War of the Roses - a project for the future

Although I am about to embark on a grand adventure across three quarters of the globe I am still painting or reading a little. When I first got myself into the historical period I collected an Essex 15mm WotR army. I bought enough models to paint up two sides. Over the intervening decade or two I have added to the collection with some Peter Pig miniatures.

However my passion for 28mm miniatures has forced my eyes to look beyond the smaller models. Since the Perry brothers have brought out the plastic ranges I am keen to create some armies. Not that it will happen anytime soon but I see it as my next historical project. One that I am keen to finish!

In the meantime I picked up some books to read, the first book is The War of the Roses by Trevor Royle, the second - Lancaster and York by Alison Weir and the third is A Brief History of the War of the Roses by Desmond Seward. I'll let you know how I get on with them.

A New Year and New Adventures

Well it really has been a long time since my last post. This year has some 'big' changes in my life. At the beginning of April (not the 1st, but 2nd) I'll be getting married! And then, off on a journey of a lifetime. I will be travelling overland from London to Darwin - a six month honeymoon before winding up in New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup. I am looking forward to the trip...and the rugby. My fiancee and I will be travelling with Odessey Overland, for anyone who is interested.

I am also looking forward to travelling around New Zealand. I will be using the journey to pick up on my artwork. I trained as an illustrator, graduating from Wolverhampton Uni in 1995 and since then my drawing has been a little sporadic unless I am designing some terrain or paintjob for a unit of lead miniatures.

So my ramblings will take a slightly different thread for the time being. My paint station lies in the basement of my fiancee's house along with my paints and some plastic minis from Warlord Games. Looking forward to the future I will be able to attend Salute 2011 this year in London. The convention is on the day before I leave the UK which is kinda cool. I guess it'll be a fond farewell to wargaming, at least for a little while.

2/69th Regiment of Foot

Well the regiment is nearly finished. I have two more stands to complete. Once they are finished I am going to work on a guards regiment. These regiments were quite large at Quatre Bras and Waterloo. It works out that I will need approximately 50 models for each of the guards regiments working on a ratio of 1:20. I will post a pic once the 69th are finished.

1/72nd Scale Napoleonics

After some discussion with club member I am collaborating with we are settling on a 40mm frontage for infantry, 50mm for cavalry and artillery. Artillery baggage would fit onto a 50mm x 100mm base.

Currently we are working on building the necessary forces to re-fight Quatre-Bras. I am painting up the 2nd battalion, 69th (South Lincolnshire) regiment. I will post some pics in the next day or so.
Hardest problem is the vinyl plastic. I am washing the figs in hot soapy water before undercoating and painting them. I am getting a very slight flakiness, do if anyone knows of how to resolve this issue, please let me know.

Airfix Old Guard 1/72nd

Well, here is my first paint job of some Airfix Old Guard. The uniforms are slightly incorrect for campaign. Fighting in dress uniforms! The next batch I'll paint their gaiters black. At least it will go some way to putting them into the correct uniform. I still need to put static grass on the base. I don't want to do too much to the base. I'll save that type of work for 28mm.

Napoleonics in 20mm

One of the club members at my local wargames club has suggested doing Napoleonics in 20mm or 1/72nd scale. I have to say I am quite enthusiastic about this. It is a trip down memory lane. Many years ago I was bought the Waterloo set by my parents. There is nothing left of that now but after some searching on the net I have found pretty much everything I need. For the time being I am painting up some French Old Guard. I have already looked at basing and I am going to use the same widths as at 28mm. Infantry will occupy a 15mm width and Cavalry a 20mm width. The depths will be 45mm for infantry and cavalry.

Skaven Stormvermin

Well, I said I'd get some pics up on the blog. Here they are.

It's been a bit slack....

Well good intentions can only go so far I suppose. Although the summer holidays are upon us I am still in the throws of painting and decorating the house! Still the work needs to be done, and the fairies won't help.

Onthe modelling front I have spent a little time painting my Skaven army for Warhammer and have worked on a few character models for the Empire. I will place some pics of the work this week.

British Para Platoon

Well, the British Infantry are having to wait just a little longer. I have just completed a platoon of British Paras for an upcoming club game. I know things are a little picture shy at the moment but I hope to put up some pictures very soon. I will definitely have some from next weekend's club meet.

The British are coming...

I have dipped my toes into the Napoleonic era, I am painting up a stand of British Infantry (28th Regiment of Foot). I have to say they are not as much of an eye bleeder as I thought. In fact they are on a par with HYW heraldry. I will update when I have some pics

Pirates of St. Brelade, part 2

Pirates of St. Brelade

Well, after the weekend festivities I have finally got around to uploading some pics of our club birthday game. It was a day of backstabbing, skull duggery and general mayhem as club members went about trying to amass as much wealth as possible to claim the title of Pirate Lord. Enjoy the pictures.

Pirates by the Dozen Part 3

Well, I didn't reach my target of forty six pirates but I did manage to complete ten more pirates which gives me enough models for one crew. The others will have to wait a little while before they get completed.

I will post pictures of the crew along with pics of the club game over the next couple of days when I get the chance.