Tag: miniature figures

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miniatures painting

Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge 16

So AHPC16 is upon us – well the 21st December is storming towards me far too fast.

In previous years – well the last two to be exact – first year I started preparing on the 21st way too late and then last year did prepare one primed unit beforehand but held off having a plan before knowing about the themes which then derailed me with a sci fi bug.

I found I was doing stuff (deciding about theme models or simply digging out figures to clean and prime) but not actually painting colour – much before the January deadline loomed into view!

So this year I started my plan in November!

And I have primed some of the planned pieces.

And I decided to ignore the theme and just see what came along.

And lucky me this years three themed pieces have fallen nicely into place within my plan.

Declining Empire should see some planned 1848 Hungarians appear

Childhood toy memory fortunately gets the wild geese treatment from the 1700’s

And rebels hopefully will see some Covenanters appear before the various deadlines

Alas last years failed star of my show might fail to appear yet again. As its anniversary related this is a constant theme – I started my 28mm stoke field armies in 2015……still not much progress ten years on!

And now I have scenery options nudging their way into my plan.

I was hoping to get some more Fauxterre 1930 kit done.

Then there were the 1848 Hanoverians, 1848 Neapolitans, 1700 French Dragoons, 1848 Roman infantry all crying out to be on the plan – the list goes on and on.

Way too much of course for this painting snail, which having done a plan shows so well. It means the exercise has proved its worth already.

However real life is very very busy right now so I might fail on all fronts!

The optimistic wargamer marches onwards……

Categories
1/72 scale figures

Fauxterre 1930: up, up and away

Fauxterre 1930 remains a work in progress, no gaming for eons and painting units seems endless. This could be because I get distracted!

In this case distraction of the aviation sort occurred at a couple of wargame shows.

The Other Partizan in 2024 fielded a luscious blue biplane. A suitably inter war affair still includes cavalry and tech like biplanes although I think this demo game was Russian Civil War era.

https://thewargamingerratic.home.blog/2024/10/15/the-other-partizan-2024/

Then there was Recon 2023 where Height 518 demo game saw the Italians losing again to the Greeks in a 1941 Balkans encounter.

https://thewargamingerratic.home.blog/2023/12/11/recon-2023-at-pudsey/

I was gifted an old second hand biplane and eventually it ate my brain and had to be made. And thus triggered me digging out a bricks and mortar store purchase – another biplane.

Of course these models offer little to an empty wargaming battlefield!

This has been my Fauxterre experience – lots of distractions.

Anyway first up lots of make photos

Planes creep into the production line
Biplanes are fiddly but we got there
The Czech transfers were ancient compared to the Henschel ones
Airfix Henschel was easy to build with good connections
The Kovozavody model instructions looked almost as old as the aircraft!
Instructions were ok fit was reasonable if a bit off in places
The Two Plane build

And then came the painting which took a lot longer than I expected. Then the Matt varnish would not Matt. At least both transfers went on a treat.

Plane from 83 squadron of 5th Air Regiment in Brno
Another letov S-16 this time from no. 63 Squadron 2nd Air Regiment in Olomouc – a crack squadron of very experienced pilots.

Did I tell you I had two S16’s……

Airfix Henschel 123
Just the one plane in Spanish civil war markings for the German legion

So my Fauxterre forces have some bombers and fighters to go with a floatplane spotter. Progress of sorts!

Categories
miniatures painting wargaming

Operation High Street part III

Back in 2021 I accidentally picked up a lucky find in a charity bookshop. It was a hard copy book in their vintage section so it was priced up.

The book by Charles Grant Senior had a garish 1970’s cover you could not miss….

Operation Highstreet

Simply to find such a rare beast in a bricks and mortar setting made me buy it. I mean I had no interest in anything beyond my recently set limit of 1870 (up from 1735 due to discovering the wargame delights of 1848).

I bought it, I read it, I was energised! Suddenly I had this idea to start a small side project with limited objectives.

Buy from real shops – bricks and mortar

Use the book idea

Limit the forces to those in the book

Use Fauxterre

Fauxterre has become my catch all imaginations world for gaming ahistorical forces and situations. Although it is really fantasy that term implies dragons and otherworldly ideas. So Fauxterre 1930 was born – one of several realms……

Mythical Realms

In this case instead of Red v Black I would have Ochre (Vossakia v Azorians) Brown. Ok so the Vossakians look a lot like Russians and the Azorians have more the a passing resemblance to early war US troops.

Charles Grant used readily available models and figures in 1/72 and 1/87 and also used hannomags for both sides.

The theme with ahistorical imaginations gaming is you can mix it up.

Despite deciding to follow the book process I did not want the book period of late WW2. Instead I wanted prewar – biplanes, poor tank development and hardly any blitzkreig etc. ok so monoplanes and tank modernisation would figure alongside motorised units. In other words a bit of everything.

