ISSUE # 5

REVIEWS OF
BIOSHOCK INFINITE - SEIGE
OF COLUMBIA
SCALE75 PAINT SETS
RESIN BENCH MODELS
“SPECIAL” FORCES
MASTERCLASS
LANDSNECHT

£1

[Link]
SEPTEMBER 2013

ISSN 2052-8507
Our Pigments are finely ground Natural Earth Pigments and of the highest quality. Over recent
years earth pigments have become extremely popular with model makers, who wish to achieve
realistic and authentic looking finishes, especially with military and railway enthusiasts where a
weathered look is far more desirable. The pigments are commonly mixed with thinners to create
a paste or mixed with acrylic resins or varnish and glues to replicate urban, rural, industrial or
warfare surface conditions like: dust, dirt, mud, rust or surfaces that are in state of damage or
repair.
[Link]
Available in ProPigment sets or individual pots.

Our pigments are not sold for cosmetic,

pharmaceutical or food use.
Use care when handling any dry pigment.
Avoid inhaling pigment dust.
 #005 Editorial

Figure Painter Magazine is published by

Robot Pigeon Publishing. South Cheshire. UK

Contact Figure Painter Magazine

Web [Link]
Email info@[Link]

Editor Shane Rozzell editor@[Link]

News Editor Robert Monnar news@[Link]

Content Editor Marko Paunovic content@[Link]

Sales Sarah Evans sales@[Link]

Proof Readers Martyn Dorey

Jason Martin
Sean Fulton

Reviewers Marta Slusarska

Mario B Delgado (mbd)
Martyn Dorey
Jake Cannon (Gamespace)
Marko Paunovic

Cover Artist Sang-Eon Lee

Other Contributors Marko Paunovic, Andrija Jurisic, Martyn

Dorey, Jason Martin, Sean Fulton, Ron
Clark, Federico Sorgi, Adrian Hopwood

Welcome to issue 5 of Figure Painter Magazine and thank you for buy-
ing it. Over the lasts few years I have noticed a trend and that is as social
networks get more and more popular painting forums are getting less and
less. While I am sorry to see the decline of forums I am really pleased to see
people join in using networks like facebook, google + and twitter which offer a
much wider membership base. These networks make the world a much smaller
place where we can see fellow painters and sculptors from all over the world
come together to share their love of our hobby. It's a place where we can learn
new skills and techniques and view miniatures and models that we wouldn't
The views and opinions relating to all material herein
does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Figure ordinarily ever hear about. Miniature painting is usually a pretty solitary hobby
Painter Magazine staff, editors or publishers who are where we only venture out into the world of sunlight and fresh air once in a
not liable of said opinions. Figure Painter Magazine
cannot be held responsible for inaccuracies in any of its while but social networks can also help find other like minded individuals right
publications. Furthermore, responsibility for any losses, on your door step. For me, one such find was the UKGK show which happens
damages or distress resulting from adherence to any
information made available through this magazine or
to be 20 minutes from where I live and it's a show I am really looking forward
its website is not the responsibility of Figure Painter to attending at the end of this month. If you can make it along and happen to
Magazine or its publisher, Robot Pigeon Publishing. bump into me don't forget to say hi.
Adverts and advertisers appearing in Figure Painter
Magazine carry no implied recommendation from the
magazine or the publishers. Artwork has also been
either taken from company websites pertaining to the
image and may not be reproduced (except for personal
use) without prior written permission from the said
author / artist. Most product names are trademarks
owned by the companies that publish those products.
Photos sent to Figure Painter Magazine will be treated
as offered unconditionally for publication and copy-
right purposes and are subject to editing and comments
by the editors. Please ensure that all photos have cred- Web [Link]
its attached if necessary. All rights reserved. No part
of this publication may be reproduced without prior
consent from Figure Painter Magazine. Email info@[Link]
[Link] 3
 Contents

8 64

Insight Tutorial

18 44

Gamespace Exposé
4 [Link]
 Contents

76 HIGHLIGHTS
Exhibition
Page 89

Game
Table
Page 26

6 Headlines The latest news from the hobby

8 Insight Insider interviews

14 Inspiration Garage Kits

Review 18 Gamespace Regular game review

22 Show Report August Roundup

26 Tutorial Malifaux gaming table Part 5

40
33 Show Report Figureworld

37 Review Landsnecht General at Pavia

40 Tutorial How to Paint Burnt Wood

44 Exposé What’s hot this month

50 Gamespace Laser cut MDF Terrain

56 Tutorial Dwarf Bust

60 Market Place Tools roundup

64 Tutorial Revolutionary

76 Review “Special” Forces

79 Tutorial Confederate Infantryman Pt 2

86 Review Scale Color Paint Sets

89 Exhibition Reader image submissions

Tutorial
[Link] 5
 Headlines

Tor Gaming, not content

with their successful table
top wargame “Relics” or their
range of miniatures and busts
have now set their sights in
creating a new auction web-
site dedicated to wargames
and miniatures. miniaturebids.
com as of this issue publish-
Thundercloud Miniatures are pleased to announce ing isn’t live but they have
their launch this September. Their vision is to bring some- been running a Q&A via their
thing a little different to the world of miniature collecting facebook page with some examples of the various categories
and gaming, providing the very best quality miniatures that will be on there and it’s well worth a look.
for use in RPGs, table-top games, or simply for the joy of
painting. There have been a few others that have looked into or
tried this before but most have fallen by the wayside but I
Thundercloud Miniatures first releases see the Hiskari for one hope this come to fruition and wish them plenty of
Bear Rider and The Shadow Dreadlord. Both 28mm true luck.
scale miniatures, these represent the first of a growing
range of models for their upcoming game ‘Avendora’. In
the coming months, Thundercloud Miniatures will be
releasing a growing range of fantasy miniatures as they
release further information about their game and the
world of Avendora.

To celebrate the launch, they are running a special of-

fer on their store to anybody who buys both of their start-
ing miniatures. This offer is only available for September
however, so act quickly if you wish to take advantage.

Lead Designer Paul Murphy had this to say:

Just in case you
“Thundercloud Miniatures is a labour of love. I want to hadn’t already
bring the gaming world a brand new table-top experience, heard, Mantic
both in the tactical challenges our games offer, and the Games and The
modelling and painting opportunities presented by our Topps Company
talented team of designers. I really hope that you enjoy are joining forces
our miniatures; we still have a huge range of ideas that to present Mars
are making their way through the creative process and Attacks: The
onto your table-tops.” Game! Set against
the backdrop of
About Thundercloud Miniatures the new and expanding Mars Attacks universe, the game will
allow two (or more) players to take on the role of Martian
Formed in 2013, Thundercloud Miniatures is run by two invaders or the human resistance, and battle for the fate of
long term gamers and friends Paul Murphy and Richard the planet!
Conway and based in Yorkshire, UK.
This tactical tabletop game features rules by veteran de-
Run with the aim of making miniatures and games of signer Jake Thornton and a host of stunning Mantic minia-
the highest quality, Thundercloud Miniatures first game tures which can be used straight out of the box or painted to
‘Avendora’ is due for release in Spring 2014. They have also add even more character to your games.
recent begun work on their second game under the work-
ing title ‘Prohibition’. The Kickstarter campaign for Mars Attacks: The Game will
run from 4th October 2013 to 3rd November 2013. We’ll be
If you would like to find out more about Thundercloud releasing loads more information here at [Link].
Miniatures, please contact them by email at contact@ com and at the Mantic Facebook page before then. Make
[Link]. sure you register your interest at [Link].
com today!

6 [Link]
 Headlines

Hasslefree Minia-
tures have released
some textured self-
adhesive acrylic films
for scene building. The
film itself comes in
sheets approximately
A5 size which will
adhere to most metal,
paper, board, PVC and
Polycarbonate surfaces.
They are CAD cuttable
and suitable for most
plotters. The acrylic
adhesive (made from
PVC) used on the film
is water clear, non-toxic
and resistant to discol- AK Interactive has recently released
oration. They’re really a new book titled “AK 404 Extreme
thin, only 65-75 microns Weathering Vehicles”. It’s soft bound
so you can wrap them and contains 128 pages and is filled
around things, cover with tutorials from well-known model
floors or whatever makers all explaining the various ways
you fancy doing with to apply weathering effect to models.
it. They’re a nice small From the AK website: “This book dem-
scale too; the squares in onstrates how to apply a large diversity
the bottom left image of products and painting techniques to
are only 2mm across. the creation of extremely weathered
For more information vehicles. From the painting of a small
about these and their motor, to producing an entire scene
other products which that brings life and context to a vehicle,
include fluorescent this book will show you how to get fin-
sand visit the Hasslefree est weathering effects on a model of a
Miniatures website. civilian vehicle.” The book is available
from the AK Interactive web store for
€22.95

Painting Buddha have

announced that between the
11th and 13th October they
will hold their first painting
workshop with Ben Kom-
ets. The workshop will be
painting their Happy Monk
figure and fittingly held at
the Wu Dao School of tradi-
tional martial arts in Ham-
burg. There are only 21 slots
available. The price for the
weekend workshop is a very
Scale75 continue their monthly reasonable €105 and they can
releases of paint sets with “Colors of even help you with accommo-
Nature” containing various shades of dation! More details can be
greens. The set sells for €20.66 and is found here.
available from their web store.

[Link] 7
 Insight

Place of Origin? I was born in 1982 in Daejeon, South Korea and had lived
there for 26 years until I moved to Seoul to work as a full time box art painter
for Seil Miniatures. I have lived in Seoul ever since I became a full-time box
art painter. After Seil Miniatures closed its business in 2008, I worked as a
doll make-up artist in a ball-jointed doll company for 2 years. Meanwhile,
I had received a lot of commission work requests from such miniature com-
panies as SK Miniatures, Carl Reid Sculptures, Stormtroopers, Michael Min-
iatures, Young Miniatures, Alpine Miniatures, and collectors from all around
the world. I still appreciate their requests because those co-operation projects
became a huge motivation to me to stay in this field back then. Their attention
provided me a chance to build a solid ground for my own brand, ‘Life Miniature.’
Years Painting and Sculpting? I always loved to paint on a sketchbook and play
with clay to make it into some sorts of figures. I also spent a lot of time assembling
plastic model kits.
The very first time painting on the model kit for me was when I was a middle school
student. One of my friends gave me Tamiya enamel paints as a present, and I painted
a 1:35 scale British Army Soldier from Tamiya using those paints. I remember that
there were some publications that I could refer to as painting guides at the time. I
enjoyed painting with those step-by-step guidelines.
Among many different genres in the miniature field, I have been attracted to the
figure genre due to the possibility of applying Western Painting techniques on a
three-dimensional figure. Miniature figures came to me as good canvases to paint on
rather than a hobby to enjoy. Ever since then, I started figure painting applying many
different painting techniques. I have solely used acrylic paints since 2007 but I had
used Humbrol enamels and oil paints before then.
It was 2002 when I first started to study sculpting. I haven't received professional
education on it but I have spent time reading many books on anatomy and visit-
ing sculpture exhibitions whenever I have had spare time.
I sculpted with epoxy putty before but now I am using sculpy because of its
advantages. I also receive feedback from my fellow sculptor Ju-won Jung since
we started sharing a work room together.
Major Awards? The first medal I won at an international competition was the
Euro Militaire 2008 Gold medal in Class 11. I painted a military bust and the second
Gold medal was won at Monte San Savion Show (I don't remember what year it was).
Since then, I've won more golds, silvers and bronzes at Euro Militaire 2009~2011 but
I can't remember the exact names of those Classes I entered.
Future Plans? Life Miniature is keeping a bimonthly release plan for a new products
since the business started last year. Keeping this production plan as a bottom line for
running the business, I would like to make numerous models with many intriguing
subjects from the history of the modern era. In order to do so, it is necessary for me
not to lose a sense of creativity. Sharing experiences with new and old artists and
co-operating with them are also very important to develop my creativity even further.
I am also thinking about producing a 75mm line when the bust range becomes rich
enough.

8 [Link]
 Insight

Q1 How did you discover miniature painting and what started

you in the hobby?

A1 I've been interested in assembling and painting vari-

ous sorts of miniature models since I was very young,
but my bad memory tells me that the results were not that
great. I started to find my interest in this field when I read a
book called "Battlefield" written by one of the most famous
diorama builders in Korea, "Mr. Young Jin-Won." I was in my
early 20’s back then and the book I accidentally found in the
bookstore shed a light on my pathway toward this field. At
the time I was also delving into the western painting styles
specifically in the medieval time and modern era. I supposed
that it would be possible to apply those painting styles on
the miniatures.

Q2 You are well known for your fantastic painting of busts

and miniatures so where do you draw your inspiration
from and what influences your painting?

