Laneways Festival Auckland 2013

Hello everyone how about something different today, a post about what I have been listening to rather than painting or building?
Yesterday my father and I went to the Laneways music festival in Auckland, there were many bands but we only listened to a few. all round it was on the whole a great time with some very interesting bands playing some great music. quite an experience and a new one for me certainly as it was 18 and over which of coarse means that I am only just qualified to go... though when my father and I went for a walk outside the noisy festival grounds there was some younger kids who were most likely 14 asking for wrist bands to get in... do they really expect that anyone would look at them and not see they were clearly not 18 or over? anyway pictures some are mine others my fathers Oh and feel free to look up their music for 2 of the bands I'll put up some of their songs

First up we saw the end of the Kings of convenience a Norwegian band, for them it was their first time in New Zealand and they had only been here 6 hours before they played at the festival.





Later we Saw Polica the band included 2 drummers both with whole drum kits so that was quite interesting to listen to as its very different when there are 2 drummers playing at once but playing different parts. sorry my music jargon is almost limited to nothing.





THEN WE SAW A KIWI BAND The Phoenix
foundation they made it all the way from... Wellington, they had a monster sized band. I am also going to give you a clip of their song Buffalo.

 AND NOW we move onto Of Monsters and Men they are Icelandic and perhaps the best band there that day. they got the crowed very involved and as such I think they deserve a a few of their tracks up here

 OK so if you could not tell already I enjoyed their performance :-D but we best get onto the last band we saw before leaving... Bat for Lashes quite moving songs but perhaps not ones that fit with the jolly mood of this post... But I recommend you search them up.

Well there you go folks there is a small peak at what I saw last night :-D if You go Look up Laneway festival you can find all the bands there OR.... look at the back of the T-shirt I got there. Anyway hope you have a nice day... and I hope you like the music, if its not your things that's fine we all have different tastes.

Sir Alfred Hale Captain and commander

this post and the figure/ character featured within it are dedicated to Alfred Hale the late husband of Anne O'Leary. I quote her in saying "my departed husband who was a sailor and a deep sea welder. He was killed while working on a rig in an explosion over 25 years ago. He was a good man and I miss him still." Anne when you told me this story I knew that I must name this figure after him as you asked me. I hope that it honours the memory of your departed husband and that perhaps he wherever he is now feels that this respects his memory.



Alfred Hale is one of the new characters I am bringing into 18th century Oronegro, his history and early story can be found on the Oronegro blog but for all of you here here is Sir Alfred Hale Captain and commander

the figure is a conversion from the Zvezda Medieval field artillery set, he was quite fun to paint as its quite interesting to paint a figure in armour after so long of camouflage and modern clothing.

The base he stands on is meant to look like wooden planks so either a ships deck or inside a building. he is the first of perhaps many important characters that will be Incorporated into the world of Oronegro... as for names although I will come up with my own I am still open to naming characters after people of your choosing, though as in this case I felt morally compelled to name the character in the memory of Alfred, I may not always name the exact figure after some person if I feel the name is unsuitable or that there is a more appropriate name for them being offered.

Now onto the new follower greeting section of my posts... Greetings to Melvin from little war'kshop thankyou to Ben for giving me that link

a little supply house

Now after all those ships I need to take a small break to made something a bit more stable... its nice to feel the earth beneath your feet after you get off a ship. so I made something that makes you feel even better to be on that land a road side supply house... now you can have some food while you travel at leisure through the lands of Oronegro or elsewhere. Now more can be found out about these places On the Oronegro blog but here I'll just go through and tell you about the model. I must say though that its a bit small to make up for all those ships and I am going to make more, so still no "land ho" for me yet

it may not look like much but if your food ran out the other day this little place might be the nicest thing you see all day

the stone here is woodland scenic's talus, with lots of PVA and then painted to look like a stone path,

the ladder is part of one of the siege ladders in the Zvezda medieval siege engines part2 set

if you could not see in the roof is removable... revealing a cramped but decent interior.

there's cupboards and a table top in one corner and a big crate in the other these contain some of the supplies

a look from the back with the 3 removable chests... the 2 big ones are removable.

it was a small fun build and if you cannot tell the parents are painting which means there is plenty of paint to white-wash the building and a dust-mat to put it on. Anyway school is creeping up fast on me and tomorrow I have a meeting with the other prefects... still got plenty to do but anyway as always, Have a nice day, night or other time depending on where you are in the world!

a sneak peak at the Oronegreans, and a donkey

yes I did put and a donkey, actually despite my careful planning I managed to get the donkey complete before the Oronegrean infantryman. anyway I thought it best I show these 2 off even though the rest of the Oronegreans are not yet complete (go see the projects blog as it has their current state in the latest post) but here they are... also Any of you who are interested in the 18th century or just great miniature story lines should go over to Archduke Piccolo's blog he has been taking us through a great story in an interesting imagi-nation, and now after a brief break he is carrying on with the story.

