Trojan War, part 3

Minor progress to be certain, but the wheels are still turning for this project on my hobby table...

Here is my brilliant (?) idea - pictured above is a Redoubt spearman with his weapon.  Lead/pewter spears can be a pain to straighten (and keep straight), so I thought that it might be nice to replace the shaft with brass tube.  The tube is nearly the same diameter as the spear, and would stay straight, while the interesting spear tip and butt would be added to the tube.  This would require a hole to be drilled into the spear tip so a length of brass rod could be glued in, and the assembly could then be glued into the tube:

Here is the procedure party of the way through.  This is the easy part.

The result!  The first two spears were made without a problem, but on the third I encountered the defining issue - the spear tip is not much bigger than the drill bit used to bore it out, and with one slip I put the drill bit into my finger.  So, further thought is required.

Also shown above is the inside of the huge Redoubt Figure-8 shields; lovely.  The Eureka shields have no detail on the inside.

The pic above shows the options I have come up with so far - my brass composite; a spear purchased from Footsore; a piece of plastic rod that I shaped into a crude likeness of the original Redoubt spear; and a piece of steel rod that could have a spear tip added.

The thickness of the original spear, brass tube, and plastic rod seem to be a bit thick for my tastes.  However, the Footsore spear is too plain in my eyes.  Decisions, decisions.


One last pic:

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SCW Republicans, part 7

It has been a long time - over two years - since infantry from my Spanish Civil War project graced the pages of this blog:

This is an infantry section for the Republican army, circa 1937, as outlined in the marvelous España supplement for Chain of Command, along with a figure that will be used to represent a Medical Orderly (above and right of the center of the pic).  15 soldiers - 3 squads of 5 - and a sargento (a junior leader for CoC) make up the section.  The sargento is the fellow on the rightmost of the above pic, and he is being assembled from pieces from a Zvezda WW2 Soviet gunner sprue with a Minairons head in Adrian helmet.

Another pic of the troops:

None of the figures are complete, although some just need some detailing and matte overcoat.



A better pic of the two special figures:

The Medical Orderly is a Minairons infantryman that will be modified with a new right hand, courtesy of the Zvezda sprue, and a satchel.  The sargento has already been glued down to the base, and a hole has been drilled for the new head.  A little more glue and he will be assembled...

A really simple conversion made easy by the nice individual parts of the Zvezda sprue, and the Minairons head selection that is available separately.  The figure is a bit different than the standard infantry from Minairons - a bit more stocky, different boots, a more delicate rifle, etc.  The kneeling position, however, hides the extra 'pounds' on the figure and if anything will make it stand out a bit more than his troops.

There are a total of three sections in a Republican platoon for CoC, so 2 more will need to be made!


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Books

Not much is happening here on the hobby table as far as naval projects go, but hopefully that will end soon enough.



I have purchased a few books to help stoke the boilers a bit:

Many directions these tomes lead!

Trojan War, part 2

I ordered a few more of the new Eureka Bronze Age Greeks.  As always, terrific service from Rob at Eureka USA.

This pack is Greek Armoured Infantry.  Four poses, all different, armed with axes.  One shield is included.  I do like these figures!

This set is Greek Infantry at Rest.  10 figures, all different, with an assortment of shields and spears.  It should be noted that Eureka is selling these as sets, not singles.

Greek Infantry in Action.  Eight figures, assorted shields and spears.  I am not certain if the shield variety changes with each individual pack, but there is a difference between the two infantry sets.

Rail Chariot with 2 crew.  The rail for this set is shipped flat - one will need to carefully bend the rail to fit the floor of the chariot during assembly, and in the pic above I have already started to work with the rail.


I have placed another order with Redoubt, and hopefully it will arrive soon.


