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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.

 

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Happy New Year , New Packs , New figures, New rules .

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 !

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Happy Birthday to us !

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 !

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Hi Guys ! …Short holiday time ! ..shop closed !

Howdy all ! …I’ve just had a busy month in the casting and packing shed !

Thankyou for your continued support, kind words and excellent conversation !

I’m just about to go away for a well-earned break for a week-plus of walking and fishing up in Far North Queensland, so I’ll be unable to process orders in the next week.

I’ll be back (if I haven’t been eaten by a crocodile) on the 2nd of September and will be able to get to anything waiting then.

Apart from casting and packing, …it has been a busy month of bringing our home grown rules a bit further forward… I may have mentioned they are taking on a life of their own …and current developments have them extending from the ‘American War’ Vietnam period (the original ‘scope) to a retro-modern “Cold War gone hot” setting (circa 1984) ..but with a South-East Asian flavour … think of the Post-Vietnam war Communist “dominoes” falling through Indonesia and the pacific, and onto Australia’s Northern coast … we are having a lot of fun with this concept ! …and it’s turning out sorta like somewhere between the traditional ‘Soviet/Chi-Com Hordes are coming’ scenario…. and a ‘Pulp’ wargame version of   ‘Aussie Outback “ferals” (hillbillies) fight the ‘Indonesian Commie Apocalypse’ …

..I’m not sure exactly how it will end up looking like, …..maybe ‘Outback Kangaroo and Pig-hunters in “Holden ‘utes” (ie: Chrysler utility trucks) and sturdy rubber ‘thongs (ie: flip-flops…casual footwear) will be the saviours of Australia ?  Or will it be long-range SAS patrols with ATGW , laser designators and backed by F111 fighter bombers …. that will turn back the Commie Hordes ???  ..I’m still finding out myself ….. I have laughed so, so much recently,  I am looking forward to see what might happen next …  Thanks guys !

But first …I’m going fishing !

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Take Cover ! …new Terrain is here !

Hi gents ! …. hopefully you have got some of the lead mountain painted and you are looking to protect your troops ! … we have lots of new Terrain pieces ready for your table ! ….This culminates the terrain-building project piloted early last year (when I was flooded in and had lots of time to master these) . Some of you buying from the website will have received samples of what I’ve been up to as I’m doing them …fencelines,  CGI shelters , mortar pits, roadside shrines etc . ..and I’m grateful for the feedback I’ve had over the last months.

The intention has been to ‘add-to’ the really useful ‘Sandbag Walls’ item from the terrain accessories …. first  sandbagged walls with OHP for the ‘Observation Towers’ terrain accessory item (see; ‘Sandbagged Checkpoint item)… then a small generic bunker …then on and upwards to the fourteen new items I’ve just added. I’ve aimed to make the terrain pieces as multi-functional as possible, so accordingly…. fairly generic. These might also do fine for your WW2 table AND would ‘work’ OK for your 20mm troops. I’ve also kept in mind that the Sandbagged ‘Firebase’ terrain pieces (in particular) could be further modified/detailed fortified using our ‘Sandbag Walls’ and ‘Fuel Drums’ accessory items.   This allows you to easily customise your own ‘Firebase’ pieces using compatible accessories we already produce.

It also means that if you have had the idea of building your own Firebase from Accessories yourself (like some admirably crazy German players)…I’ve done a lot of the foundation work for you already , this will be a much, much cheaper (and faster) option.

At this point … we still have a few minor Terrain accessory items to add to this round of releases (tents, VC hides, civilian village items etc), then I’m looking to complete some ‘hard’ civilian buildings (and ruins)… for your continuing wargaming happiness.

Plenty more goodness coming from this direction …stay tuned…. keep painting !

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Howdy gents ! …Lots in my Loc !

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 .

 

 

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Howdy All !.. from Down under

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 !

 

 

 

 

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! …Back from Pilgrimage to ‘Capital City’ !

G’day gents , just arrived home from Canberra and the yearly ‘CanCon’ event which was a lotta fun.

I took a small store down armed with the usual Flashpoint goodies, but was most interested to see how our new (in the last year) offerings would be received, and was looking for comments on the up-and-coming items we have planned and prototyped. Again, it was good to see a few old friends and meet some new ones … so lots of good discussion was had, many world problems were solved, … even had a few laughs.

