SYW Corp of Observation Update

Really this is just a quick post to update the photo's from the previous and a bit of filler. I had a play about with the highlights and added some better lighting for the photo's. A great deal of the difference between the photo's from the two posts actually comes from the lighting as "in real life" the lift in highlighting is nowhere as dramatic.

In truth I did the corrections and new photo's a few weeks back but life (new venture) gets in the way and since then have not picked up a brush despite having a goodly number of projects primed and ready to go including one small commission I was bludgeoned into taking. My hope is to get restarted on the Ruskies and the commission this weekend as I would like to get the Corp of Observation boys onto ebay. I'm not the greatest fan of FR figures, personal preference over styling more than anything else, but the work on the mitre cap plate, cartridge box, etc really is first rate.

regards
dave

SYW Ruskies Corp of Observation

Work progresses on the Grenadiers du France at a less than satisfactory pace, repaints seem to take so much longer than splashing paint on virgin figures or maybe the grey matter, instead of resetting to zero, starts off where the the clock stopped with the original paint job.

Be that as it may I allowed myself to be distracted with some Russian observation corp grenadiers to break up the monotony. Although not completely finished I post him with regard to checking my swatches (so to speak), so do the colour tones gel or not?

The coat is probably a little dark for the table top, the green has enough saturation but is too dark for play (I stand by the golden rule of "bringing up" the brightness for the toys) despite the fact that this may be the correct green. I'm happy with the red for the most part.

The tombac (metal used for mitre plate and pouches, not brass) didn't quite get there but it is an unusual colour (not quite brass not quite copper) and can be quite varied in it's hue due to the metal ratio's used in the alloy.  Many many years ago I remember reading that the colour/metal of the mitre plate was mistaken for copper, anyway there are a couple of samples below for your perusal

Anyway it was good to break from the drudgery of repainting, thoughts on the overall colour scheme dear readers?

Tombac medallion from Israel

Tombac emergency 5c

thanks for looking
dave

We fade to biege: French SYW wip

Not to grey as the song goes! Now I have no problem whatsoever of shadowing white with grey tones but I'm thinking of introducing more off white to beige shade tones for my white uniforms etc. With the sudden desertion of a number of grenadiers from the la Reine Regt. to the Grenadiers du France some more recruits have been drafted to fill the holes in the la Reine establishment, what better time to try out some fading to beige.

Grenadiers are nearly ready for basing, I just have to remember where I put the bases and flock n stuff.

WIP SYW French and German Jaeger

Well it has been a while since the giblets have been removed and I have been doing a little scratch building and toying with the paints, to that end I have decided to try and get my eye back in and splash some paint about in force. I have had some French grenadiers floating about since the beginning of the year so I pulled those out of the pile of shame and I also wanted to get on with some Prussian Jaeger figures

Regiment la Rein has now become Grenadiers de France (Regt 40) partly due to my hang up with the uniform for FIW but mostly because I think a full battalion for the European theatre would look jolly nice.

Grenadiers from Front Rank and Jaeger from Minden Miniatures, as usual I can see a lot of missed opportunities from the enlarge images and yes I have gone back to wash and glaze painting for the Jaeger, I really enjoy it and like the water colourist effect.

thanks for looking
dave

Commission Painting to Return

That is correct Paint Pig will be returning to painting by commission in the new year, I will be taking orders from March 1st. Prices will remain pretty much as stated on the commission page, though I will probably not be accepting anything under 25mm in scale from now on unless a convincing argument can be mounted (please include wedge when applying), the stated terms and conditions will be looked at but once again I do not foresee any significant changes. This announcement will also see a return to spec. painting and all items will be sold through my ebay account unless a competitive offer is made during the WIP stage.

I will re instate the contact form in due course for those that wish to make enquiries before the 1st of March and take a thorough look at the commission page to make any necessary adjustments. I hope this will satisfy those who have been gently harassing me over the last 12 months. Surprisingly, and possibly due to my health being tinkered with by a bevy of surgeons and associated quacks, I'm looking forward to pushing pigment again albeit at a more gentle pace.

regards
dave

Getting down With Magua

What is roasting on the low flame this week? 

Well I dragged myself off to the local gamer show over the weekend and had a jolly nice time, firstly and most importantly I hooked up with a couple of guys who share my passion for Charlie Grants "The War Game" or more correctly Charlie Jr's version. It is always uplifting to find fellow gamers that are as passionate as yourself about a period or set of rules, we gamed chatted and laid plans for future sessions, good stuff.

