Category: News / Events

Hi Gents,

Another few weeks and months have flown past, and a lot has been happening since I posted in June. Firstly we’ve been pretty busy with some pretty cool looking ARVN and USMC armies and ‘Village terrain’ going out the door.  The ‘Checkpoint kit’ (TER-11) has been the runaway favourite terrain item, along with the ‘VC Bunkers’. …. Thankyou much for your business, kind feedback, and cool pics !

Our own figure remastering and re- production-moulding schedule is moving ahead really well.       I am now producing more and better cast figures than ever before. We have invested in quite a few new production moulds for our biggest turnover ranges, some of which were ‘remastered’ a little (to improve bases mostly, or rectify persisting casting difficulties)… so now I can offer a better looking range of fantastic figures, some of which have been out of circulation for a while it seems. Some items I used to have trouble producing , now produce very well. I have also filled a lot of gaps in little details such as heavy weapon accessories and civilian ‘clutter’ , and produce more items I wanted such as more casualty tokens (now for  M14 USMC and ANZAC ) …I am already passing this on in more interesting and useful combinations in the composition of various packs. Funnily enough, this also means I’m looking to reduce prices of some things (or pack more and better) because I am now producing much more efficiently. Watch this space !

We’ve recently been collaborating with Gomi Designs in England to make a series of  “crew and weapons” figures for their expanding range of Vietnam Riverine boats. Tim at Gomi Designs has a PBR , a Light SEAL Support Craft (LSSC) , and a much, much awaited ‘Swift Boat’ (PCF) also very near production. Tim is planning a Medium SEAL Support Craft (MSSC) next with a LCM-8 planned thereafter. Watch this space. I’m looking to provide gunner options for the PACV from Gomi designs very soonly too

The ‘Leading Elements’ Tactical Rules project is very advanced and I should be posting a lot of it on the forums here in the next month.  …Thankyou for your feedback and “Comradely good fellowship” in scrutinizing and shaping these.  A lot of good observations, information and advice have been offered here. Thankyou ! The Army List sections have come together well, and a miniCampaign test run has been scheduled for a loong weekend in November. Stay tuned, will share pics !

Thanks again to all for keeping the Flashpoint Miniatures shop-floor pretty busy recently, and an enjoyable place to work ! ……..Yes ! ..still have lots of new things coming …. more SEALs and ARVN , Riverine/boat crews, civilian ‘tuk-tuk’, Saigon taxi, modular ‘hard’ buildings, terrain remasters, LVTP5 remaster, M113 remasters, a CH34 Choctaw, ‘technicals’ for the Ultramodern troops … most of which exist already and are just waiting for a chance to be prepared for production. …The concurrent ‘Rules project has slowed me down a bit here.

I have been busy making piles of gaming-ready terrain for this coming November. Found some cool things,… will share !

Great days ! Good things closer ! … Woohoo !  November coming !

Jimmi

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

Hi Gents ! …I’ve recently had a few requests for postal/shipping rates clarification, so I went and had a look at the Australia Post plug-in that calculates shipping and options, to my surprise I found that the cheaper shipping rates options had been switched off …so  I’ve switched them back on !  Hereby, cheaper postal rates than “Express hand delivered by  three wise Magi” is now available.

Also ..if you aren’t following the financial news from Australia ( I don’t think anybody does) , the Australian economy under our current fearless leadership is spiralling into the toilet , and nearly all the robber barons in the mining sector have sold out and left ! … But that’s great news ! (only if you are self employed , grow/kill your own food and make your own electricity..)

(At the time of writing)… The Aussie dollar (AUD) is down about 22% against the USD (…than what it was about this time last year) (AUD= .76 USD), and down about 10% against the GBP   (AUD= .52 GBP), ….great news ! … if you don’t live in Australia !

So exploit the opportunities ‘Down Under ! … Buy Australian!

… before we officially convert our currency to Renminbi (RMB) ! …

All the best  😉

Jimmi

16 march 2015.

 

 

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 !

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 !

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 !

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 .