Iowa Grognard

Wilhelm von Knyphausen

2012-02-04T04:53:00.007-06:00

As my work on other units continues I decided to slip in the completion of the Knyphausen figure by Perry. Its obviously not my best work, but will do just fine on the games' table.

As the base size for Knyphausen, per the Brandywine scenario, was going to be much larger than the ones I had used previously for commanders, I needed a simple idea to fill some space. I'm not ready talent-wise to do a fancy little vignette, but I wanted to do something that was perhaps new for me and that I could use later. Looking around the scrap pile I found a Hessian officer I wasn't going to use and glancing over at the terrain area I noticed some supplies for creating water effects...why not. The final idea was to create a small often-wet/muddy/marsh area which may be encountered almost anywhere. Utilizing some greenstuff I created the edges of the water area and painted the inside using some dark greenish-brown paint before proceeding to use my normal basing up technique using wood glue etc. The final step, of course, was adding the water mixture. Although needing some further refinement I think it turned out acceptable and will no doubt come into use again somewhere else.

F&D Continental Mounted Officers

2012-01-24T16:38:00.006-06:00

Saturday Morning found me progressing through a number of large units and looking for a minor distraction. Although there were a number of candidates, I decided on these two Continental Officers I had ordered from Jim over at Fife and Drum.

My goal with these was simply speed. I wanted to see how quickly I could paint these while keeping them eligible for most game tables. First of all, the castings are full of detail and very clean/crisp to work with. The thinner and more proportional size created an unexpected challenge as it was a break from what I've been familiar with. I didn't think that something as simple as this would provide a challenge, but it did.

I believe the end result was satisfactory, finished in a morning's painting alongside other figures. They probably do look a bit "rushed" in places, but after all...they were.

American 12pd Artillery

2012-01-18T08:50:00.004-06:00

After a long time on the edges of the painting desk I finally put the finishes on these guys. I used Eureka's Molly Pitcher Crew along with two Front Rank 12pd guns.

I'm always trying to do things that are new to me when painting. With these I wanted to experiment with 3 different shades of white on the same figure to perhaps represent different weaves, cuts, or fits. I believed the shirts to be a loose fit so I chose to paint them the most white. The waistcoat I saw as a slightly more refined garment, so I used the menolith white to give it a slight sheen. The pants I imagined to be the tightest fitting clothing and as always when a person is working, they are the first to get scuffed, scraped or dirty. I decided on a slightly more gray shade to reflect that condition.

I'm unsure of the results, but these guys were, for me, an experiment in this direction.

From 2012 to '11

2012-01-10T17:16:00.004-06:00

As 2011 closed with a flurry of non-wargaming activity and I've not had much opportunity to add on the blog. Most of my painting since October has been for other people and a unit or two I painted to sell on ebay, but I should have some of my own pieces to post shortly. My time at the painting desk has greatly increased and looks to be steady on in the near future.

The biggest development has been the arrival of Contessa Rin, born in December. The picture is roughly 20 minutes after she arrived. At that point, she looked like a set of lips and some hair, but luckily we found the rest of her.

I'm trying to convince the wife that 5 is enough, but time will tell...

2nd Pennsylvania

2011-08-26T23:04:00.006-05:00

Back in late June I had decided to take a brief break from the Hessians to produce a couple American regiments in time for July 4th. One thing led to another and I've just finally finished the second regiment, the 2nd Pennsylvania. Painting this unit in this manner was inspired as always by Giles over at Tarleton's Quarter.
The flag was a minor modification of one offered and designed by Clarence over at Quindia Studios. He releases a new flag every week in what he has termed "Flag Monday"...some great stuff.

I'm not sure where I am at with my painting style. At times I feel like I'm going backwards in quality. I'll continue to experiment and attempt to find my groove, as they say. I'm considering trying a higher contrast style or maybe a speed painting style as I believe both speed and contrast are lacking from my work.

I've been a bit lacking lately in making the rounds to all my favorite blogs out there, but there has been some great content from what I have seen and as always thanks for all the kind comments here.

Figures 20, Foundry Miniatures, Flag by Quindia Studios, Litko Bases

Terrain Mat Roads

2011-08-15T12:12:00.003-05:00

I recently received a set of 25/28mm roads from Terrain Mat, however I don't think they currently fit my terrain plans. They cost me 100 USD total with shipping, but I will sell them to somebody in the lower 48 for $80 shipping included.

25mm Road Set
Includes 4x straight.8xBends
3xJunctions

Green with cart tracks.

Straight sections are 3 feet long.

Hartley's Additional Regiment

2011-07-28T19:27:00.012-05:00

These figures are among some American AWI figures I had planned to post on July 4th, but due to events they are just getting on here now. I had these figures painted in the usual method with the goal being a nice clean paint job.

I wanted to try a different white cloth process inspired by a fellow on the wd3 forum who was doing some Perry AWI. My criteria for the experiment was to use paints I hadn't used before and to produce a slightly browned or buffed white shadow. I would do this on the small cloths and pants, but leave any white on the coat in the familiar gray to white process. The brown you see on the turnbacks is actually a product of an experiment explained in a paragraph below. The paints I decided on where Formula P3 Menoth white base and highlight along with a vallejo off-white and Foundry's Austrian White C. The final result was satisfactory and I'll probably use more of this on other figures in the future. I do have to mention that the Formula P3 paints have some very nice coverage and the consistency of the paints was pleasing to work with.

Finding a blue I liked for the coats was a challenge in itself, but I eventually settled on the Foundry Prussian Blue triad, with some cornflower blue mixed in the final highlight.

With Rall on the horizon and many Highlanders in my future I took an opportunity with one of these figures to take a stab at pinstripes. One of the infantryman's legs is wrapped in a remnant of a bed sheet. It turned out okay, but I need more practice.

I thought myself done with these. However, a few days ago the doorbell rang and a couple packages were delivered. Inside the packages were some MiG and Vallejo pigments I had purchased for future use on WW2 vehicles. As with anything new to me, I can't wait to use it. I didn't have to look too far to find some test subjects. These are Eureka Miniatures' Ragged Colonials after all, so I needed no further excuse.

At risk was turning a halfway decent paint job into a disaster. I had watched a video on youtube about the use of these pigments, but that was the extent of it. The pigments I picked out of the box for this attempt were MiG Dry Mud, Europe Dust, and Dark Mud along with Vallejo's Chrome Oxide green as well as the Vallejo Medium. I mixed the Dark Mud and Europe Dust with the medium to make a thicker mud and used the Dry mud in more of a drybrush method to create dusted portions and dried mud. The finale saw the Oxide Green used to create the appearance of grass stains on those men who still had pants that covered their knees. The goal was to make them look weathered and worn while still maintaining a decent paint job. I think I came close to this with the result, but I need practice of course.

I needed to complicate this project with just one more change. I've decided to make basing individual whenever I can to accommodate future Sharp Practice AWI gaming. As usual Litko had what was needed. I used 25x25 .8mm wood bases, with 25x25 thin flexible steel attached to the bottoms. In addition I have their 75x25 and 50x25mm heavy duty magnetic bases to mount these on as needed for BG. The end result is a very thin and functional base. Despite them being thin the hold is very very strong. I'm going to be using this for a few select regular line regiments as well, namely the Queens Rangers and some Highlanders. I have 100 18x25 flexible steel and 100 18x25 .8mm wood bases as well as a number of 36x50mm and 54x50mm heavy duty magnetic bases. To give you a rough estimate about the final thickness, .8mm wood + .65mm flexible steel + .78mm heavy duty magnet group base = 2.23mm.

