While Nottingham may be the Spiritual Home of tabletop gaming in the UK, Alex J Huntley is it seems to help to cement this image by helping put Nottingham on the map again internationally in both gaming and with his model making business by teaming up with Nottingham Trent University to develop and run an exciting model-making Courses. The course aims to teach you the skills to make dynamic figures that will stretch your creativity.

Image result for nottingham trent university

Model Sculpting Course

Saturdays 10 am – 4 pm, two weeks
Indicative maximum class size: 14
Nottingham has an excellent reputation in the war game and fantasy model making industries, and at NTU we are pleased to announce a repeat of this unique two-day course for enthusiasts who wish to immerse themselves in this world.
Course Code; CSCFMM
Course Dates; 28th October 2017 – 4th November 2017
Course Fee; £180.00
Course Description;  Led by Alex Huntley of Warploque Miniatures, one of the UK’s most exciting model-making companies, the course will teach you the skills to make dynamic figures that will stretch your creativity.
Over the two days, you will focus on superheroes, bizarre animals or any other creature of your imagination. The course is completely practical, so you’ll be engaging with a hands-on project from the start.
This course is open to anyone aged 16 and above.
On this course you will:
•build a simple armature
•sketch in plasticine
•sculpt in fast-drying materials
•turn a 2D design into a 3D piece of art.
What will you gain?
By the end of the two days you will have a model to take home to continue painting, and the knowledge of how to create more. The course will also introduce you to the techniques used to produce miniatures for resin and metal casting reproduction.
This course is ideal if you are interested in the war game and model making industries.
You might already have a concept you want to develop and are looking for advice and new skills, or you might want to create models purely for pleasure and your own games.

Email: creativeshortcourses@ntu.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)115 848 2813

Warploque Miniatures website

This is or looks to be an interesting and exciting project and shows how tabletop games companies can be both generous with their knowledge and engage with the hobby on many levels. For those who don’t know, Alex Huntley is the owner, writer and sculptor of the highly successful  ArcWorlde, a 32mm fantasy wargaming miniatures for gamers, painters and collectors, which launched on Kickstarter in 2013. Their original goal of £5,000 was completely blasted alt textthrough and by the end of the campaign they had managed to raise a truly massive £57,019 in pledges,  A second run at Kickstarter Battle for Troll Bridge hitting £10,663, then finally the third instalment Trouble in the North raised a whopping £21,108. Helping to expand the World of ArcWorlde into new territories.

Originally a model maker as a child Alex Huntley started to show off his works via blogs and internet forums developing a loyal following. This was then proven with the number of people who both took up interest in his original Kickstarter and also actively spent time sharing details with everyone they knew, helping to blast past the pre planned Kickstarter pledges and see sudden changes in how he was running the campaign. yourself to keep going.

Of cause there is a multitude of model making and gaming companies out there and many would wonder about the necessity of further saturating the market with another, as we have seen several just recently collapse, like Spartan Games and and Tor, however that is not what this is really about and more about helping others develop skills to create something that at the very least help to create bespoke minis and models that appeal to the maker and at best see something that is edgy and less about mass market and more about what makes you want to buy because you really appreciate the miniature, something which captures the imagination.

So who will be going to such a course and why, well anyone who has ever gamed and thought I can do better, anyone who has looked at a miniature and felt I wish they made X model or just those who want to understand how to improve existing skills and develop or new comers who are eager to start their own dreams of being a miniature designer.

So what will you be looking at with the course, well at its core people will be introduced to the skills required for creating their own three-dimensional characters and bringing their ideas to life. through the process of making Image result for alex huntley miniature sculptingsketches and taking ideas from peoples heads and develop the model through the process of creating a wire armature out of wire, and then building up modelling putties to the finished component. Learning about the creative process, through practice and the experience of both the teacher and others.
Well if you are a budding miniature game designer and want to learn how to sculpt, an existing converter who wants to develop skills or new to the hobby and fancy developing then this is something that will appeal to a lot of readers.

#Warmongers #tabletopgamingnews #WhispersfromtheLeadBelt

Nottingham Gamer Petitions Ikea to build Gaming Tables

Ok a bit of light news for a change, with everything being so heavy and dark in the news its always nice to have something that raises a smile and the spirits.

Image result for board gaming table examples (Table an example only and not to be confused with any Ikea actual products)

(Table an example only and not to be 
confused with any 
IKEA actual products)




Brad Smoley it seems is it seems both passionate about gaming and socially aware with regards how many in the community are cash strapped in these hard times and so has decided to petition IKEA to help out the fellows gamers by having them design, build and sell gaming tables. However this is not as crazy as it might sound.
There has in the community been several attempts over the years to develop a gaming table that provides for the gaming community at large and as a family dining table. However funding and costs have always made this inappropriate.
Brad Smoley it seems is it seems both passionate about gaming and socially aware with regards how many in the community are cash strapped in these hard times and so has decided to petition IKEA to help out the fellows gamers by having them design, build and sell gaming tables. However this is not as crazy as it might sound.

And here is why Brad decided to petition IKEA, as an industry leader in sleek and well designed home furniture with an ethos that started as an idea in the woods of southern Sweden more than 70 years ago and what now has become ‘The IKEA Concept’ an ever evolving design processes still improving. So if they are ever evolving and designing new lines then it is reasonable that a product that could see grow in sales would be something that they would be interested in and it would allow gamers who already buy book cases and storage units for games to extend the look to a table.

With IKEA’s existing ranges and lighting ideas this could turn out to be something of a game changer (No pun intended) and one I would very much like to see happen.

Brad Smoley’s Letter to IKEA

IKEA


The board gaming community is passionate and particular about their gaming accessories. They are also a large group with disposable income. There have been many attempts in the community to develop a high-quality table appropriate for both dining and gaming, but few have been affordable enough for the community at large to enjoy.

That is why this petition has been created. IKEA is an industry leader in creating multi-functional furniture at affordable prices. The tabletop gaming community is already a heavy user of IKEA’s KALLAX product as it is an efficient way to store and display their gaming collections.

An affordable multi-function dining table designed by IKEA with an under-table storage area/gaming surface would be an incredible addition to not only IKEA’s line up of products, but the board gaming community’s list of essential gaming accessories.

And the Petition has been open a couple of days and has already garnered over Twenty two thousand petitioners, Let’s make it happen!

Petition Ikea to design and Sell a Gaming Table