HMS Saturn leaves port to join Admiral Parker!

Just finished rigging the 74 gun HMS Saturn.
After looking at the ships I have finished I have decided to wait to finish the waves on the base until I have most (if not all) of the ships done.  The wave patterns on each of the ships so far has varied dramatically.  So I think I will try to do them in large groups to get a more consistant look.  I do want some variation, but not as much as I am getting.  I love how these Langton ships turn out, and I am getting faster at doing the rigging.  6 down, 40 to go.

The first of the ships of the line sets sail

The HMS Ramilles emerges from final fitting on its shakedown cruise.

HMS Ramilles, 74 gun ship of the line, is the first of the ships in Parkers squadron to be finished.  Rigging took most of the day today.  The Saturn is ready to be rigged next.

Just a little more paint...

Just to be clear, I do not like the eye dropper paint bottles.  I just was trying to get a little more of the Reaper Brilliant Blue paint out of the bottle.  I am used to trying to get paint out of the bottles when they do not want to work.  After several pokes with my trusty paperclip, and some gentle shake and squeeze, I finally gave it a good (bad?) squeeze.  And the nozzle exited the bottle with a dramatic splut!!!!  And I go from being a frustrated mini painter to looking like a Pollack painting.
I did have to take a shower, clean my painting glasses (like reading glasses, only different).  And wipe up blue paint from the wall, a bookcase end, the computer, my cellphone and all sorts of other places.
On the good side I missed all of the miniatures on the desk around the paint tray with the paint.  And most importantly, I missed the 2 ships of the line hulls that I just finished.  But I did get paint up my nose.  At least I did get enough paint out of the bottle to base coat 4 sea bases.
And I had just decided that I would go change out of my work clothes after I put the blue undercoat on the sea bases...  So, I think that I have ruined the polo shirt I was wearing.
Did I mention that I do not like the eye dropper paint bottles?
(At least all the blue washed out of my beard, ears, nose and hair.  I was worried that I was going to work tomorrow looking like a smurf...)

News from this weeks DBA game (Feb 28, 2013)

Rome Daily Crier reports:

And in the East, word has arrived of the defeat of the army of Herod II from Judeah at the Bosphorus straits.  In recent months this upstart leader has interfered in Imperial operations in Canaan, Egypt and Syria.  Senator Obliviuos Realitus stated: "It was about time.  After the vile usupering of proper Roman authority from my nephew Governor Blunderous Incompetus, this rabble had it coming."  When asked if he was concerned with Herod continuing to be a problem. He said, "Problem?  He was never really a problem, with my good friend Legati Dado Fortunis and his legion intervening Herod will go back to being a good little vassal." 

There are unconfirmed reports of Herod II's army has not dispersed as expected.

And back to our regularly scheduled Cry, Toga Today, is Biege the new Black?

This week's battle was Early Imperial Roman (Me) vs. Later Judean Mike H. 

Rome was victorious 5-3.

3/3/2013

Another 4Ground building kit assembled

Here is the Parish Church kit in 15mm from 4Ground.  This is a very complex kit compared to the Timber Log House kit.  The kit went together well with only a few pieces needing to be sanded or adjusted to fit.  The most parts that needed fitting were to the roof sections.  The main roof and the main entrance roof needed to be sanded to fit in place.  The assembly sequence required paying close attention to which parts are being used and in what order they are needed.  The instructions were not very clear in spots and not always correct in labeling the parts.
The kit contained many parts and sections.  The details are wonderful.  There are gothic window frames and door details.
All of the roof sections are removable and the tower has 4 levels.  Below is a picture of all the sections spread out.  The last picture is a view of the other side of the church including a small covered entrance with a removable roof.  This is a beautiful addition to my collection of terrain.
I really enjoy building these kits. They are well designed, assemble quickly and have good details and paint finish.  The price for these kits is good for the quality of the finished product.

Another building done!

Over the weekend I put this little kit together.  This is the Log Timber House in 15mm from 4Ground.  They make very nice laser cut MDF buildings in 15mm and 28mm.  So far I have only done their 15mm buildings.
The kits go together very well.  My only complaint is the soot from the laser process.  the parts are covered in it and all the parts have a strong burnt wood smell.  I wiped the parts off with a tissue the best I could, but it still is very sooty.  For this kit the soot actually adds to the appearance, once I blended in the smudges from my fingers.  Also, I followed the directions very carefully, which left me with both doors on the same end.  After looking at the cover photo and the directions, I realized the building on the cover and the one assembled in the directions are 2 different builds of the kit, with the building on the cover having the doors much farther apart.  The directions put the doors close together, which looks odd.  Oh well.  You can only see it from the side I did not photograph.  I will have to study the instructions more carefully from now on.  As for the odor, I will wrap the building in a couple of dryer sheets in a plastic bag for a while.

2/18/13

First figure finished for SAGA

And here is the first figure for SAGA.  A Norman Warlord.  I call him Bill of Questionable Lineage.

Feb. 16, 2013

Do those shoot chocolate?

The first 2 stands for my Swiss Army for Impetus are finished!  Skirmishers with harquebuses.  Only 19 more stands to go!
These are the first figures I have based specifically for Impetus.  Before this I have been combining DBA elements to form Impetus stands.  I will continue to do this until I get the rest of the army done.  Of course, at this rate I will finish this army in 2016...
Next is more pike.  Lots and lots of pike.  Did I mention that the Swiss use a lot of pike?

