5 More Burpas!

Clearly I am painting 5 figures at a time. And here are  the next 5. Again they are for Matt and he mostly does 28mm and these are indeed that size.

A mixture  of make from left to right (I think) 2 Empress Miniatures a Perry miniature and 2 wargames Foundry figures.  All more troops to devastate the Hills of the Indian sub continent and to stop the Colonial British . But they could also be used in pulp games in North Africa or maybe as pirates in and around Turkey. They realy could be quite versatile in their application.

I have 5 more to do in this batch and will show a batch picture wen I publish them.  I do hope to show a club game on Monday and I will be trying the "En Earde!" rules by Osprey for the first time.

Thanks for looking today and with luck an AAR on Monday.

A litle bit of everything..... OK NOT evererything!

The painting Mojo has not returned so I Painted up a pair of M16 half tracks for my Arab Israeli wars collection They were still in use in the Yom Kippur war of 1973 as anti aircraft guns.

The rules say I am only allowed 1 but I had 2 models so I thought I might as well paint them both! For those of you who are not all that familiar with the M16 Halftrack if you think of a WW2 M3 American Halftrak with 4 (quad mounted) .50 Browning heavy machineguns in a small turret. Here is a pic of a real one In Israeli colours and Markings. So Colour wise I am pretty close,

The M16 was used in WW2 by America and for many people the "Matchbox" 1/76 scale plastic model was our first introduction to the machine. I know it was mine. While the guns are designed for Anti aircraft I know it can also be used against ground targets either soft skin vehicles or Infantry. By the later part of the second world war it will have little to no effect against tanks.

But in the Arab Israeli wars it still has its uses both against aircraft and to a lesser extent against ground forces, apart from tanks. but still a nice piece of kit to have on the battle field.

 Meanwhile back at the steam punk tank... no NO pictures now until I finish it. But any colonial force be they Zulus or marhdist forces does need something to counter the Beast! So the obvious choice is to include magic! I can Hear certain people "Frowning" from here. And you did not think Frowning made any noise. I can assure you that it does.

 So I present 1 Zulu "witchdoctor". Do not worry I do not see him casting any fireballs and lightning strikes, or any of that sort of malarkey. but more sort of portents and consoulting with oracles and checking the stars and maybe having "Sabotage" card to play on the tank. There may be more on this another time.

 And finally my order from Pendraken has arrived today. I will not go through my whole list of goodies but I have got some stoff for the Steam tank and a whole new project which I hope to get completed over the winter period for Curts Analogue Hobbies painting challenge AND for the Pendraken painting competition.  No reason I cannot do both IF they come out how I hope they will.

Stay tuned to find out what mad thing I have in the planning! But Do not hold your breathe as it will take a while to get up and running!


Hope you found something interesting today. All the best Clint

Next 5 Burpas.

I did mean to post these on the blog yesterday, but time just got away from me.

So a little latter than I hoped, here are the next 5 Burpas. A mix of makes Empress and Foundry (I think) and they should function quite well as Indian hill Tribesmen. And they may even do a turn in some pulp games set in North  Africa. How Knows.

Over all nice to paint as It does allow me to paint some bright colours as well as some drab colours which is always pleasant. I do have 10 more to do so expect 5 more along  shortly.

I may post again tomorrow as I have some 6mm vehicles that are just about done and that will put me back on schedule! At least in regard to blog posts.

Until then have fun take care and smile as much as you can. All the Best Clint

A few more Burpas.

Well the painting Mojo has not yet returned and while I did expect to have these done and on the blog before breakfast this morning you can see I a just a little late.

Firstly let me confess I am not 100% sure of the makes, it was all explained to me but I have since forgotten. BUT from left to right I believe them to be, Perry Miniatures, Empress Miniatures and three Foundry figures.  If I have that wrong please forgive me. They are all 28mm and Painted for my mate Matt. And I will return them to him on Sunday next!

