Painting again at last

Hi Chaps,

Well the week off is amazing. Everyday so far I have been able to paint something a little bit different and it feels good. Now with my painting itch scratched it may be time for some games-Bolt Action is the favourite for a quick game and rules learning session.

I have used up a few hours free time watching videos on youtube on how to photograph miniatures and whilst it has been helpful I think I do need more lights. The following pics were taken at 18" and I may close this gap to 12" for the next set-macro was off.

The above shows my little painting corner (it extends another 8" to the left), it is small but if kept reasonably clear it meets my needs.

The guys above are really very detailed and I decided that rather than spend more time on them I would call it a day otherwise I would never finish an army. Even painting 4 figures a day it will take a long time to complete the box.

Later this week I will make a start on the Russian heavy weapons teams for Bolt action, I do have a German infantry unit and mortar to work on as well. Pretty soon my shelves will be full again but given how much effort the fantasy stuff takes I doubt I will ever part with them, more than likely I will have to buy a larger cabinet.

Keep blogging guys you get me through the long dark days at work

Games Workshop I approve.

Hi Chaps,For most of us this hobby can be pretty expensive and time consuming. I do love history and reading is an important part of my hobby but work and family commitments last year meant that I did not get to read much at all. (Anthony Beevors Stalingrad was the star book of the year).

So over the holiday period I decided I would try a new approach. This year I will keep to three projects, the first is the Bolt Action German and Russian armies which are now underway. The second I decided would be Age of Sigmar and the third is my get out clause should I see something new later in the year.

Both of this years projects have one thing in common, rules, figures and scenarios can all come from the same source. This will save me time and effort and hours of internet distraction (although this may not be so true for the Bolt Action stuff as I have already strayed from Warlord to buy some radio operators from Black Tree Designs).

So I paid £64 for the Age of Sigmar starter set and I have to say it is amazing. There is a lot (a lot) of troops and even the rank and file are of exceptional quality. Should I need any fantasy figures for Frostgrave the rank and file would be good enough for characters they are that good!

So impressed was I that I have bought the heroes basing set to plop my commanders onto. Background is included and is easy reading but I am not that motivated by the setting, this was most certainly bought for the figures. Games Workshop have really upped their game recently with their starter sets and collecting boxes. During the week-I have a week off- I will post some progress to all this new found love for a British company.

Have a good evening Chaps I am off to glue and stick into the small hours.

The last month in pictures

Hi Chaps,

It would seem that despite grabbing 30 minutes painting time before work (6AM ish) units can still be painted even if in a bleary eyed way! Grabbing figures off the shelves to take pictures of them made me realise that I have painted a fair few, they just happen to be from different armies.

It would seem that I have accidentally started an undead army and a Dwarf army! The spirit hosts are a nightmare (pun intended) to put together as the instructions are so unclear and joining pegs etc non existent but they look pretty impressive. Worth the effort now but the unit will only ever be three models.

The Dwarves are from ebay and I have another unit of 12 armed with hammers. Ebay can be kind or it can be a disaster. The corpse cart was partly built when I purchased it and I had to snip off limbs and cart parts to finish the model which when you look closely is still not right. In the end it painted up OK for the table and was 1/2 the price of a new one so..... The driver is to undergo surgery and will function as a dark wizard type and I do need a few wizards as I re bought Frostgrave and intend to play this on my new 3 foot square board which was completed today.

Pics of the board are to follow, it has been such a pleasure having two days off together.

Keep blogging Chaps! Most of your blogs slip through the security net at work and I get to read what you are up to.

Transport Models Preston

Hi Chaps,

This weekend has gone quickly but it has been a bit of a delight on the hobby front. My local model shop, Transport models of Preston are having a sale with 25%  off everything. Naturally I was impressed and bought the beginnings of a Sigmar Bretonnioan army in the form of two Fireforge boxes of European medieval types.

Previously I have put together hundreds of plastic 28mm and 20mm figures but for some reason these little b#####ds just did not co operate. The fault is all mine...it could have been my cheap superglue or just my poor performance but assembling these 36 figures took longer and was much more frustrating than I imagined. Parts flew off never to be seen again and the glue refused to join anything other than my own flesh and then it was to everything!

Oh well there are lessons to be learned from todays experience but I have not processed what just yet. I did buy a spray tin of Humbrol German red brown to undercoat with so this is my first experiment with anything other than black or white.

The last hobby problem I face is a strange one! My cabinets are full! What to do? I certainly wont be purchasing any cabinets soon as they tend to be expensive so it is either storage or ebay for the less used/loved figures....now I just need Fireforge to release the promised Bretonnian mounted knights and this army (with a few bits I already have) will be complete.

