British site is even older than they thought...

It seems they've found the oldest settlement in Britain --- again. At Vespasian's Camp near Amesbury (famous for Stonehenge) scientists have carbon-dated auruch bones back to 8800BC. Follow the link to read the article on archaeology.org.

(Courtesy the University of Buckingham)

I'm back...

Well, what started out as a little time off due to the frustrations of working in small batches (because of time and space limitations) turned into a major hiatus.

But I'm feeling the itch again and I've decided to do a mess about with some foam core buildings:

I found some very limited plans here:

Let's see how far along I can get on this project before wandering off to start something completely different...

Happy Birthday

... to me!

Some more swag. Kind of a theme happening here:

Thanks, Dad! I know the OOP "Age of Arthur" was dear. It's worth it though. I'm oogling it like it was pr0n!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Not much progress on the marching fort with all the holiday cheer going around. Here's a pic of some of my Christmas swag though. Birthday's just around the corner, so more goodies to come...

Inspiration (part 8)

This Dark Age Barn from Stronghold Terrain looks amazing:

Credit where credit is due: I originally saw this on Tabletop Gaming News

Inspiration (part 7)

I just finished a mammoth book about the British rebels Caradoc and Boudicca called "The Eagle and the Raven" by Pauline Gedge:

 

The book is a study in contrasts and does an excellent job capturing the juxtaposition of fractious, self-serving British tuatha versus the necessity to unite to throw off the bittersweet yoke of imperial occupation. It captures the flavor of the old gods (and their relationships to the various tuathas) versus the new god. It also explores the dichotomy of sustainable, guerrilla warfare versus the more "honorable" method of head-to-head battle.

I have to admit, some of the reviews are correct in that it takes a while to get going. Like 150 pages or so. Once Rome invades though, the book gets rolling and (for the most part) doesn't stop. It's a bit more psychological than martial, and a more assertive editor could have whittled it down a bit (it's nearly 700 pages), but it's a fascinating take on the period and highly recommended for those interested in the Roman occupation of Britain.

Terrain Project(s)

The question I proposed last night had a little bit of a twist. I actually have two terrain projects in mind. The first is indeed, as some guessed, wattle fencing. I'm going to try to mimic Tony Hardwood's tutorial:

The second project is something I found on eBay, a modular Roman marching fort:

I was tempted to buy it, but the overseas shipping is a real deal killer. Guess the resin stuff is a might heavy. Anyhow, I bought some wood for basing both projects from LITKO. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it's actual plywood (not MDF). Although, I probably should read the product descriptions of the things I buy more carefully...  =]

Footless in Florida

Looks like I don't know my own strength. I went to remove a figure who'd been blu-tacked onto a bottle cap for a while and lo and behold he snapped right off of his base leaving his foot behind!

Luckily my lord and master, Kevin Dallimore covers drilling and pinning in one his books so I was well up to the task of repairing him. My wife has more hobbies than I do, and one of them is jewelry making. Luckily she had a tiny push drill and some wire for me to use. After I had super glued the pin in place and allowed it to dry I pasted over the gap with some GW liquid green stuff. Which is not so liquid-y, by the way (unless I've gotten an old bottle).

Sadly I did not snap pics of the whole process, but I'm sure its documented out there somewhere. Here are some after pics of the levy ready to be sanded.

           

Also, a quick reminder that James' blogger's conference is coming up soon. Details below by clicking the image below:

Vacation

Long time no post. We were on vacation in northern California. My wife was in a wedding in Aptos, CA (near Santa Cruz) so we decided to spend the week in the mountains. We took a ride through the redwoods on this awesome narrow gauge Shay!

2K!

I've just reached 2,000 page views. The second one sure did come quicker that the first. Thanks for stopping by, ya'll!  =]

An Idea Born Out

Much like Michael Keaton in "Night Shift," I fancy myself an idea man. Or at least I used to. Before age, the endless sleep deprivation of fatherhood, and the pressures of a useless-middle-management job dulled my once sharp mind beyond recognition.

So it was with great elation that a suggestion of mine was taken-up by a games company called Sally 4th in the UK. They had just launched a line of laser-cut MDF figure storage trays and were soliciting suggestions. I thought they'd work better if you could see what was inside them and knew that many companies who laser-cut MDF also did so with Lucite. Lo and behold they started offering the trays with clear tops!

As Hannibal from the A-team would say, "I love it when a plan comes together." Maybe I wasn't the only one that suggested this. And maybe I'm dating myself with these early 80's TV references. However, I choose not to dwell on those thoughts!  =]

Congrats to a Fellow Blogger

Alex Mayer (who keeps a great blog called alea iacta est) has gotten his fine painting skills featured on the Foundry web site. Well done, Alex!

Alex is another painter who inspired me to attempt to paint in the Foundry "three color method." He is also a good sport and has taken the time to answer all of my noob questions. If you aren't following his blog, you probably should be. While you are over there, offer him a word of congratulations!

Blogger's Conference

James over at EXILES WARGAMES PAINTER is doing us all a great service by organizing a blogger's conference in November at Foundry HQ in the UK. Would that I was not so far away. Details below by clicking the image below:

1k views!

Wow! I've hit 1000 page views. I know that's not much by most standards, but a milestone none the less. I'm not sure how many of these views are actual people (I'm looking at you 'vampirestat.com') but if you are a real person, I'd like to thank those who have offered encouraging words and hope that some may be helped (or at least amused) by reading about my adventures in miniature painting. Cheers!