Herd of Flunks?

Hi, All!

Bull Flunk. A rare and unusual sight...

This week, I 'ave been mostly meddlin' with evolution...

Mutilated plastic heffalumps. Well, a man's got to have a hobby...

Some years ago, I had the tremendously brilliant idea of cutting off an elephant's head, turning it upside down and sticking it back on again... The results were questionable.

HOWEVER...

I remained convinced that my theory was sound...

Heffalump head, plus sketch. The Flunk starts to evolve...

Well, let's face it folks. We all love war elephants, but since Peter Jackson brought Tolkein's Oliphaunts to our screens in such brilliant glory, any attempts at amazing pachydermic weapons of mass stampedation are doomed to look a little bit puny. Innit?

Brass wire is added to the neck to form the basis of the 'fan'.

So, I figure it's a good idea to mutilate the buggers. Or something like that...

The head (or most of it) is reattached...

My heffalumps have been heavily remodelled with the use of a hacksaw, some brass rod and a lot of Miliput. They will eventually become the mighty war beasts of the Wutha F'Kahwi tribe, complete with howdahs, mahmuts, etc... I have ordered the miniatures I intend to use for the tribesmen, so keep watching...

The Flunk starts to take shape. A redcoat is shown for size comparison.

I ran out of greenstuff some time ago, so I had to make do with white Miliput for this project. It's not bad, but I think I prefer greenstuff. I'm keeping an open mind for now.

Cow and calf flunks in the early stages of construction. Even the calf is big enough to carry a fair amount of baggage.

I'm actually quite fond of these creatures. I admit that right now, they look a little thrown together, but I have high hopes. A little paint... A bit of furniture...

A new piece of old wall... Off-cuts from previous pieces, put to good use...

Meanwhile, The Lost City of Ah-Pul-Sh'Napps continues to grow. This week, a small piece of city wall has been added, making good use of some godawful dvd...

The walls of Ah-Pul-Sh'Napps...

"My Goodness!" I hear you cry, "Whatever next, Colonel? You have been a busy bunny, haven't you?"

Well... yes. Thank you for noticing...

I was in the local crap shop yesterday (you may remember that my last foray into said establishment resulted in the Bazalgette Light Armoured Perambulatory Contrivance) when I spotted some of those pull-a-string-and-watch-them-go helicopter thingies. "Hmmm..." thunk I, "I bet they'd put the fear of God into the Hun..."

Cheap toys with devastating potential...

So I bought two.

One of the 'copters, ripped apart. And wouldn't you know it, it has cogs and stuff inside! Fantastic!

The stripped 'copters, ready for conversion...

It didn't take long to gut them and I now have some pretty good ideas for turning these into steam-powered gyrocopters (Or should that be hydrothermicopters?) to give Her Majesty's troops air superiority. More soon...

Hmmm... Let me think... I have Navy, Army, Artillery, Airforce... What's missing? Oh, yes! Cavalry!

British lancers... Looking a little pale right now...

Last week I received from Empress Miniatures their British Lancers, and I've made a start on colouring these with inks. These are truly lovely miniatures and I have resisted the temptation to modify them in any way. I had various thoughts, but they were so nice, well...

Lord Blandford-Fly, almost dressed for battle...

I have coloured all of the horses with a basic chestnut colour and will vary their manes, tails, socks, etc. with shades of brown, black and white. Inks are ideal for horses, I find. It's easy to get a really nice, smooth colour with highlights and shades in all the right places.

Lord Blandford-Fly's horse is almost finished. Just a bit of brass here and there on the tack... I must say, I'm very pleased with this one.

It won't be long before these splendid fellows are charging across the battlefield, driving the enemies of Empire before them...

And, speaking of enemies of Empire...

Professor Shandy Tanglefoot... Big ideas, despite his shortcomings...

I also received a few rather nice characters form Reaper Miniatures. The first of these to be completed is the nefarious, insane and ridiculously short Professor Shandy Tanglefoot, creator of hideous abominations and joke of the academic world...

The keen-eyed amongst you will note that he is still wearing the prank 'undies' apron given to him by the lads in chemistry class. Poor boy must have thought they meant it as a sign of affection...

Tanglefoot and trooper - size comparison. Napoleon complex, perhaps..?

Professor Tanglefoot was also coloured with inks. I like this technique because it is a quick way to get really nice results.

So: a lot still to finish, but not a bad few days. I hope to be able to show you the finished lancers very soon, as well as continuing with Flunks and Hydrothermicopters... And of course, I have a REALLY BIG PROJECT to begin... Watch this Space!

Professor Shandy Tanglefoot with one of his hideous creations...

All the Best!