A Slight Diversion

As I mentioned in my last post, I thought I would make an attempt to paint something different, just to shake me out of a bit of a rut, so I bought just a few 15/18mm AB Miniatures Napoleonic range from 'Fighting 15s' here in the UK. I put up some pics of some of them unpainted, but having spoiled a few with paint, I decided, possibly against my better judgement, to post some pictures for your amusement (and probably 'abusement'!). I know that there will almost definitely be historical inaccuracies in both colour and uniform adornments, but for those of you out there who have a much greater knowledge of uniforms of the period, be kind- these figures merely represent a little diversion from the norm, but I have enjoyed painting them.

First up, some reclining marksmen from the 95th Rifles:

I still have to varnish and apply static grass, so the bases look a little bare.

There were 3 poses of Riflemen in the prone position in a pack of 9 minis- the other was a mixture of these two- reaching for a cartridge to reload, but wearing a shako and not bareheaded.

These other two pictures are, obviously, Royal Artillery. This was in small part a labour of love for me because it was my father's regiment in WW2, although I believe he had weapons that were slightly more sophisticated! RIP Dad.

I think the challenge of painting something completely different was good for me. I had to be more disciplined to get close to something historical, and it was nice to use some brighter colours. One of my sons bought me the Vallejo Napoleonic paint set for Fathers' Day, so that is all I used, apart from the brass on the barrel of the 9 pounder.

I think I will go off on a tangent every now and then and try something different- I have some WW2 vehicles and figures, Peter Pig Moderns, and I took advantage of the offer from 15mm.co.uk and ordered their Use Me ruleset for zombies, which included a set of zombie figures. It seems that my blog is incorporating more than Sci Fi, but only in a very small way.

I have an idea for running some solo Sci Fi games, and writing them up as a running narrative with pictures from the games, to produce an ongoing story- would there be any interest in that do you think?

Thanks for reading!

Oddzial Osmy and others.....

It has been a while since my last post- I suddenly came to the conclusion that as there was so much brilliantly painted and modelled stuff out there, who would want to look at what I'm up to? Anyway, encouraged by the kind words of Jay (of 'Jay's Miniature Enterprises' blog-excellent entertainment) I have plucked up courage again, so here goes.

I have finished off my first squad of Armies Army Future Brits

and here they are, and following Jay's excellently painted Oddzial Osmy Media crew, here is my offering, painted about a month ago.

Also, in the 'OO' camp, yesterday, whilst watching the Lions v Wallabies rugby match, I did these two excellent minis from their Vistula Legion range- long range reconnaissance pack.

There have been other figures, but nothing particularly new. I have received a lot of terrain from Mad Mecha Guy recently, several buildings, the road and walls pack, containers etc, and will post some pictures when a reasonable amount is painted.

Finally, here are a couple of pics of future projects. My first foray into wargaming was Napoleonic, so having scoured the web for opinions about the best 15/18 mm figures in this era, a lot of people recommend AB Miniatures, although I realise that this is purely subjective. Anyhow, I ordered a few to paint as mini dioramas, as I can't see myself painting up a new mountain of lead- I'm in way over my head as it is!

French Hussars, two prone 95th Riflemen (I've just been re-watching the boxed set of 'Sharpe' DVDs) and a British and French sapper. I also have a 9 pounder British cannon and crew lurking in the drawer.

And last but not least, I based up these GZG trucks I bought recently. There's just something about these chunky vehicles I really like!

Thanks for looking in, and commenting if you have a mind to do so!