De Lancy - Blacksmith's Forge

The Dog House Saloon is completed so it's onwards to the Sarissa Precision Blacksmith's Forge.  This is a lovely little model and as a bonus I found a You-Tube video on assembling it.  To be honest the instructions which came with the kit were more than enough but sometimes it's nice to hear that there were no unexpected snags.  The kit consists of a stable with an attached outdoor forge so there is a bit of overlap with the Livery Stable but apparently a bit of competition is healthy for the market place (although Colonel De Lancy seems to favour the monopoly system as long as it's him who holds that monopoly).  Unlike the Warbase's Livery stable the Sarissa kit has internal detail so I don't need to do any scratch building on this kit.  Mind you it was also around 20% more expensive than the Warbases offering so you pays your money and all that.

It goes together very nicely but I didn't glue the forge roof, forge, troughs, or hitching rail into place so I could easily paint them.  I also wanted to texture the base which is easier without these being glued into place.  Other than that there is very little I can say about assembling the kit.  I made very few additions;  some off cuts of MDF into the forges fireplace as fuel, some ridge tiles to cover the gap where the two main roof parts meet at the roof apex and some rough covering for the forge roof's open area, but other than that I had no need to add anything major.

Blacksmith's Forge and wagon

Side view of the forge

I do strongly suggest painting all the door and window frames and the main structure before gluing the window frames to the (now painted) walls as it makes for a much neater finish to the edges of the frames.   In the photos I can see where some touching up is needed as I didn't paint before assembly, lesson learned for next time!  Other than that the painting was fairly straightforward as well.  The brickwork areas were painted in a Vallejo Scarlet Red to which I had added Orange fire and some Moon Yellow to lighten the mix.  This gave a nice brick red tone.  I added some Vallejo Black-Grey as soot marks around the mouth of the fire place and the top of the chimney.  The roof and beams were painted in Vallejo Dark Sand and then washed these with a couple of coats of  GW’s Agrax Earthshade.  I hummed and hawed about the colour of walls of the stable block but settled on trying for a slightly faded white wash look.  For that I used an off white which I painted on rather unevenly and then added spots of Agrax Earthshade which I smeared into streaks with a finger tip, making sure the streaks were parallel to the planking on the model.

To texture the floor I used the chopped sisal string 'straw' in the horse stalls but tried a new technique for the earth floor of the smithy area.  I used a sand texture paste from Hobbycraft and as it was almost dry used the flat surface of a plastic glue spreader to create some ripples.  Mrs E says it's a bit like the way she makes decorative peaks in Christmas cake icing but less tasty.  Once the sand texture dried I painted it Burnt Sienna (Windsor and Newton Galleria paint) then dry brushed heavily using Vallejo Earth followed by a lighter drybrush of Vallejo Khaki.  I quite like the result.

Inside view of the main building

Close up of the forge floor area

I also assembled the wagon which looks really nice alongside the buildings.  This was painted in the same way as the forge's timber.  As a bonus I added some extra signs to the saloon's frontage. 

New Saloon signs attached to the balcony and the roof has been finished

That's the new MDF kits completed which leaves the figures from Vapnartak to paint now.  These have only been spray undercoated so far.  I'm going to have to rethink my normal approach to figure painting for them and revert (or at least try to revert) to an older painting style of high and lowlighting similar to the Dallimore method.  They may have to sit on the back burner for a while as the next order of business is to finish the 2mm ACW project.

Norton anti-virus strikes again

According to Norton I shouldn't visit my own blog site as it is potentially dangerous (phishing).  Less helpful is the fact that it doesn't tell me what it's evidence for this view is or what I as the blog author can do about it!  This blog is created using Blogger third party software I don't know or want to know how to access the underlying code to embed phishing software. It's infuriating that Norton does this using automated systems but can't tell me what triggers those systems to have a hissy fit.