The biggest runaway success was the ‘Amtracks’, these were very well received, which I’m personally the most chuffed about. Both the APC and Howitzer versions were well liked by people seeing them ‘for real’ (not just on an internet pikkie), and I sold all but one Amtrack APC. I was surprised that the recently added ‘USMC with M14’s’ packs were admired, but almost ignored at the checkout as most buyers were stocking up on our ANZACs and VC/NVA. …well, that makes sense in an Aussie marketplace. Our new M113 with T50 turret, and ‘VC Porters’ pack was well received also. We also trialled a new ‘Assorted Trees’ pack and a few new additions to accessory/terrain items (sandbags walls/sampans/observation towers) at the show, which were well received, … I haven’t posted these on the website yet .. so these are coming real soon, now I know I’m on the right track with these.

So a bit of work now to do to unpack and answer a bunch of emails that have come in since the show (while I’ve been driving home), and a small shop order to assemble off to Germany….

Thanks to everyone who came and said hello at CanCon, big thanks to Tim Sleigh and his team at Canberra Games Society (CGS) for another well-run big show, and Nic (and team) of Eureka Miniatures, and Mick of ‘Micks Metal Models’ (the Aussie home of Peter Pig miniatures) for being most excellent neighbours … and mentors. I learned a lot from these gentlemen.

I had my young family with me for the ‘road trip’ and we had a great time and met many good people, so will likely make a regular family trip for the event, as I train the next (tall blonde female) generation of the ‘Flashpoint Miniatures’ team , …mwohahahaha !…

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Flashpoint Miniatures (v.3) is one year old ! , … one year wiser !

Howdy Gents ,

It’s been a rocket-ride first year for my tenure as Owner/manager of Flashpoint Miniatures ! …What an education !        I’ve been a long-time (30+years) casual but dedicated wargamer across a number of genres, but I really had no idea what goes on behind the scenes.  At this moment in time, when tabletop wargaming seems to be gaining in popularity, abundance and sophistication …I feel it is completely my privilege to be doing this.

I first ‘discovered’ Flashpoint Miniatures only about three years ago, and although I liked the figures, I felt that the composition of the packs left a lot to be desired. When I heard that the Business was offered for sale, and learned the previous owner had more-or-less ‘lost interest’, … I felt that this was a beaut little range of figures that was worth saving, and more-than-worth taking further. I was already a 15mm Vietnam tragic (yes, I also own a fair amount of Peter Pig, QRF and Battlefront figures/models, … and a shedload of aircraft) .. and as I discovered some of the more unique and quality offerings from the Flashpoint range (eg; Montagnards, Sappers, and the largest, coolest selection of ‘Vietnam Special Forces’ figures there is ) , my enthusiasm for the potential of Flashpoint Miniatures grew and grew.  …It’s still growing.  ….  Again … I feel it is completely my privilege to be doing this !

In this first year (not knowing any better) we have added twenty-eight ‘new’ figures, remastered another twelve figures  I felt could-be-better (or had production issues), rediscovered another fifteen figures that had fallen from production and will be re-released soon (or are already turning up in packs). We have also added three new vehicles (and a T50 turret for our M113 model) and nine new ‘terrain’ items/accessories. …..I say “not knowing any better” because I suggest this represents a fairly ambitious schedule for a miniatures production company twice our size, and it has been a near vertical learning curve for me on how to ‘make this happen’, let alone the time and personal $$$ invested to see it through. I’m pretty chuffed with what we have managed to achieve so far , and have a bunch more new items (ARVN figures, vehicles, boats, terrain pieces) already on the way.

We have also made a point of improving the ‘production quality’ of what we are doing, (from what/how was done before) … we have improved the quality of the lead-free pewter we use (actually good enough to eat off ), found better (tougher) polyurethane ‘resins’ to use, and very recently changed the spincasting team we use … I’m now seeing the best castings of our figures I’ve seen so far, and believe we have ‘lifted the bar’ on what is possible to offer.

Along the way I’ve been lucky to meet and collaborate with a new circle of talented friends, artisans, suppliers, buyers, wargamers and production gurus. I cannot emphasise enough, what good work, advice, ideas, encouragement, feedback and friendship I have received over the last year , or how valuable this is . Big Thanks ! Keep it coming ! IOU!

So a big Thankyou to everyone (especially customers) who have made it possible this year to get this far at all. I believe by this time next year we will be another quantum-leap forward in 15mm wargaming awesomeness, and will have our own “big-battle” wargaming rules well on-the-table. ….so if you are not already … get painting ! , start hoarding vehicles and aircraft ! , make shedloads of cool terrain ! negotiate with work, family and loved ones to be absent next year ! get some exercise !  do whatever chores need doing ! …don’t say you weren’t warned !  Your time starts now !

All the best for Christmas and the holiday season, I hope/trust you emerge unscathed, maybe even richer and wiser.

 

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Really ?? …what happened to October ?

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