Mark's World Of Miniatures

Hello? Hello?

2008-06-23T21:50:00.002-05:00

Hey all! I'm still alive, I've just a lot of real life issues get in the way lately. Expect more minature goodness to come in the coming weeks.

Thanks Natalie!

2008-02-08T22:07:00.001-06:00

A special thank you to Natalie Jaran, a fellow gamer and skeptic at the JREF IRC channel, for the great banner that now graces this blog. Thanks again Natalie!

Addendum: Feb 23, 08: Doh! I've been calling Ms. Jaran "Nadine" all this time and her real name is "Natalie!" I feel like such a dope. Sorry, Natalie!

My Gaming Space

2008-02-08T21:09:00.000-06:00

Well, this is it! My gaming table. Essentially I built a removable cover that goes over our living room pool table. It's large enough for just about any scale of game, 28mm and smaller.

Best of all, when the battle is over, all you need to do is remove the cover and you can shoot some pool!

More EPT Figures

2008-02-08T20:33:00.000-06:00

Work continues on my Legion of Serqu from Eureka's Empire Of The Petal Throne figures. Here are two officers I just finished:

"Aridani" (i.e. Independent Female) Officer.

Male Officer

There is also supposed to be a picture of a standard bearer, but I've got to touch up the matte finish a little bit (it came out frosty) on the figure before its presentable enough to post a picture. More figures to come!

Empire Of The Petal Throne Preview

2008-01-26T18:20:00.000-06:00

Here they are! The first two finished Legion Of Serqu spearmen (well, one is a man, the one on the right is a woman) from Eureka's Empire Of The Petal Throne series!

I was going to write a build-up on these minis, but I got so caught up with preparing them and painting them I neglected to shot pics along the way. I'll be more careful in the future.

Old Crow Grav Tanks Preview

2008-01-18T20:09:00.000-06:00

I started in straight away on my Old Crow models that I received earlier this week? I finished assembling and airbrushing the camouflage scheme of my 15mm Grav Tanks that I intend to use for Hammer's Slammers.

HsAG13 "Angel" Grav Tank

HsAG19 Grav APC

I used the same model in both pics, I just made the turrets modular. I'm working on a complete write up on how I built and painted these things. I'm no, sure not sure if I'll post it here or to TMP, though. More later.

It's Christmas In.. Err... January!

2008-01-14T14:13:00.000-06:00

Twas the 20th day after X-mas and I stopped off at the local post office to pick up my mail. When, what to my wondering eyes do appear but a yellow card telling me I had a package waiting. But which one? Was it my order of 15mm sci-fi vehicles from Old Crow, or was it the unit of Eureka Empire Of the Petal Throne spearmen I had just placed last Friday?

SURPRISE! It was both!

And here I was trying to figure out what to bring to this week's Tuesday night "craft night." I now now I'm going to have a lot of fun!

A Few Updates: 1/11/08

2008-01-11T21:03:00.003-06:00

It's been a little while since I posted here, so here are some miniature and gaming related updates: I've ordered my first platoon of Hammer's Slammers combat cars from Old Crow along with a couple of grav tanks for a detachment of Terran Starmarines. I plan to start in on those right away as soon as they come in. I'll do a write-up/review to be put up here as well. I've also just placed an order for a spearmen unit of Legion of Serqu from Eureka's Empire Of The Petal Throne miniatures line. Since I want to use these for both skirmish and rank-and-file gaming, I'm thinking of mounting these on octagonal bases. Again, I'll do a write-up on these as soon as I get them.

Speaking of Tékumel, I'm working on a terrain piece inspired by M. A. R. Barker's Flamesong: A tubeway car station. I've all ready have the "car" itself finished save for some detailing, but the station has been giving some problems. I've decided to put this project on hold for a little while I rethink my design.

Any Publicity Is "Good" Publicity, I Suppose.

2007-12-19T16:55:00.000-06:00

Here's a February news story from New Zealand about miniature wargaming. Sadly it's a parade of all the same tired stereotypes: Boring, geeky, weird, guys who play with toy solders. Couldn't they have found something other than "Final Countdown" for the background music?

Hey! Was that really a female wargamer? Cute. Can I have your phone number, luv?

Coming Soon: Perry Plastics ACW!

2007-12-17T17:24:00.000-06:00

TMP is reporting that Perry Miniatures is coming out with a set of 25mm plastic American Civil War figures that will include cavalry and infantry:

The cavalry will include 12 mounted figures (including command). There being in horses two parts (with an integral base), 4 different riders with separate right arms, hats and carbines - you'll have option of over 5,000 variants with the cavalry. Both these boxes are intended for use for Union and Confederate forces, as the headgear is separate, allowing the customer to customise their armies accordingly. This means there'll be 36 kepis and 36 slouch hats, and 12 of each for the cavalry. The head gear is slightly dished out, and the heads have a slight dome instead of a full braincase to allow some tilting of the hats.

At this time, Perry is estimating the set to round around £12. 24 bucks! For 48 figures! I think I'll finally be able to build those skirmishers for Brother Against Brother. Now, if they could only do Zoauves.

Finished Hammer's Slammers Tanks

2007-12-15T18:10:00.000-06:00

Finally! After a year's worth of delays and interruptions, I've finally finished my first platoon of 15 mm Hammer's Slammers blower tanks! The company insignia and unit ID decals were by Wargames Express. Once applied, I gave the models a second coat of gloss enamel then weather it with a drybrush of light brown acrylic paint to really give them a muddy, dusty look. Then a cost of Testor's Dullcote...

...and there you have it! These bad boys are ready to do contract work for Col. Alois Hammer.

Here are two tanks along with a couple of stands of infantry passing by some run-down shack on some backwater world.

Here's the whole platoon passing by another run-down shack on some backwater world. (Yeah, I know, they have markings for two different companies. I'll fill in the gaps as I get more tanks.)

I want to get another platoon of tanks, then get a couple of combat car platoons along with a few more stands of infantry (especially troops on skimers) and jeeps. After that, I'm going to start a few more detachments so I can try a few demo games of Pireme's Hammer's Slammers game in hopes of generating much-needed interest among my friends so they can build some units of their own.

I can has battleships?

2007-12-12T22:25:00.000-06:00

Earlier this year, I painted up some Navwar 1/3000 scale WWII Kreigmarine ships to play Mongoose's Victory At Sea. While taking snapshots, my cat, Fred, decided to that he had to get in on the picture:

"Mein Gott! Eine riesige Pussykatze!"

Here are some images of the other minis:

15mm Hammer's Slammers

2007-12-12T21:48:00.001-06:00

Right now I'm engrossed in 15mm science fiction armored combat, particularly Pireme's Hammer's Slammers rules. I've been slowly but surely putting together some armies to run a few games in hopes that I can convince some local players to take an interest and build their own forces. Below, I took some photos of some "official" Slammers vehicles from Old Crow Models and infantry from Ground Zero Games, last year. I've just finished applying decals to the hovertanks and once I finished weathering them, I'll post them here.
I've just ordered a couple of grav tanks from Old Crow that so I can create a detachment of Terran Starmarines. I hope to have them here before the holidays.

First Post!

2007-12-12T21:23:00.000-06:00

I've decided to set up a separate blog dedicated to my interest in miniature wagaming. Herein you'll find battle reports, pictures of freshly painted miniatures, and other gaming-related goodness!