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Trojan War, part 1

Let's take a closer look at some of the new Trojan War Greeks from Eureka:

This first pic is a comparison between some of the 28mm Greek figures out there.  Hoplites, not in period of course, are book-ending the Trojan War fellows.  The Redoubt spearman is a bit more slim and short compared to the Black Tree Trojan, while the Eureka Greek is a bit more stocky.  The Redoubt figure does have the thinnest base amongst the figures above - a shim would help him up somewhat.  In their own units, I think that all of them would look just fine.  It is my understanding that the Foundry Trojan War figures match well with Redoubt, and they are on my shopping list.

With the exception of the Redoubt spearman on the right, all of these figures are from Eureka.  Wonderful figures.

These are some heavy infantry, three with Dendra armor including an amazing commander type with a lion skin draped over his head and back.

And a few civilians - a priest, a Helen look-alike, and some ladies-in-waiting.



This last pic is the most surprising to me at least:

The pic is not perfect, but one can see the big difference in the Figure-8 shields between Redoubt (left) and Eureka (right).  The redoubt shield has a well-done interior (not pictured) but it is much larger than the Eureka version.  I am not completely certain if that is historical in scale or not.


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Sorting through

Many things have conspired to limit my painting progress over the last few months:

Work  -  The company I work for was hanging by a slim financial thread throughout spring and summer.  That seems to be past now thankfully, but not quite out of the woods yet.

Life  -  When my lovely wife passed away eighteen months ago, my step-children and I had the vast majority of her cremated remains spread in a location that is as lovely as it is remote.  Also, only a few people were on hand for the ceremony that my step-daughter led for her mother.  So, I have been planning another ceremony so my family can pay their respects and say one last good-bye later this month.

Hobbies  -  To paraphrase a more famous person - "I can come up with six new gaming projects before breakfast."  Add one-click shopping to that lack of mental focus and one can really create hobby havoc.  For instance, I decided that I should have a more portable computing device besides the desktop PC.  And that led to weeks of comparing systems and styles - Android?  Windows-based?  Chromebook?  Tablet?  Laptop?  Miniatures were no different, as I hit the Kickstarter trail and purchased some stuff that, maybe, I did not really need...


But, I am getting better.  In my archaeological expeditions into my closet, I found many things, including some projects that were started about the time that my lovely wife fell ill.  One project in particular has energized me like no other, and the keen-eyed might have noticed the beginnings of it in my previous post.  Here is a close-up:

About two years ago or so, I was able to get these samples of Eureka's new 28mm Trojan War Greeks range.  They must have arrived while I was otherwise occupied and thrown into the closet, along with some similar figures from Redoubt and Black Tree (not pictured above).  Yes, a new project, but one that is starting to re-energize my hobby batteries as the rest of my issues come to a close...


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Painting table, October 2018

Once again, I am out of the habit of posting here.  There is activity behind the curtain and I will post again soonish, but here is a pic of the table after a lot of re-organizing:

The keen eyed will see some progress on the Scots and Huaxtec, along with a couple of new projects.

Real life issues have filled my attention span lately, but as issues are resolved more and more time can be allotted to the hobby once again.  And, I found a backlog of comments; hopefully I have reset the notifications system and I can stay on top of them from now on.


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Huaxtec, part 10

Another old project gets some much-needed attention:

Here is the first element of my Huaxtec army.  Figures are by Outpost.  The shield uses a slightly modified decal from VVV - the Outpost shields are a little big for the decal, so I extended the lines just a touch.  I tried to represent tattoos on the warriors with some squiggles of black paint, but it is hard to see in some of the pics.

The basing is set for Irregular Wars 2nd edition.  The number of figures on a base will correspond to the Resolve stat in the rules.  In this case, 5 figures will be a unit of warriors with a Resolve of 3.  Better units can have a Resolve up to 5 with either 7 or 8 figures on the base (I have yet to decide on that).  

There is another element of Huaxtec being based up, and then I will need to get to the brushes again, although the heat here is making it difficult to stay at the painting table for long.


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Scots, part 5

Finally, some finished figures!  Two elements of Islemen, and one element of Scots schiltron:

These fellows put the Scots army at 20% complete (roughly).  I have two more elements of Islemen waiting along with some more schiltron, then a lot of schiltron, some bow, skirmishers, and dismounted knights to order, and several commander/hero types to fill in the gaps.  Then, after that I need their English opponent...

