Ask Not For Whom The Bell Tolls, For It Tolls For You

Today I finished the Terminator with Cyclone MLRS that I promised to my best friends' cousin. He looks rather spiffing, in a purple/green suit of armour with a Greek sigma for a chapter symbol. I've based him up on an alien world (the cobalt deserts of Gehemene!) because I've wanted to do that to a figure for ages.

I've also come very close to finishing the ninth and last Automatic, and will probably get him done before I head home for a ten-day holiday (including New Years' Day and weekends) which is well deserved in my opinion.

That does mean, however, that updates may be sporadic and painting time will take a back seat to family, which is fair enough. I will, however, post pictures of the last two Automatics, the full gang, and the Cyclone Terminator.

Oh, and if you get the chance, watch Day of the Triffids on BBC iPlayer, it's excellent.

Olley Painting Points:

This Week: 6
2009 Total: 58 - 29 a month!

Space Punks In SPAAAAAAACE

A very brief update, this one. Today I finished the eighth member of the Automatics, my Goliath gang.

And that's it! Pictures up later if I can find spare batteries!

Olley Painting Points:

This Week: 4
2009 Total: 56

"Of Course It's Gold-Plated, I'm The Boss"

A bit later than I'd hoped, but here they are:



One Goliath gang leader with autopistol and chainsword (plus fetching pink tartan trousers). The rainbow-mowhawk is traditional for Goliath leaders, or rather "that's how 'Eavy Metal painted the Goliath leader when Necromunda first came out, so I nicked the hairstyle".



BUF standard bearer -'AG 32' - and gunner, gun truck Nr. 15. You can't see it, but I painted a fasces and a '15' onto the front of his helmet. It seemed like the right thing to do.


The gun truck! See - new flag. Sort of.

Tomorrow, I'll be painting more Necromunda stuff.

Triumphant Standard!

After a short hiatus of two days caused by the weekend and a free day off work (recipe: get up and travel to the office on a Bank Holiday only to discover it's closed, come home. Profit!), it was back to the coal face today.

And I had a pretty impressive day, painting wise - the Goliath gang Leader got finished off with some tattoos, piercings, and a base, Action Group 32 got a Colour Sergeant, and the gun truck (Nr. 15) got its gunner to go with the officer.

Which brings my total so far for the last couple of months up to a fairly respectable 49 infantry models and one armoured car!

Pictures, as always, will be posted later tonight.

Olley Painting Points:

This Week: 3
2009 Total: 55

Boxing Day - Workers Of The World: Open Your Presents!

I hope you all had a cracking Christmas. I did! Lots of presents opened, food consumed, and crackers... er... cracked?

Here's a few pictures of the gun truck (I am reliably informed that the naval gun is "probably" a 75mm equivalent, which in 1938 is easily capable of punching through any tank around; even better it fires HE shells as well), its gunnery officer, and the Song of Blades and Heroes warband that I got from my son yesterday.



Since these photos were taken I've repainted the flag to the red-white-blue of the BUF rather than this black-white Solway version, mainly to fit in with the rest of my force.


The figure in the middle is Studio McVey's 'Seraphine la Roux', a voodoo priestess I think. She's slightly large at 32mm (ish) but frankly I think it just makes her look even more imposing and perfect for the role of cult leader. The sculpting is incredible, it really is a work of art! The others are Hasslefree miniatures (Akanke, Nubian with Spear, Nubian with Spear and Shield).

I hope to get some painting done this evening but I doubt it'll happen - at any rate, when I get back to work I've got the second member of the gun crew to paint, a BUF colour sergeant, and some Goliaths to paint.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you!

May your stomachs be filled and your thirst quenched, may you receive all you wished and have a fantastic day.

Here's to the holidays!

Detail - Atennnn- SHUN! Taking Stock

Well, I finished the Colour Party's officer, standing to attention. A bit of an oddity as the Colour Sergeant is standing easy, but there you go.

All in all, and in order, I've now painted up:
(1) Tau Firewarrior NCO
(2) Varingr NCO
(3) Mordheim Elf
(4) Bounty Huntress
(12) 8 Skye Battalion
(13) Red Witch
(19) 6 BUF
(20) Goliath Juve
(21) Chaos Heroine
(22) Chaos Daemonette
(23) Goliath Juve
(26) 3 Anarchists
(27) BUF Driver
(32) Rolls Royce A/C
(34) 2 Plainclothes police
(35) 1 Gangs of Mega-City One ganger
(38) 3 Anarchist militia
(39) 1 Escher Ganger
(40) 1 Greater Israel Army trooper
(43) 3 GIA troopers
(47) 4 GIA troopers
(51) 4 GIA troopers
(52) 1 BUF officer

Not bad going really, given I've been doing it for 33 days - an average of 1.6 figures a day.

