Hoka Hey (and a few other things)

Painted these for Peter at the club he's had some kind of accident and broken both wrists and elbows, I do not know the details but we wish him well.

These are the foot and mounted figures from Hoka Hey Wargames (Link). It is in the Border reivers section.

I was given the instructions to "Paint it dark" and having sent the pics to Peter I am assured that it is dark enough! Again no work on the bases as I know Peter likes to do his own bases. This is fine by me and I am more than happy to leave it that way. After all less work for me!

I did ask if this member of the clergy was regular or secular and that is what prompted the Paint it dark comment. The figure was very nice and I would be interested in getting a few more it is also quite chunky as you can see. I do not think you would get so many to the kilo as other manufactures would achieve. However it is a very nice figure and I would be happy to paint more of them as they are hardly ever seen in the south of the country.

Meanwhile back at the Ranch (or other similar clichés)

On Thursday I meat Dave stone. Yes that is him in the picture! He turn out to be a really nice bloke. (I will tell the truth another time) he is in charge of Wargames Terrain Workshop, (LINK). Well when I say in charge his good (or maybe not so good) lady might well dispute that! A terribly nice guy and I am sure if we lived closer we would become good friends, no matter how much he would try to put me off! "No sorry Clint I am not in this month.... did I say I was moving?" kind of thing, you get the idea!

If you have not yet checked out his web site please do, I am sure it will be very much appreciated.

While out to meet Dave I did a little shopping! The APC is for my AK 47 force. The Panzer Mk 3 is now started and has already taken me about twice as long as the T-26 did! Yeah I know, This one came with instructions which made it HARDER! The T-60 is yet to be started I'll let you know how I get on! And Finally some Elephant tusks from Wargames Terrain Workshop. Do not expect me to paint these for at least 6 months. They are for a long term project at least 1 year from now!

Well that takes me into Saturday morning and some emails to send and a Panzer to finish hopefully by tomorrow!

Lewis Gunners and Tea chests.

 Well painting for the club members again. The figure on the left (with the finished base) is for Matt. While the two on the right are for Richard (aka Dick).
Starting with Matts figure it is converted and as such has a head swap. This is not a problem for me after all I did not do the work, I just slapped the paint on. It will go with his VBCW collection. I have painted it to fit I with almost any of his factions so It may be a fascist or a miner or an Anglican or well you name it.


The two figures on the right are painted for Dick. They are Ironclad miniatures Miners. Richard did not provide bases or give any indication or how he wanted the bases done. Therefore I have had no input on what exactly he wants so I have left them bare so he may base them. When I paint for Peter at the club (some very soon, hopefully tomorrow) I am instructed not to base them as he will do that himself. Consequently I have left an email for Richard but have not yet received a reply.  And to be honest unless I get one this morning this is how I will hand them back to him.

Finally for me some Ainsty castings Tea chests. They all came in one pack are enough scatter scenery to edge the dieselpunk project just a tiny bit closer. For those younger then myself you may never have come across a Tea chest! I only vaguely recall them from when I was 5 years old. They were used after that time but I have no personal recollection of them at later dates.

Needless to say they were what tea was transported in from China or India to the UK. As such they were wooden chests with metal edges. I have only used 2 colours of brown for the wood as they are just scenery and will get shot by players (no not literally) as figures take cover behind them on the big airships and in the warehouses.

That is it for today. Please enjoy any weather and have as good a day as you possibly can.

All the best Clint

Zvezda T-26 (I/100)

On Friday I purchased a Zvezda 1/100th scale kit of the T 26 Russian tank. here is it finished! Yes that is it in front of the box in the pic.

Let's be honest the kit only had 5 pieces to it, so it was just about impossible to get wrong if you applied just the slightest bit of common sense. The turret was a single piece, the hull came in 2 pieces (top of hull, bottom of hull) and there was a left and a right wheels and tracks. It really was that easy and should not challenge anyone. The kit was very clean with no flash or mold lines and all the pieces fitted together very well. Being honest I was impressed. simple and effective.

So here is how I painted it!
Step 1: Knowing I wanted a Russian Winter feel I sprayed it with white primer.  I was not too precious with it and it was in parts patchy as the primer applied from a spray can was not all that even. I could have given it another light coat but to e honest I wanted it to look rough.

Step 2: A "Black green" wash was applied. It went on too heavy but oh well never mind.

Step 3: I over brushed with white. This covered up most of the black green where it was too heavy.

Step 4: I painted the tracks. First with a bronze, then a gun metal and then in part with a white and rust..

Step 5: The rubber on the wheels was added with a black

Step 6: I applied the rust. Anywhere and everywhere I thought rust would be.

Step 7: Glued it to an MDF base.

All in all took about 25 minutes including drying time and assembly. I think it looks pretty good for the time and effort spent on it. Yes when I do the next one it will not turn out exactly the same, maybe it will be better and maybe it will be worse. Who Knows! This is the basic started tank for Operation Barrbarosa used by the Russians and yes I do intend to get at least 1 more for club games of "What a Tanker". While not the best tank of the period it was still a good tank and as a starter tank what else could you ask for.  I know a lot of players will want to start with powerful tanks but then they would also be fighting powerful tanks. Therefore by starting with the T-26 it should give me a foundation of how I want the tanks to look.

Crimean Artillery

Yes 28mm foundry. And therefore yes they are for Matt. And NO he has not seen them yet. (Unless he looks here that is or maybe checks his emails on Monday when at work,)

I did quite enjoy painting them, they were far easier than the Hussars! British Navy gun crew of the late 19th century again I know next to nothing about so I took the colours from the Foundry web site so if I am wrong so be it, more to the point so are they. Matt did suggest all 6 figures to go all on one base. I did try it and while they would all fit without looking daft I just felt they needed a bit more room. I Know Matt is OK with that as he did say if it looks too crowded I was to base them separately.

 This (for now and at least until next weekend) halts the Crimean war for me.  I still have a few commission pieces to paint for the club as well as my own stuff so I can honestly say there is a wide variety of things on the go. Including my Terrain boards.... but until I feel I have some more to say about them I will just plod away in the background.

Hope you get out in the sun and have a good time. If Not enjoy some painting and gaming and watching TV it is all up to you  as long as you strive for happiness!

All the best Clint