days #1 & 2

To get started I decided to tackle some of the growing number of unfinished kits I have lying around. Airfix's 1:72 scale Hawker Typhoon is probably the best painted model I've done so far, yet despite this I hit a brick wall and to date it remains unfinished.

Painting was complete it was now time for decals. I really like models that come with not only markings but stencils and this kit packed in a large number of decals for it's size. This meant it would be very time consuming to apply them all, but worth it in the end.

Unusually for Airfix I had some problems with the decals. One I lost, probably stuck to a finger while handling, which is entirely my fault. However I had two decals break up on me. Fortunately I have a spare decal sheet so I'll have to get replacements from there. Otherwise that would have written off the model as one of these decals was not something that could easily be replaced, a unique ID number for the aircraft I'm building.

So after two afternoons work I'm about 80% of the way through the decals, just the replacement decals and the undersides to do.

12 Days of Christmas Painting & Modelling

It really not worth me doing a yearly review as my modelling output has been dismal this year, in fact I’ve not even sat at my modelling desk for several months now A total of one aircraft model complete and a couple of miniatures painted is all I’ve managed. OK, so the Airfix Defiant was probably the best model I’ve made to date, but that success seems a distant memory by now.

However as Christmas approaches, my workplace is closed for a couple of weeks so I can hopefully free up a bit of time to finish the year on a slightly higher note.

I’ve decided to try and devote a bit of time each day, for 12 days (not necessarily consecutively, as I have a few commitments over the holiday period), to painting some figures, finishing off a few unfinished kits and maybe starting something new so I can take some momentum into a new year and hopefully achieve a bit more in the way of modelling successes in 2017.

Day #1 to follow shortly.

Motivation and Me – How to keep on Modelling?

Recently I’ve noticed a steady slump in my modelling output, as you can tell, there’s not been much in the way of blog posts over the last few months.

This isn’t the first time, I tend to get moments where I lose the drive to build or paint models. Away from that I’m still enjoying looking at models, reading about them, maintaining my Pinterest and so on. I’m just not building or painting.

This time it seems to have been the slow and, if I’m honest, the somewhat tedious painting of my Airfix Typhoon combined with a few other aircraft builds that just aren’t capturing my imagination like Tamiya’s 1:72 scale A6M5 Zero. Don’t get me wrong, the Typhoon and Zero are a fantastic kits, just my desire to paint at the invasion stripes and markings on the Typhoon slowed the build right down to the point where it stopped and I’m just not that passionate about Japanese WWII aircraft.

So how do I get my motivation back

Looking on the internet and most suggestions (such as this from Dakka Dakka) suggest a structured and almost work like approach to working through a block. I’ve considered setting time aside and making myself do something each day, but that’s not working for me as I don’t like such a structured approach even at the best of times.

For me my approach has always been less structured, I like to try many things, my hobby output is often driven by my curiosity and desire to experiment with ideas. However this may actually be contributing to the loss of motivation as it inevitably leads to a large number of unfinished projects which can seem a bit overwhelming when deciding some of them need to be finished. I am pleased however that I’ve not continued buying many kits in the hope that one would spark my imagination as that leads to an overwhelming stash, a problem which I’ve written about before, and which leads me to a similar loss of motivation.

Skyrim
Source: Bethesda Softworks

Away from modelling I’m still finding time for, and enjoying, my other interests. I’ve read more books in the last few months than I normally would and last week I rediscovered the computer game Skyrim which can certainly consume a large amount of my hobby time. Interestingly enough even these non-modelling hobbies are managing to provide inspiration for future modelling projects.

Realistically I think the desire will come back at some point, and I suspect it’ll involve something new rather than forcing myself to complete one of the many unfinished projects. I just don’t want to leave it too long though as I feel I will start to unlearn some of the things I’ve spent so long learning in the first place. I just need to get curious about something hobby related or have a sudden flash of inspiration and then things should snowball from there.

Advanced Heroquest Reborn - The Henchmen #1-3

Here's the first 3 of the 12 henchmen.

These are straight from the box, Bretonnian men at arms, which are unfortunately no longer available. Individually they have a lot of character and in small numbers I found them fun to paint, though they needed a lot of cleaning up. I can imagine painting an army's worth would be quite difficult as you soon run out of options when it comes to making them different to each other.

