Greetings…
So I have finally got most of my newly acquired Terrain Boards tucked away in my cellar… Just a small amount of shuffling around and it will be done…Hurrah!
But being a butterfly with limited patience who is easily lead I decided to set up my new Painting Desk.
Oh! How beautiful and tidy it looks…
Oh! How that won’t last š¤£…
I think I shall get a little bit of painting done this afternoon… And then dust down and set up the Photo Booth.
I do like retirement š.
All the best. Aly
Greetings…
It is a 1:1 3D Printed Tiger Tank Muzzle Break…
I think it took a fair bit of building…
It was built in parts , then assembled, filled, sanded and then given a Red Oxide factory finish.
Given how much the replica weighs the real thing must have been difficult to handle…
If it ( the muzzle)was damaged I can’t imagine how you would attempt a field repair…
My friend has files for the Ammunition and the Tracks… I have of course suggested that he builds the whole tank ( The biggest ‘ Part Work ‘ in history as my daughter said)… He didn’t say yes… but he didn’t say no š¤£š¤£š¤£.
All the best Aly
You have ever been given…
I finally retired nearly two weeks ago (1st May)…
My apologies for not posting sooner.
I’ve been a bit busy / distracted sorting things/ stuff out… but I have managed a bit more re-basing and I have started painting some Shiny Napoleonics….Hurrah !
Anyway… back to my gift.
On my retirement day we had a fairly sedate but very enjoyable get together in Bugmans Bar…
And one of my good friends confused quite a few people by giving me this…
Can you tell what it is?
Greetings…
Here are a couple more colour tests…
The first is of course the Hanoverian Light Infantry…
I painted them as a Danish Fyn Regiment Pikeman, a Swedish Dal Regiment Junior Officer and a Swedish Halland Regiment Musketeer…. All from the Scanian War.
I am rather pleased with the results…but I will not be adding any more at the moment as I have shiny little people to get on with…
All the best… Aly
Greetings…
I’m posting this for two reasons…
One… To show you the test paint jobs I have done for my planned Tintin project and a little reworking on some STS figures.
Two… To see if Blogger will let me š¤š.
These represent Syldavians…
I’ve gone for a rather Soviet look… With nice simple bases.
These are some of my Shiny Toy Soldiers Schleswig- Holstein figures…
As I was putting them out on the shelves I realised that this collection is all over the place… Mixed basing style and sizes, some quite yellowish varnish and more figures than I really need/want for a game
So I thought I would try a quick bit of tidying up on these as well…subtle shading with a bit of lining out…
Similar to what Greenwood and Ball used to do back in the day…
I’m in no mad rush to do more with the STS stuff at the moment…The butterfly is heading for Tintin š
All the best Aly
Greetings…
Well it’s taken longer than I thought to get this post written up…
I think it’s just been one of these years…
For me it started of with Flu… And a hospital visit.š³š
I’ve also had two Cataract operations… Which I must say has made a massive improvement to my life.
I have now got some decent prescription reading glasses for my close up work , but on a day to day basis I don’t need really need any glasses at all… ( I do however carry a pair of shop bought £3.99 readers in my pocket… just in caseš)
The house has been ( and still is) a bit of a building site… but the Cellar is now finished as is the work on my Wargames Room…
The only thing to do is get all my books and toys back on their shelves… This has been a slow process as I have had a rather bad Fibromyalgia flare up which has made moving me and objects rather painful.
Bit by bit I am getting there…
Most of these boxes are now empty and all my toy soldiers are where they should be…
Painting as a result of all this has been at a minimum… but I have assembled quite a few figures in preparation for my retirement…
Yup!
Retirement! Hurrah!… The plan is April.
So!
What are my hobby plans for the future?
I have planned out/ prepared/ front loaded for 6 - 8 projects/Collections.
In “All Plastic “…
Khazar Wars… Two forces for Lion Rampant…Khazars v’s Rus… Victrix Miniatures….8-10 units a side, all assembled while I was waiting for my eyes to heal…
The first thing I painted after the operations was a test unit for the Rus.
The Hundred Days…
Two moderate sized forces…All plastic… Made up of units that I think are pretty, based up in a way that will hopefully allow me to use a number of different rules systems.
