Gnomish Airship

Hi Everyone,

We recently had a Christmas-themed game of Moonstone which, as usual, was a lot of fun. I was hoping to have this entry done for the game, but it just wasn't quite ready for the tabletop, but I did manage to finish it for our next outing. 

This is the 'Gnomish Airship' for Moonstone (one of our proud Challenge sponsors). It's a lovely little model, packed full of whimsical character and silliness (who can deny an pedal-powered airship, armed with a steam harpoon and bombs). I painted it up using fairly punchy colours, reasoning that Gnomes are a jolly lot and so would like their flying machines to be much the same.

I considered breaking out the airbrush for this little brute, but frankly I was just too lazy (rum and eggnog are good sandbags to activity) and the model actually seemed well-suited to straightforward brushwork. I used a mixture of VMC, Contrast and good ole craft paint for this. It was a lot of fun to work on (though it's a surprisingly delicate piece, so I had to be mindful).

The base was built up with foam bits, liquitex and tallus. I had some great mushroom prints on hand, which I glued in for a bit of additional whimsy.

The Airship will be a nice addition to the Gnome troupe and I hope to see it plying the skies, causing mayhem, during our next game.

Mama Grimble, her two Boys and the new Gnome Airship.

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Thanks for popping in for a look!

- Curt

The Rosetta Stone (1799)

First, Happy New Year everyone!

This year's Painting Challenge focuses on libraries, and so I wanted to make sure I made my first entry about reading, specifically the words and symbols that we use to communicate out thoughts and ideas. 

Here is a small vignette depicting a group of Napoleonic soldiers and French academic savants examining the Rosetta Stone (perhaps only a few hours before it became a  British trophy). 

The Rosetta Stone was discovered by the French in 1799 during their ill-fated Egyptian campaign near the town of Rashid ('Rosetta') in the Nile Delta. 

As many know, the Rosetta Stone's importance stems from it providing the linguistic links between Egyptian and Greek, and three writing systems, hieroglyphics, demotic script (a cursive form of Egyptian hieroglyphics), and the Greek alphabet. The Stone provided a definitive key to translating Egyptian hieroglyphic writing.

The Rosetta Stone was later taken by the British as a war trophy, part of the Capitulation of Alexandria in 1801, resulting from their victory over the French in 1800. The Stone has been part of the British Museum's collection ever since, and is in fact their most viewed object. The Egyptian government has made requests for the Stone to be repatriated, but there has been little movement on this matter. With an increasing number of cultural objects being returned to their traditional owners, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles and other priceless objects held in foreign repositories. 

I got the Rosetta Stone as a STL file from MyminiFactory. It's very cool in the sense that the file is from a scan of the original artefact. I simply reduced it down to scale to fit with 28mm figures. The assorted minis shown here are a conceit, coming from a previous Challenge years ago (and so will not be scored), but I thought it might be a bit of fun to have a scene depicting French scholars madly taking some sketches before the heathen British arrive to despoil their discovery.

- Curt

The 14th Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge

It's that time of year again! 

Feel free to head over to the Challenge blog to see the full announcement for Challenge XIV.

It's going to be great!

Curt

10mm Warhammer 'Dogs of War' - Bronzino's Galloper Guns & Braganza's Besiegers

Hellooo!

Here I present the beginnings of a new contingent for my 10mm Warhammer collection. It's time to let loose the 'Dogs of War'!

Old Sweats of Warhammer will recognize these two 'Regiments of Renown' from the original Warhammer 5th Ed supplement 'Dogs of War' (1998). It was such a unique and characterful army. I remember meeting GregB for the very first time while he was playing a tournament using his DoW force (and remember the poor Bretonnian player being schooled on what happens when cavalry frontally charges a formation of pike). I still have a dog-eared copy of the army book that I enjoy looking through from time to time.

First up are 'Braganza's Besieger' who are a mercenary company of heavy crossbowmen. Their specialty is to support the shock infantry in the front ranks. They all wear heavy plate armour and have pavise shields to help them weather incoming missile fire. 

For a bit of fun, I placed them amidst some ruins, thinking of something analogous to their name.  A tough bunch of characters, to be sure.

Next up is 'Bronzino's Galloper Guns'. 

I think this unit may be the only classic horse artillery in the Warhammer world. This battery of light guns specializes in quickly running up their cannon close to the enemy, cracking off a few rounds, and then nimbly limbering up to scoot away before things get too hot. They are meant to be proper infuriating. 

The figures for these two units are 3d prints. The crossbowmen are from Polish Lightning Miniatures, and the horse artillery are from Onmioji Miniatures. Fabulous digital models both.

While this may be a creditable start, the force really needs some more meat on its bones. I think some massed pikemen will be on the horizon soon. Hopefully more on that in the weeks to come!

Have a great day!

- Curt

10mm Giant Undead Sphinx and Ushabti

Hey There!

Back to some more 10mm Warhammer Fantasy stuff. This time out we have a giant undead Sphinx for the Tomb King contingent along with a unit of Ushabti constructs to act as its flank guard. Fun!

The Sphinx was a real hoot to work on. It's a 3d print I came across from Txarli Factory which I scaled to purpose. 

I popped on some ruins as the desert basing can get pretty bland otherwise.

Here are some rank-and-file units to give a sense of scale of this guy. Yes, he's quite rompy stompy.

Next is a unit on Ushabti constructs. Nice models from Onmioji and a pleasure to paint.

These two additions to the Tomb King army should give it a little more oomph, I think.

Thanks for dropping in and have a great day!

- Curt