The Grace Spitfire

I was looking through my albums for the last couple of years and found a picture I thought worth sharing. For the last few years I have been going to the VE Day Weekend reenactment at the Royal Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey. Unfortunately due to ill health I wasn't able to attend this year and missed out on what I have been told was an excellent display by the Grace Spitfire. To console myself I found this picture I took at last years event.
I also tried to take some film but my camera isn't best suited to capturing fast moving aircraft. I made numerous attempts and not once was I was able to keep the Spitfire in the frame! Next time I'm taking a proper video camera.

Barbarian's Rage

The Dagenham Dungeon Delvers gathered last night for a game evening. Unfortunately it wasn't a continuation of our current "Sunless Citadels" campaign (the GM couldn't make it). Instead we had a practice session to try out some of the new character classes from the Players Handbook 2. I used the Character generator to create a Human Barbarian, a class that I feel strongly should never have been omitted from the original PHB.

We only had time for one large combat but this was still fun and tested our new characters to the limit. I enjoyed playing my Barbarian... especially as he cut a swathe across the combat dealing huge amounts of damage. But I have just one thing to say about last nights game... I hate Gnomes!

Hot Lead - Miniature Painting Tutorial DVD

A few months ago I bought the Hot Lead miniature painting tutorial DVD by Laszlo Jakusovszky. It's taken quite a while to get through the 8 Hours of content but now that I have I feel able to review it and, more importantly, thoroughly recommend it. So what do you get for your money? The box contains three DVDs with over 8hrs of content in total. The DVDs are in NTSC format so can be played on any NTSC/PAL DVD player. The first DVD covers the Basics while the second and third discs look at advanced techniques. However as an experienced painter even I found the Basics tutorials useful and informative. The Advanced tutorials develop these basic skills and walk you through taking your painting to the next level.

• Disc One - This DVD starts by looking at the world of Miniature Painting before heading into the technical stuff. Subjects covered include; Preparing miniatures; Basing; Tools, Basecoating; Washing, Drybrushing & Outlining; Skin and Faces; Metallics; and Finishing.
• Disc Two - This DVD covers the following areas; Advanced Painting; Working with Colours and Paints; Blending Technique; Layering Technique; Fixing Flaws; and The Human Form.
• Disc Three - This DVD focuses on; Non-Metallic Metallics; Painting Gems; and Advanced Basing.

Each of the sections can be reached through the DVD menus so its easy to go back and watch a particular section if you want to.

Throughout the DVDs Laszlo provides a clear and informative narration which makes this easy to watch and makes you feel like your getting a one-to-one tutorial. I also liked the use of close up video of the techniques being demonstrated. These are all from the the painters perspective so you can see every brush stroke as you would if you were painting the miniature yourself. Scattered throughout the DVD are some excellent tips and suggestions for making life easier or improving your technique. I also liked the fact that Laszlo's style of teaching feels more like someone giving you advice rather than teaching you hard and fast rules. You can pick and choose what techniques suite you and your level of skill. However you are also always encouraged to experiment, practice and push beyond your comfort zone.

I'd thoroughly recommend this Tutorial DVD to any painter, beginner or expert alike. The $40 plus shipping is money very well spent in my humble opinion.

Bovington Tank Museum - 1977

I recently posted a load of pictures from my visit to the Tank Museum at Bovington. I had wanted to visit this museum for a long time, having fond memories of a trip there in my childhood. My Dad has been scanning some old slides of his and came across a few photos from that first visit, way back in the summer of 1977.

I'm the serious looking kid in shorts and a red tracksuit top standing in front of the turret. Aside from the shock of seeing myself with hair, the first thing that leaps out is the fact that we were allowed to climb on the exhibits back then. This definitely isn't allowed now. Aside from the need to preserve the exhibits from damage (yes, I'm aware they are Tanks, but still...) I'm pretty sure Health and Safety would have a fit if they saw this happening now. There are so many kids on this vehicle I'm not even sure what it is... anyone have a clue? [a British "Tortoise" Assault Tank]

This looks like a Mk IV Tank but I can't be sure [Mk VIII, the so called "Liberty" or "International" Tank, this as an Anglo-Americal Project]. Again smothered in kids, myself included.

OK a Tank I recognise, the Sherman.... with me in top of the turret.

Another WWI British tank although I'm not sure which version this is [possibly a Mk IV].
These pictures from 1977 show just how much things have changed. Most of the vehicles at Bovington are now kept inside purpose built buildings to aid their preservation. Bare in mind that some of their exhibits are over 90 years old. Clearly climbing on the vehicles is also a thing of the past, for lots of reasons. And these days my legs rarely get seen in public.