There are 5 more started and they should be finished pretty soon IF I get any enthusiasm back. As you can see this lot are in the more muted palette of colours so should fit in very well with the rest.

So until then you will just have to put up with these figures and hope I can get some more done for Tuesday, when I would HOPE to post again.

All the best Clint

Doll Drums.

Yes it comes to us all. AND I AM CURRENTLY in the painting Doll Drums!

Which is not to say I have stopped, but is to say I have slowed down considerably!

So slow in fact that I have only managed to get 1 British officer of the colonial period finished.  Many if not most will be looking and saying that is the wrong shade of blue it should be darker. And yes Cavalry and artillery officers should be in a darker blue.

However those attached to the Natal Native Light horse units wore sky blue and that did get faded in the African sun.   And I think he's a pretty good match for the African sky in the Picture.Or if you do not like that explanation just assume it id the uniform colour of Her Majesties Royal Navy Landship Squadron.

Thanks for looking today I will try to get more done and quickly for the next scheduled post on Sunday.

All the Best Clint

Natal Native horse. (10mm)

yes back to my 10mm Colonials. No I have not become the MOST AMAZING figure painter over night... the picture is from the film "Zulu Dawn" and Shows a Natal Native Horseman in action.  Many of you will have realised that straight away.

On with the figures. I bought these 10mm figures about 2-3 years ago from eBay in a job lot of 10mm Colonial goodness. Most of that batch are now painted, but I do have about 100 British foot to do should I need any more (I don't think I do unless it is to change the uniforms from red to kaki). But these 12 horsemen took a lot longer as all the spears and carbines were badly bent and they were on card bases and already undercoated. More importantly I did not know what they were OR who made them.

I now think (but do not know) that they are Magista Militum figures. What I am sure about is that they are 10mm Natal Native Horse.  And as such were used in the 1894 Anglo-Zulu war. Unlike most Natal native units they were fully armed usually with a Cavalry  carbine and between 1 and 3 spears. They were also uniformed in Tan jackets trousers and issued sun hats with red bands around them in cloth. Most Natal Native units only had about 20% firearms with the rest using spears!. But all units did wear the red band around their heads so us ignorant colonials would know they were on our side and not try to shoot them.

Size wise they are a very good match for my 10mm Pendraken colonial troops (and yes the steam tank! More of that another time). So they should fit in well as Pendraken do not at the time of tying make any Natal Native Horse. And that is perhaps the point you will never need so very many of these in fact the amount now painted should be more than enough.  Actually I may need more, as I know every wargamer wants to have something just a little bit quirky under their control and as a club we do tend to have several players to each game.

So my Zulu War 10mm project continues and next time some more Burpas for Matt, as some are on the painting table already.

Thanks for looking today, I hope the weather is good for you. All the best Clint

The battle of Crincklie Bottom. (AAR)

"The Royalists Won!" Well maybe, but maybe not! Matt wanted me to say "The Royalists Won!" as he was playing the Royalists teamed up with Tim who was semi referee as well.  While Graham and myself were playing the Parliamentarian forces.  We were using the "To defy a King!" Rules and it was our first game.

Now what I know about ECW can be written with a blunt crayon on the back of a very small envelope! In other words very slightly more than could b written on a stamp. It has never been a war that has interested me. Oh well never mind! Not knowing the rules I am sure we all made mistakes, I know I did!

I was set up across from Matt.

In the rules you may pick the type of unit, (Foot, Horse, Guns or Dragoons)
You place a card for the unit where it is to start

and then when all the cards are placedyou flip them to find out how big the units are
And another card to determine the level of training the unit has.

This was great fun and a nice mechanic.
Above are my 5 units.
Quality wise 3 of them were "RAW" and 2 were "Trained"
NONE were veterans.

We went first and I was under "Advance orders"
The Yellow counters represent Raw units, and the Brown counters
Units that have been disrupted by doing a manoeuvre that was complicated!
In this instance they came down from on top of the hill!