ADHQ Henchman - Source : Stuff of Legends

Interestingly these figures armed with halberds are closer to the figures that came with the game, however the actual character sheets show that henchmen are armed with swords.

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.

Advanced Heroquest Reborn - The Heroes

I thought I'd kick off my Advanced Heroquest Reborn project by taking a look at the heroes that would be taking on the Skaven menace deep below the Old World.

Interestingly the box art featured the original set of heroes from Milton Bradley's Heroquest, along with the full set of monsters from the same game, the familiar zombie, scimitar wielding Orc and the shifty looking Goblin to name but a few. However beyond the box art and a set of character sheets they didn't really feature within Advanced Heroquest itself.

The Box art featuring the original adventurers - Source : Advanced Heroquest (1989)

The game itself introduced a new group of heroes who featured heavily in the artwork and fiction of the rulebook. While they followed the common fantasy adventurer grouping of a human, dwarf, elf and wizard one noticeable change was the omission of the human barbarian for an armoured human soldier. They were named Heinrich Löwen (the fighter), Sven Hammerhelm (the Dwarf), Torallion Leafstar (the Elf) and Magnus the Bright (the wizard).

The "replacements" in action - Source : Advanced Heroquest (1989)

The miniatures themselves were early Games Workshop plastics, at that time Citadel and Marauder miniatures tended to be of the lead variety. They were comparable to the plastic miniatures commonly found in table top games of today, fairly soft detail but enough to clearly reflect the characters in the game book artwork. Apparently they painted up well as shown in the picture below, although I have to confess I don't remember painting them myself when I owned a copy of Advanced Heroquest.

Miniatures; painted by Phil Lewis (image from Stuff of Legends)

These models still pop up on eBay on a fairly regular basis and I did originally think about buying myself a set. However common sense eventually prevailed and I decided not to play into the hands of profiteers and overpay for what are some old and fairly simple plastic models. In fact it was that decision that was pretty much the beginning of this project.

And with that mention of my project it leads us nicely onto my vision of the heroes. Taking the artwork and the original models I built up my first mock-ups of how I envisage Heinrich, Sven, Torallion and Magnus to be.

With the Elf, I'm really limited in parts and I'm honestly not sure if that's a male or female head on my figure! However one thing I wanted to do was to get rid of the highly impractical bow in one hand, sword in the other pose of the original figure. And yes, I know, you're probably thinking the dwarf, Sven, is not even close to the art work and so as I write this there's a head swap taking place.
 

Painting wise, I'm going to start with Heinrich the warrior. In my next Advanced Heroquest Reborn post I hope to go into a bit more detail about how I built and painted him.

Advanced Heroquest Reborn - A New Miniatures Project

I ended my recent post on the new Age of Sigmar release by reflecting on the Games Workshop's decision to end the past 30 or so years of lore by destroying the Old World in which Warhammer was set and replacing it with a brand new world.

"The new world concept will need time to grow on me, it is of course instantly lacking the rich history that the previously established world accumulated over many years, but I suppose if I don't like it then I know I can carry on playing the older games as their rules are readily available. I can even mix and match older and newer figures and lore as I see fit. And that's it, at the end of the day a hobby like this will always be what you want to make of it." 

The last line got me thinking about how I can make the hobby what I want it to be. I have a certain nostalgic fondness for the older era models and lore. This of course is tied in with when I started collecting miniatures. I started with Heroquest before moving onto Advanced Heroquest, Warhammer 4th Edition and then Warhammer Quest along with the accompanying fiction of the era like the Konrad trilogy (by David Ferring) and Beasts in Velvet (by Jack Yeovil / Kim Newman). This shaped a clearly defined world in my mind which has stuck with me ever since, even though later releases perhaps watered that world down somewhat (before finally destroying it).

Gone but not forgotten - Source : Advanced Heroquest (1989)

Despite my liking of the older era lore I have mixed feeling about the older miniatures. Many purists will say you can only play these older games with old models, partly what I suspect is the driving force behind the somewhat overpriced "LOOK VINTAGE OOP CITADEL MINIATURES" sales that fill eBay week after week. Now while I do also have a fondness of some of the older models, some are, lets face it, not so great. And if I'm honest, I do think some of the newer models, yes including plastics, are an improvement on the older ones.

