Red Republic Games Giveaway Winner

Last of the original giveaways but no means least was for a unpainted copy of the figure shown from Red Republic Games.  Arena Rex will be a gladiatorial combat game that has one foot in history with the other leaning on fantasy and allows far more scope than keeping it factual. So far (I am glad to say) no sign of magic has been raised so I do not expect it to become a factor of the game.

So who has won the figure, well that would be Derek who runs the blog Lead and Paint. Looking at some of his work I can't wait to see what he does with this figure. Well done Derek and I hope you love the figure as much as I do.

So all the current giveaways have ended and a 24 hour break is now in place. Again many thanks to all the companies that have supported me in this venture and I hope that I have helped bring to attention of other gamers companies and a fruitful relationship for all will develop.

Sniper Reminders Giveaway WINNER

OK another day another winner, this time it's for a pair of my painted Sniper Reminders. The pair do not have to be the ones pictured above as I will send a series of pictures of painted figures and one lucky lad will get to pick which ones he wants.

He you ask? Yep, he as only boys went for this one and that lucky boy is Styz who has a shed load of blogs but I will highlight Dice of Legends but take a lot at all of them as the man has skills.

So again, thanks for joining in to all that gave it a go. Were running to the end of the giveaway with only one more prize to be awarded this week but by no means least as the Red Republic Games resin figure is excellent. With just over two weeks to go and the next stretch goal less than $3k away it's looking good. Having breached the $75K mark all backers of the $85 Ludas Magnus level and above will get a free figure. So taking the $85 level you get as standard five figures so you get six figures as it stands which is enough to fight the three per side battles recommended in the video. Of course you can add yet more to the mix if you want. Time though is running out, sure you have 16 days to get into the kickstarter but less than 24 for the giveaway. So get in quick if you want to win.

Sunday will see the Baccus giveaway started and this will run for 7 days so it's still all happening. I also have passed 100K on this blog at some point today so maybe I need to do a giveaway? Er maybe not  ;-)

Rosemary & Co Giveaway Winners

It's another day so it must be another give away, today it's the very well thought of Rosemary & Co brushes. This giveaway attracted just one less entrants than the £20 giveaway which proves just how well thought of these brushes are. Again I bring your attention to the Series 33 Kolinsky Sable brushes, these are far superior for figure painting than any other brush of all their ranges. The sable is able to handle the rough surfaces of our figures (consider brushes are made for use on paper!) and these are the real deal. That is pure Kolinsky sable, many a brush that says they are Kolinsky are in fact just sable. Some that state they are sable end up being a blended brush. How can you tell? Well for a start Kolinsky is a red brown colour when you buy it. When you throw it away totally worn out, the bristles are still red/brown. Those that are a lighter brown, well they simply aren't. They are at best sable dyed the required colour. Kolinsky comes in grades so you can be buying Kolinsky but end up with a poor quality brush either because of low grade hair or poor finish but most often a mix of the two. Rosemary & Co.'s reputation rests on maintaining high standards of bristle, product and service. As such we as users get a brush that has many man hours of life in the brush. Sure if you misuse it your brush will have a limited life but I am glad to say that whilst I am no brush slayer I am not the kindest sole when it comes to brushes but I am getting hundreds of hours per brush.

So after all that, who has won? First up is Michael. Unfortunately Michael does not have a blog and just goes by this name as a follower. I have left a comment in response to his so hopefully will get a response soon. The second winner was Tim who does have a blog called Fidus et Audax and has won a giveaway once before when I painted up some 20mm Naps for him. Well Tim, it's your turn to do the painting hope you don't mind.

If both of you can get in touch at ian   _  willey       at   ignore this bit  hotmail   ignore this bit    dot    com


Fell free to leave the gaps in, though it won't get to me. Drop me a line not forgetting it's underscore and not a tired dash having a rest, give me your address and I can get these on the way soon.