I have raised a dispute but apparently will have to wait at least 24 hours for a response.  It's a good thing Norton is free via my internet provider as I sure as hell wouldn't pay for this bag of spanners. It's not doing anything to protect me as it can't tell me where the problem is it simply tells me not to look at my own blog site, here's a heads up Norton.  I don't need to phish for information about myself, I already know it.  If the software has been compromised so its phishing via my site for third party data wouldn't it make sense to tell me as the site creator, or Blogger as the site software host so ,one of us can actually do something about it?

Norton you are not doing anything to gain my paid custom or even my confidence, let alone my respect.  You need to tighten up your act, and provide helpful information not just scream "don't do it".  Hopefully your web crawling bots will pick up this post and alert a real live human being, but it won't be to be helpful, it will be because someone is denting the corporate image!

UPDATE 

As posted in the comment the warning has gone following a 'successful re-evaluation' but with no other explanation from Norton!

First sight - Empress Miniatures and Galloping Major shootists

I have been meaning to pick up some of the western shootout figures from these two ranges for a while.  Before I start I should disclose a connection to the owners of both businesses.  Lance of Galloping Major has been a good friend of mine for almost fifty years (and yes there was a sharp intake of breath behind this keyboard when I was checking those dates!) and I have known Paul and Christine of Empress Miniatures for almost forty years (second sharp intake of breath).  Notwithstanding that, I will try to be completely honest in my review of the figures.

Lets start with the Galloping Major figures these are the Lawmen and Enforcers packs plus the Soldiers Free gift figure.  Well sculpted with plenty of detail and a little chunkier than the Empress figures.  The clothing depicted is historically accurate and the poses anatomically accurate.  Some of the sculpting is a little heavier than I might like but it doesn't detract from the overall quality.  There is no flash and on any of the figures and no mould lines either.

Galloping Major -Lawmen and Enforcers, sets 1 & 2

I inked these to help see detail.  Empress Stumpy (left) Galloping Major free figure (right)

The Empress chaps are from their Wild Bunch range and depict personalities from famous Western movies.  I bought the Baxter Boys from the movie 'Open Range'.  These depict them exactly as shown in the stills from the film as they walk down main street towards Boss Spears and Charlie Waites, moments before the gunplay starts.  The sculpting is some of the best I have ever seen, at least on a parr with Artizan's personality figures.  I also bought the Walter Brennan as Stumpy from Rio Bravo figure, again clearly recognisable from the movie stills.  Lastly, I got the Unforgiven Cast pack consisting of English Bob, Little Bill Daggett, W. W. Beauchamp and Delilah FitzGerald.  Apart from Stumpy who is loading a shotgun, the rest of the figures are in walking poses so can play the roles of passers by.  Oh and I bought the hitching post set of two "Empty Horses" and a hitching rail.  These figures are all flash free and apart from the horses have no mould lines.  The ones there are minimal and were easy to remove.

Empress Baxter boys set

The cast of the Unforgiven (excluding Ned, Will and The Schofield Kid)

The Empress figures look less bulky that those from Galloping Major as they have proportions much closer to those of  real people.  The bases are much thinner as well and remind me of the old rectangular bases on Airfix soldiers.  If I had to play favourites I'd have to say that the Empress figures are more appealing as they depict personalities from great western movies, although the Galloping Major ones have a wider application because they don't portray identifiable characters. 

I can only find one drawback to these two ranges and that is the overall size.  Galloping Major are 30mm to the eyeline and Empress vary (as the figures depict people of differing heights) but are between 30mm and 32mm to eyeline.by comparison my Foundry figures average about 26mm and my old minifigs are even smaller at 24-25mm.  I would have no problem mixing the two ranges together as they make a good match one to the other and even comparing them to other ranges I don't see the size difference as being particularly noticeable on a table.  It certainly will not prevent me buying from either range again. My greatest concern is that my painting skills might not do them justice!  

