Category: Dark Ages

Thatching II

~ anthony ~ 9 Comments

Following on from my last post.

Years ago I had tried to do thatching using the towel method, and the result was what you see above, the hand towel was something I picked up cheap at a 2 dollar store, and in the end proved too thin to look good, and I got a better result out of a $5 bath towel.

I pretty much just followed the instructions on Hour of Wolves. Strips of towel were glued into position onto the roof with a generous overlap all round. It was then coated with a liberal application of 50/50 PVA and brown paint, in this case Raw Umber. A second coat was added after 24hrs, and then after another 24hrs the towel was trimmed so the roof would fit between the end timbers. A further coat was added mainly at teh ends where the original towel (after trimming) was visible. After drying , dry brushing with Raw Sienna, Naples Yellow, and Buff Titanium where applied randomly to give the roof its colour. The stone work is simply a base of black, then a wet/dry brush with a dark grey, followed, after drying, with a dry brush of a lighter grey. The door is scratch made from balsa with the planks inscribed with a pencil before painting.

There is a lot of waiting in making the thatch with long drying times, but the overall effect of the strips of towel compared to the one piece is noticeable, and I think will remain my “go to” for thatch for now on. Also having got to play with some Hirst Arts bricks again I decided to “recycle” a lot of my old Warhammer buildings, and make some terrain more suited for both my Dark Ages, and for my Dwarves and Undead to fight over.

The only reason I have little to show so far is that “recycling” PVA glued plaster blocks takes time, as does making terrain in general, the wait period for things to dry is often longer than the doing period of action.

Oh well, back to catching up on the last 3 seasons of Supernatural, while I wait.

Dark Ages II

~ anthony ~ 8 Comments

Following on from Dark Ages-I, I managed to get far more done in the last two weeks even with work pressure and COVID restrictions than I thought I would be able to, and while I still need to finalise the design and do the flags for both forces, they are all ready to be fight over the outcome of rolled dice.

Also while scrapping the bases clean of the 80’s flock, a number of the figures clearly had Essex inscribed on the bottom, so it stands to reason that they are probably all (or mostly) Essex Miniatures, and knowing the person who gifted them to me nearly two decades ago they were probably purchased from The Tin Soldier, when it existed in the Dymocks Building (Sydney, Australia) during the 80’s, sadly the store has gone the way of many bricks and mortar stores, and has been closed for at least the last 10 years.

Two Viking/Saxon warbands, and a small Norman or Saxon Huscarl force, all grouped for Ravenfeast.

Now onto some 28mm terrain, a Dark Ages hut (or two), some low stone walls, and maybe some church/abbey ruins.

Dark Ages I

~ anthony ~ 4 Comments

Not much to show this week, and given how crazy the next few weeks at the “real job”* will be, I expect them to be equally as light. However I did manage to get out all my old Dark Ages troops and started to take stock. Over 20 years old, originally belonging to a friend and painted in gloss by him, based on cardboard, and with that amazing 80’s flock, they clearly need a spruce up if I am going to play either Ravenfeast or Saga.

Original (left), spruced up (right), decal by little big men studios.

I blame it on nostalgia that wants me to field these very old castings, also it would be a shame to not let them do battle once more, especially if I can get a chance to “crush enemies, see them driven before me…and you all know the rest.“

If only I could work out who made them?

EDIT (18 May): Some of the figures (not pictured) are old Essex miniatures.

Painting Notes: Figure: Oak Brown (Army Painter, AP), Anti-Shine Matt Varnish (AP), Matt White (AP), Platemail Metal (AP), Agrax Earthshade (Citadel). Base: Burnt Umber (Daler 223), Raw Sienna (Daler 667).

* Just found out we have been ordered back into “Work From Home” in the next 48 hours. So a mad scrabble to get some bases 3D printed, and organise schedules and the such before a month of restrictive movement and gatherings takes place. Sadly this means some of the current projects will have to backseat as access to certain “toys” is curtailed for a bit, but on the flip side other projects get to come to the fore.