Painted Ramshackle Figures

Hey all,

A brief update on my painting. I've not had much time to do it what with commuting a lot more now (1hr trainride each way - nice views though) and having two dogs who need a lot of attention. I try to get some done each weekend at the least as my wife (plus dogs) like to sleep in and get extra shut-eye. I take the opportunity to brew up some nice coffee and start painting or writing, depending on my mood.

In any case, the attention to detail needed for the Harbinger of Menoth, the layering needed for my SM honour guard and Marneus Calgar figures plus the sheer quantity of unpainted, large surface area vehicles I have yet to do meant that I was feeling uninspired.

Instead, I went into my massive collection of Ramshackle figures (I have all but about 4 figures that they produce) and pulled out a simple, easy one. It was a chance to work through a model from start to finish without too many worries of complex details or thinking up a fancy colour scheme. Instead I went with the muted look and had fun with it.

This led to a burst of inspiration and before you know it, I've finished off the entire Society Against Mischief (4 figures) as well as doing a mostly finished Oliver Sprockett (from the Society of Intrepid Explorers). Now I have 8 well-to-do Victoriana figures just raring to bring some good manners to those ruffians in the radioactive wastes of the future.


Here we have (L-R) Fidelia St-John Smythe the sniper, Spanny (technically not Victoriana, but she was another cool resin figure to work with), Thaddeus Borlase-Arlington, Archibald Trumpton on Buzzby his vehicle, Oliver Sprockett and his calculating machine, and Matilda Grey the medic.




Here they are swapped around so you can see the parrot Thaddeus has, the cool letterig on Sprockett's printout, and Spanny's rather high-cut hot pants ;-)



Last up is the Society with their vehicle, The Brass Coffin. Sadly the shield broke during our move here but a bit of resin fixed that up. I've also added an assault marine for scale. What's interesting is that he looks pretty bulky compared to the Ramshackle figures, giving you a good idea of what a true-scale figure would look like relative to a marine. Some of the GW human figures are really bulked up when looked at this way. You can see now why Fidelia comes with a dinky small base, since she's supposed to ride in the tank and take down enemies that way.


Also in the photo, note my 3 new Privateer Press P3 paint pots. I have Menoth White Base, Menoth White Highlight and Morrow White. I really like the trend PP have of making base coats for their major schemes (i.e. Cygnar Blue, Khador Red) and then providing a complimentary highlight colour. It really helps keep the tones even and highlighting consistent when you know the pigments are in the same shade. They are really easy to blend as well and water down excellently without getting thin or failing to cover.
The paint pots are like the old-school GW ones with the airtight lid that pops closed afterwards. They come sealed from the factory too, which is nice as I always wondered how I would know if my GW paints had been used by somebody else since they lack any kind of seal. They have about 18ml of paint in them I believe, giving them a price advantage over GW at their similar basic cost. To be honest, I can see me replacing all of my GW paints with these as I run out/dry out of the paints I already have invested in. They really do cover nicely, thin out well and are better value for money. I'm sure there will be a few colours that are challenging to match but I'm happy to work around that. The only downside is that the paints are too tall for my little set of drawers I keep the GW paints in.


I hope everyone is doing well and I will continue to update my progress on things as and when I get time.

All the best,

Pete

Sorry for the quiet - I have two dogs! Also a new Ramshackle Release

Hey all,

My posting has not been what it should have been recently and mostly I blame the sheer exhuberant nutcase joy of getting not one, but two great dogs.

So here are my two engines of great cuteness and destruction. They have no rules so far (we're trying) but many strength D+ attacks can result from their behaviours.




And just for a funny face moment. This guy makes me smile all the time with his crazy face antics. He's a complete nutcase but also very loving and adventurous. He's happily tried bread, cottage cheese, spinach, sugarsnap peas, icecubes and frozen blueberries without complaint or digestive issues. The little guy must be buzzing with vitamins and antioxidants by now ;-)





In other news, Ramshackle's Curtis got my corpse markers so hopefully we'll see some resin casts of those up for sale on the website sometime. Also he is releasing some new stuff and venturing into Fantasy. I don't play those game systems but I could see the giant making a great venture in a NR battlefield as a result of radation leaking.



The Hill Giant is part of an upcoming range of fantasy models. The range will launch with the Hill Giant and orc archers shown, plus a bolt thrower with goblin crew, a goblin war giant and two mounted goblin mages. Trolls will also be available.

The fantasy models are to compliment Ramshackle Games range of post apocalyptic figures and vehicles. The next Nuclear Renaissance release will be a set of metal bikers and new resin bikes.