And then I created two projects after rushing to buy the figures in my local shop which I liked. Yes the plastic soldier company Russians were suitable for 1930’s use and so were the US soldiers (1942 m1 helmets though) but for some reason I had a split personality moment and opted for them to be later prewar!! While some other shop bought figures became early prewar: This was solely due to wanting some Adrian helmets in the period. Of course in TORCH 1942 you get Adrian helmets up against M1’s but that’s yet another story.

Confused? Yep the problem with making it up is being consistent with your invention……….no chance!

Back to Fauxterre 1930. I quickly got plain infantry for both sides painted then read about the PSC US support troops scale problems – this typical dip in the project track simply derailed the whole thing!

It’s just one of those things. Since then the project has acquired a lot more equipment (all in the paint queue) and other figures (all in the paint queue) and even some aircraft – yet more distraction.

Finally though, I have managed to heave some figures over the line.

Back to the Russians again, I do like the sculpts (except the flat guy who seems to be reaching between two walls…..)

Anyway first up we get some machine gunners

Then we have some mortars light and medium?

Then we get a couple of anti tank rifles

And finally a couple of 37mm anti tank guns.

In the foreground gun said squeezed sculpt is almost facing camera – ok he looks alright after all……..just real shoulder ache.

Not sure when the next completion might appear though. Either way these chaps will join the infantry who have already had some escapades

Fauxterre 1930+ The Observer
Painting Pedestal 23X: Tacfos* – the game – episode 3

Don’t hold your breath when it comes to Fauxterre 1930….

Categories
life miniatures painting

Irregular Loss

I have just discovered that Ron Kay of Irregular Miniatures has died at the age of 98. He was full time on the team until 93, casting figures for all us hobbyists. He carried on as a part time member of the team still handling the big and complex castings. “Hats off” as they say.

I did not know Ron personally but seem to remember him at the Irregular stand at wargames shows.

I can do best by sharing some of my Irregular Miniatures collection and sending my condolences to Ian Kay and the Irregular family.

Irregular have provided me with some great 20mm figures that helped me build my 1848 forces.

1848 Danish Infantry repurposed from Irregulars colonial range
1848 Duchy of Parma artillery
Duchy of Modena Dragoons which were Neapolitan Dragoons
1848 Rumanian infantry which were ww1 Austrians
1848 Roman Legion which were ww1 Austrians
Colonial British posing as 1848 Danes
1848 Garibaldeans in red and blue shirts
Neapolitans posing as 1848 French
1864 Dane’s which were ww1 Austrians
1850 Dane’s which were ww1 Austrians
Grand Duchy of Tuscany Infantry repurposed from the colonial range
Categories
miniatures painting wargaming

The Painting Portrait 25k: AHPC15 leftovers

I just missed the end of AHPC15 with some 1848 era artillery.

Rather than park them like last year I decided to get these Properly finished.

Three types of artillery on show
I have added to my Danish artillery
Irregular miniatures bell shako British do good service as Dane’s of the 1840’s
Guns were different to the Russian 1850’s version.
Full complement with earlier model to fore.
These are 1848 Duchy of Parma
Same manufacturer as the Dane’s
Same guns as the Dane’s
B and B Miniatures provided these chaps posing as 1848 Schleswig Holstein rebels.
They are actually 1870 Prussians
One 4 pounder horse gun and one 6 pounder field gun both rifled breechloaders
But it’s hard work getting pickelhaubes for the 1840’s and the figures come with the guns – waste not want not. At three feet I can live with the difference.
Categories
miniatures painting wargaming

AFV April – What a mess

Jumping on the back of John at just needs varnish and Zauberwurfs duel over some mechanised models I determined to follow up my AHPC15 logistics Lorries.

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2025/01/?m=1

Well it seems experimentation is the order of the day. Instead of just painting some vehicles in plain military colours I seem to have drifted into a look at contrast colours, and it’s a right mess. I had no plan – just paint a lighter base colour and let the contrasts do the rest.

A case of too dark base coat for the contrast- this model had a dark green undercoat first.

Not the best outcome since I undercoated in grey or white then the Vallejo olive green seems to be quite translucent. End result is the shading is just highlighting my poor main colour work.

This contrast looks promising even if my lazy base coat work is a disaster
The nuln oil looks well oily while skeleton horde would be ok on the right base colour! Black undercoat was fine though…..

Ho hum.

Categories
miniatures painting wargaming

The Painting Portrait 25h Klim class intra planet trader and patrol craft

During AHPC14 I got into modelling instead of painting and specifically building models from household recycling – cardboard and plastic. The net is repleat with simply magnificent models done this way. I thought why not have a go.

