Purchasing another part 1 of a partwork

That time of year again, when a Games Workshop partwork starts. I've bought a few of these over the years as they're a fun way to get some really cheap models and sometimes other things like paint. I've assembled a small Space Marine squad off previous partworks.

This year it's olde worlde Warhammer getting the partwork treatment, with some pieces from the 'Spearhead' sets attached every week. 

I don't know much about "Spearhead" as a game concept. They are basically small complete armies that you can use for combat games. 

I bought this because the figures on the front included two skaven figures. I know the skaven are meant to be plague-ridden giant rats, but I have a soft spot for them.

The figures are push-fit meaning no glue is necessary, although I can't imagine getting the pieces off the sprue without a set of clippers. Despite being push-fit, the figures were very detailed. 

The two skaven figures are a 'Grey seer', which is a skaven priest-shaman, and a 'warlock engineer' who comes with a telescope and is leaning on a rudimentary musket.

The grey seer is standing on a ruined plague bell, with rats emerging from it. Ordinary rats often join in with skaven attacks.

The engineer with the wonky eye-glass is probably my favourite figure. It must act more like a periscope than a telescope.

The other main figure is a 'Lord Veritant' who comes with a small, vicious pet called a 'gryphcrow'. It's a small gryphon. 

I found the Lord Veritant harder to put together than the skaven figures. The flaming brazier piece was painful, as the two halves had sharp points on them. Those are unhelpful in a push-fit model.

The Lord Veritant is one of the 'Stormcast Eternals' who descend from heaven to rid the world of evil creatures like the skaven. I like the gryph-crow, but am less keen on the vanquishing angels. Team skaven for me.

Having both figures and some dice in the first pack means that the purchaser can start playing micro combat games straight away. (If they have time or inclination. Truthfully, I have neither.)

I tend to only get the first part of a partwork like this because it tends to be the most bargainous issue. Although, according to the back of the packet, you can get three rat ogres attached to part 2, which is more expensive than part 1, but cheaper than buying the figures normally. I could add a rat ogre to my skaven Blood Bowl team, so I could maybe give one a makeover and fashion him some Blood Bowl armour.

Boostin' the rosters - a Blood Bowl update

A while back I bought a couple of Blood Bowl star players, and with a possible debut for my 'necromantic horrors' team this month, I've gone on and built these characters. 

So say hello to wicked werewolf, Wilhelm Chaney, and giant lizard player, Anqi Panqi. 

Anqi is a fearsome-looking dude in a dinosaur skull helmet. He was a fun build and will probably be a pain to paint.

Wilhelm is a very dynamic sculpt. I found affixing his tail difficult and I suspect it may come off if he gets knocked over in a game.

I do like how Wilhelm's stats include how many balls he's buried.

Meanwhile, Anqi keeps getting in trouble for saying stuff in post-match interviews. Probably lewd stuff if his awards for innuendos are any indication. But, then his name is Anqi Panqi, so what else could we really expect?

These resin models require superglue and are fiddly, resulting in a condition I call "superglue fingers". I'm hoping the coating will wear off by match day!

Space Marine squad

Last week Cathy came back from town with a gift for me - issue 1 of a new Games Workshop "Warhammer 40,000" partwork that included a couple of models to build. 

I have a habit of buying the cheap first issue of these partworks. The subsequent issues are always more expensive and they mount up way too fast. But the first issues are decent value. This one came with a Space Marine captain and a big monster called a Tyranid for him to fight. 

Its an impressive figure. He has a sweeping cloak and is set on a moulded base.

Combined with the other Space Marines I've acquired (mainly from other partworks), I've got the makings of a little squad.

Now the big question is, what colours do I paint them? Do I create my own 'chapter' or go for a more traditional colour scheme?

The Tyranid meanwhile has joined my pile of shame...

Another "fantasy" game? Are you ready to rumble (slam)!

It was my birthday this week and this arrived through the post courtesy of my man, Connor. It looks like it could be a lot of fun...

The two wrestling teams in the box are humans, halflings and an ogre versus orcs, goblins and a troll. 

