Tuesday 22 July 2014

Lots of Weird War 2 Goodness!!!

Today I have quite a few miniatures to show you.  First up are some DUST Warfare/Tactics models, which I had finished quite a while ago but was waiting for some decals to show up:




These are the Axis Laser Grenadiers, and were quite easy to paint.  I tried out doing camouflage on the pants for the first time, and I must say it spices up the models some.  The helmet and shoulder decals are the German Heer ones from Warlord Games.  The cross on the chest is from I-94 Enterprises (GR 106 on the page I've linked to).  It was my first time using decals from I-94, and I am very happy with them.

Up next are some German soldiers with Vampir sights.  They came out recently from Warlord Games, but I can't find them on the website now.





All have been given heads from West Wind's Secrets of the Third Reich line of miniatures.  I think they fit in to the Weird War theme better with the heads!

Coming in at the end are some miniatures from Warlord Games that I am very proud of how they came out.  I like the poses and the face on the SS officer.






The miniatures that I used are German Waffen-SS officer with MP38, Waffen-SS firing Stg-44 Assault Rifle, Waffen-SS running with Stg-44, and Waffen-SS with Stg-44 Assault Rifle.  Three have been given German Gasmask Figure Heads

I am very pleased with how they came out!  I had to do some filling with putty to make the heads look where I wanted them to, but otherwise were an easy conversion.  The ones with the helmets have decals from Warlord Games, same as on the other miniatures in this post.

As you can see, I have finally set up my photography area.  So no more sad pictures from the painting mat!

Painted while listening to:  The Last Town by Blake Crouch



I finished this one off and I really enjoyed it!  Action-packed from start to finish, and the ending could leave room for a sequel but who knows.

Sadly, I have come down with a nasty cold a few days before I head up for two weeks of work.  I didn't do any painting today, but did get to watch a fun show:




The Blood Beast Terror is a typical B-movie romp with Peter Cushing.  It doesn't get very good reviews, but I enjoyed it!

Friday 18 July 2014

Thriller: Fan Favourites (DVD Review)

I recently read Robert E. Howard's Pigeons from Hell for the first time, and was looking online for more information on the story.  I came across a reference to an episode of Thriller being based on this story.  I checked it out further and ordered the Thriller: Fan Favourites dvd online from Chapters.




Thriller is before my time, being a tv series running from 1960-62.  All of the episodes on the dvd are in black & white, and are quite atmospheric.  Here is a run-down of the episodes, taken from a review on Amazon.com:


The Purple Room (Season One, Episode 7): With Richard Anderson, Rip Torn and Alan Napier. Unscrupulous relations try to convince a man that the mansion he just inherited is haunted.

The Watcher (Season One, Episode 8): With Richard Chamberlain. After a psycho murders a teenager, he next targets a young couple.

The Cheaters (Season One, Episode 15): With Harry Townes and Jack Weston, based on a Robert Bloch (Psycho) story. A pair of eyeglasses gives the wearer an unusual gift, but it comes with a hefty price tag.

The Hungry Glass (Season One, Episode 16): With William Shatner, Russell Johnson and Donna Douglas. Ignoring ghostly tales, a young couple insist on purchasing a home by the sea.

Well of Doom (Season One, Episode 23): With Richard Kiel. A wealthy man is held captive by a powerful sorcerer and his faithful minion.

The Prisoner in the Mirror (Season One, Episode 34): With Lloyd Bochner and Marion Ross. Another sorcerer! This one escapes from a mirror, trades bodies with a historian, and causes plenty of trouble.

Pigeons from Hell (Season One, Episode 36): With Brandon DeWilde. Two brothers with car trouble spend a terrifying night in what they think is an abandoned Louisiana mansion.

The Grim Reaper (Season One, Episode 37): With William Shatner (again) and Natalie Schafer, another one by Robert Bloch. A cursed painting may spell doom for those that possess it.

The Weird Tailor (Season Two, Episode 4): With Henry Jones and George Macready, another by Bloch. Trying to awaken his son from death, a man commissions an odd suit of clothing.

The Incredible Dr. Markesan (Season Two, Episode 22): With Boris Karloff and Dick York. A young couple is forced to stay with a creepy uncle, dark secrets are revealed.



This is a great dvd, full of fantastic stories - check it out if you're bored with the gore-fests shown at the movies today!  ;-)

Thursday 17 July 2014

DUST Ubertoten Suicide Squad

I have another DUST miniatures installment for you - this time an Axis Ubertoten Suicide Squad





I enjoyed the painting the Ubertoten squads - the idea of undead Germans in Weird War II is appealing. 

Painted while listening to:  The Last Town by Blake Crouch



I'm half way through it and am really enjoying it!  It's the third book in the Wayward Pines series - it reminds me of something you'd see on the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits.  I hear they're making a mini-series or something of it as well, which I am looking forward to seeing!

I've been working on organizing the man cave, and have picked up a cabinet at IKEA and put it together the other day.



I spent part of the day unpacking most of my painted miniatures, and the cabinet is getting full already!  I actually picked up the cabinet a while ago, but picked out the wrong colour of doors.  When I went back to exchange them, they only had one of the white doors!!!!  So I had to wait until they were re-stocked. 

And of course I have to give you the obligatory puppy picture:


Monday 14 July 2014

Dust Warfare Ubertoten Assault Squad

I've admired the Dust Tactics/Warfare models for some time now, and just finally got around to picking some up and having a go at painting them.  The Axis Ubertoten Assault Squad was one of the first squads I bought, and loved the zombie-ish look of them. 

I had heard good and bad things about the quality of the plastic they are made of.  It's not super hard like the material the walkers are made of, but still are a bit bendy.  I didn't overly enjoy cleaning the mold lines off them, as the plastic didn't like to come off too easily and sometimes left little "hairs" on them.  Once I got through that, and chopping them off their silly bases, painting them was easy.  The paint took to the models easily, and were a joy to paint.  One thing I forgot to do before taking pictures was add some gloss varnish to the blood to make it look wet.



 



The one with the helmet has some Warlord Games German Heer decals to add some detail.  I did the same with the Laser Grenadiers and the Ubertoten Suicide Squad that I'm working on (all of which will be on the blog soon!).

Painted while listening to:  Brodmaw Bay by F.G. Cottam


Typical F.G. Cottam, but not his best work.  Seemed a bit rushed and it could have been fleshed out a bit more.  Still, it was a good listen and had its moments.

Saturday 12 July 2014

More Vikings!

I am finally back in town and actually have two weeks off in a row this time.  This is the second time this year!  So hopefully I can get a lot of painting in and finalize the man cave while I'm here. 

I finished these Foundry vikings a while ago, but they weren't fully finished at the time so I didn't post them here:










I still don't have a photo booth set up yet, so I'm stuck taking the pictures from the painting table.  The shield was a total bitch to get the transfer on - it's from Little Big Men Studios, and I have yet to be able to take that transparent "transfer" off the top.  Ah well, I'll still keep trying with them as they're beautiful decals.

On the table right now I have a bunch of Dust Warfare models - something I haven't tried painting before but have been wanting to for a long time.  I didn't enjoy cleaning the miniatures, but once I'm past that and have cut the models off their silly bases I was good to go.  They are easy to paint surprisingly, I wasn't sure what they would be like.  I should have a pic up of a squad tomorrow.

On a side note, we have a new addition to the family:




Since my wife's uncle has dognapped Rocky Senior, we thought a new addition would be in order.  This is Rocky Junior, a Yorkie puppy.  Very cute, very energetic, and very much a pain in the ass sometimes!  ;-)