A2 Mostly, I get my inspiration from real

photographs. Let's just assume that I am
painting a German soldier for a certain concept. I
collect as many pictures as possible that represent
the concept. When I finish collecting all the neces-
sary images, I put them on the monitor as I work
on painting. By meticulously observing the detail
points that I wish to describe on my figure, I start
building a blue-print in my head. When the imagi-
nation process is done, I begin to do the brushwork
on the figure by closely looking at such details on
the picture as creases on clothes and places to em-
phasise the shading/highlighting of the miniature.

Q3 When did you conceive the idea for Life Minia-

tures and how did it come about?

A3 Ever since I started to work in this field, I

was considering wether to open a garage
kit business run by myself, but I was not capable of
running the business back then due to my lack of
abilities and skills in sculpting, painting and cast-
ing. I learnt those skills step by step and as I deter-
mined that my skills were mature enough to start
the business, I launched my own business called
"Life Miniatures." It was in April of 2012.

Q4 With Life Miniatures, do you plan on sticking

with recent historical subjects or have you
considered other genres and themes?

[Link] 9
 Insight

10 [Link]
 Insight

Q6 Have you thought of digital

sculpting, have you tried it and
what are your thoughts about it?

A6 I am expecting to get a highly

detailed outcome when using
digital sculpting. I am also thinking
of using it for a weapon and a detail
sculpting, but I personally prefer hand
sculpting to digital sculpting.

Q7 For most of our readers painting is

a hobby but now this is no longer
a hobby for you what do you do to relax
and take your mind away from work?

A7 I mostly spend my day sitting

in a chair so I try to do exercise
to stretch my body as often as possible.
I walk or run about 5km at the park
near my work place and play badmin-
ton with my close friend, Ju won-Jung
when time permits (He has recently
launched his own fantasy miniature
brand called Galapagos Miniatures).

A4 The name of my miniature brand came from the

famous 'LIFE' Magazine. My ultimate goal to achieve
with this miniature brand has always been to miniaturize all
the important figures from the events recorded in the photo-
graphs of the modern era that are known to be a symbol of
modern day journalism. After I am personally satisfied with
this project, I will expand the categories to the other eras.

Q5 So how do you split your time between painting and

sculpting and what do you prefer doing, painting or
sculpting?

A5 I introduce a new product bimonthly. In the case of

a figure that I both sculpt and paint, I start sculpting
a figure a month ahead of the release and focus on painting
for the last week before the opening day. If you ask me to
pick a favourite work between sculpting and painting, I will
definitely choose painting.

[Link] 11
 Insight

Q8 You have painted

many miniatures
and busts as well as box-
art for some very popu-
lar ranges. Out of all the
things you have painted
what has been the most
enjoyable and why?

A8 I would defi-
nitely pick "War
Photographer in Vietnam
War 1971" as the most enjoy-
able to paint. I spent many days
discussing with my sculptor
friend, Ju-won, on the subject
of the first product. By look-
ing into many possible candi-
dates, we finally settled our
subject on the war photog-
rapher. We both shared
the same idea that
war photographer
means a lot in the
history of modern
warfare. The idea
was the begin-
ning of "Life
Miniatures."

12 [Link]
 Inspiration

by Mario B Delgado (mbd)

Most people in this hobby will

eventually get comfortable and
settled on a particular type of model.
This can either by type such as figures, flats, busts, A.F.V., ships or planes;
scales such as small, medium or large or subject, like fantasy, Sci-Fi or Histori-
cal. Unfortunately I am not like that and still, I am looking for new thrills in
this wonderful hobby of kits and miniatures.

I recently purchased a garage kit and some might ask. “A garage kit? Is that for
cars or for a railway project?” Well no, garage kits have been around for a long
time and most of us have seen one or another of these wonderfully big and com-
plex models at shows or in magazines.

14 [Link]
 Inspiration

I am not a fan of Wikipedia but it is

a good place to start and here is their
definition of garage kits.

“A garage kit or resin kit is an assem-

bly scale model kit most commonly cast in
polyurethane resin. They are often figures
portraying humans or other living creatures.
In Japan, kits often depict anime charac-
ters, and in the United States depictions
of movie monsters are common. However,
kits are produced depicting a wide range
of subjects, from characters from horror,
science fiction, fantasy films, television and
comic books to nudes and pin-up girls to
dinosaurs to original works of art, as well
as upgrade and conversion kits for existing
models and airsoft guns.

Originally garage kits were amateur-

produced and the term originated from
dedicated hobbyists using their garages as
workshops. Unable to find model kits of

subjects they wanted on the market, they began producing kits of

their own. As the market expanded professional companies began
making similar kits. Sometimes a distinction is made between true
garage kits, made by amateurs, and resin kits, manufactured pro-
fessionally by companies.

Because of the labour intensive casting process, garage kits are

usually produced in limited numbers and are more expensive than
injection-moulded plastic kits”

Garage kits used to be cast in hollow vinyl but today ga-

rage kits are mainly cast in resin. The amateur produced kits
are still very popular because they mostly produce small runs
of model kits that have not been commercially produced.
This has also raised Intellectual Property issues and the “le-
gality” of such kits.

This model in particular, depicts a well-known Manga

character but it has been subtlety altered and given a differ-
ent name to “avoid” IP issues.

Talking about this kit. It is easy to find in one of the many

online forums that deal with there types of models. Produc-
ers are mainly base in the USA and Japan but with some
great producers in the UK. Note that there will be a great
show in Cheshire later this month.

This kit came in a cardboard box with a home printed

label and no instructions. The multiple pieces are wrapped in

[Link] 15
 Inspiration

individual bubble plastic bags and for extra protection lots

of polystyrene packaging materials.

All the pieces cast in a pale yellow polyurethane resin

that is at the same time hard both and brittle. This is the pre-
ferred medium of casting these big garage kits and possibly
one of the detrimental factors on their popularity as it is a
difficult medium to work with.

The quality of the detail is brilliant and the fitting of the

pieces is not bad although some filler will be required, not
only to fill gaps but also to strengthen the joints between
the pieces.

A small amount of flash is present but this is easy to

remove with a file or craft knife as it is mainly thin layers of
resin or smalls pellets especially on the face and in the hair.

Overall, it is a great model but I only say that because I

am a long-time fan of this particular character and because
the whole model is so attractive. I think ot will be difficult
assembly due to the brittleness of the material and the num-
ber of pieces involved.

I will try to get it done at some point but for the moment
it is back on the shelf to join the rank and file of the rest of
my “Grey Army”.

16 [Link]
 Also available
The Old Gnome &
The Gem Smith
plus many more
[Link]
 Gamespace

By Jake Cannon

In case you not aware Bioshock Infinite is the sequel/prequel-ish

computer game set in the Bioshock universe that blended deep
story lines, role-play style decision making with slick and fast first
person combat. Overview

If you have not played it yet I heartily recommend picking

it up cheap and having a blast. Go play Bioshock 1 and you
will love it more, then would you kindly go and find a copy
of Bioshock 2 and banish it to the same place as the Matrix
sequels, indie meets the crystal skull and Mass Effect 3. Bio-
shock Infinite : Siege of Columbia is a tactical board game set
in the same world as the afore mentioned computer game
and makes the refreshing decision to let you play through
the game from a tangential perspective. Let me explain - and
I will try to avoid spoilers.

In the computer game you play Booker De Witt, a private

eye sent to Columbia with a simple mission - “Bring us the
girl and we wipe away your debt”. The girl is Elizabeth and
believe me when I say infiltrating a floating city full of zeal-
ous religious fanatics whilst going unnoticed long enough to
spring her from a purpose built prison where she was under
the guard of a giant man in a bird themed gimp suit is the
easy part. You have many missions along the way but you
do learn very early on that Elizabeth is special, and not just
because of how she looks in that dress, you know the one
I mean, stop looking at her that way, you’re old enough to
be her father. Anyway so on and so forth with the running
and gunning and moral ambiguities. Oh, there are some of
the most unbelievable examples of real world racism too. It’s
hard to tell what is worse that so much of it was based on
actual historical attitudes or that we all know there are still
people who think that way a hundred years on.

18 [Link]
 Gamespace

The combat in this game is essential as

you will be encountering NPC forces in
unexplored areas during the early part
of the game followed by your oppo-
nents forces during the latter part. The
game takes around 1.5 - 2 hours to play
and works best with 2 players but does
have a 4 player teams mode which is
brutal.

Components

Usually I would start with the

figures but this time I must start with
the board as it is beautiful. This game
was designed and ultimately put into
production during the creation and
release of the computer game so they
have been able to use some of the
concept artwork for various cards and
the board itself is a map of the floating
city of Columbia. If you have played the
game you will find it difficult to resist
the urge to track where you went and
in what order across the board as you
Social commentary aside it’s a hoot of a game with a re- set up. As a game board goes it is clear and concise with each
bellion thrown in for good measure; that’s where the board area having a name and number to identify it. This means
game comes in. Each player takes control of one of the two that when stuff happens it is always easy to find the loca-
factions, the Founders and the Vox Populi. This is a proper tion to set up or move things to. Each territory is made up of
“workers of the world unite, spray everything red and take smaller areas and there is a little list of what areas make up a
over” level of rebellion. As you are buying units and mov- territory next to it so you make sure you control them all to
ing around the map trying to take control of different areas claim the associated victory points.
Booker and Elizabeth are running around doing stuff, which
can be very inconsequential or it can be blowing up a section Ok on to the minis — they are small, I mean really diddy.
of the city. So during the game you remember doing certain Average sized minis are the size of a 5 penny piece. If you
things and wiping out certain a areas defenders and being don’t know how big that is you shouldn’t have succeeded
proud of yourself and now you watch little Booker do it to from the empire 
you; yet you can’t be angry at him because you did it when
you were him. If that level of temporal thinking gives you a These mini’s have a lot of detail in them considering their
headache avoid the computer game. Just some free advice. size, I would say that if you look at Dropzone Commander
and say “I would never be able to paint that small” this
Now I will go into the game play of how this game works will probably look the same to you. If however you wish to
a little later but for now let’s just say you will be trying to join the growing number of people on the geek and other
use your limited resources each turn to expand your control, websites that are taking the mini’s from this game or City of
take over entire areas of the city and complete objectives. Remnants (another awesome game from Plaid Hat Games)
and painting them up as a badge of honour then I would say
these are superior and more fun to paint.

Both factions have the same common and special units

but have unique leader and super units, such as an airship
and the afore mentioned Pokemon bird thing. The common
units are basic dudes in plate armour with shotguns and the
specials are “handymen” which are basically giant steam-
punk cyborgs with huge arms.

Now I have seen some of the paint jobs online and I must
say I would not have the patience or skill to paint the tiny

[Link] 19
 Gamespace

orange power source on the handyman’s chest, and then cards to influence the vote. Booker will add a dice roll to the
to create a power glow effect of a part of a model that is players with the lowest victory points vote which means you
smaller than a space marine’s grenade pouch is to me impres- can sneak things through using less cards if you are behind.
sive. So you have been warned, if you want a simple spray This is a very subtle catch up mechanic and if you are behind
and highlight job that’s very achievable but if you fancy on points you can usually find a way to keep an extra card
painting these models up to a breath-taking level make sure back to use later in the turn thus giving you a slight edge in
you know what you are in for. catching up.

The non-miniature components for this game are all of Once the vote is done Booker will run around Columbia
a very high quality with my only minor gripe being that the trying to save and protect Elizabeth generally destroying
card tokens are not punched brilliantly. They won’t tear things in his way although sometimes just sneaking through.
getting them out but it’s not a crisp finish meaning that you Largely you are afraid of him as he can take on an entire
do end up with small nubbins on the token where it was army and win so I found myself staying away from Elizabeth
attached to the sheet. Like I said, it’s a small gripe and fixed to avoid drawing his wrath.
with the careful application of a hobby knife. The card stock
is thick and the cards themselves fit in standard card game Next players will use their cards to generate income,
sleeves so protecting your game is simple enough. spend the income on units, which can be deployed anywhere
you already have presence. Finally players will move around
Gameplay the board trying to take control of areas.