Looking good to me. I can't wait.

In focus pictures of my sculpts (yes plural)!

Hi folks,

Just a quick update since I found a good spot to get in-focus pictures of my models. The new apartment doesn't have the best lighting but with a combination of the wall lights and a lamp, these pictures came out in good focus.

In the meantime, I also sculpted a corpse marker. This was brought up on the Lead Adventure forums as an idea for Ramshackle Games to start making. Since Curtis is busy sculpting many other things, I thought I'd give him a hand and try my skills at making a good corpse.


Here are the two models in all their glory.



Another view



The corpse has a few empty bullet cases on the right of the base, though they aren't so easy to see at this angle.




Here is a better view of the Harbinger of Menoth Base I sculpted and painted. There is a little bit of red bleed from one of the symbols that I need to deal with but otherwise i'm happy.




And here is the base along with the Harbinger herself. I've stopped after the first layers of paint because my white and bleached bone are getting old and gunky. I just bought some P3 paints to replace them so we'll see how they shape up. If nothing else, they are a bit cheaper than GW paints (18ml vs 12ml) and have the nice old flip-top lids that you used to get on Citadel paints.

Harbinger part 2 - the base plus my first completed figure sculpt.

Hey everyone,

So I've been working on my Harbinger of Menoth for a few hours on and off now. I've primed and started painting her but that isn't really worth showing in my view. I took the radical move to simplify things massively by not using the three acolytes. It's not necessarily a final decision but it really has made it easier to just get started and not worry about the difficulty of assembling 4 models, 2 robe swirls and 3 tiny chains on a 50mm base.

To make up for this, I decided to liven up the base. Using procreate putty, I sculpted out flagstones as though it was a temple floor and painted them up. The two symbols are sculpted and painted to represent the Menoth holy symbol (a kind of cross/ankh) and I added a golden plate with some squiggles to look like carving/writing. I'm pretty happy with the way it has turned out and I may do this with future bases as it wasn't too hard and really looks neat.




In other news, I finished sculpting my first complete miniature. This one was made from the ground up (literally, I started at the base) and is made around a paperclip wire attached to a regular 25mm base. Basically he's a knife and pistol wielding, gas mask wearing chap who I think would fit in well with the Nuclear Renaissance setting. The photo isn't very good but I sent to it Curtis at Ramshackle Games to see if he's interested. If all goes well, this chap might end up being available in resin someday.

Damn, can't I stop buying models.

Hey all,

Just a brief update on my latest arrivals from the wonderful Ramshackle Games. I made a big order this time of:
- Nuclear Renaissance 2 (4 vehicles, 14 characters)
- Nuclear Renaissance 1 set (2 vehicles, 1 terrain, 12 figures)
- Larken, Chicken, Stanton and armoured dungers (5).
- Two bikers (Dag and Spiker).
- Vehicle upgrade set
- Big batch of miscast pieces

Now there has been ridiculously heavy snow over here around DC so I've only got one of the two packages from Curtis (bikers, vehicles from NR1, upgrades and miscasts). Still it gives me a little bit of time to get the assembly started before I'm overwhelmed by the incoming resin.

Here you can see my two half-utes in position to let the epoxy glue dry along with the bikers and three miscast dungers (very very small air bubble errors). I've added the rhino and marine for a sense of scale.

Here we see that marine Dreadnoughts are really not as big as you might think.

Last of all we have my vehicle upgrade kit (outside the box) and the batch of miscasts that Curtis added to this order for a minor sum. I think we can safely agree that this is a complete buttload of resin that will make for awesome conversions, terrain or even a kit bashed new vehicle.

So that's about all from me right now. I've finally got hold of some Krylon spray primer so I've got my next batch of miniatures to paint soon enough. The honour guard are next in line after the current ramshackle vehicles and hopefully working on them will be enough to get me stoked up for finishing the land raider so they can have an armoured bunker to charge out of.

Post-Apocalyptic gang warfare. Necromunda with trucks stompy spider tanks :-)

EDIT: GRRR, blogger won't let the pictures fit in well so I've shrunk them. Go to www.Ramshacklegames.co.uk to get the full views.

Happy monday everybody,

I have to share my excitement at the impending release of Nuclear Renaissance version 2 from Ramshackle Games. Does this picture not scream out mayhem and fun to you?




Now many of you will have seen the snippets of ramshackle models that I've bought and used/intend to use in 40k (spider tank, boneyard truck etc.). I'll do a more complete gallery soon to show them all off. Still, this will be the first time that I've really bought into and played a different game system and I'm pretty excited.

