Merry Christmas!!!!!

So we have made it to Christmas once again!!!

A very late post, Mai is getting ready for church so I have a few minutes left. A big thanks to everyone who has shared our hobby through my blog over the year. I haven't painted much at all this year and I'm sorry for that, heres hoping for lots more in the next year!!!

So for my last post of the year I have managed to finish off a very long running incomplete regiment of Russian cuirassiers!!! I've had 24 of them finished since 2010 and have finally made them up to full strength!!!

So here they are all 30 Russian Ekaterinoslav cuirassiers!!! 

They are done in my old style so the black is showing through in areas instead of a darker shade of the highlight colours. Still I'm really happy with them.

These are the 6 that took so long and it's really brilliant that they are done!!!!

I almost had them done a couple of weeks back then I stuck the flag upside down after reminding myself to make sure I check before using a little superglue for the final fix! Yip I'm a clown at times!!!

I also sorted out the coat on my new 6mm guys. I have been doing Russians for a good while now yet still it left my head that commanders wore grey coats! 

Ok so my time is up and this is my last post for the old year. I still have to track down 3 of the give away winners so I'll chase that up after the new year!

Everyone have a very merry christmas and a happy new year!!! I know I have a small selection of AB naps in a box under the tree!!! I'll fill you in later . . .

Give Away Results!!!

The results are in!!!

Last night I found the time to sort out all the entries into the different categories and a Christmassy Mylene pulled the names from her Santa hat. 'Twas a nice break from wrapping christmas presents and over the next few weeks I'll try my best to get in contact with the winners. If you by chance see your name on the winners roll and want to get in touch with your full name and address that would be very welcome as there are only a couple of winners I'm familiar with.

My contact details are:   paulalba2004(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk

There were 2 winners with the name Chris. These are differentiated as Chris and Chris Stoeson so that saved a bit of confusion and 1 lucky fellow with the same name as myself was a double winner!

So here are the results:

1. Robits

Winner: Chris

2. Samurai

Winner: Paul O'G

3. Roman holding head

Winner: Ubique Matt

4. French Guardsman

Winner: Paul O'G

5. Marques of Montrose

Winner: Warwick Louth

6. Krasinski

Winner: Matt

7. Gordon of Khartoum (Lord Cirencester by Paul Hicks)

Winner: Stu Rat

8. 3 Chaps, 2 Highlanders

Winner: Panzer Kaput

9. Prussian Landwehr from Blue Moon

Winner: Chris Stoesen

So that's it for this New Years give away and I have already found more stuff that maybe useful to other gamers for my next 1. I plan to do 2 give aways a year if I have stuff that I just won't use so keep a look out.

Thanks to everyone that took part and commisserations to the guys who didn't get their names pulled out of the hat (blame Mai!!!). I plan on 1 last blog post before the big days so I'll save my seasonal greetings till then.

Awe ra best

Paul

Boki Russian Command WIP

Something a wee bit exciting for me and also wee bit scary!!!

Sho (Boki miniatures from Estonia) put a few samples of his new 6mm napoleonic range in with my latest 18mm order and I am very, very taken with them. They are so detailed, easy to paint and to be honest so cute that I think I maybe ready to paint up a couple of opposing armies and that is the really scary bit. The only thing that concerns me are the flags for the battalions. If I suss out how to do that then I'll go for it 100%. Does anyone do nice 6mm naps flags? What a crazy question to ask!!!!

Anyway these are the smallest figures I have ever painted, at least I think they are? I believe both these guys are Russian generals. It's been a while since reading up on the Russians so I may have got a couple of things wrong but who cares they are tiny!

I can't believe the amount of detail Sho got into them, he really has created something pretty special!

I've still to varnish the edge of the base then I'll add a little grass. I can't wait to paint up the little artillery crew Sho sent over next!

And here they are next to their 18mm countrymen. Sho well done buddy and keep them coming!!!

I was so excited about these little guys I pushed on and finished them tonight! I hope you can see why I like them so much.

Insane detail for such a small scale, I've no idea how he does it?

If you are not aware of Sho's figures there is a link to his website on the lower left of my blog.

Happy wargaming

paul

Give away entry closed

Just a wee note to say that entry into my Christmas give away has now ended and I'll post the winners over the next few week. Thanks to everyone who entered or posted a comment of support.

Best of luck to all who entered!!!

Awe ra best

Paul

New Year Give Away

Back on the iPad tonight and I've looked out some stuff that I'll probably never paint in my life time.

All received with the best intensions in mind so I'm hoping some of you guys may like 1 or 2 of the items?

Not a huge haul of goodies, however if you want the chance to win an item or 2 just leave a comment on this post with your preferred items (I'll make it a limit of 5) before midnight on 10th December 2014 and the winners will be posted before Christmas 2014 (I've changed the entry cutoff date so I can get in another post or 2 before the end of the year, I didn't think that 1 through with it being my first give away). You don't have to be a follower of my blog and it doesn't matter where you are in the world. My good lady Mylene will choose the winners from a hat on the 2nd of January 2015 and I'll post the winner of each item up on my blog in the days following and I'll get in contact with you somehow then post your item/s out in the 1st couple of weeks in January, that should give the Post office time to recover from the festive madness!