This game plays as a back and forth battle to keep control The more astute among you will have noticed that I have
of the various territories of Columbia, combat is fast and mentioned using cards during more than one gameplay sec-
simple to work out and the victory point system is refreshing. tion and that is really important. You get a hand of 5 cards
You can gain points from multiple sources, some of which for every turn and it is up to you to use them as you see fit.
are banked and safe Each card has a combat, influence and income value on it.
and other points you Different cards have different values, e.g. Handymen have an
only retain so long awesome combat value but a low income value, whereas flak
as you are in control gunners have a static value for all three statistics. How you
of a territory. use these cards each turn is paramount, use too many early
for voting and income and if you get into a fight you will
Let’s look at the just be rolling the dice for your units, with no extra combat
flow of the game value, or special ability; this can be lethal. I really love this
first. Then you set up mechanic because it rewards you for thinking and planning
you will choose one your turn before taking an action. You can start to guess
of the three stories what your opponent is going to do based on how many cards
that Booker and Eliz- they vote with, or how many they convert to income, and
abeth are following. best of all you can upgrade your stats on your cards to focus
Both players then them down one of the three stats as well as unlocking spe-
set up their figures cial abilities. The replay ability this offers is huge as it means
and off you go. Each you can play a different strategy every time as you control
turn will start with the evolution of your faction during gameplay.
an event which has
a vote in it that both Combat itself is very simple, each type of unit has a dif-
players can use their ferent type of dice to roll so you put those to one side and

20 [Link]
 Gamespace

before rolling you each may add any number of cards to the lines or even more importantly to jump over your opponent’s
fight face down. When these are revealed you tot up the defence lines and hit their weak soft underbelly, which can
combat values, trigger special abilities and roll the dice. Add be totally worth the risk.
the dice values to your combat value and the highest result
wins. Now this is where I think the designers came up with a Conclusions
fantastic idea that keeps the game moving. If you lose a fight
then one of the participating units dies and all the others Well I think it is pretty obvious from the tone of this
run away and head back to your HQ. This means a devas- review that I really like this game. It’s got so many points
tating loss doesn’t cost you 3 turns worth of income and during your turn when you need to make micro-decisions
building, its costs you board position and regaining that can that will ultimately affect the flow of your turn and so many
be slow but you can also takes risks to get back to the front times if you have a lack lustre turn you start looking back
lines quickly. More on that next, but first I have to say this and saying I shouldn’t have put so much into that, or I wish
is a really enjoyable combat system as you can never be sure I had converted more into money. The game takes a healthy
of the result due to the variable nature of the custom dice, amount of time to play with lots of turns and action; this
the wide variety of combat value and abilities of cards and of isn’t about building the whole game to one giant fight. This
course upgrades. is all about the small border skirmishes and stealing poorly
defended territories when your opponents attention is
Right I mentioned the risks of moving fast around Colum- elsewhere.
bia. This comes from the “sky lines” which are monorail like
metal links between the different areas of the floating city. The replay ability is something I am very impressed with
As you can imagine this is not the safest way to travel. Nor- as you can have different story lines going off each game;
mally you may move to an adjacent area for free during your the order the world events are drawn in means that in one
turn but if you wish you can risk using the sky lines and move game something that comes up early and doesn’t really af-
along them as many times as you like, each time you do you fect things early will in the next game come up late and be
must roll the skyline dice, which are three dice with a pass worth throwing in more cards to prevent or guarantee going
symbol on each and numbers on the other sides. If you roll a off. I think that if you like skirmish wargames and fancy a
success on any of the dice you get through fine, if the happy tense 2 player game where you will wrestle with your op-
“thumbs up” success is lacking you must discard cards equal ponent whilst trying to bluff and double bluff them on your
to the values on the dice or lose the unit. This means you can plans and tactical strength then this is definitely a game to
push your luck as much as you like to get back to the front try.

[Link] 21
 Show Report

A Brief Look Around

the UK Shows
August 2013

By Martyn Dorey

August is traditionally British holiday season, what

with miners fortnight at the start of the month and
then the rest of the month seemingly coming and
going in a bit here and a bit there sort of way, so
not surprisingly only the one show this month.

This month’s highlight was the So this year they made the move
Avon IPMS Show, only this year to a new venue, this being the Thorn-
it was something of an unknown bry Leisure Centre, still to the north
highlight as the location of the show and of Bristol and still very easy to reach
the format was changed for this year. regardless of where you are travelling
Location changes are nothing new for from. However, this year was not just
shows as they grow in popularity they a location change; this year they made
tend to outgrow their venues and the the decision to combine the show with
last two years for the Avon Show this was the Lincombe Barn Wargamers.
starting to be very much the case. The
show used to be held at the Yate Leisure More and more these days, scale
Centre to the north of Bristol that meant modelling clubs have been attending
that they had to use some of the smaller wargame shows to display their work to
rooms off the main hall. The situation a wider audience and I have seen this
was not really ideal and certainly un- at several shows this year. The Base-
popular with clubs and traders worry- ment has displayed at Salute for the
ing about whether people would come last 3 years and at the Wolverhampton
and see what they had to offer. Wargames Show I attended in March

22 [Link]
 Show Report

Besides the two main halls the cafe area upstairs was well
utilised and the competition area was located upstairs as
well with plenty of room to be able to look at the competi-
tion entries or grab a coffee and something to eat.

I think the best selection of words to sum up the show

was actually put on the news page of the Lincombe Barn
Wargamers site “A highly entertaining show with 12 partici-
pation games and 17 wargames traders. Alongside 44 model-
ling clubs and 25 modelling traders. The Bring & Buy was
brisk if not packed. A different slant on the usual wargames
show with lots of models to admire, painting and weathering
tips to be discussed and, for me at least, lots of tools, basing,
paints and other modelling supplies to improve my armies
and scenery.”

At the end of the day there seemed to be a lot of happy

people and happy traders. Thoughts were already turning
to next year’s event and what could be done to improve on
what they started. A third hall is available at the venue and
the possibility of maybe a wargames tournament taking
place in this hall in order to draw more people in is being
considered.

this year there were several IPMS/Modelling clubs from the

midlands area in attendance and Colours next month has the
South West Figure Modellers displaying their work. It is nice
to see the two halves of the hobby coming together as this
leads to plenty of ideas being crossed over and with more
and more gamers becoming interested in figures and vehi-
cles to collect as well as game with it is a good opportunity
to discuss techniques and ideas.

So, onto the show itself; the location move as I men-

tioned earlier was needed and the new location provided
two large halls with enough space for majority of the traders
to have space against a wall with a lot of consideration had
being given to the layout as well. Going through the list of
traders on the club website I half expected one hall to be
wargames and the other hall to be IPMS/Modelling clubs and
traders because the traders were listed as wargames Traders
and Modelling Traders.

This was far from the truth though and each hall had a
very good mix of clubs and traders from both sides of the
hobby. One thing I did notice was that there was no “us
& them” divide which was really good to see, modellers
stopping by the wargames tables were spoken too and not
ignored and everybody took an interest in what was going
on and not just from their own bubble of interest, I even saw
a couple of modellers sit down and play a game of “Dead
Man’s Hand” which was a cowboy skirmish game being dem-
onstrated by Great Escape Games.

[Link] 23
 Show Report

I have always enjoyed the Avon

Show in the past and this year was no
different, if you want a show that has
a warm friendly atmosphere then this
is certainly one to add to the show
calendar for next year. Well done to the
organisers for taking this step forward.
Could this be the future face for the
smaller shows here in the UK? I think
we will have to wait and see, mean-
while September is just around the
corner and by the time you get to read
this I will have covered one show and
will be at Colours when you read this if
you are among the first to have down-
loaded the latest issue...

24 [Link]
 A range of solid hardwood display plinths and bases.
All are handmade from sustainable english timbers.

We are looking for people to contribute to Figure Painter Magazine. Tutorials,

Step-by-Step articles, interviews, Show Reports and reviews.
If you feel you could contribute then please don’t hesitate to drop us a line.

[Link]
info@[Link]
 If you have any questions regarding this project, email us at terrain@figurepaintermagazine.
Tutorial [Link]. Marko will do his best to answer these questions in the next issues of the FPM.

By Marko Paunovic
Next up, wiring of the modules.
Last month I finished building
the modules and did a short (and
hopefully not too boring) piece Electronics Top Tips
about electronics. Now, before
my team and I start building the From now on in every issue, I'll try
actual scenic pieces (terrain) inside and write something about electron-
the modules, I will need to put ics that might not necessarily have
the wires inside the modules and to do with this board but will en-
check if the connections work. able you to make cool stuff on your
dioramas/bases/terrain. I'll start of with a simple circuit
consisting of a power source (2 AA batteries in this case),
a switch, 3 resistors and 3 white LEDs as shown in the
picture:

As I explained in Figure Painter Magazine issue no 4,

the amount of resistance is calculated like this:
As with any board, it is expected
that this board will be used by
various people – most of whom
will not be very familiar with the where the indexation “n“ depicts a single branch
of the parallel connection. The power of the battery is
laws of electricity. measured in mAh – how many mA of current a battery
can produce in an hour it operates. For instance, if a
batery has 400 mAh then it can operate for 400 hours
When designing the whole circuit within the board (and producing 1 mA of current, or 1 hour producing 400 mA
within each module respectively), I needed to be careful of current.
to make the connecting of the modules foolproof. In Pic
one, the following design, I'm hoping will prove to be just The overall current in this circuit is 60 mA so with 2
that. All nine modules are shown. Red lines are + wires (24V) normal AA batteries your circuit should be able to run
and the green ones are – (or 0V). We decided to use a 230V for 10 hours without any problems.
AC to 24V DC transformer as a power source as that will
provide enough voltage and amperage for powering all the So for this project you’ll need: a housing for two AA
LEDs. The transformer can be connected to whichever female batteries, one switch, three 50Ω resistors, three white
connector on any of the sides of the table. This will enable LEDs (5mm) and about 0,5 m of wire.
that module to have power. Furthermore, that module can

26 [Link]
 Tutorial

be connected to the next one through either it’s female jack, Pic 1
it’s male jack or both female and male jacks. The parallel
connection of each line enables this, making the concept
foolproof. The second module can also be connected to the
next one in the three ways described above and so on.

Inside the module there will be another smaller circuit (or

parallel branch) that holds a serial connection of a resistor,
6 LED’s (or 8 in case of Hungering Darkness’ module) and a
slide switch. The size of the resistor’s used for all the modules
containing 6 LED’s is:

So when I went to the electronics department, I asked for

ten 300Ω resistors (it's always useful to have a couple spare
ones) for 0,2 W. In all, for this project I got the following: price. The ones I found were in excess of 50 GBP. So I looked
online, found a verified Paypal seller and bought one. After
Item Quantity Store waiting for almost 40 days and numerous e-mails without
Resistor 300 Ω 10 Chipoteka (local store) reply the transformer still has not arrived. I filed a claim with
Slide switch 10 [Link] Paypal and the case is currently under review.

Red LED 6 [Link]

In the meantime, I found another German seller on Ebay
Green LED 6 [Link] who sells it and we are currently waiting for the transformer
Blue LED 6 [Link] to arrive so we can continue with the main build.
Yellow LED 6 [Link]
Enough with the boring algebra, physics and excuses. As
White LED [Link]
it was time to actually do something, so we came up with
Warm White a back-up plan. It consists of two parts: first to answer the
[Link]
LED question we got through e-mail and the second to move the
Purple LED 4 [Link] build of the movable door system ahead of schedule.
Amber LED 4 [Link]
Transformer: The e-mail question was about the connecting of the nine
220V AC to 1 modules through magnets.
24V DC
Connectors To answer this I’ll go to the start of the build of the
50 E-bay frames. You’ll remember that while cutting the module
(male+female)
frame sides I put a hole in each corner of the frame side.
Wire 40m Chipoteka (local store)
They were positioned as follows:

As you can see, I purchased a lot from the English store »»Shorter frame sides – 10 mm from the top and bottom edge
“Component Store”. I can truly recommend them, their prices and 10 mm from left and right edge;
are more than reasonable (with offers of discounts according
to the amount of items you buy), shipping doesn’t cost an »»Longer frame sides – 10 mm from the top and bottom edge
arm and a leg and it is fast. and 18 mm from left and right edge.

This is where the first problems with this build arose. Af- This ensured that when the modules were assembled
ter an extensive search of Zagreb I found that there were no the centre of each magnet would be corresponding to the
220V AC – 24V DC transformers to be bought at a reasonable matching pair on every other module (Pic Two).

[Link] 27
 Tutorial

Andrija’s Bitz and Bob

Andrija really stepped up this month

and the following text closely follows his
efforts to build a working sliding door
mechanism.

The Door System

The door system part of the project is essentially a mass

production project in itself. Here are some numbers. Five
rooms with four doorways each make 20 door systems,
each door system consists of a door frame and two door
wings. This means we have to construct 20 door frames
and 40 door wings. Since every door wing is made out of a
minimum of 8 parts, we have to fabricate 320 parts just for
the wings.

Templates
Pic 2 Fabricating these parts one by one would take forever
and the resulting parts would differ immensely in size and
Next, I marked all the magnets’ North and South poles. quality.
All the North poles would be placed on the left hand side
so they got the letter L (written in red) and all the South What most people initially do when they need eighty
poles would be on the right side marked with a green R. It is 4 cm slats? They take a 1 m long slat and mark every 4cm
good apart from the code to make the markings different in on the slat. This is the wrong approach. Even if you’re very
colour as well. neat and precise, you are going to make small mistakes.
The markings are going to be at least 0,3 mm off on either
Upon mark- side and your knife might slip another 0,5 mm equally to
ing them, I could either side. This in turn means, your slats might differ as
place them inside much as 1,6mm. And in the end it is most likely that not
their appropri- one of your eighty slats is the same size.
ate holes in the
modules and once You’ll get a better result if you measure each slat but
the glue was dry that is a very lengthy process.
I could test the
final look of the The key to a successful and fast mass production pro-
modules. cess lies in templates. You make one “original”. Lay the
original over the slat and cut out a copy. Each copy will not
be perfect this way also. But the difference between the
copies is going to be really minimal.

