Monday 8 October 2018

Rapid Fire Germans Speed Painted.

Hi Chaps,

Just a quick update on my painting activities which have been severely curtailed by work and other life commitments. Due to such little time to paint but still containing the desire to game I decided to speed paint my Valiant Germans.

It has been an interesting experiment with so far three colours on the figures slapped on with a huge Humbrol size 6 brush... not pretty.


Next stage is a wash of nuln oil and then the flesh will be applied. The final stage will be re touching the uniform and equipment. Hopefully these guys will be useable and give me the starting point of having a British and German force. Already I have a little list of desired vehicles from Frontline and Grubby and of course... more figures!

Next week I will begin a few buildings in 20mm which is a scale that I have never had much success in previously but I do need some houses for the guys to shelter in and fight over.

Keep Blogging.

Monday 17 September 2018

WarHammer 40K Kill Team starter set arrives.

Hi Chaps,

It would seem that I have turned into a Games Workshop devotee but if I have it came out of nowhere and I can explain...


Games Workshop have been producing models and games that are good value for the money. That right there is a shocker. For most of my adult gaming life I have rarely if ever purchased anything other than paint from them. This year I have bought two boxed sets and the latest one is by far one of the most interesting and complete wargames purchases that I have ever made.

The set cost £75 off Amazon Uk (it is sold out nearly everywhere) and is very good value for money. It comes with a quality gaming board, dice, figures, ruler and an awful lot of scenery and an excellent rulebook and a few manuals etc to help you start playing. Nothing else in miniature wargaming comes close to this.

To add to my enthusiasm for the set the rules are actually intriguing and seem very simple to use, not at all like the 40K mass battle ruleset which I find a confusing mess. Both "teams" are actually human looking-not a tin suit in sight which for me adds to the suspension of disbelief.

It will take a while to paint the figures and even the scenery which are now all assembled and undercoated. Pics will follow if I can actually paint something instead of rolling dice and enjoying myself. The wargaming gods have been against me though as I have worked two weeks straight though I intend a painting frenzy when I finally get a day off.

Keep blogging Chaps and if you get a chance to play this game do have a go.

Sunday 9 September 2018

Games Workshop best figures in the world?

Hi Chaps,

Its been busy at work but I have found time to paint a few figures in a hurried fashion in between life, work, decorating and the usual life hassles. Indeed I have painted some Skaven simply because I have never painted or owned them before...they were fun but I have no idea how they will slot into my fantasy world just yet.

As you can see they are not based yet, indeed these little guys were bought off ebay for a few pounds based on square bases but never painted, another few pounds and I was the proud owner of 50 round plastic bases, bless ebay.

Like everyone else in Britain (seemingly) I bought the Conquest magazine by Games Workshop and scored three paints, a brush and three figures costing £1.99. Absolute bargain-I bought four of the magazines. When I made one of the figures though it became clear that the Space Marines have been on steroids.

I wonder if this is now the size of all Space Marines or just for the Conquest game?

My plan of a free peoples army slogs along as fast as life allows and this is where I am at now. Two infantry units, a cannon and a grudge pony... my army will have Dwarves in it even amongst the men as in my world they get along just enough to do this.


The Grudge Pony is a wonderfully strange model that I have owned since my now 17 year old was about 4 or 5. Took a while to get around to him even for me.

Here are the rest of the lads...




I have to admit that I pretty much ignored Games Workshop for decades due to their pricing and strategy of making you buy codex books but since the release of Sigmar I have been impressed. The release of free rules means I don't mind buying a Generals handbook and the starter sets are actually very good value. I am still painting the first Sigmar set that I bought in January....

Today I went to spend £80 on the Kill Team starter set and..... it was not in stock. Trust me I rarely have £80 to spend on the hobby at any one time and today was going to be a treat. Balls. Oh well I may have to wait a few days to get hold of the starter set which at least does not contain Space Marines which are my least favourite figures they produce. Lets face it GW do produce the best figures in the world, followed so closely by the Perries who would get the title if only their figures were slightly stockier.

I actually did write to the old CEO of GW to voice my opinions and they have followed my advice to the letter (well I like to think so) so just incase they follow this blog please bring back the Bretonians and Empire, release a line of human looking 40K types and for the love of all that is holy adopt a Sigmar style set of rules for 40K which will be free......

So thanks for looking Chaps, sorry about the photo quality (again) and keep blogging it practically keeps me sane at work.

Tuesday 21 August 2018

Valiant Rapid Fire Brits

Hi Chaps,

I can attest that being off work is amazing. Decorating is well under way and my British Infantry Battalion is now complete. I do not have a pic of it all together as everything here is upside down due to the decorating but my games table will be out shortly so a Battalion snap will be taken and posted. In the mean time here is the HQ company and a few of the men....





