My Own Little Corner of the Desert

Last week I ordered some 25mm square desert bases for my Wild West figures from Dragon Forge Design, and they arrived today. I had contacted the maker to see if he could mix and match from a couple different series, but he said he wasn’t able to do so since he makes entire sets at a time, which I had anticipated. I’ll order a different set if I ever buy more Wild West minis.

The sculpting is very detailed, and the resin and casting seem to be high quality, with no bubbles, cracks, or striations. There was some heavy flashing on a couple pieces, but it came off cleanly with an hobby knife. I didn’t really want the skull and bones on the bases, so I might grind them off with the Un-Dremel and cover the damage with gravel or grass, since it seems a little too “fantasy” for historical minis.

I drilled a hole for the figure I removed from its base, and added some Gale Force 9 sand to fill in the gaps around his foot and add some extra texture variation. I’ll prime the figure and base next weekend, though I just realized I forgot to wash the resin, sigh.

Death by Inches

I am starting this blog to track my progress as I get into the world of miniature wargames, and the game Warmachine in particular. I have dabbled with the hobby over the years, and have painted miniature figures off and on since the late 1980s for roleplaying games, but have always resisted the urge to get into a full-on hobby miniatures game until now.

In addition to Warmachine, I also play Firestorm Armada from Spartan Games, and am interested in getting into playing Wild West miniatures skirmish games. In point of fact, I might even be interested in creating a Wild West rules set just for the fun of it. I recently purchased a small supply of nine Wild West figures from Artizan and Foundry, two UK companies with a wholeheartedly catholic (with a small “c”) approach to miniatures production. The sculpts aren’t as high-quality as, say Privateer Press or Games Workshop, but they look to be fun to paint. I also want to try minis from Knuckleduster here in the US, but so far the Banditos are the only sculpts that excite me.