By making copies this way you can only err by making

slightly bigger slats which can always be sanded down if
you really need precision.

28 [Link]
 Tutorial

Planning Top Tip

Be sure your measurements are correct. It

is an incredible waist of time and materials
if you make 80 3,5cm long slats when you need 80 4cm
slats. Mark your template so you don’t confuse it with a
copy and start making copies of copies of copies... And
so on.

Not all templates are so simple in design. Sometimes you

have to make more elaborate ones. Like this one we used to
mark the places for the nails and the beads on the doorways.
As discussed in earlier issues of FPM, it is quite tricky to get
the door wings to run smoothly on those bead powered rail-
ings so the placement must be really precise. Therefore once
we discovered the optimal position of the beads we copied
the pattern onto a template (a piece of slat we weren’t go-
ing to use, in fact) and used it to mark the bead connection
points on every subsequent door frame.

The doors also consist of a 4cm wide x 5 cm long 1,5mm

thick balsawood tile. We chose such thin balsa to allow us to
leave ourselves the space to add all the different details like
cogs and bolts and planks etc.

Connecting all the parts is relatively easy when all the

parts are ready.

Door wings First step is to glue the two part horizontal slats and then
glue them to the vertical one. Because of slight imperfec-
Each door wing consists of a 5cm long 5 x 5mm vertical tions in cuts on the vertical slat, some doors will need a little
beam, and two vertical beams made out of two 2 x 5mm bit of bending to make them straight. So that the doors
slats. One slat is 4,5 cm long while the other is 4cm. The gap don’t fall apart due to that tension it is important we pin our
is there to allow us to install a doorstop in the door system. doors.

[Link] 29
 Tutorial

Doorways

The biggest building block of the doorway is the 4mm

thick balsa that is going to cover almost the complete width
of the module.

First step was to mark out the line where to top of our
doorway will be. This line will later be used to cut out the
upper part for easier instalment of the door system to the
modules. After some deliberation we agreed that most
likely the door wings won’t be finished by the time the door
frames needed to be installed into the modules. Also, this
would make it easier for painting later on as the door wings
can then be finished and painted separately.

To speed up the process we used a modelling drill. You

could probably do the pinning process with a hand held drill
(pin vice) or just by pressing in the pin. But it would take a
lot longer and you’d have pretty sore fingers by the end.

To keep track of which upper part goes with which lower

part we used codes so not to confuse them later on. Even the
door wings might get coded through the process to prevent
any mix-ups.

For the next step we carefully measured, marked and cut

out the door frame on one balsawood plank. Effectively, we
In the end it is smart to drop a little bit of super glue or made a template for other door frames.
PVA glue on the top of the pin to smooth the surface and to
make everything even more rigid and durable.
Planning Top Tip
Installing the final peace is very easy. Although some
last minute bending, or cutting around the edges might be Balsawood is soft and brittle so be careful
needed. while marking it because even a normal pen
will leave visible marks. And if you use too much force
On most doors the balsawood went straight in the middle you will damage the edges of the template which in
to allow us space for details on both sides of the door. On effect will give ruin its usefulness. So it’s best to use a
some we decided to go completely to one side. These doors precision felt-tip pen or similar.
are going to have more complex details on just one side.

30 [Link]
 Tutorial

Marko’s Lamentations

Balsa wood is classed as a hard wood

and has a strong grain running
through it. It is much easier to cut
parallel to the lines of grain. To cut
a clean line vertically across the grain you have to use
more strokes, sometimes even some elbow grease. A new
blade on your scalpel is a good choice before you start
working with bigger amounts of balsawood.

The last step was to install the sliding mechanism for

our doors. During the prototyping process we realized how
important it was to make it precise. After all, we don’t
want our doors to jam. For this job we made a slightly more
complex template that we already mentioned above. The
template allowed us to easily mark the spots for where the
holes for the nails are going to go. The elaborate part of the
template was that is double sided so it was usable to mark
After marking the positions we cut out the holes for our the holes on the upper side (7mm from the edge of the door
doorways. frame) and the lower side (5mm).

[Link] 31
 Tutorial

Now that we had the spots we could start drilling holes

for our nails. Drilling the holes made it easier to precisely put
in the nail that will hold the beads.

As we mentioned if we run out of beads for our door

systems, we are going to use our backup alternative design.
Basically the design is the same as other doorways. Except
that beads are only in one line, and instead of the other line
of beads we are going to have one clean long slat.

The nails in our case are going to slip out on the other
side of the balsa. It is not a problem because we are going to
build terrain details on the tips or alternatively, some might
get cut down with electrical tools.

Last step before the doorways are going to be ready for

installation are going to be the doorstops. The doorstops
have to prevent the doors sliding out of their intended
range. The ones on the left and the right side prevent the
doors from sliding out of range and getting stuck between
the walls. This is important because when the terrain is fin-
ished the doorways are not going to be removable and if the
doors were to get stuck in the walls, they would stay stuck.

The doorstops on the upper and lower side are there to Next time, we'll hopefully finish the wiring of the mod-
prevent the doors sliding to far out, thus showing us the side ules and in the meantime, as always, feel free to contact us
parts of the door wings that are not supposed to be seen, at Figure Painter Magazine (terrain@figurepaintermagazine.
and just generally looking unfinished. [Link]) and we'll try to answer your questions.

32 [Link]
 Show Report

This is just a short write-up for Figure

Painter Magazine regarding our show – and
completely unbiased, seeing as I’m one of
the organisers... Honest!

Well, it’s pointless me saying how doesn’t matter either, they can be as
good it is, so I’ll leave off that (it is small or large as you like, all figure
a very good show though ), so I’ll models are welcome.
By Adrian Hopwood get down to the basics of what it’s
all about. So, what d’you do at the show ?

Simply put, it’s a gathering of Well the point is to display your

like-minded people who paint figure models within a large area in the centre
models. of the hall, and off the back of that you
can discuss other people’s models, your
Any type of figure models actually, models, your latest projects or prob-
it doesn’t matter whether they’re fan- lems you’ve hit — the idea being that
tasy, sci-fi, military or civilian. It doesn’t we’re a solitary hobby for most of the
matter whether they’re “round” figures time, so it’s good to talk.
or flats, and as for scale… Well that

[Link] 33
 Show Report

This can be useful especially if you’ve hit a wall with some-

thing or aren’t quite happy with how it’s looking. Other
people’s input can get around these things and spur you
on to finish a piece that’s stalled.

Another aspect of the show is that several of the

organisers are recognised judges at international shows —
as too are the demonstrators. There’s a lot of knowledge
to be tapped on the day, so instead of speaking to them
via forums or e-mails, you can actually have a conversation
with them and show them what you’re trying to do, just
as they can show you what they mean when they’re giving
you their answers.

I mentioned demonstrators briefly there; in fact there

were three demonstrators this year – Nick Ball, Dave Mad-
dox and Conrad Mynett. All three are highly talented art-
ists, all highly respected judges and all very approachable,
friendly people willing to give their time to sit down with
paint and brushes and show you exactly how they do what
they do.

Of course you’ll want to buy something, so around the

outside of the room and in the refreshments hall, there’s
plenty of trade stands from the very best British companies
‑ El Greco miniatures, SK Miniatures, Sphere Productions, Ax
faction and JoeK Miniatures to name but a few…..In fact
there were over twenty different traders there this year, and
all of them had really cool stuff to sell, from the latest kits,
books and modelling materials, to polished wood plinths and
modellers tools.

Obviously with this much talent on show, we have to take

some pictures, and here’s a small selection of some of the
models that were on show that day.

As for a competition — sorry, we don’t have one of those.

We’ve taken the conscious decision to keep things non-

competitive simply so that people don’t have the stress and
worry that a competition brings. It allows for a lot more
relaxation, a lot more time to chat, and also keeps all the
models on display in one place – a large place it’s true, but
you don’t have to chase around looking in different areas for
painted pieces.

It’s not just painted pieces either, some people bring

along ongoing projects, to show what they’re working on.

34 [Link]
 Show Report

Finally there’s the Sunday – all the

above is on the Saturday. The Sunday
sees the Paintathon — simply put,
folk come along, sit down and get the
paints or sculpting tools out. Some of
the organisers sit down too, because
all the organizing has been done and
they too can kick back and enjoy a bit
of free time. The Paintathon runs from
about 9:30am until just after lunch,
but again gives a good chance to see
how techniques are handled, and again
what people are actually working on.

Next year’s show (yup, we’re doing

it again) will be held on the 19th of July
2014 at Oundle School, Oundle (near
Peterborough ) PE8 4GH. The show
opens to the public at 9:30 and closes
at 16:30.

All trade enquiries to

adrianhopwood@[Link], and
for more information as it’s released,
please see the FigureWorld page on
Facebook.

[Link] 35
 Review

Masterclass’s
Landsnecht
General at Pavia
By Marta Slusarska

This time I’d like to present you

something slightly different.
A historical miniature from a
company that isn’t widely known
Company Name within the wargaming circles:
Masterclass miniatures Masterclass miniatures.
I discovered this piece a while ago on El Greco Minia-
tures website by sheer accident, and immediately felt
Sculptor: P. Allevi that I had to buy it and as you can see I did. As some of
you might already know, Landsnechts are one of the pillars
Material: white metal of my miniature collection and I’m always looking for new,
interesting pieces. This was my first contact with Masterclass
Scale: 1:32/54mm miniatures. I’m not really surprised, as there are so many
manufacturers in the market, but I guess it’s not going to be
Price: € 31.50 my only purchase from this company, as I really like some of
their releases. The Landsnecht I’m reviewing today is a part
of their Deja Vu line. As far as I know, the whole Deja Vu line
consists of miniatures bought by Masterclass from EMI minia-
Website link tures (yet another company I never heard about).

[Link] The Box

The mini was packed in a thick cardboard box, with two

thick layers of foam to secure the parts. Smaller parts, for
extra protection, are packed in small plastic bags; a pretty

[Link] 37
 Review

standard procedure these days, at least for

companies with a decent budget and an
established name. I can’t deny that I feel the
miniature is safer this way.

On the top of the box there is a photo of

the painted miniature from the front, and
on the other side a photo of the back. It’s a
really nice touch, giving the client a full view
of the box art paint job, in this case done by
G. Taucer.

Quality of the Cast

The mini is cast in white metal, so it’s

rather natural that it lacks the level of details
and crispness of a resin cast, however, it is
also feels slightly soft. I think it may have
something to do with the fact that the mini is
quite old. It’s not a big issue, in fact the soft
feel might be just a result of me being spoiled with the crisp- holes formed in the thinnest parts. The base isn’t the most
iness of resin. Other than that the quality of the parts is re- important part of the mini, and most likely will be covered
ally nice. Mouldlines are delicate and easy to remove. There in dust and mud, but still the holes need to be fixed before I
are some extra bits of metal here and there, but removing can proceed to painting. Details of the face, which are pretty
them shouldn’t be a problem at all. The only part that stands important in a miniature, are rather nice for this scale, and
out when it comes to quality is the bigger part of the base — should make painting it quite pleasant.
the cast here is so thin in some places, that you can see small

38 [Link]
 Review

Assembly

Building the model might be tricky. The mini consists of

14 parts, and some of them are pretty tiny (a candle, spurs,
a hand with the lantern) and difficult to attach to the rest.
It won’t be impossible, but I’ll have to be very careful while
pining the smaller parts. After trying to put parts together
without the glue, I must say there will be some filling re-
quired. I have a feeling that gluing the mini precisely might
not be the easiest thing, at least at the beginning. The sepa-
rate leg has no proper ‘pin’ to make sure it’s glued in the
right position, so I’ll be using slow drying putty here to make
sure that the feet match the holes on the base and the hips
fit properly. Once the mini stands steadily, the rest should
be fairly easy. The only other thing I’d like to mention here is
the hat. It is in two pieces, one with head and shoulders, and
the second is a massive pile of feathers. Gluing it together in
the right position should be easy, because the little pin on
the hat and corresponding hole on the feathers aren’t oval,
in fact they have a distinctive spike, allowing me fix them in
the perfect position.

Overall Opinion

I guess I’m not too objective here. As I said earlier I do like

the subject a lot, so I can forgive more flaws just because I
find this mini pretty cool. For me the man portrayed in this
miniature is the essence of the Landsnechts. His clothing is
properly puffy and cut in many places. Various ribbons and
tapes create visual interest and give nice options for painting
and the hat has a decent amount of feathers. Of course the
subject itself gives a painter a real freedom of colour choice.

The quality of the cast is not that bad either. Maybe it

can’t stand comparison to the newest resin casts, but there
are not too many flaws after all, and the existing ones are
easy to repair. If you like this kind of subject, I think this min-
iature will be a great addition to your collection.

