Start Of The Week - Mixing It Up

After the purchases at the weekend I wanted to paint the new minis. They are ssssoooooo shiny. As I have been too busy to prime them today, and stand no chance of priming them during daylight hours this week, I am back to the queue. 

This means it is a mixture of minis. Some of which I got at Salute the last time I went, which was 2019. Five of the fifteen are stuff I purchased at York earlier this year.A few dark age minis, some fantasy, four post-apocalyptic types, three modern ish spy-fi minis and a couple for Stargrave. 

Aside from the dark age and fantasy stuff, I have no real plan for the others, so are just for funsies. In fairness, whilst there is a plan, the fantasy stuff is way off. I should really have a plan. I used to say failing to plan is planning to fail. Now I say failing to plan saves me about thirty minutes a day.

End Of The Week - Its Been A Hard One (16) (+32)

My plan for the week was for fifteen minis. Which, under the circumstances, was a big ask. I managed sixteen. I am saying that they are done. The bases need some work but they need a few shields and a couple of weapons.

I got some stuff from Salute. A long story. A long day yesterday. More of that another time. One of the things I have always wanted to do is have some mounted characters and dismounted counterparts. I have a few, now I have a few more. Then there are a few militant clerics and some minis that will also end up as dark age clerics.

As for next week I haven't made up my mind yet. It's going to be another busy week. I think I am going to find the time for painting although I am not sure it will happen. In the end I will probably pick out another fifteen but I will be happy if I get to ten. I might even find the time to tinker a bit more with this week's work.

Almost Done For The Week

I now have some time to paint. It's looking like tomorrow (today) will be a bit of a wash. Mainly because I am going to Salute🙂. So I thought I would push things a bit. So expecting a big push on Sunday.

I appear to have acquired another mini in the queue. As he has a fur cloak so I figured he should be with the ulfhunder. He was bought to be a Viking cleric. He fits in with the history. As there isn't much to the history, I could paint him pink and give him a feather boa and it would be impossible to call it anachronistic.

Given the amount of time I have had this week, the progress is better than expected. Given I have been having a good time away from the bench, I am happy with the progress. I'm not sure that the New Cruelty feels the same way.

Analysis Paralysis

Some would call it analysis paralysis. You know when you have filled up a shopping cart more than a dozen times and you have either wandered off the page or it has timed out. assuming of course it wasn't a deliberate choice I would say it's dementia if I didn't know better.

The problem is not having a plan. Or at least a plan that I want to follow up on. I am about three temporary obsessions in so far this year. The Quar, something WWW I (but not Trench Crusade), and most recently Atomfall. Over the years I have come to the conclusion that if I bench any purchases for at least a week and I still want to buy after a week, then it is something I really want to do.

For the Atomfall project I initially did the maths and what I wanted to spend was about £600. Which is a bit too much. So I went away and had a word with myself. Until it comes in below £200. It helps that I don't have to spend all the money at the same time. To save some cash I was looking to buy stuff from one company. That was a mistake.

Underlying all of this is the fact that that I don't really have a plan. I looked back at what I had said at new year. This did not help. I didn't have a plan then either. So not much help. The Atomfall idea would end up with enough bits for a British WWW I force. Yes I know that Atomfall is technically set on the 1960s but I need gas masks. I am sure there is some stuff from Wargames Atlantic I can use instead. Then I seem to recall that there is a zombie set with British Policemen's helmets. It was also calling for a lot of bits of boxed sets. So the possibility for all sorts of bits always seems like a good idea. 

Then the idea kind of morphed. Perhaps I shouldn't have watched the wicker man last week. It occurs to me that I have had an urge to buy a wicker man for the tabletop. And a TARDIS. I have been contemplating a Five Klicks from the Zone campaign. I have been playing in a Five Leagues from the Borderlands campaign and really enjoying it. This means several forces and multiple bad guys. I have plenty of stuff but not much that I could use. Some Northstar Cultists would work. There isn't much WW II stuff but I was thinking I have an SA80 that with the right paintjob might pass as an EM3. I have been saying its the bastard son of an SLR and an SA80 for years.