My left wing where the forces met with Graham was quite strong.
 

My Horse on the right. Well they did try hard throughout the game.
To be honest They should have been on attack orders and not advance orders.
My leader was close behind and I thought I could change orders reasonably quickly!
My mistake not knowing the rules.
The Orders had to come from the army commander and took 4 turns to arrive
 and another 2 turns to understand his writhing!

But on my right all was not lost! My Gallopers were pushed back but my Trotters (despite being Raw) Held in place.
The gallopers rolled 2d6 and scaorred double 1s

My advance in the centre of the board was going strong and we were giving the Royalists  a bit of trouble.
Genuieningly I was winning on the left!

My attack orders are just arriving at this stage!
(Bottom left hand side)
And while the Trotters were being beaten
the Gallopers turned the tables and started pushing Matts Trotters Back.

But My Gallopers took to many casualties doing so
and my Trotters were pushed back 3 turns in a row,
they then broke and header for the table edge!

Grahms Horse had meanwhile started to get around the flank and were riding down
Tims Dragoons. Which were tenaciously holding on to the last stand!
Graham's foot were slowly conceding ground as Tims Foot were pushing forward.

My foot were doing well and the area to the left of the town (Crinklie Bottom)
were out gunning the Royalist forces!

But Tims foot were just about through Graham line by now.
Which left Grahams horse behind them ready to sweep along and fold up that flank
(If the dice gods could be appeased!)

Tim Planning to push right through the line and
Destroy all of Grahams Foot!
Yes Graham was lucky enough to start with some veteran foot!

One more Big Push by Tim and the left Foot would crumble.

meanwhile My Gallopers were destroyed
and my RAW trotters now on attack orders
Charged Malls Trained Gallopers.
It was only ever going to end one way!

The left wing at the end of the battle was only just holding on!
But with Graham Horse through and behind Tims line and with Tim having no more Horse
The left flank could be rolled up.
 

The right flank was almost exactly the same the Royalists had pushed through my Cavalry
but my foot had just about seen off Matts foot.

The rules did give a good game and IF I had known them even a little better I think My cavalry might have held out and possibly even won! (Yeah right... OKAY they might have held out a bit longer!)

The Battle was very bloody as we had the morale rules wrong and quite often units fought till the last stand and that just felt wrong so a re-read of that section I think is needed.

Overall I would claim it as a VERY minor Parliamentarian win But we run out of time so I will take a draw as a fair result!

Burpa batch 2 finished.

yep with slightly cooler weather I am able to paint more so I have finished the second batch of Burpas for Matt.

Now I could stretch these over a couple of days, but as they are done I see no reason not to show them as soon as possible.

Starting of we have a mounted leader on a palomino pony. I think this may be one of the few times that I have painted a palomino and I like the way it has come out. Not perfect of course but acceptable. This leader has striped trousers, a red jacket and Green Turban. a white sash and an orange waistcoat/under-jacket. As a leader I wanted to keep the colours quite rich and exciting as he would have a better share of any money or if a bandit any loot!

The next 5 are somewhat duller in colour and would be more run of the mill foot soldiers. They are all Foundry figures in 28mm from a variety of ranges but all suitable for North West Frontier, or Saharan adventure games. Two wear sheepskin jackets to keep out the cold in the mountains (Far left and far right) or the desert at night.

Overall they have come out quite well in all regards. And I will be able to give them back to Matt on Sunday at the club. And then he can give me some more to paint. So expect more Burpas in the next few weeks.

This gives me a  day to paint something for myself or maybe to carry on with the steam tank... Not sure what I will attempt next for me, I do have some Dark age 15mm figures that are calling out and some WW2 in 15mm that are also shouting my name.

And the final picture is them all in this batch together.  You will be able to blow the figure up quite large on screen and see all the mistakes that I make. I ask you NOT to point them out as I am already aware of them.

