For When It Really Matters: New Terrain

Need a little something to lay those newly acquired lumps of loveliness down on? Then look no further. John Gittins and the team at Build A Rama have some new mats about to hit the shelves [pun intended] and if they're anything like as good as their existing offerings then you'll be chuffed to get your hands on some of them

http://www.jgminiatures.com/category.php

Both of John's offerings measure 30" x 13" but can be made larger on request, up to 3' x 4'. The first mat is £30 and the one with the tank tracks on it is £36

Build A Rama have a number of new pieces up for grabs. Take a look and see which you prefer

Build A Rama Terrain Mats

• Brama364A -- 1:32 Diorama Mat 24" x 30" - Rough Turf
• Brama364B -- 1:32 Diorama Mat 24" x 24" - Rough Turf
• Brama364C -- 1:32 Diorama Mat 12" x 12" - Rough Turf
• Brama365 -- 1:32 Deluxe Terrain Diorama Mat 4' x 2' Grass Clearing with Road
• Brama366 -- 1:32 Deluxe Terrain Diorama Mat 4' x 2' Deep Beach
• Brama369A -- 1:32 Cobble Stone Diorama Mat 6" x 24"- Road Section
• Brama369B -- 1:32 Cobble Stone Diorama Mat 12" x 12"- Vignette Mat
• Brama369C -- 1:32 Cobble Stone Diorama Mat 12" x 24"- Shelf Mat
• Brama369D -- 1:32 Cobble Stone Diorama Mat 30" x 24"- Tabletop Mat

Build A Rama Terrain Mats

Happy Hunting!

John Gittins Miniatures: Website News

This is an unusual notification but one I thought it might be helpful to share anyway

For anyone thinking of visiting John Gittins's website and/or purchasing anything from John via the website, and who hasn't already received this in their email inbox, please take note of the following message sent by John to many of his customers

Dear Valued Customer

 

Just to let you know that my website is currently difficult to access  and page loads are very slow. 

The site is however still functional,its seems quicker to access the home page from a favourite  or bookmark in your browser than from a Google search.

 

My web hosts are looking into the problem and i have been advised that  this is due to a structural problem and not any security issue.

 

The site is old and this problem  may take some time to resolve as the site may have to be re-designed using up to date code.

 

In the meantime I am losing business as my online shop is virtually closed , if you do wish to place an order, and you know what you want , you may telephone your order by calling 0114 4535237, or place an order through one of my dealers.

 

I apologise for the inconvenience

 

John Gittins

 

Here's hoping, primarily for John's sake, the issue will be resolved speedily and that his livelihood isn't too badly affected

JG Miniatures: New Address

For those of you still in the dark, John Gittins Miniatures have, due to unforeseen circumstances, had to relocate and are now operating from the following address:

Happy Hunting!

JG Miniatures

In the Noticeboard section of the latest issue of Toy Soldier Collector it was reported that John Gittins, the man behind JG Miniatures, will be a little slower producing orders for customers this year due to ongoing health problems. The good news is he is continuing to work but is cutting back on the number of hours he does. Consequently, people will have to wait a little longer to take receipt of his miniature master pieces

It was also revealed that a new terrain mat is now in production which replicates a tarmac surface

I'm sure you'd like to join with me in wishing John a speedy recovery and all the very best for the future

John Gittins Miniatures: New for January

The following email arrived in my inbox the other day from JGM so for those of you who admire John's work please read on and take a look at the new products he's added to his range this month

Dear Customer

 

Please find below a few details of new items for January 2013

S02B small oak (brown)                  RRP £35.00

S04ABush oak (brown)                    RRP £12.50

S09D Birch tree (yellow)                 RRP £12.50

S09E Medium birch tree (yellow)    RRP £25.00

The above are all the same price as the standard green items and the same sizes

 

S25 Pack of 8 sagebrush for the American West    RRP £20.00

 

S25A Leaf Litter RRP £5.50, supplied in a bag with card header enough to cover an area 6 inches x 6 inches to a depth of 1/8th of an inch. This can be used with the Autumn Oaks to give a fallen leaf effect around the tree bases

S26 Maple (Orange)             RRP £16.00   

S26A Maple (Red)               RRP £16.00

S26B Maple (Russet)            RRP £16.00 

The above 3 items are all 8 inches high approx. but have wider canopies than for example S09 and S14

S27 Bag of Ivy RRP £6.50. Use loose as ground cover or glue to walls and buildings, extra individual leaves are included for fine detailing

Take a closer look at all of the above items by visiting www.jgminiatures.com and entering the appropriate codes in the search box

 

Happy hunting!

