Batman, Batman da da dah dah

I feel a new project coming on - another one.

IHMN Warhammer Venus Swamp Beast with Sun-God Cannon

Another Warhammer skink model for my Venusian native newt army.

This one is another semi-domesticated beast  with a giant god crystal capable of firing beams of stored sunlight that can fry a steam tank.

It's pretty good at close combat as well.

IHMN - Rural England Revolutionaries

I have added another couple of figures to my In Her Majesty's Name firm, revolutionary rural England - a sort of steampunk 'Greens'.

From Artisan, the Crow Man and from West Wind's Empire of the Dead, a Death of Crows Avatar.

This firm is just about finished.

Must work out the stats now.

Watch this space.

Photographing Toy Soldiers

I have finally got fed up with trying to photograph toy soldiers in North European winter sunlight with flash guns, light through the windows, etc etc.

So I girded my loins and bought a couple of photographic lights on eBay. They cost me the princely sum of £35 intotal including delivery. Why the hell didn't I do this before?

'Cause I'm stoopoid, duh.

Herr Arnold Toht of the Gestapo

This group of figures is sold by Artizan under the title Enemy Agents.

It is of course Herr Toht of the SS Ahnenerbe, who memorably clashed with Indiana Jones in the hunt for the Lost Arc.

Herr Toht was of course the mentor Herr Otto Flick of the Gestapo, godson of Heinrich Himmler.

The first model I received from North Star was very deformed. Right before Xmas, in what must be their busiest time of the year, Nick at North Star arranged for a replacement to be delivered immediately.

First Class customer service, North Star!

A London Milestone

A rather unpleasant rhinovirus, or similar, has laid me out, hence the absence of my blog. But I have started painting again and new stuff should be up soon.

Meanwhile, something significant happened.

The population of the zone known as Greater London topped 8.641m this January, beating the 1939 record and hence creating the largest population the zone has ever known.

Greater London is an artificial area that most people would think of as central London, as opposed to Central London or The City of London. I worked nearly all my adult life in Central West London but always lived outside Greater London even when I lived in London before I moved to the outer suburb ring in the Home Counties.

Not sure what the population of London & the Home Counties complex now is but given that GL is up by almost a third we may be looking at around 28 or even 30m.

That's a lot of people, a lot of money, and a lot of power.

The Emperor Clausius knew not what he started when he built a bridge for his legions to march across the Thames.

   "She looked out over the blaze of light that was London. Streams of cars flowed down the radial roads into the city’s heart like blood cells along arteries. London was still alive, thanks to her and her friends. What was a Shternberg compared to the greatest city in the world?

   Jameson followed her eyes and guessed at her thoughts. “London’s beautiful from the sky at night when she’s all lit up in her finery. She’s a raddled old wrinkled tart of a town, a bit past her best and a little tatty at the edges, but she still scrubs up well,” he said. He raised a hand in salute. “Here’s to your next two thousand years,” he said to the city."

Wolf in Shadow

Global Precipitation Changes

One of the key indicators on environmental change and civilisation is the water cycle so changes in precipitation with global warming will be critical.

Looking at current projections, it looks like there will be big changes in global power. Europe and the USA are going to be hit hard.

The south will be devastated, notably equatorial Africa, Brasil, S. Africa and Australia.

Unless there is some sort of game changer in the next couple of decades we are going to see the biggest political upset since the Fall of Rome and Persia.