So with all that in mind I thought, why not use old and new models, to recreate something from the time of a rich and vibrant world, the Old World meets new. For me Heroquest was my first thought, but as I still own a complete copy I thought I'd move on to the next stage and recreate Advanced Heroquest (which I sadly no longer own and won't unless I part with the best part of £100).

So what is Advanced Heroquest Reborn? It's going to be my re-imagining of a classic game using modern models (although the odd classic will probably sneak in somewhere).

I want it to stay as true to the source as possible and looking through the rulebook there is a wealth of background images to draw on. My first thought, after reading the rulebook for the first time in a long time, was that it has a certain rawness and brutality about it which was lost in favour of a more polished world later on. This is something that really stands out today and something which makes it more appealing to me as an adult.

The "old" Old World in all it's savage glory - Source : Advanced Heroquest (1989)

Some of you may remember a post I wrote a long time ago where I contemplated building character models from the Warhammer 40K world. That never took off because first of all because I always felt more connected to the Warhammer world rather than the 40K world, and second, because I just didn't have the knowledge of the 40K range or enough spare parts to start with compared to Warhammer. So, as projects go, it's still somewhat ambitious for me but I do feel better prepared and more connected to the subject matter this time round.

Advanced Heroquest contained 36 figures, 20 of which were Skaven and me and Skaven have never got on due to my inability to paint them so that in itself will be a bit of challenge. It's also why I'm going to start my next Advanced Heroquest Reborn post by looking at the heroes.

A Re-Review - Vallejo Model Air

A while ago I wrote a review of Vallejo's Model Air range of paints. I stand by my comments that they work really well and from a technical point of view they are still the best paints I've used with an airbrush. However a few months on and I feel I really need to add something to that review, a disclaimer if you like.

Disclaimer:

While the paints are excellent the colours are not. If you buy one of their themed colour sets expecting to be able to use them straight out of the box then you are likely to be disappointed. Simply put, the colours are not even close to what they claim to be.

RLM colours? Not even close.

So far I've investigated both their RLM and RAF colours and found them both to be some way of what they are meant to be. Greens in particular seem to be nowhere near the shades they should be. Want an RAF green? You'll probably need to use their Russian green. Luftwaffe greens? I've no idea where they've got the colours from. Light blue undersides for your Luftwaffe aircraft? You'll probably need to mix in more grey into the supposed blue than blue, and so on.

You can probably see where this is going, when I refer to my Academy 1:72 Me 163B build and as to why there's been little in the way of progress. Yes you guessed it, I sprayed it in RLM 81 and 82 straight out of the bottle and now it looks like something from a cartoon. The undersides are fine so now I've got to find a way of removing the topside colours without ruining the rest of the paintwork or the interior.

It's times like this when I find this hobby less than enjoyable. The kit is excellent, for once my skills haven't let me down, just frustrating paint shades from Vallejo...

Review - Vallejo Model Air

RRP - £16.99 (8 colour set), £31.99 (16 colour set)

Time for something a little different, a paint review. Vallejo's model air range are specially designed for airbrushes and to be honest I'm lost for words...!

Overall Score: Incredible, so easy to use, just perfect!

 
OK so in all seriousness I tried these out of curiosity, partly because I didn't feel like mixing Tamiya paints to get RLM (Luftwaffe) colours when I could get them ready mixed. Typically the 8 colour set consists of 6 colours, a matt varnish and thinner.

I've tried the Model Colour range, for brush painting, and I was not impressed so wasn't expecting much. The Model Air paints themselves seem to have a resin like texture which means they flow nicely and are not too wet. For me they've been an absolute revolution and have had as big an impact on what I can do as changing my airbrush did.

I've found that camouflage patterns are much easier to do with paint that is less "wet." And just to show, the picture below took me very little time to do.

The more eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that the model in question is Airfix's 1:72 Bf 109E-4, I'll write more about that later. I'm making plans to retire my Tamiya paints and starting to replace them with the Vallejo Model Air range so I'll leave you with an interesting video on airbrushing with Vallejo paints.

19/03/2015 - There's more that needs adding to this post, a disclaimer!