6 Eureka figures, Litko bases

July 3rd witnessed another Kid & Cake episode when my youngest, Antigony, or "Tiggy" for short, had her first birthday. Below are a few shots including a picture of my wife with Tiggy. Oh, the wife is expecting again, due in December I believe

(edit) Added a photo I have handy of my wife's face since I previously added a "top of the head photo". She might not be pleased that I uploaded a photo of her shortly after a shower and without make-up etc, but hopefully she won't find out.

Sharp July Practice

2011-07-27T16:10:00.003-05:00

Despite having a number of AWI figures ready for a July 4th unveiling, I've not committed the time to finish these off in recent weeks.

Most of my free time has been spent gaming Sharp Practice by TFL with my two oldest kids (9 & 8). We've had a fun time of it, mostly focused on the ACW. As I'm behind in my painting we've been using a number of cheap soft plastic 1/72's as a substitute.

The kids really enjoy the game for a number of reasons, not the least because their dad is umpiring. They like the random events and I would like to find some new ideas for these to keep fresh elements in the game. The "spooked livestock" event has created many entertaining moments and dialogues. One time my daughter insisted that the livestock should be rather irritated chickens and on another occasion my son told his troops to look forward to the bacon. A good 50% of the time is spent laughing. At least once a game my daughter will giggle about the rules being by "toofatlardies". She, at first glance, had thought it read "toofatLADIES".

A recent small and quick game saw just 2 formations face off against each other. The Union was placed securely behind a fence and the Confederate objective was to clear the fence line of Yankees. My daughter, the union player, charged out from the fence, across the field and in a flurry of action they completely decimated the Rebels. Despite a number of events that should have hampered the Union effort, they prevailed, mostly due to great versus bad dice in three rounds of firing which sealed the Rebel fate. The first round saw a lot of shock added to the Rebel formation, followed by a round of few hits, a couple of kills, a bonus card played, and a dead rebel Big Man. From that point on it was just a matter of time. My son's well timed quip when his Big Man took a dirt nap..."at least Captain Bad Dice is gone."

In SP ACW the Tiffin card is replaced with a Sarsaparilla card. We celebrate each end of turn with a drink of Sarsaparilla or Root Beer, usually A&W.

Leib / du Corps Regiment

2011-06-24T01:54:00.009-05:00

My latest finished project is the Leib Regiment of Hessians based upon the OOB for Brandywine. The biggest challenge for me was, in a word, yellow. I have never painted much yellow other than the odd highlight. Here I needed to do small clothes and facings in this color. I ended up choosing to do these in different shades. I used Foundry's Ochre triad for the small clothes and Foundry's yellow triad for the facings/cuffs. Although it felt like a risk, I think it turned out well. The other challenge was with the musician. According to the information on Tim Reese's digital illustration CD, the musician wore rose or a faded red facing and cuff. My hope was that they wouldn't turn out too pink in color as I used the A+B from the Wine Stain Red triad. I also completed the Grenadiers for this regiment as I'll be using them in the grenadier battalion von Linsing.

Despite Murphy's law of painting time having descended upon me, things seem to have gotten back to normal.

Figures 28, Perry Miniatures, GMB Flags, Litko Bases

One goal almost complete

2011-06-12T20:30:00.005-05:00

The purchasing of my ECW project for next year is almost complete. Building forces built around FoG:R lists to start and then maybe branching out into other rules. So far I have enough lead and plastic for about 900-1000pts for Royalist and Parliamentarian forces. Most of the minis will be Warlord with some Bicorne personalities and a few Perry/Tag rank and file. The only thing left here is the Montrose Scots, which will be mostly Eureka/Perry.

Major General Stirn

2011-06-07T13:27:00.007-05:00

I recently completed my first AWI personality figure with this sculpt by Perry. Stirn is part of their pack of Hessian Mounted Generals AW099.

I had two goals in mind when I started. First, don't mess up the horse! Second, I wanted to try a new flesh combination.

After testing a first round of color triads on the Thracian Cavalry I came away with one in particular that I thought had potential and that was Foundry's Bay colors. The biggest problem is that I dislike the Bay Brown C. The hue is too pink in my opinion and unfamiliar to my experiences with horses. It comes across a little too pink and most bays reflect a golden brown or reddish brown sheen. I took a stab in the dark and mixed Bay Brown C with Deep Brown Leather B. Luckily it seems to have turned out for the better. When it came to the horse's eyes I tried a dot of white behind the eye as the horse is looking forward.

When it came to the flesh I discarded the Foundry triad in favor of Dusky Flesh, Dwarf Flesh, Elf Flesh from GW, along with Foundry Flesh C. I really like how it turned out, but I need more practice with it. I can easily see me using this in the future. I'll probably wait until I finish the Hessians to make the switch.

Japanese Flags

2011-06-06T10:46:00.012-05:00

Every Memorial Day I take out an old ammo box and other items my uncle gave me years before he passed. The ammo box is full of items from his service in the Pacific during ww2 and the other items include his uniforms, half a dozen Japenese flags and a Japanese rifle. He was awarded the purple heart for being wounded in the Phillipinnes. He didn't tell many stories about his time in the war, as most ww2 veterans I've known. Those things he did tell me when we were alone working or fishing together were deeply personal and well remembered.

Every year I intend to find out, but have yet to, what these flags are or what they say. I've posted a couple in the odd chance somebody might know. Each flag has loops on one end. They are in a wide array of conditions, although near the same as the day I first saw them.

Cheap Plowed Fields

2011-06-04T22:34:00.018-05:00

This has probably been done by many before me, but the following is a 9"x12" test piece of terrain I did today. I'm always looking for inexpensive terrain options that still look the part. Although this test piece is rough, I think with a little polish this could work for any plowed fields I intend to make in the future. Not only does it have very fast drying times, but it also appears to be very durable.

$2.39 at local hardware store
+

+

$0.72 at DickBlick.com

+

=

+

$1.49 Nutmeg Brown Craft Paint
=

+

Already on hand in quantity.
+

Already on hand in quantity.
=

With plenty of material left over...

Thracian Cavalry

2011-06-02T23:36:00.005-05:00

These figures are sporting a very quick and basic paint job. They only took a couple hours to do with the main focus being on the horse colors. In fact, other than being a possible option for my Later Macedonian FoG army, their main purpose is as test figures for possible horse color triads as I have a number of 28mm mounted figures awaiting pigment. If you want to see some pretty incredible 15mm Thracians, check out this thread.

16 Xyston figures, Litko bases

Hessian Artillery

2011-05-31T19:40:00.012-05:00

Back into my AWI work, I've finished the Hessian artillery. These were done with the standard Hessian palettes I've used before along with my first attempt at the proper "straw" color for the small clothes and pants. I hope I came close to the proper hue. The artillery bronze barrels are done using Foundry's bronze and the gun carriages are in the hussar sky blue. I preferred this over the regular sky blue as its a bit more muted.

