Still alive...

I realize it's been awhile since the last post, and for that I apologize. I was away for several weeks, and have also just been distracted by various other things. I have painted all the 10mm Sudan units I currently own, except for the pack camels. Pics to be posted within the next week or so (hopefully!). More minis will need to be ordered to complete the forces. I have also painted 16 of GZG's excellent 15mm Alien Mercenaries. Once again, pics soon.

While in England I picked up a copy of Black Powder. I must say it's a beautiful book, and the system seems quite elegant. I think I may have finally found a set of rules for my Sudan minis!

I've been tempted by a number of new periods lately. War of 1812 is something I have wanted to do for years, and I find myself again temped. Knuckleduster is bringing out new 28mm minis for the period, though I don't know if I would do it in 28mm for cost and space reasons. Though 54mm plastics might be fun...

Getting to visit the site of the Battle of Hastings certainly got me wanting to start putting together Saxon and Norman armies. But again, the issue of scale. I seem to remember hearing that Gripping Beast will be bringing out plastic Saxons. Maybe Normans will follow?

A couple nights ago I saw a one man play of the Seven Samurai. It was hugely entertaining and re-awakened my interest in the period. Bought and watched Kurosawa's Ran today which further got the gaming juices flowing. I've since been browsing different ranges online. The Baccus 6mm range is quite tempting, though I have never painted anything in that scale. It can't be too different from painting 10mm, can it? We also already own a large number of 1/72 Zvezda plastic Samurai and Mongols. And some 28mm Perry Minis. And 28mm Clan Wars. Hmm.

I haven't worked much on my sci-fi rules lately, but I've had a few new ideas which I hope to tryout soon.

To finish up this post, here is a picture of Arundel Castle I took last month...

15mm Colonial Marine Platoon

I finally got round to taking some pictures of my 15mm colonial marines platoon. The figures are GZG NAC troops, mounted on pennies. For the paint scheme I used the excellent tutorial from the Dawn of the Lead site. it can be found here: http://dawnofthelead.com/2010/05/24/very-tough-hombres-a-colonial-marine-painting-tutorial/

I am pretty happy with how they turned out, though I did have an issue with the dullcote. I don't know why exactly (bottom of the can, too old, not shaken enough?), but the dullcote left white residue in some of the recesses on the figures. It's not that noticeable, but still quite annoying to me. I've never had this happen to me before, so if anyone can shed some light on the matter it would be greatly appreciated.

These troops have seen a few battles now, mainly while I was visiting my buddy in Vancouver a few weeks ago. We had a few test games of the latest version of my skirmish rules. My marines got slaughtered both games (isn't that always the case with newly painted minis?). But on the bright side I am now (almost) totally happy with the infantry rules. I think maybe a few minor tweeks, but it seems to work quite well. Vehicle rules are the next big thing to tackle...

Anyway, here are the pictures. Feedback and suggestions on my painting is greatly appreciated.

New stuff!

Since my last post I have painting and modeling up a storm! I have painted 2 more units of British, a few stands of Mahdists, and made a village and several pieces of rocky terrain for the 10mm Sudan stuff. For my 15mm stuff I made 2 ruined buildings and painted 5 resin buildings from JR Miniatures.

The Sudan village didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, but it will do for now. I made the buildings out of cereal box card, folded into shape, glued together then applied a thin coating of paper mache mix. The flash on the camera shows the unpainted insides of the buildings, but in normal lighting you can't see inside them.

The ruined buildings were made from foamboard, then I covered them in a sort of paper mache mush, and threw on some rocks and sand to taste. I am pretty pleased with the results.

The rocky outcroppings are not pictured because I am not very happy with them. They look decent enough, but the card bases warped quite a lot from the paper mache and subsequent painting. I am going to re-make them in the future, with use for the bases (as I should have done in the first place).

Currently working on another ruined building, a unit of naval brigade for the Sudan, and a platoon of 15mm sci-fi troops from GZG. Production will come to a brief halt, as I will be away for a week to Maryland Deathfest, then visiting a gaming buddy in Vancouver.

Anyway, here are the pics. Yes, I know, I really need better backdrops for my pictures, and I need to work on lighting, focusing etc. Feedback on the minis and terrain is appreciated.

My First 10mm Sudan Unit

I've finished my first unit of 10mm British infantry for the Sudan, so here are some pics! These are the first minis I've painted in a about a year, and my first time ever painting in this scale. I used quite a simple and fast painting method:

1. Block paint all the colours
2. Wash of Minwax Polyshades Tudor Satin Polyurethane Stain
3. Base the minis, sand and paint bases
4. Spray with Testors Dullcoat

They won't win any awards, but I am pretty pleased with how they have turned out.

Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest. I'll have to practice a bit more with taking pics of minis.

The blog is back!

After accidentally deleting my old blog a few years ago, I never bothered starting a new one. I lost interest in gaming for the last couple years, but in recent months the fire has been re-kindled. I have started on an entirely new project: Sudan in 10mm. I've ordered a bunch of figures from Pendraken Miniatures and painting is under way. Pictures of the first unit will be up soon. Rules will be home brewed. I've got some loose ideas right now, but need to work on them some more.

I'm also working on a 15mm sci-fi game, which will eventually be put out under the Tea Time Games name. More info on this to follow...