Monday 28 July 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6E2-OOQo13c



The Goose is back! Back to the future!

OK, ok.. calm down.. I have only been absent for, errr a while.. shall we say.

So.. firstly! Big apologies for the lack of posts and in fact the general lack of anything what so ever. To say life has been hectic, would be an understatement. New job equals new life and new amounts of other things taking up ones time.

So now I am back. Well I hope so.

So order of the day.. err.. not sure.
Simply put. I have a plan to get a small 40k Rogue Trader gaming setup going again. Why Rogue Trader Warhammer 40,000 and not the latest version..?


Simply because, it was fun and genuine. It wasn't a rule set solely based to make you keep buying more and more miniatures. Rogue Trader did many things, but the big one, was to encourage you too play fun and creative games, not solely 1 on 1 tournament style objective based pairings with equal forces.


It actively encouraged you to creative. To use narratives and have fun.


So I am going back to my roots as it were. A trip down nostalgia lane.

A few beekies and a few orks and a mix of other things for some small scale skirmish games with plots and story and dare I say the odd mutant.. !


Tuesday 25 February 2014

Where has the time gone??

Fe****ing Hell!

Where has the time gone??

Seriously.. it is now February 2014. A few years ago I bought some zombies, I started my Starship Toopers Miniatures Game project and my 28mm Vietnam project and errrr "some years" later.


And none of completed. It is scary how time has flown. In fact it is alarmingly scary!

So I will be trying to catch up! Watch this space!!!

South Cheshire Militaire Show - Sunday 23 February 2014

First show of the year for me.
Though its primarily a modelling show with some fantastic models on show, with some stunning levels of detail and skill, there is usually a small war gaming element to it.

It is also a nice day out.

Alas I have no photographs. I was a little battle weary on Sunday and didn't take any photos.

The show was pretty much the same size as the previous year. There was only one empty stand, in the main hall.

The up stairs was the usual mix of wargaming, RC cars/planes and trucks! With an indoor flying area for some of the smaller electric models.

The bring and buy was a little empty.. a shame, but that is the way things go now and then.

The main hall was its usual busy self though it was noticeable that there were a few re-enactment displays filling in and less actual "modelling supplies" traders, which was a shame. As I was on the hunt for a few tools and bits and bobs.

The range of models on display were once again, massive and varied. All sorts of things, from plains, trains, trucks and sci-fi "what if" creations.. with various local and not so local clubs and groups displaying.

The venue is a little crowded first things, but it does quieten shortly after lunch most years and this year was no exception. Seems to the general trend for shows these days. I guess its time pressures on gamers and modellers alike.. spending all day is difficult to do.


Sadly the out door displays of vehicles / bb shooting range / paintballing  etc that in some previous years have been seen were not present. A shame, as me and my friends were discussing over lunch in weather spoons before returning to the show. It does seem to be a changing of the guard, as it were, for the ages.

The average age of modellers must be approaching 60-70s now, and fewer and fewer younger people entering like me. Now I don't do much modelling if at all any these days, due to wargaming being my primary interest, but I do love to and see the efforts of those far more skilled than my self. But it is alarming, that so few younger people seem interested at all.


And frankly, the poor understanding and ability to identify historic aircrafts or boats is alarming in its self amongst the younger generation.

I am now officially, by virtue of writing this post, old!
But it is scary.


Shows like the South Cheshire Militaire are facing a battle against changing times. Even our wargames shows have seen many a decline and I am not sure quite what the solution is.

It was good to see the show organisers asking people leaving, if they minded suppling their home postal area code (just the first two letters) in an endeavour to understand where their customers come from and where to focus their advertising. Though my postal code area, covers a massive area and crosses borders of England and Wales, so that one might not be as "telling" as others.


So over all I spent £6.00 and came away with a book and some dice! I would have bought some paints, apart from the offer for £1.80 or 5 for £9 or 10 for £17! A crafty bit of advertising.. as the first two are identicle value.. 5 paints for £9 is £1.80.  So I held off till WMMS in March, as that is not far away and there are usually a trader or two doing Vallejo paints.

So will we be back in 2015? I see no reason why not, timings, life etc allowing.

Wednesday 19 February 2014

Paint Stripping Part 3 - After some testing.

A while ago I did a few posts on paint stripping.. (See Parts 1 and 2 in the blog history).

At the time, someone said they had heard Coca Cola was worth a try and acetone free nail polish remover.


So here are the results.




Coca Cola - 100% original full fat(Sugar) coke!.. well.. it made some of the paint sticky, it had no effect on the miniatures material, be it metal, plastic or resin. Paints from Vallejo, GW and Army painter, showed no real weakness to it.. on some older models the stuff did soften the paint a little but, compared to Detol (pinesol solutions) it was no where near as good.






Acetone Free Nail Polish Remover - This stuff is odorous.. if you like the smell, great, but don't sniff too much, or you will put your health at risk!!! It might be acetone free, but that means it has had one chemical replaced with another! (or more likely many). Also don't spill it on your nice polished table tops, or you will be heading for the yellow pages to get it repaired!


However.. it eats paint! Yes. It works pretty good. I mean, on metals and most plastics and resins.
The "Most" bit however is key. I tried it on some GW plastics.. without issue.
I tried it on some resin scenery pieces I picked up off a bring and buy a couple of years back, and it worked fine. I also threw in a resin GW cr*pc*st, sorry fine-cast figure! DONT! I don't know what resin they use, but it didn't seem to like it. Metal figures however, not an issue.
Now, it did pretty well with most paints too, but there is a cost consideration. If you can get Detol cheap, then you tend to get more for your pennies, than nail polish remover though prices to vary.

However, I have found detol may discolour and go cloudy, but it still strips paint. I found the acetone free nail polish remover evaporated far faster and after a couple of dippings of 48hrs etc, it started to loose its effectiveness faster than Detol.



So now I am back to using Detol and only use the acetone free nail polish remover for metal figures where I need to get the figure turned around quickly.

So.. over all I still rate Detol! For price, re-usability, effectiveness and lower chances of killing me or making me seriously ill.

The biggest tip for detol.. soak the figure in it, then rince the figure off in detol, yes, detol, not in water. Use a tooth brush, but don't touch water on it, till the paint is off the figure. As, as soon as you add water, it nullifies the pine-sol content and causes any part dissolved paint to go rubbery and very stringy! So have one pot of clean, detol, to put the "soaked" figure in and use to wash off the paint in following a soak, before then rinsing in hot water.




Sunday 5 January 2014

2014 off to a good start! Sort of. Penkridge Table Sale - 5th of Jan 2014

So the new year has begun. 2014! And so the first show or event of the year. Penkridge Table Sale.
A group of us, made the early hours rise, to get on the road south. The M6 was clear and we made good time on a crisp icy morning.

The show started at 10am officially but we were in and consuming bacon butties in seconds upon arrival.

The four of us had a great day. We routed out various bargains and I came away with some sci-fi terrain, some more figures for my zombies project and some other bits along the way.

Here are some photos from the day. Not taken by me and borrowed with permission from the originator.

It was a good day. Some folks didn't turn up to trade and sell sadly. But only a couple. The rest of the hall was packed.

A really good turn out in the morning and quietened down into the afternoon.

Penkridge Table Sale 5th Jan 2014

Someone looking Happy

The sales were going so fast it was a blur! - Penkridge Table Sale.
Many thanks to the folks who organised it, the traders who attended and the private sellers. I know we are definitely looking forward to the next one.