Tuesday 20 December 2011

Christmas

.....is nearly here.

Looking forward to time with family and friends. A tough year and make no mistake with losing my mum in May and coping with the trials and tribulations that come with fatherhood at 40.

Hobby time has been at an all time low with no real content on the blog. So much so I have given real thought to abandoning the blog altogether with the possibility of restarting when inspiration strikes. But I am now thinking that this has been a diary of my hobby life for a few years now and it would be a shame to lose that history.

So I am now looking at a tidy up of links and things to better reflect my interests at this time. Also I intend that come 2012 I will restart my painting log to motivate me to get things done again. We also purchased a new camera last month and so I really do mean to get some photos up of things I'm working on.

Peter Pig remain my main focus with Square Bashing 2 well underway in the playtesting and consuming all my painting and reading time at the moment. 1914 British and German done. French 1914 built and awaiting the brush. Late War British and Germans next.


With World War 1 grabbing me so much I have also branched out with purchases of the Wings of War game with a total of 8 planes so far and also now Victory at Sea: Age of Dreadnoughts for some naval action. I am also determined to get in some Fields of Glory action with Keith and Ade at the club next year with my Peter Pig Romans and Germans. Ontop of that is a side project with Ade to play some Mexican American Wars using Friekorps figures. Not a big project but one  I am looking forward to quite a bit.

I have recentley had a huge change in attitude towards basing. Previousley all my armies are based with speed in mind. Consequently I have used various flocks and static grasses to obtain an adequate finish. However I have made the move over to more attractive basing using 'Basetex' from Colour Party and purchased from Irregular Miniatures. All of my World War 1 is based using the dried earth colour, dry brushed with a near white cream and then patches of static grass to finish. Much more pleasing to my eye and better setting off the figures. As some hobby luminary once said figure painting and army presentation is all about 'faces and bases'. Well in 15mm, faces dont have the same impact as in larger scales but bases definately do.

After long contemplation I have finally succumbed to the trees from Tablescape as used by several members of the Weymouth club. They are essentially resin cast trees that come ready painted. They look good and come in various shades. No more worrying about my flocked trees losing their foliage or getting crushed in the box. Pictures to come but I will put the link up for those interested.

So to end, I would say that I am as enthusiastic as ever about my hobby and hoping to squeeze more time for it come the new year. This year was to be the year of mid week gaming at each others houses to compensate for my lack of attendance at the club. Well that didn't work out. So, a public pledge to get more games in for 2012. What do you think Ade, Keith, John?!?

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to all

Sean