Trash Terrain: The Mining Contraption

Flanked by his hastily hired bodyguards, Merrick Mass-Driver negotiates the sale of the mining contraption to a less than convinced local Forgemaster.

I kept on seeing one post after another online where someone had chanced upon something in a charity shop or pound store, then retreated with said discovery to their hobby lair and proceeded to transform it into something that was frankly amazing; and so I decided to keep my eyes open for a chance to do the same.

Far Corfe: Spellcrow Privvy

Lenny the Looter legs it with the last toilet roll, moments before the gangers charging for the use of the convenience realise the enormity of his crime...

Spellcrow are one of those pretty new companies that have sprung up on the continent recently and are already producing a range of minis with a character all of their own, both in terms of sci-fi and fantasy, well worth a look.

Recently they ran a Facebook competition to win one of a limited number of resin privys, asking those entering to post something amusing in relation to outhouses in order to win, and as always, I rose to the occasion, calling on a lifetime's experience of toilet humor.

Far Corfe: Rubber Ronny the Sewage Solutions Specialist

Rubber Ronny: Here to read your meter...

I was lucky enough to get into Games Workshops oeuvre right at the start of the 90's, a point where things like Hero Quest and Space Crusade were propelling its mainstream popularity to new heights and the resulting creative energy meant everything they came out with seemed to be gold.

But at the same time they were still selling off a lot of their older stuff, the things like Talisman, that were more traditional RPG-related fare, and so tended to get pushed to the periphery in their stores, so you could still pick up things like the Talisman Timescape minis for a reasonable price.

YouTube: Luke's Affordable Painting Service

I seem to have a habit of wandering away from painting and modelling every couple of years and then being spurred on to return by something that reminds me of how much I used to get out of the hobby (and how much stuff I hoarded in a cupboard back when I had no kids and money, as opposed to the opposite).

Every time I do so, it seems that I'm ready to learn something new and step it up a level, so when a friend bought the Descent board game and suggested that I paint the miniatures, I was back at it and soon happened upon the YouTube videos posted by amiable northern bloke Luke Fellows on the channel for his Luke's APS (Affordable Painting Service) business.

Aside from his commercial venture, Luke shares so many fundamentally sound tips for painting and modelling that it's impossible not to learn something useful, but it's his money-saving ideas and knowledge of the materials that go into products such as washes and paints that I really wanted to share.