Update...stuff, worktable, Blue Moon figures, etc...

Well a long overdue update to this blog o' mine.....

I've put aside my 15mm worlds for a while, and lately have been working on trying to reduce my 25-28mm lead pile by working on some of the numerous pulp figs. Each weekend, when work, or life doesn't take a domineering chunk of my so called "off time", I try to get some painting done. My current goal as in TMP's "The Pledge" is to "Paint more than I buy". That way I can get figures done, control my spending, help reduce my lead pile to a more manageable level and of course, get stuff ready to game.

In the meantime, I've been doing other "gaming related" things....read on dear read....

1: Weekend shopping:

Ahhhh...the fall season. It's the time when the Halloween stuff is coming out, and some places are putting the Christmas stuff out.

And you know what that means dear miniature gamer?

Yes, Lemax and Department 51 accessories!

So this past weekend, my wife, (Gawd bless her!), and myself did the weekend shopping errands. 

We stopped at The Dollar Tree to see what was there, and I noticed a set of cheap Halloween stuff in the tradition of Lemax/Dept. 51, called "Tombstone Corners".  Very poorly painted, but still.

They had a "Skeletal Gazebo" there that would've been nice but needed some work, and I don't have time for any more conversions.

With that, the only thing I did buy was two of their scenic "trees".

Hey...every cemetery has to have dead trees in it, right?

Oh and I also got a small car for my 15mm world, and a Batman figurine, with some odd notion that I am going to work on it and make it a statue..perhaps for said cemetery?....

After that it was a side trip to the local bookstore, (Half-Price Books), in which I picked up a hardback Ravenloft campaign guide and a copy of GW's "How To Make Wargames Terrain"

The GW book was a good find, and I look forward to seeing how I can use the ideas in it.

A nice little haul if I do say so myself....

And returning to that I decided to get down to work.....

At a messy desk.

2:  Now granted, I, (like so many others), have numerous projects in various stages of completion. I sometimes think out hobby is a form of ADD treatment, or perhaps an easy way to diagnose the affliction. 

However it had simply gotten to the point where I had NO real open workspace, and a lot of clutter on my desk.

So I cleaned it...(mostly).

And here is where I sit and do my madness.....

My mad scientists lair...muah hah hah....

I took some sectional photos so you could get an idea of what it does look like close up.....

This is the "left flank"....

My glues, tape, green stuff, Litko bases, wire, epoxy, etc...are all there, along with a photo of R.E. Lee, and a 1989 Citadel Hill Giant that a friend of mine got me when he came back from England.

The left flank....that which holds it all together, (well the glue and stuff actually)....

An old figure.....from an old friend....

And on the right flank, I had "the groundwork"; ie: "turf"...Woodland Scenics, GW "Sand", cat litter, (clean cat litter I might add to those that were curious), GF9 groundwork, baby powder, some pumice and sand spackle, etc....

This is OUR turf! Get it?....Oh and please disregard the padlock...I have no clue why it's there....

And finally, that which holds it all together and is where all the action is....the center, (aka "Amidships")....

Here we have my paints, pallet, brushes, tools, etc; Most of them are being held in "Commemorative" Froo-Froo Drink Mugs that I got while in Las Vegas back at the Excalibur Jousting Show, or Back when "TI" was actually "Treasure Island" and had the "Pirate Show"....sigh....that's gone now, and well....it's sad...

Also on the wall is a photo of Col Horatio H. Mustard and his hunting party in Africa in the latter half of the 19th Century, after a successful lion hunt. 

In all reality this was 2006 game run by Jason Coffey as part of his annual "Big Hunt" games, and the good Colonel easily bagged his lions by having his hunting party (consisting of Texas Cowboys and Mexican Banditos), simply ambush the Russian Players Hunting Party, gun them down with some of Colonel Colts best wares, and "claim" their lions....
Dastardly, but it won me the game....

Next to it is another prize....a page from a Coloring book, lavishly colored by my son when he was four years old and I was stationed in Korea....That means a lot to me....

Yeps...this is where I sit and where it's allllllllllll created.....

 Above my work table are some framed items including a copy of "Fiddlers Green"....

And a piece that explains Cavalry...

And my autographed photo from Adam West...Batman keeping an eye on things....

As well as my pic of Linda Blair...*ahem*....


3: Blue Moon Figures....
So this past weekend in a recent discussion with a TMP member ("Wyatt The Odd"), he remarked that he was going to be getting some Blue Moon Figures soon. I had told him that I think that there is a remarkable difference in them as opposed to other figures. My wife has said that it looks like the sculpts and productions are "cruder" than some other figs, (She's a big Bob Murch "Pulp Figures" fan), while I tend to agree. I have also noticed that they had a lot more deep, angular cuts in them as opposed to some other figs, as well as what seems to be an obvious metal composition difference. So the next batch that I am going to prime up will be my second batch of Blue Moon Figures. This batch will consist of "Russian Agents, German Agents, Egyptian Agents, School Days, and Lord of The Manor and His Servants"; five packs in all.
My first set was one of their hillbilly packs and I do believe that in a previous post I had discussed how much primer they took as well as the grit feeling. I do believe it has to do with the primer and the humidity, so this next batch should be better. We will see, as I will be reporting it when I get onto painting them.

