RIVER PROGRESS

 I just need to add the gloss varnish to the water, and then add the flock promised from The Last Valley, and it's finished.

The reeds are pieces of doormat dipped in Citadel Ork flesh contrast paint,
then drybrushed. I painted in a few lily leaves as well.

Next project will hopefully be this tower from White Dwarf 53 , which I aim to have ready by September, the 40th anniversary of the Thistlewood battle in WD45.

THE RIVER TEST

I'm just trying out a sample stretch of river. I'm looking to recreate a slow flowing English lowland river, so was looking for a browny green effect ( notto represent all the sewage being pumped into it😡 but I daresay it could).

A quick test piece with a wood next to it to give me an idea of what the banks will look like when flocked.

MORE VILLAGERS MILLING ABOUT

 Progress on the mill so far, painting has commenced. I'm not sure about the wood lining the river bank which was washed with Agrax Earthshade....it might look better when everything else is finished.

I managed to get a few more villagers and personalities done as well.

Dickon of Barnsley (one of Robin's original band who dies at the end of the second episode).

Tom the Fletcher (Dickon's friend who also dies at Castle Belleme).

Adam the Carter, one of the contestants at the competition for the Silver Arrow.

Hedger of Castleton (Robin in disguise).

John Barley, another competitor. These Conquest Games figures look just like the characters on the screen, so I've tried to copy the colour scheme they are wearing.

A random villager.

Another peasant, Foundry miniatures.

I'm on a bit of a roll at the moment, although the paint on the pallet is drying quickly in the warm weather.

THE BARON DE BELLEME

 I've been rising at sparrows to try and get painting done first thing, and I've managed to knock out a few figures for my Robin of Sherwood project.

The Baron de Belleme is the devil worshipping antagonist in the first series of Robin of Sherwood, and he is attended by a couple of slinky witches ( one of the perks of the job).

The Baron de Belleme by Conquest Games.

Witch one, who comes to a sticky end in a later episode.

Witch 2, Lilith (original eh?), who later enchants Robin and resurrects the dead baron.

a bewitched Little John as servant of the Baron

a random villager, very old Citadel model, much smaller than modern figures, he'll do as a teenager.

A pig rustler... possibly 1st Corps figures, but I cant remember.

A Foundry peasant.

An abject groveller, no doubt a victim of Gisburne or the sherriff (Midlam Minaitures?)

I'll add flock to them all when I have a big enough batch to make it worth while getting the flock pots out.

I'm enjoying painting random figures, doing the skintones first in batches of 4, and then each moidel individually. I can get a couple a day finished.

The mill and river project is progressing, but I'm tring to get hold of flock dfrom The Last Valley who don't answer their messages sadly.

The mill so far.

RIVER SECTIONS UNDERWAY

 I cracked open my only pack of DAS clay yesterday morning, and finally started making some river sections for my Robin of Sherwood project. Needless to say I didn't have enough, but another 3 packs are arriving today, so I should be able to finish the bank's, before starting adding texture and details. 

The sections are jigsawed out of 3mm MDF. I aim to make a section with a built in watermill . The resin mill building is on the far right, but I'll be changing the roof to a thatched affair with either DAS or milliput.

Having an hour spare, due to DAS shortages, I dusted off some primed figures and started on some flesh tones.

A few villagers, and the Baron de Belleme plus servants.

 With luck, I'll crack on with these this morning before everyone else gets up .

METAL MAYHEM

 I took my middle son Arthur to see his favourite band play in Cardiff last night. With some trepidation as he's autistic with very high anxiety and not great in crowds, but I was counting on his passion for the band winning through, and it did.

Sabaton provided an excellent show, complete with flamethrowers, blizzards and a tank on stage, not to mention miniature triplane!

Terrible picture as I'm useless with phones, and tbh and rather concentrate on the band.

For me though, the highlight was the first support band Lordi, and I'm so glad we arrived early enough to see them.

I'd obviously heard of them before, through their Eurovision win, but I'd never heard their music before and it was excellent... along with their amazing costumes it really took me back to my early metal days in the 80s, and is just the kind of thing to listen to when painting Oldhammer figures.

Again a bad photo, but you can just make out the wings on the front man.

Here's a better picture lifted off the net.

This was the first metal gig I've been to for about 10 years, and it was interesting to see how different it was to those I remembered.

There was a much wider range of age in the audience, from 10 year olds to 70 odd. It was also interesting to note that I would say only about half had the full metal uniform of leather/denim , patches and big hair... The rest ( like me)  were just in non aligned garb. Whether this is just a reflection on the broad popularity of the band, or a sign of the times where there is no need to proclaim your devotion to one type of music, I don't know. There was also hardly any headbanging, which is probably a good thing, but I was surprised to see it's absence. Also, it was nowhere near as loud as I was expecting....

LOYAL HALF ELVES (MK2)

 Many moons ago, I finished some elves for Thistlewood (here) Since then of course I've acquired a good deal of the original figures used by Joe Dever, and among them were 15 Minifigs elves.

The army list for Thistlewood states 20 Loyal Half Elves are needed, so I knocked up another 5 ( plus leader, because I had him).

Just need to give them a gloss varnish and add the filler for the bases.