Three Years Old...

Yes... Three years....

It actually feels like a lot longer... mind you the last six months feel like a decade...


Hobby wise... I think this year has been really good (apart from the recent lack of games)...
I am not going to give everyone a detailed breakdown of everything I have done ... but here are a few thoughts...


My main (for the moment) projects have moved on steadily...
The Spanish War of Succession.
Shiny Napoleonics.
3rd Century Rome
And my various Drums and Shako's collections are all looking good...


They will of course never be finished...


I have a nice Little Fantasy/Bronze Age project up and running which I am enjoying immensely.


I have shelved the idea of doing The French Revolution.. not because I don't like it ...I just think that it needs more investment than my butterfly will allow at the moment (wow! did I just say that)


Temptations.... yes... there are many...
I still have a lot of love for Napoleons Egyptian Campaign and The First Carlist War...
The Shiny 42mm 1830's Germans are still there... I have actually done a little bit of sculpting in that direction but it is still a fair way off...
We will have to see what the butterfly says...


I have really enjoyed and appreciated all the support and comments from everyone (humans that is...).


Lets hope that the next year is only interesting on the wargames table...


Take care and look after yourselves...


All the best   Aly.

A Song of Blades and Bronze... Sea Peoples Archers.

Greetings...


Just a couple of figures for this project this time...
Two Sea Peoples archers...

These chaps have been painted in the same way as their comrades...
I am rather pleased with the blue 'crest' on the kneeling figure.


The Kilts and Helmet Crests are... Citadel...  Evil Sunz Scarlet and Lothern Blue



The miniatures are...
https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/the-sea-peoples-bronze-age-mediterrenean-raiders

The bases are...
https://warbases.co.uk/product-category/bases/round-cornered-bases/


The paints are Wargames Foundry and Citadel...
https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/paint
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Painting-Modelling


As before these have been a real pleasure to paint... I have some Northern European warriors in the painting queue so more tattoos and plaid ahead...


All the best   Aly

A Song of Drums and Shakos... British Light Infantry.

Greetings...


Here are a few more additions to this collection... British Light Infantry...


The 43rd Regiment of Foot...

I went for these guys because I fancied painting some British with white facings... they are of course from that... now venerable... Perry Miniatures plastic box set...
I was a bit short of the appropriate arms so I had to sculpt the wings on a couple of figures...




The Tunic is... Citadel... Evil Sunz Scarlet.
The White Bits are... Citadel... Pallid Wych Flesh.
The Greatcoat... Citadel... Administratum Grey.
The Water Bottle is... Citadel... Thunderhawk Blue.
The Water Bottle Strap is... Citadel... Skrag Brown.
The Plume is... Citadel... Warboss Green.
The Knapsack is... Foundry... Buff Leather 7B.


Everything was given a wash of Aly's Brown Liquid.


The Straps were highlighted up to pure White and the Braid was given an extra highlight of Wych Flesh plus some White....


I am pleased with how these have come out... They are nice and bright... Which is what I was looking for... 
They of course now need a Sergeant or possibly a dashing Officer in a Pelisse...


The Miniatures are...
https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_62&products_id=1655&osCsid=skanqccc3tiki0nnub28gh34m0


Paints from...
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Painting-Modelling

And...
https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/paint


The bases are Warbases...
https://warbases.co.uk/


Something Shiny next I think...


All the best   Aly

A New Book... The British Raid on Essex.

Greetings...
I am reading this book at the moment...

The British Raid on Essex .... The forgotten battle of the War of 1812 by Jerry Roberts...

https://www.bookdepository.com/British-Raid-on-Essex-Jerry-Roberts/9780819574763

This is a really interesting, well written and enjoyable read with plenty maps and illustrations....
Even if you are not interested in the War of 1812... This would make a great scenario for any period

All the best.   Aly

1913 Belgian & French Military Exercises....

Greetings...

Michael Perry just sent me this YouTube clip...
So it thought I would share it.... it’s rather interesting/good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcoXi4uJiMU&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR3qjq8VXnbwJ4bq8MOHW5ov3ONEFuD7lGOhSMxNCesB3pt16a1KZ_SdIKc

All the best.   Aly

Some Walls and a Field...

Greetings...


While setting up the table to have another virtual game with Mharaid I decided I needed some more walls... which lead me to make a field as well...

These are the walls I wanted to use...

They are a set made by Italeri...
They are quite nice if a bit on the fussy side as far as assembly is concerned... There is a lot of bits and pieces...

For the base of the field I used a 3mm cake board cut to size... This one came from our local pound shop... I actually bought all they had.... I know I will find a use for them...

The walls have been stuck together and gaps have been filled with putty...
The cake board has had its shiny surface removed and abused and the walls attached along with an offcut of board to give a bit of shape to the field.

 

I added texture and undercoated the walls and the field with grey primer.... Then realised that I had forgotten to add a few rocks... Sigh!

Everything was painted and highlighted...
I used sample pots from various brands of emulsion...And gave the walls a wash of Aly's Brown Liquid.

 
The field was finished using various kinds of flock and grass matting... again from a mixture of sources.
I also added a bit of additional colour to some of the stones in the walls.

Some views of the walls and field on the table...


I enjoyed making these... It was a nice change from painting miniatures...
I also have enough walls to make another couple of fields... and more than enough cake bases.


All the best   Aly

A Slight Distraction... 40mm AWI

Greetings...


I recently picked up a couple of the Front Rank 40mm AWI to see what they were like...
My butterfly decided that it was time to paint them up...


https://www.frontrank.com/product-category/40mm-awi/

These are lovely... not so little... toy soldiers.
They were a real pleasure to paint... although they took a bit longer than I expected.


Would I paint more of them?


Probably... but not right now... They would certainly make for a nice skirmish based collection.


All the best   Aly