Let's see how this works out.....stay tuned!

Well, that is about it for now...I will be posting some of my projects (including the "de-skulling" of a GW "Gardens of Morr" set) here in the future, as well as some other figures recently painted.

Comments are always appreciated....

Thanks for reading!!!

Redoing the game room...

Well this weekend was stormy, and I had to put mini painting on hold to do something that I had put off for a while...clean the gaming/work room.
I hadn't made efficient use of the space in that room, and now it was coming back to haunt me.
So with a recent 20 buck purchase of a 5 shelf bookshelf, and having recently acquired another dresser and 2 nightstands, I decided that "now was the time".
A little sweat and some reorganization later and voila, the "new and improved, Murphy Game Room."
Martha Stewart would be proud...


Looking in from the door, you can see the painting and work table, (Clean at that!!!),



2 dressers with plenty (I hope), of storage space. dresser #1 on the left is for holding building supplies, resins, etc., while dresser #2 is basically the home base for all unpainted figures, (and yes there are A LOT of them!)...



Another shot of dresser # 2 and the parts storage bins and painting table...


Drawer #1 of Dresser 2, Ogrethulu, Peter Pig, Bolt Action, Pulp Figures, Gear Krieg and more...


Drawer #2; Peter Pig, Battle Honors, QRF, and loose figs...


Drawer #3; More loose figs, (mostly 15mm)...


Drawer 4; More loose figs, (mostly 25-28mm)...

WHEW! That's A LOT of lead!!!
Here's a shot of the room from the dresser corner...

You can see the painting and accessory table, along with the closet full of "stuff"; boxes of terrain, ERTL cowtowns, etc...

My "wall o' stuff" including a certificate from the International Society of Vampires, an RPGA membership certificate, pictures of Adam West and Linda Blair, and a copy of Fiddlers Green...

Yes, Adam West as The Caped Crusader, keeping order to the room, and giving it just that bit of "class" that it needs...(or not)...

And once again, my picture of Linda Blair, who looks at us with those eyes and whispers to us seductively that "Historical Miniature Wargamers REALLY turn her on..."

*sigh*

Yeah, right...

My gaming shelves, with rules, boxes of troops, and other stuff on it. If you look at the top you can see the mostly finished Sovie...errr..Russian Cargo Ship, "The Rattlehead", and the Golden Eagle of the Bongolesian Arch of Victory peeking out...

Rules and books...Foundry was having a sale and I scored...Old copies of MWAN, Little Wars by Wells, Rule books, notebooks, and various assorted stuff, (including Ospreys, etc...)...

And last but not least...What's MY game room without this...????

Yes, the National Flag of Bongolesia hangs majestically on the wall of the room, waiting once again to go up the pole and fly in the breeze!

Well, hope you enjoyed the tour. Hopefully tomorrow, (or next week), I'll get some more painting done...

Comments are appreciated...

Happiness is a CLEAN game room!

Yes I did it.

I went yesterday to the Salvation Army store and spent 20 bucks on a nice bookshelf, and brought it back and put in in the game room this morning. Then I got to cleaning the mess up.One of my main problems is that I work on multiple projects "at once", and things get piled up, shuffled around and the place looks like a dump. It's one of the problems with mini wargaming. Your projects tend to take on a life of their own, and you accumulate "stuff"...

So I had to clean it, and with the new bookshelf, cleaning it was my project for the day.

So now I have it cleaned, and organized!

Take a look and see!

My painting/work table after the cleaning! (Egad look at the ROOM!)

And yet another shot of the painting/work area, showing the paint holder, work table area and tools table area. It amazes me how much room I actually have when it's clean...and yes...that IS the Bongolesian Flag on the wall...

For those that say that "Bongolesia doesn't exist"...Take THAT Wikipedia!!!!

The dresser for figs along with storage containers for terrain, parts, plastic, etc...all in all a LOT of stuff in these drawers for scratchbuilding.

A close up of the "Drawers of Stuff"...

Yes, a "Drawer full of lead"...15mm vehicles by QRF, 15mm Battle Honors Figs, Steve Jackson Ogrethulhus, SST Female Cap Troopers, Pulp Figures (In the box on the right), Some Bolt Action Minis, and some of the 28mm Pirates that I have, among others...

My new bookshelf and my closet of stuff. Terrain, scenery, vehicles, rules, and parts and stuff...Gods this hobby is horrible...

The ever lovely Ms. Linda Blair, whose graciously autographed photo adorns my wall, and tells me that "wargamers turn her on"...riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight...dream on sucker...

Of course, keeping the room safe and sound, and inspiring us all, is the ever present and gracious gentleman; Mr. Adam West outfitted as The Caped Crusader...

Comments are appreciated!