HOW MUCH!?

Hi!

Well I went to watch the Hobbit on Thursday and absolutely loved it and thought it was the best film I've seen in quite some time.

Arthur Dent goes on an Adventure...

Now this got me rather excited about the miniatures game produced by Games Workshop, especially as previous sets were around £30 which would have made a nice Christmas present for myself. How surprised was I when I took a peek at GWs website to find the Hobbit box set an astounding £75!

Miniatures Produced From Solid Gold...

I know its the big film of the year and therefore the must have toy for little Jimmy but at such an outstandingly stupidly high price, I find myself unable to spend such vast sums of cash! Its a real shame as I would love to play the game but at that money I just cant do it!

Its going to be interesting to see how the game goes for after Christmas once little Jimmy decides he doesnt like it...

It seems that its not just the starter set which is astronomically priced either as the Grey Council costs a stupid £45! 

I'm not one to usually bemoan companies pricing but I cant help but fume at it on this occasion, especially as it seems to have sneaked into their Lord of the Rings range too with the Dwarf Warriors for example seeming to have lost a few quantity but for the same price as before.

A plus to all this wailing and gnashing of teeth is that its re-awakened my interest in fantasy gaming and I am hoping to do something with the inspiration soon!

All the best!

Ponderings on the New Year...

Hi!

Well its been an eventful year and sadly I've still not managed to keep to my plan of playing 52 games over the course of it!

Its getting to the point of the year when miniature companies have sales and thus far two especially have caught my eye, Brigade Models and Astro Miniatures!

BRIGADE always have a very tempting sale and as I now have a full time job I actually have a little disposable income and am sorely tempted to pick up some Aeronef goodness!

Brigade Nef

I've been pondering trying out Aeronef for quite some time now but every time they have a sale, I've been skint! I have a few ideas kicking around for some themed mini campaigns which could be fun. To top it off I still want to pick up some more 6mm and 15mm bits and bobs to round out various projects!

ASTRO MINIATURES does some nice pseudo Star Trek figures in 15mm scale and I must admit its tempting to pick up some so I can play some classic Trek skirmishes between the Federation and Klingons to name but a few!

Astroverse Set!

For $30 one cant go too far wrong and I may have to pick some up and they make excellent stand ins for Stainless Steel Rat games too!

Other than that I have to admit I have enjoyed working on the cars for my Forgotten Highways, post apocalyptic project but work always intrudes to stop me getting more done!

Post Apocalyptic Fun!

Finally theres my Rusty Robot project, which I've been beavering away with for quite some time now and am hoping to get a Kickstarter type of project up and running in the new year!

Red Tribe Robot

The plan is to get the Red Tribe sculpted and ready to cast and then get the Kickstarter going to see if anyone would be interested in picking up some robotic minions to game with and go from there. I've spent quite a lot of time and effort on the project between developing concept art and sculpting so hopefully it will all turn out in the end!

Heres a small preview of the work so far:

Red Tribe Forge

All the best!

Road Wars!

Hi!

Whee! Its been a very busy month here and I've been from one end of the country and back while holding down a full time job but I have managed to get a couple of bits and bobs done, in the form of the first model for a new project!

Road Warrior VW!

Its a bit of a conversion of a Hotwheels with a few gubbins stuck on! Hopefully I will be able to get some more done over the coming weeks too! For more information, please feel free to take a peek at FORGOTTEN HIGHWAYS, my post apocalyptic road warrior blog!

Alas I am having to make do without my girlfriends brilliant camera at the moment so the picture isn't brilliant...

All the best!

Whats Happening!

Hi!

Apologies for the lack of updates over the last few weeks folks!

I have taken full time employment to help pay the bills and its meant that I have absolutely no free time at present. As such my hobby time and sculpting time have been seriously put upon and as such I haven't so much as picked up a paintbrush or sculpting tool in almost three weeks.

Its not an ideal solution to say the least but it does mean I am able to keep my head above water so to speak until something better comes along and I must admit I am grateful to actually have a job in the present environment.

Even when I get a day off I find myself so knackered that working on my other job as a sculptor is proving difficult in the extreme.

Hopefully I will be able to summon up some energy and a day off to do something productive!

