And now . . .

. . . for something completely different.

Took the cub to Brickfete today, and saw some cool stuff. Aside from some real nostalgia in the form of a massive classic space lego display, they had some interesting and tongue in cheek displays of interest to the mini painter and wargamer.





Noteworthy among these were an Irish monastary under attack by vikings:



A UN peacekeeping force:



And a selection of WWII lego:







But my personal favorite was the 300 diorama, which I've dubbed "Hey! This is Sparta!"



All in all, a grand day.

W: Khador, H: lots

Hi,

The new addition has meant I've had little time to sit down and paint over the last week and a bit, but I've been pouring over geek books when opportunity permits, including the Warmachine Khador book. And, needless to say, it has me thinking.

I'm looking to pick up some Khador, by trade if possible. What I've got is primarily Tau, but I also have some Warmaster and a few odds and ends of hordes stuff. IF anyone out there has Khador sitting around, and has a hankering to cut a deal, I've got a more detailed ad up here.

TMtW

New sculpt

Hi,

Just wanted to update you all with the newest addition to the collection. I really do need to credit the wife on this one - while I played a role in the early design stages, the sculpting is entirely hers, and I think she's done a fantastic job for her first time. It's a heavy piece, weighing in at 9lbs, 1oz, and makes a terrific addition to my collection. Getting this one finished and table-ready might take a little while, but I think the effort will be worth it.



TMtW

All your base . . .

Hi,

Well, really, all my base, as there's just the one. Finished up the first test base for the 1/72 French. So far, I'm rather pleased.



I ended up going with 4x2 figures on a 60mm square base.



The basing itself is a mix of polyfilla, sand, and randomly applied flock, static grass, and fiberous stuff my beloved found for me at a hobby shop.



Photos are a little overexposed, but they're enough to get the general idea. I'm enjoying painting these, which is good, as there are 4 bases to a unit, and maybe a dozen units in a smallish Lasalle force.



Detail on the figs is nicely executed, and it's fairly easy to pick out. I'm really looking forward to painting up some of the more elaborate uniforms of the period, like the hussars. I think it'll be rather tasty.

Not sure what's next up on the painting table. I might forge ahead on the nappies, but I've also been itching to add another unit to my Impetus force, or maybe get going on the FoW cossacks I've got tucked away. We're still (STILL!!) on baby-watch here, so time will tell.

Decisions

Hi,

Got all excited last night as I finished my sixth Italeri French line figure. I was planning to some basing this morning whilst the cub watched Spongebob, but after a bit of musing and fiddling, have decided to hold off.



The main issue was what size of bases I was going to go with. Leading contenders were 50mm squares, or 60x40mm rectangles. If the latter, then the plan was to use 60mm squares for the horse and guns. I posted up questions about the size of 1/72 artillery at The Miniatures Page and Benno's Figures (thanks to those who replied, especially Guynemer, pics were great), and that took care of the 50mm option - while guns would likely fit, they'd be just a little crowded.

I was hoping the smaller bases would allow play on a smaller table, but frankly, given a) how much time it will take to finish this project, and b) the fact that I'm most likely to play at a store, the size factor isn't all that important. A second consideration was that I could get away with a 3x2 formation for the infantry, thus using less figures, thus getting units finished faster.



Then I realized that speed wasn't really a factor either. This is primarily a painting indulgence for me - it's why I'm doiing it in 1/72. If I wanted fast, I'd do 6mm or dip. I also abandoned the idea of 60x40mm rectangles for infantry - the 60mm squares are better for some of the firing / advancing poses. The squares also mean if so disposed, I can use the bases for rulesets other than Lasalle - Polemos Marechal d'Empire comes to mind.

This also led to a reassessment of my ability to base the figs I've painted. I'm coming to realise that with the 1/72 boxes, the variety of poses means they require some planning in terms of use. I'm leery of the kneeling / firing poses, as I think they detract from the sense of movement in the unit, so ended up with something like this:



To get this to work, I've included the grenadier poses that came in the box (rather than saving them to mix in with a converged grenadier unit), and went with 4 wide one each base. I like the sense of mass it gives. This means I'll need to paint up some more guys before I can get a test base finished, but that's ok. This is a project that's going to have to fit into the cracks anyway. We're on baby countdown here, so any goal-oriented expectations are going to have to take a back seat for a while. I have this happy image of two or three years from now sitting down at an 8x4 table with a couple of armies and puttering away, ideally with a cup of tea and a couple of kids peering over the table edge.