I have been begging asking if he could use some Oronegreans as mercenaries but that's just because I am feeling Jealous inspired by this story :-D Anyway here are the newly painted Oronegrean urr inhabitants

on board the Paul, perhaps  a soldier is guarding the ship and its precious cargo of donkeys?

the new style of basing is something I am still working on, though the magnetic sand I mix with the PVA to get the ground texture does add some fun to the other wise dull bases

IF I was to send these to Ion as mercenaries I would have to pain the golden arrows on the soldiers arm to show he has served overseas as a mercenary

a look at some painted on little flowers on the bases

and one Final picture for good measure.

that figure is my first 18th century Oronegrean soldier and although Yes I did do some pirates/ sailors before him he certainly marks my entrance into this era. Of coarse one final thing I need to do is say Hello to the blogs latest followers

Greetings to Steve from sound officers call nice to have you here at my little blog.
Hello also to abdul666 from emperor vs elector and also MCristo by LaceW welcome to the blog.
and to round up the new arrivals welcome Lutdendorff Gravina from somewhere but no blog appears by you name I am afraid.

There finally a new post since my birthday, good to get back to normal posts again.

a very special day :-D

well if your on Benno's forum you will know (hopefully) what today is.... its my birthday, a very special one also, as now I can count myself amongst those who call themselves an adult, though I myself will be a big child at heart for many years to come... maybe for ever, though what do you expect when one of my things is messing around with little plastic soldiers :-P

so what has my birthday consisted of.... 1st up I must disappoint some of you, as it did not consist of any huge parties, drinking or other activities. First up we went to the movies and watched the Hobbit. Cool movie such a shame its the first of 3. however I am eagerly awaiting the next2. then we went to my friends house where we had a BBQ and messed about pushing huge blocks off the side of the cliff and then when they smashed on the sand below taking them up the rocks and then making a wall... then we pushed that down :-D got 2 mates over tonight, currently sorting out where we'll all sleep. 1 couch 1 bed and the floor. I have the bed, which I'll share with the dog, I am sure my friends don't want to share the couch or floor with the dog.... he's a big Labrador (though he is not overweight).
on the topic of dogs the dog managed to escape but our friends down the road saw him and got him, which is lucky as he's like the k-9 Houdini.

anyway, I have had a great birthday and I'll now try and beg for some presents from my parent :-D if I get any more sets in the days... maybe weeks to come you'll know why.

Talking about presents recently I received A LARGE box of figs from Canada from Laurence Strong. there was so many figs that I decided to send all the WW2 ones off to the Netherlands to Michael (same Michael I did the street column tutorial for) I will hopefully send that off soon too.

the HUGE BAG I found it the box

one look in and I saw HUGE potencial for my Oronegrean project, well the 18th century one

once organise (i.e this is from a few days later) I got a load for me and some for michael

this is mine, loads of airfix figs... I think all are, whole sets even. a small sample of what I have are Arifix Napoleonic British, French and Prussians as well as some Grenediers from AWI and more.

oh and some space men, they say Hong Kong on the bottom but I have no idea what they are from... oh and a modern plastic figure but I have no clue what set he is from.

anyway Hope your having a good time and that you all enjoy your birthdays this year, or if you already have I hope you have enjoyed it.

HMS Paul an Oronegrean River ship/ transport

HMS Paul is the final work of 2012... Named after my fathers foster brother, a man who on his monthly stays at our house very kind to me and always made me laugh when I was little. Although he is not family by blood he is certainly family and so as there are followers of this blog who share his name he to shall be achnolaged with a ship. Of Coarse he is not the only one who is being represented; so too is Paul aka Pauls bods, his works were what drew me into making this blog and I must say his kindness and help have always warmed my heart, his work is increadible and must be seen. and paul from the south island who has recently done some tanks for his last works of 2012, he is on the same side of NZ as me but the wrong island so I have not met him, nor anyother kiwi model bloggers.

Onto the ship then. HMS Paul is not only a third rate boat of the line like her counterparts, HMS Peter and HMS Anne, Paul is a transport ship able to carry up to 20 soldiers or marines and their cargo or a good amount of goods, which makes her incredibly useful. yet for all her cargo carrying capabilities HMS Paul has to concede in others, she is normally unarmed but can carry up to 4 guns like the others at the expense of hold space for ammunition. also as a transport he is designed and built differently, for the extra weight she carries she has 2 large square sails instead of one and a triangular one which reduces manoeuvrability, also she has a much larger rudder but this makes the tillers job a bit harder as even with all the cogs and pulleys he still needs to put his back into it.

