481 - Okay, so I have this thing...HOW DO I PAINT IT? HELP?

Thanks to many of you for the kind words about the X-Wing moonbase I made over Christmas.

What follows are a few other pics I took, but mostly a pleas for advice on how to paint it. 

You see, it's constructed from assorted bits and pieces on a lump of soft, slatey rock from the beach near here, and when I spray undercoated it black I absolutely loved the brief moment of directional shadow I got from all the relief detail, so I practised on a few old sprues and gave it a go when I spray-primed it grey. Can you see it in any of these pics?

Well, here are my questions for you:

1. Should I pretty much leave it as it is but maybe add some highlights and a bit of shading in the 'illuminated' bits? This seems to be the best option...
2. Should I try to tidy up the directional light/shadow to make it 'pop' more? I worry that I won't match the colour of the primer and I'd just make it look rubbish.
3. Should I just paint it?
4. Should I paint just the 'illuminated' parts?
5. If  do paint it, I'd quite like to use a muted palette, in keeping with both the Star Wars aesthetic and the 'moonshine'-style illumination...if so, how the heck do I achieve this? I'm rubbish with colour.

Finally, regardless of each and all of the above, how should I paint that dinky wee Lambda Shuttle?

Please offer any ideas you can think of if you'd be so kind - painting really is not my forté!

Yours in hope,

- Drax.

480 - Field Marshal Montgomery - A Pompey Fan?

Hullo,

One out of the blue today.

I was back in my home town of Portsmouth last week, and - whilst in a print shop getting some photos - I noticed this wee gem:

That's right - it appears that Monty himself was the President of Pompey Football Club during their post-war heyday!

I love the contrast between the keeper ('BUTLER, E') and the club pres ('FIELD MARSHAL THE VISCOUNT MONTGOMERY OF ALAMEIN KG, GCB, DSO').

Genius.

In my head, they had Monty running round the pitch before the matches like a novelty mascot to whip the crowd into a frenzy.

- Drax.

PS: Did you know Pompey once held the FA CUp uncontested for six whole years? - That's right: they won it in 1939! [link here].

479 - Oh, Brave New World. Big News!

Hullo All, and Happy New Year!

That sratch-built Lamba shuttle on the pad will give you an idea of scale: it's 7mm long. 

I might yet do one of those 'Year in Review' posts but for now, I thought I'd make some announcements. Minor, perhaps, but big news for me. I shall endeavour to keep things uncharacteristically brief, so stand by for a numbered list:

1. I'm not giving up on 40K. Despite all of GW's subtle attempts to - ahem - alienate me, I'm going to try to follow Zzzzzz's example and play 40K occasionally, and for fun, with whatever passes for a vague approximation of the rules. I'm not even going to bother trying to keep abreast of the changes. This will probably mean a longer-term storage for the IG, which will make my minimal storage space far more manageable.
2. I'm entering an X-Wing tournament. Genuinely. I plan to take a themed, rather than particularly competitive squadron, but that doesn't really matter nearly so much in X-Wing. Rather pleasingly, it's hosted by the wonderful Col. Gravis! 
3. I've started expanding into Bolt Action at 28mm. I just couldn't resist, despite my misgivings about painting historicals at that scale. Late-War British Army, naturellement. Some folks have also been kind enough to steer me towards other rules sets for which I can hopefully use the same minis. Watch this space for developments, folks...
4. I've made a moon-base as an objective for X-Wing. Yup. See pic, above. Details in a post soon.
5. I'm ebay-ing some more stuff. Gotta happen sometime, right?
   
6. I've made some modular hills! A wee Christmas holiday project, above. In case you're not a follower of The Terrain Guy on youtube (link here), well...he's none other than Mel of 'Col. Corbane' fame - another old-skool blogger, and his youtube clips are brilliantly useful! Following his advice I fairly swiftly planned, organised and made fifteen hills, ten of which are fully modular and interchangeable (the ones with red on the top). It made a fair bit of mess, but it brought me a heck of a lot of joy...and recycled a Christmas present box. Yay.

Planning notes and templates for the above.

A maturation, then, for Drax. Here's to what will - hopefully - be a great hobby year for us all, right?

- Chris.