[Link] 39
 Tutorial

By Sean Fulton

Earlier this year, I created a dis-

play base that incorporated a Gnoll
who was searching through some
rubble of a burned out village. I had
wanted to experiment with crackle
medium to see if I could recreate the
charred effect of a wooden timber
that was still standing, but had been
heavily burned.

40 [Link]
 Tutorial

Crackle medium is a product that goes

on like a paste, almost like thick PVA
glue. I use Jim Holtz’s Distress Crackle
Medium. It comes in several different
colours, including an off white (“Picket
Fence”) that I used for this tutorial, as
well as a broad range of colours. There
are also a few metallic colours and a
formulation that dries clear as well.

It took me a bit of experimentation to get used to the The timbers for the actual piece were constructed with
stuff and as I said, it goes on very thick. One important balsa wood. The main pillar was fashioned from a 1.2cm (0.5
thing to remember is that the thickness of the initial inch) square rod and the cross-beam and support beam from
spread plays a critical role in the end result. The thinner the 0.9cm (3/8 inch) balsa wood. The main pillar was secured to
initial layer is, the finer the cracks. Conversely, the deeper the crossbeam with two pins and CA glue and the support
the initial layer, the broader and (as expected) the deeper beam was glued into place with CA glue as well. I distressed
the cracks. Here I laid out two layers of crackle medium side the ends of the balsa to look like they had broken off in the
by side on a 3.8cm (1.5 inch) block. The initial layer on the fire.
left was essentially just enough to solidly cover the wood in
an even fashion. The layer on the right was a few mm thick.

After a four hour drying period, the end result looked

like this:

[Link] 41
 Tutorial

I then covered the majority of the structure with the The inner portions of the timbers were highlighted with
crackle medium and let it dry overnight. RMS Polished Bone to keep the slight brownish tone to the
highlights, followed by a very thin highlight with pure white.

At this point, you could call it done and have a nicely

charred timber that had long burned out. I wanted to
increase the visual interest and added two things. First, I
chipped off a number of spots where the charred wood
might have fallen off, revealing the blackened wood under-
neath. This was easily done with a set of tweezers, inserting
the fine point into one of the cracks and popping off the
crackle medium. It takes a steady hand, but it’s not difficult
to do; the crackle medium is not tightly adherent to the balsa
wood.

The black primer was thinned with water and applied

as a wash over the entire piece. It was thin enough that it
would run into the various cracks via capillary action, leaving
the exposed areas only tinted with black. I would then go
over the piece repetitively, gradually building up the layers.
This was done irregularly so that different areas had differ-
ent degrees of coverage. This technique gave the illusion of
areas of the wood that were burned black and other areas
that were charred further to simulate a more ashen appear-
ance to the wood.

42 [Link]
 Tutorial

The second thing I did was add a few spots where the
timber had not quite burned out and continued to smoulder.
I started with a thin layer of pure white mixed with a bit of
flow improver. This was applied gently to the cracks allowing
the capillary action of the water to pull the paint into the
cracks. I then repeated the steps with RMS Sunlight Yellow
mixed with VMC Fluorescent Yellow to lay down the initial
colour, followed by RMS Lava Orange mixed with VMC Fluo-
rescent Orange. The last step was to add a gently applied
layer of diluted RMS Red Brick for the coolest part of the still
smouldering wood.

The final result I hope gave a realistic look and helped to

set the grim mood for the entire piece.

If you have any additional questions, you can contact the

FPM staff and would be happy to answer them. Good luck
with your projects!

[Link] 43
 Exposé

Captain, XVI c.
Company: Pegaso Models
Scale: 1/24 scale
Contact: [Link]

Templar Standardbearer
Company: Pegaso Models
Scale: 1/9 scale
Contact: [Link]

44 [Link]
 Exposé

Hussar de la Mort
Company: Elan13
Scale: 1/12 scale
Contact: [Link]

Colour Sergeant, light company,2nd

Battalion, Coldstream Guards
Company: Stormtrooper Miniatures
Scale: 120mm
Contact: [Link]

10th Prince of Wale’s Own

Light Dragoons
Company: Grenadier Miniatures
Scale: 1/9 scale
Contact: [Link]

[Link] 45
 Exposé

Hunting Rebels, After Culloden, 1746

Company: Miniaturas Beneito
Scale: 54mm
Contact: [Link]

Storm Child
Company: El Greco Miniatures
Scale: 1/35 scale

Contact: [Link]

46 [Link]
 Exposé

Undead King bust Squarg the Frog Rider

Company: Masters Miniatures Company: Blacksmith Miniatures
Scale: unknown Scale: 40mm high
Contact: [Link] Contact: [Link]

Various
Company: Dark Sword Miniatures
Scale: 32mm
Contact: [Link]

[Link] 47
 Exposé

Mermaid
Company: Kabuki Models
Scale: 32mm

Contact: [Link]

‘Kazhatdram’ War Drum of the Doom

Company: Galapagos Miniatures
Scale: 1/10 scale

Contact: [Link]

CYCLOPS
Company: Gigantic Miniatures
Scale: 1/35 scale

Contact: [Link]

48 [Link]
 Exposé

Haqqislam Qapu Khalqi Starter Pack

Company: Corvus Belli
Scale: 32mm
Contact: [Link]

Boromir Bust
Company: Knight Models
Scale: 1/10 scale
Contact: [Link]

LOBO
Company: Knight Models
Scale: 70mm
Contact: [Link]

[Link] 49
 Gamespace

By Marko Paunovic

In the last couple of years, I’ve witnessed a

large boom in companies that offer pre-cut
MDF scenery for tabletop wargaming.

They all have one thing in common: they use thin MDF lem as almost all the companies producing them, have really
(about 3mm) and use a CNC laser to cut the walls of the good detail work on their pieces and to assemble these
buildings or engrave a wooden plank/brick/stone tile buildings takes no more than half an hour per building, no
pattern. The precision of those pieces is stunning as the laser matter how complicated. However, that does come at a cost.
is only a fraction of a millimetre thick. For the price of one large building, a skilful hobbyist can
make several buildings of the same size and level of detail.
Since the terrain building is one of my favourite parts of The time spent on building will be much longer, though.
the hobby (by far surpassing actual gaming and only a bit
ahead of painting minis), I decided to take the time to write So, what’s available today?
a sort of compendium of companies and their products that
are currently available. Scenery building is usually time- Sarissa Precision [ link ]
consuming (especially if you’re aiming for some detail work
on your terrain) so the average “gaming Joe“ rarely opts to This seems to be the most popular choice of many gamers
make his own scenery. as I’ve seen them mentioned on numerous Internet boards
and blogs. They offer quite a wide range of buildings and
The MDF lasercut terrain offers a quick fix for this prob- scales, producing almost all their inventory in 28mm and

50 [Link]
 Gamespace

15mm scales. Some of their ranges

are: Japanese, Old West, Mexican,
Victorian, Dark Age, City Block,
System (sci-fi), WWII, Belgian etc.
One great thing is that they offer
discounts if you buy in bundles and
they offer free world wide postage
for orders over 50 GBP.

Of all the ranges (being a

Malifaux player primarily), I’m most
interested in Old West, Mexican,
Victorian and Japanese ranges. The
Japanese range consists of a cou-
ple of smaller buildings (village), a
shrine, samurai temple, bridges, Tori
gate and various walls. The Mexican
range (Old West Adobe) consists of
a cantina, various smaller buildings
(dwellings), a prison and a church.
The Victorian range (Gas lamp Alley
is the formal name) has a cool look-
ing corner pub (can’t wait to get my
hands on it), a variety of buildings
(one, two or three storey), a market
and a factory. Old West (Heroic)
range includes a hotel, store, rail-
way station, water tower and lots of
cool bits like wagons etc.

The level of detail is really high,

although the walls are a bit one-
dimensional with no abutments pro-
truding. Also, the Old West Adobe
buildings will need to be covered
with sand for the best looking
results.

[Link] 51
 Gamespace

BattleFlag [ link ]

They have the most limited range of all, mainly concen-

trating on Wild West buildings for the game Blackwater
Gulch. The range, although limited, offers great diversity
and is by far the best quality product with lots of details, op-
tions of printed signs, options of shingled sloped roofs etc.
The Battle Flag range includes a sheriff’s office with a prison,
a bordello (Maison Rouge – a small masterpiece), a photog-
rapher’s studio, a doctor’s office with a morgue (first and
last service offered) and a variety of smaller buildings like a
hardware store, gunsmith’s, saloon etc. Their best value for
money item is definitely – “The Street With No Name” that
offers 4 smaller buildings for 45GBP + P&P.

As can clearly be seen on the pictures, the level of details

is stunning. The bigger buildings come in various thicknesses
of MDF, the details like doors and window frames are made
from a thinner material (cca 1mm) which gives the extra 3D
appearance of the detail work. The instructions are printed
in colour and are easy to follow. Overall, a bit pricier option,
but definitely worth it (once you’ve decided to go down this
road).

Micro Art Studio [ link ] XIX century stands, walls, walkways and block of flats (build-
ing). For more photos check: [Link]/terrain.
Apart from their
awesome resin bases, Their MDF is a bit thicker than with the rest of the com-
this company from panies which makes pulling the bits out of frames slightly
Poland is probably most more difficult. The glue that holds the “layers“ of the MDF
famous for their terrain together is not so strong and if you’re not careful, you can
for Infinity, the game. easily damage the bits or even break them. The details, how-
Their range of Battle- ever, are good and all the parts fit snugly together.
field HDF Terrain offers
various walkways, walls
and bunkers.

With the release of

their Indiegogo Wolsung
SSG campaign [ link ],
MAS started producing
a steampunk range of
buildings that consists of

52 [Link]
 Gamespace

For this article I was fortunate enough to

have a little interview with Primož Pirš of Sys-
tema Gaming Scenery since they are a new and
upcoming company, like the FPM is a new and
upcoming magazine.
1. Systema Gaming Scenery is a new company do-
ing MDF laser cut scenery. Tell us a bit about yourself
and how you came to the idea of doing lasercut MDF
scenery?
I started with Warhammer many, many years ago;
then I went into Flames of War and about a year or
so ago I discovered Infinity. Soon I realised that I’d
needed quite a lot of terrain for this great game and
I started looking into various options to buy. MDF
buildings seemed like the best option but as an archi-
tect by trade, I figured I could draw my own designs.
I found a guy with a laser cutter to cut my buildings,
which my friends and club mates saw and liked. I
saw a business opportunity and a few months ago
I bought my own laser cutting machine and started
cutting.
2. Why Infinity? What are your influences (if any)?
I have always liked Sci-Fi settings, but I never
Systema Gaming Scenery [ link ] found a game with models that I really liked. Infinity
changed this as I really like the sculpting style, and
the rules are very cool. However, my main influence
A new company from Slovenia that currently has only one range – for terrain is actually Firefly. I really like their version
Base-0, based on Infinity, the game. The range consists of platforms and of the universe which is futuristic, but also rough and
worn.
walkways, boxes, containers, storage silos, habitat and HQ units. Their
3. What kind of knowledge must one have to
prices are reasonable with the whole table worth of terrain (like in the start doing something similar? Were there any “hid-
picture) costing about 100€ + P&P. den” problems that you were unaware of when you
started?

They use 3mm thick MDF that is really rigid and withstands “abuse“ I guess being an architect definitely helps but
most importantly it is that you know how to use CAD
pretty good. They are the only company of the afore mentioned that (Computer Aided Design) programs, such as Autocad
offer interchangeability as all the items are intended to be able to shift or similar... and a bit of imagination.
around the battlefield as the player needs. Also, this gives an added The only “hidden” problem I encountered was
that I needed better ventilation in my work area
perk that the terrain after use can easily be stored in small boxes. On and a water filter for the fumes which brought some
the other hand, setting up and removing does take a bit of time. Once additional unexpected costs with it; also, I had to
assembled, the items seem a bit bulky but when painted, they really look buy a packing machine for final packaging, but that’s
about it.
awesome.
4. Lasers, cutting, poisonous fumes and CNC, that
sounds expensive and difficult to master. True?
Yes and no. It’s not that difficult to master if you
understand a bit about technology and optics. For
the fumes, the laser has an exhaust system and fil-
ters, so together with good ventilation it’s not much
of a problem. It is still expensive, but not as much as
it used to be.
5. So tell us about your current range?
Currently I offer only the BASE-0 range, which is
28mm Sci-Fi. I designed it with Infinity in mind, but it
could be used for other Sci-Fi games as well. I think
the most interesting thing about it is the modularity
and flexibility. All sets are designed so that they’re
fully compatible with other sets from the range (the
buildings can be stacked to make them higher. Also
some walls can be exchanged during assembly to get
even greater variety) or they can be used on their
own as stand-alone pieces.
6. To end things, what are your plans in the
future? Widening the range of terrain for Infinity,
widening the interest range into other games or
perhaps other scales?
The Base-0 range is still quite small, so I’ll be
expanding it soon with more sets. Also I’d like to ex-
pand into other settings, 15mm WWII probably being
the next one. After that, who knows? 