These were painted as part of a new system for organizing my painting projects.  I am only keeping 2 ships for Copenhagen and one other project on the desk at a time.  I have broken the other projects in small groups of figures.  For anything 15mm I am doing 8 figures at a time.  For 28mm I am doing 4 figures at a time.  I moved everything other than the 2 project groups (2 ships and 4 or 8 figures) off the desk and put away in an orderly manner so I can find them as I finish groups.
So far I have been able to finish 4 ships for Copenhagen, 16 Swiss pike for Impetus and 8 Swiss skirmishers (above).  I currently have 2 - 74 gun ships of the line in process and a 28mm Norman Warlord for SAGA.  There are also 4 Norman Knights waiting in the wings to follow the Warlord.

By keeping the ships and 1 other project group on the desk, I can make progress on the ships (all that detail and those little yellow and black squares...) when I am up to doing fine work and I can make progress on the other projects when I am not.  So far I have been able to avoid project paralysis for the last few weeks, which usually hits me when I have too much on my desk and it begins to be overwhelming.
This did require me to organize my projects very carefully and break each one down into groups.  For the 15mm figures I went ahead and put the figures in baggies in groups of 8.  This also let me see what I was still missing from the Swiss army.  I am not concerned that I will run out of figures to paint before I can purchase the last few figures to finish the army.  I have plenty of pike to paint.  Really.  Plenty of pike.  ;-)

Feb 4, 2013

Winner!

Last summer the local hobby shop (Just For Fun) ran a painting contest using Rebel Minis scifi 15mm troopers.  Above is my entry, which took first place.  Winner!
I went with a "winter" color scheme of blues and greys and dressing up the base with "snow" and a couple of "alien" body parts.  Of course, the prize was a box of these troopers, which sets the bar very high for the rest of the unit...

Friday 2/1/2013

The end of 2012 and beginning of 2013

So, 2012 is done and 2013 has begun.
At the beginning of 2012 I posted some things I wanted to get done in 2012.

Lets see how I fared.
DBA armies:
Steve painted an Early Bedouin army and Early Achaemenid Persian army for me. I did get the Early Bedouin army based and on the table, with mixed results.  The Persians are still waiting for bases.
The Viking and Saxon armies I ordered from DPS finally got the shields finished.  And the figures that had to be re-based are done.
For Copenhagen I did get 4 frigates completed, and 8 SOL started.
For the Swiss I finished 48 pike and based them for DBA.  That totals 20 stands of pike, so the BBDBA army is more than halfway complete.
For Sci-Fi I finished 62 Space Demons (Aliens), 40 troopers with 3 support weapons teams, and 3 vehicles.
Jim L. and I played a game of Tomorrows War to try the rules.  It went well.
Lasalle is still in the planning phase.  I have decided to do British, next is figuring out a basic army list and deciding on figures.
We are still working on organizing the house.  Too much stuff.  Enough said.

So, for the year I was able to get 3 armies added,  4 frigates done, over 150 15mm figures painted, and played something most weeks.

More from 2012:
DBA continues to be the most frequent game played.
Impetus is the next most played for me.
I continue to work on a Swiss army for Impetus.  The group has decided to do armies from the Italian Wars, which fits with my Swiss very well.  This has helped me develop an army list to build towards.
We have also decided to work on armies from the classical period, so I have chosen to do Seleucids.  Which makes sense since I have nothing painted for that army.  :-\
We are now playing SAGA.  28mm dark ages.  Great game, fun and interesting.  This is another system that I do not have much that would work, but, much to my surprise, Mike H. provided me with enough figures to build a large Norman warband (6pts).  A mighty gift.
With the advent of 4Ground terrain, I have assembled 4 of the pre-painted buildings, one fence set and a pre-painted wall set.  These are kits, all laser cut MDF, well laid out and with excellent details.  These are all 15mm European structures, mainly for WWII, which I am planning on using for sci-fi and Flames of War.
Another new system is Dropzone Commander.  I picked up a Shaltari starter army. (Space elves).  Dropzone Commander is designed for urban high tech fighting.  The company has published PDF buildings for players to print and assemble. I have assembled about a dozen of these.  I have discovered that I enjoy building cardstock models.  I plan on continuing to make terrain elements out of cardstock.
And another new game is X-Wing, a pre-painted miniature game.  And at $15 a ship, it is not cheap.
I did not get to any conventions in 2012.

Now for 2013 plans and goals:
DBA: Continue to play weekly.  (25 games)
Add 6 armies: I/60a Early Achaemenid Persian, II/19c Seleucids, I/1a Early Summarians, I/1c Late Summarians, III/69 Tuareg, II/53 Ancient British.  I have all of these on hand and 2 have been started.
SAGA:  Get the Norman Warband painted and play 4 games
Tomorrows War: Play 4 games.
Impetus: Finish the 500 pt. Swiss army for the Italian Wars. Begin the Seleucid army.  Play 4 games.
Dropzone Commander:  Finish the Shaltari starter army and play 4 games.
Copenhagen: Finish 22 ships.  Figure out a ruleset to use.
Go to one convention.
I would like to get at least 200 figure painted this year.
And, as always, I hope to update this blog more often.  ;-)

Good luck to everyone! May your dice be a close ally (except against me!).

Have a safe and happy new year!

Happy gaming!