Tuesday 14 June 2016

Barrage Miniatures Stable

I recently took possession of some rather fine pieces from 'Barrage Miniatures', courtesy of Tamsin ‘The Wargaming Girl’s' 500,000 page view giveaway.  Thank you Tamsin, not only for the incredibly generous prize, but for also introducing me to the fabulous person that is Alf of 'Barrage Miniatures'.  Although aware of 'Barrage Miniatures', perhaps most recently through the work of the sublimely talented Curtis Campbell Esq. (see his Church and River boat), I hadn’t had cause to place an order, but now armed with a hugely generous €40 voucher I was certainly taking a little more interest in what they had to offer.  
Having dismissed the rather splendid river borne flotilla, although I still have a hankering to game the Vietnam War at some point*, my eyes fell upon a medieval stable and some curious cobblestone roads, although I wasn’t entirely sure how I would use the cobbles so only opted for a square, thinking that I could add to it at a later date if necessary.
*I blame the glut of 1980s straight to video features for this, essential viewing for young Master Awdry.
Now at this point I should say a little more about Alf.  From the earliest exchanges of emails to acknowledge the vouchers, Alf has been an absolute delight to deal with.  His enthusiasm and generosity has been unparalleled and I cannot recall when I had so much fun purchasing something, now admittedly I wasn’t spending my money which probably helps, but I really cannot praise this chap highly enough.  He even refunded the money for the cobblestone square because he wasn’t happy to charge for what was, in essence, a sample!
Back to the Stable and this four piece resin structure really does look the part, there is some evidence of air bubbles in the cast, but these are few and far between, easily filled and do not spoil the look of the piece.  At this stage, I am still debating whether to leave the roof section as a separate piece to allow easy access.  The sculpting was such that it rather painted itself, and I took most of my inspiration from the company’s website.
Finally then the cobbles.  This was really interesting piece of terrain as it is cast using a flexible resin material that is utterly indestructible.  Although when I ordered it I wasn’t sure what I was going to use it for, there was a notion that it might form a town square, particularly for my 'Witchfinder General' rules.  So pleased was I with this pre-painted sample that I have subsequently ordered another three pieces to make a more substantial square and who knows, there may still be cobbles appearing at some stage in Gotham City!
So Once again a big thank you to Tamsin whose generosity of spirit led to me scooping the prize in the giveaway, but also another thank you must go to Alf, whose joie de vivre has once again reminded me that this most wholesome of hobbies is populated by some truly wonderful people.

79 comments:

  1. Jolly nice stuff. Well done to you, Alf and Tamsin.

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    1. Thank you A.J. and very generous couple of swells.

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  2. Wonderful stuff Michael, and those cobblestones in particular look rather tempting; especially as they clearly carry the Sir Awdry seal of approval.

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    1. They were a bit of a revelation and I have to confess that I am thinking more and more about the other street furniture.

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  3. Hmmm, that's a rather splendid looking stable!

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    1. Even more splendid as it didn't cost me anything!

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  4. Oooh...that flexible cobblestone looks just the job! More stuff to add to the 'to-buy' list!

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    1. Yes sorry about that, but to be fair you've added to my 'to-buy' list too! ;)

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  5. Alf and Clara are a joy to deal with. I had great fun talking tanks with them. Stables are fab

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  6. Thank Alf more than me - he refused to accept any payment from me for the two prizes - I've been running an ad on my blog for Barrage as my way of saying "thanks" to him :)

    It's good to see that your 40 Euros were well spent. Nice painting on the stable :)

    As for 80s Vietnam stuff, did you ever watch the series "Tour of Duty"?

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    1. Well none of it would have come about without your generosity of spirit, but Alf is certainly a very generous chap. As for Tour of Duty, yes indeed, but not sure how, did it use to run on Channel 4 back in the day? Vietnam Zombies, now there is an idea.

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  7. Great terrain pieces Michael. I may have to acquire that stable, usable from medieval to WW2 stuff to my eyes.
    Cheers, Peter

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    1. Certainly felt that it was a versatile piece, but should mention that it would need a bit of filling if you are going to have the roof permanently attached.

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  8. I think you live in the doctor who house. The police box. Where do you keep all this stuff man. Very nice. I like it a lot.

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    1. Not a Tardis, in fact quite the opposite as now when you walk into the spare room it appears to have get smaller not bigger - a bit of a mute point at home.

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  9. Very nice looking stable.
    I must admit that i never heard about Barrage miniatures before, but very tempted now by some of these fine looking boats they are producing.

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    1. The boats certainly caught my eye too, there is definitely a lot of interesting items on their site.

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  10. The donkey's new shelter is nicely adorned, sir.

