2nd Silesian Landwehr

It seems that I'm not prioritizing well these days and I'm letting things like work and household duties interfere with my hobby.  I finally completed (mostly) some Landwehr cavalry but it's taken a week or more to get around to writing this post.  I'm leaving tomorrow for family vacation so if I don't do it now, it might not happen.  

This is the 2nd Silesian Landwehr Cavalry Regiment as per Age of Eagles 2.  Eight figures mounted on four bases.  Pardon the static grass, it is freshly applied and hasn't been blown yet.  

 These were a rough go for me.  It seemed there was a constant flow of distractions.  I think from beginning to end it took almost 3 weeks to complete.  I soldiered on, no matter the distraction, and was determined to bring up the level of painting.

 I see now that I forgot some of the details, notably the tacks on the pennants.  I'll have to get back to that.

The camera really isn't kind. First, it doesn't show all of the blends and highlights that I thought would be captured.  You can't tell the white his a bright highlight over an off-white base, for instance.  I did some light and color correction of these images after I cropped them so it is probably my fault.

 The camera also shows all the mistakes.  I don't think I appreciated the courage required to post one's work subject to zoomable scrutiny until I put my own out there.

I feel pretty good about the horse technique.  I used this as an opportunity to develop the color palette and recipes.  I have too many of the sorrel but it was an exercise for me.  There are three different shades of chestnut and I'm happy with all of them. This is also the first white horse I didn't want to strip down once completed (although in the images it seems really white.  Again, my fault.)

When it's said and done, I'm happy with the results.   I'm pretty critical of my own work and I see many things I could do to improve them but eventually you have to call them done and move on to the next.

I'm calling these done and moving on to the last 8 stands of Reserve Infantry to finish out the RIR formations of the corps.

And here we are with the view I'll have of them on the table.  Maybe I should concentrate more on the backs than the fronts seeing as how I don't get to see the fronts often.  

Next up is the progress on the RIR.  It's the first time I've tried to paint this many figures (32) at one time.  I'm already facing having to paint mostly shades of gray.  That quickly numbs the mind.  Hopefully the volume doesn't snap my tenuous hold on reality.

Next Side Project

I'm finishing up the bases of my latest Prussian unit and while I was waiting for them to dry I pondered whether I should start slapping gray on Reserve Infantry or dabble.

Dabble won.  (To be fair, most anything would win over slapping gray on Reserve Infantry.  Oh, the humanity.)

I received this as a Christmas present from my brother in law last year.  I spent a fair amount of time mounted on one of these when I was in the Army and I'm eager to go to it.  To some this may not be their thing but I like the attention to detail required to assemble the kit and the cool metal finish.

I worked on it a bit last evening and I will say that it is probably easier for the younger of body out there.  But with patience and perseverance, I will prevail.  After all, there is no rush.  It's something to do a bit at a time when I need a distraction.

Big Cat

German vehicles of WW2 are one of my favorite things.  I love the style and variety.  As a young boy, I always favored the look of the German tanks and half tracks.  Heck, I even prefer the trucks and staff vehicles to those of other countries, even my own.  I don't know if it is because I was born in Germany or if it was because I was exposed to them early by other friends who were military brats.  All I know is there is something damned sexy about a sleek gray Panzer.

That being said, the Tigers are my least favorite.  Maybe it was because everyone else loved them.  Maybe it was the reputation of the unbeatable king of the battlefield and I'm more of a underdog type of guy.  Either way, I've always preferred a Pv III or Pz IV to the Tigers.

So how is it I ended up painting one as my latest project?  It's all the fault of Band of Brothers.

I consider myself a scenario gamer and not a points-based army guy.  I'm more of a 'love of the game' player where winning is secondary to recreating a nice fight and having a good time. I'm fortunate that I play with a group of guys who are ok with that.

