Stug

I’m a little bit out of touch. It has been a busy start to the year and hobby stuff has had to take a bit of a back seat. What painting I have done has been undertaken in dribs and drabs – my ECW and 1746 projects move glacier like towards an as yet undefined end state. I quite enjoy doing the occasional Napoleonic or WW2 piece for variety so with this in mind I present a Flames of War Stug 3. I don’t pretend to see the attraction of wargaming with FoW (but then I’ve never taken the time to read the rules) but I never fail to be impressed with the quality and extent of their model range.

Autumn

Haven't done Flames of War kit in ages so as I had these lurking at the bottom of a forgotten box inside a bigger forgotten box I thought I'd better get them done. They had been there since 2008 by the way - 2 years longer than the real second world war by my reckoning.

I have to say I was quite pleased with how they turned out. Pea dot in 15mm is always a challenge and for the first time the finished article had the feel of the design.. Base coat was pale brown with a brown GW wash. a few splodges of cam black brown and then small dots of orange brown over splodges. Simple and the 2 crew teams look the part. A full rifle pl is on its way to help

Foundry

 I've had these sitting around at the bottom of a box for around two decades. I bought them in a shop in Reading whose name escapes me but it was one of those treasure troves where you could buy anything from remote control tanks to, well, Foundry knights. I had some vague notion of doing something medieval which came to nothing so off to the unwanted pile they went.

There ought be 6 of them but goodness only knows where number six went to. I checked on the Foundry site to see if they still make them and of course they do.Undoubtedly overtaken in quality by the plastic and metal offerings from the contemporary Perry collection (but with less flash I'm prepared to bet) they retain a certain charm but a horrific price tag. The livery is a made up combination but hopefully not too garish that they cannot hold their in some 14-15th century confrontation.

As usual ebay beckons. They can be found at http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282039191446?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2648

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Volley

Sooner or later you get to the point where you suddenly realise that your collection is beginning to represent more than a skirmish. Painting clan tartans and redcoat lace takes patience and I usually do one figure at a time so to get to the point where I have nearly 100 figures is a major milestone.

2 Government Battalions - Sempills 25th and Munros 37th prepare for the arrival of the Jacobite right wing. Next on the agenda - more clansmen! Figures, as usual, from Crann Tara

Allez

Ordinarily my French Battalions look as if they were equipped at a succession of charity shops and jumble sales. I thought it was about time that I produced a unit where the QM was halfway competent and able to turn out a unit that was largely uniform. As a further variation I thought that a 2nd Battalion fanion rather than a 1st Battalion eagle might also add to the change. 8 metal and 16 plastic Perry figures they are for sale - pm me if you are interested.

Tommies

Thought I should follow up today's whinge (see below) with a bit of something constructive. So here are 2 views of my recently acquired EWM tommies . Germans to follow.

You have a choice! 'Over the top' or 'closing on the objective'

Painted?

I've grumbled about ebay before. Let's face it, who hasn't? This time though it is more to do with customers. I like to see what I am getting when I browse the items for sale so the increasingly common habit of selling unpainted figures with a picture of a painted figure irks me.

Because not only is the painted figure a misrepresentation but it tends to be a perfectly painted misrepresentation. And hiding the word unpainted somewhere deep in the advert seems a little disingenuous. The chances of the average shopper delivering such an acrylic masterpiece is less than likely.

Ah yes, some will cry but manufacturers do this on their own websites dont they? Yes they do but there you dont have to guess as to what you are getting. On an auction site there should also be no room for doubt.

Meanwhile here are my latest contribution to the auction behemoth. All painted by me.....

http://r.ebay.com/kPODKG
http://r.ebay.com/PvAwCf
http://r.ebay.com/N1j5u8
http://r.ebay.com/mRq15Q