I'm on holiday over the Christmas Weekend, then back at work in the last week of 2009, so I'm going to try and finish off the Goliaths next week (I'm almost there with the Gang Leader, and the last two Gangers have been undercoated and had their metals done), which would put me in a good place for 2010.

Olley Painting Points:

This Week: 9
2009 Total: 52

Thinking about it, I've been doing this since early November with a target of 8-10 OPP a month, or a maximum of 20 figures for Nov-Dec. I've already smashed that target to bits and can report exceeding the Five Year Plan by 32 models or over 150%!

Reinforcements From Al Front

I did a naughty thing today. I received a mysterious package from Al Front, and at the earliest available opportunity I tore it open and dug out the packets therein.

Inside one was an armoured Ford AA flatbed with a naval gun mounted on it, and painted up in BUF colours! Hurrah!

Inside the other was an unpainted BUF (well, OK, Salo Republic) colour party, Emma Picton-Bryant (painted) and four of her White Russian bodyguards (unpainted) as well as three Angel Alley Anarchists ready for use on or in a car - one with tommy gun and two with pistols!

Wheeee! The armoured lorry's brilliant, and I've already almost finished the first of the colour party.

GIA Troopers

And here are the last of them, plus a group shot.

Just think - a mere 8 more figures (12 if you include the proposed 'heavy' Powered Armour squad)... so close to completion! So close! They're on my Salute! 2010 'to buy' list, for certain.






Once I've got them all I'll paint squad and fireteam identifiers on their helmets.

Yet More GIA Troopers

Here endeth the current batch of GIA squaddies. The last three were three female troopers (two without their helmets on) and a SAW gunner, giving me 12 so far:

2x SAW
1x GMS/P
1x Sniper
8x Troopers

Just think - a mere £8 (change from a tenner!) will (mostly) complete that force, and under £15 (change from a 20!) will totally complete it. Hurray!

Tomorrow, my last day at work for four days, will see me cracking on with the Goliaths and doing a little bit more on the Terminator (which today got some extra base coats - red on the Storm Bolter and Power Fist, plus red and blue frag/krak missiles in the MRLS unit).

Olley Painting Points:

This Week: 8
2009 Total: 51

Look! More painted figures!

Here are the GIA troopers from earlier today:



I missed taking a photo of Nik Puke the other day, as I'd left him at work. So, here he is:



And finally, I've started painting up this GW Space Marine Terminator with Cyclone MLRS for my best friend's cousin. I'm making up the colour scheme as I go along - so far it's green and purple:


Tomorrow the remaining four GIA troopers will be painted up.

Space 2200: The Greater Israel Armed Forces

Today, at lunch, I painted four more Greater Israeli troopers (pics up tonight). I also bashed out a platoon list for Stargrunt II, which looks something like this:

1st Squad:
Lt, Electronic Warfare/Comms tech, plasma gunner, Platoon Sgt, Cpl, Guided Missile System Portable (GMS/P), Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW), trooper (8 figs)

2nd Squad:
Cpl, L/Cpl, SAW, SAW, plasma gunner, GMS/P, 2 troopers (8 figs)

3rd Squad:
Sniper, spotter, medic, orderly

In order to reach this, I need to buy 2x plasma gunners, the kneeling sniper, the pointing officer, another SAW, another GMS/P, another trooper, and the EW/C2 figure. All for the princely sum of £8!

Anyway, that all adds up to a platoon of 20 soldiers in light powered armour (rigid composite plates over a flexible powered nano-fibre carbon-weave bodysuit, giving full NNBC* protection and strength enhancement). I'm tempted to add a grav tank, if I can find a decent enough one, and some 'heavy' powered armour troopers. We shall see what Salute! 2010 brings.

Olley Painting Points:

This Week: 4
2009 Total: 47

* NNBC - Nanonic, Nuclear, Biological and Chemical warfare

PICTURES!

There's a lot of them, too...



