Thursday, December 13, 2012

Shhhh, I'm hiding!

Some Dust Allied WIP
 Be vewy vewy quiet!  Actually I have been in hobby limbo due to school. But now that my finals are over and classes have been passed. I can hop back on the hobby bandwagon!  Here are a few shots of items on my workbench right now.
Grenadier Command HQ from the new Open Fire Plastics WIP
 I have a small Allied Dust army and Khador Behemoth that are a commission I have been neglecting primarily due to school studies and my hands killing me from my Carpal Tunnel. Time has been limited and I have not been able to give them any attention in some time but here is a sneak peak!
Khador Behemoth WIP
 I have to get these guys cranked out and then I have some ACW Confederates to work on for The Guns of April project this year. I will not be able to attend Adepticon this year, and doubt I will be able to make it next year for that matter. But I have projects lined up for both that I will be sending mini's out for.
A close up of one of the Dust Allied WIP's
So my first post in months! I am going to try and make a solid effort to get back into the hobby swing of things!

B

Monday, April 30, 2012

And to prove I am working on General Gordon...

Gordon Pasha
See!  This is 2 nights worth of a little work here and there... His skin, hair, and fez are complete.

I did manage to get a shipment of some Perry ACW in today and started to assemble those as well.  More to come!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Well, now what?

Whew!  Now that AdeptiCon has come and gone.  I am safely back home and trying to plan out my hobby for the next few months.  So I am sure a few of you may be wondering what I have on my plate.

Well Architects of War is hosting the 1st North American Perry Painting Contest at HistoriCon this year. They have 4 categories and I am trying to push myself to enter all 4.  The first one I am going to work on is Vignette.  Below you can see what I am thinking of this year...
General Gordon's Last Stand by George W. Joy

Perry Miniatures Gordon's Last Stand
After sitting down to one of many beers and dinners with my good friend Mr. Taylor at AdeptiCon, we both expressed that we wish to push our talents to the next level in painting.  How to do that? Just keep trying.  I do not feel I am back up to the level I was when I was painting my Lysander model.  That's what taking a few years off from your hobby can do to you!

So the Perry Painting contest is currently in my sights.  A few other things to work are on a US Armored Company and US Armored Rifle Company for Flames of War.  I suspect I will be slowing down a bit with Flames of War and try to focus a bit more on some 28mm gaming.  One new adventure I would like to break in to is Hordes, as I received a Trollblood starter box at AdeptiCon and would love to paint them.

The biggest thing for this year to focus on however, is the next Guns of April project.  We decided since it would be the 150th anniversary of Gettysburg to do another "what if" scenario from the first day.  This time I have been placed in charge of the Confederate side and will be working on them very soon.  All orders have been placed for the product and should arrive with in the next two weeks! This time I am pushing myself further by trying to complete over 156 models by next April.  Given that I painted 92 models for Salamaca in a span of about 2 1/2 months.  I think I am up for this challenge!

On a final note I am actually considering ordering the Masterworks Miniature Painting With Jen Haley and Anne Foerster video from Coolminiornot.com.  Normally I wouldn't even consider this, but I learned a lot about painting from just sitting down for a few hours with Anne many years ago and just watching her.  But the $50 price tag doesn't excite me.  We will see as I think on this more.  If I do I will be sure to let you all know what I think!

B

Monday, April 2, 2012

A little love for my subscribers...

