About Me

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London, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
A mythical beast - a female wargamer! I got back into wargaming in the summer of 2011 after a very, very long break and haven't looked back since. I must admit that I seem to be more of a painter/collector than a gamer, but do hope to correct that at some point in the near future. My gaming interests span the ages, from the "Biblical" era all the way through to the far future. I enjoy games of all sizes, from a handful of figures up to major battles (see my megalomaniacally sized Choson Korean and Russian Seven Years War armies).

Sunday, 20 April 2014

Francis "The Lurker" Lee

Born in 1893, from an early age Francis knew he was destined to be a big man in more than a physical sense. Of Irish descent, he was always fond of his whiskey so when Prohibition came in he knew something had to be done and that he was happy to take on this despicable law.

In his job as a security guard at the Postal Service depot in Salutesville he had become good friends with another security guard, Ray and with one of the postal workers, Stuart. When Stuart approached Francis and Ray with a view to forming a gang to smuggle in much needed alcohol from across the Canadian border, both were enthusiastic recruits. They knew of a few guys and one plucky moll who readily joined the gang.

Successful enterprise followed by successful exploit led to them becoming well known figures in the criminal underworld of the city and to numerous run-ins with the Police. They reveled in the names given to them by the newspapers:

"Postie" Stuart
Francis "The Lurker" Lee
Ray "Sandbagger" Rousell
Lee "Rich" Hadley
Clint "The Fudge"
Sebastien "Frenchie" Gimeno
"Red" Tamsin Piper


Well, that's enough silly back-story. As I mentioned yesterday, I owed Fran a figure for coming top of the Rejects in the Challenge and had decided on painting up a Blue Moon gangster to represent him. I got the figure mostly done last night, with just a few highlights and details left to paint this morning. I still need to varnish the figure, but the weather is totally grotty here so that will have to wait. Looking closely at the pics, there are a couple of bits of touching up to do before then.




















18 comments:

  1. It reminds me something ...don't know why...anyway, very nice work, love the colors...

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  2. Love my name Tams. Makes me sound like a grafter! Although I am sure you can make it rude if you choose! As for "Orish Francis" excellent figure, well done. The green suit is just right. Nice one Girl.

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  3. Very nice character study. Seems like a Thompson SMG would not look out of place too.

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  4. Great story and the figure is so the Lurker

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  5. Lurk (Fran), is one of my favorite bloggers. Nice to see this post. Cheers and boogie boogie.

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  6. Excellent, and reminds me I owe a figure to Fran too..

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  7. he he! Looking and sounding great Tamsin!!!

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  8. Excellent work. Backstories for miniatures are always fun :-)

    I assume the coat is genuine badger pelt?

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  9. Great model, and funny background. Really love it.

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  10. Fantastic background!!! Green and orange look perfect !!

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  11. @ Phil - cheers

    @ Clint - the name was originally ruder before I posted it ;)

    @ Anne - well, what else do you expect from me? :)

    @ Dean - his Thompson is behind the bar

    @ Vince - that's what I thought when I saw the pack which was why I bought it

    @ Whisk - he's a good'un. Boogie boogie!

    @ Loki - Storylines R Me ;)

    @ Dave - thanks!

    @ Ray - cheers :)

    @ Robert - sometimes backstories just have to be written. This was one of those situations. Besides, they're fun to write :)

    @ Markus - it's certainly a great sculpt and was fun to paint and write about

    @ Sidney - the orange was a right pain to do because I forgot to do an undercoat over the black primer

    @ Fran - I'm glad you like him. I hope you approve of the choice of colours :)

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  12. That is brilliant Tamsin and a great backstory too. Wonderful painting skill shown alway

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