Slowly but surely, this project is coming together.


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Turkemen, part 1

This is the first new post on an old project of mine that is taking on some new life of late.  The Turkemen, not to be confused with the Ottoman Turks, are from the fictional world of 'Monster Blood Tattoo' or The Foundling's Tale as the series is known in the USA.  MBT is a series of books by D.M. Cornish, following the adventures of a young boy through a dangerous, mythical world.  This mythos would be best described as 'black powder fantasy' with a heavy dose of alchemy and Frankenstein-ish beasts, along with other interesting quirks which will be examined later.

The Turkemen are the northern neighbors and foes of the main european-styled civilization, the Haacobin Empire, and yes they are based on turks but only in a vague sense.  One of the specialties of the Turkemen is the construction of bolbogis - a 'dog of war' after a fashion, although it is not readily apparent that they are related to canines.  (One of the fascinating points of Mr. Cornish's writing style for the series is his habit of turning our usual English words and phrases around to sometimes very different meanings.)  Bolbogis are created/constructed/raised/? by inexplicable means as guard and attack creatures, and although they do not feature prominently in the stories, I am taking liberties to put those few words into gaming miniatures using proxies.

Pictured above are my first attempts to put bolbogis on the table.  On the left are a trio of miniatures from Khurasan Miniatures known as 'sponks'.  Their claws are not glued in, however.  They will be smaller, faster bolbogis.

In the center of the above pic is a Scarab Ogre from Crocodile Games.  They are larger than the average human and much more dangerous.

On the right is an Umber Hulk, a D&D figure.  The original miniature is bent down close to the ground, so I intend to alter the miniatures so they stand more upright.  These figures are plastic, which will make it easier to convert them.


A strange project?  Yes, but one that will be lots of fun, at least for me...


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Painting table, July 2018

It seems that I have fallen off schedule again with regards to timely posting here, so an easy way to jumpstart the habit is a pic of the hobby table:

Many of the usual suspects are here!  I am, however, making progress on a few projects and they will appear here again soon, along with other shiny toys to distract me.


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Pre-dreadnoughts

A bit too much time away from here, don't you think?  I have not had much desire to work on naval stuff lately, despite having several projects deserving attention.  One has to start someplace so let's go:

Here is my first group of ship models from WTJ.  These are assorted pre-dreadnoughts in 1/1800 scale.  US, Spanish, Japanese, and Russian vessels are pictured as they await some attention with soapy water and a brush.



After that, I need to make masts and figure out how to base them...

Projects

( Warning:  A wall of text follows... )


One of the things that I like about blogging is the ability to use a blog as a concise storage point for data about projects.  I have notebooks and digital link collections squirreled away about genres, but a blog is useful for refining thoughts and placing them in one easy to access place.

So, what projects are bouncing around here?

First, I am slowly working on a Greek and Persian project.  This will be in 28mm, and the most likely rule set for this will be DBA3.0.  Right now, this project is on hold, as I would like to do this all in plastic figures, and although Victrix does have plans to create plastic Persians those plans are 3 or so years into the future.  I will continue to pick up Victrix Greeks - I have some hoplites already - especially if I can find them at a discount.

Second is another slowly forming project - Romans.  A pair of packs of the new Victrix Early Imperial Roman legionnaires have been purchased, but I need more, and of course some opponents would be nice.  Victrix comes through again with their new Gauls, which I will use as Britons.  It is slightly possible that I will extend this project with Germans.  DBA3.0 is the likely ruleset for this also.

Next would be my '1066' project.  I have made a small amount of progress with this also - Footsore Vikings have been purchased and the first unit of Bondi is on the painting table.  I have yet to determine a specific ruleset for this one; I intend to try several once this is gameable.

Following closely on the heels of the '1066' project is my Scots project.  This is based around the original offerings from Claymore Castings for the Battle of Otterburn in 1388.  I do not intend to closely follow this battle, but a close approximation is planned.  I also want to include a small French force, as one landed in Scotland in 1384 (?) and fought in some minor skirmishes before leaving.