After this giveaway it's the 3D sniper reminders followed by the Arena Rex model and then after a days break I will start up the Baccus French Napoleonic giveaway.

On the subject of the Arena Rex figure I have received one as a Birthday Present from them and I have to say it's so very excellent. If you are not in for this one yet then get your skates on, the detail is increasable and just shows what can be achieved with great sculpting and excellent casting. The flash is next to nothing and I have yet to see any mould lines. Top marks indeed.

£20 Giveaway The Winner, can there only be one?

Anyone remember this colourful chap? Oh those were the days, well today I can give someone a bit of what he has, except this will not be BBC funny money (get it? Comedy Character? Funny Money? grief  not sure why I bother lol)

Anyway, by the far the most popular give away as it seems we all can spot a bargin, I will present you with the winner, this is none other than M R Lee from Mr Lee's Painting Emporium. Well done Sir, check the previous post for my e-mail address. All you need to do is get in touch, tell me the company you want me to throw a bit of money at (well worth checking if they are willing to take money off dodgy geezers) and I will sort it out. Normally I would suggest a merchant in your own country but the choice is yours.

I Have selected a second name so if I don't get a response within a week I will offer the prize to the second placed person. However if it is taken up I will give a second place prize of £10 to that person but will not be able to sort that prize out till the end of the month.

So we do have the chance of two winners after all  ;-)

BUT it does not stop there, Peter from Baccus the kind man that he is has offered three lucky winners 25% off their purchase of the soon to be released French Napoleonic revised and new lines. Anyone who knows Baccus will be aware that not only have they been working on all new figures for new periods but whole ranges are getting a complete overall. The most recent has been the Austrian Napoleonic range and now it's the French who are getting the treatment. The first releases to the range will hopefully be at Salute and it is advisable if you want any of the new castings to order before the day. That or take a sleeping bag as I suspect these will be the first items Baccus will run out of on the day. I can't make Salute but plan to be ordering plenty of the French as soon as I have the full details.

We could not offer this giveaway before (The give away was planned to be seven days) as it was not clear that all parts would be ready in time and Salute is a major undertaking and so Peter finding time to help me out is very nice indeed. So the plan is to run the rest of the giveaways through to Saturday and Sunday will see this giveaway launched with seven days to put your name down.

Don't forget the last three current giveaways are still live so you can still enter any or all of them. Thanks again for all who have entered in these giveaways and of course to all the companies that have backed my two blogs.

3D Sniper Giveaway the WINNERS.

OK we have two winners as promised, and they have interesting comparisons. Both are bloggers and whilst I combined the list of entrants I have a winner from each of my blogs even though statistically Wall Advantage had the best chance of supplying the winners with more entrants. So who are the lucky two?

First name rolled was Ray Rousell owner of Don't Throw a 1 and part of the Battleaxe Painting Service. For some reason the lucky barstool has a reputation for winning and winning and winning just about everything (if one discounts games) so get in touch mate and I will get a set on the way.

Second person out could not be more different, for a start he has a reputation for being a nice guy, yes I am talking about the one and only Curtis Brooks who runs the rather excellent and very regular ASL blog Whine and Cheese ASL in Wisconson. 

So if both are still talking to me could you please send me an e-mail (or Gamesquad PM) with your address I will get these sorted out and in the post to you as soon as possible (possibly will be the weekend). To get in touch please send to

ian underscore (that's shift and the dash) willey hat without the H hotmail dot com

I am sure you know how to break that out of code into a real e-mail, if not then just leave a comment and I will get back to you in a better way.

Thanks to all who took part and remember you still have time to join in with any of the other giveaways.

Leven Miniatures Fachwerkhaus (German Half Timbered House)

I received these recently from Levin as part of an order I placed and wanted to get them painted up as quickly as possible. Well I managed to get two of the six I had ordered painted up so I thought I would share the results with you.