The dullness of the pics is a little disappointing but I am working on it. The figures were speed painted on a white undercoat, a wash of Agrax Earthshade and then highlighted. All the guys have a battalion patch and rank insignia, I suppose they could do with a lighter flesh highlight. From box to tabletop this full Battalion took 8 hours which for me is pretty quick. The Germans may well take a little longer.

The Germans are stuck together and based awaiting a black undercoat. Sadly the Plastic Soldier Company order has not arrived yet so no armoured support for either side is available. A trip to my local hobby shop later today may see some cheapo Zvezda reinforcements or even a few Hat figures purchased.

Next challenge will be a small skirmish.

Keep blogging Chaps.


Saturday 11 August 2018

Rapid Fire 20mm (again)

Hi Chaps,

Well the hot weather continues to put a halt to pretty much all of my painting but to be honest I am not getting much spare time at all at the minute. But.... I have made what for me is a major war gaming investment as a sort of treat to self.

I have purchased the starter deal from the Rapid Fire website and also a box of A9s and Pz38T's from the Plastic soldier company. Hopefully this stuff should arrive in time for my two weeks summer holiday which will be spent decorating, family time and hobby time.




Hopefully Rumford and Marsh won't send the lads around for using their picture! At under £30 this set is a bargain, link below.

https://www.valiantminiatures.com/product/valiant-miniatures-rapid-fire-starter-set/

I am hoping that I can make the Brits look like early war, likewise with the Germans and if not-well I play solo!

The Plastic Soldier company stuff has been good for me in the past so I am expecting the tanks to be fine. Pretty much for less than £80 inc postage I will have the basis for two decent armies which I can add to when the mood takes me.

I have found that armies of this period are never finished as there is always that extra vehicle needed or command group or field kitchen ... its a long list.

Keep blogging Chaps

Thursday 26 July 2018

A £7 light box and figures to strip.

Hi Chaps,

I do trust that you are all well? It has been a busy month here, in fact it has gone really quickly and pay day is almost here again. The postman has been busy delivering decrepit old toys to me so that I can have an army that will cost so little but just a little extra in time.

An old cannon (all metal) and crew was had for less than a few beers off an auction site and the cannon has already been re painted. Whilst it will never win any trophies it is a passable piece of equipment for my new/old Empire army.

This pic was taken using a Canon (appropriate) 14.1 mega pixel camera and a very cheap £7 light box from that auction site again. The LED's are almost powerful enough alone but for my next batch of photo's I will help them along with a light pointing inside the box as well.

A unit of 10 muskets on their bases are almost complete and I am about to chose the colour scheme for the first unit of spears. The hot weather is awful for painting-no air con here in the UK-so I spend an hour or two in the evenings just looking at blogs for inspiration (when I can).

The light box is pretty useful and my learning curve continues... as does the base building and pile of figures for stripping. The old master engineer is a favourite of mine and he popped up again in an online purchase.
The Grudge Pony is just too good not to have in an fantasy army and will go well with a unit or two of dwarves fighting for the Empire.

Keep blogging guys, we are fighting the elements at the moment but it will soon be cooler and more painter friendly.

Thursday 19 July 2018

A Campaign and Second hand figures

Hi Chaps,

I have at last had a couple of days off together-rejoice! Also the postman has been kept busy delivering small packages from my ebay purchases. So far I have three units of Games Workshop Imperial infantry and a cannon but I have bids on several more. I do love the older (5th edition?) version of the Imperial army-the cavalry can still be ordered from Games Workshop.

This military style planning is hopefully going to culminate with my two weeks off work where I intend to laze around and paint figures during the day and drink German beer at night. (after I have decorated my little girls room).



Construction of some bases is also underway only another 20 to go for the infantry. Some of the figures will get a bath to remove the paint, I am especially fond of the master gunner who was a little bonus amongst the shooty types.



As for the setting for any games I am using local history and a mix of mischief. It must be 30 years since I last had a campaign diary and scribbling notes for a background has been very cathartic. How this ends up I have no idea but it does feel a bit DandD and a tad nerdy but already my games will have a reason and an impact on my characters.

Keep blogging guys.

Wednesday 11 July 2018

Hi Chaps,

Well I think this has been my longest break in many a year from the hobby but I do feel the urge to paint returning. I do rather think that this is a hobby of peaks and troughs, quite often I paint too much in too little a space of time and, over enthused but worn out I put the figures aside.

My latest break was due to a combination of a bereavement, the weather and work....always work. Still I do feel old interests stirring and last night I spent an hour or more looking at figures in my cabinet and feeling rather nostalgic.

I have every intention of resuming my painting when the weather cools-my painting desk will be moved and a design for a new paint rack to accommodate even more paint pots has been drawn. A few old but unpainted Games Workshop minis have been purchased from ebay and bids for even more have been placed. The remainder of this years painting will be focused on trying to learn some new techniques and improving my quality.

