Simply model soldiers!

I wish I could come up with some catchy post titles like other bloggers do, but I can't so here we are with yet another post featuring model soldiers recently finished off.

This lockdown is starting to get to me a bit I must confess, but we are all in the same boat and have to get on with it. The upside for me is that I have almost limitless time to paint soldiers and I'm certainly cracking through them. The completion of the 20mm Spanish infantry and mounted provost figure for John completes the  current box, and with the sun shining I laid them all out for  a group photo session in the kitchen before I pack them. The natural light allows for improved photo quality compared to those taken under my painting lamp, it also allows me to rotate the figures for side and rear views.

With the decks clear for a bit I'm turning my attention back to 40mm again for a while. While I wait for my RHA crew figures to come through I painted the two guns for them, they are of course by Sash & sabre. Won't be too long to wait now. 

I was lucky that my Perry Miniatures order was posted out on the morning that they announced the three week closure so I'm going to paint through the 24 figure battalion before I do anything else, you see below the quality of the castings, I'll split the 20 privates into 4 groups of 5 for painting then finish with the 4 command figures. After these I have the 8 Polish Guard Lancers to paint (Sash & sabre). lances will need to be added from brass rod and reigns this time possibly from tin foil.

Might need to grab a few more paints if my online suppliers are still open for business.

Meantime I now have 22 bases painted for the 6mm project with another Baccus order in the pipeline, so it's time for battle.

Lots of pictures below, painted soldiers is after all what this blog has always been about!

Stocking up a bit!

The days certainly seem to be flying by at the moment and I find myself spending several hours each day at the painting table. I'm itching to get outside for a long walk in the woods with the dog, but at the moment it's a quick twenty minutes in the mornings trying to avoid others until my cough and cold subsides which it slowly is.

I was thinking that with the possibility of this current crisis going on for several months ahead I had better stock up with more soldiers to paint. I have always tried to avoid lead mountains as I prefer to buy just as and when I need, but I want to know that I have figures for at least several weeks ahead now. So, with Baccus orders placed I decided to get my order in for the 40mm Sash & Sabre Polish Guard Lancers that Andy has been kindly holding for me. I have had this unit in mind for months now and think they will be a colourful addition to collection.

Sash & Sabre Polish Lancers.

 I have also decided that it's the right time to finally start painting some 40mm Spanish infantry and to this end I have placed an order with Perry Miniatures for the first 24 figure unit. Magnificent castings of course, they are wearing the 1805 white uniform and come with a choice of 4 heads. Also planned down the line is a converged battalion of French line Grenadiers wearing bearskins, these will be from Sash & sabre.

Images copyright Perry Miniatures.

Meantime I'm keeping busy painting units for my 6mm War of The Spanish Succession project and figures of the same period for John. Those shown below are the last of this batch, wonderful crisp 20mm castings by German maker Hagen, I just had to grab a photo to show the excellent fine detail on these figures, I'm really looking forward to painting them. I'm not sure about current availability of these figures but I'm John will fill us in on that.

Portuguese cavalry for John.

What strange times we are living through! This morning my wife had to phone 111 because our youngest daughter - who is living with us - developed a dry cough which has persisted for 24 hours. I too have developed what feels like a cough and cold with a dry throat. Unable to take our temperatures due to the fact that thermometers are sold out everywhere we thought it worth a phone call for advice on what to do. The result is 14 days isolation for all of us, Chloe's boyfriend has also been staying over so that's the four of us stuck indoors together for the next two weeks! The nurse was very reassuring and said that unless the symptoms get much worse then there is no need to attend hospital for testing. At the moment it feels like a mild case of flu.

Luckily I have my figure painting to keep me occupied and I am able to get outdoors to exercise Poppy the dog avoiding other dog walkers that I might see.

I finished these six Portuguese cavalry for John C yesterday, they are of course 20mm castings and looking rather splendid in yellow coats with blue turned back cuffs. The trumpeter is in reverse colours. I have some Spanish infantry and a mounted provost left to finish before I return the box to John but I will need to check re how this virus is transmitted first.

Another busy week painting and modelling.

The 6mm WSS project has temporarily stalled due to Baccus being 'swamped' with orders, not a bad situation for any small business really, but as customers we need to be patient. It's like the old days of 'Please allow 28 days for delivery'.

So my attention has turned to other ongoing projects this last week, some more painting for Old John, a couple of new buildings for my Bolt Action set up and a decision to go ahead and complete my 40mm RHA battery, pushing aside the planned rocket base for the time being at least.

For John we have some lovely 20mm Polish Dragoons, a couple of Spanish Death Hussars and a Mounted General. I must say I really liked the horses with outstretched legs that three of the dragoons are mounted, not seen these before but they have real character and well defined muscle tone which helps highlighting. I'm pleased with how these all turned out. Next up will be 6 Spanish (Portuguese?) cavalry wearing yellow coats with blue facings which should be quite striking. John provides me with printed reference sheets for each type so I can see how they should look.

I recently spotted these buildings on ebay, and as they looked so much better - and more in scale - with my 28mm Bolt Action collection I ordered a couple. They are very reasonably priced at £10.00 each and come pre painted, in addition they feature a more 3D finish compared to the others I bought some time back for £9.00 each, so these represent much better value in my opinion. I like them so much that I now have the bakers shop on order to match. The previous buildings will be confined to storage now.

They also scale much better with the new trees I bought from Simon at S&A Scenics recently. These are Simon's 'More realistic' trees, not cheap but beautifully hand made to order and a big improvement on those I used to own. I have a dozen of them so far.

On the subject of Bolt Action - and as I had the tray out to show scale of the new buildings - here are a couple of pics of the German reinforced platoon, they are I must admit an SS platoon (wearing cammo smocks), I do still feel slightly uncomfortable about that but then remind myself that it's only a game. The US infantry platoon is slightly larger with 4 x 10 man squads, 2 x medium machine guns, medium mortar, artillery piece, half track and a couple of M4 Shermans. I doubt that I will add much to these basic forces.

As I am now out of anything to paint for myself until the Baccus order arrives I'm going to paint up the 2 officers and guns for my 40mm RHA battery. All of the 40mm stuff remains in the boxes that they travelled back from Spain in for the time being so I'm going to call a halt to the project for the time being once the RHA are finished.

The Goblins and Elves for James' 'Joshua' charity project have now been posted off, so hopefully Baccus will come through with my order in the near future. Meantime John will keep me painting!

For Joshua & Old John.

Here are the Elven cavalry for James' 'For Joshua' project, 10mm Pendraken figures and lovely castings. I must admit that I struggled a bit with these to begin with, but once I got stuck into them I enjoyed doing them. In order to lift the blue horse cloths I ordered a bottle of Vallejo Blue ink wash and it immediately lifted them and boosted my enthusiasm. Still considering a final highlight of light blue and then of course the varnish. Should be ready for the post tomorrow along with the rest of the Elves and Goblins. I would still like to add some kind of artillery/war machines, but I'll get this lot off so that James can base them.

Also finished are 8 x 20mm Les Higgins Grenadiers for Old John, again wonderful castings and a pleasure to paint. Next I have a mounted General, some Polish cavalry and a couple of Death's Head Hussars in those gorgeous yellow uniforms.

Aside from this I'm focusing on my 6mm WSS project.