Zandina's House - The Windows Are In.

I promised to post this week about the windows on Zandina's House, as I have a better way to create the leading effect after last year's attempt with fruit bag netting. This looked ok but because of the stretchy nature of the material, keeping the same shape and consistency of size of the gaps was tricky.

Whilst wandering around one of those pound stores (other low price denomination shops are also available) that proliferate around Romford, I found something that caught my eye. 

It wasn't in the toy section, stationary or even DIY. I found this in the baking department; it's a non-stick, cake cooling tray. 

Up close and personal it looks like weaved squares. I bought one, took it home, didn't do any baking with it, instead I cut it into small squares and painted it black. Despite being non-stick the black acrylic paint took quite well.

So these small squares cut to size will be the leading. I then took the plastic box I used last time from the underwear packaging and cut that into small squares to fit inside the windows. 

This is very rigid plastic and just slightly opaque so it gives the dull window effect rather than being too see through to the painted card underneath.

Some of the windows I wanted to have a 'lit' feel, but not with actual lighting. I tried a couple of colours for these windows first, eventually going with a ‘butter cream’ and ‘yellow’ mix, which I think gives a warm glow through the plastic windows.

With the windows painted either yellow/cream or black, I placed on the plastic then the painted tray cut pieces and finally held the lot in place by inserting a very slim frame cut from  the coffee sticks, about a third width, and stuck in. 

This gives an inner window frame as well as the main frame work. Then the additional frame was painted black and a few touch ups made to the leading. I’ve got some finishing off work to do but at last I feel that I am making progress with this model.

                     

Oh yes, this posting's short teaser from Karl's story...

Instinctively Hermer obeyed, trembling he extended his right hand, palm upwards before the templars. Their leader dropped what appeared to be a coin into Hermer’s hand; but it was not a coin that was acceptable currency.

      Hermer screamed as the coin burnt into his hand, he tried to drop it but it had adhered to his flesh. Wisps of red smoke trailed out as the coin burnt him. Lugger made a grab for the coin, but a swift blow from one of the morning stars held by another of the templars sent him sprawling backwards.

Been a bit distracted.

Sorry I've been a bit quiet these last few weeks, been a bit busy and not with model work, and I didn't want to deliver too many off topic postings, so I thought I'd do one quick round up now and promise that the next posting will be a model work one and quite soon.

As I said not much model work, only some of the painting on Zandina's town house which features in the Karl story. Although today I did get started on the finishing work on the windows, and it will be this work I'll be blogging about quite soon. Some of my time has been taken up with the book, and the sequel. My main aim at the moment is to get the full draft copy of the second together by the end of June. I also have quite a bit of spring cleaning to get done as well.

Most of last week was spent posting teasers from the original on Facebook; I thought that I had hassled you guys about the book enough for a while. But I did get an odd comment the other day, “I really liked how you made me wonder what the mystery behind this character is. You should have given us a little bit more insights though.” I would have hoped that if you were that interested you’d order a copy otherwise if I posted the whole story here there wouldn’t be any point in the book. 

I will reproduce some of the teasers here.

A couple of weekends ago I was in Peterbourgh for the 'The Greatest Show in the Galaxy', a collection of Doctor Who stars past and present, Torchwood, Star Trek DS9, and Spooks to name but a few. I was there as part of the crew rather than an attendee. The Saturday was more of an odd job day for me, but Sunday I had the delightful pleasure of assisting Deborah Watling (Victoria from the 1967 to 1968 series with Patrick Troughton's Doctor). The irony is that I reviewed Deborah's autobiography on here in February. I remember giving it a very positive review.

 http://www.djksfantasyworld.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/book-review-january-february.html

A couple of nights ago I also took a tour of the print site where the FT is printed. That was a fascinating experience, watching the printing plates emerging from the laser etcher and then watching the pages come through, and the work to balance the colour and alignment can only be described as an art form in itself.

There have also been a few other theatre trips as well taking up my time, again I did not want to turn this whole blog into a review blog so I didn’t post every one. Hopefully with the weather improving I’ll get some time to use the table in the garden and get some model work done soon.

This was last Monday’s teaser, I will include another with the next posting.

She was dead.