A Bad Workman Always Blames His Tools (Or Does He?)

I have a confession, until today I've not really enjoyed airbrushing. The prospect of getting the airbrush out has filled me with dread but I know I have no choice as brush painting isn't an option either.

I've been using a single action Badger airbrush and despite thoroughly masking I found that the airbrush tended to blast lots of very wet paint over a model and that usually resulted in paint seeping under my masks. Experimenting with different amounts of thinner in my paint didn't even help and to be honest I just couldn't see how I was ever going to be able to do camouflage patterns or indeed anything more than simple colours.

Little did I know the answer to my problems was sitting forgotten in a cupboard. A while ago my father had given me double action airbrush that he didn't need. However at the time the top feed didn't appeal to me (I couldn't put it down once it had paint in it) so I'd decided not to use it.

The old...

... and the new

So earlier I decided I had nothing to lose and I gave it a go. What a difference! First of all it atomises the paint so much better so I get that fine mist of paint which I could never get with the old one. Also I can control the flow much better and paint much smaller areas. Finally, the top feed works well and I find myself using much less paint.

It made such a difference and I feel really optimistic now about what I can do in the future. Camouflage schemes will, (with a bit practice), be achievable!

So just to show what a difference it makes, here's two aircraft painted in an afternoon. One is my Tamiya P-51D build the other started out as a practice but will now be completed. A review will hopefully follow but until then see if you can guess what it is.

Finally, this may not seem like much to the more experienced modellers out there, but I'm quite pleased with this this. My first ever airbrushed canopy, unthinkable until now!

The Demise of White Dwarf (and the Games Workshop?)

There’s been a fair bit of talk recently about the Games Workshop’s decision to cease publishing its monthly magazine, White Dwarf. This comes not long after the magazine recently underwent a dramatic change in format and content, a change which it appears hadn’t had the desired effect.

A lot of criticism seems to revolve around the magazine basically being nothing more than a catalog for new releases and sadly I feel this is the case. The content of hobby related articles certainly has certainly declined, somethig I touched on here when I wrote about their painting guides.

I first came across White Dwarf at a time when I was playing more and more Games Workshop games. I’d started out with MB Games Heroquest and Space Crusade before moving on to Advanced Heroquest and Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Naturally I wanted to read more and so I picked up my first ever copy of White Dwarf, issue 132, promptly followed by plenty of back issues.

Issue 132 - December 1990

This magazine was read from cover to cover. It featured experimental rules, modelling projects, scenery projects (a dwarf mine, which I did try and build) and of course articles showcasing painting. Back then it had a true hobby feel, it engaged the reader, much like many of the scale modelling magazines of today.

Sadly today the thought of the Games Workshop publishing an article on building something not using products they sell is unthinkable and maybe there’s a general reluctance to even publish anything that not Games Workshop corporate standard. I feel the spirit of those days is missing now. Back then the company was build and run by people who were the age I am now. People who could write, who could create an evocative living world, one which I think no other company has come close to doing since. 

As far as miniature companies are concerned Games Workshop are unique in their longevity and I think this is a real difficulty for them. They have new younger followers, and they have older followers like me who both want differing things from the hobby. As a result they are having real trouble identifying their target audience. Do you sell vast amount of kits to kids who will play with them until they move onto something else, or do you cater to mature modellers who have more specialist needs? Which it is will decide on your magazine content and recently they’ve been going for the sale brochure content and it hasn’t worked.

So what will the future bring? There will be a new monthly magazine called Warhammer : Visions and a weekly White Dwarf magazine. I had a quick conversation with the guys from my local store and they weren’t a 100% sure what the content would be but suggested that the monthly magazine will be more hobby based, the weekly magazine more gaming based. I really hope this is the case and I’m approaching this change positively, if the monthly magazine is hobby based then it certainly looks like good move from my point of view.

One final thing I will say is that the Games Workshop would do well not to neglect their older followers. I’ve left the both the miniatures hobby and the scale model hobby and then come back to them both. It is people like me that will pass the hobby on to our children. As things stand at the moment and despite the Games Workshop being a key part of my formative years, I imagine in the future I would most likely be teaching my children to build that other great British institution, the Airfix kit, long before I introduced them to the current Games Workshop range.