They are based with three figures rather than four per British Grenadier's recommendation for lighter artillery. I'm not sure why I collected 4 models. The scenarios I have, at most, call for 2 models. I may try and sell the other two to finance some more ECW or start a Sharp Practice project. (that would make the wife happy)

I apologize for the photos as my camera is giving me problems. I fear I will need to make a replacement purchase soon as its not been working well with close-ups.

Roman Commanders

2011-05-29T14:05:00.011-05:00

Continuing towards completion of my 15mm FoG Mid. Rep. Romans, I've finished a variety of commanders. In general I've based these to represent; 1 IC (or C-in-C), 1FC, and 3 TC's. The figures are a mix of OG and Warmodelling 15's.

in order to make, at least, an attempt to do justice to the many wonderful 25mm mounted sculpts I have, I'm using 15mm mounted units and characters to test and try out different palettes of horse color.

6 Warmodelling figures, 3 Old Glory figures, Litko bases

Coming up shortly: Thracian Cavalry, Hessian Artillery and Hessians Hessians Hessians.

Roman Legion (2nd)

2011-05-26T09:48:00.007-05:00

Wanting to finish my 15mm Mid. Republican Roman Army for FoG, I've finished a 2nd legion.

8 bases Velites
16 bases Hastatai/Princeps
4 bases Triari

It took me awhile to decide on what color scheme I wanted to use for these before I settled on a hue of red. As I have two other ancient armies that require the use of red, I attempted to differentiate by using a somewhat unique craft paint mixture. Another goal of these was to use a variety of colors for the hastatai tunics.

95 Old Glory figures, 1 Warmodelling figure, Litko Bases, LBM transfers

Disaster for the Continentals

2011-05-19T14:59:00.002-05:00

I knew to expect little from most of my militia in terms of morale, but according to two packs I purchased from Foundry, there appears more to be concerned about.

Ferguson's Rifles

2011-05-16T22:35:00.005-05:00

When deciding how I was going to model this unit for Brandywine I found this thread at TMP. Following the advice there I proceeded to purchase and paint these figures by Foundry.

They were extremely quick and easy to paint due to their light kit. I used the Foundry Forest Green triad for their jackets and a buff/canvas mix for the trousers, finished with a thinned highlight of Reaper's Buckskin Pale to give it the look I was after. My attempt at painting the flesh featured minor adjustments to my technique and I find myself still wanting to find the look I want.

I'm attempting to take more close-up pictures, but am still working out some lighting techniques.

6 Figures, Foundry Miniatures, Litko Bases

von Donop Regiment

2011-05-13T18:00:00.021-05:00

I purchased the figures for this regiment a couple of years ago after being inspired by Mr. Allison over at his blog TQ with the goal of immediately painting and growing my own collection. A few football and basketball seasons later I've finally become serious about putting paint to figures and started in earnest on my AWI collection.

These figures are the first 25/28mm figures I've painted in nearly 15 years, so I was a little intimidated. My goal with these was to at least achieve a basic minimum wargaming standard and with luck watch my painting improve as I paint more in this scale. I think I've come close to a basic "wargaming" quality with room for huge improvement all over as I move forward. My biggest struggle is currently in making the flesh the way I believe it should be and will try some slightly different tactics on the next regiment. One wholesale departure from my past painting color preferences came when researching the muskets of the era. When painting in 15mm before I would use a lighter wood color. I aimed for a much darker and reddish wood with these and so far I'm happy with the results.

The regiment is based for British Grenadier and as a large regiment of 30 I chose to base in sixes. I painted the grenadiers along side this regiment for use later in the grenadier battalion von Lengerke. The unit strengths are based on the BG scenario for Brandywine.

Figures 36, Perry Miniatures, GMB Flags, Litko Bases

...and my youngest boy eating his birthday cake!

Retailer Praise

2011-05-13T17:06:00.005-05:00

Over the past seven months my faith in this industry's customer service has been nothing but reinforced. During this time I've ordered considerably from both sides of the Atlantic and across the Pacific from Australia and have had nothing but positive experiences. My praise does not only pertain to when transactions are completed smoothly, but also when adversity raises its head. Whether an item had been mis-packed, by honest error, or lost in transit (remember the UK snow storm and the tightened security on incoming packages here in the U.S.) things were always made right by the seller. I've never come out behind in a transaction, but on the contrary have come out ahead in these situations. Also I have not always been the easiest customer to deal with. During periods when I was recovering from oral surgeries and trying to make phone orders, staff were always patient and considerate. So here is my chance in my small little corner of cyberspace to thank the following retailers:

The War Store
Triangle Miniatures
On Military Matters
Caliver Books
Old Glory 15s
Perry Miniatures
Foundry Miniatures
Brookhurst Hobbies
Eureka
Eureka USA
The Terrain Guy
Grand Manner
Little Big Men Studios
Games Workshop
War Web
and
Front Rank I swear these people have a trans-atlantic pneumatic tube for overseas shipping. Its always been incredibly fast.

And there are probably others I'm forgetting.

WIP AWI

2011-04-04T22:39:00.004-05:00

Here is a picture of my Von Donop Hessians drying after a round of dullcote. They are currently in the process of being based. Once my new camera arrives I'll be able to give some proper updates about recently painted minis. The transition from 15 to 25mm has been interesting and I hope I have achieved at least a "wargaming" quality with these first 25's in 15 years. I also have completed some more 15mm ancients who are likewise awaiting proper photography.

Plans for 2011

2011-01-11T12:47:00.003-06:00

As the painting continues on a number of projects I am prevented from posting more photos for a couple reasons.

First, a few projects are awaiting one or two paints that have been lost in the mail for over a month. Rather than temporarily mix a replacement, I'll wait for the replacement package to arrive. These are colors that are going to be used throughout a few forces so want to maintain consistency.

Second, I need a new camera. I've been looking around for an inexpensive camera with a good macro setting and macro focal point. I think I have found a suitable candidate in a Sony Cybershot.

Unable to post any new pictures for a few days I'd thought I'd release my list of wargaming goals for 2011.

1. Paint a considerable portion of my 25mm AWI collection.
2. Finish painting 3 out 4 current FoG armies. (Mid. Rep. Roman, Later Mac., Spartan, Classical Indian)
3. Complete collecting 15mm Napoleonics and 25mm ECW for next year's projects.
4. Paint some more ACW units.
5. Dabble in FoW and WFB.
6. Keep up my reading in periods of interest.
7. Nurture my wife's and kids' interests in the hobby.
8. Purchase a few miniatures for PITS.
9. Upgrade my terrain.
10. Buy some Crescent Root Studio buildings.
11. Continue my search for other gamers in my area.
12. Get to a convention or two.

That's it, that's my humble "to do" list for 2011. With lots of spare time on my hands compared to my normal coaching schedule I should be able to get close to meeting these goals.

WIP Von Donop

2010-12-27T10:24:00.010-06:00

After the move and the organized chaos which is Christmas, work has finally begun again on my AWI's. I'm starting with the 30 figure regiment of Von Donop's Hessians as prescribed in the BG Scenario for Brandywine. Along with the 30 musketeer regiment I'm doing a set of 6 Von Donop Grenadiers for use in a combined grenadier battalion. I chose a large regiment like this to get myself trained back into painting after such a long layoff as well as the desire for a large enough unit to help smooth out any rough edges working with 25mm for the first time in years. Its already proving a challenge as I attempt the eyeballs and other greater spots of detail.

