Well that was February!

Well I don't know where the month went but it saw me achieve 77 paint points, not all on the WWII Italians as I planned.
What I did get done is shown below

So there's still more to go. My resolve was sadly broken this month and I started two new periods!!! One I will report on later the other is the Dystopian Wars naval battles, why? Damn good question I just like the models, here's some French ships I've painted this month.

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Three Frigates, 3 cruiser skimmers a battle carrier and a battleship. The detail is second to none.
Then I've painted some Napoleonics for my colleague for his 28mm DBN set up

There's another strip of four infantry. He likes his figures gloss varnished which I will do next although I've just noticed the silver smudge on the centre cavalry which needs touching up!!

I also painted some dark age troops for a commission and some ancient bits and pieces.

Now March is supposed to be my 10mm Napoleonic troops for Austerlitz -let's see

Tomorrow I'm off to see Lance the owner/sculptor of the excellent Galloping Major FIW range so I anticipate more metal shinys coming home with me but at least its 18th Century!!!

A return to 20mm (25mm)

I had mentioned in an earlier entry that I had acquired some 20mm ( well actually the old 20mm are the real 25mm) ECW figures. I've managed to get the regiment pained Lord Saye's foot-

The figures are from Tumbling Dice and come with separate heads which allows you to get quite a bit of variety into the unit. I have to admit I loved painting and basing these and although all are based on the same frontage as my 28mm(40 x40) they look far more in keeping when placed on the table because of their smaller height.

Think its fair to say there will be more of these coming shortly. The last picture is of the command bases, I intend to use the Perfect Captains rules for this period hence the style of basing.

Figures for Sale.

A while back I confessed that I had been a tad over enthusiastic in some purchases of painted figures. I has hoped a colleague of mine would have found room in his collection for the boys but I think he finds himself in the same boat as me. In both cases I'm just looking to recover my cost, in fact in terms of the Staddens its less than I paid!

Therefore before I seek the ebay route I have the following up for sale.

First up are the Stadden Grenadiers, 50 Rank and File and 7 command including the Mounted Officer, neatly painted and easily re based. I'm looking for £160 for this unit excl. postage.
All figures will be carefully wrapped to minimise damage.

Next up are the Holger Erickson Prussian dragoons

Again 24 Rank and File with 5 command figures, 29 figures in total £140.
Figures will be again individually wrapped to minimise damage.

If you're interested or have a proposition then let me know.

Crann Tara Miniatures Update

 For those that dont follow the Crann Tara blog I posted this entry on the 31st January.
'Yesterday I received a long e.mail from Richard, firstly apologising for his lack of communication (which given his current circumstances is understandable), but more importantly stating he has put all his projects on hold!
He is effectively acting as a full time carer for his mother and says that all sculpting has effectively stopped and that even when he has time he finds he hasn't the energy to do professional sculpting justice.
This is a major blow for me and whilst he hasn't given up he has put the project on hold with no ability to predict when he can start again.
This leaves me with a predicament of what to do;-

I can sit tight and just wait - bearing in mind the project was for me originally.
I can look for some alternative sculptors - I have made some tentative enquiries but I'm not yet convinced they can match Richard's style.
I can look to sell up and possibly start all over again.
None of the decisions are easy to take as I have spent a bit of money on the project etc and have money set aside to continue the range but equally I don't just want the money to be sitting doing nothing.
Any thoughts?'

I have received comments and suggestions all of which are valid, including Frank of Minden Miniatures and as yet I'm still not quite certain of which way to turn.

January Progress!

Well this month the target is to clear the bench of accumulated stuff, its going to be hard and I doubt it will be totally clear but I am making progress, so far completed 24 phalangites, 18 20mm ECW, a couple of scifi figures and 13 Saga Dark age figs for a commission pics. below.

They are a selection of Irish and Norse Gaels together with the Gunnar Humandarson figure from Gripping Beast. The boys are getting ready for our Saga Tourney on the 23rd February.

The 20mm ECW (pics to follow when the bases done) have surprised me, I think they look really nice and I may find myself drifting back into this scale for a couple of periods.
Looking forward to the York show on the 3rd February and see what new temptations are out there.

The Plan

Having realised that in my ramble yesterday I had repeated myself in part on my previous post I got my act together and came up with my proposed painting plan.
Jan - clear the decks ( paint as much as possible of what's on the table)
Feb- 15mm Italian WWII desert war
March -10mm Austerlitz project
April - Zulu 'fasounds of 'em'
May - 20mm ECW or Napoleonics.
June - LOTR
July - free month (hols)
Underpinning all of this is painting the 18th Century troops and my never ending Magnesia Project.
Obviously the above will be influenced by painting commissions an the gaming centre but its a plan.
Whilst on Holiday in July I can review progress and return with the year end plan.

Looking For a Good Home! What next for 2013

First and foremost I realised over the Christmas period that my Purchase of painted figures from Iain Gale was rash, only by the size of the purchase and after much thinking I have decided to let some of the figures go, mainly because in the cold light of day it starts to take my Imagi-nation down oaths I don't really want to go.
I have promised first shout on these figures to Robbie of the Independent Wargames Group but if he doesn't want them then I will be taking some more pics and seeing if anyone is interested on here.

Both units are to Charles Grants Wargame Organisation,

The Grenadiers are Stadden (thanks Der Alte Fritz) figures and the Prussian Dragoons are Holger Erickson expressions of interest appreciated.

Now as to plans for 2013- 2012 painting schedule lasted until around August/September which was good for me and I do need to give some thought as to how I go about things this year. The gaming centre places its own demands in making sure we have figures and terrain ready for the various tournaments and battle days we are hosting (Saga on 23rd Feb and Musket and Tomahawks in March or early April).
In summary I want to get some more of the Imagi-nation completed, hopefully when Richard finishes the new sculpts complete my Jacobite foot, the 15mm WWII Italians just need a final push,my 10mm DBN Austerlitz game is also entering the final stages and just needs a bit more effort.
On top of that is my 28mm Magnesia project and the pressure is on from colleagues to blitz the Zulu War! Finally I would like to get some more of the Middle Earth figures done this year!
In reserve there's the 6mm Franco Prussian  which just lacks cavalry and artillery! and I've also started dabbling in 20mm ECW and Napoleonics. So this week I need to think about whats achievable and then do something completely different!