I do hope you have all had a good weekend? If you have any tips on building a gaming PC I would appreciate it as I am trying to get one for my son but my kidney money went to Games Workshop already!

Keep blogging guys I need your adventures to read whilst at work.

Dwarves. This week has been about Dwarves.

Hi Chaps,

How was your week? I hope you all had it swimmingly easy as I am now having to relearn the art of making the most of ones time. If I rise at 6AM I can grab 30 or 40 minutes of silence at my painting table....the bliss of it. How do you Chaps or Chappes's fit your painting time into your week?

Using little nibblets of time to paint in is a new phenomenon for me and the techniques needed to complete a unit are rather novel as well. Monday and Tuesday usually see the base coats completed and by Thursday I can see the figures looking a lot tidier than before which spurs me onto completing the unit. Since restarting work I have only painted Games Workshop figures which tend to need a lot of attention so it would be interesting to see how this method would work on simpler figures.

Below are a unit of 10 Dwarves that got paint thrown at them this last couple of weeks (5 figures a week which is so slow...)...

The bases are under construction for the last 5, it is just a time availability thing that has slowed my painting to a Dwarf's pace. I do have a miniature plastic mountain to choose from so this next week will see yet more short guys on the desk...

All the models here were second hand from ebay and cost a lot less than 50P per figure so I can paint them and base them without worrying if they are ruined or are "game legal" to use jargon picked up on the Dakka forum which is an excellent read by the way.

Lastly is a work in progress-a standard bearer for my Empire troops...I really need to either buy some late medieval banners or develop a way of doing these better as I need a few more....

Keep blogging everyone it makes me happy to see your work and I get to use some of your great ideas.

Veteran GW Spears

Hi Chaps,

Well I have just completed the most decrepit group of figures that I own. Thank fully I will never have to look at them closely again....on the table they will hopefully look OK but these guys arrived with spears glued on in the wrong position and detail obscured..ughh.

The unit is of 10 spears but only seven appear in the pic as the other 3 were still awaiting paint...as it turns out 30 or 40 minutes hobby time through the week before work is a useful way to complete line units. I can give myself a treat  of a character at the weekends.

The muskets are awaiting paint but the non standard guy is holding up the proceedings because greenstuff takes a good 24 hours to dry.

It has been a rather standard week on the hobby front but some old figures from the 90's arrived....I always wanted the drinking figures from Games Workshop but could never find them. The Priest will work as a stand in Wizard for my Empire army which I now realise is made from figures from very different era's.

Keep blogging Chaps you help me through the day with what you create.

Vintage Games Workshop Empire Muskets.

Hi Chaps,

Well it has been another busy week on the work front with nearly no painting time....but I have found a slot! By getting out of bed 30 minutes early I am starting to develop a method whereby I can still paint a unit of troops (10 for me) each week. Obviously this method is a work in progress and painting before 6AM is a new thing but by applying just one colour to 5 of the men in a unit I can get all 10 to a stage where I can complete them on a Saturday morning. (at a decadent 7AM).

Where there is a will there is a way....

The Dracoth thing was an impulse by from ebay...I had never painted a big model before so this was a first. The quality of Games Workshop does seem to continually improve and I may invest in some more newer releases.

When I said there is always a way I was of course excluding my damn computer which refuses now to crop the height of a picture without also taking the same amount off an edge...it never used to do this. Oh well more things to add to the wants list.

Also now that I have mentioned "the list" I have ticked a few items off of it in the last few weeks, namely a Dwarf starter army (on its way) and a leaf punch from Greenstuff which should arrive later this week. I have coveted a leaf punch for some time but the spare money (a paltry £11 inc postage) was always in demand somewhere else. Having had a good few years living carefully to say the least I have become a bit of a "prepper" as regards everything-especially hobby wise. The plastic mountain will grow large enough to take me into retirement by the end of the year.

Keep blogging Chaps it is my escape time at work.

Repainting Vintage Games Workshop figures.

Hi Chaps,

This weekends painting time was spent bringing a new lease of life to some old Games Workshop Empire figures. I always loved this range but never bought any back in the day because hobby time was spent on "real" war gaming. Oh the wasted years....

To be fair I have been on a tight budget for a long long time (or is that always?) so I would probably have never bought these new anyway. Ebay provided this little bargain, around 30 figures and a cannon for under £20. At this price I was not bothered if the whole project went pear shaped but the figures were surprisingly err average. I think thay had been stripped and then sprayed white as the finish was a little rough but it was workable. A couple of the figures were placed into the spares box immediately and I was left with two units of 10 muskets and 10 spears.

