I haven't posted recently because I'm back in Afghanistan so I cannot show you my latest photos of a fully painted British Napoleonic Regiment of the line because neither they nor the figures exist. I once brought a small painting set out here to see if I could get something done but it was just all too difficult with the dust and the general topsy turvey life. So my only exposure to miniature painting is through the web and the various forums. This pretty much means the TMP and the Steve Dean site so if there's anything that I'm missing out there then do tell me. I tried Frothers but frankly it tries too hard to be different - its the web equivalent of that Frankie chap from X Factor. You're not really a rebel just because you swear on live TV. Nor are you just because you paint fantasy model figures.
Anyway I was sorry to see on TMP that the magazine Battlegames is closing down. I have to say that I have never seen an actual copy of the magazine itself but I have skimmed the website and I think I get the niche it sought to fill. It's always easy to be wise after the event but I remember thinking when it was first launched that the publisher was taking a very big risk. I've commented before on the economics of model soldier businesses (to a resounding silence I must say so I won't labour the point) but wth a magazine the challenge to find something new to say every month that attracts and retains readership must be daunting. I find it hard enough keeping a blog going. I like having a magazine I can read in the bath rather than getting everything on the web so for me pictures and adverts are enough but with the cost of a magazine such as WI fast approaching £5 a copy its not a cheap thrill.
So I wish Henry Hyde the best of luck. Labours of love are all well and good but no substitute for good risk analysis.
On a separate note I once bought a unit of Elite Austrian Napoleonic infantry and it took me the best part of a year to paint the wretched things. They are probably no more complex than any other figure but all that white.... I wont be buying the new plastics that seem to be everywhere at the moment. The Russians though? I'm not sure.
Anyway I was sorry to see on TMP that the magazine Battlegames is closing down. I have to say that I have never seen an actual copy of the magazine itself but I have skimmed the website and I think I get the niche it sought to fill. It's always easy to be wise after the event but I remember thinking when it was first launched that the publisher was taking a very big risk. I've commented before on the economics of model soldier businesses (to a resounding silence I must say so I won't labour the point) but wth a magazine the challenge to find something new to say every month that attracts and retains readership must be daunting. I find it hard enough keeping a blog going. I like having a magazine I can read in the bath rather than getting everything on the web so for me pictures and adverts are enough but with the cost of a magazine such as WI fast approaching £5 a copy its not a cheap thrill.
So I wish Henry Hyde the best of luck. Labours of love are all well and good but no substitute for good risk analysis.
On a separate note I once bought a unit of Elite Austrian Napoleonic infantry and it took me the best part of a year to paint the wretched things. They are probably no more complex than any other figure but all that white.... I wont be buying the new plastics that seem to be everywhere at the moment. The Russians though? I'm not sure.