No school like the Old School, great rules

I also met up with the operator (Nathan Vinson) of Elite Miniatures Australia and had a look at some of his wares, shed some coinage in his direction and admired his painting efforts in the flesh, having seen plenty of it on TMP previously it was a treat to view his talents in the lead.  Elite figures might appear to be a bit different in style to some peoples eye but not to mine, visions of the lovely Peter Gilder painted armies came to mind, Nathan comes across as a very genuine guy and I would have no hesitation in recommending using his services.

An example of Nathans ability with the brush and some Perry plastics http://www.eliteminiaturesaustralia.net/default.html

Lastly in an off the cuff sort of way a deal was made regarding building a Musket and Tomahawks force with a gaming buddy. I mentioned that the rules might be of interest to me having read some good gaming reports around the blogosphere, he is pretty well up on his SAGA and thought I would probably like the rules as they are from the same stable and offered to build an opposing army if I committed.  What can I say I popped into the conquest miniatures web store and low, Magua and his feather wearing painted faced cronies are winging their way to the sunshine state as I type. Watch out Greyhair your days are numbered.

Conquest Indians painted by http://www.twfigurines.de/  ...cant wait to get mine

Best part of the weekend, well, after many months I feel enthusiastic hobby wise (in general truth be known) there is no doubt that lobbing a couple of Thomas Hawks about the table will be just the tonic.

I should thank Glen Verburgt of Brisbane Independent Gamers for putting on the show, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

In one piece

Well the saw bones did his worst and I'm still in one piece, just that a few off them are a bit smaller than when I started out. The trouble n strife bought in her laptop today so I have been catching up on the comings and goings of all and sundry and it has been jolly invigorating. Why are all the nurses so young and gorgeous and why oh why did I have to have the catheter removed while I'm in no shape to appreciate it ;-)

where's my drugs!

Already tired again, farewell from Paint Pigs low flame, for now......

Wretched Prattling: Forum recruiting and new addition to our driveway

Your thinking "hey you, aren't you supposed to be in hospital Mr Paint Pig" well surgery has been put back a week due to one of the surgeons that was supposed to chopping me up getting caught in an operation that went much longer than expected so I have been given a slight reprieve from an enforced horizontal holiday for a wee bit longer.

What An Odd Fellow

Odd Fellow Lounger enjoying the relaxing atmosphere

As you may have guessed, or possibly not, I have some not insignificant involvement in a little forum which goes by the name of The Odd Fellows Wargaming Lounge, whilst being of low spirits and unenthusiastic over recent months I had completely avoided any input with the this endeavour much to the forums detriment. Having given myself a good talking to (and kick up the bum for good measure) I have determined to put some much needed energy back into the project.

Our staff are eager to please

Essentially it is a forum for Imagineers, 17th - 18th century enthusiast and those with a liking for older rule sets and home brew rules. As this is a little restrictive for some we now provide an area for discussion of those interests members might have outside of this scope. I would like to personally like to invite you all to stop by and take a look and if you like what you read and see sign on the dotted line.

Budding writers preparing an article for the presses

The forum software (vBulletin) has a content management system which is roughly a tool that can convert forum posts into a emagazine like display,  perfect for the budding wargaming journalist and story teller not to mention promoting services and product so if this sounds like something you can use  please get in touch with us

And in other news

Besides painting and gaming you may have already gathered from previous posts that I'm a bit of fishing enthusiast, I also like to do some off roading too. Usually this involved leaving the black top and heading out for some bush touring, time and health have put an end to the longer trips and not having a need for our old 4x4 touring outfit I decided to sell up and buy a new vehicle for weekend scrub bashing fun in the numerous off road parks that abound in and around Brisbane and South East Queensland.

Somewhere in the Pilliga (google it) Forrest national park

The old girl, a Holden Jackeroo (Americans would know this as an Isuzu Trooper) and a rock solid piece of kit she was. Yes that is Mrs Paint Pig saying "don't you dare point that camera at me Mr Man". this was on our Brisbane to Adelaide avoidance of bitumen 2500km round trip, I always use a little hiking tent for overnight stops.

And so what is the use of getting a new fourby if you don't show it off, so here is the new addition to the family "Broostah" It has been something of culture shock to go from a raw 4x4 to a vehicle that has all the bells and whistles as far as off road driver assist aids are concerned.