There's some gluing and painting to do before I have a team ready for smackdowns!

There are lots of other teams and players available for the game. I had a gift voucher that I could redeem at Firestorm Games left over from Christmas (courtesy of my sister, Sarah) so I walked round and picked up The Furry Fury!

The first team I had for the reboots of Blood Bowl were the giant rats. Seems like I'm following a pattern!

Making a tiny dent in the pile of shame

In the middle of 2021 I bought the starter set for the "second season" reboot of Blood Bowl. When I unboxed it I talked about all the lovely sprues of figures ready to be built.

And they remained on the sprue until last night, when I finally got round to building one figure - the star player for the Black Orc team.

Clipping fun!

So, a couple of things... This player's name is Varag Ghoulchewer. Except I modified the figure slightly. As supplied, Varag has half a corpse impaled on his shoulder spike. I didn't like the look of this so just left this piece off. 

Bits of this model were fiddly to build, particularly getting his head piece complete with the tusked chin-guard right. (I'm not totally sure I've got it glued together entirely correctly.) I ended up using a video off YouTube to help me get that part of the model assembled. 

As I've modded the figure I've renamed him Garav Foolchewer. He will still have the star player's characteristics, skill levels and abilities. 

The second thing is that this dent in the pile of shame feels more significant than it really is. Yes, I have finally built a model from the second season starter box. But there are still two full teams in the box that are untouched on their sprues. Plus I have bought two other teams that are still on the sprue since I last listed all the unbuilt stuff I had. 

My current roster looks like this:

Human team - built and half painted, along with an ogre who needs to be repainted because he's currently in the wrong colour scheme

Orc team - built and mostly painted 

Lizard-men team - built and almost completely painted (including the bonus kroxigor figure)

Skaven (giant rat) team - built and painted, except for two star players who are (recently) built and unpainted

Necromantic Horror team - built and half painted

Wood elf team - built, unpainted. Although I have a treeman figure to go with this team who is mostly built and painted.

Human 'Imperial Nobility' team plus star player plus ogre - all on sprue

Black Orc team plus troll - still on sprue. The star player is built though!

Norse team - still on sprue

Elf (Elven Union) team - still on sprue

That's ten teams with four currently untouched in the pile of shame! 

But still, I've made a tiny little dent.

Blood Bowl Update - new star players and another match report

2024 has got off to a good start in terms of Bood Bowl. This week Bryan and I played our second game of the year. And I've gone on and finally built two star players that have been sitting in my "pile of shame" for way too long.

And here they are:

Both of the star players are 'skaven', a race that are basically giant mutant rats. The chonky one is Glart Smashrip, a bulky blocker. The one with two heads and four arms is Hakflem Skuttlespike, a mutant bred in a lab who plays as a blitzer.

The models come from Forgeworld, which is the Games Workshop online specialist service. They are made from resin rather than plastic.

They arrive in these horrible clamshell cases that need to be cut open.

Then they need washing before the glueing starts. Washing up liquid is fine for this.

And then the glueing starts. Because they are resin they require superglue. I used some cheapie superglue in small tubes.

The models were very fiddly to assemble. Hakflem's arms didn't want to stick and Glart's tail was very awkward. As a result I ended up with much more superglue on my fingertips than I wanted!

The skaven weren't in action this month. The latest game was between my human team (bolstered by an ogre) and Bryan's dwarfs. Neither team are fully painted. The human team uniforms are actually chocolate and cream although they don't look it in the pictures. The ogre is in an old colour scheme so doesn't match.

It was a fun game and the humans won, with one catcher sprinting for the end zone and rushing two extra yards to score the second down on the very, very last turn of the game.

Building a model railway part 7: Upgrading facilities

I said in an earlier post that I was thinking of changing my Hornby good shed.

I wasn't keen on the model, so decided to replace it completely. I opted for a Metcalfe Models kit, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, even though it's just made from card, the signal box kit really impressed me, and I wanted to try another one. Secondly, it's in the same red brick pattern as the signal box lower floor and the engine shed I scratchbuilt (using Metcalfe card), so would fit in. Thirdly, from the pictures I'd seen it looked more interesting than the Hornby one, with an extended platform and an office attached to the shed. Fourthly, it came with a bonus kit of a weighbridge and office. And I love bonus kits!