[Link] 53
 Gamespace

Other sources on crowd funding platforms include:

Impudent Mortal

This company had two projects backed on Kickstarter (one is currently

active at the time of writing). First campaign [ link ] to SteamPunk, Tudor,
Gothic, Sci-Fi, Brick, and Stone with all the designs coming in ruins and full
versions. Of all the companies listed here, this one has the lowest level of
details. The choice to mimic brick and stone buildings using MDF feels a bit
wrong. Their sets, however, can come with a puzzle mechanism to make your
buildings modular and easy to assemble and disassemble without using glue.

The second campaign [ link ] again brings the same

designs, this time a bit more intricate and with more de-
tails, though. Still, while the Tudor setting looks great,
one can’t again wonder if the MDF is the right material
to mimic metal, stone and brick. All of those buildings
look a bit “clumsy” for lack of a better word.

The 90 USD pledge gets you 4 Level 2 buildings which

is just about the same price as BattleFlag’s Street With
No Name offer and the Sarissa Precision Bundles, both
of which have better value for the money, especially if
you consider the postage cost of the pledge to Europe
amounts to 50USD according to their chart.

Fantasy Arc beautiful set. For a 100USD (+ P&P if you’re not in USA)
pledge you received 6 Straight Sections, 1 T-Intersection, 1
The other KS campaign was Fantasy Arc’s Alien themed Corner Section, and 1 4-Way Intersection plus ONE copy of
“Bug Hunt“ Corridors set [ link ]. This set was fully funded each Basic Stretch Goal at no additional cost, which I feel is
and offers really great quality craftsmanship. It is a truly pretty good value for the money spent.

54 [Link]
Putties & Surface Primers
Whatever the project, whatever
the need. We have the
tools for you.
Suppliers of
• GSI Gunze Sangyo
• Vallejo
• Modelmates

[Link]
 Tutorial

By Adrian Hopwood

I got the chance to paint this piece for

the box art quite a while before it was
released as a resin kit – quite lucky really,
as I get a preview and some control over how people will
look at the model when they come to decide whether to
purchase it.

No pressure to do a good job of sloshing This is his second dwarf bust, with the initial
paint around then… one being marketed by MDC, and this one being
for himself.
Élan 13 is a small company run by Robert Lane
(No, not the one who owned Maelstrom Games, Intentionally there are similarities to the MDC
that’s a completely different Rob Lane). Our Rob piece – the scale is similar, and some of the feel of
has been sculpting for years, and has done every- the designs on the armour are similar too. How-
thing from military pieces to astronauts to fantasy ever there the commonality ends as this piece is
women. All sorts of scales too, from busts like this shaped differently as to where the cut-off point is
to 1/48th scale cavalrymen. So in short, he’s not for the bust, and there’s something noble, more
half bad at pushing putty around. commanding about this dwarf. He appears to be

56 [Link]
 Tutorial

a chieftain, whereas the MDC piece looks more like a run of

the mill warrior. Having said that, I’d better say something
about the sculpting and the casting of the bust.

The sculpting is very precise and there’s nothing suggest-

ing, the detail is simply “there” and it’s done in such a way
that the beginner could use dry brushing techniques to bring
out the designs and the expert will be able to paint in what
highlights and shadows that he or she desires to make the
piece look exactly how they want.

I didn’t have that much choice though, because Rob had

already specified some of the colours he wanted using – a
sculptor usually has a finished “picture” of the piece he’s
working on, set in his mind, and so Rob had jotted down
a few notes to give me colours and ideas for certain areas.
There was a bit of movement, but it gave me a good start for
what direction I would take.

The casting is really good on this piece, very little to clean

up, and the resin used is nice — soft and easy to work with.
There is a mould line running under the model up towards
the detail at the back, but this is minor and was about the
only place I used a file and a craft knife.

With the cleaning done I could begin the painting.

I decided to try something new for the face, in that I

wanted a skin tone that pointed towards the dwarf having

spent a lot of time out of the sun. I used my usual mix of
Mars Brown and Titanium White, but had the colour mix very
pale, almost ghostly in tone, so that the finished skin looked
very pale indeed – dead almost.

I’d taken the model to Salute at that point, and both

Mark Taylor and Rob Lane, whilst liking it, mentioned that
it lacked colour and warmth... OK I was trying for that, but
I sensed that they felt I’d succeeded a little too much. On
returning from the show, I decided that I’d add some washes
of Carmine to the cheek areas and nose, with a little on the
brow as well.

This worked wonderfully, and whilst giving the model

a bit of life, also made the face look just as I wanted it – a
happy accident spurred on by suggestions from friends – it’s
why we go to shows!

So, with that drying nicely, I could start on the armour

sections.

Rob had asked that they be painted to imitate bronze,

with some flashes of gold here and there.

I tend to use Printer’s Inks for metallic areas now, they

are easy to use, can be mixed with oil colours to change their

[Link] 57
 Tutorial

Finally, when all this was dry, I put on a couple of layers

of Tamiya Smoke lacquer (thinned with water) to add a little
bit of shine to the armour.

The other large area to paint was the beard, but I would
paint this almost at the last minute, because it overlaps the
leather belts etc that run across the chest.

Those leather belts were relatively small, but can be quite

eye-catching if a little time is spent on them, so I decided to
make them look a bit worn and abused.

This is easiest with oil paints, but it can be done with

acrylics as well. The method I use is for oils and goes like
this:-

Paint the belt with a dark brown mix (Mars Brown and
Mars Black), then lay on some of the Mars brown to build up
the basic colour. Leave the dark brown colour down the sides
of the belt so they form shadows. Lighten the Mars Brown
with Light Red (a rusty colour) and then lighten that with
Yellow Ochre additions to build up highlights. If you work on
smaller and smaller areas as each colour is added, and wipe
the brush to remove excess paint as you blend the colours,
then you’ll end up with a clean looking belt.

shades and they have a longer working time because of the

oil base compared to acrylics. The down side is that they
need heat to fully dry them, so you have to put the model in
a drying cabinet for 24 hours to cure them. Once this is done
they can be further enhanced with varnishes, washes etc.

I began with a mix of Mars Black and Bronze, coating the

whole of the metallic areas with a thin layer of this. I then
built up mid-tone shadows with pure bronze and then began
adding Old Gold to mark in the mid-tones. Bright gold and
then Silver were used to bring up mid-highlights and final
highlights; the bust was then put in the drying cabinet as I’ve
mentioned.

The inks tend to dry quite matt, and sometimes this ef-
fect looks good as it is. The inks also change a little with the
heat applied, and because of this, you’re never quite sure
what the finished piece is going to look like – particularly if
there’s a lot of work been done with the mixing of colours,
or if there’s large flat or open areas, then the effects can
change as the inks dry.

I wanted to add some deeper shadows, and painted them

in using Mars Black.

I also dotted some very bright highlights with small addi-

tions of pure silver.

58 [Link]
 Tutorial

To make it look used and abused,

I then mix up Yellow Ochre and
Titanium White to a cream colour.
This is applied across the edges of
the belt with an old brush in random
strokes, wiping the brush on a piece
of kitchen roll after each pass and
putting clean paint onto it again, so
that small scratches and cuts are put
onto the edges of the belt, working
towards the centre of it. It takes a bit
of practice, because it’s easily over-
done. Less is more really, so a lot of
little scratches is fine, along with a
couple of larger ones mixed in with
those, but loads of them all over will
look contrived and unconvincing.

With the belt done, I could paint

in the hair. This was a case of want-
ing it to match in with the colour
scheme on the armour and the belts,
so I used the same brown and yel-
low colours I’d used for the belt. By
applying them in a different way, I
could make the hair look different
from the leather.

Again I used a dark brown all

over the hair areas to fill in deep
recesses and provide the shadows. By
using the same colours in the same
order, but applying them using a
similar motion to combing the hair,
I could “brush in” the colours and
create mid-tones and highlights ex-
actly where I wanted them. The real
problem is any areas of high detail;
these give the painter a problem in
that the brushing stroke action is lost
because of raised detail. It’s actu-
ally easier on flatter areas with no
sculpted detail.

Once this was all dry, I could add the decorative beads, I think this is a good little bust, it’s similar enough to
and these were first under coated with black, adding a touch go in a display with the original one by Rob, but individual
of white on the lower halves of each separate bead. The enough to stand on its own. Enough detail to allow for some
colour can then be added to each bead, adding acrylic colours freehand work still, but also allows the painter to leave it
gradually in thin layers to build up the colour, until finally add- simply as it’s been sculpted and still look fine.
ing a spot of white to each bead as a “catch light”. Then each
bead was coated in a couple of layers of Tamiya Clear Col- Basically, I liked painting it and it wasn’t a difficult piece
oured Lacquer – the colour of the lacquer matching whichever to finish, but could provide a great deal of interest depend-
colour was used to paint the bead in the first place. ing on your skill level.

With that done, well the bust was about finished really. The model is available from Elan 13 Miniatures and this
There are a few details here and there that I’ve passed over, bust is priced at £15.00
but nothing important really.

[Link] 59
 Market Place

What’s on the

a regular look at some of the hobby tools available

By Martyn Dorey

It is said that
the classic defi-
nition of bore-
dom is sitting around
watching paint dry, I
used to use this as an
excuse onboard ship
to leave the mess
whenever they put
football or soaps on the TV! Luckily in How well your paint takes to the

Primers our hobby we don’t have to wait long

for the paint to dry unless you have
model has a lot to do with the primer.
If what’s underneath the paint is not as
mixed in too much retarder or are using it should be, then the paint will not dry
oils... properly. It could look blotchy with an
uneven sheen. It may turn out lumpy
If you knew exactly what hap- with brush marks. It could flake off
pens during those seconds, minutes sooner rather than later. Primer creates
and hours when paint morphs from a smooth and consistent layer for the
a sloshing liquid into a thin, glossy or paint to be spread over and to bind
matt film, you’d be fascinated. Well OK onto. It’s a sturdy interface and is often
maybe not, I know I wasn’t and I spent called a key coat.
the whole period of that lesson trying
to stay awake by dunking a small spider Paint can be a bit like clothing, so
in and out of an empty coke can. think of the primer as underwear, it
functions as an interface between the
skin and the clothing. And just
as underwear can correct and

Paint can be a bit like clothing, think of mold the body so that cloth-
ing looks better, primer can

the primer as underwear, it functions correct flawed and uneven

surfaces so that the paint

as an interface between the skin and looks better and wears

better.

the clothing. Now that you know you

need primer to get the best
results, how do you know which

60 [Link]
 Market Place

with black when my basecoat is going to be dark

and has black mixed into it? How about white
primer? Quite the opposite really as this can make
the colours very vibrant but at least the details can
be seen can’t they? Yes they can but not everything
covers well over a white primer. Look at a white car
for instance, peel back the layers of paint until you
get to the primer and you will find that the primer
used is grey...

I am not going to go any further on what colour

is best to prime with we all make our choices for
one reason or another so let’s have a look at what
is out there in various colours available to us as a
primer.

Games Workshop. Chaos Black and Skull White

are probably top of most people’s lists and going
back more than a few years they used to do other
colours in spray form to be used as a primer. Don’t
get the new Space Marine colours they have just
released confused with primers though, they are
not, these are base coats in a spray can.

Vallejo is another name a lot of us are familiar

with but how many of us use their range of prim-
ers? Probably not that many people because they
get confused with being brush on primers when
actually they are formulated to be used through an
airbrush. These are
actually very good
primers and come in
a very wide variety
of colours and once
dry they are very
tough indeed. If you
put them on with an
primer to use? Well that all depends on your choice of paint airbrush then you also have a
and the material the model is made from; if you have ever lot of control as to how thick
tried to paint one of the old garage kits manufactured from they go on.
vinyl then you will know what I mean because without the
correct primer nothing sticks to it. Army Painter is another
name that wargamers will
Thankfully these days we can get away with acrylic prim- be familiar with and a lot of
ers for most of our models regardless of the medium we people will associate their
intend to slap on them once the primer is dry but whose spray range as primers but
primer is best and what colour is best? This has long been this is not the case and their
a bone of contention I feel and to a large extent I blame main purpose is as base coats
Games Workshop because over the years they have been hence their bottled paint
teaching the hobby community that black is best because range matches that of the
when you put one of their models together, put it on the spray range. The exception
base and then spray it black if after this you can’t reach a here though is their black
part with your brush don’t worry treat it as if it is in shadow and white primers, although
and leave it alone... excuse me whilst I scream!! these can be troublesome if
you don’t spend a lot of time
For me black primer is fine if you want subdued colours shaking them.
but I paint from dark to light anyway. Why obscure the detail

[Link] 61
 Market Place

Mr Surfacer, as I men-
tioned last month, has spray
versions of these that are
not just for filling gaps and
surface imperfections, the
1200 spray is also a very
good primer if used spar-
ingly. Unfortunately it’s
not cheap as far as primers
go but if you have a metal
model which needs a lot
of surface work on it then
why not use the Mr Surfacer
spray as your primer as well?