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    1. He seems happy with his new accommodation at the moment.

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  11. Nice stables but I really love those cobbles!

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    1. The cobbles were a bit of a revelation to me, very interesting material.

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  12. Nice paint work on the stable and the flexible cobblestones look very interesting.

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    1. Thank you Brian, they do a whole range of cobbled street and pavements too.

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  13. Exellent looking house !

    thanks for the tip about the cobblestone.

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    1. Thank you Michael and you are more than welcome.

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  14. Love how you painted the stone on the stable, and the cobble stone looks very interesting???

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    1. Thank you Ray, fun to do something a little larger at the moment - a rest for the eyes.

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  15. Very nice work Micheal, jolly good of Tamsin too.

    Ian

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    1. Thank you Ian and absolutely, well done Tamsin.

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  16. Lovely work on the stables. :) Excellent stuff. :)

    Is the flexible cobblestone matting also from Barrage?

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    1. Thank you and yes, they have a whole range of street pieces, certainly worth a look.

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    2. Thanks for the tip Michael. :)

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  17. Nice........will look these buildings up😀

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    1. Lots of other exciting things on their site to see too.

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  18. Very nice work on the stables!

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  19. Nice bit of kit that. I would leave the roof separate so that you could have models inside during games. Hey, and at christmas it could be an inspired manger. Mary and Joseph and the three wise men ;-)

    Love the cobbles.

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    1. Now I was thinking along the same lines myself, perhaps if I painted a couple of Frostgrave wizards they could be the Wise Men? :D

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  20. My Sister has had horses since she (and I) were teenagers and the stable looks just like one I remember from the early years. Excellent to see it again.... even if only in model form.

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    1. Delighted to have brought back a couple of happy memories Clint.

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  21. Great looking stable Michael!

    Christopher

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  22. Wonderful work on the stable Michael! The cobble stones look really cool too. Might have to look into that one.

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    1. Thank you Rodger, do have a look as there are lots of interesting bits and pieces chose from.

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  23. Very impressive terrain pieces, excellent job...and awesome stable!

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  24. Timeless and versatile terrain that you have done a very realistic paint job on with the weathering Michael.

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    1. Thank you Pat, it is a lovely kit and I thoroughly enjoyed building up the layers.

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  25. Another fine addition which could easily fit in with your Witch Hunter General campaign! Well done Michael!

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    1. Thank you Terry, certainly Witchhunter is where I was thinking it will be primarily used.

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  26. Top notch painting on that stable Michael! I have to agree about Alf. During last years painting challenge I won a voucher from Barracks miniatures and used it to part fund one of their excellent gaming mats. And what should I say? It was a great experience to deal with Alf and his lovely wife. And of course the mat is an excellent piece of craftmanship!

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    1. Thank you Nick and I'm glad that you have experienced similar service, they really are charming people.

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  27. A splendid building and oh those cobblestone

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  28. Hola
    magnifica recreación
    Seguro que da mucho juego
    un saludo

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  29. I'll second your experience dealing with Barrage. Both All and Clara are wonderfully generous people and their products are top quality.

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  30. I'll second your experience dealing with Barrage. Both All and Clara are wonderfully generous people and their products are top quality.

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  31. Great looking stable Michael!

    Those flexible cobblestone pieces really look interesting. I've been trying to find something suitable to build a medieval town and everything I've seen previously has just been solid. Really need to give that product a try.

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    1. Thank you and certainly worth having a look. If it is not exactly what you are looking for then perhaps contact them directly and see if it is something that they might be interested in producing.

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  32. Excellent work on the terrain model, Michael. Very nice of Tamsin too!

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  33. Leave the Roof off!!
    Archaeological dio thingy idea....Dino excavation
    http://www.diorama-dreamland.at/index.php?id=38

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  34. Great find and I'm always delighted to hear about an enthusiastic business owner who cares for their customers.

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    1. Certainly how I would describe Barrage Miniatures.

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  35. Great looking structure, Michael. I'd consider picking up one myself but I'm told I have an un-stable personality. ;)

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  36. I've bought from him before - a project that never quite became blog ready and he is a tea delight.
    I love your square idea, that might need to be looked into.

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    1. Everyone seems to have had similar experiences to myself when it comes to Barrage Miniatures - clearly a company that prides itself on customer satisfaction.

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  37. Lovely buildings - and a great idea; being a middle aged man still searching for stability, a medieval stable would come in handy. Cheers! :)

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  38. Lovely work Michael. I met up with Alf in Madrid this month and had an absolutely wonderful time. I agree with you, he is a real gem.

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  39. Lovely work Michael. I met up with Alf in Madrid this month and had an absolutely wonderful time. I agree with you, he is a real gem.

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