More Napoleonics in 40mm for Sharp Practice

Nearly at the finish line, only French Dragoons, civilans/spies and bits and bobs to do. And of course, a mammoth basing session.

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5 units of Line. 1 Light Infantry skirmish group, 1 Rifles group, 1 Artillery and 1 group of Light Dragoons...

The line and lights are Perry, the rest 3d prints.

Mea Culpa - Lots!

I recently had reason to do a search on this blog for some of the earliest content, and realised I had been blogging for quite a while. Not as early as some of my first wargames websites, back when blog wasn't even a word. In 1999..  http://dbm.freehosting.net/cancon2000.htm  (back in the day when we had 79 players at Cancon  - and I famously rolled my first dice in a 6 round tournament with a 1,1,1,1.)

But I have been sadly remiss updating this blog for some time. Since August! Mea Culpa. I plead, tiredness, work, life, Mastodon, watching Twitter become 'TrainWreck' (tm) and just general slackness. 

It hasn't meant I haven't been doing wargames stuff, sadly, few games, but lots of reading, purchasing, printing and even some painting.

So first of all, success stories - finished two platoons plus core supports for Chain of Command - 

British Airborne - 28mm

A mix of Offensive, Artizan, Warlord, 1st Corps, and even Renegade (PIAT teams). 

BEF - mainly 1st Corps with 3d printed AT support. I also made progress with their armour supports, here they are with silly putty masking for the camouflage. All 3d prints. The Vickers VIb are particularly nice, from Arvernes on Wargaming 3d.

Then there was the Panzer IV kickstarter (including a Panther add-on), from Night Sky also on wargaming3d. To which I have added some Lee and Stuarts from Thingiverse.

It included some rather nice tank crew...  these will see a  lot of use I think. The heads are separate.

Then there are the ongoing items of terrain. The rather nice Warbases Russian Chapel... 

Some cows..  Warlord games, loads of filling - annoying, but I can't find decent 3d print files for dead cows, or horses, or pigs even.

The 10/12mm stuff hasn't been neglected either.. some Farms/BUA for 'O Group' or 'Iron Cross'. 

Burned Out

And then there has come the insanity..   first of all, this in my FLGS caught my eye... 

Which of course, led to this...

And this...

Oops...  and then there was this..   Alex at @StormOfSteelwargaming is to blame..  WW1.

This eclectic workbench... 

What on earth was I thinking? Maybe prepping for 'What a Cowboy'... 

And then there were these.. 

Why do I do it to myself..  there's a bunch of Perry figures to do XIV Army in Burma. Thus explaining the Lee and Stuart tanks.

Altogether now,  dum dum dum, dum de dah, dum de dah...  

It's Freezing - and a Challenge

Having used Contrast Paints to do my Indian Mutiny figures, I was impressed with just how quickly I could get a half decent result. I do paint for effect, so I will never obtain results like Moiterei..  but Contrast works for me. I could obviously go back and add additional detail to improve the results, but it seems superfluous when you are working to the 1 metre rule.

In any case, I have long intended to paint up forces to play the Too Fat Lardies 'Bloody Bucket' Pint Sized Campaign for Chain of Command. Battle of the Bulge, what's not to like? 

Over time I have picked up all the necessary figures in sales and on eBay. Taking part in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, it occurred to me that I had foolishly ruined my eyesight painting a German platoon in Peadot and Oakleaf, and that doing something simple like US infantry in greatcoats would have earned me the same points...  So I wondered just how long it would take. I bet myself a week... 

So here's the result:

Last Wednesday - Artizan figures glued to 2p pieces and undercoated with cheap white primer over grey.

This Wednesday - finished. 

Extra BAR gunners, .30 MMG Teams, Bazooka and 57mm AT Gun support.

Three squads, in the rear right are Senior NCO and officers with carbines.

Squad leaders (Corporals) on the right with an enlisted man with Thompson SMG.

Close up of one of the Bazooka teams showing the effect of Contrast. The 57mm is a 3d print. 

The snow effect is Bicarbonate of Soda over PVA, then sealed with plenty of spray varnish as Bicarb is extremely hydrophilic and unless properly sealed, will go 'off', discolour and bloat. The 3d printer is whirring away churning out Jeeps, an M16 halftrack and Shermans...  to be winterised once they have been airbrushed.

Not bad for about 4 evenings actual painting I thought. Perhaps the flesh could do with a very pale highlight, but good enough for Government work, as they say. 

Next week - maybe I could tackle my 1st Corps US Marines? I should finish the Volksgrenadiers, but they are currently buried in the man-shed, which is itself packed with the extra contents of the now demolished tin shed. It would take a serious archaeological dig to unearth them... till the new garden shed is erected on the 21st.

Back in Business - Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge

So I have been very slack about updating this blog, but my painting and 3d Printing has not abated.. the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge has kept me at my brushes.

First of all  - those AW Miniatures Indian Mutiny figures:

And who can resist an elephant towed limber? Not me.

Then there's the WW2 planes.. all 1/200 scale home 3d Printed.. 

Right, that's the Pacific sorted.. off to jolly old Blighty next... 

There is not one UK wargamer of a certain age NOT humming the theme tune now...  

And I couldn't let the DH2 be the only ones to fight the Fokker menace... 

That will do for now, but plenty more to come..   did I mention just how big a B17G was when 3d printed at 1/200?

See you next time..