Daemonette of Slaanesh - Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Hordes of Chaos - Hasslefree Minatures



Chaos Marauder Heroine - Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Hordes of Chaos - Hasslefree Miniatures



Anarchist LMG team - Very British Civil War: Police Action! - Musketeer Miniatures



Anarchist Militiamen - Very British Civil War: Police Action! -Artizan Designs



Greater Israeli Army troopers - Space 2200 - Ground Zero Games



Unnamed Hellbitch - Necromunda Escher - Games Workshop



Jimmi Funt - Necromunda Goliath - Games Workshop



Plainclothes Police - VBCW Police Action! - Artizan Designs



BUF Officers - VBCW Police Action! - L-R: Copplestone Castings, Artizan Designs, Musketeer Miniatures



BUF men - VBCW Police Action! - Musketeer Miniatures


BUF Vehicle Park - VBCW Police Action - L-R: Lledo Days Gone By, Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Company; Lledo Days Gone By



BUF 1920s pattern Rolls-Royce a/c - VBCW Police Action! - Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Co.



Ganger - Gangs of Mega-City 1 - Mongoose Publishing

Phew! Now you're all caught up with my painting.

Adding Up? What's That?

The good news is, I bought a new camera cable so I can put photos up again. Huzzah! Actually, it's quite an amusing story. I went to Currys', and asked a staffer "Do you have a cable for this camera?" "We do," he said, "but it's £20 and far too expensive. Go to Maplin's instead, they'll have it for less." So I did, and got it for £9.

The bad news is, I can't count.

1x Tau NCO
1x Grymn NCO
1x Elf (Mordheim)
1x Female Bounty Hunter
8x Skye Battalion
7x BUF
2x Police
6x Anarchists
4x Greater Israeli Army
3x Necromunda (2 Goliath Juves, 1 Escher Ganger)
1x Armoured Car
1x Mega-City 1 Ganger
1x Red Witch
1x Chaos Heroine
1x Daemonette

Adds up to 43 Olley Painting Points, not 39!

Which means, over 25 days, I've an average of 1.7 OPP a day. Counting the a/c as just one figure (38 PP) gives me an average of 1.5 - not bad at all really.

So...
Olley Painting Points:

This Week: 17 (Armoured Car, 2 police, 1 BUF driver, 4 GIA troopers, 1 Escher Ganger, 3 Anarchists, 1 GMC1 Ganger)
2009 Total: 43

Progress Report - the first 25 days

I've been painting figures at work for 25 days now, and have amassed some 39 OPP.

This works out at 1.6 figures a day, on average. If you disregard the Rolls Royce Armoured Car (34 OPP), or count it as one model rather than five (35 OPP), it becomes 1.4 figures a day.

I'm very pleasantly surprised! Especially as I've only bought myself four models since beginning this mad crusade, which makes my net gain some 31 painted models over just under a month's worth of painting.

Huzzah!

Of course this'll change somewhat come January as I splurge on Musketeer, Empress and Woodbine Design Co. figures and heads for my putative VBCW BUF force, but hey ho. Win some - lose some, and all that.

Shalom, Punk!

Still no lead, but I'm going to buy one this weekend if I can't find it tonight.

Today I ignored my Goliaths and painted up three more Greater Israeli Army troops - a riflewoman, sniper, and Guided Missile System - Portable (GMS-P) trooper. Their camo scheme looks a little like this:

Which is an Armja Krajowa home-made armoured car. I've altered it quite considerably, using a lighter brown and with less squiggling, but their vehicles will pretty much match this exactly.

Last night, while my son was sleeping next to me on the sofa (he's got a bad cold and won't really go to sleep without Daddy cuddles which is quite nice but shatteringly tiring) at 4am, I wrote up a set of quick-play rules (60s Spy Skirmish) for the Kiss Kiss Bang Bang ranges of Copplestone Castings and Artizan Designs.

I have a few ideas for games using these rules and figures, and the inspiration mainly comes from playing No-One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M's Way, which is an utterly excellent PC game and one which, together with No-One Lives Forever, should be purchased and played at once. Both take equal top spot in my Best First-Person Shooter of All Time ranking.

Olley Painting Points:

This Week: 16
2009 Total: 39

Over 500 views! Oh, and some painting...

Wow! Over 500 views of my 'umble 'log already? I'm flattered - thank you. You push me to paint, which can only be a good thing. Although... more comments would be greatly received if my esteemed readers have the time!

