It has recently struck me how few page views this old blog of mine gets these days, possibly because I post far too frequently with limited content but also possibly the blog has just had it's day when YouTube and Facebook hobby groups are so popular?
An typical post here has maybe 50 views on average, if I post in the FB DBN group then around a 100 views is typical and a short YouTube video of me mumbling into the phone camera will average up to 500 views after a couple of weeks, my record so far is 7.5 thousand on a video. But that said I like the blog because it keeps me in touch with that small group of dedicated fellow bloggers and followers and allows me to keep an easily searchable record of just about everything I have painted over the past 14 years. Yes, I know its completely different media, this is just a general observation and I have no intention of giving up on the blog after all these years. Maybe it's just personal ego but as a painter I do enjoy sharing my work and also the feedback and interaction that comes with it and with that said lets have some more photos of model soldiers!
Commission update.
I have just completed the latest batch for Old John now all varnished and packed. Below are the 5 units of Les Higgins cavalry, just 20 figures in total but certainly a colourful bunch. Also 3 mounted drummers of the 30 Years War marked 'paint as you like'.
 |
| Les Higgins cavalry. Designed mid to late 1960's I think? |
Next I'm moving onto some Steel Fist ECW Horse, first time I have seen these in the flesh and they are superb little sculpts although the swords are very thin and require careful bending back into shape. These are for Noel to add to his Epic Pike and Shott collection that I have painted for him over the last 8 months or so. Oddly enough I was expecting the usual 18mm scale of most new ranges these days but these are true 15mm and as such they are a great match to the slightly chunky Epic plastic cavalry. I'm going to enjoy starting these today and I think I have 6 x 10 figure units of horse plus a dozen or so mounted generals to paint and base. After that Noel tells me it's back to Epic ACW's again!
 |
| Steel Fist ECW 15mm (left) and Warlord Epic 13.5mm! |
I also have more 2mm bases for Geoff to paint. I have to feel in the correct mood for working on these tiny figures as they can be very challenging on the old eyes so it can take me a while to get going on them but they will be painted.
The Pony Wars commission is on hold for a bit as I have now completed all the figures that I have here and are waiting for the arrival of the final 'Grey Horse' troop of 7th cavalry plus all of the dismounted cavalry which have been specially sculpted by Andrew Stadden. Unfortunately Mark has out of action for a while due to an incident involving a hobby knife cut that became seriously infected and resulted in a stay in hospital. Wishing you well Mark and I hope to see these new sculpts in due course.
New customer Stephen tells me that he is very happy with the initial four regiments of Epic French Napoleonic infantry (32 strips or 320 Epic figures) and that another 8 regiments are on the way so I'm pretty well booked going forward again.
AWI project.
I'm enjoying playing around with terrain now! Making roads and rivers, hills and woods etc. for the card table. The latest video from 'Gruff Mumbling Productions' is now on YouTube where I describe my use of magnetic printer paper as well as the fleece covered foamboard contoured hills, link below.
I continue to add the odd base of Peter Pig figures, starting next on some French and Hessians. So all in all I'm pretty well engrossed in the hobby at the moment and it's all keeping me very busy and engaged in my 'retirement'.
 |
| Coming along nicely now. |
 |
| The first of the French crossing some broken ground in the form of ploughed fields. |
And finally The Video :)
Hi Lee, I look at your content both here and at YouTube. There are various ways to look at engagement with an audience, but for me, I have come to feel that engagement is often one sided on the internet.
ReplyDeleteI have not posted on my blog since the beginning of May and don’t really miss it, which surprised me really as it was a big part of my hobby. My blog was well attended, something like 14k hits a month, but the same small handful of kind people were the only ones engaging in comment. I came to feel that the work put in was disproportionate to the response.
The interesting thing is that despite no posting for 4 months, the visitor rate is still high and it runs through my mind that, ‘if more visitors had engaged, then there would likely still be new content there for them’.
As it turns out, I have kept my paid for Commanders site, which gets regular posts ….. but is a comment free space and I don’t count the stats, so the issue of who does and doesn’t visit doesn’t cloud my enjoyment of posting.
I have recently been thinking about doing a few short YouTube vids, but that is very much on the back burner. The question for me is when will I, or should I return to the blog and at the moment, that is a very open question.