All the best Next post on Monday.

5 Burpas!

Well very unlikely that I will get any more on my 10mm VSF tank this week. Although I suspect a couple will comment at the club on Sunday.

However here are 5 more Burpas, for the NW Frontier. They are all 28mm Foundry castings from the Colonial North West Frontier and Darkest Africa ranges.


This time as I said I would I went for less bight colours although Matt did like them bright and Vibrant. While there are still some bright colours they do not dominate this time. Normally I email Matt some pics before I post on my blog but as he is on Holiday I have permission to put them straight on my blog as he has said he did not care what colours they would be. Still one hope he likes them. I hope to have 5 more finished by Friday night and the last one finished on Saturday. When I say last one I mean last one of the current batch.

Thanks for looking More Burpas in a couple of days. But the weather is such that the paint is drying on the brush as I paint and as for washes.... Still it could be worse it might be like this all the time!

Land ship WIP

Much as I dislike Work in Progress posts this time I feel I do need to do one.

The figures are shown for scale  and are 10mm Pendraken. The land ship is intended for that scale and for that colonial period. (Being Victorian Science Fiction). So I have put a Mounted officer a Gatling gun and a foot stand all ready to show the scale.

I started with a 15mm "Forged in Battle" tank as I want a certain "Heft" to the model and do want it to look quite imposing and by starting a scale larger it does immediately posses those qualities. The donor vehicle is actually miss cast so I was able to buy it at less than half price.  And while I did originally want to use it as a WW2 German vehicle it works better for this.

So starting with a Char 1 Bis hull (And ignoring the turret) I first reversed the way it was heading and added a "Boiler" to the back. I have yet to add a chimney as I suspect that will be the final piece BEFORE painting as it will probably double the vehicles height and there fore be easy to knock of unless I am careful.


 While I am mostly working with "Green stuff" I am also using some plastic sheet rod and tube to alter the vehicle. Side sponsons are also being added to which guns will be fitted before painting.

The turret ring has been filled in and I will be adding a 1lb pompom gun and crew as a pintle mount up on the top deck.  the kind men at Pendraken will be supplying the gun and the crew and it should be arriving soon! So I should be able to crack on pretty quickly when it does.

As you can see I am not a sculptor, but the beast is coming together reasonably well and I am sure it will look impressive when it is finished and sitting among my British colonial troops be they in Zulu Land, or facing the Mahdi or the Boxer Rebellion or in some imagination setting maybe against the |French or the Prussians.

Thanks for looking today I will get some Burpas done next.  I hope to have 4 finished by this time tomorrow so expect them in my next blog post.

TTFN  and with luck see you all soon.

Cheers Clint

M3 Half tracks

 Not very much painting done this week. My mother has been poorly but is on the mend. Last week she could not stand and this week I have managed to walk her to the local shops and back so that is  good progress.

However enough of real life! Here are 5 heroics and Ross M3 US Halftracks.  I say Us Halftracks, but they are in Israeli service and were the MAIN infantry fighting Vehicle/Battle taxi up to 1973. Which is the date I have set for my Arab Israeli wars collection. I only painted 5 as I only had 5 I would have painted more If I had them, The joy is they are the kind of thing that will turn up at a wargames bring and buy and they are also the kind of thing I would like to buy!

In the rules I will need at least 3 infantry squads per 1000 points! So I can see these getting some use and abuse. And used as Target Practice by the Syrian, Egyptian and Jordanian forces.

In the coming week I would expect to see some more "Burpas!" (Matt dropped some off today! For me to paint) . Also behind the scenes I am working in a Royal Navy Land ship (Circa 1889) which is coming on OK and when my order from Pendraken arrives I will be able to finish it off and furnish it with some crew. So that is all to look forward to in the coming week, but for now just a meagre offering today.

Cheers From SUNNY  (and Hot) North Kent!
All the Best Clint!