I have already treated myself to a painted unit by my chum Mark Hargreaves at Over Open Sights.
http://over-open-sights.blogspot.com/2025/09/vive-l-empereur.htmlOver Open Sights: Vive L' Empereur!
In “ Metal “…
Pyrrhic Wars…
This is probably one of the bigger planned projects…
Four factions… Each 8 - 10 units strong…
Pyrrhic, Hellenistic Greek, Republican Roman and Carthaginian…
I have all the castings I need ( well probably more than I need š¤)
Vandal Wars…
Vandals v’s Byzantines… Two forces for Lion Rampant 8 - 10 units a side with options for expansion.
I also have all the castings I need…Maybe š
Of course let’s not forget the Late Romans that I have just acquired from my friend David Bickley…
I have some rebasing to do… But I do have all I need…. Yeah!… Maybe š¤š¤£
Tintin…
A small project using Mark Copplestone’s beautiful “Marks Little Soldiers “
https://www.copplestonecastings.co.uk/list.php?cat=23&page=1Mark's Little Soldiers - Copplestone Castings
Not sure where this will go… But I’m thinking Rebels and Patriots or Men Who Would be Kings…
Syldavia v’s Borduria… What’s not to like.
Oh!…
And there is The Lord of the Rings…
A bit of an outrider here…
I’ve been collecting various bits and pieces… Thinking “Dragon Rampant “…
We will see where this goes as I always found it difficult painting Fantasy/Sci-Fi as it reminds me too much of Work… But as I won’t be working things might be different.
Also…
The Youngsters are planning something WW2… Set around operation Knights Move… I’m thinking a little force of Paratroopers… Maybe a Stug or two š
There also maybe a visit to “Pillage” later… I’m thinking Normans.
This is all on top of adding a few new units to my existing collections…
Well…
That’s the plan… Sort of…
I certainly won’t be bored…
But we all know what happens to plans….
All the best Aly.
Greetings …
I saw this book….
Now anyone who knows me knows that there was no way I was going to walk past this one š¤£
David Price combines a history of the development and production of this beautiful aircraft combined with an account of how he decided to built a full scale replica in his own back garden…
I am looking forward to reading this š
And now something silly…
Greetings…
I thought I would see if a magnifying light will be of some help until I get both eye’s sorted and new reading glasses bought…
I been trying it out when cleaning up plastic bits and assembling figures…. It took a bit of getting used to but it does help a bit… I am wondering if a larger lens area make things easier.
I don’t think I will be using it for painting miniatures at the moment… As I have no real depth of field.
I can possibly see me using it in the future…
I know a few people who use magnifiers of some sort… They have said it took them a bit to get used to but now they don’t know what they would do without them…
This is all new to me š
All the best. Aly
Greetings….
I decided that I could do with an Airbrush…Yup! This is what happens when you have time on your hands š
I have had one before…Many years ago.. So it was interesting to see how the quality and pricing has changed over the years…
I bought a Harder and Steenbeck Ultra… From Element Games…
https://elementgames.co.uk/paints-hobby-and-scenery/Airbrushes-accessories/harder-and-steenbeck/ultra-series/ultra-2024ULTRA 2024 - Ultra Series | Element Games
Greetings…
Last weekend saw this years gathering of The Wild Geese Wargamers…
As always it was a joy of an event…. Excellent Company, Excellent Food and Excellent Games…
I took part in three games… And much to everyone’s …( Including mine ) surprise… I did quite well š.
Okay….
Here are the pictures…
Off course the first thing I did was go straight into Shiny 42mm Seven Years War…
Steve’s game was based on The Combat of Domstadtl-1758…
I was one of the Austrian ambushers…
Steve produced an impressive amount of wagons… All of which had to get over the bridge and off the table…
Our glorious Austrians attack the convoy… Vigorously.
It was close… But eventually the Austrians block off the bridge from the Prussians and started to cut them up bit by bit.
Hurrah!
Next up…
More Seven Years War…This time from Ken… And more wagons trying to get away over a bridge…
I was on the Austrian side…
The bridge with the wagons in the middle distance…
