A Half-Century of Hobbies: Saying Goodbye to Viking

 I spose I've been lucky here in NoVa that we still have a pair of regional chain stores (Your Hobby Place) and an independent (Huzzah Hobbies) FLGS still in operation that continues to carry de riguer (safe and trendy) lines of historical miniatures. Add in HMGS conventions, which are within a relatively short driving distance, and I can get a lot of the newer, flashier offerings quite readily. 

In Carmichael - a suburb of Sacramento, CA, historical tabletop gamers likely have it much worse, and much worse all of a sudden, as retirement comes at last for the proprietors of Viking Hobby. Ken and Jessica Mosbaugh have announced that their five decades of operating the store are coming to an end this year, in late summer/early fall. 

When Eagle and Empire closed up here, a staple in the Virginia/DC area, their remaining inventory helped seed the Alexandria location of the West Virginia-based Your Hobby Place. The ginormous Game Parlor, another local legend, had closed a couple of years prior. New York-based Compleat Strategist also closed down its Falls Church location, though when I saw it last had been given entirely over to Warhammer and RPG titles. So it appears with Viking Hobby that it, too, will just disappear forever. 

I just so happened to be in California last week for family stuff, and I made it a priority to get in there one last time.

Viking Hobby (Viking) opened in 1974, Gemini tells me. I began visiting not too long after. I think I began routinely going in the early to mid-eighties. It started with Airfix HO Scale models. There was the Toy Shop in Arden Fair Mall, and Games People Play as well. Dungeons and Dragons miniatures were likely my first 25mm metal miniatures, but Viking also had Ral Partha, RAFM, 15mm Minifigs, later Geo-Hex, Old Glory, etc, all kinds of enticing offerings. Riverside Hobbies was another that came later, but all are long gone now. leaving Viking as the best and the last.

I've talked about Stuart MacDonald here before, my erstwhile English pal from Hartlepool. When he was old enough, he began working at Viking as a staffer and would be a familiar face there for a certain generation. I seem to have a more English sensibility to my gaming preferences, likely due to him, but also to the fact that Viking carried Miniature Wargames, and Wargames Illustrated, two journals, both at one time or another edited by Duncan McFarlane. Offhand I'd say the English practice differs from the American one by drawing on its own rich and older historical tradition - more Horse and Musket, more Napoleonics, more Colonials, more Medievals, less vehicles, tanks, planes and ships. 

The mags I preferred were English in sensibility, but the store itself was thoroughly American, as my final photos will attest. 

Alas! Jessica had already gone home by the time I arrived. I had a short window, so I was not able to return. This was the view that greeted me as I entered. This is a small shop if you haven't gathered, and I don't notice any changes since I was there six years ago. Apart from product selection, it's looked roughly like this since the 70s!

They are selling down at this point, and inventory is as light as I've ever seen it. These spinners have seen it all over the years. My first serious wargame purchases were 15mm Minifigs French Foreign Legion, then 15mm Essex ACW, but I got the bulk of my 15mm ACW stuff here too. Each generation of hot stuff filled these completely. 

These are the very racks where I picked up Miniature Wargames and Wargames Illustrated, the journal that prescribed how I would hobby forever. I really was in it for the eye candy, the spectacle. 

I'm certain many of these mags have been there for a few decades by now, Courier, Tradition, Military Modeling? 

Ken used to be a common sight when Stuart and I had to be driven there, but he preferred to let Jessica be the customer-facing one. To both Stuart and me, Jessica was a friend as well as an amazing retailer: customer-focused, knowledgeable, and always willing to mail-order stuff for you. Mail-order remains a big part of this hobby even now. She hooked me up with all my Napoleonette Russian and French armies, as I recall it, the vast majority unpainted, but still in my possession!

This "surfboard" model has also been there for as long as I remember. 

Ken himself was an exquisite modeler in his own right. I don't have the best images of these, but they hold their own against contemporary work. 

In his own way, his work set a painting standard for us to aspire for too, though we focused on gaming models instead of those intended for display.  

My photo butchered these amazing flats, but I think you get the idea. Honestly, these shelves contain about the same mix of models that have always been there. I spose the kids think this all might be a bit stale, old models, old magazines, but I, for one, appreciate the continuity and the bridging of the past to the present, which has value in and of itself. Especially when it's gone. 

The old Viking Ship remains iconic to the spot! Seriously, very little has changed here in many, many years. 

The back wall left has seen an expansion in Osprey titles; before moving out of the state and the arrival of Amazon, I got most of mine here. 

The back wall right and corner

Heading back toward the front, the left wall was entirely model kits. This isn't my hobby, so I can't tell you much about it other than it was the section where I picked up Matchbox, Atlantic, Esci, and Airfix (then sold under the MPC name) HO scale models. 

  

This final shot is the view I had before I turned to go. More spinners would have been to my right, the model kits at my back, and fifty years of history lining the walls around me. It’s weird to think that the next time I visit, this space will be something entirely different. The old models, the classic magazines, and the iconic Viking ship belong to the ages now. It’s the end of an era for this Sacramento legend, and for those of us who grew up in these aisles. Farewell, Viking Hobby. It was a spectacular and unforgettable run.

As always, thanks for looking - questions, comments and followers are welcome and encouraged! I'm doing more and more on Facebook so follow my page there too! https://www.facebook.com/One-of-My-Men-Became-Restless-100659928063858

25mm Eureka Miniatures - Pax Limpopo - Pig Tickler

 These were completed in 2003 when I had posted them (or shots like them) on Cool Mini or Not. From time to time, I like to pull all my content into one place, and this is another such effort. There's quite a bit out there not represented here.