Also If you feel like posting a link about my comp on your blog that would be cool however it's not required to get an entry (and will probably slim down your own chances at the same time ;0) 

No.1 is a group of robots or alien type troops in 28mm. They have received a white undercoat but not heavily and nothing that can't be removed easily. Perfect for a sci fi skirmish game, very nice figures.

No.2 are a couple of 28mm perry samurai, 1 will need a bath in simple green. Lovely figures and I finished a couple for a friend but really not my scale.

No.3 is a 28mm roman chap, he was a give away for the 1st couple of hundred arrivals to a scottish Wargames show either Kirriemuir or Claymore if I remember? A cracking figure however the David's already have 2 in their Roman army so this guy is surplus to requirement.

No.4 is an 80mm French guardsman, ahh those dreams of painting large napoleonic figures to pop in a display cabinet!

No.5 is another 28mm show give away figure this time of the Marques of Montrose I believe? I really like this figure however I have no use for him.

No.6 is a 54mm figure of Krasinski of the guard lancers, this is a lovely figure but I just don't think I'll ever paint him. 

No.7 is another give away from a show, possible Gordon of Khartoum? Might make a good pulp character? If you know who he is let me know!

No.8 Another 3 chaps with no reall place in my collection yet still very nice figures. I believe 2 are show give always from up here in Scotland and the middle chap may have been a free figure when I bought foundry paints? So 2 highlanders from different time frames and another chap all in 28mm, maybe someone will want them?

And last up No. 9 something for 15mm/18mm folks!!!! A wee load of blue moon Prussian Landwehr, these are nice little figures and are a good size comparison to AB and Old Glory however I have enough unpainted figures of both AB and OG to do me so if someone wants them then stick your name in the hat.

Ok guys, I hope some of you out there are looking for some free stuff!!!!!

Best of luck

Cheers Paul

And happy wargaming!!!

WIP Athenians and Test

So as my laptop is now dead I'll have to try and get the hang of the iPad blogger AP, wish me luck as my first attempts were a nightmare. I'm not sure how to set a page yet so here goes.

I've had a break from my naps recently to concentrate on a project that I've always fancied doing, ancients!

A few years back a wargaming buddy Von Hannah (and strangely now also a work buddy in passing) asked me if I wanted to buy a number of xyston Greeks and enemies that he no longer wanted. In the stash was a huge amount of Greeks of all types, enough to make pretty big armies as well as thracians, little big man transfers and spears etc (and a number of Indians that I now regret flogging). In all a cracking haul. I almost bit his hand off as I had always liked the xyston figures even though I had no knowledge of ancients other than the odd drive by at shows.

I picked up the reference info I needed and saved the odd site with a lot of help from friends, however with the little time I have had I ended up boxing the troops up and stashing them away in the loft. Every 4 or 5 months I would get them out, dream a little them pop them away again. However for some reason around 10th October I got them out, did the reading and cleaned up a full DBA army and with the help of buddies Robert and JP I somehow managed to get them on the go. I have enjoyed every minute of doing them (and the LBM decals once I got the first 2 or 3 mistakes out the way). I still have to put the finishing touches to the Athenians then varnish and grass them however I'm pretty pleased with them for a 1st effort on ancients.

Pardon the pics as I've not really been using the iPad camera yet.

Just for fun these are a couple of dwarf kings I almost finished when young David was still young and playing LotR. I may just finish them and some of their brethren off at some point as they were fun to do!

I finished this zombie hunter off a couple of days ago. With the walking dead back on the telly I've started cleaning up zombies and survivors again. I'll do the odd one now and again to give me a break from naps. Is base is still to be finished.

And a couple of Von Lutzow's chaps just to show I still love my naps. Since doing the Greeks I'm feeling all warm towards my AB's again. I will continue with these guys again soon. The unit is half way done already.

Ok I'll post this up and see how it looks. Some little give always to come in the near future and hopefully some regular posts!

Also if you have the time could guys could you possibly leave a comment on how the blog shows up on your groupware and if your an iPad user and have any tips for a newbie they would be most welcome!

Happy wargaming!!!

Technical Problems

Sorry for the lack of activity on the blog, I stopped painting naps for a wee while but I have completed a Xyston Athenian DBA army (much goodness and fun!) Yip it shocked me to! Thoroughly enjoyed it and I am planning on sharing them on here as well as a few zombie related items and some of my friends work.

However my laptop has died and I'm not having much luck with the blogger AP through our iPad Air. It's not allowing my pics to upload and is only showing a section of the new post for editing.

I'm sure all is solvable however I'm short of time. When I get sorted I will be having a give away of some items that I just won't paint in my lifetime. So again sorry for the disappearance for online but I'll be back ASAP probably from a new laptop? I hope everyone is well.

