Duncan M. Hamilton's Blog, page 3
July 31, 2023
Plastic, Paint, and Glue: MkV Spitfire – North African Theatre
It’s a hobby post this week, as with all the excitement of my recent release, I don’t have a whole lot interesting to say work-wise! I’ve got a recently built MkV Spitfire kit from Kovozavody Prostejov manufacturer in the colour scheme for the North Africa Theatre of Operations.
I’ve always really liked these desert camouflage colours, and have wanted to make a model in this scheme for a while, so I interrupted my Malta Spitfire binge to do this one, consoling myself with the fact that Spitfires in this colour scheme were shipped to Malta, albeit to be repainted before operations as the colours weren’t suitable for combat over water.
A couple of interesting points to this model are the clipped wing tips, which helped increase the roll rate for the plane, making it a bit more maneuverable, and the Aboukir air filter (the air intake under the plane’s chin), which was fitted to the planes by maintenance units in theatre. They differ from the bigger Vokes filters which these planes often had fitted (which you can see on my last Malta Spit, the plane’s chin, essentially – https://www.duncanmhamilton.com/plastic-paint-and-glue-malta-spitfire-mkvb/). The Vokes filter caused a bit of a drop in engine performance, so the Aboukir installed design went some way to improving on that.
This was a really nice kit to build, and I’ve got a couple more stashed away for my Malta list. For the purists out there, I realise the Azure Blue unders are in a shade a bit too dark. This is quite a hard colour to find an accurate representation of across the manufacturers, but I’ve since settled on a more accurate match for the real thing, which I’ll use going forward.
Despite this error in detail, I’m really happy with how this one turned out, and it really stands out from the other planes in my growing collection of Spitfires!
On to the photos:
I hope you like this one! I’ll be heading back to Malta for my next one, and hope to get some wargames minis back into the production line too! Until next week, take care!
July 24, 2023
What’s Next For Hamilton Industries?
Hey folks,
I hope you’re all doing well! This week’s post is coming a bit late in the day as I had an appointment with an overgrown lawn and an uncooperative lawnmower… 45 mins work expanded to 3 hours. 3 hours of my life I’ll never get back…
Anyway, back on schedule after a bit of a longer work day, and I’m only now getting to my Monday post (after taking last Monday as a post release break!). (If you missed it, The Demon Hunter – Blood of Kings 3 is now out, you can pick up a copy here – Amazon)
This week I want to talk a little bit about what I’ve got lined up next, now that the Blood of Kings trilogy is complete. I’ve a few things on the production line, but have been turning my mind to what my next big project will be, and where they will take me.
The first thing is the new series set in a new story world that I’ve been ideating for quite some time now. I’ve mentioned this a few times recently, but things are a bit more advanced now. I’ve actually almost completed the first draft of book 1 in that series, and I have to say I really can’t wait to show it to you guys. I think it’s the best thing I’ve written to date, and I think you’ll really enjoy it (at least, I really hope you will!). I don’t want to say too much more about it just yet, but announcements will be coming before the end of the year!
I’ve a couple of side projects that I want to apply some time to, something that I’ve been asked about a bit over the years, namely special edition hardcovers. It’s early days in terms of planning, but I’m hoping to do some limited edition box set hard covers, probably by way of a Kickstarter. I’ll have more details on that a little later in the year!
On the sci-fi side of things, I’ve been really enjoying writing the Alpha Protocol series, and intend to continue with that for at least 3-4 more books, depending on how the plotting work unfolds. I’ve also got another sci-fi series in the works based around an infantry unit, more on that early next year!
Finally, while clearing out some old backup drives, I discovered the outlines for additional books in one of my earlier fantasy trilogies that I had planned to write, but then my Tor deal came along and I moved on to other things. I’ve been reading through them, and want to rework them a bit, but I plan to write and release them, ideally over the next 18-24 months. I don’t want to say too much more about it now, but I have to admit I’m really excited at the prospect of getting to spend more time with some old friends!
Anyone want to have a guess at which of my 3 older trilogies I’m talking about???
All in all, lot’s to keep me busy, and lot’s of things that I’m really very excited about getting to work on!
Ok, it’s getting late here, so time to quit for the day! Until next week, take care!
July 11, 2023
The Demon Hunter – Blood of Kings Book 3 Out Now!
Hey folks,
Today’s the big day! The Demon Hunter – Blood of Kings Book 3 is out now! You can pick up a copy at any of the following links:
Here’s the back cover copy to give you a reminder of what it’s about:
Demon legions prepare to march across the land as Fanrac begins his grab for power. The threat grows so great it can no longer be ignored. The monarchs of the Middle Sea set aside their differences and ready their armies to make a stand.
