Author: Flashpoint Miniatures

Hi Gents,

Yes ! …back from a short trip to Vietnam and home unscathed ! … Have been characteristically busy since returning home , …. apart from catching up on my ‘day job’, tending to farm chores  and unpacking treasure;  I have been immediately busy mastering some crew figures for my friend Tim at Gomi Designs (these are already on the way to be master moulded so stay ‘tuned, …see link at the bottom of this page), … plus some new SEAL figures, a few ‘Mike-force’ figures, plus some improvements to some of our current US Army figures.

Also …  I’ve been using many photos from the trip to master some new modular ‘hard’ buildings for the Vietnam wargames table. These will have lift-off rooves and are designed to ‘stack’ to make multiple-story structures such as town/city shops and larger buildings with a “French-colonial” appearance in a number of combinations. I’m excited about this project as it was one of the original terrain projects started back in early 2013, but ummmm… ‘M14 Marines, Mechanical Mules, Amtracks, Firebase fortifications, VC fortifications, 38 new figures and another fifteen recent ARVN figures have all taken precedence. ….Hahaha ! I need more hours in the ‘day, days in the ‘week, weeks in the ‘month ……

For those following the ‘rules project I’m just about to update the current (January 2015) draft and will disseminate more widely and begin posting in the ‘forums’ section of this site. Feedback, comments and criticisms are invited. I’ve got some cool looking AAR’s to show you too !

Better get busy !

06 June 2015.

Hi Gents,

How’s it going ? …Have been pretty flat out here till now. Thanks for all your support !

Lotsa good things happening ! …ARVN Rangers/paras seem a big hit ! New (actually ‘old’) SEALs about to arrive into production. More SEALs (as boat crew for Gomi’s Designs LSSC), and Boat Crews… about to come. Mould Replanning project doing well. …even getting some painting and gaming done ! Rules projects looking real good !…scary !

Just a note on the ‘front door’ to say ..am about to go away touristing for a fortnight from tomorrow,

…am on tour to Vietnam ! ..true ! will take some photos.

The shop will still be open to take your urgent orders but I will be unable to pack and ship until I return in early May.

I hope this is OK !

Hang in there ! Lots of good things coming !

(Civilian vehicles, terrain pieces, new and ‘old’ figures ..looking their remoulded best !)

Jimmi

Greetings Gents,

Well, I’ve finished the ‘ARVN Ranger/Paratroop Rifle Platoon’ and got it on the shelves and listed on the website, and added a few accessory items and NVA armoured vehicle crews. ..what to next ?

 

My immediate plans WERE to do a little more production room work to improve things like bases on some of the US Army figures that I think could be better, and while I’m at it get a few more cavities on popular figures happening while I’d be making new moulds. ..Yes that’s all coming ..but I really want to paint a bunch of stuff up for myself ..oh yeah, I mean for illustrating the upcoming ruleset with nice looking examples using Flashpoint (and friends’) figures, (…that are of a little bit better ‘grade of presentation than the bulk of figures of various manufacturers that I have prepared already.)..eg. I’m from the generation of wargamer that didn’t flock bases as a matter of course … nowadays the ‘standard of presentation is much higher than it used to be. ..and what’s the point of owning a miniatures company and then sending my beautiful figures to someone else to paint …?

So I’m planning on doing a bit of painting .. see if I can get all the pics on the website prepared better (or at all). Yes I keep saying this .. but then go and do something else …up ’till now. Cheers for you pateince ..and reminders !

New stuff ? ….My designer mate is more than half way through is the CH34 ‘Choctaw’ helicopter model, I’ve mastered a three wheel ‘tuk-tuk’ vehicle  and a Peugeot (Saigon) taxi  for the civilians. And have commissioned three ‘technical’ models for the UltraModerns. all coming soon … but no timeline guesses as yet, but all more than half-way…. started.

New distraction (only in the last few days really) is a selection of US Cargo and Gun-trucks as a for production project.

Hmmm! ….?How hard could it be ?

03 March 2015.

 

Howdy all !

I hope your New-Year hangovers have settled by now.

I’ve been a busy little bunny recently preparing for CanCon , the biggest ‘Con on the the Aussie calendar in Canberra … but as of yesterday will be unable to attend … sorry guys ! …my House-sitter (actually ‘Farm-sitter’) just bailed .

…(methinks think it’s about a girl ..all’s fair in love and war….Hahaha!)

