SS Tigers

I have just finished these Tigers from s SSPz Abt 101 in Normandy from June to August 1944.

So What's Next?

My next two projects are underway. The first is nice and simple (!) - 6 Battlefront Tigers, the second a much longer project - Early Bulgars.

I ordered the Battlefront suff from Maelstrom Games on Friday evening and they arrived with me on the Wednesday. Not as good as Empire Games whom I use most of the time but still ok. However, when I opened the Tigers Marsch box and did a quick inventory of the parts I found I had 6 right hand tracks and only 4 left hand tracks for 5 tanks.

A quick call to Maelstrom and a left hand track is coming to me. This is a bit of a problem though because I am in a big hurry and I don't really want to be doing one Tiger after I have finished all the rest.

The second point to note is that there are a lot of bits to put together for each Tiger. I had assumed they would be like all the other Battlefront tanks I have bought, with limited bits to stick on. Not so - you have to add in no particular order - the gun barrel, the cupola (open or closed, 3 hatches (loader, driver, hull machine gunner) either open or closed, front and rear mudguards, side skirts(!), bow machinegun and spare tracks for the front. And if you have elected to have the hatches open there are the crew to go in them and finally if you want to put in the aerial there is a bit of drilling to do (I had to supply a bit of thin plastic filament as this is not provided) and finally for the moment, I like to drill out the barrels because I think it looks better. None of that is particularly difficult but it is time consuming.

A Good Matt Varnish

I have been looking for a good matt varnish spray for some time.

I came across Army Painter's Matt varnish spray at the show at Derby at the beginning of October.

I set up to try it out with some trepidation and did a test run before moving on to something important. I have to say I have been very pleased with the results. A smooth coat and a lovely true matt finish. I wish I had found it months ago.

Old Glory 15mm Ancients


I have just taken delivery of some sample bags of Old Glory 15s Asiatic Horse army figures. They came in smaller bags than I am used to with 9 mounted (down from the previous 16) and 24 foot (previously approximately 50). This makes them much more practical with far fewer wasted/unwanted figures.

It has proven hard to find pictures of the figures recently so here are a few shots to help out. (hardly more than a scratch on the surface as the OG range is enormous but .. )

AH1 - Asiatic Horse Army Command. 3 figures with kettle drums, three figurs with standard and 3 generals.

AH2 - Asiatic Horse Army Heavy Cavalry. 4 riders but the mix was skewed towards the bow shooting character.

AH3 - Asiatic Horse Army Bulgar light cavalry. 4 figures



SL2 - Slavic spearmen. 8 different figures. Some with kite shield, some with round or oval.

Disappointed!

I have just received two new Battlefront Churchill Tanks.

The quality of the casting of both leaves something to be desired. I won't send them back as I am in a hurry and a reasonable paint job can hide a number of imperfections.

However, on one the armoured trailer had some of the detail completely missing and other bits poorly cast, while the other had a significant warp in one of the sides. Interestingly the detail apears to be there but in a Dali-esque manner.

Crusader Pirates Ahoy!

I have just finished painting and basing these jolly fine Crusader Pirates. They were fun to paint and I am pleased with the results.

For more pictures you can visit my web site at http://members.lycos.co.uk/lastbunny/crusader.html

The Xyston Greeks are proving to be a little more difficult, I keep putting them off. Must get motivated.

Next Projects

I have been preparing two projects today. The first is an Athenian Greek DBA army using Xyston Miniatures figures and the second is a group of Crusader Pirates from Northstar.

The Xyston Greeks are some of the earliest figures produced by that manufacturer and as such they are some of the smallest. Later ranges have tended to get bigger. In this instance small is not a problem they look very good even before undercoating. There is quite a bit of work involved with drilling out the hands, cleaning up the mould sprue and gluing spears and shields on to the figures and if you add in making the spears that's several hours before you even get the first paint out of its pot.

I ordered the Pirates on Monday, after which I had an email saying they would be sent on Wednesday and they arrived today - Friday - I consider that to be pretty good service

Although I had seen figures by Crusader around until now I hadn't bothered to look at any in detail. I have to say I am quite pleased do far. One small criticism, compared to Copplestone and Artizan these figures needed a lot more cleaning up with a craft knife and a modelling file.

And now something a little bit different

As I continue to test out my 28mm painting skills I am on the look out for new challenges and I found this resin model tucked away in a dark corner of my painting area.