Yep a Toyota san FJ Cruiser, an homage to the original Toyota FJ40,  from time to time I'll post the highs and lows of building a mud splasher come rock climber out of this little beauty and the shenanigans we get up too. So far I have fitted some rock sliders and a heavy duty to bar (for the boat) to Broostah but surgeon fees will put the kibosh on anything more for the next six months or so.

Kick Starting the AWI

Something I have toyed with in the past is pledging to a Kickstarter Project but like, I suspect, many of you I didn't fully appreciate what was involved. Well I have finally bit the bullet and kicked in for the Fife and Drum Kickstarter deal, after the shock of missing my chance with the Kingdom Death Project because of uniformed procrastination I wasn't going to miss another chance to help fund a talented new company and score a classy line up of sculpts in the process

Not only do you get the satisfaction of helping launch a project but you also get a tidy saving on your figures, I should stress though you shouldn't treat pledging monies as shopping. I kicked in $300 for the Cavalry Commander level pledge which should see some lovely Richard Ansell cavalry sculpts winging it's way in my direction early next year, cant wait.

The Fife and Drum range has been quite successful and very well received and this is reflected in the original goal and stretch goal levels that have been reached. Originally as a $5000 goal it is now over $20,000 !!! with a final stretch goal of $24,000.

last year I splurged and bought some of these lovely artillery pieces, enough for a small artillery park

So if like me, at first, you are reticent about the whole idea I would heartily recommend this Kickstarter project as a first off.

Fife and Drum miniatures can be found here http://fifedrumminis.blogspot.com.au/
and the Kickstarter page here http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1937253848/fife-and-drum-expands-its-american-revolution-rang

For a better explanation and FAQ try looking at this TMP post  http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=311800

Not long to go so hop to it lads

all photo's via Jim Purky aka der alt Fritz

Last cut is the deepest?

This week marks what is, I hope,  the beginning of the end of the somewhat boring rounds of GP and hospital visits. An endoscopy on Thursday last to establish the next plan of attack (re the saw-bones) found some small troubles but they were pretty much in the ballpark with what the surgeon expected and he has scheduled me in for a fortnights time, yay!

The desired effect should be an upgrading of general enthusiasm, not least for the toys. I might even have enough patience for unending procrastination, a war gaming hallmark, although I doubt it is a virtue I want to encourage.

Obviously I'm going to have to orgy-anise my hobby time in to some sort of productive shape, I'm blowed if I can describe the shape it is in at the moment...... is distorted a shape? I could work on the "what have I got in the pile of shame" or "what am I going to want to play" one exceeds computation and the other has yet to surface so neither really form the basis for whipping things, especially time, into shape. Interestingly the pile of shame has not continued growing at it's normal alarmist rate during my down time, this is somewhat new, don't go imagining it hasn't grown at all, I'm not dead!

I will start going through the painting room while I wait for my big day, getting the paints back in some order would be useful and it would probably be useful if I wasn't such a hoarder/collector of paints. I don't know what you guys are like but I cant resist exercising the retail muscles whenever something new or untried is found paint and pigment wise. I could just about paint the bally house with all the pots...... hmmmm?

Wretched Prattling- Aaaargh blogger, forum farmers

Not really worthy of a post, more a twatter like comment, anyway on with my 'wretched prattling' ......I made four attempts to leave a reply to Exiles latest post and each time I got half way (or there abouts) in my reply the comment box reset itself.... wotcha, anyone else have this problem?

I guess I could have taken an approach similar to one of those tedious knobs who have to use 10 forum responses to make a 3 line comment (I like to think of them as share farmers, growing their post count) but that's not right really is it? I do get a smile when these individuals make a post and then set about in supplying up to 90% of the replies, is that the digital equivalent of talking to yourself?

Of some interest to a very few of you....... I have actually set about sorting out the painting bench!!! Could it be I'm about to set pigment to lead, I have a feeling in my waters that it could be. Been doing a bit of reading lately and my eyes and brain matter have come through the experience with flying colours. Not all that interested in commission work, too rusty for that malarkey, though a bit of paint splatting on some my own gear seems to be more and more likely.

Observation: More than rolling dice

It was with some interest that I recently read Sydney Rounwoods post "Being There" it seemed particularly poignant in light of recent events in my own gaming world, sometimes a game can feel like simply going through the motions, for some of us we need more. 

