Apache Cheif.

Due to my nephew and the painting of space orks I have only finished 1 figure this week. This is a Black Scorpion Apache chief. A very nice sculpt with a lot of detail. I am not totally sold on the historical accuracy of the figure but I'm not going to worry about it over much as it is such a nice sculpt. It's things like the necklace the boots etc. that make me doubt the realism. Small things I know but sometimes I just get very picky.  He clearly covers a double barrelled shotgun which should give any adversaries second thoughts. Again no visible knives or daggers but the long coat could easily conceal them and pretty much any other weapon smaller than a gatling gun.  Painting wise it really was a joy to paint, despite the fact that I mucked up the eyes.  For the colours I have mostly limited myself to the colours and tones that I feel a tribal culture could create. Even the blue I could dye myself using Brazil Wood and a good mordent. Given that Brazil is named after this wood it is possible that it could have been traded through central America although I have no evidence to support that fact. Or the material could have been dyed by white men and traded for furs. Either way the colour would have been rare if it existed at all. I don't need to justify the colour choice any further than that as all the other colours and tones are very natural earthy hues. Not much more I can really say about the figure, except this was my first Black Scorpion figure and having painted it I would be happy to get some more either of this range or maybe to try another.... Fantasy pirates look great and I anticipate would be tremendous fun to paint even if I have no use for them.

Anyway I have finally worked out how to crop pictures on windows 8 which is why these are both in focus and bright enough to see. Which makes a change for me, but now I have no excuses at least from now on.

Other news: I am clearly visible on Google Earth should you have my address. I am talking to the window cleaner. I have painted the front of the house since the picture was taken so it looks a little better. I only mention it as I was told Thursday after my last blog post. It seems strange that I am now an extra in the worlds largest game of "Where's Wally!"

Club tomorrow so no doubt something club related on Monday when I post again. Until then enjoy the upturn in the weather have some fun but not too much and I'll catch you all later. Take care folks.

WAR of the worlds (2)

I have to be really quick before I get guilted into painting more space Orks... which I'm quite enjoying but don't tell anyone.

Anyway cutting a long story short, Kev from the wargames club emailed me this last night.

This is a link to a new wargames Pre-kickstarter.

My reply was "OH F**k! No way round it. think it's a must! "

 It's kind of right up my street so I feel sure I will get sucked in. There are a number of other kickstarters I would also be interested in as well and needless to say no one is going to give me any more money, so I will have to start selling things. Maybe a lung!

Anyway the slave driver (nephew) has started to pester so that's it for now.

Have a good couple of days and I will post again on Saturday.

EDIT 7am Friday morning, having slept on it for a second night.

Having thought about it, It's a NO from me. There is just too many fundamental flaws with the whole idea.

Tanks were created to counter the trench warfare stalemate of 1916-17. Not how we use them today.

I can't conceive of the Martians building trenches ergo the trench stalemate would not come to be.

Unless the tanks are made out of ceramics then they will be worse against heat rays than being in the open.

The whole idea is set in the wrong scale. If tripods are that big then a smaller scale like 6mm or 10mm would be better. If tripods are not huge,  go larger to 20mm where there is already a lot of commercial kits already about. 15mm seems to be 100% designed to limit all the spending to one company, with no other options.

I think it's the wrong era. I think set later, in the great depression maybe. when tanks are in existence and that counters my first point. It also allows you to do gangsters verses Martians which would have much more appeal to me. "Eat Lead you slimy rat!"

SO to conclude it's a No from me there are some nice ideas but overall too many flaws and missed opportunities.

Another gun

As mentioned previously I am trying to finish some things off before I go to Salute. In that vein here is another of the Peter Pig 15mm scale pieces of artillery for PBI. I have all ready put 2 of these on my blog last year and this is the third and most likely final one. A 105mm gun for my US infantry company the other two have not yet seen action on the table top, but it's only a matter of time. Adding an extra gun to the battery is a good step forward not many points and a very useful addition as it can and no doubt will be used in anti tank and against footsloggers. The crew of the other two are in Vietnam era uniforms, while this one is strictly WW2. It makes hardly any difference to me, they were all painted the same way. The difference is the Vietnam era uniforms look scruffier,  with shirts untucked and open at the neck which I am sure I would have done if I had been working in a jungle as well.

Very close examination of the second picture may reveal the differences, but it will most likely show the similarities. "Shelldrake" pointed out last time that you would never store ammunition in this way (standing up) as it is possible to accidently set one round off! As this was my last piece of ammo for these guns I have put it on in the same manner as previously only for continuity and not for realism.

As we are now into the Easter Holidays I will of course be looking after my nephew for a few days. If he's happy to play on my computer it will mean I will get some painting opportunities, but should the weather be better he may decide to do something out of doors in which case for me painting just won't happen. So while I intend to continue to blog and post as normal there may be some disruption. Anyway that's todays quick update, not a huge amount to show I will try to post again in 2 days but I can't be certain that I will manage it. Still until I do have fun, enjoy the sun (yes it's out as I type this) and try to get some painting done. All the best Clint.

Happy Easter

Without kids all the holidays kind of sneak up on me and this Easter is no exception. I did manage to buy myself an Easter egg though so It's not a bad thing. Actually out of all the holidays we have in the year Easter is possibly my favourite.

But you did not check here to read about my thoughts of Easter. As you can see a few more 28mm Apache warriors from Foundry. Only one with a bow but he also has a revolver in a holster so it's not like he's shunning white skin weapons. The other three are all rifle armed, 2 Winchesters and one breech loader. Painted in the same way as the other 4 from two days ago. To be honest I started all of them at the same time but only finished 4 at a time. I have stuck to the same palette as last time so they all should look compatible. I have one more 28mm Apache to do, so expect another one soon. (different manufacturer though). I might pick up a few more at Salute in a few weeks but if not that will be the extent of them for now. There is not too much on my Salute shopping list at present so anything is possible. This is because I want to get a few existing projects moved forward rather than starting something new. Therefore expect the time between now and Salute to be me working on existing things and rounding armies out. This is for 2 reasons, 1) because I really do need to get things finished that are half started. and 2) because I want to start the War of Spanish Succession but to be honest I am a little daunted to start. This reluctance is well set in my mind but I will overcome it in time. However for the next few weeks a little tidying up and finishing off is in order.

It's a bit rambling today, which shows how much my thoughts are all over the place. I shall post of the blog on Tuesday and with luck will have my act together. Thanks for reading todays waffle, hope you have a wonderful holiday and that the weather improves for you where ever you are.

Until Tuesday, take care and try to get something painted! Best Wishes Clint