No, you cannot see your own grave. But it was true; both names belonged to her. Had belonged to her. It had to be true. And was that Karl again? Who were the others - Thomas, Hanna and Katarina? ...

http://www.hundredpublishing.com/derek.html

Zandina's House and a List of Lists

The other day my old mate over at BigLee’s Miniature Adventures  wrote a list of all his model work that he had to do, for a moment I contemplated that, but I think I would have to put together many lists and then generate a list of lists, what with the many projects I have on the go. Instead of spending time writing all these lists I should just try and finish one thing at a time. The high level lists would be something like this:-

Finish Karl – The Lost Adventurer (Book  2 of the Karl trilogy, actually nearly finished)

Karl – The Conclusion (Title under wraps for the moment, plotted out)

Models based on Karl’s story.

Paint figures for Karl’s story.

Models for the Supernatural game

Paint figures for Supernatural game.

Learn the rules for Supernatural game.

Finish the special project for our D&D ‘Evil GM’s campaign’

The Doctor Who tapestry

The New Who tapestry (Not even going to start this before the other is finished)

And so on and so on, and under each would be a whole list of models, figures and related tasks that would test the scroll bar limits of any web browser.

Top of the list would have to be some house related jobs as well, the garden being one of them. But the grass grows rampant as the rain continues to fall in the wettest drought we have ever known. From the moment The Powers That Be announced a drought and a hose pipe ban it has NOT stopped raining, to finally ending up with the wettest April since the last wettest April we have had since somebody decided it had been a wetter April than the one before. Get it? Good, I don’t need to go on then.  Here was the local weather forecast from today and tomorrow, the wet part kept drifting down time bands all day.

The one thing I did manage to do was most of the black work on the wooden frame for Zandina’s house, all I need to do now to finish this is:-

The white dry brushing on the roof.

The shading on the side wooden panels.

Pick out some brick work.

The windows.

Grey mottle the chimneys

Shade paint the doors,

and finally the leading on the windows which I have a new idea for which I’ve been experimenting with and can’t wait to add as the final touch to this building.

Oh look another list.

HELP !!!!

Theatre review. The Custard Boys & What The Butler Saw

I do get to see quite a number of theatre shows, but I’m not going to be reviewing every one. Every now and then one or two come up which I think should be recommended and just recently I’ve had the pleasure to see two such shows.

THE CUSTARD BOYS, 

Tabard Theatre, 2 Bath Road, London W4 1LW

Boys of the Empire Productions

Based on the novel by John Rae

Adapted and directed by Glenn Chandler

10 April - 12 May 2012

The Custard Boys is promoted as “A play about love, war and grown-up stuff”, the story of a group of boys evacuated to Norfolk during WW2, it follows their adventures and misadventures when boys will be boys and have a lot of growing up to do. My mum, uncles and aunts was evacuated to Norfolk at the start of the war so this had an additional poignant significance, but I’m sure they never got up to these things. When a new boy is introduced to the mix, neither local nor one of the London evacuees a whole new set of emotions are awoken.

Performed on a small intimate stage this is a powerful and emotional production, with a strong performance by the entire cast of seven young actors, all of which I would expect to see going on to bigger and greater things. If you’re in the area this is certainly one to catch.

Follow the links for more details,

http://www.tabardtheatre.co.uk/

Boys of the Empire Website is here:

http://www.boteproductions.co.uk/

WHAT THE BUTLER SAW by Joe Orton

Vaudeville Theatre, The Strand, London

http://www.whatthebutlersawtheplay.com/

Does this play need any introduction? The third of Joe Orton’s three farces written not long before his untimely death at the hands of his lover in 1967 and first produced in 1969, this has to be one of the funniest plays I’ve seen in a long time. Just starting a new run at the The Vaudeville Theatre on The Strand staring Omid Djalili, Tim McInnerny, Samantha Bond, Georgia Moffett, Jason Thorpe and Nick Hendrix. Completely un-PC this play welcomes you to the world of psychoanalyst Dr Prentice where just about everyone should be committed to the madhouse as from a simple mistake (Dr Prentice tries to seduce his new secretary) all hell breaks loose.

Let me just say this was only their second night and I left at the end with tears of laughter still rolling down my face, so sit back and enjoy. Very much a must see.

