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).

Tuesday 13 May 2014

Of Vans, Cops and Saga

I'm having to take a short break from painting and from spending lots of time at the  computer as I seem to have done something to my lower back which is causing muscle spasms/tremors. Hopefully resting up for a couple of days will sort it out and I'll be able to resume painting by the end of the week. I'll have to remember to take regular breaks where I get up and move around in future.

My second ebay order was delivered this morning (still no word about the first one). After my post on Sunday night, I realised that my first order hadn't included any Ford Model A vans (it did include a couple of Model A pick-ups and a "Woody Wagon". So I went back on, found someone who did have them and ordered three.

Unfortunately my suspicions (after I'd ordered) were correct - they were from the I-75 series rather than "Models of Yesteryear", so are a bit small and have the wrong wheels. They are very nice though. I'll just have to wait and see how they look against the others when they arrive. That will teach me to look more closely at the pictures and read the descriptions properly. Comparing their measurements to the real-life dimensions of the Model A suggests these are about 1:64 scale so might work well with the smaller 25mm ranges (Citadel, Steve Barber).

I might have to go back on the evilbay and find some Yesteryears ones, but at least it was just three I'd ordered so it wasn't a huge expense.






This evening I sprayed the cops with matt varnish then went over the leather bits with gloss varnish and the truncheons and guns with satin varnish.







Trying out the LED lights I got from the poundshop for some atmospheric pics:




The blue of the uniform has come out a bit brighter than I wanted, but it looks a bit darker in real life.


Edit: 

Don't you just hate it when you've included something in the post title, then realise a couple of hours later that you forgot to write about it?

Saga. This weekend (unless another player drops out or asks to join in) I'll be taking part in a Saga tournament our club is running. I'm only there to make up an even number so not expecting to rank anywhere above the bottom, but will give my opponents a good run for their money.


19 comments:

  1. Nice Rozzers!
    The Vans look OK but it will depend as you point out what the others look like and if these will match in.
    AND Rest your back you have only got one of them.

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  2. Great work on the cops. the cars look a bit small, but hey it is o.k.
    All the best from me. Relax a bit. An aching back is no fun...

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  3. I hope your back is better soon - I know how tricky they can be.

    The cops look good. Shame you're not happy with the vans - hopefully your other order will be better.

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  4. Get to feeling better! I like the blue on the cops makes them pop against the darker mob types.

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  5. I like the cops ! and the pictures with the led lights !

    The cars are good but like you say, the wheels are not excellent !
    I think that the Lledo ("Days Gone") are a bit larger than those ones ( Matchbox "models of yesteryear" ??)
    I've also some Oxford models in 1/76 and they are very small !

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  6. Nice bunch of Irish boys, good luck at the weekend and hope the back problems get better.

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  7. I do like the cops, especially the LED shots. Looks like they're ready to knock some heads.

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  8. Nice coppers.. I shall look forward to giving the "lead poisoning" with the Carbonara gang at BC3!

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  9. Buying diecasts for 28mm gaming is a real lottery. I've come unstuck the same way you have once or twice. I repaint all mine and make my own signage which is time consuming but fun. Unfortunately with this style of wheel even a repaint can't save them IMHO, scale issues aside.

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  10. What's the colour of a 2 cent piece....copper, copper.
    Nice coppers and good luck with the Saga gaming.
    cheers

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  11. Good luck with SAGA. Enjoy the tournament!

    Cheers
    Stefan

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  12. Loving the mood lighting! Very 'the Untouchables'!

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  13. Shame about the vans, it's a rea; problem buying "blind".
    Cops look great and good luck with the tournament.

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  14. Your building this up nice and quick, good luck in the Saga duals

    Ian

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  15. I had back ache after doing too much painting so I changed my routine. Like most people my paints were within hands-reach so I moved them. Now I have to get up every time I change colours and walk across the room. no more back ache!

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  16. The coppers look great Tamsin! Good luck the Saga games!

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  17. Thanks for the comments guys - glad you like the boys in blue :)

    The back does seem to be recovering, but I'll be giving it a couple more days before I think about resuming painting again.

    @ Clint - I'll just have to wait and see

    @ Edwin - I'm not unhappy with the vans, which are lovely toys and will look good on my sideboard. It's just that they are probably too small to use with my 28mm figures

    @ Styx - the blue looks a bit darker in real life than in the photos but it is good that they'll stand out against the gangsters

    @ Sam Wise - yup, the Lledo "Days Gone" and Matchbox "Yesteryear" are meant to be about 1:43 scale, although some are "fit the box" so a bit smaller scale

    @ Fran - I suspect one or two of them might be Irish boys ;)

    @ Monty - the LED shots aren't good for showing the detail, but the pics are very atmospheric which was the aim.

    @ Dave - I'm sure "Moran's Marauders" will return the compliment for your cops :)

    @ Millsy - if they do turn out to be about the right size compared to the others I might still use them for gaming despite the wheels. I'd just avoid taking photos with them. I'm not sure whether I'd repaint any of them though

    @ Mr Awdry - that's the look I was going for

    @ Zabadak - it wasn't completely blind - I just didn't look at the pictures and details properly. Lesson learnt.

    @ Ian - still a lot of figures to paint and then buildings to buy, assemble and paint (or base paint, assemble and finish painting)

    @ Twmas - not sure what happened there, but I deleted all the repeat comments. That's a good suggestion about keeping the paints away from the painting desk so that you have to get up and move when you switch colours. I might try that.

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  18. The Fuzz look good and especially under the moody lighting. Good luck with the Saga Tournament.

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  19. Back issues is something that I can relate to. I hope you get all the way better.

    Cheers and boogie boogie.

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