Then there is The Damned. I am advised that they should start shipping soon. Ish. After two years of waiting. The original plan has long since gone by. So I have to have an idea for the fifty or so frames I am going to end up with. I suspect I will have to cut them off the frames to store them. This is going to take some time. This would do some bad guys but probably no more than two forces

When I looked into it, the list of kits quickly morphed. Late War British, British S.A.S,, British WW 1, and some Partisans. To start with. I could buy some Villagers from the Traitors gate thing (shirt sleeve arms, top hats and who  doesn't want a crazy bad guy with a hand puppet?). Whilst I have some sci-fi beastmen coming, some fantasy ones would be useful. I am thinking Ramsey Campbell's Goatswood. Another opfor and some mutation bits. To be honest i think they don't exist so will have to make do with the stuff from Wargames Atlantic. I quietly think their stuff is pretty good. If I had to pick a favourite it would be a hard choice between them and Northstar.

I am short a few female heads (I was thinking the Northstar Scavengers II kit) and maybe some demons (again from Northstar but Frostgrave). Then there were a lot of Northstar kits I wanted to buy anyway. A limited plan turned into seven boxed sets and three 1950s/60s vehicles from Spectre. Then terrain I can most fudge.

It has to be said this is a touch over £200 but still better than £600. I suspect I will trim what I want a bit more, lean into what I have a lot more and somewhere along the way. SOOO... hopefully end somewhere sub £300 in a few months. Rather than pontificating, I will see what happens when I get my stuff from Wargames Atlantic. Whilst the project has passed, they are still goodlooking minis.

A Quick One

After a long day I am now about to go to bed. I have managed about three hours of painting over the last three days which is better than I thought. It's not a massive amount but it is progress. I've had to tire my daughter out with fun to get here. A hard life. 🤭

I've had some GW contrast paints on my bench for some time. Unless there is a specific need, they are usually the last choice, just because they are harder to use. So I went looking for the right bottles to decant them into. This was harder work than I thought. My paint racks fit Vallejo bottles. Empty bottles used to be easy to get hold of. I've experienced two retailers denying they exist. In the end I ordered them from Poland. Times are changing.

I now have a reasonable collection of paints. If I had to replace them I could opt to buy a second hand car instead. So probably not going to buy any more any time soon. Although I am eyeing some of the new British army paints and John Blanche sets. I may even have the space to store them.

Start Of The Week - Early To Bed

Here I am again. Listening to ever slight snoring. Which makes me smile. Still it's time to get on with the matters at hand. No more Sludge. For a while at least.

Back to the core of what I do. Dark Ages, specially Vikings. More Vikings. I wanted to be able to do a unit of Ulfhunder. That's berserkers without the good P.R., for the initiated. Then there was a small unit of cavalry. Not a big call for them in a Viking army. I also acquired some Saxons. Mainly because I have an NPC in the game I run who is Ulfberht the swordsmith. The fact that there are a lot of Ulfs this week is cinincidental. This may, or may not, be an actual person. But it seemed like a nice idea. Then there are a few extra Saxons for good measure. So this would be fifteen minis, by my calculations. Not a big number this week but I am expecting to be busy.

End Of The Week - By The Skin Of My Teeth (30)

Despite thinking this week was going to be a busy, I finished the plan at 11pm. It's all good. The last of the line units I had planned and a light line unit, which was purchased, part painted, a few weeks ago. It has been a bit of a slog.

Easter holidays are about to happen. This means that I doubt I will paint as many little plastic men. I am sure my daughter won't mind and neither will I. For some reason I feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Next week is a bit up in the air. Whilst I have some more Sludge stuff prepared and ready to go, I don't think I have it in me. It is looking like I have a free weekend so maybe I will get something done. I suspect it will be whatever I think is going to be easy and probably more like ten minis than the thirty plus of the last few weeks.

I am now at over three hundred minis painted this year. The average is more than twenty a week. As a very wise man once told me, you have to get your streaks in.

The New Going Out

Once upon a time I would leaving a club round about now. With my sleep pattern being all over the place I am now wide awake at 2:30am. I am trying to think when I last had an alcoholic drink. Probably Christmas 2023. Rather than thinking about going home, I am home and reasonable happy with my attempts to catch up on my painting target for the week. ROCK AND ROLL!!!!

Whilst they are still at the bobby stage, they are a lot closer to being complete. The base layer is almost done. Then I have to look at titivating them a bit. I am now a lot happier. It looks like I might actually hit my target. Should I wake up in time.

