Start Of The Week - Sort Of Apocalyptic

Still on an Athena Miniatures spree. Not sure what these figures are called and I don't think they are on the website yet. I'm.not quite sure what I am doing here. I thought there were ten of them but one of them is a survivor.

I suspect these were done for Scavenge, Skirmish, Survive. This is/was a winter apocalypse skirmish game. I hear a new version may be in the offing. Regardless, the winter apocalypse vibe really works for me especially as I plan to use them in sUnderDground game.

Looking at the week ahead, getting these done is doable. I am not sure if there will be time to get much else done. Maybe a few bits here and there. Maybe not 

End Of The Week - All About Progress (10)

I have been begging for rain for a few weeks. Britain has been close to a state of draught for some time. There were only really three hours this week that I didn't want it to rain. So of course it did. And only then. This has been the metaphor for the week.

So the goal for the week was paint ten minis. British NBC figures from Athena Miniatures although the casualties came from a different set. All done and I am quite happy with the outcome. I've even had a chance to tinker with what is coming next week.

I have been playing a few rank and flank games lately. Midgard being the main one. I have a vast number of dark age minis. Mainly created for role playing purposes, so mostly on 2p or 25mm sized bases. This works for me as I can create sabot bases. 

There is quite a lot of work involved here. I wanted them to match the colours on most of the figure bases. There are seven colours here, which took some time. Gluing everything together took some effort too. I think I need about twice as many as I have finished her. More will be in the works.

I've also had a chance to muck around with some terrain. A lot of glue and sand is no more. The texture on the bases of the gabions and cheval  de frise are finished. The wattle fencing has had some glue and sand added to strengthen the models. The plan is to put some texture paste along the edges before I start painting them all. As this is mostly wood colour, the actual painting process should be relatively easy. 

As a renaissance gamer, I couldn't resist putting a quote from Ozymandius onto hex terrain. Not sure which biome I am going to use yet but it's a good bet it will be desert) badlands. Makes me smile when I look at it. Should probably be in hieroglyphics. Oooh. Another project.

There is some Star Wars terrain in there too. Along with the gabions. There is more of this to come. Well it was cheap. Something for the future.

This is not bad progress. Speaking of bad progress, Summer (holidays) is coming. Well actually it's here. So I am not sure how things are going to play out on the mini painting front. Still, I will be having fun. My hopes for the week should be manageable.

British Infantry In NBC Gear

Awake early today so got some painting in. Focus is on the Athena Miniatures British NBC minis and a couple of similarly equipped casualties. They are starting to look a little better (less like shiny t💩💩rds. These are some fairly robust minis. All are probably six footers.

A little bit of titivation is still required. The masks and the SA80s need a bit of highlighting. Maybe a wash on the rifle's handguard. A little bit more on the bases wouldn't hurt either.

These are looking perfect for the sUnderDground game. They look more apocalypse than post-apocalypse. Don't envy anyone in an NBC suit. Respirators are bad enough.

My guess is these will be finished soon so I might moving on. These are also by Athena Miniatures but aren't up for sale yet. At this point I suspect the colour scheme will be pretty much the same but with a few additions for things like helmets and gear.

Start Of The Week - Three Colour Minimum

There is this old idea found predominantly in club based wargaming of the three colour minimum. All figures on a table should be painted and in order to qualify as painted, a mini must have at least three separate colours on it.

Deep inside me is a streak that does not like this. There is an element of my personality that has elements of oppositional defiance disorder. Now I have to say I favour pretty looking games this means the minis need to be painted. When someone tells me that I can't do something, I generally want to do it. Back in the day this meant painting WW2 American micro armour in basically green with a separate colour for tracks. So two colours. I did try to put together a, erm, "skyclad" force that were bald and, erm, "shaven". I could just not find the right minis at the time.

This in a roundabout way is bringing me to this weeks project. Ten 1980s British squaddies in NBC gear. Whilst not an expert on the subject, these look like the MK3 suit, which was basically green. It's a bit hard to say stuff about the webbing but it is probably 1958 pattern so a slightly different shade of green.

You have black boots, gas mask and mostly black rifle. When I say black, I should probably say very dark grey. The rifle would probably have an OG handguard (that's olive green and not old guard). The gloves should probably be black but then they would fade into the rifle. A lighter shade of green would work. I am toying with brown but I am thinking about that three coloi(not shade) minimum.

These guys are just not going to pop. To make something closer to popping, they are going to need some highlights. Green ones. It would make sense to use some sort of metallic colour for the lenses on the mask. I could even put a red line around the filter on the mask.

Whatever I do, these should not take too long to paint.

End Of The Week - A Good Week (30)

This has felt like a good week. The heat hasn't been quite as bad. Still distinctly warm for the UK but not what I would expect it to be in Spain, as it has been recently. Being British, I like to talk about the weather.

There has been some fun daddy daughter time. I've spent a lot of time following her on a bike. At a distance. She seems to be progressing quite fast at the moment. I am quite content at the moment.

I've managed to finish thirty figures this week. The ten planned for this week and the details for the twenty from last week. This feels like real progress in a period of time when life where any step towards something better feels hard fought.

Whilst I know that they are not going to win any awards, they are not too bad. I can live with the outcome anyway. When I have finished the remaining figures I will put up some better shots 

The laser cutter came out to play a bit this week. Enough that I need to clean it. I had actually run out of bases and I don't have that problem now. I've also created some sabot bases for games like Midgard. I have the designs prepped for a few more projects.

Terrain has been a feature of the week. I had glued together some linear plastic terrain. These are now all attached to wooden bases. In total this is a little over 40x50cm, so a little over an eighth of the size of the table I currently use.

Summer is coming. This coming week is the leading edge of summer fun. A little more daddy daughter time, which is always good 😊, but it does mean the blog and painting may take the strain. A small price to pay.

Charity Case Because Of Clacton

I have to admit a growing amusement caused by Count Binface. You have to admire an individual who takes a moral stand. I am of course talking about Rob Pownall. He has decided this election is too silly. This is the guy who normally turns up to elections in a fox costume. It appears he is leaving field open for the Count.

I saw this on the 7TV Facebook group. It's a charity miniature from Trouble Maker Games. Not just an ironic name. Apparently.

This is being sold to raise money for UK based NHS charities. So definitely worth a purchase.

Binface For The Win.

Start Of The Week - Survivors

Not a bad day today. The heat is a little more bearable this afternoon. Climate change is a myth right? Seriously, the weather in the UK is crazy. I am able to remember the summer of 1976, which was oppressively warm. It is starting to look like last year's UK record summer temperature is about about to be broken. That's the fourth time in ten years. My current plan does not involve buying sea front property.

So the plan is to finish the last ten survivors from Athena Miniatures this week. I do like these minis. Hopefully my paint job will do them justice.

I have some Kingdom Death Monster bad guys to start. A few weeks ago I found them in a box. These are going to take some work. Each requires about a week of painting. This means they will likely become the new background project. I did start one a long while back. Maybe it's time to put some effort into this project again.

Well once the old side project is done. The Trench Crusade stuff is still on the table. Every time there is some spare paint on the palette, these guys come out. There is progress, if intermittently.