These particular entries are from a small range for an even smaller arena game from Eureka Miniatures called Pig Tickler. The recent attention given to Osprey's Hairfoot Jousting reminded me of it.

There is a recurring thread on TMP that asks if one is getting better as a painter or worse as one ages. As I look at these, I fear may be getting worse! 

This is the referee model

This one was labeled "Lancer PFC Jim Jenkins"

The mechanical pig what must be tickled -- or pierced with the lance 

Stoker #2 "You get two of these blokes in Eureka's Pig Tickler game . . . they are there to simply cause chaos amongst the lancers and to keep the mechanical pig in operation -though the rules suggest that there's only one in the game. ah well."

Stoker #1 

An old fashioned composite shot of Jenkins

Altogether now! Quite a big loss of fidelity here in the amalgamation. 

As always, thanks for looking - questions, comments and followers are welcome and encouraged! I'm doing more and more on Facebook so follow my page there too! https://www.facebook.com/One-of-My-Men-Became-Restless-100659928063858

25mm Mujja's Forge - Wooden Fence Set

 

I found these (unpainted) on Etsy for $6. Not awful, though these particular prints had a lot of spider webbery material. 

6 with shipping is probably too much for them, but I got some other odds and ends at the same time. 

They are a smidge smaller than I was hoping, however. 

Some Silver Bayonet figures for scale comparisons. I spose one could trip over them, but they aren't really substantial enough to hide behind (unless you're the goblin). They might be better to fence off a small grave instead.

Cute little things I guess - this is the pic they sold me on

All in all, they are fine: 10 inches of dilapidated fencing for a lonesome country road. It took very little time to paint and base.

As always, thanks for looking - questions, comments and followers are welcome and encouraged! I'm doing more and more on Facebook so follow my page there too! https://www.facebook.com/One-of-My-Men-Became-Restless-100659928063858

25mm Old Glory Medieval - Revolting Peasants - Part 6 - Sticks and Hand Weapons

 These bring the mob up to 68 of around 150 models. Still going strong and I'm sticking it through til the end, so far. My allowable off-ramps are terrain and other Medieval-related things. 

These are representative bodies from the Sticks and Stones set (the sticks), some from the Looters and Pillagers (the torch bearers, and the bowl cut axeman), and the rest, the remainder of the bodies from the Scythes and Pitchforks set. I did the long weapons already, these are the handheld weapons - only one hand scythe and the rest axes. Remember that with Old Glory, each bag contains roughly 10–12 distinct body sculpts, with each one duplicated 2–3 times. The heads, however, vary from model to model—and even when a head is repeated, it's rarely paired with the same body.

A new color combo was centered around Reaper Pro Paint "Oiled Leather." The usual thing with these - a basecoat, Army Painter Strong tone, then a build back up with the base through the highlights. Every boot, belt and bag on every single mini has been and will continue to be, AP Fanatic Leather Brown. Natural wood are from AK Interactive Light Earth (as seen directly below). I may do some hair different - a few white haired dudes and a ginger seen here third from left:

Reaper Oiled Leather can be seen on models 2 and 6. 

Number 4 has a good scheme too, with Americana - Portobello. I'm trying to get a good undyed wool color, and that's been my favorite option so far. 

When I do use any Army Painter Fanatic paint, I will, after the Strong Tone, go right up through the tetrad, sometimes leapfrogging a shade to get bolder volumes. Much of the green was done this way. 

The red on figure 4 is one I've used before - Pro Acryl's Burnt Sienna - that's as bright a red as I'll allow on these. Once I get to the proper serjeants and knights, I'll get bolder and brighter with many of the colors.

All together now ...

... in a bunch, in a bunch!

In the background is a newly painted Peasant House and little woodshed to the right from Perry Miniatures

The next batch is 21 figures - models from the Sticks and Stones set - (the stones specifically) and some looters and pillagers. Neaither have much in weaponry sculpted on so I've had to dig through the bits box to get scabards, shields and other stuff to adorn them with. I also made a mess o' broom bristle spears and drilled out some hands to accommodate them.

That will be the end of the individual models - the rest will be the bases of 2-3 models and will include all the dupes of the models you've already seen. As always, thanks for looking - questions, comments and followers are welcome and encouraged! I'm doing more and more on Facebook so follow my page there too! https://www.facebook.com/One-of-My-Men-Became-Restless-100659928063858

25mm Old Glory Medieval - Revolting Peasants - Part 5 - Women and Children

 Here is the start of the multi-base models: kids, each with a female protector. 

This is a retread of some of the better color combos I've already used, but this time I wanted to do that blue-gray color, as well as some off-whites. 

An action shot ...

... and some AI slop. 

If done well, AI slop can be quite effective in setting the scene. I'm having some fun with it. 

After a dozen others with axes, sticks and sickles are bases of just children as well as a batch of man/wife, 2-figure bases. That leaves a bunch of unarmed looters with chickens, vases, barrels, etc and then the stone-throwing guys. I'm going to do some small conversions with these so they can actually be used as combatants instead of just, er loot markers? Not sure what function the stone throwers serve. They aren't even proper slingers and only a few have a dagger at their belt. Even the stones they are throwing are very small. I've got ideas - you'll see. 

Somewhere in all this will be all the duplicates of all the model types already seen, combined onto three-man bases to finish off the project - a self-imposed endurance test. Can I tackle a large project without wandering off into something else for once? I'm allowing myself to do some medieval buildings and accessories, but no new units. 

This particular entry brings the mob up to 56 peasants, over a third done. As always, thanks for looking - questions, comments and followers are welcome and encouraged! I'm doing more and more on Facebook so follow my page there too! https://www.facebook.com/One-of-My-Men-Became-Restless-100659928063858