Frostgrave White Gorilla

Every once in a great while, and truthfully it doesn't happen very often, I actually paint a model that I'm incredibly happy with. Well, this is one of those rare models. 

I picked this model up by North Star miniatures years ago as originally I had this grandiose idea for a Jonny Quest Arctic game with several Yetis and possibly a monastery like in the old cartoon episode "Monster In The Monastery".

In my continued attempt to get through old models I grabbed this figure from a box and got him primed. Obviously it's not a difficult model to paint,  but I think that it's the subtle use of the black paint in the recessed areas of the fur that make the model pop.

I actually painted the recessed areas themselves as opposed to throwing a wash over the entire model and I think that is what is making the difference visually. 

A short quick post 🙂

Until next time, thanks for looking!

Ivor

Congo 28mm Porters and Bearers

In an effort to continue to complete models that have sat in boxes for years I finally finished up this line of porters and bearers that would fit into any pulpy dark Africa scenario. 

I'm fairly certain that all the models are from Northstar, but I could be wrong. 

They just scream that old classic movie King Solomon's Mines with Stewart Granger.

Or even the more pulpy, and completely campy, Indiana Jones rip-off Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold/ King Solomon's Mines with Richard Chamberlain and a very young Sharon Stone.

I've always had this idea in my head for a game involving a long column like this being ambushed by native warriors.  

Somewhere in a box I've got a fantastic set of native models from the game Congo that could work perfectly for that.

That looks terribly uncomfortable, especially after an hour or so.

As always, thanks for looking! Until next time, when hopefully I will have sorted how I want to finish the roof upgrade of the 4ground Nanhai trading post I completed a few years ago and get those final results posted - which I'm extremely excited to show as I think I really nailed improving the kit with my upgrades. 

Ivor

Star Wars Legion Biker Scouts And Speeders

Back to the Tabletop is finally back to the blog posts. It's been a quiet few months of absence on the blog front so I thank you all for sticking with me and not hitting the "unfollow" button 😀

Obviously trying to get any kind of motivation for hobby in over the past three months or so has been difficult but I have found an apartment and have managed to get most of my gaming and hobby supplies moved in.

I think the most frustrating thing for me right now is that my mind is constantly racing with ideas (especially at work) and a real genuine "want" to sit and hobby - paint, build, work on terrain, etc.

I can see in my head a great idea or finished project, but I'm having an incredibly hard time actually doing it when I'm at home on my days off. How to change this is my million dollar question right now. 

WIPs photos are probably my biggest miss in the hobby, I never remember to take pictures of stuff when I'm in the process of building or painting, but I did manage this one as a friend had texted me over the holidays and asked what I was up to.

I have even been chipping away at a couple of things since November as these photos show and I figured why not try to complete one of my favorites units from the original Star Wars trilogy.

I absolutely love the look and design of the scout troopers - the armour, helmet, the small blaster, it's just a brilliant design all around. And this is easily my favorite pose of the entire lot. It has a real "sneaky" James Bond feel to it that is just so cool.

This is another really great pose, again very Bond like.

Overall, I think the entire group has some of the best poses of the entire Legion line.

I decided I really wanted to put the speeder bikes on a sort of gimble to give them a bit more of a movie feel and look, so I used a couple of magnets to achieve this. 

I also cut down the original plastic posts the bikes sit on as I felt they were just way too high off the ground - here is a photo of the height difference with the original post on the left. You can also see how the magnetic gimbal allows for those dramatic and "in motion" poses.

I think it's a huge improvement and will definitely be doing this to my other four speeder bikes. I especially want to get the one with the scout firing behind him completed, as it's another fantastic pose, as well as having a go at a white paint scheme for two of the speeder bikes themselves, like what we saw in the first season of The Mandalorian. So there you go, first blog post in months, fingers crossed I can take some baby steps right now and continue with at least one post a month going forward.

I want to take a moment and thank all of you who reached out through email to send your well wishes and own personal experiences with a divorce and separation. The support was honestly overwhelming and just another reason why I'm incredibly thankful to be a part of this community and hobby.

Finally, thanks to new followers thegreatwhitejb, Michael Blair, and William Stewart - appreciate you guys hitting the follow button 😀

Until next time, thanks for looking!

Ivor