I made a start on the dogs…
A blue uniform will make a change from the vast majority in Russian green.
These chaps have a blue tunic, white breeches black shako (not that any are wearing them) shoes, equipment and straps.
There will be a fair bit of bone on show too. The one at the back has basically a skull for a head.
Been a couple of days since I painted anything
as I converted an old stable into a greenhouse.
I did manage to get the Aristo finished. A great little figure. He would make a very good Scarlet Pimpernel. A bit effete in his mannerisms. I do like his hanky to the fore stance.
Next up Is going to be a unit from Zoltan’s 666th regiment. A unit of dogs that marched into the Witchlands ahead of the Ferach advance. They disappeared without a trace, only to turn up later as an undead horde.
There are 8 troopers and an officer/sergeant of sorts. From what I remember the troops only came in three different poses. I grabbed five random troopers in my last purchase from Alternative Armies.
I am not sure what colours I am going to go for. A bit of research into the Witchlands book is required.
Three Char B1’s finished
To be honest I am glad to see the back of them. Some of the bits were so fiddly to fit that it became a bit of a chore. I worked out various bit and pieces to make my life easier after the first one. This involved ignoring the instructions at times and building parts out of sequence.
I will get a base coat on them and then send them on their merry way.
These are all captured German versions.
After the battle of France the German’s captured 161 of the 369 built. They were slow, 16 mph, meaning the faster German tanks could flank them easily. That is not to say they were obsolete, they were a formidable fighting vehicle, designed as a breakthrough tank when the war would end in the stalemate of trench warfare. The 47mm gun was a danger to the German Mk1’s and 2’s. The 75mm howitzer would flatten most things.
Two down and two to go. The next is going to be a Flampanzer. These two are already in the employ of the German army.
The last isn’t a Char B1 it is a Sherman with a 75mm gun.
I got home a bit earlier than expected.
So I blasted a base coat on my otter dude as well as a bit of highlighting
Still a fair bit to go on him, but it’s a start.
I did a speedy paint job tonight.
This hobgoblin miser was sitting there undercoated. I fancied painting something and half an hour later he is pretty much finished. Not my best painting ever, but another figure down in the lead pile.
I doubt I will get my aristo finished tomorrow night as I am off doing internet safety in one of the schools.
I have still to decide on the colours to use.
I made my own rock Golem.
A big thank you to Jeremy over on Black Magic Crafts for the inspiration.
He is quite a big beasty as shown by the photo below. To the top of his head he stands about five inches tall.
Sadly I seem to have lost my photographs of the build.
Basically I cut out the torso and legs as one roughly humanoid shape. I then set to work hacking away with a knife to get a rocky looking shape. Feet were hot glued onto the front if the legs. The head was made out of a random offcut. Eyes and a mouth were cut into it, a couple of handy pebbles became the eyes.
The arms looked just plain wrong the same thickness as the torso so I cut them in half with my hot wire cutter. Small boulders were made using either a knife or hot wire cutter and then stuck to the body with PVA.
Once dried I added sand and grit to various parts of the model, when dried I blasted it with watered down PVA.
Painting was next with a mix of dark grey house paint and PVA. I then added a home made Black was, which was far too potent (too much black ink). Once dried I dry brushed up through lighter shades.
Various bits of foliage were added once the paint had dried.
The one thing I intend to do is paint the eyes a different colour. Next time I would round of the hands a bit more and maybe add a club.
Below you can see him in his natural habitat.
A couple more random photos:
I have a couple of different figure storage systems….
I thought I would compare the two. These being a Kaiser Rushforth cardboard storage system and a battle foam bag version.
This proved to be more difficult than I thought as it was a bit like comparing oranges and apples. They are both fruit, but not alike at all.
Therefore, we shall go down the ‘what do you get for your money’ approach…
Starting with the KR multi case. The outer is made of a rigid cardboard with foam inserts for the figures. The box lid is held in place by the plastic handle. This one contains spaces for cavalry as well as infantry.
It has space for 36 cavalry and 80 infantry.
The infantry slots are quite tight and the figure with the sword extended doesn’t fit properly. However a quick snip with scissors would allow it.
The depth of the cavalry tray is about 50mm (2 inches) deep. This is my third case, one has all infantry spaces giving me 160 spaces. The second has space for 40 infantry as well as a pluck and store system where you can make your own shapes.
KR Multicases come in a whole range of styles and inserts.
I got this case brand new for £25.99 with free postage. The other two were discounted and came in at £17.00 each with free postage.
The battle foam case is a different thing altogether, although it contains a similar foam insert to the KR one, these are backed with a more rigid foam (seen in the image below). This allows the trays to be removed without sagging. The bag has a solid plastic edge to it giving further protection.
The top layer contains enough slots for 30 figures. These are bigger than the KR ones, but still the extended sword protrudes.
The bottom layer is a pluck and store system, allowing for cavalry or war machines etc. The depth of this layer being 50mm (2 inches) deep.
Where this case differs is that it also has space for rules etc as well as coming with a shoulder strap. There is also a 3 ring folder system for storing cards or poly pockets.
This case is designed for skirmish gaming. Indeed I will use if for my Frostgrave forces, or gladiators.
As for price. I bought this as it was on offer for £20.00 with £12.50 postage which does seem a little on the steep side. The full price case was £52.00. I saved £32.00.
This bag has quite an impressive list of features.
It now comes down to what I think. Both cases work well enough. Personally I prefer the KR one, simply because I can fit more in it. £26.00 isn’t a bad price to hold 160 figures. However to be fair the Battle foam case is waterproof etc and the rules and dice fit in nicely.
As I said at the start you cannot compare the two as they are very different In the future I may get hold of a battle foam cardboard, but at a tenner more than the KR version I may not. The other option is to go for a KR skirmish bag. These are coming in at £32.00 so not a bad price, compared to the battle foam version. Would I pay over £50 to protect my figures. No. Not when I can protect them at half the price. I can carry a cardboard case and a messenger bag to hold everything in.
Bottom line is. “You pays your money and makes your choice.”
I am calling these done:
The bases need sorting and the figures varnishing.
I managed to procure a pile of dogs for a really good price online.
The cavalry came with both lances and swords. As there are seven of them I will go for a unit of six. Five armed with lances and an officer with a sword. The seventh will become an aide de camp for the doggy forces.
These were really well packed. The painted ones wrapped in bubble wrap and then placed in the packing material.
The unpainted ones were wrapped in paper and again set within the packing chips.
Not a bad haul for £19.50. Top eBay seller.
The painting on these is fine, the question is whether or not to paint up my gun crew with the same uniform colours…
Managed to do a teeny bit on these…
Wash added, strapping painted. Highlights added to the shako and trousers and that’s about it for this evening.
I didn’t get in until gone 8 so by time I had tea, talked to my family that was all I had time for.
To be honest I really like these figures, one day I may even have a game with the stuff I have painted😱.
Bogenwald 