Halfords yes that is correct, primers formulated for cars!!

These can be very good primers and I used their grey primer
for years. They can however be heavy and not as fine as
other primers.

Tamiya & Humbrol also do their own versions of primer

although these tend to be smaller cans and not so economi-
cal or value for money.

Privateer Press came on the

market a few years back with
their P3 range of paints and
recently I have come across a
black and a white primer that
they have produced in spray
form, I haven’t had a chance
to use this yet but I have ac-
quired a can so will be giving
this a try in the near future.

This more or less covers the

primers available today with-
out causing too many argu-
ments, I have kept the list to
Modelmates is a range I discovered last year when I came primarily sprays but you can
across them being demonstrated at Salute and I have to say I find brush on alternatives
am very impressed with them, besides the weathering liquids should you wish. One thing I
and sprays they have a range of four acrylic primers, black, will say though is that primers DO NOT need to be applied so
white, light grey and dark grey. These are all acrylic based that they obliterate the detail of a model in one thick coat,
and are very fine when used. They are one of those secrets a light coating is all that is needed to prime a model regard-
that have been hidden by railway modellers and also used less of size. All too often I have seen a good model ruined
within the special effects departments of the film industry. If because it has been over sprayed with what appears to be a
you haven’t tried these yet then it is well worth giving them whole can of primer before it even gets to see a brush any-
a go I am sure you will not be disappointed. where near it.

62 [Link]
 MINIATURE
HEROES

Suppliers of,

Miniature Heroes
is dedicated to
miniatures, both
new and old.

Follow us on Facebook
[Link]
 Show Report

By Federico Sorgi

Translation from Italian: Rik ice

64 [Link]
 Tutorial

In order to paint this figure I decided to make exten- The only areas I left unpainted were silver and gold, to
sive use of oil paints and to write a tutorial about the avoid them drying matt.
process.
During the whole oil painting process I worked with
I realized the oil paints tended to be glossy until they dry, two brushes, one made of marten fur for putting colours
this is always an issue when taking photos during the work in in place, and the second a synthetic for blending. All the
progress. oil paints were thinned down with quick drying petroleum
Lefranc, which gives a duller finish. Also, I didn’t airbrush the
To solve the problem, I put the model in the oven for base colour on the figure, painting straight on metal instead.
fifteen minutes at 100 degrees. This turned the translucent
finish to dull. I also airbrushed Model Master dullcoat after
each step, and before taking photos.

Step One

I started by base coating the cap in Maimeri Polycolor

(MP) Ivory Black and Vallejo Model Color (VMC) Beige, then
adding more Beige. To build up lights and shadows I used
Van Dyck (Van) oil colour. Starting from the top, I provided
volume using a mix of MP Ivory black, MP Titanium white
and MP Umber. Middle tones are built up using more umber
and the shadow is emphasized on the lower area by using
Ivory black. The hat has been painted in quite a dark tone to
avoid being too distracting.

Step 2

I base coated the face with a mix of Games Workshop

(GW) Tallarn Flesh and Tamiya (T) X21. Two thin layers were
applied to achieve a suitable surface for layering oil colours
afterwards.

[Link] 65
 Tutorial

Step 3

After the acrylica I kept painting the face applying Danilo

Cartacci’s technique described in his book: “Dipingere in
miniatura”. Oil paints (all Van) on the palette were: Ivory
black, umber, burnt sienna, Titanium white, dark Naples
yellow, Lacca di Garanza Dorata (madder golden, I used it to
add a little reddish tone) and finally violet for the shadows
to look cooler. I begun outlining the upper part of the eye.
Then I painted a black line on the upper eyelid.

The eye itself: first off I layer down white and fleshtone,
the pupil is a black dot lined up with the corners of the
mouth. Onto the black dot I painted a smaller blue dot, and
yet again another a black one, even smaller.

Three dots, one on top of the other, to pick the light out
of the eye, I did another tiny white dot.

It’s time to make the eyes really stand out: I applied Lacca
di Garanza Dorata between nose and eye. I finished off by
highlighting and shading the lower area below the eyes us-
ing a drop of white and burnt sienna.

Once the eyes were done, I added shadows on the nose

sides using the same palette as before. A medium tone was
applied onto the upper nose; also, more shadows were
painted onto the jaw.

Focusing on the cheekbones and the areas closest to the

nose, I added more highlights. I wanted the lower face area
to be darker, so I painted it with layers of previous tones plus
a drop of black, to represent his unshaven beard.

The lips were painted mixing violet and Lacca di Garanza

Dorata, leaving the upper lip darker. I noticed oil paints lose
their brightness when dried, so I emphasized highlights and
shadows with another layer, to simulate several wrinkles and
muscles. This gives the figure more expression.

Even the hair was given another layer of MP Ivory Black

and MP Burnt Umber.

66 [Link]
 Tutorial

Step 4

A basecoat of MP Titanium White and MP Ivory Black and VMC Stone Grey and
a bit of T X21 was painted on the white cloth. I shaded it by adding more MP Ivory
black to the mix, especially where the greatcoat and band overlap the cloth. I built
up lights with MP titanium white added drop by drop to the starting mix.

Step 5

The band was painted in GW Mephiston Red and VMC Prussian Blue. The same
red was used to paint the outer greatcoat neckband.

Step 6

The oil paints palette I used to paint the trousers

and shirt over the previous acrylic layers. Paints are
put on the palette to make oil evaporate just a bit.

[Link] 67
 Tutorial

Step 7

Shirt and pants volumes were outlined in

acrylic, using: MP Ivory Black, MP Titanium White,
MP Burnt Umber, MP Yellow Ochre and MP Naples
yellow.

I base coated in umber and ochre, the other

paints were used to put shadows and light in
place. This step helps to layer the final oil paints,
and avoid issues with strong shadows due to their
transparent finish. Oil paints were used to blend
transitions later on.

Using the same palette as in picture 10, I match

the oil paints to the acrylics.

Starting from the shirt and going on with the

legs from thigh to knee (left-right), I blended on to
the previous layers. It may seem a random tech-
nique, but by going from top to bottom and left to
right I avoid brushing and shifting away paint. This
works vice-versa for left-handed painters.

68 [Link]
 Tutorial

Step 8

A layer of Model Master (MM) Black Dragon has been painted on the
boots and closest areas

Step 9

I used this palette to

outline the belt and boots
in acrylic, the paints in the
plastic pots are Mai Meri,
this is because the original
bottles had broken at sev-
eral places...

From left to right: Naples Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Um-

ber, Ivory Black and Burnt Sienna

[Link] 69
 Tutorial

Step 10

Using the previous palette I painted the boots. The

leather has very tight folds but also areas which fade in col-
ours very differently from each other. Keeping this in mind I
began to outline strong lights and deep shadows and ending
up by smoothing them. I eventually added some cracking on
the edges.

Step 11

The whole greatcoat is painted in MM Black Dragon as

an under colour. To smooth it and give it a leather appear-
ance I used equivalent oil colours used for painting the boots
(painted in acrylics). I then base coated the greatcoat in VMC
Sky Grey and Tamiya X21.

70 [Link]
 Tutorial

Step 12

I started to work out the shadows on the greatcoat by

mixing VMC Grey Green and Tamiya X21

[Link] 71
 Tutorial

Step 13

Using VMC Dark Sea Grey I blended

the previous shadows with the previous
layer

Step 14

Final step using acrylics: I added

Maimeri Polycolour Titanium White to
the basecoat to highlight the greatcoat.

72 [Link]
 Tutorial

Step 15

It’s time to work the greatcoat

with oil paints. Using Van Ivory Black,
Van Umber and Van Titanium White
I painted shadows, lights and middle
tones. Following the previous acrylic
layer.

For this step I used two brushes, one

to lay down oils and another to blend
them in place, creating a smooth transi-
tion on the front and lower areas.

I painted another layer of dark grey

(Van Titanium White and Van Ivory
Black) on the seams, to make them
stand out.

The band is painted in GW reds and

blues, I used Khorne Red, Mephiston
Red, Evil Sunz Scarlet and Wild Rider
Red in sequence. I work out the blue
using GW Kantor Blue and Teclis Blue.

To finish the blend off I glazed with

Evils Sunz Scarlet on the red areas.

The metal areas were base coated

with MM Black Dragon. Basing the fig-
ure, I worked with milliput to blend the
original base to the plinth, and covered
the whole area with MP Umber.

[Link] 73
 Tutorial

Step 16

With the same reds and blues I used for the band, I painted
the cockade.

The gun is divided in two main areas: metal and wood. I

base coated wood in MP Dark Brown (Testa di Moro), then
to simulate wood grain I painted tiny lines adding MP Burnt
Sienna, MP Yellow Ocrhe and MP Naples Yellow to the base
colour. At the end I glazed the area using GW Chestnut Ink
to emphasize the tone.

The metal was base coated in MP Ivory black and VMC

Oily Steel. I build up highlights layering VMC Oily Steel, until
I’m using it pure. Then I washed the area using T Smoke. This
gave the metal a dark glossy finish to make it look realistic.
At the end I added some MP Ivory Black for the shadows so
they looked dull. I painted the metal areas on the sword and
the scabbard using MP Silver instead of VMC Oily Steel, due
to its brightness.

Step 17

Painting the gold, I base coated the area in GW Bal-

thasar Gold and MP Dark Brown. I then highlighted using
GW Gehenna’s Gold, very warm and bright, and GW Aurich
Gold. Aurich Gold doesn’t shine very much, so I used Winsor
& Newton Gold Ink. I pick it straight from the bottom of the
pot so I get more of the gold pigment. Same thing for the
edge of the blade, but using Silver ink by Winson & Newton.

Now, on to the base: The whole area has been painted

in MP Umber. The basecoat for the stones is in VMC Dark
Sea Grey. The first light was painted in Vallejo Game Color
(VGC) Ghost Grey. To blend the stones with the ground area I
washed them with MP Umber.

74 [Link]
 Tutorial

Step 18

I applied patches of GW static grass on the ground using

PVA glue

Mixing MP Ivory Black, Burnt Umber Yellow Ochre and

Umber, I washed the ground in and the static grass randomly
to make them look more realistic. I also used Decoupage
pigments: light and dark brown were dusted onto the
ground. To simulate dirt on the lower greatcoat and boots I
used lighter tone dust diluted with Quick drying petroleum
Lefranc.

[Link] 75
 Review

Resin Bench Model’s

“Special” Forces
By Martyn Dorey

For those that know me, you will

have an idea as to the content of
the grey mountain that I own and
to say it is eclectic is probably a
bit of an understatement to say
the least.
I have painted in scales from 6mm upwards regardless
of whether it is historical, sci-fi or fantasy so I guess it
will come as no surprise to a lot of you that I have quite
a few garage kits amongst my collection.
Company Name The garage kits have been added to my collection over
Resin Bench Models the last 15 years and are mainly Solarwind/Foxfire Studio kits
which in a way could be considered the Rolls Royce of garage
Sculptor kits as there is very little clean up required with these and
they are really beautiful kits. Amongst these are a few of the
Roberto von Behr Anime style kits that I have taken a fancy to over the years.
Material: Resin The classic garage kit of horror movie subjects doesn’t really
interest me and to a certain extent neither does the super
Scale: 1/6th hero figures unless the odd female one really catches my
Price: $130 attention.

Website link So I am no stranger to this sort of kit although I have yet

to buck up the courage and get the airbrush out to paint one
[Link] I still like to see these at the shows and often enquire as to
where they have come from if I see one I like the look of.

Back in April I was talking to somebody at a show and a

kit called “Special Forces” was mentioned as having ap-
peared in the new figures section on Planet Figure, I liked

76 [Link]
 Review

to sting you. Personally I can live with the customs charge

but what really gripes me is the handling charge put on by
Royal Mail or Parcel Force when they have done nothing at
all, I am sure if we could pay the customs in advance or be
notified at the time then everybody would be a lot happier
the sound of this so when I got home I did some searching because the handling charge often comes in at more than
and found some photos of the kit, the subject appealed to the customs charge!!
me so I went ahead and bought it.
Anyway I digress, back to the figure. As with 90% of
Not a cheap outlay for most modellers as the kit comes in garage kits there is no specific packaging and this lady ar-
at $130.00 plus $37.00 for shipping. Some people may think rived wrapped in bubble wrap and inside the shipping box.
this is a lot for a kit but don’t forget this kit is 1/6th scale, There are no instructions and to be honest they aren’t really
think Action Man or Barbie Doll (if you are a lady) and you needed as the photos on the website make it easy to work
will get a good idea of the size I am talking about. However, out where the parts belong and if you don’t know where
don’t forget the dreaded customs charge should they decide arms and legs fit, well...

Altogether there are 27 parts plus

two wire parts which are the pins for
the grenades. This parts count also
includes a bag of 11 pieces of resin
which are used to make the bullet im-
pact positions on the stone work more
interesting should the modeller wish to
use them.

