Judge Minty - charity for Judge Dredd.....

Dags of Frothers Unite fame has organised a great charity miniature that every home should own.....please give generously as they are a worthy bunch of causes...I spoke to Dags today at Fiasco and it is going really well.......more bits are being sculpted as we speak so the more we raise, the more mini goodness is available!

 Who needs Dredd when you can have Judge Minty?

This year’s Charity mini is a sculpt of the eponymous hero of the forthcoming Fan Film Judge Minty sculpted by Kev White of Hasslefree Miniatures based on the character written by John Wagner that introduced The Long Walk in 1980.

There will be approximately 400 Judge Mintys cast – 200 in Metal and 200 in Trollcast.......

So here’s the sculpt……

As always, there are numerous people that deserve huge thanks for getting this project off the ground….

The cast and crew of Judge Minty, in particular, Steven Sterlacchini, Steve Green, Daniel Carey-George and, Minty himself, Edmund Dehn – without them it would not be happening.

Matt Sprange from Mongoose Publishing and the guys at Rebellion for allowing us to infringe on Mongoose’s license and 2000AD’s IP. Again, without Matt’s help this would not be happening.

Kev White for the sculpting (and Sally for letting him do it!)

Pete Brown and Ed Fortae for the casting

Ian ‘Geronimo’ Brumby for the bases

So how do you get your Judge Minty mini?

Easy…. Make a donation to one or both of the Just Giving Sites:

MS Society - http://www.justgiving.com/CharityMinty1

Cancer Research - http://www.justgiving.com/CharityMinty2

Then, and this is the important bit because it’s changed from past years, send an e-mail to charitymini AT gmail DOT com with;

1. Your Name

2. The address you want the mini sent to

3. Your Just Giving reference number

4. Your preference as to Metal or Trollcast or both

You won’t get an instant reply but will get an e-mail informing you of dispatch

There is no minimum donation per se. I've always hated telling people what they should give; it should be what you can afford but if you would like multiple copies I'd suggest £15 per mini – all money is going to the charity of your choice. 

However, to shamelessly cash in on the Kickstarter fever that appears to be gripping most at the moment, the more you donate, the more you’ll get…. The first extra will be an exclusive Frothcity 1 base designed and cast by Ian (Fenris Games) Brumby (assuming he’s still alive and hasn't died of pleurisy!) that will go to everyone donating £25 or more. There’ll be more, hopefully to follow...

Postage is being covered by a mystery Frother but, especially if you’re outside the UK, take that into account when making your donation and add in a little extra J

When will you get your miniatures?

Even though we’re a bit more organised than usual these things take time especially as everyone is doing this in their spare time around their usual work. 

Firstly Grey Matter will be moulding and casting a few in resin. Then he'll be off to Pete for Master moulding & master casting. Those masters are then shipped off to Ed in the States. Production moulding and casting and return shipping all takes time especially with the holiday season approaching. Hopefully they’ll be going out in late February.

Lastly, a huge thank you to you guys; without your generosity we’d never be able to continue.

Quick update. (22nd Feb 2013) ..... Jon has received the cast minis......

Not strictly fantasy.......

Well, actually not fantasy at all....... I picked up a bunch of miscellaneous lead the other week off evil bay because it included some GHQ 'Guardsmen 25s' - never heard of or seen them before so I was intrigued. Very nice figures from the 80s possibly? Haven't researched them yet...Fusiliers and Scots Troopers...more info when I have it. New Hope Design were an English company I followed avidly in the 70s and 80s based up in Northumberland - lots of 54mm and a few 25mm....they imported/produced the incredible 1/285 US GHQ military models.

  

Postscript on this as I had an answer off GHQ in the US to my general query;

The Guardsmen were 20mm Napoleonic figures that GHQ produced a long time ago.  Unfortunately they are ancient history at this point (probably about 40 years old), and we don't have any information easily available to give you.  If you do a Google search for things like "GHQ Guardsmen 20", you will find that there are some people who have made scans of our old product listing for them, pictures of the packaging, etc.

So I did another search having found literally nothing on 'Guardsmen 25mm' - I came across this blog;

http://theoldmetaldetector.blogspot.co.uk/

Search on GHQ or check his labels. Brilliant pyramid of the hobby....you start at the top and it just gets better. Pics below with permission but check the site for more!

Also check out http://unfashionablyshiny.blogspot.co.uk/ for more old school goodness.

We are looking at February 1976 at the latest for these minis....Jeez, I was 14 at that point...just discovered Airfix magazine and possibly Military Modelling at some point later that year.....

Move on in the time machine.......................

I've also been working on some German AFVs for some while and have even started applying paint....then I decided to work on a resin French Char 2C...a real monster of a tank and worth chasing around t'internet for pics of the real thing. Black Tree Design for the Tiger Tank and SDKFZ 250... not sure of which version if truth be known but it's for an ongoing Ahnenerbe project so will have other bits added at some point. (Actually the 251/C courtesy of Deckarudo who also pointed out I'd mis-named the Char 2C as a 2B....doh!) The Tiger is all metal...not resin......The Char 2C was off Crouchie who sold his company to Warlord Games - they have a version of this so don't know if this was his original WIP? He only had a handful cast up. Nothing finished of course but ready for paint at some point in the not so distant future.....

Finally 4 gladiator types...well, 3 and a senator of some sort.....been in the paint queue for 4 years at least........still more work to do but thought this might give me the impetus to finish them!

'All About Wargames' by Jack Scruby

Only a quick post as I just found these old old pages on t'internet. Uploaded onto Scribd.com by Thor Sheil. He has some amazing looking stuff on his Scribd profile....

Download the pdf here.

