Blog-Con T Minus 9

Well as I type this Blog-Con is a little over 9 days away, I am starting to become a little excited about it all now. I think that we should all give ourselves a big pat on the back because in little over 6 months with all your support I have taken some thing that was a crazy idea in the back of my head to what is sure to be a great fun event and the very first Convention for Wargaming Bloggers in the UK. I have been very lucky to have the full support of the Wargames Foundry and with +Bryan Ansell  Diane, Marcus and Robert we have been given a fantastic venue and I am sure many of us will be supporting them with a few attacks of shinyittus :)
I have a few last minute jobs to do this weekend, mainly popping up to my Mum and Dads to collect as many figures and rules as I can fit in the back of my car. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible over the weeknd and please make sure you track me down and introduce yourselves.
 Hopefully this weekend will create many great friendships and lead to many a wargame being played. A few pictures to end first a blogger meet up that occured earlier this year, and second a young +James Brewerton wargaming which has given my life so much and never asked for anything in return.

Kev Loki Paul and James

Look I had hair once...(its just slipped now)

 

More Painting for Ronin

The curse of being a commission painter is that when you get a bit of time to paint your own figures you have to try and paint as many as you can. This means my own figures are very much speed painted, in this time when many are questioning if figures can be painted too well rest assured I can prove that you do not need to spend too long on figures to create a usable wargames force.
These I wanted to get completed so I can bring them along to Blog-Con so anyone can try out Ronin. I am very happy with how they look and on the table they look very effective (if not so when blown up full screen), I am doing two factions one red and one blue. I have completed the red guys (bar one that is being rebased after a dog attack killed its first base, don't ask) the Blue guys I have just started (sorry the picture is a bit out of focus)

Mr & Mrs King I presume

So if I have scheduled this correctly as you read this I will be at +Edwin King home where I am staying for a spot of lunch and in return am sharing a few painting tips.
I never like to visit a new friend empty handed so what should a person take to a new wargamers home...

I introduce you to Mr & Mrs King, Dr Jones may think the antique hunting world is cut throat but he should see how hard it is tracking down the old books of the world, Mr King never leaves home without his trusty Luger and it helps to have a wife who's packing.

In his travels Mr King has made many friends but only one matches his passion for books, so most place's the couple go they are helped by a young investigative journalist and his dog,

So I offer you the King Party on its latest hunt.

Why I hate Captcha...

So I think Captcha had it in for me last night below are the two worst ones I had to deal with but I got loads wrong last night.
I do not want to tell you all what to do but if you read my post from last month you will see you do not need to use Captcha.

 

 Anyway I clock off work in 30 min for my weeks Holiday in Norfolk.
Catch you later
Peace James

Exiles Painting hits the Road

So no painting today (or tomorrow) as I have packed up my desk ready for a weeks holiday in Norfolk. I love going down to Norfolk my wife's best friends live down there and its always great to catch up. It is also great walking country for my boys.
Below is my desk in its traveling case.

One of my plans next week is to Visit +Edwin King  I am popping over on Sunday for a spot of lunch and a painting session. I will be sure to take some photos to share on my return.
Below I have some of my photos from my last holiday in Norfolk in Feb this year.

Blakeney A great village we stayed in once

Cromer Sea Front

My Wife loves Lighthouse's and Cromer has a great one

I have a post or two scheduled for next week but otherwise I will catch up with you all in a week or so.

Peace James

Painted Ronin

Had great fun painting these two, I went for a bit of free hand on the robes not huge but I feel quite effective.

Blog-Con T minus 28 days

So 28 days from today I have two huge events in my life, first is the first (of many I hope) Blog-Con. The second is my 40th Birthday. I did not plan for both of these to be on the same weekend but now they are I am very happy.
I feel that Blog-Con and BfC have for me been a completing of a circle, I have often writen about my early hobby life and said before what a huge part of my life Wargames has been (for anyone who missed the posts a quick summery..
                                             

Met my wife in a wargames club,

                                  

wargames turned my Dad into my best friend too,

 I worked in the wargames industry (GW Manager) and I continue to fund my hobby by commission painting). Why do I feel I have circled back well pull up a chair and I will tell you. I grew up on a Service Camp (RAF Akrotiri) and while the place was all a young lad could want the people (service families) change all the time I arrived in 1980 and quickly made some great friends, in those days I was playing war.