Based on the 1st rulebook incarnation (downloadable here: http://www.ramshacklegames.co.uk/nuclear/downloads.html) the game seems like it is really characterful and can make some fun gang-type warfare. Now I had Necromunda when it came out from GW and that was one of the most fun and varied games ever. Just from the start when it came to creating my intended characters for Nuclear Renaissance, I fell in love with the humour and diverse stuff (loads of abilities, cool skills and fun options). Perhaps the best page is the handicaps page where you can offset the cost of your character by giving them attributes that have negative consequences. Some of these are serious (crippled limb), some have limited side effects (can't drive for toffee) and some are just great. Tart is my favourite where your character must strike last in melee when fighting a person of the opposite sex because 'you have to try your luck don't you?'

Anyway I can't wait to see how the new rules pan out and get some games in. The boxed set is a great deal as well including four good sized vehicles and fourteen figures. I can't wait to get my order through. It looks like Curtis has really upped his sculpting skills and model making abilities. For those who aren't so much into assembly, the new models stack up well with his older stuff. The trucks are all one piece bodies (compared to 5-10 for the older models) and just get wheels/tracks and tridlins added. I'm really looking forward to picking up all of these along with a big order of other models from the game world.

Here are the contents of the box (rulebook, dice and counters not shown) that you get for 48 pounds. For refence, the retail version of AOBR is 50 pounds and since the game is so much smaller, you don't need as many figures.


Mmmm, steampunky goodness.



If a guy with a scythe guitar doesn't do it for you, i don't know what will.



Creepy, tough looking folks here who would make for great Adeptus Mechanicus models should you want to use them in 40k/inquisitor.



Again, great inquisitor model potential if you're not into this game system.\


That big guy on the end just looks so mean. Looking at the scale bar that Curtis has on another part of the site puts him close to the height of a dreadnought.



I really like both of these models and I can't wait to get using them in games of Nuclear Renaissance and 40k.


I think the best part of this game for me is that is much more open ended than 40k in terms of what models can fit into it easily. I've been taken by some of the great models from Wyrd miniatures that will make for a cool girly gang very well when combined with the models from Ramshackle games. The following three in particular will make for a great hero-led gang (NR lets you have either cheap goons, middle of the road soldiers or expensive, but effective, heroes).


Rusty Alyce


Lady Justice


Perdita Ortega. I've already got a character built up for her with gunslinging skills in the extreme but not much melee ability and the Tart attribute so she'll have to swing last in any case. Fun or what?

Pete

PS: Also got Marneus calgar and honour guard. Sadly there was an error in the casting but happily customer service is sending me a replacement box so there will be a full squad of honour guard for me to play with (plus two marneus' if I can putty over the casting prob).

Two 'free' models plus latest painting updates.

Hey folks,

Hopefully people enjoyed reading my adeptus mechanicus fiction. I've got another story that I may post up if people want to read it. It's called Face Off and features orks and tyranids fighting over a planet while the Imperials desperately try to evacuate the population.

So, as per the title, two free models...what's the deal?

Well I was going through my bits box recently to tidy it up (I find it nice and calming) and a lightbulb moment occured. All Tau devilfish hull vehicles (Devilfish, Hammerhead and Skyray) come with a tank commander on the sprue. It's a tau figure standing upright who is meant to go in the cupola and has a special binocular arm set to go with them.


Picture taken from www.bitsandkits.co.uk

I used one of mine as a test model for my paint scheme and the other one sat in the bits box. Reading Sholto's blog (http://incunabulum.co.uk/blog/) gave me the inspiration for some less combat oriented models that would work for a more RPG setting. To that end I gave both tank commanders a pulse carbine (plenty of those spare) and now they look like capable sentries for a Tau base somewhere.



The picture shows my Giggles Clan models from www.ramshacklegames.co.uk. I'll be using these with some custom rules in 40k games but they will also go really well with the Throne Agent/RPG setting that Sholto has played in. Fun models also and enjoyable to paint. I was talking with Old Shatter Hands recently and it seems like we're at the two ends of the spectrum at the moment. He's played a lot of games recently and really worked on tactics whereas I've hardly played and have been just painting and modeling. What a great hobby that you have so many facets to enjoy depending on your time and motivation.

Also I'm pretty much finished with my Boneyard truck (also from Ramshackle games). I modded this one up to have a set of hurricane bolters on the side and I think it's come out pretty well. The palette is a little too brown right now so I'll be adding some other colours to brighten it up (or maybe some graffiti). Still, this gives an idea of what it will be like. I need to spend a bit more time on my photography setup with lighting etc. I'll probably have a big photo day and then post it all up.