A whole different sort of painting...

Hey all!

Well, I've been "off" from painting miniatures for a little while, because I've been doing a different kind of painting.

The wife and I are expecting our first child!  A little boy, hopefully in mid October:)

So... we needed to get the nursery all squared away.  I was all for painting the whole thing as if you were standing in the center of the British lines at Waterloo.  Unfortunately my stupid wife didn't like this idea.  So, we went with the second idea... doing a ribbon of African animals around the top.  And despite never doing it before, it turned out pretty swell!

The elephant family, early in the process.

The giraffe and zebras.

The gazelles and storks.

The rhino and his friends.

The croc.

Still to come?  The monkeys, and then I am done!

Also, a question... do you guys (and gals) think it needs some big fluffy clouds?

So... what project should be next?

So!

Finished up The Gem (except the plaque... still not sure what it should say) and now I face a problem; what do I tackle next?

I have a few possibilities... I've got a unit of 25mm Russian Nappy infantry who are sort of 1/3 finished.  They've been sitting for a LONG time, and honestly the idea of tackling such a huge unit puts me off.

I could also finish up this unit of 25mm Vikings... these guys seem most likely, since there are fewer of them and they are half finished... one more group of these guys after this to go, and my Viking collection is done.

Or should I do something else?  I have really been interested in making some islands for the Pirates of the Spanish Main game (I have a bunch of ships for it) and doing something with that... or I could do a few 10mm Napoleonic "objective" markers for my 10mm Napoleonic collection (that sounds like fun!)  I have no idea!

One thing I DID do; we are cleaning the house in preparation for the baby that is coming (fingers crossed!) and I threw one of these Napoleonic prints into an unused frame.  Wish I could get them ALL framed!

Anyway... suggestions?

Another Amazing New (or rather, "quite old") Gift!

Howdy all!

First off, sorry it has been so long... work just ended up, and I'm hosting something like four BBQs in 12 days... plus, a LOT of housework getting ready for the baby.  I'll have more coming at some point, of course... maybe Vikings, or maybe Napoleonics.   Not sure:)

In the meantime, however, I thought I'd share a gift I just picked up.  A friend of my in-laws, who has been RIDICULOUSLY kind in the past, sent this along my way!   It is a northern backpack. Apparently they are fairly rare... a wooden frame with leather.  The 22 on the back I am assuming refers to the 22nd New York State Militia, but I am not 100% sure about that.

Anyway... a really amazing gift!  What kills me is that the gent who passed it along to me has a STUNNING single daughter... I am trying to convince my pregnant wife to leave me so that maybe I can marry his daughter, but I don't seem to be having much luck:)

So... now I need to figure out how to display it!  I may switch it off with my other pack for a while... I particularly adore the company marking on the back.