Pushing My Luck

So I have been subject to a distinct lack of focus this week. It's not that I haven't got stuff done but if there is a hard way to get there then I have taken it. I haven't picked up a brush since Tuesday and then it was just to put some wash on the minis at the back end of the queue. 

So I have a decided to put myself against myself. So I have twelve down and eighteen to go. Before Sunday. Instead of making more counters, or paint racks or drawers, I intend to paint. I have a little over forty eight hours to get them done.

My fatigue has got to me this week. My own fault. Instead of painting, I decided to pull up the sycamore trees that have started to grow in my garden. I can safely say I have killed more trees than anyone else I know. There are three trees on the far side of my fence at the bottom of my garden. I can't say that there aren't things in this world that I hate more than sycamores, but pulling the little darlings out of the ground is right up there.

Start Of The Week - Almost At The End And Halfway Through

Unsurprisingly this is a week that is going to be all about Sludge. This probably isn't going to be the last week but it is very close to it. 

So I acquired some part painted minis. These were really for Turnip 28 but will nicely for what I am after. They won't be part of my army but they will make for a suitable opposition force. There are only twelve of them so no a full unit. 

Then we are finally on to the crossbowmen. The first will be a unit of 18 line crossbowman. They have some benefits in the game but really it is just an affectation. 

Finally the unit of six jagers with crossbows. The plan for these is to have pavaises. I haven't put backpacks on these but maybe I should. 

Changes On The Paint Station

It's been a while since I did any major changes to the paint bench or in the paints that I use. A person very close to me has given me some paints to try out. They don't need a specific painting are so I was thinking maybe I don't either.

I have to say it has been quite liberating. The new paints are quite cheap and they are available in a lot more shops. If you are a two thin coats fan, these are great as you can really layer up the colours when you have to put in a minimum of five coats. 

End Of The Week - An End In Sight (24)

So I made my target despite the real world. It was a week where I enjoyed myself more than painting. Time with my daughter was much more fun. Time with Atomfall was also good. I might have found my next genre for a tabletop skirmish.

I even managed to get the minis on a base and apply two separate textures. I haven't quite made up my mind up about what is next. Let's face it's probably going to involve more Sludge. Whilst I can see many options, this process is coming to an end. I can see another two cavalry units but as one involves twelve models, I suspect that this is less likely. The stuff I wanted for the Quar hasn't been released yet so that is currently a no go. 

Atomfall is lighting my candle at the moment. I have done some rough calculations and I am already thinking this is more than I want to spend right now. Maybe I don't need to have all of the minis right now. Part of me is thinking I still have an arguement to settle with a Saracen. No, don't even ask. 

A Cock Up And A Recovery

So I sat down to start painting and I realised that there was an unprimed mini in the queue. Somehow I had missed it out. So rather than putting everything on hold till the morning I decided to take a different direction.

These were already in the queue. I got them, pre-assembled, two weeks ago. I think their original owner was planning to use them for Turnip 28. They definitely look better from the front. I hadn't realised how bad the monkeying around was until I started painting. By then I was all in. Not sure I will win any awards but then they are probably going to end up on a shelf or in a box.

I get to speak to my daughter soon and I am kind of excited about it. 

So this would be three posts in three days. I must be losing it.

Start Of The Week - The Furlong Before The Final Furlong

Last night I was not feeling the idea of doing something Sludge related. Since then I have assembled a unit of lancers, a unit of crossbowmen, a unit of jagers and diddled with another unit of musketeers. So I wonder what I am doing next.

I decided it was probably best to nibble away at the cavalry. These will double as light cavalry and hussars. They are probably not flouncy enough to be lancers but if I paint them as bright as I can it will probably work. Turquoise maybe? My daughter likes turquoise.

The musketeers are actually the first unit I put together. This was probably about six months ago. I seem to have lost a few so I needed to tinker.

Then there are two units of jagers/shock troopers. I got the ones on the left that were premade about two weeks ago. Another good find. The others are more of the same. Just an attempt to have more options.

Speaking of more of the same the last unit in the current plan. A unit of line crossbowmen. 

This brings to the end of the plan. I can justify having painted an army now so these really are just for funsies. Just need to get them outside so I can prime them. Whilst I feel the urge to do something else, I should be able to knock these out in the next two weeks. Then I will feel like I am done.