Best
Paul

Prussian Battalions x3

I've put in a good few days of figure painting over the last couple of weeks since my last post and have some how managed to finish off 3 battalions from the workbench that have been a stone around my neck for quite a while. You may remember that I picked up a large number of painted Prussians from my buddy Darren almost 2 years ago that were painted similar to my old style with black undercoat showing through. I quickly debased all the figures and split them into new battalions with characters added in where I usually do. I then cleaned up with files and scalpel any areas I felt needed it. I decided to use Darren's paintwork as my base coat however I still had a long, long way to go to match them in with my own troops. 

1st up are the Pomeranian grenadiers. There were a lot of grenadiers with white facings so I decided to keep them as Pomeranian and will look to build a regiment each of Colberg and Pomeranian in time. I hope!

The mounted officer was a little bit of conversion fun with a mounted uhlan officer, his belt was removed and an overcoat added with buttons up the front. The red lining of the cape is possibly a bit over the top or perhaps he is a wealthy landowner? 

As required there are 2 companies with white shoulder straps and 2 with red. The finish is a little harsher than I would have liked with the black showing through, however they are still very neat and will fight just fine.

  

Next up is the 2nd battalion of the Lieb regiment. There were a good few figures in skirmishing poses amongst the figures I received from Darren and my thinking is to have my 2 battalions of hard fighting Lieb musketeers in firing lines with casualties to make them stand out from my other regiments. My Lieb fusiliers will also hopefully take the form of a heavily engaged battalion.

  

I plan to do a command base from the famous painting with Yorck lowering his cap to the Lieb regiment as they march past after heavy fighting (I think after Wartenburg?). 

Again it was a case of me using Darren's painting as a base coat although I used my own blues and added a good lot of extra details and colours.

  

You can't really beat the AB Prussians and I did wish at times I was painting them from scratch. Still they look very good to me now that they are all based and finished.

   

The firing line doesn't even look that bad in column and I can also tick them off my Katzbach OOB.

The 3rd battalion I finished is the 2nd battalion of the 1st East Prussian regiment, these guys can be ticked off my Katzbach OOB as well!

I have 1 final battalion to do from the figures I received from Darren, they will be guard fusiliers however I have changed them to my new style and they are pretty much all repaints. Once they are done I will be painting everything from bare metal. 

And this is pretty much how I would like all my Prussian infantry to look from now on. 

These guys are from the East Prussian grenadier battalion and since taking these pics I have 2 companies complete and I have enjoyed every minute of painting them.

Also recently I went out and purchased a good number of Vallejo paints and have been working out my combinations for trousers etc.

  

An officer from the 3 company with face and sash still to be highlighted. I'll post picks when they are done.

Happy Painting

Paul 

Russian Foot Battery 1812-14

It's been a long, long time since my last post. 1st we've had a great summer in Scotland and the thought of sitting in the loft painting just hasn't appealed. To be honest up until today the only online surfing I have been doing has been on my phone, a quick visit here and there posting the odd comment. I also haven't played or watched a wargame in a very long time and at the moment I have to say I haven't really missed the gaming side of things. 

  

Luckily the break over the past months has kicked off a mini painting bug and I managed to slowly figure by figure get something finished. I've had a couple of AB Russian light foot batteries sitting on the work bench for a couple of years now and have managed to take 1 to completion.

  

With the later kiwer the battery probably would be better listed from 1813-14 but they will be used (eventually) for our 1812 batteries.

  

So down to the painting: I have finally settled on colours for my Russians, I have used the Foundry triad for French Chasseur a Cheval for the coats and I'm really happy with the result (even if it's hard to see the shade in my pics). The trousers are doe with an undercoat of GW deneb stone progressively mixed with white and the guns apple green is base coated in Foundry Russian light shade then the shade and middle shade of Foundry Dragoon green. I'm really happy with the finish!

  

The flesh is done with my own selected triad from different Foundry flesh.

  

There are only 2 sets of poses in this battery at the moment however when the 2nd battery is complete I'll mix through the different sets of crews as all will be based and finished the same way.

  

The new shades of green on the lower right gun and a gun from my original AB battery painted a few years ago. I picked up most of my AB Russian figures from my buddy Stuart that had been machine gun painted by JP. I kind of got sucked into following his original paint patterns however from now on all my Russians will be done with my own shades.

  

My completed battery with the final battery with all the base coats applied.

 God only knows when I'll get it finished!

  

I'm not sure what I'll be working on next? I have an eye on some of Sho's new Russians and some of his Generals are in the post to me at the moment however I may hold off on them until he finishes the additional command figures he is working on. Sho's new General range looks to be completely compatible with AB's Russian command figures so it is truly exciting times for 18mm late war Russian fans!

A wee appeal: Does anyone have a GW foundation Deneb stone they dont use? my pot is on the turn plus is running low and is my favourite for Russian trousers. They are now very hard to come by and I would be willing to pay for the tub or possibly trade for some colours I have. I have plenty of Foundry Napoleonic paints I don't need.