I have to admit I was pressured into coming to BOYL by my good friend Tony Yates.....he knows of my occasional social anxiety issues however knew, as I do so well, that only by jumping in feet first can I overcome them. And overcome them I did. Thank God! What a fantastic weekend I spent with like minded fellows and personalities of the hobby.
My loot from Friday on the hotel bed.
Classic artwork on display...should really have taken a better pic.
Bryan (Ansell) brought along a load of his and Kev (Adams) head and shield sculpts. Fascinating.
Impressive game on display on Sunday...
With Maria Ansell's help I was able to find a bunch of John Pickford sculpts for myself and Clam (Clamshells and Seahorses blog)....
Further below you'll see the unreleased sculpts that Maria and Marcus have found. Check out Clam's John Pickford site here. It's a real treat to have someone as passionate as Clam in the hobby.
A poor pic of one of the cabinets' zombies. There's a fair few I don't recognise amongst the old classic pre-slotta Citadel and Ral Partha et.
Kev Adams spent Saturday (and Sunday) sculpting heads for people on figures they'd brought along. He made about £250 for charity and really enjoyed himself. When I left on sunday he was chin wagging away with Bryan and Tony Ackland. Top bloke.
Quick pic of myself and Tony Ackland. The stories Tony told me about the hobby (and his love of geology) were fantastic, occasionally grim, sometimes funny and often shocking. I spent most of Friday and Saturday chatting away to him and Bryan along with Marcus and Maria.
A pic with Bryan and Tony from Friday courtesy of Mark Stevenson.
Random pics of the games. There was a real passion throughout the gathering.
Maria Ansell and my buddy tony Yates.
Tony was doing sketches throughout Saturday. He'd brought a bunch of his sculpts along as well. So many I still need to find!
Tony sketched me a Donald Trump to go along with my Bob Olley sculpt. This will take pride of place in my collection.
Various old Citadel Eternal Champion minis, lovingly painted....
An unreleased John Pickford giant demon. Clam is desperate for this piece and I can see why. Absolutely massive though.
The 3 alternative heads that Maria had found.
A lovely variant of one of the Orcling handmaidens. Bryan said there are a couple more somewhere.
Some of Bryan's shield and base designs.
3 more of tony Yates' sculpts that will hopefully be molded up at some point.
3 unreleased Mark Sims (I think) dwarves...
A couple of unreleased Squig types
Who couldn't love Orclings with chainsaws....
Unreleased Kev Adams dragon.
Unreleased Orc variant
Unreleased John Pickford pony - released with baggage in the lovely Halfling Adventurers set.
Get the Halfling set here. Everyone should have these guys in their collection!
An unreleased John Pickford Orc King on war dragon. The missing wings were a mystery until Clam sent me a link explaining everything....here.
A demon that never made it the release stage for some reason. Clam has it via an old list as DM005 Golztariusbous The Ever Turning.
Now a highlight of my weekend was joining Marcus in the hidden dungeons of the Foundry network whilst he made up a mold of some of the unreleased minis they'd found.
These pincers belong to Steve Turton, Foundry's main caster and mold maker who just celebrated 24 years in the field. They were given to him by Marcus's grandfather, Cliff Ansell, when he first started. I have to say they oozed history.
One of the old casting machines that has seen years of faithful service and probably given to birth to millions of figures! I love the lead wallpaper at the rear......
Marcus showed me how to make a metal vent in the mold and I did the one going to the hopper type at the top of the mold here.....
And the first spin.....
Marcus prepping the mould with constant interruptions from me....
A little piece of unknown 40K history.....the original unfinished greens for the Space Marine Lizard mounts.
And finally I had a request for one of my Maggie minis to be used as a head swap for a 40K miniature......the only relevant mini I had in the hotel room was the BOYL one......as you can see it wasn't really compatible. Another failed sale.
Overall a fantastic weekend that I would recommend to one and all. Lots of places to stay around the area at reasonable rates and a very friendly bunch of enthusiasts running BOYL supported by the most wonderful Ansell family.
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