Force of arms alone will not be enough, as countless heroes of history have discovered to their demise. Time is running out for Conrad to tame the power coursing through his blood and learn the lessons he needs to face his ultimate foe.
Discovering Fanrac’s long forgotten capital sets Conrad and his comrades, old and new, on a path to a final confrontation with an evil bearing an unexpected face…
To mark the release of the final book in the trilogy, The Squire – Blood of Kings Book 1 is on sale for only $0.99! If you haven’t had a chance to pick it up yet, you can grab a copy at the following links. The sale lasts for 1 week only!
I hope you all enjoy The Demon Hunter. It’s been a very satisfying story to write, hitting on many of the aspects I’ve enjoyed most in my previous Middle Sea books, and I very much look forward to entertaining you all with more tales of lands and characters old and new in coming months!
July 10, 2023
Blood of Kings 3 – Final excerpt!
Hey folks,
Happy Monday! I hope you all had a good weekend. I’ve got the final post in my launch series for the last book in the Blood of Kings series. The book is out tomorrow, but you can preorder it now for delivery to your reading device as soon as it goes live! I’ve left all the links down at the bottom of this post!
This time, the focus is on the hero of the tale, Conrad. I’m not going to say a whole lot more – I’ll let the excerpt speak for itself!
In the darkness of the laneway, there was no reliable way for Conrad to tell how long he had been waiting. It felt like an age—far longer than it likely was—but when the door creaked open and Luther finally appeared, Conrad found himself not wanting to know how things had gone.
He grimaced and raised an enquiring eyebrow. ‘Are you… finished?’
Luther nodded, wiping his hands on a piece of cloth. ‘It’s as we thought. They’re a bunch of idiots hoping to attract a demon to show them the route to power, riches, and immortality, through made-up rites and bits they’ve cobbled together from other cult groups, and some scraps of documents they’ve managed to get their hands on.’
Conrad chewed his lip. It was a little disappointing. It had been a distant hope, but know they knew for certain.
‘Is he…?’ Conrad asked.
‘Oh—oh, no,’ Luther said. ‘I told him he could have a few minutes to put himself back together.’ He saw the reaction on Conrad’s face and added, ‘Not literally. I gave him a bit of a fright, is all. Well, a lot of a fright.’ He lowered his voice, and said with pride, ‘I’m pretty sure he crapped himself.’
‘That’s…’ How did one reply to that? ‘Impressive?’
‘Didn’t even have to lay a hand on him,’ Luther said. ‘Cleaned my fingernails a bit with one of these.’ He held up the leather roll of torture implements he’d so suggestively laid out on the desk. ‘These are actually for making and shaping quills. Picked them up in a stationer’s shop in Voorn about fifteen years ago. Not sure how you’re supposed to use them, but they’re great for putting the frights on someone.’ He chuckled.
With that one statement, many of the layers of terror through which Conrad had viewed the Intelligenciers sloughed away.
‘I can’t say I was expecting to hear that,’ Conrad said.
‘Expectations and imagination are amongst the Intelligencier’s greatest tools,’ Luther said. ‘No, I’m pretty sure these lads are full of it. They’re planning an expedition off to some ruin called Urlachen, where they think they’ll find their new demon masters and their well-deserved riches, immortality, virility, and whatever else it is they think the demons will do for them. Pretty much everything except suck their souls out, which is what they’re actually going to do. Assuming these plonkers ever manage to find a demon.’
That’s it for today! The Demon Hunter – Blood of Kings Book 3 is out tomorrow. It’s available on preorder now, so you can have it delivered to your device as soon as it goes live!
July 7, 2023
The Demon Hunter -Blood of Kings Book 3 – Excerpt
Hey folks,
Welcome to an unusual (for me) Friday post, motivated by the impending release of the final Blood of Kings book next Tuesday, 11 July! I’ve got another excerpt for you today, this time giving you a glimpse at a couple of new characters who feature in this closing section of the Blood of Kings tale. I hope you like it!
A loud snarl tore her from her thoughts once again, and she opened her eyes. She could see one of the other teams—a pairing of Silver Circle mage and banneret—on the opposite side of the village. It looked like Jerome and Pascal. They stood within the shimmering dome of a magical shield, which was surrounded by the Venori. More of the creatures were pouring into the village square—more than she’d ever seen, and far more than the scouting reports had said.
This was supposed to have been a routine mission to clear out no more than a half-dozen feral demons. Three pairs of mages and bannerets had been sent—far more than they expected to need. But as the order’s marshall, the cantankerous old Guillot dal Villerauvais, always said, better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. She supposed he wasn’t that old really, then realised she’d let her mind drift again. It was something she’d developed a reputation for, and something that had almost kept her from passing her final examinations to become an initiate of the Silver Circle.