 But within 3 years my friends Dads were posted away and this pattern I could see was going to continue, my answer was not to make good friends, don't get me wrong I made friends but I always knew they would leave. My one constant once I started wagaming was the club in total I was at the club for 8 years and while the face's would change the club feel remained, in fact we had several gamers who reappeared on second tours. I loved my weekly club nights and holidays would be filled with all day games or busy painting sessions at home.

 

 As with us all life gets in the way of hobby you get a job, marry have kids (which can be fun) [I look half asleep at Melissa's graduation because I went straight from work and managed to not fall asleep in the warm hall while speeches were done in Welsh and English.]

 

but always in the back ground was my wargames. I am now fully reinvested in the wargames world (my body has put an end to any silly sports I would think of playing (even if my mind still thinks I could play a mean game of rugby)).

 

 But I still have this habit of keeping friends at arms length, that was till last winter and Curts Winter Painting challenge. This made me interact more with the bloggers I already followed and let me meet many more. You all know the results, Blog-Con, Bloggers for Charity, and the Community Currency are all ideas that have been fed by you guys.

 

 I really feel that I am back in a great wargames club, and just like the club of my youth the face's will change. Bloggers will step away for a break or a rest. Some bloggers find little time to get a game or live in wargames isolation, you prolific gamer/bloggers may not understand what these guys get from reading you batreps and drooling over you battle pictures, but I understand. In our Bloggers club we have all you could possibly need we have guys with in depth knowledge of most eras we have world class display painters we have world class gamers and world class army painters. I am not daft enough to think we will all get on all the time but the joy of the blogosphere is you choose who and how you interact, but I again plea to you all to take the time to comment on posts or even just G+1 the post I know what a boost it is to a blogger when he loads up his dashboard and sees a new comment, it is not going too far to say you can change some ones day. We all live hard lives in only  this year I know of bloggers who have lost jobs and suffered illness but I get a little smile when I see a new post or comment form one of my Blog mates who may have been off the scene for awhile.
So for me Blog-Con is like my old weekly club night when I may not have known who would be their each week but I knew that whoever was would be looking for the same thing I was, a great game and some good crack. If you are on G+ why not come along and join the Bloggers Wargames Group it is just another tool for us to interact with each other and share ideas, you will find while it is not a forum you can get some quicker reaction to comments.
So In conclusion if you are still with me thank you for staying through another of my monologue's but please take away the message of my post, the Internet means that as a wargamer you need never be alone, while you may not be able to table top wargame over the Internet (yet) you can make some great friends who share your hobby passion what ever period it may be.

 

Peace James

Painting Ronin returns

Not really, instead of being a Painting Ronin I am painting some Ronin.

Also done more work on the Commission.

I also finally got round to doing the base's on my Dad's Vikings

SAGA Dice WIP and next on the desk

Just a quick post to share some non painting work I am doing at the moment. I bought some blank dice and found a PDF of the SAGA symbols so have been busy making my own dice, I have one completed and the second well on its way. I have two more sets to create.

Also I have started on another commission just a few shots of how its progressing.

Paint Therapy needed

Yesterday was one of those days you wish you go back in time to avoid. I am still suffering the tail end of a sickness bug that leaves you drained physically and mentally, then this weekend my WW came down with it too so she was not in work on Monday. I had a pile of painting to complete and the Zulu war commission to varnish and post off. My FB friends will know whats coming (BTW if you are on FB feel free to send me a request) I varnished the figures first thing and went to get them after lunch only to find the varnish had gone cloudy. The rest of Monday was spent trying every trick I know to fix the error but with no success by evening I admitted defeat and contacted my customer, we have come to an agreement that I will not go into but I hope will be agreeable with both parties.
So today I could not face a commission so picked out one of my Copplestone Miniatures I am doing for Ebay and I spent a great few hours this evening painting this guy who is a NOT Brendon Frasier from the Mummy films. This guy and the Swede will be hitting Ebay tonight.

Bring on the Swede

When I started this guy I was thinking about the big guy of the squad in Clint Eastwoods Heartbreak Ridge.

So to me he is the Swede, just what every SWAT team needs some heavy support. This figure is from Foundry Miniatures Street Violence SWAT team but I think he would fit in as a survivor in a Zombie game. He is on his way to Ebay, had great fun painting him and am finding I can fit the odd single figure in alongside my commission works, so with that in mind I have picked up these great Sharpe Figures from Alban Miniatures which when completed will also wing their way to Ebay to fund my lead addiction.

I have finished my Zulu War commission, they will be varnished tomorrow and get packed up when that's dry. Customer is basing them so have stuck them to this board so they can be varnished.