Anyway, I got glueing and sticking last night. Here are some pictures:

 Bulldog clips are useful to keep the card together while the glue dries

 The shell of the building takes shape

Interior detail - a loading platform and roof trusses. Note the elastic band keeping the edges together so the platform stays flush with the wall.

 External office attached - also the shed doors stuck in place.

Some detailing to go (e.g. chimney pot), but virtually finished.

And it is now happily in situ on the railway.

 The detached building next to it is the weighbridge.

A few other scenic details added, like a skip between the goods shed and the weighbridge (just about visible). I've kept the Hornby loading gauge (above the tank wagons, top right).

Next jobs - painting and sealing the baseboard (Cathy's instructions). Ballasting (which will be fun I'm sure). Touching up the engine shed (possible re-engineering job!) And maybe installing a crane on the platform outside the new good shed. I'm looking into options...

Building a model railway part 2: needing a new plan B

So in a follow-up to yesterday's post I discovered last night that I had affixed the new track substantially more securely than the old track I pulled up before. I can't take it up again, so I have to live with the overly long passing loop and that the whole lay-out is skewiff with the side of the baseboard.

To add to the sense of frustration taking up the last remaining original track caused me a major panic when I inadvertently broke one of the new sets of points I had put in. Thankfully I was able to reposition the spring, but it was touch and go for a while. I also have a nagging feeling that now it's relaid it isn't as true as it was originally.

Disappointing, but a valuable learning experience.

The good news is I was able to then shift attention to a new part of the project - building a card kit of a signal box. I did this with the help / guidance / project-management of my wonderful wife Cathy, without whom I think the whole exercise would have been doomed to failure. My cutting and sticking skills are less than rudimentary.

Anyway, a few hours later (and a lot of PVA glue on my fingers), I think the finished article looks pretty good.

The kit came with the added bonus of the other two structures, seen in the photo - a lineside hut and a fuel shed. I'm pretty pleased with it / them.

The only thing that is slightly out of place with it is that it's based on a LNWR prototype, so isn't really "correct" for a West Cardiff location (GWR was generally the theme around here). I have two answers to that conundrum. Firstly, this is going to be a railway heritage centre and it's not uncommon for signal boxes to be demolished at their original site and rebuilt in a preserved railway environment. Secondly, it's my railway and I like it, and that's really what matters.

This is the first in a series of buildings I want to add to the railway. My next task is to find the 'right' engine shed that will fit the space and house two track lanes. At some point I also want to have a water tower, and some platforms. I think I have a creative way of addressing the spacing issue to get the platforms running along the long stretch of track - but more on that later.

I'm also looking into adding rolling stock. I plan to publish a full manifest for the WCRHC at some point, but I've just won a new wagon off eBay so I'm going to wait until that arrives before I start taking photos and posting them for your enjoyment.

(I know this is geeky, but I'm loving it.)

B-daman (no, you da man!)

Yesterday I bought a B-daman launcher in Woolworths on Cowbridge Road East, mainly because it was reduced. I've been looking at B-damans for a while as they have that nice manga styling that you get in the Japanese toys, plus they're quite funky little ball launchers.

Helen had told me how tricky they'd found building one for their lad Adam, but I can only conclude that they obviously aren't very adept at putting together kits. It took me about 15 minutes to get it ready for action. One cool thing about them is that they give you some extra stickers to customise him.

My little guy is called Proto One.


As you can see he's mainly red and white, with a nifty little shield. The grey bits you can just about see underneath are the b-daball launcher, and all the rest is just for show. This wouldn't be my first choice for a colour scheme. I'm going to keep and eye out in case there's one in blue and amber.

I went into Toys R Us in Gloucester today and they had loads more of them reduced, including some in import Japanese packaging. I'd be tempted, but the instructions were a bit tough to follow in English... No point making it harder for myself.