She focussed again, squeezing her eyes shut and doing her best to block out the sounds of chaos that surrounded her. She found a place of peace and serenity deep within her mind, and reached out to the Fount. She felt a momentary light-headedness, and allowed herself the briefest of smiles. When she opened her eyes, everything around her was covered in a benign blue glow. The Fount.
The glow didn’t last long. She could in fact choose not to see it at all, but she found comfort in the confirmation it brought. She blinked it away, and turned her attention to the situation at hand. Her mouth moved to silently give shape to the words in her mind—another trick she had learned to help her focus her thoughts. The more ostentatious of her colleagues shouted them out, but she didn’t like that. For one thing, it signalled to everyone around the form of the magic you were about to shape.
Severine shaped a ‘push’, an invisible wave of magical energy that would knock back everything before her—or all around her if she managed to shape the more complicated version of the spell.
‘Get down!’ she shouted.
Not needing to be told twice, Raphael dropped to the dirt with the ease of a move he had practised many, many times. Severine mouthed the words, and saw the air before her ripple. The demons Raphael had been fighting were lifted from their feet and thrown back a dozen paces. She nodded in satisfaction, then looked around.
Jerome and Pascal were still taking shelter in their magical fortress, but she couldn’t see Celeste and Thibaut, the final pairing of their team. She couldn’t spare them more than a thought, though, as the demons continued to fill the village. Her push spell—a simple piece of magic that novices learned early in their training—had merely been to buy them time and settle her nerves. If they were going to get out of the village with their lives, she was going to have to shape up something far more potent.
I hope that’s further whetted your appetites for the book! These characters were a lot of fun to dream up and write, and I think you’ll agree they play a pivotal role in the story.
The Demon Hunter comes out next Tuesday in eBook and paperback (audio will be out on 12 September), but you can preorder it now at any of the below links!
That’s all I’ve got for this week! I hope you all have a great weekend. I plan to spend mine stressing about new book releases (something of a tradition now…)! I’ll be back on Monday with something yet to be decided, but certainly Demon Hunter related.
Until then, take care!
July 5, 2023
Blood of Kings: Behind the Scenes
Hey folks,
I hope you’re keeping well. It’s a beautiful day here in Ireland, nice and sunny and the humidity is thankfully quite a bit lower than it has been! This is the second post in my little series in the lead up to the release of the final part of the Blood of Kings trilogy, The Demon Hunter, which comes out next Tuesday, 11 July.
My first piece of news is that The Demon Hunter is now available for preorder. It will go live next Tuesday, 11 July, so only 1 week to go until you can read it! You can preorder your copy now at the following links:
Now for the behind the scenes part!
I’ve always really enjoyed writing the coming of age style tale, but chose to take a break from that when I wrote my Dragonslayer trilogy, about a grumpy middle age swordsman whose best years are definitely behind him, but gets another shot at doing something great. I really enjoyed writing that tale, and really loved the character, Guillot.
When it came to brainstorming out my next trilogy, I was eager to return to a coming of age tale, but… I enjoyed writing Guillot so much that I didn’t want to completely leave that story behind. Out of that, I came up with the idea of an orphan essentially adopted by a group of world weary mercenaries.
That was the seed of the story, but in itself that idea is just an occurrence, not a story in itself. I already have a pretty comprehensive story world built up to set it in, so that was another box ticked. All that remained was the agents of antagonism.
One of the things I really enjoyed in writing the Wolf of the North series was delving into the ancient myths and legends of the Middle Sea world I’d developed, and I’d already laid a breadcrumb trail through these early books, with magic growing in strength in the world once again, after not really having featured for a thousand years. The draugr from Wolf of the North, who appear at the end of Dragonslayer in a different part of the world where they are known as Venori, seemed like the obvious choice for the bad guys.
Now I had my hero, my setting, my opponent(s), all I needed was the desire. I won’t go into that too much, as it ventures into spoiler territory. With that worked out, it was time to start plotting.
Now that I think about it, a big part of writing the Blood of Kings trilogy was picking the aspects of my previous stories that I enjoyed the most, and finding a way to incorporate them. I think this is fitting, as it’s the last trilogy I plan to write in the Middle Sea world for a little while (don’t worry, I have plans for more!). As a result, I had a great time writing this series, really loved spending time with those characters, and had a very hard time drawing a line under this last book. Parting is such sweet sorrow…
That’s all for this post. I hope you enjoyed this peak behind my thinking for this book and series. I’ll have another post about it on Friday and next Monday. Until then, take care!
