Wednesday 16 December 2020

A lovely present, Spanish DBN army (so far) and more terrain.

Since my last blog post the figure painting has dropped right off, probably due to being temporarily moved to the dining table in order to make way for the Christmas tree! It's just not as familiar and comfortable as I have been painting at my little desk for many years and the set up is perfect for me as I have everything I need in one spot and the desk has eight very deep drawers containing figures, extra paints, glues, stones and static grasses etc. So, the last couple of weeks has seen me finish off just 12 Spanish WSS figures for John and 12 French light infantry for myself, where I would normally paint 12 x 18mm figures in a day, these took me four days! I think I'll take a break now until after New Year when I'll be back in my familiar space again.

The above said I have been able to do some more work on terrain items for both DBN & the larger sized C&C set up. Firstly, I have knocked up over 8' of river sections, 125mm sections for the hex grid with some longer 250mm sections, and I'm really pleased with how these have turned out. I also have made around 12' of road sections with more to follow, again based on the 125mm grid but they also work very well for conventional non grid games. Tony Barr (ERM) has also cut me some junction sections for the roads. Once all roads are up to the basic standard you see below I will consider giving them a bit of texture, cart ruts etc. All are based on 40mm wide MDF.

In addition I have re jigged my Spanish buildings onto bases that can be used individually or conjoined to create larger areas both on or off grid, again simply done so that they allow road sections to run up to them or through them. I'm much happier with these than before and of course the melon sized oranges feature. I much prefer my buildings to be based up like this rather than free standing. And in keeping with the Spanish theme I have made some MKII broken ground/bad going markers from stones. 

This week a large heavy box arrived in the post containing the beautiful book you see below. It is a present from Old John for the work on his figures and a very fine and useful reference source it is too. While the text is in Spanish there are 125 pages of full colour illustrations featuring Spanish uniforms between 1789 and 1815, A4 sized and printed on heavy quality paper. Thank you John, it's a much valued addition to my collection.

My DBN Spanish army has now reached 12 points +, with more in the pipeline next year. I need to add a 'baggage' piece and have a couple of ideas for this. The Spanish are all AB figures. 

A pre Christmas bash is planned probably DBN and the Spanish might get a run out for a 12 point game on a 5 x 3 table, bigger than required but I do like the more convention shaped wargame table.

















7 comments:

  1. Very nice and some lovely colour plates in the books. Is the road 2mm MDF?, it looks very effective, I wondered about warping? How did you prevent that? I like the modular idea for buildings.

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    1. Hi Norm. Yes 2mm MDF which I sealed first with a coat of neat Vallejo matt black. No warping at all, even the 250mm lengths are completely flat. The edges are just a thin bead of PVA which has some flexibility anyway. I do have the S&A Scenics roads and rivers, but this is a cheaper method of mass producing them for a larger table.

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    2. Thanks, I think the rivers and roads will give a unified look to the table.

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  2. I know what you mean Lee, I sometimes bring stuff from my shed inside to do a bit of painting while we watch a show. It's not as easy and comfortable as the desk that is setup for the 'job'.
    It is always a pleasure to see your beautifully painted figures and those buildings look great.
    That book looks like a ripper! I have a copy of "Uniformes espanoles de la Guerra de la Independencia 1808-1814" by Jose Maria Bueno Carrera. It is my 'go to' book for Spanish uniforms and information about units and far outstrips anything published in English.
    Regards, James

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    1. Hi James,
      I find having the TV on in the background helps my painting, I'm working my way through lots of old British detective dramas! I recently listened back to over 60 hours of the Napoleon 101 podcast series which I enjoyed very much first time round a few years back.

      The book is wonderfully well illustrated and will be a real help when I get to finishing off my Spanish army in the New Year.

      Cheers, Lee.

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  3. glad you liked the book, found it to be a great reference, no worries about doing my figures, happy to wait until you have got your painting station back after New Year, there is no rush
    look after your self, stay safe and and a very Happy Xmas and and productive New Year, best wishes to you and your family
    cheers Old John

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  4. Great work Lee, Like Norm said the roads look excellent too!.

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