I can't remember who the manufacturer is or exactly how I came by it except I think it was freebie with something else. It's not something I would normally buy but I decided to give it a go anyway. (Note: I have just found the manufacturer - the model is by Ramshackle Games of Nottingham)

I like to think of it as a damsel in distress, in need of rescue by some passing hero (male or female just to remain PC).

Perhaps my next project will have to be the hero - well after the pirates and perhaps another 15mm DBA army, oh and maybe some WWII stuff.

I do quite fancy painting some fantasy figures, but not with over large weapons or hugely improbable musclature - hmm perhaps an orc or two.

Perry Miniatures - French Generals Now Finished


Here's a taster of the finished miniature - if you want more pictures visit my web site at

http://members.lycos.co.uk/lastbunny/perry.html

Persians - Now Up on Web Site.

After my picture problems of yesterday I managed to redo the photography in natural light and the pictures are up on my web site at

http://members.lycos.co.uk/lastbunny/NewDBAAchaemenid.html



Here are a couple more work in progress pictures of the Perry Napoleonic Generals. I hope to finish these next week.

New Later Achaemenid Persian DBA Army - Just a taster!




I was hoping to load up a new page onto my web site with the full range of pictures on this new Later Achaemenid Persian DBA army.

Unfortunately the pictures came out rather too dark. I could have brightened them in the image editing stage but I prefer to get it right at the photography stage.

New Stuff on the Painting Table



As a bit of a change I am painting up some Perry Miniatures 28mm French Napoleonic Generals. The work in progress is General Foy.

I have to admit to being a little intimidated at first. It's one thing to paint up some archaeologists or cowboys. The colour schemes can be prety much anything you want within a certain pallet - but Napoleonic figures are different. Ordinary troops have uniforms and generals have elaborate uniforms and Perry Miniatures have lots of detail. And then there are the horses - I am comfortable with painting them in 15mm but 28mm is a whole new ball game! However, this has been a real challenge but I think it is coming together ok.

The 15mm Achaemenid Persians are finished and I will take some photos tomorrow. They should be up on the web site by mid afternoon.

I have also put another Artizan Cowboy up on Ebay so its been a busy week so far.

I will have to find a new project for next week. I wanted to try some female characters but haven't seen anything that really grips me so far.

The Cowboys are finished - Well almost I have still got to varnish them. But here are three of them.

You can see more pictures on my web site at

members.lycos.co.uk/lastbunny/artizan.html

One Project Completed so on to the Next



The Cavemen and Archaeologists are finished and I am pleased with the results.

Pictures of the rest of these figures can be seen on my web site at members.lycos.co.uk/lastbunny/copplestone.html

I have been trying to improve my photographic skills and this graduated blue background is the latest development. I think it aids the presentation of the figure. All I have to do now is work out how to get the lighting better!

The next project is moving on. The Cowboys are nearing completition and I will be able to begin to base them up tomorrow.

I have a medium sized library's worth of reference books on all areas of military history and uniforms but I found I was missing information on Napoleonic French Generals of Divisions and Brigades. So I have ordered an Osprey on Napoleon's commanders and am eagerly awaiting its arrival. This means that the Perry Generals haven't progressed much.

On the other hand I have no such excuse for the Persians. They are plodding along but I will try to move them up the priority list for the rest of the week.

Next Projects

As the cavemen and the Alexandrian Imperial army are very nearly complete I have started to think about the next projects. At Britcon I purchased some 28mm Artizan cowboys and some Perry Miniatures French Napoleonic Generals.

These are now undercoated on my painting table.

Alongside these I will also have a go at a Later Achaemenid Persian DBA army using 15mm Xyston Miniatures. I have painted this army before and was very pleased with the outcome.

Britcon has come and gone so what's next

Another very good weekend of gaming. 6 good games - but not many points unfortunately.

So as we get home thoughts start to turn to the next event. There are a fair few to choose from - Roll Call in High Wycombe, Derby and Warfare in Reading are coming up and there are likely to be several more.

I will have to re-think the Canadians - their 'trained' status , the relatively small size of the platoons and their lack of decent infantry anti-tank capability are a bit of a problem!

For a brief report go to my web site at

http://members.lycos.co.uk/lastbunny/Britcon08.html

Work in Progress

Here are a couple of work in progress shots of the cavemen.

