25mm LOTR - The Fellowship

Hey everyone,

Time for something new in this post.

When I am painting I always have a movie playing in the background... Zulu or Gettysburg or Andersonville or whatever I happen to have at the time. The film series that has really gotten me through, however, is the Lord of the Rings series. Not only are the films something like 12 hours long in total (directors cut only... too many great personality scenes cut in the released version...) but there is a version with commentary from the director and writers, the producers, the post-production crew, and the cast. That is like... well, lots and lots of movie, and the best part is that most of it is just talking, which is perfect for painting time!

So, in honor of watching SO much of that film recently (and working on a video game on the same subject) here is my Fellowship.

First up are Aragorn and Gandalf. I think they turned out well; I tried to keep them close to the film and rather realistic. I even tried to get Aragorn's/Viggo's eyes right. I think they both turned out well.

Next up is Frodo and Sam. Again, I went for colors similar to what I recalled in the films. I also tried to match skin tones a bit; it just looks more interesting and realistic when everyones skin isn't the same. I was experimenting at the time with extreme highlights; hence the highlight on Frodos pants. I have since stopped with this.

Then comes two of the Three Hunters; Gimli and Legolas. Note that what appears to be hair sticking up behind Gimli is actually the top of a very tall clump of weeds, perfectly hidden by his back. Again, I went for different skin tones in an attempt to make them look more accurate.

Finally, Merry, Pip, and Boromir. I tried some amateurish NMM on Boromir's shield; my first and only attempt. Eh... it works fine, I suppose. You cannot see it in this shot, but you can see it in the last shot.

Anyway... so, that is my Fellowship! I have a whole LOTR collection, but I don't think I will post it; this blog has a decidedly historical feel, and I think this single "fantasty" post is enough. Dr. Tolkien's books are among the best ever written, however, so I did want to show these guys off!

Some new 25mm Napoleonic photos coming

I am currently clearing the table off of Napoleonics... before they are all off the table, however, I will take some photos!

Anyway... here is the only one I got tonight before the camera batteries died... I'll take a few more over the weekend and post them.

15mm WWII - German Mortar Platoon

Here is a bit more of my 15mm World War Two German army.

This is my mortar platoon, which is used to support my infantry and armor.

As with the rest of the army I went with the "dug in" look. I took this pretty far with this unit, as I imagine them being a bit further back and having had a little more time to dig in. These guys use sandbags (rolls of green stuff clipped with toenail clippers) and boxes, but also have strung some barbed wire across the front of their position.

I have only one spotter for this platoon, although I think I am supposed to have two.

As alway; minis courtesy of Battlefront!

Food

Well, on the demands of a reader, I am putting up another food post.

This time it is a two-fer. First up (above) are some delicious lamb chops. Thrown into a plastic bag with a good glop of coarse french mustard, rosmary, thyme, and garlic, these guys sat for a day and a half in the fridge and then went onto the grill. Delicious; mustard and lamb are among the best combos in food.

Next up are my ribs... or at least, what was left of them when I was done eating; this is an "after" shot. These guys were boiled in Coke for 30 minutes before cooking. Light basting of Jack Daniels Brown Sugar BBQ sauce and onto the grill. With each five minute flip, another light basting of sauce on both sides... however, each side gets five minutes without a new basting at the end just so they aren't too messy. Fall off the bone delicious.

Stay tuned; maybe some breakfasts next?

15mm WWII - German Grenadier Platoon 1

Well, the 15mm American Civil War Confederate army inspection has been completed... on to my 15mm WWII Germans!

I have a small WWII German Flames of War collection. As with a few of my older collections, this one was made basically as an OPFOR for my friend's Flames of War Americans, all of which came into being over multiple watches of Band of Brothers.

My buddy has a sizeable American force, and so I created a small German force to defend against it.

"Defence" is the operating principle of my German force. I did a bunch of work with green stuff and the like to create a force that has the common theme running throughout it of being somewhat entrenched and prepared to defend. Barbed wire has been strung, sandbags and crates have been stacked for cover, machine guns and rifles poked past them. The force isn't totally FoW ready; I believe I have a few too many 88s, but how do you resist such cool minis?

The first unit up for inspection is not a command unit, as I traditionally do on these things, but instead a unit of late war German Grenadiers. These guys carry the newly-deployed StG44 submachine gun and panzerfausts, as well as some MG42s... a LOT of firepower with these guys! As mentioned above, they are heavily dug in; the most built up stand involves a large crate, a pallet, and a sandbag emplacement... these guys look great tucked in between a building!

Next up; my force commanders, and then maybe... a Tiger?

My entire 15mm WWII collection is courtest of Battlefront!

15mm ACW - Confederate Infantry 6

Well, here is my last Confederate piece from my 15mm ACW collection! I apologize for the darkness of the shots, but sometimes that just happens.

This unit has clearly been in the fight, and apparently has taken ground... you can see a few dead Federals scattered among the mens feet. This unit also has my first new 15mm ACW soldier in it; the older gent with the butternut kepi and jacket, directly behind the standard in the photo at the top. I am not sure why, but I really like him, with his neatly trimmed white beard and perfectly-colored uniform.

As always, figures courtesy of Battle Honours.

So... that is the end of my 15mm ACW Confederate collection! Next up; my 15mm WWII Germans, followed by my 25mm Napoleonic Russians, followed by my 15mm ACW Federals, followed by my 25mm Napoleonic Austrians (as soon as I get them painted!) I hope everyone has enjoyed!

15mm ACW - Confederate Officer

I am nearing the end of my 15mm American Civil War Confederate collection, so I thought I would post my last character figure.