Skinflint Games was an early discovery….

https://skinflintgames.wordpress.com/2023/08/08/hau-nau-haunebau-diy-flying-saucer/

https://skinflintgames.wordpress.com/2024/10/

Anyway back in October 2023 I started off my SciFi adventures on Fauxterre….

https://thewargamingerratic.home.blog/2023/10/18/painting-pedestal-23x-tacfos-the-game-episode-3/

I started to collect bits together for some spacecraft only to see the idea fade during AHPC14 as WW2 models took centre stage including a white reconnaissance spitfire – my first aeroplane kitbash in years.

https://thewargamingerratic.home.blog/tag/fantasy/

Well AHPC15 rejuvenated my modelling again. And so the scrapheap challenge spacecraft arrived – in fact two!

A Klim class rogue trader 036

First up was my take on the Red Dwarf TV series red spaceship – now mine is a “klim” class space freighter often used by rogues.

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2025/02/from-johnb-filthy-lucre-or-wheres.html

Second was my Policing vehicle – a space customs machine in blue. Again its basis is a “klim” class frame!

An A7 404 DiVoc patrol craft

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2025/03/from-john-b-abyss-violence-oi-their.html

Into the bargain I managed to paint up some magazine “freebie” dwarves and hobbits. AHPC15 as with AHPC14 drew me away from my projects and regular painting. While that meant less progress with my chosen periods the change was as good as a rest – as they say.

Indeed I have tended to use these APHC challenges to experiment with painting and modelling methods. Also the AHPC participation has certainly speeded up some of my painting habits. And that must be a good thing for a slowcoach like me.

Categories
miniatures painting wargaming

The Painting Portrait 25g Space Warriors of the Puls

Another entry from AHPC15. This time I was preoccupied with the challenge theme – Dantes Comedy where you had to descend each level into the abyss. Gluttony was the theme.

This is the link to my AHPC15 entry

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2025/01/from-john-b-28mm-space-marines-of-puls.html

Categories
wargaming

The Painting Portrait 25f Logistics

AHPC15 not only saw me make progress with my mid C19th century armies. Much delayed Fauxterre 1930 or my Lockdown Bricks and Mortar Shop project actually got in on the act.

Back in Covid times I decided on a whim to try and build some WW2 armies by walking into shops and physically buying stuff! Yes I know this is a bit of an old technique nowadays. At the time the logic was “get out and about”.

As it happened I had found a book in a shop window and snapped it up by………walking in and buying it. At the time shopping was a weird but satisfying escape. Sold as a vintage item it was Charles Grant Snr’s Battle! Practical Wargaming (B!PW)

Now this book gave me a way into WW2 on the limited basis I was looking for. Also Grant was quite happy to use german and US kit for his Russian forces – in other words country kit for that country only was not that important (of course the Russians used any kit they could lay their hands as did the germans) and indeed his forces were RED v BLACK – pure fantasy. Ok so that meant Russians versus Germans in reality.

Now this fed my need for a “fantasy historical” WW2 set up. I would use the technical aspects of the period but mess up the actual forces involved and of course the countries would be make believe. Thats Fauxterre. Sorry no zombies or rayguns.

In keeping with a theme I had developed, Fauxterre 1930 started to take shape. Why 1930? Well I had on this particular journey become more and more interested in the early war set up and less and less the final years. This escalated into pre war when I started to look at aircraft. I was quite taken with the transition from biplane to monoplane. And before you know it I was looking at AFV technology.

Did you know – the fairy swordfish biplane flown by the British Royal Navy fleet air arm in the 1930’s was still in combat duty in summer 1945 armed with rockets! so much digression….

The net result is I am trying and failing to get Fauxterre 1930 off the ground. My Plastic Soldier Company US and Russian troops were my first choice for figures when it was Fauxterre 1940 and are fine for the early war period but somehow I don’t like the figures if I roll back a decade. I do like them but not for Fauxterre 1930! They work for Fauxterre 1940 so would be ok but that is parked for now.

On a trip to a toy show I picked up some bin end corgi trucks.

And before you know it I had added to my Fauxterre 1930 logistics kit.

This is a link to my AHPC15 entry.

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2025/01/from-johnb-sinews-of-war-143-corgi.html

Categories
wargaming

Spring Clean or Spring Board?

I suppose participation in the annual analogue hobbies painting challenge (No15 has just finished) has affected my normal year end musings.

AHPC15 started in December and finished in March. It meant I was heads down painting for that time – so no looking in the rear view mirror let alone out through the front wargamers truck windscreen at the turn of the year.

This maybe explains why I suddenly had the need to look at my plans for 2025.

Out of the blue I created a sharp pencil production tool.

A sensible flow

Really it’s a funnelling idea with the visual aim to get to the point!

Of course I have two versions already…..

Just chuck it all in

Of course the second image could be a virtual “log jam” with nothing getting through as they say……