So while watching Band of Brothers one day I was confronted with a scene that struck me as a fun fight to recreate.  It is the approach to Nuenen scene in the "Replacements" episode.  The Airborne guys spot a big cat in ambush which leads to a pretty ridiculous exchange with the platoon of Shermans and Cromwells that are supporting them (although one that is believable to any veteran) and a helluva fight begins.

I watched the scene over and over trying to come up with an Order of Battle.  I did some research (i.e. Google) and even found a TMP article where other like-minded folks discussed the same idea.  And thus we have the third vehicle (first German) painted for the fight.  I give you the Big Cat:

She's not perfect but I'm pretty pleased with her.  The dark mud on the tracks turned out just about right.  The dried, light mud on the fenders isn't quite where I want it.  I used a new product (Vallejo Thick Mud 73.810 Light Brown Mud) and I've got to get a better feel of it.  No worries, it'll come off easy enough.  I also normally dust my vehicles with a very light coat of Vallejo 70.976 Buff to give a dusty appearance but I skipped it this time since I went so light with the base.

I probably could have color corrected the shots a little.  She's not quite as blue and she seems here.  

With that I'll put her to bed.  Tonight I cleaned and primed Prussian reserve infantry and Landwehr cavalry.  Time to get back to the 19th century.

Intermission

Since I've finished the Prussian guns, I've got to decide what I'm working on next.  I'm in the process of cleaning and priming some Landwehr cavalry and another batch of reserve infantry.  While I'm trying to figure that out I've decided to finish up an uncompleted project that's been sitting on my desk for quite a while.

This of course is a Tiger tank.  I started it several months ago preparing for a game weekend with the guys.  I didn't finish it because I had a Microsol spill and when I went to buy a replacement I couldn't source any in town.  There was a series of calamities with the local hobby shop where they said they were bringing it in from another store, ordering it, sold and reordered, etc.  I wasn't about to pay the Amazon.com double MSRP price and eventually I was out of town with a few minutes to spare and managed to stop in at a store that had a bottle on hand.  

Yes, it is gray.  I wanted to paint something gray, simple as that.  I worked on some color modulation with the airbrush and finally got the decals on,  Once I got the decals on it should be quick to finish. 

Here she is after I applied a filter using 76.524 Blue Grey Vallejo Model Wash.  I like the effect, although it doesn't show well in the image. 

Here she is after 76.516 Grey Vallejo Model Wash.  She's still a bit wet as I just applied it but I think the filters have added a good bit of depth to the colors.

Tomorrow I'll paint the details and start the weathering process.  

Gunuary Complete

So I finished these a few days ago but I've been slow to post them on the 'accountability blog.'  Easily solved as I'm currently working on my income tax return and taxes rate much higher on the 'things I can put off to do other things' list.  With that, I'm setting aside the amateur accountancy in lieu of amateur publishing.

 These are all the guns from Kleist's 2nd Corps in 1813 as for Age of Eagles II.  This includes seven 6 lb foot, four 6 lb horse, two 12 lb heavy and one 7 lb howitzer.  Let me say up front that I don't prefer AoE when it comes to basing up my Napoleonic armies.  I was introduced to Naps in the 1980's with Empire and I've always had a fondness for the system, especially the basing.  I would prefer each battery to be two stands of guns with 8 figures representing the battery.  But this is the system we play under so stiff upper lip, carry on, and all that.

 These are Prussian.  That means various shades of deep blues and grays.  One of my biggest modeling challenges is preventing my side of the table from looking like a dark blob slowly oozing across the table. It's especially difficult for me as my painting style is what I like to call 'dark muddled.'  I paint with slight transitions, dark shadows, and highlights that don't have stark contrasts.

As I paint the Prussians I'm starting to work on moving towards brighter, higher contrasting colors.  It's hard, but I'm slowly adapting.

 Purely for sake of identification and having nothing to do with historical accuracy, I've painted the belts on the horse batteries white and foot black (quick, the torches and pitchforks,  burn the heretic!).  Since the black belts blend in easily with the Prussian blue, I've taken the blue to a higher level of lightness than I like to.  Without it, I'd either have to go higher on the gray highlights of the black belts or have miniatures that look like they didn't get paint over the black primer above the waist.