De Lancy - building Annabelle's Bar

De Lancy Texas is turning into a bit of a cattle boom town with new buildings popping up all over Main Street.  At Vapnartak I purchased a saloon (Annabelle's Bar), a blacksmith's shop plus an open wagon and a hitching post and two tethered horses.  I have made a couple (or more) of lengths of fencing as a test for construction and painting techniques and have started on constructing the Saloon which will be named 'The Dog House' owned by G & B Dogge. 

The saloon is from Warbases’ Cactus Creek range.  It doesn't come with any assembly instructions and in this case that is a drawback as the second story and the ground floor are very similar.  So I set too and dry fitted everything together before reaching for the wood glue.  Two things become obvious the first is that the key part of the build is the ground floor front wall.  This can be identified as different from the second floor one as it has holes for the supports for the balcony on the second story.  Importantly it is also slightly taller than the front wall of the second floor.  Matching two sides and a rear wall to the height of those two front walls allows you to tell which floor they are for.  It is also pretty obvious that the front of the ground floor needs to be painted before assembly, as getting a paint brush in once its all glued together would be tricky.  The floor for the second storey sits inside the walls of that storey rather than having those walls slot into holes in the floor.  To be honest it sounds more complicated than it actually is, but a dry run is a must.

Just need to paint to roof a nice grey-black as tar paper

The only other potentially tricky part is placing the supports for the balcony.  I found that gluing the wall end in place first was best as there is more flex in the vertical part which allows positioning it into the socket in the sidewalk part of the base easier than doing it the other way around.

One thing about the Warbases' buildings is that the roof sections come without any texture, you might recall that I had to scratch build shingles for the livery stables.  For the Land Office I papered the roof in toilet tissue and PVA to create a tar paper effect (complete with the odd wrinkle) painted in a dark grey it looks fine.  I'll be doing something similar for the saloon roof.

I also dry fitted the wagon together, this is a Sarissa Precision model and does come with some straight forward assembly instructions.  It is pretty easy to put together and is a very nice little model.  I need to break it back down for painting which will be a fairly simple one colour scheme.  Which brings me to the subject of painting MDF to look like weathered wood.  The look I want is the old weathered silver grey wood look and I'm struggling to find a way of creating the effect which I like.  Suggestions will be gratefully received. 

The fencing was made from coffee stirrers, match sticks and lolly sticks.  The stirrers are used as planking and when split lengthways also make the stringers on the vertical planked fences.  The match sticks are used for fence posts and lolly sticks for the bases.  A good wood glue worked perfectly to glue the fence components together and some Milliput on the base served well as a foundation to stick the fence posts into.  I think that they look the part and will do nicely as line of sight blockers.

I have made two styles of fence for the moment.  The vertical planked ones for domestic use and the horizontal ones for corral or stockyard use.  I started with just lolly sticks for the entire build but the planks felt over thick so for the mark 2 versions I went with coffee stirrers as planks.  I also changed how the posts were attached so I used a single length of match stick rather than short sections, which frankly was a real pain.

Planks cut

Framed (This is mk1 all made from lolly sticks)

And based

The Mk2 using coffee stirrers as planking is more to scale

Didn’t we have a lovely day at Vapnartak

Vapnartak 2023 York Wargames show held in the grandstand of York race course.  There is plenty of free parking and it is easy to get to as it is just off the York ring road.  Public transport links are good (when they aren't on strike) and York is a great tourist city in it's own right.

I like Vapnartak it’s fairly local and it’s the first big show of the year.  Plus all my favourite traders are usually present.  I haven’t been able to attend for the last two years due to various issues, so I was ready to shop.  It seemed to be much busier this year with a huge queue when I arrived about twenty minutes after the doors opened.  The host team from York Wargames Club kept things moving though and I was inside within a few minutes.  Still the queue was long enough for the two blokes in front of me were wondering if the traders would still have stock when they got in!