Jose and Drew look like they are hatching a cunning plan to spring on Napoleon "and dont the kids love it"

An objective with a back story, nothing complicated, can make all the difference as to whether your invested in a game or simply there just to roll some dice. Sydney's post is a timely reminder that game night can be much more that slurping tea and out quoting one another with tape measures cocked and ready. The most important thing to my mind is to engage the players and give them a reason to care why they are moving their little trays of lead.  That is not to say that some people aren't happy just rolling dice and quoting Oman, Bowden or Duffy, personally I prefer to at least have a reason other than rules require you to toss little polyglobs and cubes of plastic about the house. Maybe that is what makes ImagiNation gaming so appealling to some historical gamers......


I shan't bore you any longer with my silly ramblings but rather point you to Mr Roundwoods post and let you decide the value in "Being There".
 

WIP Regiment la Reine 18thC

I have been able to do a bit more on these chaps lately and a quick tidy up will see them finished. Perhaps I will have my camera working properly be then for some better quality photo's too, I think the poor ol' gal might be on her last legs as her poor ol' gizzmo-tronic brain seems to squeak and fart along at an alarmingly slow pace.......

Anyway back to the figures hat, cap tassels and leggings need a bit of attention as does the hair, seeing as these castings will be used for musket and tomahawk lapels have been ignored and a blue waistcoat added. There are also one or two obvious brush over runs however it wont take much to sort that out, oooops. The castings bouffant is somewhat out of historical kilter, natural hair colouring will overcome this mistake as this grizzled old veteran will demonstrate, quite frankly nothing to inhibit enjoying a game in deepest darkest Canada or New France or Arcadia!

remember, click to big the photo's

WIP SYW La Reine

So here we are in 2013, I don't feel any different. As discussed in the previous post the new year will see the becoming of a plan of attack and challenges including an assault on the pile of shame which grew at an alarming rate in 2012. The growth was somewhat surprising, not because some kindly doppelganger was ordering figures and having them sent to my abode by mistake, because I had thought that my purchases were heavily leaning towards books thus leaving the leaden men on a slow drip feed, WRONG! It appears that purchase volumes were up on 2011, it is easy to believe your showing restraint if you con yourself that your hard earned is being directed in another direction. In fact the readies were being dished out just as freely for the wee metal men and additional funds were being transferred to the accounts of book publishers and the keepers of antiquarian book stores.

Now fair warning, my 2013 plans have not been thunked on overly much and will require more time to ferment into the heady brew of a plan, so no action on that front other than I'm actually painting whilst thunking, which is what most of the plan will revolve about anyway.

The poor unfortunates to feel the gentle brushing of sable on lead are a company (8 figures) of Front Rank SYW French grenadiers, the castings are the usual FR fair so not much to add in that regard, bit squat etc. etc. It would be nice if the SYW range were reworked in the cause of anatomy and uniform/accoutrement details but I don't see that high on their list of priorities, some their new Nap. figures look very nice. Anyway on with the photo's

First painting exercise in about 5 weeks, my hands shake a bit and my eyes/glasses aren't quite as good so the painting is getting a little sloppy, touching up may be a bit longer process than it once was. There is no great plan as to why the La Reine regt. other than I have been reading the Osprey campaign series books on the FIW (just finished Ticonderoga and started Quebec). I don't think I'm into it enough to game proper like, but some skirmish might be of interest..... I think, anyway one must paint what one feels like painting and I felt like painting La Reine. The bearskin is conjectural but as they were in Canada and materials were plentiful they may have been able to equip themselves with the new headgear in a more timely fashion, or so I have read.

I'm quite happy with the off white tone of the coat and pants, although it is not clear in the photo's, which should provide enough contrast with the white linen or canvas gaiters (not painted).  There is some suggestion that the gaiters for New France based troops were changed out to a darker coloured material, I have yet to find any clear indicators either visual or written as to what material and what colour (suggestions ?),  I'm assuming it would likely be the hide or skin of some creature.
 

I can tell you trying to remember what colours I have been using in the past for various painting details is a bit of a chore, I should completely finish one figure so I have a paint chart to follow for the rest and make a new set of notes for any upcoming Frenchies, there has been a lot of trial and error, repainting etc with the few I'm working on. That may just be at the top of my 2013 list, nice one, I have started my list.......

Another of Santa's helpers, just for you Crazy Joe (by request)