Goumier's

I've been maxed out with work and other life dullness lately so haven't done much painting. I did however manage to paint up these four French Goumier's from Artizan Designs. Really nice figures and they made a real change from all the Khaki I seem to paint.

The Goumiers wear these big cloaks which have really colorful markings which differ depending on what tribe the soldier is from (if I understand the history correctly). I thought they would make a nice change and were a real challenge to paint what with all those stripes. I've got more of these from the Artizan range to paint and am rather looking forwards to it.

In other news, the observant (ie not blind) among you will have noticed I changed the blog to a lighter colour,   I was finding the all black rather difficult to read, which says something about my eyes!

The dead rise

I've been a bit tardy painting wise of late. Lots going on life wise, but I found myself essentially putting of painting as the WW2 US Airborne on my painting table were sort of putting me off painting. What I mean is I just didn't fancy painting them, but couldn't admit it to myself so was giving myself excuses to not paint. I broke and returned the US Airborne to the lead pile, who knows perhaps I'll paint them in the future.

Now I have never painted any zombies or similar previously, but I have really liked the idea of painting up a zombie horde. This is one of Studio Miniatures WW2 German zombies. He's the tester as he's the first of my living dead horde and I wasn't sure if I would enjoy painting him or actually make a good job of it.

Personally I'm jazzed with the final result. I like how the skin etc turned out and actually really enjoyed painting the figure, one of the most relaxing painting sessions I have had in ages. I think the "dirty" look of zombies makes it more relaxing as you worry less about fine detail.

Once I've gotten some cash past the pay master general I think I might just pick up some packs from Studio Miniatures of the Zombies and more "normal" civilian zombies. Then some Survivors.

Alternative Creativity

 Those of you with no interest in computer games can just ignore this post. These are skins I have been making for the cars seen in the pictures for use in GTA IV. Its a private project of mine, the livery on the vehicles (all of it) was made by me in photoshop from scratch and I needed to host the pictures here so I could post them to a forum elsewhere.

The livery is not complete yet and still needs some work. Its based on the New York City Sheriff departments livery, if any one is interested. The actual vehicles are not my models, created by various other people.

Cheers.

A word of warning

I don't usually comment on "real life" issues within my blog as I use the blog primarily to chart and record my painting/modelling work. However my Father asked me an insurance question earlier today and I decided to share my view here as well. I should preface by saying that nothing that follows should be considered legal advice and you should not base a policy buying decision solely on what I say. Now having covered my own back I will plow on.

Those of you that know me may be aware that I occupy a reasonably senior (technically speaking) position within a large Loss Adjusting firm in the UK. Therefore my Father asked my opinion regarding a "Mechanical Breakdown" policy which the garage that he had bought his second hand car from had recommended to him.

For the uninitiated policies of this nature are sold on the basis of covering certain (unsurprisingly) Mechanical failures within your car.

However most of the policies have a number of very important clauses and wordings which are highly specific and exclude most of the items which you would probably wish to claim for. Obviously I cannot comment on every single policy of this sort, but generally speaking, in my experience,  most of these policies have wordings which allow Insurers to decline cover on the basis that the Mechanical Breakdown in question has occurred due to normal "wear and tear" of the vehicle.

Additionally a large number of mechanical issues are specifically excluded within the wording, and you may not have expected them to be. This can include your engine block cracking, failure of oil seals, and other similar issues. Equally if your Clutch or Gearbox fails the Insurer can, most of the time, decline cover citing "wear and tear" as the cause of the failure.

Lately I have noticed Garages pushing these policies, which I presume they are collecting commission on, and specifically a garage incorrectly indicated to my Father that the policy covered most mechanical breakdowns.

What I say to anyone, who has bothered to read my industry rambling, is to consider these policies very carefully before buying them. Do not listen to the Garage who tell you that the policy is good and covers this or that, as they probably have next to no knowledge of the policy. Ask them to point to the specific wording and ask lots of questions. Read the, albeit boring, policy booklet cover to cover and make notes if you want to ask more questions. Make sure YOU understand that limitations of these policies.

Personally I believe these policies are not worth the paper they are printed on and provide close to no effective cover, or I should say they do not provide the cover that an average punter will expect them to.

 But as I said above, I am not giving legal advice, just read the policy bloody carefully and if necessary phone an independent broker and ask them to explain the cover properly.

Right I'll stop boring you all now. Cheers.

Bio Hazard Containment Team

I've had these figures left on my desk for some time (there is an earlier post or two regarding them in different colour schemes) and I still actually have one more left, who will be painted like this. 

I wanted to paint them up as a creepy quarantine team wearing red bio hazard suits under webbing and tin hats. I decided to paint the hats in a take on CS95 style camo. I quite like how they turned out, and I'm going to get at least another four or so and paint them up the same way. Long term I will add some zombies and maybe even get a post-apoc game, who knows. 

In other news I've started constructing the first 5 of many houses for a demo game at Partizan next year, pictures will follow when they are put together. 

Another few pics of the other three figures below. 

Pause for thought

Whilst between meetings today with time on my hands I realised I was near the David Stirling memorial and as I had nothing better to do I thought I would have a look. The memorial itself is situated atop a hill with a bronzed statue of the man himself looking purposefully out.

Located around the memorial there are stone inserts at floor level naming those that died whilst serving with the SAS. I took the opportunity to reflect on the sacrifices made by the men who were listed at the site, volunteers doing daring, dangerous things. If you are ever passing the memorial located near Stirling/Dunblane in Scotland it is worth a small stop to pay your respects.

I have included some other pictures below, the last of which is the metal description plate providing a brief history of David Stirling and the SAS. I have left this last picture full size so upon opening it can be expanded and the text remains legible.

Royal Rifles

 Just finished painting the first four of my Partizan haul. These are from Muttonchop Miniatures (Paul Hicks Shop) and are his ceremonial guards. I really like these figures and enjoyed painting them up. I opted to paint them up in a uniform similar to the Victoria Rifles of the Anglo-Zulu war era. But I think I might use them as Post Office Rifles in VBCW, I have the other four figures to paint up, probably do them some time in the next few weeks.

I had a go at painting with a black undercoat with these, as I usually undercoat in Grey which I find is a nice neutral tone. The black was troublesome (for me) to paint over, and to be honest I found it tough on my not great eyesight. I'm not convinced the finish is any better or noticeable different than my usual grey. I will therefore be continuing with my grey undercoat.

In other news there is a possibility of a new job (again) this time close to home in Aberdeen so no living in Glasgow during the week and trundling home at the weekends. Hope fully I'll find out about that in the next few days.

Re the quality of these pictures, I'm afraid its a bit poor as I'm painting in the flat in Glasgow and don't have access to Photoshop or decent lighting. Another reason why I would like to be working at home again!