Minden Miniatures SYW: 1st Battalion, Infantry Regiment Osten

Time for a new direction.  This is the first time that I have painted up any Minden Miniatures SYW figures. They are a delight to work with. Here we have some Prussian figures in Swedish cuffs masquerading as the 1st Battalion of the Infantry Regiment Osten of the Palatine Auxiliary Corps (Pfaltzische Subsidienkorps) hired by France to fight in Germany. More of such will follow. I can only hope that they are good enough to serve alongside Steve's French Minden Miniatures SYW figures that have been painted up by someone known only as "The Dentist". Flags come via some computer trickery and printing out of the regimental colours as illustrated in the SPLENDID plates produced by Frédéric Aubert and available via his SYWBS: Seven Years War Battle System FB page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/343028327548164/  

Viet Cong Female Soldiers

 The mojo slowly returns. A number of figures from the Gringo's 40 28mm Vietnam range. Lots of black. There are few more of these to come.

Lt. Col. (Temporary) Winston Churchill (QOOH) attached 6 Bn. Royal Scots Fusiliers, 1916.

What does it take to re-start the painting mojo? The answer is an act of generosity. Jeremy S commissioned this figure of Winston Churchill, 1916, from Paul Hicks and he contacted me because he had just received a number of casts and he wished to send me one. I asked Jeremy to send two, so that I could paint one up and send it back to him. I believe that Footsore Miniatures may well be adding this figure to their catalogue in the fullness of time.

1/48 Sopwith Triplane with a decal disaster

 I am enjoying building these kits to buzz above the wargames table.. I am also enjoying re-creating the sort of straightforward paint job that I would have aspired to when I built Airfix kits as a kid. There is a pleasing simplicity about the end result. This was a very satisfying build from an Eduard kit dating from the mid-1990s but the decals were horribly brittle and I lost the Sopwith labelling for the tail plane as well as the blue, white and red zig-zag  markings that went around the fuselage. The tail rudder decals broke into a few pieces along with one of the fuselage roundels and all had to be overpainted by hand. I think I managed to save the build! One more kit to build before the little metal men return to the table...a Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter. There will be another four kits from Steve's clear-out to keep until the next time I feel the urge to build.

1/48 Pfalz D. XII

 The mojo for painting little metal men is still on long term leave but I hope to return to them shortly. Steve's surplus kits continue to provide useful distractions, an outlet for building things and painting big blocks of colour. This 1/48 Pfalz D. XII is a Blue Max kit. I bought some lozenge decals for the wings as these were not provided with the kit. A remarkably colourful aeroplane when complete. The photos are taken on the workbench rather than in the lightbox as it is not currently set up. 

1/48 Royal Aircraft Factory RE.8 "Harry Tate".

As a consequence of my friend Steve's clear-out a few weeks ago, I was very pleased to come into the possession of an Aeroclub 1/48 kit of a RE.8. An out of production kit dating from the 1990s. I have been on the lookout for one of these for quite a few years but when they cropped up in eBay or on websites dealing with "vintage" and out of production kits they were selling for silly money. Too pricey for what I wanted to do with it - create a gaming piece that would buzz above the wargaming table. During all that time, Steve had one in his "black hole". This beauty, equipped with a radio transmitter, will circle the table spotting the fall of shot from 96 Heavy Artillery Group. Time to get hold of some pilots from Copplestone Castings.

WW1 Leyland 3-ton Lorries, a big gun and a Hannover CL IIIa

 The mojo for painting little metal men has taken long term leave but over the past month the time at the table has been dedicated to "equipments". Earlier in the summer I obtained these two 1/56 scale 3D resin printed models of WW1 Leyland 3-ton lorries from David Freemantle in Australia. Splendid stuff. I also assembled and painted up a 5 inch gun on an obsolete 40pdr gun carriage from Actual Size Miniatures. The dial sight came from my bits-box. I was pleased to get this model as this gun was used in Mesopotamia. There is a photograph of such a gun mounted in the bows of a river lighter that has been converted into an improvised powered gunboat. I will now be able to think about building the powered lighter. My friend Steve, in a moment of madness, had a clear-out and as a consequence of his episode a number of 1/48 aircraft kits are now sitting in in my "to build" pile. Here is the first, a Hannover Cl IIIa. This kit caused much swearing and getting the top wing fixed in place was a nightmare. Even now it is not central! There comes a time to cut your losses, say "bugger it" and crack on.

 

Empress Miniatures Italians in Abyssinia and some pulp Deep Sea Divers

 Well....it has been quite some time since I posted anything. Sadly, real life has dealt the family a number of long term problems to deal with and painting was shelved due to necessity. The problems are still ongoing but I have managed to return to the painting table although available time and motivation are scarce. Here are some Empress Miniatures Italians from the conflict in Abyssinia and some deep sea divers for a bit of pulp fun.