Wot I did Today:

Firstly, I painted up a Greater Israeli Army soldier in light powered armour - aka a GZG New Israeli - for my 'Space 2200' project (which in turn feeds out from my EuroFed Riot project). He looks rather snazzy even if I do say so myself, in grey and brown armour with a black ceramic composite bullpup airburst over-under gauss rifle*, and dark green visor. I kept insignia to a minimum - blue Star of David on the left pauldron, black two-forked lightning strike on the right, name and blood group on the left breast.

More of them to come - he was quick to paint up and looks suitably professional.

Then I started on my Goliath Gang boss, who has fetching pink-purple-blue tartan trousers, green work boots, and a fashionable rainbow mohawk (not to mention a ruddy great big pistol). In the same vein, I named my other Juve: Nik Puke.

In order to whet your appetites for the eventual pictures...


National Bolshevik Republic forward observation team. Note the low-tech level of their equipment; the NBR army is so large that the elite 'Assault Guard' units with powered armour are both rare and still outnumber most other armies. The NBR uses soldiers like these to garrison their colonies.


'Force Generica' - this lot can represent any mid-tech colonial defence force; in this case they could be the troopers from the Free Colony World of Olor.

Tomorrow, I hope to finish the Boss and the rest of the first GIA fireteam (2x inf, 1x sniper, 1x GMS-P).

Olley Painting Points:

This Week: 13
2009 Total: 36

* 10mm gauss rifle with integral 15mm variable-yield HE 'metal storm' UGL.

Tho' Cowards Flinch and Traitors Sneer

Today has been exceptionally productive - I seem to have hit a solid rythm, pumping out about 2-3 figures (or more) a day. For example, I painted an Anarchist militiaman from the undercoat, finished off the other two (one's got wellies on!) and am about ten minutes' painting time away from finishing one of the few remaining 'HellBitches', my main Necromunda Gang. Their exploits are recorded here for posterity.

I doubt they'll ever get rolled out in that configuration again, but if they do their rating of 4,300(!) is enough to put the frighteners on even the Arbites. They currently stand at a 'mere' 19 members and, had I had time to put in a couple more games before I moved to Nottinghamshire, would have easily hit 20+ and gained a Heavy Stubber, making them the second most powerful gang in the Charred Cross Zone. Maybe I can find some poor mook for them to bash about in the future.

And, since I've spent a while talking about them, here are some of them:



The Ogryn Bodyguard ("Meat") never got hired, in the end, but I made him all the same, along with a PDF Deserter, a Sniper, a Mad Doc, a Bounty Huntress, a Pit Slave, and a few others.

If/when I find the/get a new camera lead, I'll take photos of the enlarged gang and all their Hired Guns.

Olley Painting Points:

This Week: 12
2009 Total: 35

"You there - halt!"

I'm as fed up with the lack of photos as you lot are, I suspect.

Since losing the cable, I've painted:

1 Rolls-Royce Armoured Car
6 BUF
3 Anarchists
2 Goliath Juves
and now also

2 Plainclothes policemen
1 Gangs of Mega-City 1 ganger

The policemen are quite nice, in my opinion - the sinister Z Division man with his closed raincoat, party badge, pinstripe suit, Webley revolver and leather gloves; the Scotland Yard Detective with blue three-piece suit, tartan knitted tie, and concealed pistol. Same organisation (State Security Police), different methods.

The ganger's completion means that I've effectively finished my GoMC1 project, although, as previously discussed, I would like to get some Judge models and find some more esoteric Mongoose miniatures on eBay. However, I'm happy for the moment. Hurray!

Mind you, none of these figures can be seen because I STILL can't find the bloody cable! Arrrgh! In the meantime, feast your eyes on these:


A mix of Ground Zero Games 'Street Level' range and Copplestone Castings' 'Future Wars' models, this horde of civilians and militia represent the near-future European Federation's Red Block and innocent bystanders during an intensive period of civil unrest following the 2105-2107 Resource War when the EuroFed armed forces soundly defeated the North African-Arab alliance. In the process, however, the EuroFed became something of a right-wing dictatorship. This lot are protesting (and fighting) about it.

However...