My Meso-american project is in a state of flux at the moment.  With the release of the new line of Aztecs in 10mm from Pendraken, I have stopped active work on the 28mm project to let ideas simmer in the back of my mind.  The 10mm miniatures are great - I have some sample packs - but there would be quite a bit of work involved in getting this project running as there are no opponents for the Aztecs in 10mm.  While it is quite possible to proxy or modify figures for Tlaxcallan and/or Huaxtec armies, I am not sure about going that far, yet. 

My next project, chronologically, is a big surprise even for me.  As I began to research a naval project about the War of 1812, I realized that the naval actions, especially on the Great Lakes, were closely linked to the land battles.  One thing led to another, and now I have a book or three and some samples of figures in 28mm for US troops.  Before I continue, I need to lock down the set of rules.  I have a copy of Sharp Practice from TooFatLardies, but I am looking for a set of rules for slightly larger actions.

For the 20th century, there are two projects - WW1 and SCW.  I have some 15mm Russian miniatures for WW1, but the project just has not yet coalesced into something more solid.  SCW in 1/72 scale, on the other hand, has received attention here, but progress has stopped for now.  While coming up with a list of figures I needed to get my lists for Chain of Command complete, I realized that 15mm would be a fair amount cheaper.  (The total $ figure to get the remainder of the 1/72 figures needed would finance a complete re-do of the project in 15mm...)

And there are the non-historical projects.  Recently, I bought into the Kickstarters from Steve Jackson Games for the venerable miniatures game, OGRE.  There is also the Infinity project, which I will work on in the future although my sons seem to have gone back to Warmachine for the time being.  My 'Monster Blood Tattoo' project is still waiting for attention, not forgotten however.  And the Tékumel fantasy project is waiting patiently in the shadows...



LOTS of projects!  I am resigning myself to slow incremental progress over a broad range of projects, as opposed to banging out one at a time on a narrow front.  No gaming schwerpunkt here!!


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Great Lakes, part 1

With my recent order to Waterloo Minis, I added a sampling of the Langton War of 1812 ships:

Here we have a pair of schooners that could be used for either faction on the Great Lakes.  Each model is comprised of five cast pieces - hull and masts - and a set of photo-etch sails.  Beautifully cast in the Langton manner, and oh my, are they small.  Each square on the grid in the pics is ¼" (6.35mm) - the hulls are less than 1" (25mm) in length.

Anglo-Dutch, part 3

The second pair of miniatures for my Anglo-Dutch naval project recently arrived.  These ships are Langton, and they were purchased through Waterloo Minis:

This is Langton AD8, a British 4th Rate vessel, 48-56 guns.  13 pieces total.  I decided to try cast sails for this batch, just to see how much difference there will be in assembly compared to the photo-etch variety, plus they were a bit less expensive.  Beautifully detailed, as one would expect from Langton.

This is Langton AD14, a Dutch 4th Rate of 46 guns.  Again, 13 pieces make up this model, and again beautifully detailed.  It is interesting to note the size difference between the two 4th rates - the British ships are a fair amount larger than their Dutch counterparts.





The easy part is now complete!  Next is to figure out basing and rigging essentials, as I want to have all of the supplies present before I start any assembly.

Scots, part 4

More progress:

The tufts have landed!  The tufts are Gamer's Grass brand; I believe that I purchased these from GC Mini.  


After the glue dries - I secured the tufts to the bases with Matt Medium - the last step can be completed and that is to clean up the base edges.  Then, finally, they will be done.


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Scots, part 3

With this post, I bring to you a project that was originally featured on a separate blog that was disbanded long ago.  The posts and pics from the discarded blog are here now, so one could look at previous work on these miniatures by clicking on one of the labels listed on the right or at the end of this post.