July 3, 2023
Blood of Kings 3 Excerpt
Hey folks,
With the final part of the Blood of Kings trilogy coming out in eBook next week (audio to follow on 12 Sept), I’ve got an excerpt from the story this week to whet your appetite for what’s to come!
Giffrid kicked open the ornate double-doors leading to the throne room with no hesitation and no ceremony. It was a moment for which he had been waiting a long time—years filled with war, death, and destruction. That was at an end now.
Giffrid stepped over the threshold, his great sword held in both hands, its blade smeared with what passed for blood within demons.
‘Careful, Giffrid,’ Abrecan said. ‘We haven’t won yet.’
Giffrid cast a look over his shoulder at Abrecan and the three other kings accompanying him, and nodded. The last thing any of them wanted was to die at the last battle. Their uneasy alliance had survived so much, forging a bond between them which otherwise would never have been. So many good men had died to bring them to this point, the threshold of their victory.
Giffrid cast a look about the throne room. He had been here before, as a courtier to a young emperor of whom everyone had the highest hopes, and no inkling of the monstrous tyrant he would become. Now Giffrid had returned at the head of a victorious army to kill that tyrant.
He moved slowly forward, his sword held at the ready, his fellow kings at his heels. It felt odd to see so huge and grand a room empty. The throne sat on a dais at the far end of the column-lined hall, its gilding sparkling in the illumination of hundreds of tiny magical lights. The décor wasn’t to Giffrid’s taste, but he supposed imperial splendour needed to be splendid.
‘Show yourself, tyrant!’ Ostremund shouted.
‘Your regime is at an end, Fenerik!’ Bebeodan added.
It was brave talk from brave men. Of all the foes they had yet faced, Fenerik himself was the most dangerous. The father of all demons. Only together did they have the power to defeat him.
As he advanced deeper into Fenerik’s throne room, Giffrid felt his stomach twist at being so dependent on others—men who were his rivals—to succeed in this mission. After today they could go back to being rivals once more, but for now, their only hope was to remain united. He looked to Abrecan, the one man among them whom he trusted like a brother. The rest? All he could do was have faith in the pact they had made to rid the world of Fenerik’s evil.
Giffrid could see the throne was empty, and wondered where the emperor was. He walked another few paces before spotting him—on one knee, his sword before him, tip to the ground. He was a shell of what he had once been. His once vibrant blond hair was lank and grey. His cheeks were hollow and his eyes sunken, a malevolent red glow emanating from them, marking out what set him apart from ordinary men.
‘So, you’re finally here.’ The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, but Giffrid knew that was impossible, and ignored the urge to look around for the source. Instead, he kept his eyes locked on Fenerik, determined to show no fear.
I hope you enjoyed that little taster! I’m going to be posting here a few times this week in advance of the launch, with some bits and pieces about the story, so keep an eye out for updates! That’s all I’ve got for today!
As a reminder, the ebook and paperback come out on Tues 11 July!
See you soon!
June 26, 2023
Plastic, Paint, and Glue: Malta Spitfire MkVb
Hey folks,
I hope you’re all keeping well! After the excitement of last week’s news—being the announcement that the final part of the Blood of Kings trilogy, The Demon Hunter, is coming out on 11 July if you missed it!—I’m back to another Plastic, Paint, and Glue post, while I recharge the storage tank of writing related stuff!
This week is another interesting one (although I suppose they’re all interesting, to me at least, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing them!), a Spitfire MkVb that would have seen service in the Malta theatre of operations during the Siege of Malta (the second one!), specifically the period within it over the summer of 1942.
What makes Siege of Malta Spitfires of interest is the array of colour schemes that were used – far more variety, much different to those used in other theatres, and often unique to this battle.
The first Spitfires arriving to the island were painted in the desert colours of light and dark brown (Middlestone and Dark Earth to be precise!), which was quickly determined to be wholly unsuitable for operations which were carried out largely over the sea. A number of new colour schemes were devised and tried out over the summer of 1942, with each batch of Spitfires being delivered under heavy fire to the island getting a different livery (for the most part!)
Considering the ferocious nature of the battle in the skies, exact records of the colours used were not kept, which has led to a huge amount of research, conjecture, and speculation in the modelling community. Both the heroic story of the island’s air defence and the array of aircraft colour schemes used really attracted me to this period and locale of World War II, and this is the first of what I hope to be an example of each colour scheme I’ve encountered, both confirmed, and in some cases speculative (because I think they look great!).
This plane is from Operation Salient, which delivered Spitfires to the island around 9 June 1942. This scheme is a little more on the speculative end of the spectrum, although I think it reasonable to believe this, or something very similar was used.