I've also taken the Carmine Red lighter than I normally do.  And since it's AoE and not Empire, I've painted all the collars, cuffs, and epaulets the same red.

Some things to note...  yet again I've tried another skin recipe and I don't like it.  It's my hobby unicorn, 15mm flesh.  I've even purchased the next color set to try.  I actually like the skin on my jaegers that I painted last year but alas, poor record keeping means I have no means to replicate it. 

The astute, keen eyed of you will note that some of the cannons are of a different pigmentation.  Eleven of the guns were actually painted in this project.  Two were painted first, a third painted individually, and then the big exercise.  For now, they are complete and table top quality, which can't be said of the 11th and 12th brigades so OCD be damned, I must delay the repaint and uniformization of the cannons until miniatures who need more attention have been placated.  In my hobby mind I have put them in the queue but the rational side of the brain figures there is a 50/50 chance they'll forever be the thorn of my conscious. 

I also used a new basing material.  I usually use Vallejo pumice on my bases. Someone on Tabletop Commanders facebook forum asked about using their gels so I thought I'd give them a try.  The pumice is great but it takes a lot of time to work onto the bases.  I thought I could save some time with the pre colored gels.   

Which is a grand idea if I were starting a new army.  For the guns, I had to wash them with some brown to get them to match the existing bases in the army.  Still, I liked it a lot.  Easier than the pumice to apply and it removes one step of painting from the equation.  I did encounter some mdf warping after I washed (could have been after the gel but I didn't notice until the wash) but that seems to have worked itself out.  

So that's it.  All the Prussian guns in the complete pile.  All I have to do is touch up some shakos that were rubbed during the basing and then apply a varnish.  Normally I do the varnish before the basing but in my eagerness to try the new gel is slipped my mind.  I'm getting older and these things happen.  

On to the next conquest! 

Gunuary

Currently working on the guns for my Prussian corps. I've had them in the lead pile and was painting them up a battery at a time as I finished a brigade.  In January, the Miniature Modelling Mayhem Facebook group hosted a Gunuary project.  Seemed like the perfect time to complete all of the guns I have remaining to paint and to get out of the Holiday Hobby Funk which had set in pretty hard for me.  November and December were spectacularly busy there was no time for the hobby.

This is where it all starts.  It's mildly upsetting to know this is as good as they'll look and it's only downhill from here.  What did they ever do to deserve this?

I have 11 guns in total to paint with 22 crew.  I decided this was a good opportunity to get some airbrush efficiency involved.  Shoot, I have an entire month.  As quickly as this is going to go, I may need to buy more models.

I've also struggled with finding a good blue for the Prussian guns so I grabbed Vallejo Model Air 71.113 IDF Blue.  It seemed to have just enough gray for my tastes.  Easy peasy, the guns are base coated.

Slap on some black paint for the metal parts of the carriage, a very light wash and assembly and there we have it... half way done.  A quick look at the calendar shows Jan 21.  Wait, what?  How did something so simple and effortless take three-quarters of my allotted time to complete?  I really should pay more attention. (the two flocked bases in the front are the existing batteries in the corps.  the two painted bases were crew painted earlier with freshly painted guns.)

 I'd better get busy.  Slap a few basecoats on these guys and try to make some progress.

It's a work in progress but it's still progress.  I'm not happy with the blue for certain.  Even having to go light to account for the scale, I still feel it's not rich enough. I've also opted for a different red on the turnbacks, going lighter than my usual VMC Carmine Red.  (boy, the camera is not kind.)

I've actually finished the gunners and am working on the basing. Gunuary should be complete before it turns into May.

Another minor conquest...

So I'm pretty much a Hobby Hot Mess.  

A couple years ago a good friend of mine moved back home and reasonably close to me.  He started me in Wargaming and through local players in the 80s I was introduced to Napoleonic wargaming.  With the move back home and reconnecting with a group of very old gaming friends, we decided to start back with the Naps.