Slow, slow progress... the first two stands of Islemen for my medieval project:

These miniatures were originally produced by Claymore Castings, but are now available from Antediluvian Miniatures.  The bases are not quite complete, as I have some tufts waiting to be placed.  From looking at the pics, I can see that I need to work on my skin colors a bit!


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Anglo-Dutch naval, part 2

As part of the build-up to my Anglo-Dutch naval project, I purchased a copy of this:

This volume is part of the 'New Vanguard' series from Osprey, number 183.  A slender volume at 48 pages, it is nonetheless a useful introduction to the period.  Design, construction, and operation of the two different navies are covered, and there are many period paintings reproduced within, along with  color plates commissioned for the book.  The most interesting part is a series of tables listing the names, rates, and fates of individual ships from the two sides.

Projects

This is just a simple post to provide a bit of info on what is happening behind the curtain.



I have several naval projects that have various, but comparatively little, amounts of completion.  First off is a fantasy naval project, based on the fictional world of Tékumel.  This project will utilize 1/1200 ancient naval ships for the most part, although many will need conversions. 



Next is Age of Sail.  In reality, this could be split into more than one project, but I am going to try and keep it simple (and to fool my brain about not having too many projects!)  This will be in 1/1200 also, and will be subdivided into Anglo-Dutch and War of 1812, and maybe another...



Ironclads is the next project, once again at 1/1200.  At first I was quite keen on ACW (as noted previously on this blog), but I am hoping to also add South American actions into the fold.



Last but not least is pre-dreadnoughts.  I am looking to pick up the pieces of my old WW1 project by slowly acquiring more 1/1800 ships from WTJ, although the cut-off point for my collection will be well before 1914.







Of all of these projects, only the Tékumel naval set is remotely close to earning the title 'playable', as I still have some of the ships from previous work.  Nothing is painted, however, and there are many ships to get for balanced forces.  Age of Sail counts only two models in my possession at the moment, and much prep work needs to happen before I can start to build them.  I want to get my ideas about rigging, basing, rules, etc. solidified before jumping in too deeply.  In the Ironclads project, I have a few vessels from a variety of manufacturers, and those are not in a cohesive collection as they are scattered among different theaters of the war.  Pre-dreadnoughts are still just a collection of books as I await my first order of models from WTJ.







It might seem that I am spreading myself thinly, and that is largely true.  However, with many of these projects I can have a game with only a single vessel on each side, or maybe two.

Painting table, April 2018

A quick pic to help reinforce the blog posting habit:

There is an assortment of projects pictured here.  The fellows with the axes on square bases are Islemen from Claymore Castings (now available from Antediluvian Miniatures), with Footsore bondi on their left.  More Scots on the far left, with some ogres (the whitish lumps) and an OGRE (from Steve Jackson Games) in black.  Also shown are some Crann Tara WAS French musketeers and some Iron Duke Miniatures rebel Indian Mutiny infantry.

Lots of projects, and not all are shown!


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Back

( Apologies for the repeated post - time constraints and all ( this is copied from my naval blog ) )


A bit too long of a break between posts!  Even so, I will keep this one brief.

Many things are happening here, both hobby-wise and other-wise.  I am still struggling to shake off the lethargy that descended many months ago, but I am picking up more steam as I go.  There are old projects that will be revisited, and a new project or two that have suddenly sprung forth.  Once I get my photo editing woes out of the way, there will be more posts.  I just need to make it a habit once again...

And, my apologies to those who have blogs - I have been a very infrequent reader of even the blogs I enjoy, and a much less frequent commentator.  I hope to rectify this also.


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Back

A bit too long of a break between posts!  Even so, I will keep this one brief.



Many things are happening here, both hobby-wise and other-wise.  I am still struggling to shake off the lethargy that descended many months ago, but I am picking up more steam as I go.  There are old projects that will be revisited, and a new project or two that have suddenly sprung forth.  Once I get my photo editing woes out of the way, there will be more posts.  I just need to make it a habit once again...



And, my apologies to those who have blogs - I have been a very infrequent reader of even the blogs I enjoy, and a much less frequent commentator.  I hope to rectify this also.