Painter's Progress

The cavemen are now painted and I am reasonably pleased with them. They still need basing but I need to get some slotta bases to finish them off. I will be at Britcon in Manchester over he weekend and hope to pick up some while there.

Even the Archaeologists are nearing completition and should be finished tomorrow.

The Alexandrian Imperial DBA army is also completed and I will base up when I do the cavemen - so all being well I will take some pictures shortly and then put them up on eBay next week.

Britcon

I will be competing in the Mid War Flames of War tournament using the Canadians again. This time it is 2000pts so a some what bigger force than I am used to. 6 games spread from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. It should be a good weekend.

Trying Something Different

I have decided to try my hand at painting 28mm figures. It's something I have done before but many years ago.

So I have invested in some Copplestone Castings figures. I have a pack of 'Armed Archaeologists' and two packs of 'Cavemen' from the high adventure range.

The first thing to say is that the service was good. The figures arrived in a couple of days.

I knew from the pictures on the web site that they would be nice but I was very impressed when I looked at them in detail - particularly the faces. I have a small quibble - I don't think the hands are always as well sculpted as the rest of the figure but I don't think this shows too much.

One thing I was unprepared for was the amount of 'thinking' time I was going to need.

It's to do with colour choice. The bare flesh was no trouble - I used the vallejo paints I now use for my 15's but with a couple more layers. No it was the clothing - animal skins for the cavemen and civilian or proto-military gear for the archaeologists. It is not straightforward and often each garment(!) needs careful consideration. I am still pondering on the jacket and waistcoat for the middle eastern character and that's been a couple of days so far with no progress.

However, I had fun today painting a pith helmet, but even this took a bit of research on Google to see what colour it should be. Fortunately the end result looks ok.

One consequence of this process is that I mix colours to get a shade I like. This is ok as a one off but should anyone ask me to match them in the future that would be rather difficult.

When I do commissions I have taken to writing out a paint mixing sheet for the main colours so at least I have a chance of getting close without too much trial and error. I just wish I had thought to do this several years ago!

While I ponder these important painting questions, I switch over and paint a few more 15's. I have a Alexandrian Imperial DBA army nearing completition and I expect it will be ready to sell on eBay in a week or so.

Full Spectrum Daylight Bulbs.

This summer has been pretty bad so far and in one way in particular it has had an impact on my activities. The quality of the light even in the middle of the day has on occasion been awful. This as you might imagine makes painting very difficult.

If forced to use electric light I only really want to paint unmodified colours and even that is a bit risky.

I got so frustrated that I went onto eBay and ordered a 32W low energy full spectrum bulb from a supplier call Androv Medical in Germany. The bulb is supposed to give the equivalent of 130W.

The order took about 5 days to arrive - which I thought was ok from Germany.

What about the light. Well it is very, very bright and very white. When I leave the study, which is the room I paint in, and go to other rooms in the house the bulbs in those give a distinctly yellow light. I hadn't noticed before but the contrast is marked.

Now I have got used to it I am very pleased - and it really does make a difference to my painting. I can see subtle colour variations and shades and can pick out fine detail much more clearly. It's not as good as natural light at its best but I think it was a good investment.

Operation Turning Point - Flames of War Competition
July 5 - 6th


I took my Canadian Rifle Company to the Operation Turning Point Flames of War Competition organised by the Birmingham Trollslayers last weekend. The event was very enjoyable and well organised.

This was a mid war competition and although there was a slight preponderance of Axis forces the range of armies was very wide.

I have moved my web site. I had some ftp problems with the old one and I couldn't get any answers from the support team. I think I had exceeded my space allowance, but that is a guess.

I have now moved everything to Tripod. Loading and editing the site is certainly easier. I will have to go through and check things thoroughly but it is looking ok.

The only thing I have spotted that doesn't work is the hover command. The one that make a link change colour when you move the mouse over it. I will have to do a bit of research to find out where this has gone wrong - but so far I am pleased with the transfer.

You can visit by clicking the following link

http://members.lycos.co.uk/lastbunny

Loads of wargaming figures.

I have been experiencing problems with my web site. This is unusual because so far I have been very fortunate - but it obviously it couldn't last.

This is a major inconvenience as I have loads of new pictures to upload - doh!

So here they are - without explanation - which is a shame and I will need to sort the web site out another time! Probably going to have to move it - I hope it won't be too big a problem in the long run.