Back again

I've had a short rest and am now back in good old Helmand again. At least now the weather is cooling down - it's hard to forget after a summer where temperatures are routinely in the high 40's just how cold it can get here in winter especially at night.

I was able to get a little bit of painting in during my leave. The Victrx Old Guard are coming along and I managed to finish 11 of them. I was quite pleased with them and had intended to put some work in progress pictures up but didn't get around to it so I'll aim to do that when I'm next at home. I even managed to get a dark blue for the greatcoats that I was pleased with. Given that they are pretty straightforward figures once you are used to them I aimed for 4 layers - 1. VMC Black and Dark Prussian Blue. 2. DPB 3. DPB and a touch of grey blue 4. DPB and a bit more grey blue.

I also bought a copy of Wargames Illustrated for the first time in a while. It's the copy with the Saxons on the front - I'm not sure what month it is - but I think it's very good. Very heavy on pictures including an impressive ECW layout. I'm not sure what the general consensus is on the magazine these days but I find it to be an enjoyable 'read in the bath' experience.

Vallejo Dark Earth

I bought a pot of the relatively recent Vallejo base covering. I mentioned before that doing bases is something I always find a little trying. Putting down sucessive layers of polyfilla, sand and paint is a time consuming business and I would support any product that speeds up and simplifies this. So I hoped that Vallejo had come up with a solution.

I don't think they have. Anyone who has previosuly used their pumice ground covering will instantly recognise the product. Its simply that with added colouring. It says that it can be painted on with a brush but unless I am doing something incredibly wrong I dont think that is the case if you want an effective finish. Its hard to layer the stuff and as it dries it goes very thin. This means you need a lot of layers to build up a base layer that properly disguises the standard 28mm base. And its this thats the problem. In the end its no quicker than using the tradional sand method. To be fair it does dry quickly but leaves an ultimate finish that is too smooth. I think that it may be more suited to 15mm figures in this respect. I used a lot of flock to cover up the 'difficult' bits

I'll persevere and will try mixing it with sand to see if this helps but thats rather defeating the object of a product that is supposed to offer a one-stop, convenient basing material. At just over £8 a tub its not going to break the bank and you do get quite a decent helping of the stuff but for me it just did not deliver. Sorry Vallejo, my table is covered with all your other products but this one will probably sit gathering dust as the back unless someone comes up with a bright idea for a means of employment.