Also on the painting table are some more 15mm Rep. Romans for fog as well as Ancient Spanish Cav., Numidians, and some successor cav. Another project is the finishing off of my "War Room" as moving back to our larger home allows great space and opportunity to design it as I choose, with only suggestions from the wife. However at present my attention is focused on getting my brush wet in AWI.

Moving, Remodeling, and Fusiliers

2010-11-11T05:23:00.003-06:00

After our 2 year expedition into Minnesota, I've moved my family back to our larger home in Iowa. As unpacking continues there are a few remodelling tasks at hand, but the one I'm focused on the most is of course, my wargames room. I should be up and running again by the end of next week.

Whenever I have extended periods of downtime I tend to buy lots of lead, and this time around is no different. I've bought a few more ancients to take on, but most of all I've refocused efforts on my AWI project. I have nearly all the figures purchased for Brandywine and am making a few purchases for a southern conflict, maybe something with French. Other periods I've recently purchased into or will shortly, 1809 French/Bavarian/Austrian, Sudan (can't decide between 25/15mm), more ACW, and want to get into either the TYW or ECW. I've had an interest in the ECW ever since I got my hands on an early copy of Miniature Wargames featuring an article about Montrose's campaigns. I remember writing a paper about him while in the 8th grade and getting an F, because the teacher thought I just made this person up. A few days of presenting the research material cleared up that.

Along with lead, I've purchased more uniform research tomes and a few books for period reading. I'm about halfway through "FUSILIERS" by Mark Urban and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Urban's writing style is enjoyable and the wealth of information about this regiment and the personalities involved with it are beyond measure to anyone looking for a good period read. My favorite AWI book prior to this has been "Almost a Miracle" by John Ferling. It now has competition.

This winter should be a very productive one on the wargaming front or at least the painting table. After a number of years of non-stop coaching I'm taking a year off to help my health and spend more time with my family. My oldest son and daughter have been wanting to get involved in painting as well so I'll have a couple of assistants. Stay tuned, I promise more frequent posts in the near future.

Cretans

2009-12-31T00:35:00.008-06:00

Today saw the completion of my first set of Cretan archers. The models are of Xyston make and purchased through Brookhurst. This first set is of 8 bases for those armies in FoG that allow up to 8 bases to be used. My MRR list allows for up to 6, but I'm keeping the bigger picture in mind. The next set I do will consist of 12 bases in a different color scheme.

These minis were a real joy to paint. Simple archers yes, but the smoothness of their design, plus an opportunity to play with hues of red, made them that much more enjoyable. I stepped outside my usual Foundry and Vallejo ranges to a nice craft paint called "barn red" in order to find the top color I wanted for their tunics. I painted the models out from the concept of that color; first with the darker undercoats and then with good contrasts in the straps and bags. My general thinking on the color scheme is that they were mercs so they can afford something snazzy, not too snazzy, but better than your average LF.

After painting these, I can't wait until I get to my Antigonid and Classical Indian lists made up mostly of Xyston models.

15mm Numidian Review (pt 1)

2009-12-29T00:13:00.013-06:00

Filling the time when my wife and kids are gone is usually an easy thing to do in this hobby. However, tonight I had paint and primer to watch dry and nothing in the ready stage to paint or put on the blog. My Cretan archers are watching their bases dry and the Roman command is freshly primed. Naturally its time for a completely unscientific, unbiased, and uncomplete...err incomplete (I was on a roll) review of two 15mm ranges of Numidian light horse.

Since I'm about to prime figures from Corvus Belli and WarModelling as possible allied additions to my MRRs they drew the wonka ticket in the comparison lottery. I'm not comparing these in hopes of a "these are better" result, but rather to serve as an information review for those of you looking for a particular look and have questions. I will be producing this without regards to any particular sequence or any real standard. (Note: The figures provided in this review from CB are from Pack 1 of the numidian light horse as by the time the wife approves my monthly allowance, everyplace is out of Pack 2. Things look promising at the Warstore and I hope luck holds till mid January.)

The first thing I always notice about miniatures is that which I have to tackle first and that's flash. In both cases, wow, holy flash. Either I've wronged the flash fates or flash has gotten worse over the last decade. Mold lines and flash were abundant in both cases. The mold lines on the CB's hair was a trick as filing it down interrupted the waves in the hair and took some exacto remodelling to get back.

Once I got the flash situation dealt with and the figures scrubbed I was ready to go ahead and take the size/proportion comparison photos which comprise the bulk of this review. The CB horses and riders are separate as are the shields. The WM figures have 2 molded together and 2 separate while in both cases shields are cast on the figures.

CB Horses

CB Riders

WM Horses

WM Riders

Horses Front and Aerial

Summary
As far as size goes you can see that the WM horses and riders are slightly taller than the CB counterparts. However CB produces a much more robust horse which is something I particularly like. At this point both lines have their merits and it will be a question of personal taste for each gamer deciding. For me the WM horse necks seem a bit long and out of place, but I've heard arguments to the contrary. I'm anxious for these to join the painting cue. When they get onto the painting table I'll continue the review of them as painting subjects. A preliminary look would make me believe different painting styles could benefit these minis uniquely as the WM at first glance make me think they could be a great speed painting subject.

Triari

2009-12-26T01:07:00.009-06:00

During the last moments of Christmas day I finished basing the completed triari for my first legion of MRRs. These are OG 15's and painted up well. These minis represent a couple of firsts for me.

Xyston Spears
I substituted the wire that came packaged with the minis with the spears available through Xyston. My first concern was attaching them as I've rarely encountered this situation aside from the odd standard bearer. After much trial and error I've decided on a method of scoring ridges on the spear and model before applying JB Weld for its fixture. During the painting process they had many an opportunity to come off but always stayed firmly attached.

LBMS Transfers
Back in '08 when I was buying lead and hatching this project I had decided that the triari in each legion would go beyond a plain shield design to further suggest their status. I quickly decided to go the way of LBMS as they offered transfers to fit OG15s. When it came time to try them for the first time I had my doubts, but having read many an endorsement I took the plunge.
At first my doubts were given validation, but only due to my own oversight and possibly some clarification needed by LBMS on their site although I do not fault them. I had purchased the minis and transfers at the same time last year and did not have the minis prior to ordering the transfers. If I had, I would have seen that the OG triari shields are of a slightly different proportion than those of the hastatai/princeps. Not only are the triari shields longer, but the center of the shield is further down the axis. This contrasts with the hastatai/princeps center being exactly that, center. The problem is of course that the transfers are made with the hastatai/princeps in mind.
Rather than withdraw I reinforced the situation and made some slight trimming adjustments and made them fit as best I could. After this I needed to touch them up considerably to match the shield colors and contours. I had a couple of areas of buckling due to the slightly different shape, but that was easily dealt with buy making a small cut and allowing an overlap which after touch ups is not noticeable. Despite the oversight and the extra touch ups I'm happy with the finished product and will use them again. If I have one tip to give any first time LBMS user, its to not get discouraged. At times it may seem like they might not look as good as you hoped, but with a little help and after drying, varnishing etc, they turn out just fine. Even the simple act of application gets easier by the time you get 16 minis done, so keep trying, LBMS has a great product.