I glad you post in both blog and video formats. There is a long history to your blog and I think it would be a useful platform for you to return to as your various interests come into your immediate focus - I am feeling that your AWI project may over the coming months, be the thing that increases the value of the blog to you, so it is worth keeping it ticking over for such times.
As to why more viewers can’t throw in the odd simple thank you, so that you know that it is worthwhile posting …. Well who knows the answer to that strange internet phenomenon.
Hello Norm, as usual I always appreciate your comments both here and on the videos.
DeleteI had been aware that your blog had not been updated for some time and thought this - as you explain above - might be the case. It's clear to me that the amount of work that goes into each of your posts far exceeds that of my own in terms of planning, writing skill and detail etc, always an excellent narrative on the games. I had made a conscious decision to keep this blog as very much a pictorial record of the figures that I paint and as such is far less demanding to keep adding content.
I must say that I enjoy making the videos and again very little thought and planning goes into them beyond showcasing what I'm up to on the hobby front! I think they work because they are so spontaneous, I'm thinking as I go along and sometimes repeating myself! I'm delighted at the number of comments and ensure they are always replied to. I'd like to make them a little bit sharper with additional content in due course and as I learn how to. One thing that I am very keen to do is to be able to film battles on the card table, I'm giving serious thought to building a lightweight lighting frame that can sit above it as often seen on model railway 'cameo' style layouts using LED strips.
I would encourage you to try making a YouTube video Norm because your content and narrative style would produce some wonderful content if transferred to the video media format, Piggy Longton on YouTube would have huge visual appeal and most certainly draw viewers, I'm confident of that and personally I would love to see it happen :)
All the best,
Lee.
You tube videos are great, but I do prefer a good ol blog.
ReplyDeleteSome fab looking figures, Lee!
Many thanks Ray and I do hope that you are keeping well after your hospital stint last year?
DeleteAll the best,
Lee.
Phew! You had me worried at the start there - so glad you're not abandoning the blog. I find it a much better way to take in the information, also I think the need to compose it means the authors have something of interest to say. You're ECW's are about to get another run out in about 30 minutes time when my opponent arrives - I just love them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rob, that means a lot :) Good luck with the ECW game, you have worked your magic with the old Hinchliffes and transformed them to the next level. If you can grab a few photos I'd love to see them.
DeleteAll the best,
Lee.
You’ve done a great job on the terrain Lee 👏👏
ReplyDeleteConsistency with making your terrain items makes them all match nicely together. To see another blog with lovely matching terrain I highly recommend http://wargameswithtoysoldier1685-1985.blogspot.com/ (Steve J’s blog “Wargames with toy soldiers : 1685 x 1985”).
It’s good to see you’re still keeping busy in your retirement, but hopefully you will get a game in shortly & enjoy your golden years.
Cheers,
Geoff
Many thanks Geoff and I will take a look at the link for inspiration :)
DeleteI enjoy the discipline of painting soldiers. I said to my wife yesterday that I only get 30 minutes for lunch break so can't be late back or I may get the boot.
Cheers,
Lee.
I'm with Ray.. for me Farcebook is like fast food, but a Blog post is a gourmet meal.. and Farcebook is so ephemeral, I can never find stuff I've seen previously! :o))
ReplyDeleteNicely put Steve :) I honestly don't spend that much time and effort on FB but I do belong to the 'Unofficial DBN Group' which is just a small dedicated bunch of gamers branching out into other periods using the basic DBN rules as a starting point, 7 Years War for example, so my AWI experiments fit well there and seems popular. Content seems to hang around far longer in these small members only groups.
DeleteAll the best,
Lee.
A little late to comment perhaps but I still like to read blogs although there seems to be more material on Youtube. Norm's remarks prompted me to comment as I often think that a blogger would have no interest in what a random reader had to say - who am I? What Norm said put another slant on it. By the way I couldn't get round the 'anonymous' bit at the start - it's my age! Best wishes. Jim Walkley
ReplyDeleteHello Jim and much appreciate your comment :) It was interesting to hear Norm's thoughts on the issue because I know just how much work and creative effort he puts into his blog posts and deserves more feedback in my opinion. I tend to post mostly photos of painted figures and probably far too regularly! All in all though I'm happy with this old blog of 14 years :)
DeleteAll the best,
Lee.