13th Chasseurs
 I have been focusing the majority of my posts over at The Guns of April blog lately.  And feel I have been skimping a bit on my own blog.  Sadly I am down to zero hour, and have been getting a good amount of help from a few fellow hobbyists.  Normally, I cringe at the thought of someone else painting my Toy Soldiers, but at the same time, feel honored when people help.  Like the above unit.  All but the Commander are painted by the talented Dave Taylor.  I could provide a mile long list of excuses as to why I am so far behind on the project. But Dave stepped in and just asked for models to paint to lend a hand.  A great guy and a great friend!  I have a little work left to do on the unit, like touch ups on the Commander's horse, and getting the standard done.  Sadly I can not find my GMB Flags and need to order some Chasseur flags ASAP now.
1st Battalion of the 6th Legere
 Here is another previously unseen unit of mine.  This time I can't say someone painted the unit for me.  But my good friend Rob Villnave came down to my place (an hour plus drive each way) to lend a hand for a few hours here and there.  Rob was a huge help with basecoating models.  The ability to actually get paint where it needs to go, without it going everywhere else is a huge help.  Rob is a talented painter in his own right.  His Flames of War armies are beautifully done!  And he has some French Napoleonics of his own that should be shown off as well.  I did all of the detail work on these guys over 2 weeks.  These have been dipped using Army Painter's Strong Tone (Medium). However I always go back with the base color to use as highlights.  I still need to finish the Halberds for the 2 men guarding the Eagle.  And touch up the command base and pom poms on the rest.
2nd Battalion of the 6th Legere
And finally the unit you have seen me working on for so long.  This is my first complete unit for the Army.  Not much to say here as you have seen this one often through its many stages.  No dipping on these guys.
Horse Artillery
And lastly my Horse Artillery.

Anyhow.  I have a little over 2 weeks.  And roughly 35 models to go...  So why am I blogging to you guys again? ;)

At least I have a 4 day weekend.  Perhaps I will do a series of live updates from the workbench.  That seemed to help me get my Fallschirmjager Army done for AdeptiCon last time I went.  And that was over a weekend.  Oh damn... I actually have a few tanks to paint to!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Horse Artillery and a question...

At last! Something is finally done!


Hello all!  I just put up a quick update over at The Guns of April that I actually need a little feedback on.  Head on over and give it a look see if you can and let me know what you think!

B

Monday, February 27, 2012

Random pieces and progress.

My Chasseur a Cheval test in his current stage
 So I figured a little something is better than nothing, right?

I managed to get a lot of base coating done this past weekend.  18 more Legere in long coats are base coated and nearing completion with that portion.  I am going to end up "dipping" this specific unit.  For those of you that do not know what "dip" or "dipping" is, you are in luck! I will do a little tutorial on how it works later this week.

Some time ago on a very prominent hobby blog for primarily science fiction and fantasy war gaming, a discussion was had about a product from a company called Army Painter.  One individual know-it-all proceeded to tell everyone how it was a horrible product and anyone that uses it could never produce a piece of quality.  Needless to say, I beg to differ.  In fact I can honestly say that I have seen it used with stunning success in the Historical War Gaming Community.  No, the two models featured tonight do not use this process.  But I will post a step by step on how I use it soon.

And the Horse Artillery is coming along
My goal for this week is to complete 30 infantry models. The Chasseur a Cheval above, and if things go well, the Horse Artillery Crew for the above Cannon.  I'd love to have them based up as well.  But I need a restock on some basing supplies.

Speaking of restocks, I had to order some Grenadiers from the Perry Twins over in the UK.  And with them a few extra goodies to help scratch a hobby itch I am having.  More on that later ;)

Well my night is winding down.  Cold Wars is in just under 2 weeks.  Yeah, it's a bit of a hike to get to.  But I am debating on bringing some of my French on over to the painting contest to see if any are up to par.  I am not overly optimistic, but the theme is 1812, A World At War.  So the boys fit in nicely.  Maybe I will try and finish Foy.

B

Monday, February 20, 2012

An update! Finally!

My Light Infantry are coming along nicely...
I'm not dead! I promise!  The wife and I bought a home back in December and everything happened so fast. 3 days after signing we had to be out of our apartment so it was all chaotic.

This is how I spent most of January...

Throw in all the renovations I've been doing and sadly my painting has suffered :(

My new painting work area before I filled the desk with clutter :)

But I am back.  Fortified in my very own man cave!  Complete with a new painting table!

Dave Taylor praying to the dice gods while my French surround him...

And thankfully I did finally get a game of Black Powder in!  But I failed my French and lost one of my Brigades :(

Anyhow, I will get more updates for you guys as I can.  But it's back to work for this guy! 58 days and 116 models to finish... this is going to be rough!

B