Hastatai & Princeps

2009-12-15T02:40:00.008-06:00

Today I finished the 16 bases of Hast/Princ belonging to the first legion in my MRR project. Unfortunately the light I had always used to photograph with burned out and I had to send away for a new bulb, so please forgive the ad hoc lighting.

These are Old Glory's 15mm hastatai and princeps advancing figures. I painted them using the simple technique of 2-3 shade colors over a black primer. At the end of the day I'm pleased with how these turned out, but I feel I can do better on the next legions whenever I choose to take on those.

Once I finish the triari and a group of Cretan archers my next step is undecided. I may go right back into painting the next legion or take a break and do some of the Antigonid force I've collected or put paint to that mound of lead under my desk, aka. an ancient Spanish army from Corvus. There is always the repainting of the my poor AWI Hessians that were lost to an unfortunate Armory Sealant malfunction.

Roman Velites (1)

2009-12-08T06:52:00.002-06:00

This entry is showing the completion of my first batch of MR Romans. My general idea for putting together this army is painting 3 legions in corresponding themes along with the cavalry, optional troops and etc for the FoG list. These velites belong to the first such legion which is painted in a theme featuring a basic white as the main ingredient. I varied the tunic colors with a number of shades ranging from canvas to rawhide. The figures are Old Glory 15's and I'm pleased with how well they turned out after I finished painting.

Basing Revisited

2009-12-07T19:38:00.000-06:00

When contemplating on how I was going to produce base cover and effects for my FoG armies, I was lucky enough to stumble upon a great technique illustrated by Scott MacPhee. Making a visit to the necessary establishments I gathered the supplies needed.

Fine Brown Ballast
Elmers Glue All
Elmers Wood Glue

The items already on hand were the nutmeg brown paint, base sand paint from Foundry, static grass, blended turf and varying sizes of stone ballast.

My only deviations from Scott's process was in style. I used different shades for the base and highlight as well as using both the static grass and blended turf flock. Not great leaps of any sort, just a matter of taste.

The one addition I made was the placing of large stones in the wood glue along with the miniatures to cure. This was done to create the visual of stones emerging from the earth and not merely sitting on top of it.

Moving Complete

2009-12-02T16:06:00.005-06:00

Well this last year saw my family move to a house closer to our work while we look for a more permanent dwelling and my lovely wife has graciously gifted me a small corner in the uppermost level to continue my wargaming pursuits. Although the space is much smaller it will do for now. I'm beginning to see a correlation between family size increasing and gaming space decreasing. On the table you can see many projects in stages of finish. Most prevalent are my MRRs for FoG. I'll be updating their progress in the near future as well as the status of others.

At times working up here reminds me of Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation.

What a busy year!

2009-02-02T18:53:00.002-06:00

Let me tell you its been one busy year. As yet another football season ends and another basketball season nears its end I have been making plans to catch up on my years worth of collecting and the painting which I've done as time permits. The good news for my miniature wargaming side is that I've decided this will be my last year coaching. Too many hours away from the painting table! (I told the wife its to spend more time with her...)

Aside from finishing my ancients project and continuing with AWI and ACW, my reading lately has brought my interest into Napoleonics. I think its safe to say that you'll find me dabbling here, most likely in the direction of Bavarians...or maybe some Russians.

This year will see this blog much more active and thanks to those of you who still drop by.

In the Interim

2008-03-30T09:56:00.006-05:00

I'm currently awaiting a new camera to post any more pictures. Not that I don't like the quality of my previous pictures, but its obvious they could be better. In the meantime I'll give a short update on what I've been up to in the hobby.

Since the release of FOG, I've been buying up a number of ancients. I started with a mid Republican Roman Army made up of mostly Old Glory with a few Tin Soldier and CB for the Numidian Cav. I've also started putting together an Ancient Spanish Army, Iberian. The majority of this has come from CB. I did pick up a few packs of Xyston to see how they'd fit with CB and to be blunt, they are quite large in comparison. However the Xyston are more on par with Old Glory than CB, but having made the leap in bulk with CB, I'll keep swimming in that direction. I'm looking at putting together another 2 armies for the first book, probably Later Macedonia and the Gauls. Once I finish off what's on my table for the ACW, I'll be painting the Rep. Romans.

My AWI project has not seen any new purchases, however I am creeping along with the painting of my Perry Hessians. I do admit to contemplating more purchases weekly for this period, but I need to know where my painting stands with these hessians first. If I do not think my ability is up to par on these I may be doing a number of purchases and shipping them off to somebody else to be done. This, for me, is almost blasphemous as I've never paid for painting before, but time is getting dear and I don't want to stall to long with this project for lack of ability or time.

The ACW project has seen the completion of 2 new brigades which are awaiting their photo op in the near future. I've made a number of purchases here when opportunity has presented itself. The biggest purchase looming is more cavalry. Once I finish what's on my table with these I'll take a short break to do some Ancients.

Last Things Last

2008-02-22T12:11:00.003-06:00

Having finished off a number of the miniatures that I've had hibernating on nails over the winter I came to a stark realization. Basing by my old methods would be a money saving luxury I could no longer afford. Last week I put the chisel, hammer, and Popsicle sticks away I visited Litko. Today my order arrived and I must admit that I am now solidly a convert. Having used metal in the distant past and more recently tried the ultra cheap "do it yourself" method I now believe I'll be a long time customer of theirs. As I'm doing my ACW project in strict JR3 basing interpretation, I needed a number of sizes. Litko definitely delivered on this. As I was already placing an order, I stocked up on the bases I will need for my ancients in the near future, which they stock as standard sizes. The only thing I forgot to do was order up my BG bases for AWI, but I'll grab those next time. After all...I still need to locate and order my GMB flags for that project.

Imminent Return

2008-02-16T08:48:00.002-06:00

The return of regular postings here draws closer as the basketball season winds down. For those of you who don't know me well I'm a youth counselor at a JDC. I'm the head coach for the varsity basketball and football teams that are a part of the facility's high school athletics program. We went 15-2 this season and our last game is this next week. Most of our starters won't be around for sectional playoffs so we won't be competing in them this year. I've been told there is a movie out that pretty much explains what I do, its called "Gridiron Gang." I haven't watched it yet, but will endeavor to do so shortly. Expect a few posts in the next couple of weeks as I resume my ACW, ancients and AWI projects.

Work

2007-09-20T12:33:00.000-05:00

The last couple weeks have been extremely busy at work so my postings have not kept up with the painting table. I will hopefully catch up soon.

Basing Prep and Flock

2007-09-09T05:08:00.000-05:00

Following up on my making of the bases for JR3 in a former entry, I thought it prudent to explain how I finish the basing.

Tacky Glue

Toothpicks

Black Medium Ballast (Woodland Scenics B83)

Blended Turf (Woodland Scenics T49)

1 Bag Dark Green Static Grass

1 Bag Light Green Static Grass

I begin by using "Tacky Glue" that dries clear (a bottle is shown in one of the photos) which is available at wal-mart for a couple bucks at most. I use toothpicks to spread out the glue to minimize the chance of glue getting on the figures. The Tacky Glue bottle is fitted with a nice long nosed applicator so the work needed is minimal. The next step is to dip the base in a container of the black ballast; lightly shaking or blowing off the excess. This is then allowed to dry completely. The need for this step is found in the need to even off the level of the ground. Depending on manufacture the figures could have a considerable chunk of base and simply adding flock will give the look of each man on his own little mountain.

After the glue is dry I take a toothpick and lightly rub it over the ballast to reveal any loose material and remove those. This accomplished, the bases and material are given a coat of catachan green from GW. A number of colors could be used here to give the ballast different appearances such as rocks that appear among the grass to be added etc. The paint is then allowed to dry fully.

After the paint dries I issue a coat of tacky glue again and dip in the Blended Turf. As this dries you'll see some material absorbed fully, when I observe this I will give a second dip. This avoids an "in glass" look for your flocking. Once this dries I add random spots of glue. I mix the dark and light static grass as the dark is generally too dark and the light is way too light. I take pinches of this mixture and apply it to the spots of glue, blowing off any excess. The blowing will also get some of the static to fan and stand upright.

That's it, there are many ways to do it, I have in the past mixed sandbox sand with the blended turf for a different look. For other periods I will attempt other techniques and endeavor to post them here. Good luck and I hope some of you find this useful.

Dip Failure

2007-09-06T16:45:00.000-05:00

While continuing to paint the rest of the Iron Brigade I decided to dabble a bit in this so called "magic dip" stuff. The victims were to be the 84th New York; part of the next brigade I plan to paint. I purchase the proper stain, prime white and use all light colors. The end result was a major disappointment. Not only did I have to spend more time painting then my usual method, as I had to go over and over again with highlighting paint creating detail where the poly removed it, but I also ended up with a look that seemed to cheapen the paint job. Completely unsatisfied, these minis have been stripped clean and primed again for their second go at the painting table, which should directly follow my completion of the Iron Brigade. I'm running low on spray black primer, I prefer Armory or Citadel, but since domestic law states they must be shipped ground only I'm looking for a place close by from which to order.

24th Michigan

2007-08-28T15:27:00.000-05:00

These figures represent my first paint job of union troops since I started gaming again. They are also from the lot purchased from Mark aka Extra Crispy at Scale Creep with state colors being carried by an AB figure. I have no reservations about recommending these miniatures to anybody. They prime and paint clean with room to play as far as how much detail you want to abstract (a common practice for me in 15mm). These particular figs were primed black and painted with craft, vallejo paints, and GW paint. This unit allowed me to find my stride as far as Union colors go. I've always been put off by most of my attempts to paint Union troops; the coats are never dark enough and the pants are always too light and blue. With these I'm very happy, the legs are a basecoat of Folk Art's Sterling Blue with a wash of Wrought Iron (has a greenish hue when thinned). I then highlighted by mixing the Sterling Blue and Vallejo's Light Sea Grey. The coats are based in Folk Art's Midnight Blue with a black wash then highlighted again with shades of the base coat.

I made the fence from square toothpicks with the ends cut off after which they were dipped in a random wood stain I found in the house.

Rather pleased with the effect produced by the cannonball hole in the US Flag.

The Postman Rang Twice...

2007-08-28T12:47:00.000-05:00

Well not actually, but figuratively. Not only did the samples I requested from RSM show up in today's post, but also part of my first order of Perry's. This is the first time I can recall seeing RSM minis and I find them more than adequate. It's not fair to compare them to Perry's for detail and quality as few can be, but I believe I'll be able to work a few units of these minis in somewhere. I decided when I started to play the field of minis as wide as possible and although Perry and Foundry will make up 90% of my armies, I will make room for some of these. The Continentals can always use more variety and RSM's price can't be beat.

Using Perry as my measuring stick Its safe to say that RSM are a couple of mm shorter, but not much. They are a tad thinner, but this helps with the difference in height as this gives RSM a taller look proportionally. Below I've posted a few photos so you can all give them a look, I've not researched yet and no stock numbers were provided so showing my "greenness" in the period I concede I know not the exact troop classification for each model. The 4 Perry's in the group photo are 2 Hesse-Cassel Musketeers and 2 Hesse-Cassel Grenadiers.

First Reb Brigade

2007-08-26T23:18:00.000-05:00

Well I burned some midnight oil and finished up my first reb brigade. These are meant to represent Law's Brigade in the Gettysburg ANV OOB. All figures are 15mm Old Glory and flags used are from warflag.com. Although I have not researched the flags in in detail, when and if I find better ones to use, then I will replace these, but generally I believe these will work fine.

I've decided to use a unit marker on the back of each command stand. This contains informaion like "I/1 4th Ala ER" Meaning First Corp, First Division, 4th Alabama Regiment, and game ranking, in this case "elite rifles". These are glued directly onto the base and are void of basing material. One photo is provided in which you can see these markers.

First Reb Regiment

2007-08-25T21:04:00.000-05:00

Here is a look at the first reb regiment to make it back all the way from the stripping brew to the painting table and back on to my own homemade cut bases. These are painted using a black primer and an assortment of gray's, browns, and other hue's to get a good mixture but maintain some common colors, mostly in the lighter gray and prevalence of captured yankee pants. I will vary colors more from brigade to brigade, but within each brigade there will be a hint of cohesion, but not much more. For now, these pictures will give you all an idea of my state of painting, which I was myself anxious to see. Overall I'm okay with the job, but not really pleased. I have a long way to go to get to where I want to be (its been a long 10 years away), but hey, this is the first step. I had a little fun adding the blood stained head bandage and some flag dmg, both I will claim as tiny meaningless painting victories. The figures are all Old Glory 15mm and the original pre-work flags are from warflag.com.

After I finish the current brigade I will also look into some alternative painting techniques. I may try that "dip" method, although on face value I'm not expecting much. That's for the next brigade...maybe.

Slightly Annoyed

2007-08-24T22:33:00.000-05:00

Having learned this week about Brookhurst Hobbies' weeklong anniversary sale and noticing that their Xyston Greeks were part of what was onsale I decided this was a good time to start building those armies. My plan was to buy in bulk to take full advantage of their sale. At a dollar off per pack I was going to be saving some money. I did some reading on their site and learned that items backordered or not in stock at the time of the sale would not be given as a sale price. Dissapointed by this I thought, "no big deal." I will order what they have in stock for the bulk of my armies and what isn't I'll gladly put on back order. A sale is a sale after all and I'm still saving money. Expecting to maybe get in an order of about 60 packs or a $200 budget depending on what was in-stock on sale and what I'd have to pay regular price. To determine my order, and get in as much under budget as possible, I shot off an email to them requesting stock on 3 or 4 pack numbers, the mass of my armies, the hoplites, expecting to go ahead and order online as soon as I knew the amount available. A couple days later I received an email back which read in regard to my stock check request:

"We are not doing stock checks on sale items, the availability may change from one day to the next."

Taking into account the above points about the sale price and out of stock items, I was generally put off by this response. I'm of the general impression that it shouldn't be hard to spend money and as an e-commerce developer for years I generally told my clients to encourage their customers' spending. I don't wish to knock Brookhurst too harshly, they've always seemed like the nice sort and I will at some point do a considerable amount of business with them, but this month I'm going in anoher direction.

First Order of Perry's

2007-08-17T22:28:00.000-05:00

Today witnessed my first order of Perry Miniatures for my AWI project. I decided to begin by doing vonDonop's musketeers along with their Grenadier for use later in a combined battalion. This is my first experience with The War Store and I'd have to say that I'm already pleased by Neal's willingness to communicate about orders. I've had a few sites not get back to me for nearly a week recently when asking about figures. Neal delivers and I can see this turning into a long customer/retailer relationship. I also picked up a few sets of Foundry paint.

Old Glory Order

2007-08-15T20:00:00.000-05:00

Today I was able to finalize a special order from Old Glory 15's. Containing mostly specific command figure types and enough bucktails to fit the regiments in my OOB, I'm very pleased to get this done and look forward to its arrival. Jay proved extremely helpful and I also look forward to ordering more figures via special order in the future.

Orders, Orders, Orders (2)

2007-08-09T16:16:00.000-05:00

I was informed today that the last shipment in my first round of orders has been shipped. This shipment contained the back order items of 10mm and British Grenadier from WarWeb.com.

I'd have to say that each and every one of the companies I did business with delivered with 0 complaints from me. Some went further and provided outstanding service that, in my experiences as a consumer and as an e-commerce professional, has largely become nonexistent. It was good to see it live on in some quarters.

JR3 Basing

2007-08-07T21:15:00.000-05:00

So far my main point of concern with the new Johnny Reb edition is that the basing has gone from 5 stands to 4. Since none of my infantry survived, rebasing is not the issue, its the effect the change has on table appeal; that which I find in smaller ratios and more lead. Finally giving JR3's concept the benefit of the doubt, I play tested the rules with variable unit frontages and 4 stands to regiment. We did so without miniature eye candy, instead we used counters to give the full weight of the experience to the rules themselves. In the end I was very happy and the tests won over a convert to wargaming, my 18 year old nephew.

Unfortunately the accepting of this change brought me face to face with a new problem. The variable unit frontages for JR3 would mean purchasing many sizes of bases. I know many out there would say "just get one or two sizes and call it good" but I'm of the notion that if I'm getting wet, I might as well go swimming, so its variable frontage for me. Litko was an appealing option, I will no doubt use them for my AWI and other periods, but for basing two entire armies with up to 5 different stand widths just for infantry I had to come up with something else. Not to mention the sizes I needed were not stock, but would have had to be custom cut. Also, I wanted to save money, if possible, on basing the ACW forces so that I can spend more dough on lead. My thoughts of Perry AWI always in my mind.

To solve the problem I looked for a constant and what I found was stand depth, which is constant at 3/4 inch. With a little thinking and a few minutes rummaging through the house examining everything in small dimension, I came upon what was to prove my solution. Popsicle sticks! Well not the skinny ones, but the large variety come in the exact depth I need 3/4.

The next issue was the cutting of said sticks. Lacking a laser I needed a solid solution that could produce consistent results. I tried xacto'ing, dremel'ing, and even gave the mini craft table saw a go. None of these worked. There was chipping, splintering, inconsistency, and every other problem under the sun. It wasn't long before I had a breakthrough. I was watching some show on tv and a guy was using a hand chisel to shape some wood. I thought to myself that if those things are sharp enough I could probably make a precise cut with one or two whacks. Sure enough, after testing a few times, the sticks proved soft enough to secure the chisel then with a couple of whacks it was cut clean. I did find that using a block of wood underneath was best, preferably a piece with a knot in it (for extra density) directly under the cutting.

The glorious upside to all of this would be that it is extremely cheap.

$15 chisel
$0 Hammer (had one)
$3.95 for 75 sticks or you can get a box of 300 for $3.80, but there are more irregularities in the box. These are Wal-Mart prices.
$0 small square (to draw straight lines. had one)

Under the basing guidelines I'm using, at the largest size stand, you can get 1 regiment's stands to a stick. A lot more if you count the smaller sizes needed. Considering the largest size only, one bag of sticks will give me 300 bases for $3.95. Below are some pictures to give you an idea. Some are darker to aid in the pencil marks showing up.

The only thing not listed here that I will do in the future is adhere materials on the bottom for magnetic storage capability.

AB

2007-08-06T22:10:00.000-05:00

I have placed an order for a number of AB figures from Eureka USA to supplement my need for command. As their website is tempting I found myself securing a number of dismounted cavalry for future use and some kepi zouaves for the 84th NY. I actually ended up placing 2 separate orders, but they quickly realized this and refunded the shipping on one order. A+ service!

Painting Desk

2007-08-06T07:29:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend I've been busy trying to take my painting desk from concept to completion. The frame is very basic; 2-2 drawer filing cabinets with a piece of 3/4 inch plywood cut to fit width wise on top. I glued a piece of compressed fiber board on top of this to create a nice work space. I may eventually go to a sheet of plexi-glass on top, but at this point I don't see the need. I have built a five foot, 4 tier, paint stand that will be fastened on top to display paints. I have also hung a set of four foot shop lights above the desk and slightly towards where I'll be sitting to negate shadow while I work. I will post photos shortly.

Having reached completion and primed some miniatures for its christening, I've taken and added some photos.

Paints (2)

2007-08-02T22:06:00.000-05:00

I took my daughter shopping for kindergarten school supplies today and as I'm still on the lookout for a number of paints I happened into an old hobby/comic store that at one time served as the closest outlet to GW stuff. It turns out that a few months prior to my stopping in they had decided to no longer stock any GW merchandise and had successfully blown it all out the door. However there remained a shelf the manager desperately wanted for other products that was currently home to 167 Citadel/GW paints. He let me have the lot of them for $20. It turned out that I not only was given 167 individual paints but he kept throwing stuff in the box; 3 cans of citadel spray paints/primers, 3 GW dry brushing brushes, and a couple bottles of zap a gap. Obviously there were more than a few duplicate paints, but despite this, I believe I had officially struck gold. My daughter made out very well that day as well. We found not only all her supplies, but a number of nice clothes and a lovely bean bag chair of a rather loud purple color. She also enjoyed her first taste of Moose Tracks ice cream at our favorite ice cream shoppe. Her previous favorite had been the Cotton Candy flavor.

Paints

2007-07-26T12:56:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately none of my paints from long ago survived. This has left me with the problem of securing new ones. My old collection was rather vast and well established in colors and pigments discovered over time. I've begun by ordering a few vallejo that seemed prudent, a number of their washes, metallics and flesh tones. I've also managed to visit a few craft stores like "Hobby Lobby" and "Wal-Mart" where I was able to secure a number of colors on the cheap. One particular day saw a sale at Hobby Lobby where all craft paints were on sale 40%. I walked out with about 80 or so ranging from Folk-Art and Americana at 60 cents apiece to Anita's at 30 cents each. A few mom and pop hobby stores had the brushes on hand to fill out what I needed and I've also secured some Future at the local hardware store. All in all not a bad start, but pale in comparison to my former array. I'm looking towards getting a good selection of Citadel and at some point Foundry to fill any gaps and cover a few particulars.

Orders, Orders, Orders...

2007-07-24T17:27:00.000-05:00

Today and yesterday I completed my first round of web orders in accordance with the decisions I've made recently.