Along the way I’ve been super diligent ‘out the back’ … I’ve mentioned before,.. our production efficiency and quality has improved markedly in the last year so I’ve been making sure some of the new and most awesome figures we do are well represented in the ‘platoon packs’ we already do. I’ve also digested some of the feedback from mates and customers about “what is useful” …so Flashpoint-watchers might notice changes in size of some packs.

…For example: ‘Mortar platoon’ packs will be smaller (three crews per pack, from the original six crews per pack (…and therefore more affordable ) ….And some packs will be bigger, especially some of the smaller  ‘Recon team’ -based packs which will be slightly bigger and more capable where it counts.

More new stuff ? … I’m still waiting for the new ARVN sculpts to be production-moulded in the ‘States. I have also got some new casualty markers, and new MVC heavy machine-gunners coming in this lot. I also have a ‘LVC HQ Pack’ and ‘NVA Armour Crews’ ready to go, and a few terrain items such as “Palm Leaves” which I think you might find really, really useful. These will be added to the website in the next few days.

Our own ‘Vietnam rules’ project is about finished, and just about to be thrown open for a first look before we properly ‘produce’ them with glossy pictures etc etc. I will very soon post a ‘four page version’ in the forums here. …Stay ‘tuned.

…any questions or further suggestions …let me know ! …and continuing thanks for the input, custom and support thru 2014 !

Happy ‘gaming,  and continuing awesomeness for your 2015 !

More (much-more) to follow !

Hi Gents !

wow ! it’s the beginning of December !  …I’ve been quiet here again , but rest assured I’ve been busy for the cause !

No … I wasn’t eaten by crocodiles or sharks in North Queensland, …. just mosquitoes and sandflies.

Yes ! Flashpoint Miniatures ( V3) is now two years old ! ..what a vertically educational two years this has been.!

This last few months has seen the rollout of a whole bunch of useful terrain ‘base’ items which have been built on the really popular ‘sandbag walls’ terrain pieces we were already producing. …These have been really popular and I have set new personal records for polyurethane casting achievements… Thanks for the really positive feedback and interest !

Another personal milestone for me is the re-production (in a new mould) of the ‘bamboo clumps’ piece so they are easier to produce  than they were before … this item has proved much more popular than I had anticipated ,  and up to very recently was always struggling to have enough, …now… problem solved. This item makes a great ‘hidden Unit’ marker for when you need them….and I’ve been needing them more of lately.

The long awaited new ARVN figures, are being production-moulded in the USA as I write this, so I’m hoping these moulds will be in my hands very soon. There seems to be a lot of interested people waiting for this. I’m very happy with how this has turned out, despite taking a full six months longer than I would have wildly  imagined.

I’m also using this moment to do an overhaul of most of the figure packs we do. …In the last year our production quality and efficiency has improved near-100% , and I’m now seeing more of, and better castings of  Flashpoint’s best figures….and I want to get more of them into people’s hands.! ….So as I plan this overhaul,  it is a satisfying feeling that efforts have paid off in this direction. ! …..more of better can’t be a bad thing !

So again… sorry I’ve been quiet here at the front of the website ! … but it’s not a sign that nothing’s happening ! …it’s a sign that I’m creatively busy ‘out the ‘back … where the good stuff comes from.!  …with more to follow !

Hi guys !

What a great time in 15mm Vietnam Wargaming the last month or so has been !

I know I’ve been sampling the 15mm goodness in abundance at the moment, I’ve been painting up lots of other people’s stuff, and formulating an African  army (for ‘AK47 Republic’) from the UltraModern ranges.  …. great days in 15mm !

I’ve managed to finish a small range of handy and versatile terrain pieces and accessories that I’ve been piloting since March last year. Extensive scrutiny, beer-fuelled debate, consultation, comparison, and engineering has been undertaken on what items will be hopefully most useful for the Vietnam (or 20C/Modern) table top, and complement, ….or stand apart from existing ranges.  I’m at the moment when all the current stage of production moulds are ready to go. …I just need to place items in the website shop ! …and I’m waiting for a bunch of new header cards to arrive for the packaging. Hahahaha! ….I’ll post in the forums here when I’ve got a chance to tell more !

I’ve also had the long awaited ARVN ‘greens arrive from the sculptor ! Woohoo ! I’ll get these away with a bunch of other greens that have been waiting ! …stay ‘tuned !

For those of you who are interested in our ‘rules’ project …these are coming together very nicely (…hooray!) …and seems to have ‘arrived’ better that I had imagined. …again, stay ‘tuned.

Thankyou for all the steady support, best wishes, excellent advice, sound debate, and good friendship that continues to come my way, …and makes this a big, big role I enjoy doing !

Good gaming !

More to follow .