It’s a respray of Dark Mediterranean Blue over the Desert Camouflage, when they were running low on paint, so the original colours can be just about made out underneath. From a painting point of view, I think I went one coat of blue too many on this one, but in real life you can still make out the colours underneath quite clearly. It’s a little harder in the photo! I also went a bit heavier on the weathering than I usually do, to reflect the dusty environment and the heavy use the planes were getting. Not sure how I feel about the level I took it too, as I usually prefer a lighter use finish.
On to the pictures!
I hope you like this one. The research around the planes used in this battle has been really fascinating, and was something I knew very little about before.
I’m hoping to come up with another writing based topic to chat about and mix up the content of my posting a bit going forward, but haven’t had any ideas yet! I’m sure I’ll come up with something, but if there’s anything you folks would like to know, I’m always open to suggestions!
Until next Monday!
June 19, 2023
June Updates! Blood of Kings 3 Cover Reveal!
As long promised, I finally have some news to announce!
The final part of the Blood of Kings trilogy, The Demon Hunter, will be released in ebook and paperback on 11 July!
I’m very proud to reveal the book’s cover, once again created by the incredible Andreas Rocha. I hope you like it as much as I do!
This series has been a lot of fun to write, and it’s always with a little sense of regret that I finish off a trilogy. That’s all the more so since I’m planning on taking a bit of a break from the Middle Sea world for my next few books, as I delve into a new story world that I’ve been working on for some time.
I do have plans to return to the Middle Sea in the not too distant future, so worry not!
That’s everything I have for today! I hope you like the new cover!
Until next Monday, take care!
June 12, 2023
Plastic, Paint, and Glue: Photo Reconnaissance Spitfire
Hey folks,
I’m afraid it’s another Plastic, Paint, and Glue post this week, as I’m still not quite ready to make any announcements. However, I now have everything that I need in, and will be able to put the preparatory work in this week for some announcements next Monday! I promise!
So, instead, this week I have an interesting model for you, a Photo Reconnaissance Spitfire Type A. As with a lot of intelligence work in the early days of the war, this plane has it’s origins in unconventional places, in this instance a roguish chap called Sidney Cotton, an Australian businessman who was pals with Ian Flaming (creator of James Bond).
Cotton was a big proponent of aerial reconnaissance, and spent a bit of time in the lead up to the opening of hostilities in 1939 freelancing for MI6 (the UK’s intelligence service, and also who James Bond works for!) flying around Germany taking photos of their military buildup.
This information proved invaluable, so when war broke out, he was commissioned in the RAF where he began his aerial reconnaissance program in earnest. This plane is a model of one of two planes that were initially assigned to his program. They were ordinary Mk Ia Spitfires that were ‘Cottonised’. This involved quite a bit of work: painting them a colour that suited their mission role—a light green grey that Cotton devised himself called ‘Camotint Green’; filling in all the panel lines and polishing the plane to as smooth and aerodynamic a finish as possible; removing all the armament and fairing over the gun ports(brave, brave men, flying deep into enemy territory with no guns!); removed the radio, so no phoning home if you got in trouble. Finally, cameras were placed in the wings in the space left by the weapons, the lenses pointing downwards with an overlapping field of view.
The end result was a plane that could hit 390mph, a full 12mph faster than the standard Mk Ia, hopefully just enough to get the pilot away from an angry Messerschmitt!
So, on to my model. I started off with the standard Airfix 1:72 Spitfire MkIa kit for this, and set about filling in all the panel lines and making the other minor modifications needed to shape it into the photo recon version. Essentially a ‘Cottonising’ session in 1:72 scale! I used an aftermarket canopy set to do the open canopy, as the PR plane had bulges on cockpit hood sides not present on the regular aircraft.
The information I dug up (which is a bit sketchy!) indicated—to my reading, at least—that only the wings were faired, not the fuselage, so that’s the way I went. I removed the undercarriage bulges also, and I’m not confident this was the correct thing to do, so that might well be an error on my part. Also, the only spare roundels I had are, I think, too large, but hey ho! Otherwise, I feel I’ve got something pretty close, and a model that certainly captures the spirit of the real thing.
On to the photos!
That’s all for this week. I hope you like my Photo Reconnaissance Spitfire Type A. I plan to make some more of the PR Spitfires in due course, as building this one, along with all the research and modification, was a lot of fun.
I promise to have the updates and announcements next week. As I mentioned above, I have everything I need to move forward, and will be getting it all ready this week. I also hope to send out my summer newsletter before the end of the month, so keep an eye on your in boxes!
Until next week, take care!
