The Workbench

EDIT: This entire unit was destroyed by Games Workshop. It is a shame, the paint jobs were great!

Ahhh!

Freed from my jail cell of Russians, other troops seem to paint up fast!

I am hard at work on another unit of 25mm Federals... they are especially fast to paint, given how simple their color scheme is! I've got the basic colors on (minus a few things like the silver of the weapons) and the flesh and blue highlights (which really show up with the flash)... another hour or two and they will be ready for basing. When they are done I think I'll tackle an officer next, and then some 25mm ACW Confederates, which will be more work but will also be the most varied of any 25mm troop I've done.

All of my collections

I had the camera up and lights on, so I figured I would get some shots of representatives of all of my major finished and WIP collections of miniatures!

First up, my 25mm figures. From left to right...

My 25mm Napoleonic Russians
My 25mm Napoleonic French
My 25mm American Civil War Federals
My 25mm Napoleonic Austrians

Second, my 15mm figures. From left to right...

My 15mm ACW Federals
My 15mm WWII Germans
My 15mm ACW Confederates

Lastly, my 10mm figures. From left to right...

My 10mm Napoleonic French
My 10mm Napoleonic Saxons and Poles
My 10mm Napoleonic British

The 10mm Saxons and Poles have not yet been showcased, and a few collections (25mm WWII Germans, Lord of the Rings) are not really of the same "infantry" type as these, so for now, these are a fair representation of what I have!

25mm Nap. Austrians - Infantry 2

Well, I finally finished my second unit of 25mm Napoleonic Austrians; in this case, namely the 34th Infantry. They have red cuffs and collars for identification. This unit is made up of Hungarian troops, so they differ from my Germans a bit, as they have the blue pants and shakos. However, they all look good together thanks to all of that white!

These guys were shaded with Army Painter Quick Shade (Light) and it does add a pleasant shadow to the white, which can be a very difficult color to shade and highlight, but which is all-important to an Austrian army!

Below you can see the command stands. I particularly like the commander, as his pose feels both heroic and also somewhat practical. I do have a question... I have played around a bit with the settings; which pictures look better to all of you... left, or right?



Anyway, it was fun to get some more 25mm Napoleonics done... now, back to the 25mm ACW figures!

Miniatures courtesy of Sash and Saber!

The Workbench

Just the latest on the Austrians... I had a touch of fogging on a single figure (how strange, right?) but otherwise they generally look okay. I have to white out the belts and the eyes and touch up the muskets (for some reason it seemed like the brown on the muskets faded a bit?) and then I can start basing them!

10mm Nap. British - Artillery 2

Well if the French get some troops, so do the British!

This is my second type of British artillery; namely, the lighter guns. These guys are more mobile than the big guns but don't have quite the range. Still, they are very useful, and their cannister can be a great boon up close.

As with any artillery they need some limbers to tote them around. In my own rules the light guns can unlimber and fire in the same turn, which is their advantage over the heavy guns. However their range is more limited than the big guns. Still, it is great fun to have a battery of these things swing up into the line and open fire directly!

Figures courtesy of Minifig.

White undercoat vs black undercoat...

Just a quick thought... I dislike white undercoats SO much. Every single missed spot of paint shows up bright and clear! Black undercoats at least hide the missing paint a bit... thankfully I am dipping my white figures so some of the white spots will be darkened but still... white undercoats are SO unforgiving.

Oh well, almost done with these here Austrians... then back to ACW, where the black covers up all the mistakes!

10mm Nap. French - Hussars 1

Since the entire front page of The House of War had become stuff OTHER than 10mm Napoleonics, I thought I would get a few 10mm unit spotlights up while I wait to post the last few rounds of the Battle of Aroldo Valley!

This is a unit of French hussars. These dashing fellows were among the lightest of the French cavalry. While they did not have the hitting power of the Cuirassiers or the scary lances of the ever-so-appropriately-named Lancers, they were very fast and perfect for harassing enemies and protecting retreats. Their snappy pelisses and gaudy red uniforms certainly make them stick out a bit.

I have about four units of hussars, all in different uniforms... as I get into the 10mm Napoleonic collections a bit I'll put up a few more units of them!

Figures courtesy of Minifig, I think... feel free to correct me!

The Workbench

Howdy all! Just thought I would finally get an update up... work is at a very very hectic time of year, but tonight I got a little more work done on my Hungarians. A few more colors (silver and gold) and a few details on the drummers and officer, and these guys are ready for dip!

