Painting poll results are quite interesting

According to the poll, almost as many of us pay someone else to paint the little lead boys and girls as paint them ourselves. Most of us that do paint our own lean towards quality over quantity (I myself fall into that category), which I did not find surprising at all.

I suppose I was surprised by both the relatively large number of responses for one of my little polls (the other polls are doing well also) and the number of gamers that apparently send their miniature soldiers off to be painted. I have considered it many times, but have yet to bite the bullet. I have a hundred Zulus in 15mm just dying to get painted so they can die in droves while rushing Her Majesty's invincible Thin Red Line, for instance.

I wonder if its lack of time to paint, or lack of interest in painting that leads one to pay for it. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I would probably do it myself if I had more money. At least for big lot jobs, like the Zulus, where I mostly just want to get the little buggers painted and on a table.

New Auction House Connection Added

Friends, I have added a new connection under the Business listings in the sidebar. Please go and peruse the offerings of this auction house, run by a gamesman, an adventurer who moved from Britain to the Mysterious East to open his own artistic business, a man of vision and talent...

This is an alternative to the large and all-powerful auctioning house to be found on the telephonic weave. You know of which entity I speak, though I dare not outright mention its name for fear of solicitors calling on me with papers in hand. I do so despise paperwork.

Have a look, see if it interests.

Deathray Dilemma

Gentlemen, I have a quandry, which I hope that you may help me resolve. I truly despise indecision, so I must make a stand quickly.

Here's the situation: I have 18mm Martians [Black Hat], and two sizes of deathrays. I am thinking of buying more 25/28mm riders for the larger deathrays and more smaller deathrays [Spotted Eagle Rays from Safari, Ltd.] for the smaller riders.

I have a variety of other flying devices and mounts and plans and such for 25/28mm, including High Martians, airships, etc. Nothing else currently on tap for 15/18mm, though I would like to get on to scratchbuilding some kites and airships for them as well.

For the record...

Photostats are just too difficult to layout properly in this journal. Has anyone else had a similar difficulty? I think from this point onwards, I shall simply pop small photos into the center and put any text above or below them.

Reports of Progress on Deathray Training

Gentlemen, we have received alarming reports that Prince Musta Gopotty of the Martian state of Galfor, that implacable opponent of all things Right and Proper - that is to say, British - is readying troop of soldiers mounted upon devilish flying mounts. The Martian Deathray is a rightly feared predator of the Martian highlands, where it gracefully soars under the twin moons of the Red Planet. Never before has anyone even tried to keep any in captivity. Their enormous size and strength and well-known ferocity indicate such would be nigh on impossible!

And yet, the impossible does seem to be happening! As these photostats clearly show, the renegade Prince has mounted one of the smaller species of deathrays, the golden whorled deathray. While smaller than its cousin, the Great Deathray, it is much faster and more agile, and clearly capable of carrying off a man, or carrying one mounted on its back.

[Editor's Notes:]
The ray is a spotted eagle ray toy I bought at the Dallas Zoo. I think it was manufactured by Safai Unlimited or something like that. I scraped that info off the bottom - oops! Then I drilled a hole in its belly and popped it onto a clear flight stand. The rider is a Martian prince in 18mm from Black Hat miniatures. The straps are some strips of sueded lacing that I just superglued onto the toy.

The big problem was that the cast miniature would not sit on the flat back of the ray. So I had to make a saddle of some sort.

I bought some clay, mold putty and two part casting resin at the local Hobby Lobby. I sculpted a saddle out of the clay and baked it hard, per the package directions (I used green Sculpey Primo).

Next, I made a mold using the mold putty. It was really easy: knead the two equal sized bits of putty together, then press onto the master and let it sit. It took all of about 30 minutes for the mold to be ready.

I popped the original 'green' out of the mold and

mixed a small amount of the resin - still way too much, it turned out. Poured the resin into the mold, waited about 10 minutes (just to be sure), and popped out the little white beauty you see here, next to the original.

The whole process was really easy. Granted, the sculpting is primitive and a simple form, but I am still very happy with how it came out. I can make more saddles for the Great Deathrays now. I have even figured a way to modify them to make a two-man saddle possible for the bigger rays.

Other projects are moving along as well. I have been working on several Martian buildings from plastic containers of various shapes and sizes, filled with expanding insulating foam for extra rigidity, and then the bottom given a layer of Water Putty for heft. When I get one really finished, I'll post pictures. I even have some "in progress" shots. I am nearing completion of the entire squad of 28mm British Secret Weapons troops [Praetorians from GW], and have one of the two modified Sentinels ready to go except for a final shot of matte spray and the banner.

I bought some dried plants to make more Martian terrain, as well. Some strange looking trees will be making their appearance on the gaming table soon.