This officer, with a straw hat and a VERY large caliber flintlock pistol, has been in my 15mm ACW collection for years and years. He was a part of a gift from a buddy of mine for Christmas many years ago; he painted up a few officers for my collection, I painted up an artillery battery for his collection. Over the years the guys have gone to the shelves as they have been bypassed by newer and more beautiful troops, but recently we got this guy, who was always a favorite, out and repainted and rebased him; we call it "reclaiming" an old figure. As he is a formidable bad-ass, he is surrounded by dead and dying Federals.

Figure courtesy of Minifig.

15mm ACW - Confederate Infantry 5

I am trying to make up a bit for the slowness in posting in the past month, so here without further ado is another unit of Confederate infantry.

This unit is another one that has been in the field for awhile, unlike the last group I posted. You can tell by the wide array of gear (hats, blankets, jackets, pants) that they carry.

The officer in particular I like. Wearing a butternut jacket and a very serious black beard, he is clearly not a fellow you would want to mess around with.

As always, figures courtesy of Battle Honors, except the dead, which are Old Glory.

Buy my Middenheim army! Please!:)

Hey all,

Just thought I would mention; I am currently selling off my Warhammer Fantasty Middenheim army. It is a good sized army that I am creating a blog for, so please check it out. Make me an offer!

Here is the link!

15mm ACW - Confederate Infantry 4

Finally, back to 15mm ACW!

Here is another unit of regular infantry. These southern boys are recent arrivals to the front, compared to my others. You can tell by how uniform they look; they've barely had time for their gear to fall apart yet and require replacement by anything that is at hand! In fact, I've only done a couple of non-gray pants and shirts, and only a single non-kepi among them. They've taken fewer casualties, also, than some other units as they are so new, although I think they DO have the only two-casualty stand in my Confederate collection at the moment.

The officer is a modest conversion; a head swap. While I love Battle Honors, they DO need more officers! This fellow is waving his boys forward, crouching a bit as me moves into incoming fire. I do wish that someone would do a line of figures where all of the guys are crouching a bit; men tend to do that when marching in the face of fire I think.

All figures courtesy of Battle Honors.

25mm Nap. Austrians - 5th Infantry Reg.

Done!

I am heading right back to 25mm Napoleonic Russians immediately, but thought I would show my first finished units of Austrians!

As stated in a multitude of posts, I did a very basic paint job on these guys and then dipped them in the Army Painter Light Shade. I then went back and added eyes and rewhitened belts, and then some Flag Dude flags finished them off! Overall I am happy with the way they turned out; very easy to do. I need to make up some movement trays, but I think I'll wait on that until the Russians are finished.

One bit of bad news; my matte varnish left a bit of the dreaded white film over the frontmost rank (of course, the front rank.) Thankfully they are white anyway, but you can see it on their helmets for sure. I am super annoyed by this, and might go back and do some repainting... for now, though, I am too annoyed to care.

Figures courtesy of Sash and Saber and their half off sale from a few months back!

25mm Napoleonic - Three Nations of Infantry

I got a little carried away with taking photos tonight, and took a single shot of a base of each of my 25mm Napoleonic armies; French, the oldest army, is on the viewers left, the Russians (the current project) are in the center, and the Austrians, my next project, are on the right.

The French are Old Glory (the non-Guard units are Perrys,) the Russians are Foundry, and the Austrians are Sash and Saber.

15mm ACW - Confederate Cavalry

It has been a LONG time since I posted a regiment from the wargames collection... darn camera stopped working! However, I am now back in business, so let me get back to business with some 15mm ACW Confederate Cavalry!

Like my artillery and my limbers, I can't stand having cavalry in ACW without dismounted version of the unit, so I figured I would include both in one entry.

My cavalry consists of three stands of three cavalrymen. When mounted they are all galloping along. When dismounted, one man per stand is holding the horses while the other two are fighting!

Miniatures are courtesy of Battle Honors.

The Workbench - Armyshade Austrians WIP

Howdy all.

I couldn't help it; I took a break from my 25mm Russians in order to do a single unit of 25mm Napoleonic Austrians with my new quickshade.

Here is a little WIP shot; they still need to be grassed and touched up a tiny bit (eyes) and I'll see if I can get a better photo, but so far so good. I have finished one stand (minus the standard) and have included the close up here, front and back. I've experimented with "painting" their packs and muskets with only brown ink over the white undercoat... not sure how I like it yet, I'll have to think about it.

I have not yet attached the magnetic bottoms to the rest of them; I will do that shortly.

I am also waiting on their colours; a call into Rick O'Brien set me up, and they should be arriving in the nearer future. Once those are on, I have to attach the magnetic bottoms to the rest of the unit, make a movement tray, and do the rest of the grassing and touching up, and these guys will be good to go!

The quick shade is pretty effective; I needed to pat them down just a touch to take off a tiny bit, but they responded well. I'll work on getting some better photos, as these are only so-so...

The latest additions to the Wargames Room

Hey all!

Yeah, it has been SLOW around the House of War recently! Between a week and change in Seattle, a week and change at the North Carolina beach, and general hanging around, it has been SLOW. However, I have a few things to post, and will soon have a pair of finished units as well. For now, lets get on with it!

The parents recently returned from their annual trip to Paris, and as always my father came back prepared! This time he came back with two wonderful tidbits.

The first is this fantastic book of French Napoleonic uniforms. It is a real bear of a book, with some GREAT plates, and very, very detailed. Yes, it is all in French, but for the most part it is pretty clear.

The other addition is now hanging in the room; it is an 1805 print of French cavalry uniforms. It is a real good looking piece, and looks sharp right below my other French uniform print!

Always nice to add to the room; still need to hang that ACW pack tho, but I have not found something to put it in yet.