All the best!

Still Here!

Hi!

Just  a quick update to confirm I am still here! Its been a really busy few weeks at Rancho Ricardo as I prepare for an exhibition in Bristol which is going to require me to drive down tomorrow morning to drop stuff off and attend the private view on Friday followed by a mad dash to get back up here before starting work at my new job on Monday!

I don't know what effect my job will have on my hobby time at present but its a much needed boost to the morale and it involves working in a bookshop once again!

Theres other things on the horizon too, which if they develop as I hope will mean a move of house and regular working hours which is something I really want to have as the last few years have been somewhat chaotic and involved living in 4 different cities at different ends of the country and serious strains put on my hobby budget and space. If said opportunity develops it will mean job security and somewhere to put down roots for a while which I really look forward to so fingers crossed!

Hobby wise, I am slowly putting together some Necromunda terrain but don't want to show it until I have a decent amount finished in the next couple of weeks. I am also working on clearing my last commissions so will hopefully have time to get on with some personal projects too before November.

I've also been sorting through my 15mm scale collection and am saddened to see that quite a few infantry figures are in need of a little TLC as they have been chipped so there will probably be a bit of a repair day on the horizon too.

I took the opportunity to take some pics of my Stainless Steel Rat villains, Count Cassitor of Rdunrundt!

 Power Armoured Henchmen

 Count Cassitor and Armed Underlings

 The Counts Personal Armoured Car

I really like the little fellows and need to expand the force to a full platoon at some point including some heavy weapons and some more illicit weapons tech and possibly a cavalry squad in true Flash Gordon style. Most figures are Peter Pig while the vehicle is QRF. The infantry are WW1 French Dragoons but the helmets make for a perfect low tech villain force!

Heres a couple more vehicles I have bodged together over the years:

 Automated Defence Vehicle

The Automated Defence Vehicle is the sort of thing that particularly security minded types use to protect their holdings and is originally a plastic Mechwarrior tank with the turret replaced.

Old Thunder, Farpoints Premier Armoured Vehicle

Old Thunder is the Farpoint Militias only heavily armoured vehicle and is so unreliable it tends to be used as a bunker more than an attack vehicle but its heavy plasma cannon can still kick quite a punch (even if it drains the vehicles fuel cells to do so!)

All the best!

Endless Fantasy Tactics Kickstarter

Hi!

Just a quick heads up for a really interesting concept for a game currently on KICKSTARTER called Endless Fantasy Tactics.

Produced by On the Lamb Games its premise is to allow players to relive the classic 90s era RPG type of game on the tabletop. I must admit the premise is interesting and I have taken a peek at the quickstart rules and it is most intriguing so I will be interested to see how the game develops.

Heres a couple of preview concepts of the type of models one can expect to see:

 Dwarf

 Troll

Beastman, a race designed by committee!

I will be interested to see how the game develops but its got some really interesting concepts, with the only thing putting me off being the scale of 40mm for average figures. I may have a bash at sculpting some cartoony 15/18mm scale versions for my own enjoyment though!

All the best!

Pocket Necromunda?

Hi!

While I was taking some pics of some of my sculpts I quickly threw together some quick concept shots for an idea which has been rattling around in my head for a while. Pocket Necromunda:

 Redemptionist Crazies!

 House Militia

Essentially the idea is to try out Necromunda or one of its offshoots such as Inquisimunda or In the Emperors Name in a different scale. I have a fair number of figures to choose from and quite a bit of plastic platformer scenery, not to mention lots of cardboard and other bits of detritus which would come in handy.

I do think that most figures I use will need to be heavily converted or sculpted individually as at present theres lots of military types and rifle wielding figures on the market but not too many with pistols, swords and other implements of violence so beloved in the classic game.

I would be interested to hear what other folks think and if they have tried anything similar themselves as I think it could be quite a bit of fun!

I also found these little fellows amongst my Stainless Steel Rat collection:

Robots!

They are a bit of a mix of 6mm scale Epic stuff, 10mm Mechwarrior, Laserburn 15mm and even a scratch build too but they make decent robots in 15mm scale and could make even better objectives or NPCs in any game!

All the best!