Book Review March / April

Here is this the second of my bi-monthly round ups of my reading list.

“Gallimaufry”, “Look Who’s Talking” & “Second Thoughts”

By Colin Baker

Yes, The Colin Baker of the multicoloured Doctor Who coat fame has penned a collection of short stories. Any viewers of Mr Baker's time as The Doctor will recall his Doctor's love of language, which was obviously an injection into the character by the man himself. Colin's two earlier books were collections of his articles as a columnist from the “The Bucks Free Press”, this time we are treated to ten original short stories of mystery, suspense and recompense and three short stories featuring his incarnation of the space and time travelling Time Lord. And a splendid read they are too. It is one of those books that time literally flies by whilst reading.

This month I have also read the two compendiums of Colin Baker’s articles. The first volume ‘Look Who’s Talking’ covers many topics that he has felt compelled to pen comment on over the last fifteen years. Some articles would put the gathered members of ‘Grumpy Old Men’ to shame with their wit and quite frankly just observations on life. These are a timeless read, irrespective of their age, many articles written fifteen years ago are as pertinent today as they were then.

The second collection, “Second Thoughts” contains another delve into the archives of Mr Baker’s output for The Bucks Free Press, again voicing his opinion on a world gone made, a world of call-centres, phone service menus, customer service (or lack thereof) , his life as The Doctor, as writer and school governor.  These books are worth reading for their humour and to convince yourself there is some sanity left in the world.

Look Who's Talking, Colin's column is available here

The Flight of the Budgerigar.  

By John Leeson

This is the autobiography of John Leeson, from the title you would never guess that he provided the voice for that much loved robot dog K9 from BBC’s Doctor Who, past and present. He was also, for a time, that cuddly talking bear Bungle in Rainbow. But this is the story of an actor who tells a tale of a child living in a haunted house to lecturing on wines and playing the fall guy for Jeremy Beadle.  Is this worth reading? As K9 would say, “Affirmative Master.”

Sherlock Holmes -The Breath of God

By Guy Adams

At the turn of the century Sherlock Holmes finds himself in a world where everything could change. A mysterious death in snow covered London starts a case of the macabre and mysterious. Not only is Holmes joined by his ever trustworthy Watson his path is soon to cross other characters from this period of literature, John Silence, the so-called “Psychic Doctor”; supernatural investigator Thomas Carnacki; and the real life Aleister Crowley as they investigate the cause of this and other strange events.

Personally I didn’t think the novel needed to draw on so many of the other characters, if you don’t know who they all are I suggest a visit to the ‘Wordsworth Editions, Tales of Mystery & The Supernatural’ however even though I was wary of a non Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes I did enjoy it and felt that Holmes and Watson were true to their original characters and the story is again told through the eyes of Watson in much the same way as Watson found himself investigating The Hound of the Baskervilles on behalf of Holmes.

The Shadow Saga - Book One,

Of Saints and Shadows

By Christopher Golden

Christopher Golden the New York Times bestselling author needs no introduction to readers of this genre. I first encountered his books in the Buffy range of books, so when looking for a good read and up came the first novel of The Shadow Saga came my way I just knew I would enjoy it. This is another collection of vampire detective novels, but ‘Of Saints and Shadows’ delivers a mix of Dan Brown’s conspiracy, Anne Rice’s depth of vampire mythology and the detective world of the PI. Should you trust a vampire, some maybe, but certainly not, and should they even trust us and each other.

Personally I can’t wait until I get my hands on the next in the series.

Tales of Mystery & The Supernatural,

All Saints' Eve

By Amelia B. Edwards

Amelia B. Edwards told tales of murder and mystery, and many of these tales were tinged with elements of the supernatural. Although by today’s standards these tales are not scare your pants off, they still provide an enjoyable read and provide sufficient suspense to keep you reading. The ‘Four-fifteen Express’ and ‘Was it an Illusion?’ stood out for me.