About 10-12 years ago I started buying 15mm Russians and French off of eBay, mostly old Heritage and Minifigs models.  As I was the only one of my at that time current group of gaming friends with an interest in the scale and era, it was up to me to collect and paint the troops.  In other words, I have a ton of old, barely painted French and Russian soldiers.

I've always had an affinity (and wish to collect) AB miniatures.  Since I already had troops from manufacturers that wouldn't fit well with AB figs, I decided to start collecting a Prussian force.  I've always like the Prussians and the newly reformed group had representatives of France, Austria, and Russian so there was room for Prussians.  A quick trip over to Eureka Miniatures USA and the start of the corps was on its way.  And frankly, that has been the primary focus for my hobby the last year or so.  

As we do in this modern age, I started to do some research into the Prussian army.  I decided to build Kleist's 2nd Corps in 1813.  It has many elements that catch my fancy.   

Of course, you also need to know how to paint the troops, so there I went back to the internet.  Fortunately, if you are looking for information on painting Prussian Napoleonic troops you will find a rich collection of resources to guide you.  My first stop took me to the World of Ringo Simpkins.  This led to Von Ketteringham's Youtube channel, which in turn took me to Paul Alba's blog.  As you can see, I'm spoiled for choice.  There is nothing more motivating to the hobby than following these guys through their hobby progress.  Not only are they all quite talented and open to sharing, they are also approachable and first class people.  

But back to my opening statement.  What does that mean?  Well, there isn't a genre nor a scale that I've come across that I don't like.  If I were to live forever that wouldn't be enough time to collect all that catches my fancy.  I'm constantly distracted by the desire to do other things.  I'm actually quite proud of myself this last year because I've put the Prussians out front and have (for the most part) remained focused on completing the Army.  There have been some distractions, but generally I consider myself a Prussian commander primarily focused on completing my 15mm army.  Sure, I painted up a British 6lber in 28 mm.  That's because the group was playing Bolt Action at the time and I needed some AT.  Absolutely I painted a miniature for Dear Mother as a Christmas gift.  Who wouldn't?  (You have, haven't you?)  But I've managed to always go back to the Prussians and that's a big feat for me.  Who knows, maybe I'm maturing. 

Now, where did I put those toy soldiers....?

Until next time.

Hello and welcome.

This blog has been a long time in the making but only just now has it started to make it's way to reality.

For years I've considered starting a hobby blog.  Every New Years I sort of resolve to start a blog to track my work.  It's an accountability thing.  I always tell myself it's not important if anyone reads it.  And to be fair if 10 people occasionally glanced at it I'd be ecstatic.  But I tell myself I'll put it out there just so I can have a record of what I do.  Like many of us in the hobby, I toil alone at my desk, working long hours, imagining the greatness of what is to come.  Occasionally the wife spends some time talking to me or the kids ask me to fix something that is broken.  But mostly it's all for me.  This blog shares my secret... I like the toy soldiers.

I've been planning this blog for so long that keeping track of the metal pile, a feature on hobby blogs for so long, has become no longer a thing.  You'll not see a tally of what I've purchased and what I've managed to paint.  Even I sometimes know when I've missed a boat.  What I will do is occasionally post what I'm working on, my thoughts on the hobby that particular day, ramblings of my future plans, and pictures of the games I get on with my oldest friends (~monthly.)

I started collecting toy soldiers decades ago, in the early 80s.  Not to repeat the tale told many times before, but I quit in my 20's, toyed around with it in my 30's, and went full time hobby in my 40's.  I've lost more than I own now and any experience from my early life has done little to increase my skills mid-life.  I'm also old enough to realize that man is mortal, perfection isn't important, and that I'm doing this to enjoy myself and not to impress anyone.

Thanks to the many bloggers out there who make this thing easy for the rest of us.

With that, the first Minor Conquest is complete.  I've written my first blog entry!