Tuesday 24 July 2012

More 2mm Buildings from Irregular released!


Great news just announced from Irregular Miniatures; they have released a whole slew of new 2mm buildings and accessories, BG161 through 167, and IKS11 to 14.

These encompass individual crenellated wall sections, medieval style gate towers, and even more excitingly Vauban style architectural fortifications that will enable the construction of whole layers of town and city defences.... the additions to to the 20th Century range have stackable tower block sections and a factory, as well as their ruined counterparts - it's great to see that the recent upsurge in interest into the tiniest of troops has been reciprocated by expansions to the ranges we all know and love.

Even more good news is that Ian and the gang have illustrated all these new things with photos, which you can peruse in the 2mm scenics and accessories section of the website - hurry on over and take a look-

http://www.irregularminiatures.co.uk/

Yes, I know I tend to get over-excited by such tiny things, but that's just the way I am.....  ;-)



Thursday 19 July 2012

6mm Sci-Fi: New Buildings and other Cool Stuff.....


Now of course I am still loudly telling myself that there is no such project as 'taking the 6mm Sci-Fi plunge' anywhere in the near vicinity of the workbench; and therefore a purchase of some of the new and expanding ranges from Angel Barracks and Brigade Models was merely, ahem..... in the interests of research.....

Therefore I am justifying this latest diversion by sharing some broad 'compare and contrast' type photos of some of the newly available items alongside some other neat looking things.
In the photo at the head of this post, we can see the AB Large MHU with Solar Panels alongside a range of 6mm infantry; from left to right, an Irregular Miniatures' strip of NSF11, then a single NSF9 followed by an old Marine sculpt from Scotia Micro Models, then a pair of Germy's 6mm soldiers available from Brigade, and finally a pair of DRM's Pax Arcadia Light Infantrymen.

As you will note, the MHU sculpt is wonderfully smooth and crisp, and scales perfectly alongside the various 6mm types; below a smorgasbord of items that in no way form the basis of an entirely new project....honestly.....


Next up the representative infantrymen in front of two of Brigade Models' new Sci-Fi Desert structures; at left, the largest block from the Outbuildings pack, and on the right, the excellent Research Lab:


The Brigade items have a somewhat porous-looking surface, and are softer all round than the Angel Barracks ones, but I think are just right for their desert context; they'll certainly be perfect for a good dry-brush thrashing for an authentic windblown, end-of-the-galaxy look, whilst the latter are more corporate-looking and polished:


Michael at Angel Barracks has certainly hit the ground running in developing his FUBAR-related range, and no more so than in the flora and fauna that he has been exploring, including the amazingly alien Drill-Worm Nests - mounds of putrescent, pustulent alien weirdness:


Seen here alongside the aforementioned Brigade outbuildings, you'll see that these are moulded in a softer material, almost plaster-like, but this has not softened the detail, which is well sculpted and obvious:


Moving on now to another scenery type from the Barracks, below we have the new sandbag emplacement, inhabited left to right by DRM, Brigade, Scotia and the Irregular troops:


Closely followed by the same manning the amazingly well defined improvised barricade:


These are some really classy pieces with great detailing; anything from tires and boxes of various sizes to bits of furniture and all sorts of other detritus are clearly visible:


Finally an entry or two from Old Crow's range of 6mm Sci-Fi scenics - the grey building at right is actually a corridor section for a larger structure, but in 6mm looks quite good in its own right whilst the pile of cylinders and the free-standing containers are spot-on..... rumour has it that the Old Crow website should be up and running again soon - fingers crossed!


Not that I'm looking to acquire any more stock for a project that doesn't exist...... maybe I should be calling it 'Area 51'...... official deniability and all that..... or is it just self -delusion?  ;-)


Saturday 14 July 2012

Plastic Fantastic 3: Star Wars Completed


A quick photo update on the plastic Star Wars items; given that I haven't done much Hobby-wise recently, I at least managed to complete these in a Hoth-style swirl of snow and ice....


I used some medium Renaissance Ink flocking gel, painted silver grey, given a white dry-brush thrashing, a spot of ink for a wash and then some more white over that - I went a bit over the top with the flocking gel material, I think, so much so that we are verging on Christmas ornament territory rather than the ice-encrusted surface of Hoth....


The AT-STs are mounted on UK two pence coins - I left the edges plain, bearing in mind that these are not part of a formal project, I don't mind the slightly 'ornamental' look.

The Snowspeeders are mounted on the ubiquitous plastic flight stands, here liberally daubed with the gel:


Hmmm - puts me in mind of a certain coconut confectionery:

http://blog.omakasebox.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Snowballs.jpg

:-)

Red Flight heads home for a spot of tea: