What a busy year!

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.

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In the Interim

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.

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Last Things Last

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.

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Imminent Return

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.

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Work

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.

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Basing Prep and Flock

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.

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Dip Failure

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.

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