First Show, New Venue, New Protocols

Posted on September 29, 2021 by Tony

So, as mentioned, we’re off to SELWG in just over two weeks in the new Lee Valley venue. It’ll be a new experience, our first show for 18 months and the first under COVID protocols. The venue’s safety guidance is here – we’ll also be providing hand sanitiser on the stand and asking you not to open boxes, or handle items more than necessary unless you wish to purchase them.

Of course we have 18 months’ worth of additional new releases to fit on the stand – trying to get stock cast up of all of this has been quite the exercise, and we’re not sure we’re going to get it all finished. Fortunately we resisted the temptation over lockdown to dive into our show stocks and use them to fulfil orders, so we’re well stocked up otherwise (although it’s all a bit dusty…). We’re not yet certain exactly what we can fit in yet, so you may have to take us as you find us…

The current stock plan is as follows:

  • Imperial Skies – full stock of fleet packs plus a selection of battleships in blisters
  • Celtos – full range of figures plus unit packs
  • Spaceships – full range of fleet packs and individual models (spaceships have been very popular this year so we wanted to bring the whole range)
  • 15mm SF – full range of individual models and figures
  • 6mm SF – army packs, selection of company packs, building packs – no individual models
  • Hammer’s Slammers – selection of 15mm and 6mm detachment packs, full range of individual models and figures
  • Squadron Commander – blister packs, no individual models
  • Small Scale Scenery – full range
  • Great War 28mm – full range
  • Magpie Miniatures – full range
  • 1/700 Coastal Forts – full range

We won’t be bringing anything from the Land Ironclads, Iron Stars or 10mm SF ranges unless pre-ordered.

If you want to be certain of getting a particular item, or require large numbers of a single item, we are as always happy to take pre-orders. You can either send us an email with your order and pay on the day, or alternatively you can place an order via the website (using the Collect in Person shipping option to avoid shipping charges) and pay in advance. We’ll be taking cash and credit cards on the day.

Posted in Shows | Comments Off on First Show, New Venue, New Protocols

Wide Brazilian Sky

Posted on September 24, 2021 by Tony

Progress is slower than we hoped on the South American Imperial Skies project, but the next of the fleets to get a makeover is the largest of the countries, Brazil. It has a total of 12 different models in the fleet, including four brand new ones, ranging from the Timbira class Torpedo Sloop at the smaller end of the scale up to the imposing Rei Andreas class battleship.

The new ships are the aforementioned Rei Andreas and Timbira, the Amazonas Light Armoured Cruiser and the Japura destroyer. The Brazilians also get a second fleet pack and a torpedo flotilla pack. Most of the ships are metal, with the exception of the resin-hulled Sao Paolo and Rei Andreas.

I’ve experimented with the painting on these, both in choice of colours and paints. Rather than the usual white or grey superstructures, black hulls etc, I’ve used muted versions of the flag colours – so green superstructures and yellow turrets. These don’t look too outlandish, and almost create a sort of camouflage scheme from above. I also decided to try painting them with Citadel Contrast paints. Over a Grey Seer spray basecoat (white was too light) I painted the hulls Basilicanum grey, the turrets Nazdreg Yellow, Militarum Green for the superstructures and Skeleton Horde for the decks. Normal paints were used to finish off the guns, masts, windows and other bits. It’s given a good enough result for the tabletop and was fairly quick, although you still have to be quite neat and avoid painting over the wrong areas.

VANFP-801 – Brazilian Fleet Pack #1 – £21.50
VANFP-802 – Brazilian Fleet Pack #2 – £21.50
VANFP-811 – Brazilian Torpedo Flotilla – £5.50

VAN-801 – Sao Paulo Class Battlecruiser – £6.50
VAN-802 – Minas Gerais Class Heavy Cruiser – £3.50
VAN-803 – Gustavo Sampaio Class Light Cruiser – £2.00
VAN-804 – Barroso Class Patrol Sloop – £0.50
VAN-805 – Pernambuco class Frigate – £1.00
VAN-806 – Júlio de Noronha class Cruiser – £3.00
VAN-807 – Tamandare class Torpedo Cruiser – £2.00
VAN-808 – Paraná class Frigate – £1.00
VAN-809 – Rei Andreas class Battleship- £8.00
VAN-810 – Japura class Destroyer – £1.50
VAN-811 – Timbira class Torpedo Sloop- £0.50
VAN-812 – Amazonas class Light Armoured Cruiser- £2.50

Next will be the Argentine fleet – all of the production moulds are in place, we just have to paint up the samples for the website. Beyond that, Uruguay is looking good, there are a pair of rather cool looking pre-production battlecruisers on my painting desk…

Posted in Aeronef, Imperial Skies, New Releases | 1 Comment

Fort Week – Scilly Season

Posted on September 18, 2021 by Tony

Dammit … this post was scheduled for Thursday but didn’t appear due to a technical glitch (I’m not sure why, and probably never will be). So ignore the bit about penultimate, as it’s appearing out of sequence !

Our penultimate offering in this week of historical fortifications is Star Castle, built in 1593 on the island of St Mary’s for the defence of the Scilly Isles. It was built in response to the armada and fears of another Spanish invasion. The Isles are an archipelago of 145 islands and islets off the coast of Cornwall, with only the largest five being inhabited. They are the southernmost parts of the UK. The castle is in the shape of an eight-pointed star with a central garrison building. Later it was garrisoned by troops from the Corps of Invalids.