The security forces might have something to say about it. Here are Ground Zero Games Neu Swabian League Jagers and Troopers (together with a couple of 'Street Level' coppers and figures, two 'Combat Babes' and two Copplestone Castings models) painted as the feared paramilitary Security Police (Zekurit-Polizi, or ZEPO) as well as normal Polizi (the blokes in black with blue helmets and caps, and the uniformed and plainclothes officers).

I fully intend to at some point return to this project and, using the utterly wonderful Offensive Miniatures range of rioters and police, expand the Polizi (so the rioters don't automatically lose to the hail of automatic and energy weapons fire) and give the rioters-guerillas some extra bodies.

I'm also eventually going to produce terrain, too, probably based on this stuff on Matakishi's Tea House although obviously without the desert vibe - this is Europe, even if it is Europe 100 years hence and in a very different world (climate change hit 4 degrees C, alternate energy is commonplace, oil is rare, the near space system is colonised to try and reduce the effects of population growth, etc, etc). Or even this set of inner city buildings, which is much better!

Really, this project (EuroFed Rioting) sets the scene for my SF stuff, such as the New Israelis who I hope to make a start on this week.

Olley Painting Points:

This Week: 8
2009 Total: 31

Vroom, vroom, eeeee- brapapapapapa!

Today I painted up the BUF driver (aka Samantha Stewart* from the ITV series Foyle's War) and the armoured car Nr 12 'Immediate Action!' for my fledgling BUF force(s).

The Rolls-Royce armoured car looks utterly spiffing with its new coat of British Racing Green (GW Dark Angels Green), grey tires, and BUF markings. Woe betide the Reds! I've since realised that this particular Rolls-Royce is an old, and now out-of-production, Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Company vehicle, from back in the day when they did a huge range of 28mm WWI and Interwar armoured cars. I was sad to discover the other day that all their 28mm stuff (which included a large range of troops) is now no longer being made and hasn't been for some time. A great shame.

I've also nearly finished the two plainclothes men that come with the Artizan Scotland Yard Detectives pack (aka Christopher Foyle and Paul Milner from Foyle's War). I've decided to do the armed one as a member of the BUF State Security organisation, 'Z' Division, and the unarmed one as a Police Detective. Both have mackintoshes and grey fedoras.

Not a bad start to the week really.

Olley Painting Points:

This Week: 6
2009 Total: 29

* Played by the incredibly named Honeysuckle Hero Susan Weeks, ex-Roedean, ex-Pembroke College Oxford, who's married (brilliantly) to a man named Lorne Stormont-Darling, making her Honeysuckle Hero Susan Stormont-Darling! You couldn't make it up...

Saturday Stuff

Picked up a couple of parcels from the Post Office today - they contained an old Rolls-Royce armoured car that I've had for years, and a couple of packs of figures from Artizan; Scotland Yard Detectives (hurrah) and three Partisans (hurray) which gives my BUF force a driver, starts the Police, and expands the Anarchists to six people!

All I've done so far is clean them up and base them. Still can't find my bloody lead.

Angel Alley's First Defenders

Well, I finished the Anarchist LMG team. In all they took about an hour and 40 minutes, or about 30 minutes each. Not bad, for me!

The first of many, I hope. I also bought a Lledo Days Gone By 1934 van "J. Sainsbury - Grocers" to transport my BUF militiamen for the VBCW Big Game next Feb in Evesham.

More on that later, mwahaha. I hope to find the camera lead tonight.

Olley Painting Points:

This week: 13
2009 Total: 26

Anarchists in Suits and the Gangs of Mega-City One

Today, I managed to put the pin-stripe onto the Angel Alley Anarchists' LMG No. 2, and add the checked stripes on the flat cap of the Lewis gunner. Other details were added too - the ammo drum bag (a school satchel!) painted up, armbands painted on, hair painted, wooden stocks painted, that sort of thing.

Still can't find my camera lead. At this rate I'll have to get a new camera! In the meantime, here are the painted figures I have for GoMC1:












They're a mix of Mongoose Publishing plastics (now out of production), Hasslefree Miniatures and Copplestone Castings. I intend to eventually get some Judges from Wargames Foundry, probably Dredd, Anderson Psi, a Tek-Judge, and three or four Street Judges. I might get a couple with Riot Foam launchers, just because.

That would give me a Justice Department precinct house, really. I may well expand the gangs over time, too, although sadly eBay is now the only place Mongoose's models like the Ape Gang, Rogue Robots, the Lawmaster Bike, Cadet Judges, or Fatties can be found.