John Gittins Miniatures: New for November

New for November form John Gittins, a handful of individually crafted scenic items to liven up your diorama or bookshelf displays

Dear Customer

 

The new items below have been made using a different method of production, they are assembled from component parts rather than a single painted casting, this makes each item an individual piece, no two being the same, this is especially useful for items that are made to be grouped together as it gives a more natural appearance, rather than resulting in a repetitive pattern

Prices are as follows

1. S17  Dead tree, max 8" high, RRP £30.00

 

2. S17A  Fallen branches, pack of  2 RRP £20.00

 

3. M38L  Piles of rubble, pack of 2 RRP £20.00

 

4. M34  Battleground earth, pack of 2 RRP £15.00 [re-modelled so items are now all different shapes]

 

All items are available now through John's web site www.jgminiatures.com and will also be available at the London Toy soldier Show on the 1st of December at its new venue - The Business Design Centre, Islington

 

Happy hunting!

 

John Gittins Miniatures: New Terrain Piece

Hello again, I'm having a busy old night. It's not often that I post about new releases from John, although I love what he does and have quite a few of his pieces and scenic items, but I simply had to mention this having received an email about it from John a short while ago

John has created a stunning river bank diorama measuring a mahusive 30 inches in length and 24 inches in depth. Constructed to order on a rigid sub-frame, the ratio of river to bank can be adjusted to suit the customer's requirements and is suitable for all periods. It can also be ordered with a desert sand finish and made to accommodate the Nile Gun Boat manufactured by Britains

Not surprisingly, for such a hefty piece, it comes with a fairly hefty price tag. At £495, not including the tree you can see in the publicity shots, not everyone's budget will stretch to it but it sure looks mightily impressive!

The water looks almost good enough to drink, or swim in!

An idea of what can be achieved with a few carefully selected figures and additional scenic items!

Tree and backdrop both sold separately

Happy hunting!

Latest Additions

Hi once again and welcome to another installment of my 'Latest Additions' posts. This time I'll be showcasing a series of WW2 figures from K+C together with a number of bases from JG Miniatures

I already have quite a few of John's ready made bases including ten of his 6" square tank track bases which I have spread across two shelves on the top of two adjacent cabinets. The tank tracks, five per shelf, are laid in the centre of the shelves and I wanted something to go on either side of them

Initially, I thought of buying more of his 6" square plain grass bases with a very nice hedge across one of the sides but decided against this option for two main reasons. Firstly, I would need twenty of them and at a little over £25 for two that would come to quite a sum and secondly, the resulting terrain, whilst attractive to look at, would be very inflexible

The 'hedgerow' base. Nice, but pricey and inflexible!

After a lengthy phone call or two to John, I finally decided on some custom made bases. I now have eight 15" x 6" bases built to the same depth as the tank tracks and covered in matching green flock and very good they look, too. Altogether they cost me around £55 including postage and packing and they are completely plain, allowing me to add whatever additional items I like. You can get some idea of the full effect in the two images below

 

The fact that these new bases are plain means I can be much more flexible with what I add to them. Walls, fences, gates, hedges, shrubbery, trees, grass clumps.....