For more details:-

Hirst Books, Look Who's Talking By Colin Baker, 978-0-955-71492-4

http://www.hirstpublishing.com/Look_Whos_Talking_by_Colin_Baker/p384445_1156934.aspx

Hirst Books, Second Thoughts By Colin Baker, 978-0-956-64176-2

http://www.hirstpublishing.com/Second_Thoughts_by_Colin_Baker/p384445_1157314.aspx

Hirst Books, Gallimaufry By Colin Baker  Colin, 978-1-907-95902-3

http://www.hirstpublishing.com/Gallimaufry_by_Colin_Baker/p384445_1157152.aspx

Pocket Books, The Shadow Saga               

Of Saints and Shadows By Christopher Golden, 978-1-847-39924-3

http://www.christophergolden.com/shadowsaga.html

Wordsworth Editions, Tales of Mystery & The Supernatural, 

All Saints' Eve By Amelia B. Edwards,  978-1-840-22094-0

http://wordsworth-editions.com/book/edwards-amelia-b./all-saints'-eve

Hirst Books, The Flight of the Budgerigar By John Leeson, 978-1-907-95931-8

http://www.hirstpublishing.com/The_Flight_of_the_Budgerigar_by_John_Leeson/p384445_3668157.aspx

Titan Books, Sherlock Holmes -The Breath of God By Guy Adams, 978-0-857-68282-6

http://titanbooks.com/sherlock-holmes-the-breath-of-god-5415/

Those Addictive Apps.

I’ve been meaning to talk about these iPhone games for a while now. It was about a year ago I finally gave in and upgraded from a ‘dumb’ phone to a ‘smart’ phone. Until then I had just used a mobile to make calls and send texts, no camera, no apps, no wibbly wobbly wotsit gizmos. 

Now I wonder how I ever coped without it. From the ability to snap photos at any time, a lot of the photos on here are now taken with the phone. Evernote synced to the laptop with lists and notes for when I’m out. 

Other things such as checking how the tubes and local buses are running in real time, (An update just buzzed through as I am writing this to say the Jubilee Line has severe delays again), weather updates, maps, navigation, music the list just seems endless.

These devices really are straight out of the world of science fiction that I watched as a child.

Then there’s the social networking side, the Google+, Twitter, Facebook blar blar which seems to be almost as essential as email now, oh yes and that too. Oh and not forgetting the latest craze Draw Something.

And then came the games. I tried and failed to avoid them. One that I started with was Crime City by Funzio, here you build a mob and a hood and through your weight around the city taking bribe money, robbing and fighting. The part that actually hooked me to start with was actually the building your town, for a while in the early days I even toyed with the notion of making actual 3D models of the hood. But I’m so glad I did not start that I don’t get time to complete the builds on the table top game models yet alone start this as a project.

The thing with most of these is that they start off as free down loads but to get better advancements then there are in game purchases, and if you get hooked into this it could be a very expensive pass time. To date, and for the very much foreseeable future I cannot see myself going down this road.

Funzio have another game out which is similar but a medieval version with orcs, zombies, trolls and dragons to fight. This is called Kingdom Age. Again you have to build your own town and these models may have some similar buildings made as this does fit in with the models I am building. The thing with these games is you need to build up a large gang of linked players, otherwise other players can trash your towns. You can form bonds with other players if you know their codes.

Anyone who also plays and wants to request friendships my codes are shown below and to the right hand side of this page.

So where would we be without our modern technology? Bring back the old quill and parchment I say. Hey, I hand drafted the Karl – Birth of Mystery book, and the second book has also been written by hand for the first draft. There is something very personal about the first draft which no computer of smart phone could ever replace.

But if you want to find me:-

Crime City: 892-108-458

Kingdom Age: 244-170-300

Draw Something: djkettlety

Twitter: djkettlety

Zandina’s House Painting Continued

Not a lot of work completed on the models this week, just some paint work on Zandina’s town house which features in Karl’s story. Thought I would share some more ‘in progress’ photos.

First thing I did was to mix the black paint with water to wash over the brick work around the lower front part of the building. This gives the brick work a deeper, more solid appearance. Once this was dry, I dry brushed with the basic orange.

For the roof which had already been painted with a mix of burnt umber and black I also dry brushed/smeared with the orange.

I know BigLee talks about quality of paint brushes, for this work when painting on wood, wall filler and cardboard I tend not to pay out for brushes which get wrecked very quickly. I’ll save the good brushes for when I get back to the figures. These brushes are larger sized and really have seen better days but for smearing, dry brushing large areas and stippling they really need to be hard wearing rather than quality tipped.