Dragontooth - City of Magic

In the 70s and early 80s Tom Loback of Dragontooth Inc (also known as Tom Loback General Artworks) released a series of diorama / playset pieces under the title 'The City of Magic'.  They seem to have been released as both boxed sets and shrink wrap although I don't know how the vacform pieces would have been supplied woth the shrink wrap sets - if indeed they were? Maybe the boxed sets were the collector's editions? If you know please pass the info on! These days Tom is sculpting wooden sculptures on the banks of the Hudson river.....

001  The Magic Shop
002  The Armory
003  Ye Blind Cyclops Inn
004  Tomb of the Dwarf King
005  King Niflung's Throne Hall

Today we have 'Ye Blind Cyclops Inn'.............

  

  

If anyone happens to come across one of these please think of me as I only have the first 2 in the series and would love to get the others......

The Courier Interviews Glenn Kidd - December 1980

Taken from Volume 1, No.4 of the Courier magazine. An interview with the then President of Ral Partha, Glenn Kidd. Quite amusing to look at it with the hindsight of 32 years later.....

Photo by Desmond

Courier - Tell me Glenn, what aspect of the hobby interests you the most?

Glenn - The comradeship of the hobby-most of the close friends I have now I've met through the hobby. I've developed many years of friendship with 20 or 30 different people I've met in the hobby .

Courier - What do you like least about the hobby?

Glenn - I dislike the people who take the hobby too seriously to the point of when they loose they get all upset. I dislike the petty bickering . I think as a hobby, it should be fun. I hate to see people "cry" and argue that this rule is not "real" or isn't " fair". I like to play wargames , I like to have a good time, I like to laugh . I don't like being very intense about it.

Courier - If there was anything you could change about the hobby, what would it be?

Glenn - Well , I think I would change the things I just  mentioned . I would try to make the people realize it was just fun. I'd try and make them realize that just because they lost a battle or a game the world isn't ending . They' re only cardboard counters or lead figures and it doesn't really matter.

Courier - Do you think Americans, Canadians or Europeans are the most serious about the hobby?

Glenn - I'm not qualified to answer that. If I were guessing I would say the English are the most serious about the hobby. I think the Americans are the most paranoid about the hobby.

Courier - How did you start your company Glenn?

Glenn - Well , four years ago, Tom Meier, myself and a fella by the name of Rich Smethurst got together, and put up a certain amount of money-we found it wasn 't enough so we got three other people to join us: Marc Rubin, Jack Hesselbrock and Chuck Crain. After we bought all our equipment, we found we had a very small amount of operating capital , so we ran the company out of my basement for a year and a half.

Courier - How high a price do you think wargamers will pay for a 25mm figure?

Glenn - Well , I think right now the price is about 50<): .With continuing inflation it 's going to go higher and higher, I think it's all wrong. In 1970 I paid about 20<): or a quarter a piece and that seemed a bit on the high side then but people are paying 50<): now. I have no doubt that the price will eventually go to 75<): or even a dollar and 75Q: or a dollar will only be worth 50<): then, so I think it's all relative .

Courier - Do you think the trend is turning towards using 15mm figures exclusively?

Glenn - Not exclusively . I think the trend will go more and more towards 15mm's because of the cost. But there are some miniatures games where you don' t need hundreds of figures and 25mm's are quite suitable . There are a lot of people who don't want to try to paint 15mm's who are very happy with 25mm' s. I think there ' ll be a place for a long time for 25mm' s.

Courier - What new historical lines will you be producing and when do you plan to release them?

Glenn - Well we' re doing a complete Renaissance line, that's armies of the 1500' s, right now. We' re planning on doing 100 different figures of that line. We've got a 25mm Napoleonic line that's on hold right now and we' ll be finishing that up within the next few months . It will consist of the armies that fought at Waterloo; the Prussians, the French, the British and the British allies . We' re considering doing a 15mm line next winter and we've haven 't decided as yet what it will be . It might be a 15mm Ancients line, it might be a 15mm Musket and Pike and it might be both . We' re just researching the matter now.

Courier - Would you ever consider doing a Napoleon-in-Egypt line?

Glenn - I don't think so. We might consider adding it on to the 15mm Napoleonic line we have have now, but it seems a bit obscure. I don' t think there' s a really big market for that .

Courier - What set of Historical rules has made the most impact on the hobby?

Glenn - Wargamers' Research Ancient Rules.

Courier - Why, because it's the most popular?

Glenn - It's the most popular and they were probably the first out that everybody accepted.

Courier - How popular in general do you think wargaming will become in the United States?

Glenn - It's becoming more and more accepted every day. I doubt it will ever be on the level of bowling, tennis or golf but I think it 's coming of age. Nineteen years ago it was very rare that you ever heard of anybody that gamed. Now you can read about it in newspapers, magazines , it 's more open. It's still rare but not so rare that you' ll never hear about it.

Courier - What do you think about women in wargaming?

Glenn - The same thing I think of women in anything. If they want to do it fine .

Courier - Do you think wargaming can ever be viewed as an art form?

Glenn - No .

Courier - Even when you consider all the creativity in figure painting?

Glenn - That's not wargaming. The painting of figures is definitely an art form . The game itself is just a game by definition and I don't think a game can ever be viewed as an art from .

Courier - Do you think the hobby has grown in the last few years?

Glenn - Oh it has grown enormously, probably in the neighborhood of 500 to 1,000% in the last few years .

Courier - What do you think was the most significant reason for this growth?

Glenn - Fantasy . The emergence of fantasy wargaming and role playing .

Courier - Then obviously you don't think fantasy is just a fad that will die out .

Glenn - No. It's too open ended . Fantasy is wherever your imagination will take you . It might cool off but I don 't think it's a fad . It seems like it 's growing in geometric proportions and I don' t know how long it will keep up . I think fantasy is here to stay .

Courier - Thank you Glenn, I appreciate your comments