Another recent purchase has come in the shape of ten Waffen SS figures from K+C, all retired last month in one fell swoop and all participating in the 'halted convoy' diorama pictured above. I bought them all in one go from Toy Soldiers Club in Canada and am delighted with them. Here they all are in glorious close up

An NCO makes observations amidst the ensuing disarray

Striding into view, an officer and additional trooper from the same series of figures, bought previously

Three groups of combatants returning fire in the general direction of the assault that recently crippled the lead Panther tank. I particularly like the NCO wielding the 'Boxcannon' M712

The back story to this diorama is that a German armoured column has been halted in its tracks by a combined air and ground attack. The lead Panther tank has been crippled and is unable to move whilst all around the stricken armour accompanying Panzergrenadiers are trying desperately to return fire, take cover, and patch up and evacuate fallen comrades. Very much a work in progress at the moment. I have a number of other figures planned for it and quite a lot of foliage and additional landscaping features

You may have noticed a lone TG cavalry soldier languishing towards the rear of the column. I'm fairly sure he won't figure in the final display but for the time being it's somewhere to put him. I'm expecting to take delivery of the remaining five later this week so keep in touch. See you soon

Latest Additions: Trees from JG!

I've been meaning to buy some scenic items from JG Miniatures for quite a long time now, and a few weeks ago, around about the beginning of August, I finally got hold of some trees courtesy of the good lady wife who agreed to buy then for me as a present for our 5th wedding anniversary. If you think that sounds like a strange present, there is a reason for it, other than the fact that I was desperate for some additional scenery for my dioramas, since the traditional material associated with 5th wedding anniversary gifts is, you guessed it, wood!

I've placed a small silver birch tree here to reflect the wood pictured in the scenic backdrop. I'm planning on putting a second one next to it

Here I've placed two trees, one a mountain ash and the other a bush oak, to mark the beginning of a small copse

Still lots to do before the Napoleonic diorama is complete. More trees to buy, some long grass and maybe some bracken to help blend everything together, and there are other dioramas, too, that I'm currently working on

John has been busy as well, designing more and more items to help us dress our toy soldier displays

A wood and earth defensive position for standing riflemen and artillery pieces

Universal telegraph poles for use on both rural and urban roads

A series of new pieces that together can be used to construct complex trench systems

I'll certainly be dipping in to my pockets for some of these for one or two street scenes I'm working on. Nice!

Happy hunting!

John Gittins: New Stuff

Any toy soldier collector, or wargamer for that matter, keen on displaying their figures against realistic looking terrain will probably be familiar with the work of John Gittins. If not, then I strongly advise you visit his website and take a look at some of his towering trees and architectural masterpieces. They are a sight to behold. Not inexpensive, but you get what you pay for

Anyway, I'm here tonight to tell you about some recent additions to his range of terrain mats and other scenic accessories. The terrain mats come in a range of finishes, sizes and prices but have in common the fact that they are made of a thin, flexible rubber-like material which means they are easy to cut to size and can be rolled up for no-nonsense storage if your troops fancy a change of scenery!

The new mats are pictured below

First up is this town crossroad mat, 13" X 30" in size and £37.50 directly from JG

Pasture mat with river, same size as above but a little more expensive at £47.20

Both of the above mats are also 13" X 30" and priced at £45.00 each

Both of the last two mats show a figure placed on them and 'blended in' to the surrounding terrain with the addition of two more new products, namely plastic soil and plastic sand, so called because they are made from tiny pieces of crushed, hand coloured plastic which won't damage the painted surface of your beloved figures. Marvellous!

Last, but by no means least, a bottle of weeds! The ones pictured above, 'growing' out of the soil. I actually have some of these and like them a lot. Actually, it's somewhat of a misnomer to use the word 'them'. The product is hard to describe, but it comes in a plastic bottle and is a bit rubbery to the touch, with a quality not unlike an elastic band, covered in the kind of material you find sticking to model trees!

Don't get me wrong. This isn't me being critical. I love it, and it's incredibly versatile. You can have big clumps of it, and it looks like a small bush, or you can break bits off, and tease it apart to have it strung along a base edge to give depth to a display and/or hide unsightly seams between base and backdrop, or have it in smaller clumps as in the picture above

If you look closely at the following images you can see some of it strung out along the back of the base boards and, in my opinion, it helps to create the illusion that the figures and terrain boards in question really are part of the overall scene pictured in the background poster. See what you think

Thanks John for some wonderful additions to your expanding range of sensational scenic items. Your work is very much appreciated