25mm mdf bases from warbases were used instead of the now oh so last year squares and if I am honest the figures look all the better for it. So 4 or 5 snatched hours later (an early start this morning whilst everyone was snoring helped) and this is the result. Maybe through the week another couple of men will join the ranks and I am pretty confident that the musketmen will be a complete unit by next weekend.

Obviously I have a white balance issue and a decent camera is on my list...so many things on that damned list though! An order to the dice bag lady maybe made at the end of the month to source some female heads as I do want an all female unit of spears. I have no real reason for this except it should look cool and I have never seen one before.

Please keep blogging your work Chaps it makes for excellent reading.

Old Empire destined for Age of Sigmar

Hi Chaps,

I hope you are all ready for the weekend and have painting and gaming sessions planned? I know that I have a few hours "booked in" at my paint desk in the hope of creating a passable unit or two out of some old GW Empire troops.

Back in the day (probably late 80's or early 90's) I was a "serious" war gamer and only used Games Workshop for their paints and brushes...though I did like the Bretonnians. Anyway despite admiring the Warhamme Empire models they were actually more expensive than my usual war gaming figures so I never actually bought any. Well actually I used to buy the odd figure to paint because they were exceptionally good quality but you get the broad picture.

So now 20 or so years later as I wander around ebay I occasionally come across Bretonnians and Empire from the -I think-5th edition and I do sometimes have the winning bid.

The cannon above was unjustifiable when released new but now as part of a job lot I calculate that it and every figure it came with cost 50p each.....

Obviously these guys have seen better days and some detail has been lost (broken spear heads mainly) but I will rectify or ignore this. The bases are now 25mm round to fit in with my age of Sigmar fad and will tomorrow begin the process of receiving paint in an attempt to give these guys a new lease of life.

This chap is now stood alone on a 25mm base but the thing next to him is driving me nuts-what is it? It does look like a stand for a rifle but is too high....

So here are the musket men except now all on round bases, it will be fun to paint these old guys which I think are some of the best sculpts to ever come out of GW.....I knew that if I was patient that I would eventually have an Empire army! That 20 year wait was nothing...nothing I tell you.

Keep blogging Chaps and have a great weekend.

Vintage Games Workshop Fantasy Figures

Hi Chaps,

As part of my packing regime I am taking photos of my figures and terrain as they are put into storage, today it was mostly Elves and more Bretonnian archers.

These 10 guys have been given dull jackets and a grim look...there are another 10 waiting to be painted which would eventually amount to 36 archers and command. I have just noticed that their bases are not finished!

The Elves have just been collected over the last few months and happily there are some Mantic versions of the Witch Elves on the way along with a Witch and Cauldron which will make a nice small army....

as everything I do is centered on solo gaming I try to keep my units to a limit of 12 figures but a unit of spear men has grown to 18....more figures will have to be purchased to even this matter out. A unit of Cold Ones will almost see the end of this "army" as it will be big enough for my Sigmar and Dragon Rampant battles.

The last figure is a pet Goblin, sadly I now paint my Goblins in a pale flesh colour as it makes them look more disturbing, maybe they go green if kept captive? Games Workshop really were world leaders in figure manufacturing including these little gems in their figure boxes. Maybe the Age of Sigmar has ended all this silly fun?

Keep blogging Chaps, not many more figure shelves to clear now-the biggest is the 30K shelf,

Bretonnian, Lion Rampant medieval, Age of Sigmar.

Hi Chaps,

The packing continues at a leisurely pace as the date for the move seems to disappear into the distance every time I speak to a solicitor.....it is not rocket science but....

Anyway as I was packing this morning I took some pictures of my medieval force. To be honest this could be Bretonnian, medieval, Dragon Rampant etc it is very versatile.

On order are a few more figures and a character model from Black Tree Designs who are running a sale and are well worth a look at as their ranges are large and interesting.

http://eoeorbisuk.com/

The link should take you to the homepage, I will use them to finish this Bretonnian army as they have Damsels and spearmen-I have no idea what their delivery time is like as they are new to me.

Building this army has cost less or around £5 a week for a couple of months, buying by the unit has filled my painting time and ensured that I do not acquire a plastic mountain. By staying focused and not having the choice of figure or unit to paint has meant that I have actually produced half an army quickly.

In waiting are a further 20 Bretonnian bowmen (bought from ebay) which were unpainted and for me a real find. Once my Damsel is painted I suppose this could be considered a complete smallish army but I doubt I will be able to leave anything that crops up on ebay in the future.

To fight these chaps I have the start of an Elvish army currently 47 figures strong and in camp waiting for reinforcements. Somehow I have acquired some camp followers and villagers as well as a few Frostgrave figures and monsters.....indeed a small world is growing on my shelves!

Keep blogging Chaps!