This isn’t the cleanest of resin cast-

ings I have seen but at the same time
it isn’t the worst either (anybody who
has bought Forgeworld stuff will have
an idea of what I mean). There is a fair

[Link] 77
 Review

bit of cleaning up required to remove mould lines which are

easy enough but some of the joint areas will require a lot
more work to make them fit snugly in place and may even
require the use of the Dremmel. On the whole the large
locating pins for the two wall/floor pieces have cast well but
a large drill is going to be needed to clean out one of the
socket positions.

There are a few parts of this kit that have

been nicely thought out. One I mentioned earlier
being the stone chips for the bullet impact marks;
another is the metal pins for the grenades. A
third that struck me as an unusual but clever way
to approach something is that the radio that you
would expect to be a separate piece to attach to
her back is actually cast onto the wall where she is
meant to be leaning — this is a very novel idea.

Overall the detail on the kit is very

sharp and it has been designed/cast in
a way to make the modellers life easy
with as few parts as possible, apart
from having to remove mold lines and
the need for a bit of Dremmel work
there is nothing stopping a beginner
from venturing into the large scale kit
world.

78 [Link]
 Tutorial

By Ron Clark

Following on from last month’s

Step by Step on how I created
the scenic base for this
figure, in this second part I
document the painting of
this gorgeous figure. Having
set the scene for the figure
with the base, I had decided
to give the figure an air of a
seasoned, older campaigner.
I wanted him to have a tired,
distant look in his eyes with
faded and worn clothing and
accoutrements.

[Link] 79
 Tutorial

Before I start the SBS, it may help the reader to know a risk of the colours going ‘muddy’ if you apply too much into
little of how I work. I am a classically trained oil painter each other, led me to look for a different way of using them.
with over thirty five years experience with the medium. What follows in this second part, is an insight into the tech-
nique I have developed to combat the slow drying, shine,
Although my early years were concentrated in the 2D and muddying.
arena, it wasn’t long before I started to use them on my
other passion, painting figures. Like many other users of oils, As with any piece, the preparation is the most important
I soon came to realise they had a more natural finish than aspect to achieving a good result. In 200mm scale, you would
enamels as well as a greater depth and range of colours. expect a high level of detail and, in this respect, the figure
does not disappoint. The level of detail, in both the sculpt
Their greatest drawback has always been the drying time, and casting, suits my technique perfectly. Once everything
although an advantage of this is you can blend them over a has been prepared and undercoated, it is left to dry for 24
period of time. This, combined with inherent shine, and the hours.

Step One
I begin all my pieces the same way by mixing a colour that to bring out all the detail, which gives more depth to the
is going to become the shadow layer for all the colours I will whole piece. For the thinning back I use ‘make-up’ brushes.
use. I call this the ‘scrub coat’. This was an obvious choice of I have to give credit to my girlfriend for this idea, as it was
name because it describes exactly the way in which it is ap- one of hers that I acquired when I couldn’t find a brush soft
plied. I always keep older, worn out brushes for this purpose. enough for what I wanted to do. She jokingly said, “Try one
The colour is put onto the figure in a thick layer, and literally of these,” and it worked a treat. By drawing the brush across
‘scrubbed’ into every area of the piece, making sure that you the surface of the piece, you remove some of the scrub coat
get it into all the folds and crevices. Once I am sure I have with each pass of the make-up brush. Key to this, is to keep
covered the whole piece, with no undercoat showing, I let it wiping the brush on a clean kitchen towel to avoid putting
stand for twenty minutes. the paint back on. I continue to do this until I have a very
thin layer of the scrub coat left on the surface. You should
For the next stage, I use a technique I call ‘thinning back’. end up with shadows in the folds and creases, and around
Again, it is just that; and, as you will see in the pictures, once the raised detail.
done you are left with a pre-shaded figure. This also serves

80 [Link]
 Tutorial

Step Two
Depending on the scale of the piece, I will use various col- ing colour to show through, which is exactly what I want. To
ours of scrub coat on different areas. For this figure, I used apply these glazes of colour, I use a selection of flat brushes
two shades of colour; one for the trousers and another for in lots of different sizes, and use the same technique as ‘dry
the torso and arms etc. This is then left to dry, usually about brushing’. I will load the brush with paint, and then wipe it
48 hours. off on a clean kitchen towel. I then draw the brush across
the tops of the folds, etc., but not into the deepest shadow
Once it has dried, it is time to apply the first layer of the areas. All the colours that you see on the figure are a single
actual colour. I call these layers glazes although there is no application, with the first highlights created by ‘thinning’
medium involved. This is because a ‘glaze’ usually refers to back the glaze.
a thin transparent layer of colour that allows the underly-

[Link] 81
 Tutorial

Step Three
Final highlights, if needed, are applied in the same way,
but I keep to the very top of the folds. Again this is left to
dry thoroughly before adding the wear and tear to the ap-
propriate areas, such as straps and belts.

A lot of people say you can’t ‘dry brush’ with oils. I disa-
gree. It is exactly the same as using enamels or acrylics. Just
making sure you wipe the brush on paper towel before ap-
plying the colour to the surface using very little pressure.

There are not many areas of metal on this piece. Mainly

the buckle and buttons and these are handled in the normal
way, with a fine pointed sable brush and acrylics.

For the face, I used traditional techniques of wet on wet,

and wet on dry. Once done, I always give the eyes a glaze of
W&N ‘Liquin’ for a wet look.

82 [Link]
 Tutorial

Step Four
With all the sub-assemblies done, it is time to assemble
them up. I use a bench clamp with a very heavy base for this.
Once done it is time for the final touch-ups and any further
wear added to areas of heavy use.

[Link] 83
 Tutorial

Step Five
With this all done, it’s time to mate him with the scenic
base from the previous SBS.

With him firmly fixed in place, I switch to pastels for the

dust and dirt that blends him into the scene. Once done, a
quick dust with ‘Testors Dullcote’ fixes them in place.

You will see that I have added a couple of extra pieces for
effect, with the ammo crate being made from balsa wood,
and the bowl, spoon, and knife being doll’s house bits. I re-
made the mug that was hanging next to his forage bag, as
I wanted to have it with the other bits on top of the ammo
crate. With all this done, the only thing left to add was the
nameplate.

For me, this was a far cry from the norm. I usually do
mainly busts; but, when I first saw this figure the whole
scene just fell into place in my head. It really was a challenge
to create a suitable base for such a large figure. I hope I have
succeeded in doing justice to it.

84 [Link]
 Tutorial

[Link] 85
 Review

Scale75’s

Paint Sets
By Marko Paunovic

Recently I discovered a rather new (at least to me) Span-

ish miniature company called Scale 75. I was first drawn
Product Paint Sets (NMM to it by the excellent Fix it Sam model. Never having
dabbled in 75mm scale miniatures, I was quite apprehensive
name: Paint Set Gold, about it. Further investigation of the company revealed that
NMM Paint Set they have some awesome kits and even a series of miniatures
in the following ranges:
Steel, Flesh Paint
»» Historical that includes the Middle Ages, World War II,
Set) Rome, North and South
»» Fantasy that includes – Heroes & Legends, Tales in Scale,
18,18 Euros per Scale World Fantasy
Price: »» Steampunk that includes – Steam Wars
set + tax »» Sci-Fi that includes – Fallen Frontiers

Website: [Link] They also have a range of themed paint sets. In this first
part of my Scale 75 review, I'll deal with the paint sets. I
opted for them during Scale 75 Indiegogo campaign where
they offered the only three paint sets available (at the time)
with free shipping.

Paint sets included in the pledge level were Gold NMM,

Steel NMM and Flesh tones. Each of these consist of eight
paints that come in 17 ml bottles that closely resemble
Vallejo's. Each paint set also comes with a guidebook with
two sets of instructions. Gold NMM set comes with step-by-

86 [Link]
 Review

step instructions for Gold and Copper, Steel NMM has instructions on steel
and cold steel, while Flesh Paint Set comes with SBS instructions on Caucasian
and Indian skin.

The instructions come in four languages: Spanish, English, French and Ital-
ian. As I speak none of these languages apart from English, I can't say anything
of those instructions, but the English ones are not written that well. One has
the feeling a Google Translate did most of the job there. That being said, they
are understandable and easy to follow.

Although I expected at least one wash per set, there are no washes inside.
All paints are as follows:

NMM Paint Set Gold NMM Paint Set Steel Flesh Paint Set

Scalecolour Scalecolour Scalecolour

Colour Name Colour Name Colour Name
Code Code Code

White Sands SC09 White SC01 Pale Skin SC17

Tenere Yellow SC10 Nacar SC02 Light Skin SC18

Sahara Yellow SC11 Graphite SC03 Golden Skin SC19

Gobi Brown SC12 Anthracite Grey SC04 Basic Flesh SC20

Dubai Brown SC13 Arctic Blue SC05 Pink Flesh SC21

Kalahari Orange SC14 Bering Blue SC06 Arabic Shadows SC22

Adriatic Blue SC15 Caspian Blue SC07 Indian Shadows SC23

Eclipse Grey SC16 Abyssal Blue SC08 African Shadows SC24

Upon opening all the bottles, I noticed one bottle didn’t

have the dropper cap, everything else was as it should be.

The paints themselves are thick, but with just adding water
they dilute well while still having good coverage ability. Even the
lighter shades cover the dark undercoat in just a couple of layers.
They mix well together to create even more shades. Their fluid-
ity isn’t lost with added water which is certainly a good thing.

The best thing about these sets is that the chosen colours
compliment each other very well. In other words, if you want to
gradually highlight the darkest shade (for instance – Anthracite
Grey), just take the three colours preceding it (Graphite, Nacar
and White) and you’ll get a natural transition. As this was the
purpose of these sets, I am truly satisfied with it.

One thing of note Scale 75 have released another two sets

of colours – Wood and Leather Paint Set (also costing 18.18 Euros +
tax and consisting of 8 brownish colours) as well as the Blood and
Fire Red Paint Set (which is for some reason more expensive than
the other sets although also having 8 colours: 20,66 Euros + tax).
After just a brief use of these colour sets, I will probably be going
for the Wood and Leather set as well. There are a lot of ranges
available to a miniature painter, but I must admit I like this idea
of releasing sets of colours specifically designed to paint, shade
and highlight specific surfaces (Reaper Triads are similar— Ed.). This
does remove thinking about the paint selection and painting
process through, as the painter is offered a predetermined
range of colours. This might not appeal to a lot of painters,
but I believe the average painter, who doesn’t have that much
time to spend mulling over which paint combination to use, it’ll
come as a godsend.

[Link] 87
 A Free Plinth
Every Month
Simply upload an image of
your painted miniature to
our facebook page and the
miniature with the most
likes in one month wins a
free display plinth from
Model Display Products.

courtesy of

[Link]
 Exhibition

Goblin Gas Blowers - Night Ops number 1 by Sergey Chasnyk

[Link] 89
 Exhibition

Goblin Gas Blowers - Night Ops number 2 by

Sergey Chasnyk

90 [Link]
 Exhibition

Malifaux M2E Rasputina Crew on TableWar

base by Damian Smith

Miss Fantask 2013 by Apprentice Knight of Tahnar

Miniature paintings by Juan by Heriberto Valle
Martinez

[Link] 91
 Exhibition

Spacemarine by Michał Pisarski

92 [Link]
 Exhibition

Stone Horm by Andrew Nelson

The Warmaster’s Own by Myles David

[Link] 93
 Exhibition

Ancient Varris, Emperor’s Children

Contemptor
by Myles David

94 [Link]
 Exhibition

Sergeant Piper Gordon Highlander.

Painted with oils by
Marc van Megroot

Bones Stone Golem

(inspired by Marvel’s
The Thing)
by Thom Prati

Marcus,underworld by Paul Evans

[Link] 95
 Exhibition

Crassus by Miniature paintings by Juan

Pirate Gobo! Freya by

by Alfonso De Negri Shire Works

96 [Link]
 Exhibition

Khalith the mummy lord

by Sean Fulton

Storm Talon + Dread Knight + Scratch building by Gary Smith

[Link] 97
 Exhibition

Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi by Davide Rainone Dechala the Denied One by Myles David

Deathwing Land Raider

by Lukasz Mazur

98 [Link]
 Exhibition

The Curse of the Werewolf

by Stuart Little

[Link] 99
Firestorm Games is an Independant Wargames Retailer
in Cardiff, South Wales. As well as the webstore, we have
our own bricks and mortar store, a short walk from
Cardiff City Centre.

Attached to the store is our gaming area known as 'the

Battlefields' which consists of over 35 6"x4" gaming
tables, full of scenery for your pleasure! We are open late
nights on Tuesday and Thursday and attract a large mix
of people ready to play whatever takes your fancy! The
Battlefields now also has a fully licensed 'Khador
themed' bar, great when playing a casual game against
your mates or in one of our regular tournaments or
events.

Firestorm Games Ltd

8A Trade Street, Penarth Road
Cardiff, United Kingdom
CF10 5DT.
Tel: 02920 227117
[Link]