The castle is now a four-star hotel, should you feel the urge to visit.

SSS-8172 – Star Castle – £2.00

Posted in New Releases, Small Scale Scenery | Comments Off on Fort Week – Scilly Season

Fort Week – Final Friday

Posted on September 17, 2021 by Tony

We round off Fort Week with the most modern of the new releases, Fort St Benedict in Kraków. Although now part of Poland, the fort was built by the Austro-Hungarians in the mid-19th century as part of the Kraków fortress. It takes its name from the nearby church, and is the only surviving fortress of the three built in Podgórze.

SSS-8171 – Fort St Benedict – £2.25

Posted in New Releases, Small Scale Scenery | Comments Off on Fort Week – Final Friday

Fort Week – I’ll Have Mine on Toast

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Tony

As we reach the mid-point of Fort Week, I’ve run out of alliterative titles so I’m now resorting to puns. This is Fort Paté, a Vauban fortification on an islet in the Gironde estuary in France built at the end of the 17th century. Along with Fort Médoc and the citadel of Blaye, it defended the approaches to the city of Bordeaux. It had a garrison of 20 men, but we can’t find any info’ about how many cannon it had.

SSS-8173 – Fort Paté – £2.00

Posted in New Releases, Small Scale Scenery | Comments Off on Fort Week – I’ll Have Mine on Toast

Fort Week – Tower Tuesday

Posted on September 14, 2021 by Tony

Our second offering for fort week is this collection of defensive towers from Malta. Known as the Lascaris Towers, they were built in the 17th Century by the Order of St John.

Our set consists of two small watchtowers and a larger artillery tower, of which there are several examples of both on the island. It also has the much larger Saint Agatha’s Tower, which is a bastioned watchtower painted an unusual pinkish-red colour.

SSS-8170 – Lascaris Towers – £2.00

Posted in New Releases, Small Scale Scenery | Comments Off on Fort Week – Tower Tuesday

Fort Week – Matara Monday

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Tony

Phil’s been busy lately, designing a large number of new buildings and fortifications for the Small Scale Scenery range. While I’m away on holiday we thought it would be a good time to have a Fort Week, showcasing one of his new forts and castles each day.

We’re starting with Matara Star Fort, an 18th century edifice built by the Dutch in Matara, Sri Lanka. It was built to protect the main fort at Matara from landward attacks, following a successful assault by Singhalese forces in 1762. It has a rather unusual 6-sided plan with a central building and courtyard, and mounted 12 cannon with interleaving fields of fire. It was originally known as Redoubte Van Eck after the local Dutch governer, and was handed over to the British at the end of the century without seeing action.

SSS-8174 – Matara Star Fort – £2.50

Posted in New Releases, Small Scale Scenery | 1 Comment

Holiday Time (again).

Posted on September 12, 2021 by Tony

I’m off on holiday again for a few days – in fact by the time this post is published, we should be on the road. The Brigadieress and I are taking the faithful hound down to the west country, staying in a posh glamping site near Glastonbury. Hopefully the weather will hold …

Glastonbury Tor

All orders to the end of the Thursday (ie to September 9th) have been packed and sent – I’m afraid anything else will have to wait until we get back. The site is a bit isolated, so I’m not sure what the phone reception will be like (and there’s definitely no wifi) – but hopefully I’ll be able to answer emails, just not as promptly. In the meantime, we have a small scale treat for you running through the week, starting tomorrow…

Posted in Updates and General Waffle | Comments Off on Holiday Time (again).

Laser Towers

Posted on September 10, 2021 by Tony

Recently we helped out a customer who was trying to assemble some 6mm Laser Towers, using our existing Control Tower model as a base. We thought it would be pretty easy to create a new specific laser tower, using a new resin tower model and a 15mm metal laser weapon that we already have. So here’s the result…

They’re available singly or in a pack with two laser towers and one radar tower. Other weapons or turrets could be used – if there’s anything else from our ranges you’d like instead of the laser, just drop us a line.

BP300-1006 – Laser Tower Pack – £11.00
B300-1006 – Laser Tower – £4.00
B300-1006a – Radar Tower – £4.00

Posted in 6mm SF, New Releases | 1 Comment

Return to the Front Line – SELWG 2021

Posted on September 7, 2021 by Tony

Very soon we’ll be returning to the show circuit, after an enforced absence of 18 months (our last show was Cavalier in February 2020 – about four weeks before the first lockdown. Remember that … ?). We have three shows this year – Broadside and Salute have both been relocated to the end of this year, while SELWG is making a comeback at it’s usual time, albeit in a new venue. The SELWG club have moved their event to the Lee Valley Athletics Centre in Edmonton, north-east London, which promises to be a much better venue with improved access and lots more parking.

We’re still working out how the stand will look – we have 18 months’ worth of new releases to cram on there somewhere, which probably means some older items will have to be dropped, and of course we have the modern-day issues of COVID safety to factor in. It’ll be a good practice run for Salute in early November!

Posted in Shows | 3 Comments