More lead was purchased of course - Empress and Galloping Major

Inside was the usual mix of traders, demo and participation games.  I’m on a bit of an Americana theme at the moment so my first stop was Empress Miniatures for some of their excellent Wild West figures from the 'Wild Bunch' range.  These are lovely sculpts depicting characters from well known Western Movies.  I plumped for the 'Baxter Boys' set aka the bad guys from 'Open Range', The 'Unforgiven Cast' a hitching post set and 'Stumpy' because who wouldn't want Walter Brennan armed with a shotgun in his town?

From Warbases what will become a saloon

Then it was across the aisle to Warbases for one of their MDF buildings.  In this case “Annabelle’s Hotel” which in De Lancy will become a saloon with accommodation for traders in negotiable affection!  While I was on a building theme I hunted down Sarissa Precision where I acquired a Blacksmith’s Forge and a wagon.  Well I say hunted down it was really just around the corner.  Lastly it was up the stairs to the Galloping Major stand for more Wild West figures.  I took a long lingering look at some of the Foundry packs but decided that the bank account had suffered enough for one day (and I had to explain my spending to Mrs E when I got home) so I decided to leave that for another day.

Every town needs a Smithy so here is one

Last from Sarissa a wagon for local colour

Shopping done it was time to check out the games.  These were up to the usual high standards of Vapnartak.  First stop was the League of Extraordinary Kreigspeilers game set in the 1920's with Russian Bolsheviks battling Chinese and White Russian exiles in what was described as a Dien Bien Phu situation for the Bolsheviks.  Early casualties came not from enemy action but a tray of cavalry being knocked off the table.  No fatalities but probably a need for some tea and sympathy when they get home!  I had to get a close up of the train just for Trebian who I know likes this period and has a soft spot for an armoured train.

Who doesn't love an armoured train

Sited in the warmest spot of the stands but great for shadows

The next thing to catch my eye was a western shoot out participation game run by Harrogate Wargames Club (which I would have loved a go at but missed out on).  Using the new Two Fat Lardies rules 'What a Cowboy' and a really nice looking table.  From what I could see the rules use card activation (or maybe the cards described traits?) and the roll to hit and roll to defend mechanism.  People seemed to be dodging a lot of flying lead while I was watching.

I hope my eventual table looks a tenth as good

Next to this was a very nice ACW game covering the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg run by Grimsby Wargames club.   Iron clads and mortar barges a plenty on the mighty Mississippi including one which was burning furiously!

Vicksburg under fire from the river

Next up is a display game that has been doing the rounds for a few months; Charles Rowntree’s Korean War set up of the last stand of the Glosters on the Imjin River.  This shows what can be done with terrain modelling in small scales and it was a real pleasure to see it in in the flesh.

Last Stand of the Glorious Glosters - Imjin River 1951

Next up were the three tables presented as participation games by the Wings of Glory Forums.  These covered World War One, The Battle of Britain and a Star Wars space battle.  I only got shots of the first two set ups.  I have to say that the Battle of Britain really took my fancy.  If I was to start a new air combat period that would be the one for me.

Looked like a bombing Raid across the Front 

Handley Page's finest heading sausage side

Meanwhile on the next table Jerry Fighters are over the channel

But the plucky RAF are up to stop them

York Wargames club put on this great looking dungeon crawl game.

York Wargames Club Dungeon Adventure

The team from The Bunker were hunting The Predator, or maybe that was vice versa on this huge jungle table.  There was lots of detail to spot here.

 

The Bunker - Predator Game

Brompton Bankers put on this Battle on the Ice 1242 game using Lion Rampant rules.  It was a fictional skirmish set the day before the historic battle on the frozen lake.

Teutonic Knights v  Alexander Nevsky Russians

There is always a huge number of things to see (and buy) at Vapnartak and I cannot do the show full justice in a blog post.  I missed getting decent pictures of Sally Fourth's Viking raid game and the giant Space Hulk participation game.  There was also a 40K game of some sort going on all day.  

The best suggestion I can make is that next year you should try to go along and take a look for yourself, it is well worth it.