 

 

Hi again gents ! … I trust this finds you well and productive. I’ve been flat out here at FPM HQ for the last two months … doing all sorts of things, have a big bunch of terrain ready, have a fist-full of new figures already in production and appearing in packs, have a dozen new ARVN sculpts finished, and am getting ready to go a-visiting in ‘Up over’ in the USA to see a few friends, and make some new ones.

I’ve got some useful terrain pieces ready …these have been a year in coming but I think you’ll be happy with the results. Built on our already super popular ‘sandbag walls’ accessory pack, we have a good selection of basic sandbagged firebase fortifications and accessories, generic weapon pits for different popular base sizes, ‘VC camp’ specific pieces and Bunkers, and a few more civilian village accessories. We have a big selection of useful terrain accessories coming, including new Sampans, village fences and ‘More useful trees’ …our second ‘trees pack’ of plantation-palm sized palm trees and small flocked trees.

I’ve also had a good survey of ‘what’s in a pack’ and ‘what do people want(/use)’ and want to improve the packs a little further now I’m also seeing how well (better) some key figures are now produced. I’d like to do ‘early war’ and ‘later war’- themed packs and could do so already …. but first … Firebase defenders ! …. I’ll also have the ARVN ready real soon and I want to get these in action before changing things around too much… and it might irritate the stockists. Hahahaha!

But before any of this … I’m off … for a few weeks !… I’ll be back after the Easter weekend but I’ll not be processing any new orders until the 21st April. Thankyou for your patience.

But looking forward to getting back ! … a ton of new stuff to share !

… so everyone get some painting done !     and  May all of your mail turn up in good time !

 

 

 

 

Hi gents, ..hope you are all well and happy ! …and maybe even getting something painted !

…today is the first time since August I can say I haven’t got something waiting for someone !

Thankyou for your support, comments, suggestions, funny emails and generally best wishes in the last few weeks. I have met quite a few new friends and had a chance to chat and share via email. I’ve still been pretty remiss at keeping this site updated, but have a fistful of new information to share, some awesome product reviews of stuff I’ve found, and some generally otherwise funny, scary and interesting stuff.

Besides a super-busy period just keeping orders met , I’ve been busy behind-the-scenes examining what we can do to  improve our production, which should improve our figure-quality further and still remain pretty leanly-priced. Am keen to see this work over the next few months. ….Stay ‘tuned. We have already added about thirty new sculpts to the range and existing packs …. adding a minesweeper here , adding an ammo box there, redoing a .30cal mount somewhere else … so the packs (including new additions of M14 USMC packs) are intentionally pretty versatile and improving in content and quality as we get it all together.

Keep a lookout for future content and how-to’s on the forums (eg. good ideas for building the Mule). I’ve got some painting finished, and some more almost finished (…hahaha ! …and lots lots more I haven’t started yet ….life’s like that).

Keep a lookout for a few new things coming soon …. terrain pieces mostly … and some new trees !    I’ve frozen the tuk-tuk project for now to get started on ARVN line-infantry figures already … and have some ARVN special forces nearly ready to deploy ….  more to follow !

Remember ..if you are on the east-coast USA and heading to Fall-In (15-17 November , Lancaster PA.) look for Carl of MOC who will be attending with some of the latest Flashpoint-Miniatures goodness to share. !

Take care out there !

Jimmi

 

Thankyou! , the ‘Website has been up and running now for five weeks now, and we have had a flood of interest and well-wishers and Flashpoint Faithful contact us over the past few weeks. Thankyou everyone for the very kind words and best wishes !

… And what a big five weeks it has been in the world of 15mm Vietnam Wargaming !

We have “found” about a dozen cracker ‘Flashpoint-original’ sculpts which have somehow fallen out of production. We have nearly finished out ‘Aussie T50’ Turret for the  M113’s, we are about to “print” our ‘multi-part LVTP5’ “masters”,… and we have the original maestro of Flashpoint Miniatures,.. Anton Ducrot sculpting a few new ‘Early-war’ Marines (with M14’s) and Heavy-Weapon crewmen to complete this range.

We have also prototyped a range of over fifty new terrain-piece accessories to comprise fourteen ‘sets’ of Vietnam-themed terrain pieces…everything from “Highlands Special Forces Firebase” to peaceful “Coastal-village and fish-farm” to “Town-Square”. …Lots of good things coming ! We are in the throes of doing first masters and ensuring they will be ‘visually compatible’ with other trusted terrain pieces. We want some good looking BIG tables happening !

There’s never been a better time to be wargaming Vietnam in 15mm !