The Workbench

Thought I would quickly post up a shot of my latest WIP... namely, a unit of Hungarian Napoleonic infantry in 25mm. Since temporarily abandoning the Russians (progress on whom had just slowed to a crawl) I find myself a bit invigorated and enjoying painting more than I have in months! Fantastic stuff, and it doesn't hurt that both the Austrians and ACW Federals don't need a lot of paint to look nice... thank you, dip!

25mm ACW - Federal Infantry #1

Well, I have finished my first EVER 25mm American Civil War unit... so here it is!

So; the background story first. Like with all of my recent collections, this one was bought with a specific plan in mind. When Sash and Saber had their big sale in May (was it May?) of last year I went ahead and bought three new armies... a 25mm Napoleonic Austrian army, and matching 25mm ACW Federal and Confederate armies. This is the first unit of my ACW collection, which will have 10 units of 20 infantry, 3 artillery pieces, and 12 cavalry, with the appropriate officers and limbers and such.

These guys are a unit of 20 infantry mounted five per stand to match a buddy's ACW armies... that way they can deploy with his guys and not stand out.

I have always loved Sash and Saber figures. The incredible variety and details match up well with a nice standard pose to make a very neat and wargamesy unit of infantry. I painted these guys very simply over a black undercoat, just picking out the colors with a single fairly dramatic highlight. I then gave them all a dip in Army Painter Quick Shade of the Hard variety.

I did have some problems with the varnishing... I destroyed a bunch of figures with a foggy Games Workshop varnish (not my first...) and even the replacement bottle didn't spray... well, perfect. I don't know, it is mainly noticeable up close.


However, they have come out pretty nice. Very very simple to paint; I did them in two short evenings, and then a day for the mounting and grassing and all of that. Sand is standard, along with a few pieces of bark as rocks and some GW flock. Topped off with some Flag Dude flags, and these guys honestly have turned out very nicely.

Figures courtesy of Sash and Saber.

Flags waiting for owners...

Just thought I would post a quick photo of the flags I currently have waiting for owners...

All of my flags are from Rick O'Brian, the Flag Dude.

Going clockwise from the top right, I have two sets of 25mm Napoleonic Austrian flags, a single 25mm ACW Confederate Battle flag, a set of 25mm Napoleonic Russian flags, three 15mm ACW Federal flags, a 25mm Napoleonic Russian Cossack flag, and a set of 25mm ACW Federal flags.

They look pretty all together! Here is another shot of a friends order from Rick from a few months ago.

The Workbench

Well, here are a few WIP shots of my first ACW unit! The varnish STILL does not seem quite right, but at this point, not much I can do. They have a touch more work to do (cleaning up the grass, another varnish coat, attaching and painting the flag poles) but for the most part they look pretty sharp.

I wish the drummer was easier to see; he might be the best guy in the unit, and his drum looks great.

When they are done I'll do a real unit showcase on them. But for now, here they are, my first 25mm ACW figures EVER (which is pretty amazing, given those are the scale and era I have worked in the most!)

A nice move with the varnish...

One nice note; I went back to the place I buy my varnish, Highway Hobby House in Ramsey, NJ, and they very kindly replaced it. The new one seems to work fine. Thanks to the guys at Highway Hobby!

Some good shots of my AWI diorama...

My father in law took a few good pictures of the AWI diorama I made for him for Christmas and sent them along... thought I would post two here for now!

Finally, a 25mm ACW figure...

Well, I sort of got one done. He isn't really dry yet, but I am going to bed and wanted to post a photo, so here goes. Sorry he looks soaking wet; I'll get some better shots of him tomorrow. Anyway... after a very disappointing weekend, off to bed. Maybe it will get better this week.

The "Echoes of War" War Room begins...

Just thought I would share here... over at the Echoes of War blog, which has been a bit quiet of late, my buddy is starting to put together his own room of war, a room of war that may indeed eventually become the finest example of a room of war around. He has JUST begun putting the cabinets in, and none of the original weapons and uniforms, prints, and flags (not to mention the bar, fireplace, nice sitting chairs, and flat screen) are in yet... but he HAS put a little taste of some of his minis up... so please, if you like the one above, head over to Echoes of Glory to check it out!

And number THREE ruined...

Thought I would compress all these posts... I had some SERIOUS fogging issues with some varnish and ruined a whole bunch of minis... very upset!:(

A few "landscape" shots...

Hey all,

I have a lot of stuff coming this weekend, including some more of the 10mm Napoleonic battle, some more Lord of the Rings figures, and some 15mm ACW, but for now just a few cobbled-together landscape shots of the table... the top one from the long side, the bottom one from the end!