Warweb.com:

Johnny Reb 3
British Grenadier
British Grenadier Scenario Booklet
American War of Independence by Greg Novak Vol 1 & 2
A few assorted 10mm OG AWI packs

GFI Online:

2 packs of 10mm OG AWI

Old Glory:

1 bag of confederate command figures

Scale Creep:

A bunch of Hardee Hat infantry with enough command to do the brigade
A number of Vallejo Paints

Amazon.com:

Uniforms of the Civil War: An Illustrated Guide for Historians, Collectors, and Reenactors by Robin Smith and Ron Field
Don Troiani's Regiments and Uniforms of the Civil War by Don Troiani, Earl J. Coates, and Michael J. McAfee

It's So Easy...

2007-07-23T09:50:00.000-05:00

Looking far and wide for information about stripping miniatures free of paint I found a lot of information and even semi-scientific experimentation and their data. However, since Iowa is right above Missouri, I occasionally feel the twinge of "show me" and that's just what the leading contenders would have to do. Rather than use any typical paint thinner I thought it would be more fun and useful to survey the top household products.

The Contestants:

300+ Miniatures of Old Glory's ACW line, primed and painted over a decade ago. Primer is of Armory black and paints are of citadel, a few craft paints, and whatever brand Stone Mountain sold back then. The sealant was of Armory, matte.

Simple Green

Easy Off (no odor variety and heavy duty original)

Pine-Sol (lemon odor)

4 "Hard" or "Stiff" bristled Johnson and Johnson toothbrushes

Almost in the guise of a "300" movie parody, 300 miniatures are put to the test against 3 powerhouse household products!

The Method:

Three test subjects were placed individually in 4 jars along with one variety of solution. Another 3 large jars were each placed with 1/4 of the remaining miniatures and likewise with one variety of solution apiece. The individual jars were examined every hour for paint adherence, nothing rough, we are looking for penetration of paint and separation. In each case the solutions are not watered down or diluted at all.

The Results:

Simple Green
The much talked about and celebrated Simple Green failed me almost completely. Checking hourly on the test subjects during my awake hours the first two days I saw nothing but the slightest flake. After 3 days I removed the large sample jar and attempted a scrub, 50% of the paint remained after a stiff bristle Johnson and Johnson was finished.

Pine-Sol
Aside from the pleasant odor, little was found pleasing about this product. It performed above Simple Green, but still left large amounts of paint post-scrub 3 days later.

Easy Off
The king, winner, the undisputed champion of this contest. Within 3 hours I could scrub the miniatures free of paint. After 3 days of failing me, the other products were kicked to the curb and the miniatures given under an hour in Easy Off. The result was easily scrubbed, totally clean miniatures. The jar of scent free and original heavy duty performed equally.

In summation the performance of Easy off had me remembering a really old commercial show tune of theirs. Fortunately for my manhood and pride's sake, I could only remember the "It's so easy...." part.

Decisions

2007-07-20T06:32:00.000-05:00

Following many a good read and advice offered around the web I finally came to a few decisions. I'm going to pick up where I left off with the ACW in 15mm as well as start building up AWI armies, at this point decided upon 25mm to take advantage of Perry's line, but I will be ordering some 10mm as I'm intrigued.

So where to begin? After much debate and trepidation I've decided upon continuing along my Johnny Reb roots and will obtain the new edition. The changes in basing particularly has given me pause, along with the fewer figures required as I enjoy the massed look on a tabletop. The great Y!Group that supports JR3 has helped me, if not to overcome my doubts and fears than to at least face them with a little more hope.

I've decided to build around the ANV and AoP at the outset of the Lee's invasion in '63. This will provide for many "what if" scenarios and historical encounters. Tallying up my present lead I decided to begin with the 1st Corps for each army. Although not equal entities in strength I believe building in this manner of Corps will prove the most hassle free in the long run.

Manufacture is still a slight spot of contention. I've always used Old Glory for infantry and Essex for cavalry, but with so much out there to choose from I may play the field a bit more wide. In the spirit of this I was able to obtain samples from Scale Creep and being rather impressed I'm confident that I will be using their miniatures for my Iron Brigade. The only thing I have to look out for is that in the "advancing pose" they cover a lot of ground and JR3 calls for a 3/4 inch deep base.

One thing I am certain of; my old lead needs a bath and I need to find the right brew...

Directions

2007-07-10T15:03:00.000-05:00

My excitment continues at the rediscovering of a much loved hobby. Magazines, books and rules have been reread. Visiting my many previous bookmarked forums and discussions I utilized the valuable information so many of you out there provide. I now face a need of direction. My main interests would include ancients, ACW, ECW, Colonials, Napoleonics, some skirmish 20th century and anything 18th century, espeicially the AWI (not much that I don't have an interest in). Having a rather large personal library of history books and biographies (my one lifelong bad habit) I have begun to reread many old passages looking for inspirational direction and anything to jumpstart old memories of games past.

My present inclinations are towards beginning again with the ACW and AWI. Further research is in order; rules, figures, paints, all are to be determined.

Wargaming Archaeology

2007-07-08T23:56:00.000-05:00

Having made the decision to wargame once again I needed to find out exactly where I was and where I wanted to go. My first acts included using the web where I proceeded to get liberal with the bookmark button. On a side note, my appreciation of a browser's bookmark feature was never fully realized until I had children. Finding many great forum's, groups and blogs I was able to find out that the hobby hadn't changed that much in the last decade. There were some new rules, some old ones had gone out of print and sure the information age had taken its toll on the genre, but for the most part, the state of the actual act of miniature wargaming was just as I had left it. Unfortunately, the boxes that I had packed up 10 years prior had not had as calm an existence.

As much of my old collection was stored in one of our family homes, much had gone missing, some had deteriorated due to dampness and freaks of plumbing/heating. All in all though I'd have to say that my excitement to rejoin the wargaming ranks produced a solid "cup half full" attitude. I found many miniatures, some of my long ago youth including some old space marine epic rhinos with their tracks still ingrained with spray flock snow for window decorations; our early attempts to recreate winter battles. I will not go into all our youthful experimentation when attempting to create atmosphere, but I will say that smoke bombs do produce a Fog of War element, even if they do cause your gaming room to be filled with smoke, eyes water and invite fits of coughing.

The search widening and the dig deepening I finally came across the treasure trove of Miniature Wargames magazines and historical material. In total I was able to find much of my Old Glory and Essex miniatures, a liberal estimate at placed at 60% their original strength. Despite metal bases and magnetic strips in containers many had broken free and been chipped past repair. Only a few stands here or there remained intact, namely a canon, a cavalry stand and one Confederate Divisional General. If my plans took me down the path of the ACW again I knew there was work to be done...

Introduction

2007-07-07T19:01:00.000-05:00

After much time and consideration I've decided to create this space to communicate my return to wargaming as well as my interests and pursuits within the hobby. Its my hope that you will find this entertaining and maybe helpful in your own wargaming ventures. The many wonderful, informative and helpful blogs and forums which I have found, upon my return, have been invaluable to me and weighed heavily in my decision to take on this endeavor. In summation this is my own little effort to contribute to the hobby's collective information online and hopefully advancement.

As always, thank you for stopping by.