HMS Paul has 3 main functions;

1. to carry and/or troops cargo up rivers and along the coasts of Oronegro, 
2. to conduct beach landings/ assaults i.e. getting troops from ships onto the shore 
3. and finally to aid in establishing either military and or civilian positions along river banks and coast lines. to this end she must sometimes become a fishing vessel.

and now onto the pics

3 third rate boats of the line sail on new seas, now a desk instead of the table behind the desk... because the table is covered in hobby equipment.

the strange looking but strong bow covered in the name of vessel of which it is but a part

a view over the bow at the front sail the anchors at the side the other ships moving around HMS Paul

a look at the deck and the great big hatch that sets her apart and the tiller so similar to those on HMS Anne and HMS Peter but much harder to use.

the stern with the normal captains shed and flag. the rudder is as you can see larger and the main sail makes it hard for the captain to run into his shed

from above Paul shows off her shape

sail and bow comparison time. Paul has much more straight line speed when empty but full is similar in speed

a fanciful shot of the flotilla... these 3 will soon take on the mighty Abigail and her pirate crew

a sailor comes up from below decks, he is one of the converted Robin hood figures I have mentioned and although he is done many of his friends have still some way to go... one appears in need of a line thrown to him

CAPTAIN WE APPEAR TO BE UNDER ATTACK FROM SOME GIANT SEE MONSTER

 anyway that is the HMS Paul, I hope you have enjoyed my work this year and I hope to continue to my work for many years to come. so early next year expect to see those sailors and pirates and then some true blue Oronegrean infantry... plenty to see, plenty to do I wish you all a Happy, Healthy and Hobby Filled new year :-D!!!!!!!!! 
 

street advertising columns (very good scenary bits)

Well this Tutorial came about after a chat conversation with Mickey_Mouse (Michael) on Benno's forums chat feature, more of you should use it ;-). He gave me all the pictures and information I could ever need to make one of these and every step of the way we were in communication keeping track of how well it was going and what I was doing.

Anyway here is the tutorial on How to make some Street advertising columns... I seem to be the tutorial man right now eh?

YOU WILL NEED

• the cardboard tube from some toilet paper 
• cereal box cardboard
• normal paper
• PVA glue
• Foam craft balls (optional)
• filler (optional)
• thread (optional)
• twine (optional)
• thick card
• coins or a compass
• printer or some other way to get the advertisement
• tape
• scissors and/or a craft knife

Step one; basic column

getting the tubes

The first step is really simple get your tube and cut vertically down the side. next cut horizontally across to create some strips, these can be between 2 and 3 cm wide depending on how tall you want your columns, now put your finger inside the tube and use it to keep one end in place. Then Twist the tube up until it becomes a very thin column. tape the other end to the column to keep it in place. secure with some PVA. then get some paper and wrap it around the columns, with glue on the inner side, wrap it as tight as possible. there the basic bit is done.

basic columns

the strip of paper I recommend you use around half the length shown

 







Step two; the ends

coin size test

now there are 2 ways to get the ends one get some coins and find out how big you want your ends to be that way and then draw around them onto some thick card and cut that out or get a measurement and then use a compass to transfer that onto the card. remember one should be wider than the other as that one is the base. cut out the thick card and glue the ends on, simple enough.

just a size test (yes I was making these at the same time as the Abigail

Step three; top, detail, paint and decorate

basic colour applied

the tops are put on top of the card, there are many types of top here I shall explain just 2, a conical shape and a dome,  I shall also explain how to do some minor details before you paint and decorate.
The dome top is made from half a foam craft ball, these are commonly found in cheap "dollar stores" or in craft places, essentially just Styrofoam balls they might be easy to get or not depending on where you are. the ball is cut in half and glued on top and then PVA is "painted" on top to harden it. the conical shape is made by staking smaller and smaller circles of thin card and then putting filler on top, then just sand and add some PVA.

the other half of the foam ball

The details are easy also, some thread wrapped  repeatedly around the top and bottom of the tube or just some thicker twine or string wrapped around once... glue in place. Then undercoat black and then begin to paint. I did just plain black one one and a more pretty colour scheme on the other but still pretty basic. Then print off some advertising or use some decals, these are then put on the columns. and there you have it!!!!!

one down one to go

the finished product

can you read the advertisement?