WW1 scenery

If you haven't read it then let me recommend:

http://sidneyroundwood.blogspot.com/2011/08/dead-marshes-part-2-painting.html

Its the sort of article I would love to be able to write but I haven't got the room, the time, the opportunity, the patience, the skill, the motivation.......

Some more Normans

I did a few Norman units a few years ago in which I adopted a common colour scheme. Here are the blue and yellows. Probably not historically accurate but who knows? The Bayeux tapestry does not have an opinion. Anyway I thought they looked good and the theme meant that I didn't have to come up with a brand new colour scheme for every figure.

In retrospect their faces do look a bit yellow. I was surprised at this as I do use the GW flesh tones which seem to be pinkier than the VMC ones. But otherwise I was happy with them.

Normans

Some more oldies who were also sold into slavery. These are Crusader miniatures and were great to paint. I'm quite a fan of the chunky style particularly with my ever more feeble eyesight. A couple of months ago I painted some of the Perry ACW plastics and was surprised at how small they seemed. I'm contemplating getting some of the plastic WotR or Napoleonic sets but will probably initially try them out just to see how I can cope with them. I doubt they will have eyes! Or should I get Victrix?

Anyway, here come the Normans.........

eBay, Paypal and strange domestic habits

It has been a bit of an eBay and Paypal morning so I am obviously in a bad mood. It's ever so easy when they want to take money off you but when you need a bit of service in exchange for your cash it all becomes a bit difficult. Autoreply e mails are up there with call centres when it comes to unhelpful.

Anyway having endured the misery I had a short float around the 'for sale' bit. I was somewhat surprised to see one seller advertising their figures coming from a 'smoke free house'. I'd seen pet free houses put on a black list before and this should not have come as a shock but it did. Are there really people out there who are so discriminating that they can detect these aromas coming off model soldiers? I suppose there must be. If so, what else do they object to? I think back to my house and all the potentially harmful influences that might be lurking. I do like a bowl of peanuts every now and then but am now concerned that I should be mentioning it on my eBay ads. After all allergies such as this need to be taken seriously. Perhaps I should stop eating them?

That's not my Dad

I don't want this blog to become an Afghan journal so I try to keep stories to a minimum. However sometimes you are confronted with a situation that rather takes the wind out of your sails.

The District welcomed back a senior Elder to its ranks the other day. He had been away, partly on family business, partly out of pique that he had not been given a prestigious role in the community. His return was marked by a general air of celebration and everyone was all smiles. He had even brought a child with him and the little lad who must have been around 10 years old hung around shyly by his side.

'Is this your son?' asked one of the international staff.

'No' replied the Elder 'he is my brother in law'

Silence.

Shades of Blue

I always enjoy a good 'discussion' between wargamers/modellers on the issue of what is the right colour shade of uniform colour. The latest one, which is keeping me thoroughly entertained, is on a well known painting site and concerns what ACW infantry might or might not have worn. What I particularly like about this particular debate is that it did not start out as a discussion on colour. A proud presenter put up a picture of some very well painted figures and there then followed the usual raft of applause from impressed viewers. So far, so good until one commentator said (and I paraphrase) 'Yes, they are very good, but they are the wrong colour'.

If its possible for the temperature to drop on a modelling Forum then that's what happened. 'What do you mean?" came the somewhat icy response. 'They are the wrong shade of blue' said the commentator and there then ensued a general free for all in which ever more obscure references were quoted and flung around. At no stage did it descend into a brawl - the tone throughout was punctiliously correct and everyone was at pains to keep the language at the level of an earnest academic debate. But its the subtext that counts...

At what point does a point of detail become an irrellevance? Well, I suppose we would all probably raise an eyebrow if someone depicted the Foot Guards at Waterloo in blue coats rather than red. A grey waterbottle instead of a blue one might be pushing it. But the wrong shade of blue? It's taking it a little too far in my view but then modellers can be a tough crowd and it takes all sorts. I'm just grateful if I can get a dark blue triad that actually works - the standard VMC dark prussian blue and prussian blue combo never seems to cut it.

In the meantime, enjoy the debate if you find it. I wont post a link or be any more specific. In many ways its a discussion that has taken place before and will no doubt happen again. No comment from me other than that the figures are very well painted.

Artizan Andalucians

Here are some Artizan Andalucians that I painted a while back. I rather liked them (despite having to do quite a number of cloaks) and so felt a little guilty when I sold them on eBay. It would have been nice to have been able to stipulate that the buyer should submit regular reports on how they are getting on as a condition of sale. However no doubt if eBay added this as an option it would come as yet another cost. I’m just waiting for them to charge for having the visits counter.

Anyway, before this descends into an eBay/paypal whinge, I’ll stop. Hope you like the figures.