Two different buildings make up the range so far, but I hope that a few more will be released. The castings were typically crisp with only a few resin beads needing to be poked with a scalpel (they ping off), clean up time per model was about five to ten minutes tops. Then they got the soapy water and toothbrush (wife's) workout. The models start out shiny but after a good cleaning they are dull, then a quick spray of white primer and on with the show.

In the e-mail to tell me the buildings had been dispatched Mike mentioned he hoped I had some small brushes. He was not kidding, I was using the 10/0 most of the time but as the detail was so sharp it was easy to see, less easy to do well. But I found that less care doing the timber and then more care with the plaster was the way to get the best results. I dry brushed the stone parts with three different shades of grey. The roof tiles I started with German Orange and added a bit of flat red and once dry washed in some Games Workshop Agrax Earthshade, heavier on the smaller house, though I had a little more flat red in the mix for the large house.

Then it was just tidy up work, Goblin Green for the shutters as I wanted a dull colour and Black Grey for the windows with a lighter grey mostly dry brushed to try for the "it's a window honest" vibe. The small house was given a ivory wall coat and then highlighted in white whilst the larger building just was left with the ivory. The second big house will have the same treatment as the small one and the three other small ones will get something along the same kind of approach.

I had already decided I wanted to base the Leven buildings (past painted and future) but these I wanted to do so that I could use them all as a town or city dependant on what would be required. So with this in mind I mapped out bases for all six of these buildings whilst also working on ideas for the other buildings so that some of them can be included in with these. So I have glued the buildings down to the bases and will add little extras such as the home made tree on the small house base.

Each building base has one or two outer edges painted up as a road half the width of a gun or limber. So when two are placed side by side such a unit can be placed on the road, even if they have to bring a field with them.

I think these guys are looking for the best billets, through good planning I should be able to make up a fair selection of roads through the town and also make the town look different in each battle they are used in. 

The houses are placed as they will be on the bases, note that two share the same base. I wanted to be able to generate a close packed town or city look which I think I have managed to achieve though it's obvious I need to use more buildings. I have some, both painted and unpainted but I can see another order going into Leven once I have exhausted my stock. at least given the Leven prices it won't cost an arm and a leg to generate a thriving town to burn to the ground.

Not sure what would go on the blank tile, I will be adding some buildings at angles as well, I really want a random feel to come into play as well.

The base size I am using is the same size as a infantry base so a simple token can be placed to represent the unit and I know exactly what ground it will cover. 

I am looking forward on painting up the other four and the other items I received with the order but plan to finish off the 15mm ECW gun crews I have part painted and move on to some of the ECW foote I have sitting on my table. These should be off my table before the end of next week as the latest, such is the plan.

Leven Miniatures Giveaway Drawn

Thanks to everyone who entered this giveaway but most of all to Mick from Leven Miniatures for offering the prizes. I have even waited till the afternoon so no risk of being mistaken as a April Fool  :-)

Talking of fools, this is the image of the Leven mill, the one used on the giveaway was from Baccus, sorry the mistake was all mine.

Watch out for a post coming soon regarding some of the new buildings from Leven, I have been working away and should have a couple finished in the next day or so, they do look good!

So with no more messing around the two winners are Leif Eriksson and The Miniatures Man, each of you have £10 to spend on the Leven Website and I will pay postage of up to £5 so take advantage and load up your orders. Well done and enjoy, I look forward to seeing your results.

Can the winners electronically send me your names and address you can find me ian underscore willey at hotmail dot com. The underscore is the dash but with the shift pressed so should look something like 

random_name etc etc. Just leave a comment below if your struggling.

Talking of winning I won a giveaway of my own, ran by Michael across at 28mm Victorian Warfare. See below for the prize, I think my son will be rather happy with this, so thanks a lot Michael, your a gent.

Don't forget the other five giveaways are live till each has been up for seven days so feel free to join in and make a comment in the relevant giveaway. Bad luck for all those that missed out on this one but with still five to go you could yet lucky yet.