Games Workshop continue to impress me and I have bought their box of skulls! Not that I am such a fan that I buy every last item they produce but because I want to create a unit that looks like it has marched off the page of an old engraving. As a child the gruesome images from art books fascinated me and Games Workshop seemed to be taken up with the theme as well.





OK so the pics above are not such a good illustration of my point but... See you on the other side of this summer Chaps I have a feeling its going to be an awesome autumnal painting season.

Keep blogging

Wednesday 2 May 2018

A few hours free

Hi Chaps,

Well things certainly improved this afternoon on the war gaming front. I actually had 2 hours of my own time with no distractions. What a treat.

As I am fairly tight (approaching Yorkshireman level) I decided to use up a scrap of 5mm foam card. This small piece was the leftover from some past building project and was an irregular shape so I measured 20mm squares onto it and proceeded to cut them out.


by stacking four together and holding them together with PVA and a couple of brass tacks I have the size of a 28mm Hesco barrier. Using insect netting (about £3 a metre) I stuck this on four of the sides. Please note that this will give you sticky fingers and PVA drives me mad. Once this is dry I will put glue on the top and dip into sand.... a finished example can be seen on the left of the next pic.


This was a little project to make use of my time and I hope that I never have to make any more of these! I always paint scenery using the cheap tester pots from B and Q.

To complete the best day ever (well in a long time) two lots of figures arrived from two excellent companies. Both had a free sample and relevant figure in with them and both delivered their orders the day after I placed them. Well done Britannia and The Assault Group.



I am not sure what is happening to my pics but I will leave it as it is getting towards kick off of Liverpool vs Roma and I am sure you chaps will understand....

Today I also ordered some air con units from Crooked dice, if you read through this blog you will see I attempted to make some of these and failed. The Crooked dice ones look really useful and the 10 I ordered will not be enough! Please do have a look at them-they are cheap.

Next week I hope to order some more figures so that my forces are more or less complete before I begin painting. The US Marines will probably get the Somalia desert pattern clothing-does anyone know if this is correct for the Assault Groupo figures?

Have a good week Guys-I am off again at the weekend (first in ages) and I hope to have a few shops or Afghan compounds almost complete to show you.

Thanks for looking Guys your Blogs keep me going.

Sunday 18 March 2018

Another sad time.

Hi Chaps,

Well it has been a while since I posted and there is a very sad reason. My father and best mate died at the end of February. Many of us will have experienced such a loss so you will understand the heart break.

Service will be resumed though it will never again feel normal, just new. It takes a while to recover just from the shock.

Today I did pick up the brushes and I am surprised to see I have a number of figures on the table that were completed weeks ago, I will post some pics soon.

Keep blogging guys and gals you are literally carrying me at the moment.This is Dad back in the 70's




Tuesday 6 February 2018

Age of Sigmar Painting

Hi Chaps,

Well I am still on holiday and what a pleasure it is to get two weeks off together! This has given me enough time to complete some chores and even get some painting in. Indeed the painting has been a little slow as I am using the guide that came with the Age of Sigmar box-I don't even know the names for the figures or monsters involved but they have so much detail on them that they take an age to paint.



The bad guys (I assume?) are especially time consuming and well done Games Workshop in producing these miniature works of art. I am not so sure what a novice painting his first figures would think of tackling these little devils-maybe that was put right in the second starter release as the nurgle types look a little easier to paint?




The three riders above (Palladors?) I bought off ebay for less than £20 and still on the sprue! They seem to be £35 on GW's website so I actually may have won one at last. Still I have had my fill of fantasy this week and will complete the Russian 28mm weapons teams next.





Photography wise I need another light and maybe a booth but it is getting there very slowly...

When I can muster the energy I will sell a few unfinished figures/projects on the famous fleabay probably to raise more money to fill out the ranks of my German 28mm. Maybe I will be able to talk my son into a game but being away from the internet and his guitar for more than an hour causes him some discomfort!

Keep blogging Chaps it feeds my daydreams at work.

Wednesday 24 January 2018

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

Sunday 21 January 2018

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.

Friday 12 January 2018

Flu!

Hi Chaps,

For the first time in my life I have experienced the flu. This was the real deal and what a miserable experience it was. Almost 2 weeks now and although I am much improved I am still as weak as a kitten and pretty miffed by it all.

Anyway the time off work has let me (eventually) look up some photo's and even paint some figures. It would be nice to have more time and the 50 plus hours I am spending at work each week is going to be cut down....I am time poor at the moment which makes a change from cash poor but a better bealance will have to be found. I miss painting!






The Russians have now doubled in number and the heavy weapons teams are awaiting an undercoat. The Plastic Soldier Company Russian 28mm army deal is the best buy in wargaming at the moment. For less than £40 I have an army and with the addition of a few LLedo vehicles a bit of transport!

Keep blogging Chaps, I am off to plan the invasion of the USSR.