Building of the Week - Stone Granary

Building of he week will really come in two parts this week I show you FAR16 Stone Granary House from the Farming section at Leven Miniatures coming in at just £3.00. I decided I wanted this one to possibly be German so went for a limestone finish. Part two next week will show the farmhouse that goes with it and hopefully both based if I can find the time as I have the week off and will be doing lots in the day time so evenings may be just doss in front of the TV time.

I am a real fan of the various farm out buildings that Leven do as they can really add character to a terrain tile with the various set ups you can do. I plan to use a bunch of them in another European farm complex that could be the scene of the same desperate defence as Hougoumont in future battles.

FAR16 though is a modest building somewhat larger than the standard FAR01 farmhouse though it's not as tall allowing FAR01 to sit well with it. I went with a similar coloured roof to the walls based on a few German buildings I ran down through google.

Mike has done a number of new buildings with turrets recently and he seems to have it all sorted from the turret itself. This building would benefit from the painter using a little filler but in this case I was just too impatient for that! Also from a reasonable distance they fade way back so it's not really needed, unless of course you decide put images at least twice the size of the building on your blog.

View from above showing the tiling effect. I really like the finish ad looks even better from just a little distance away. Once I have this and the farmhouse based it will be a real keeper.

Scale shot, though the guns are on a base so makes the building look a little smaller than it it. Also this is a sneak peak at the new 1812-15 foot artillery, though I have subbed a howitzer onto this base.

Most of next week will be dedicated to 6mm as I have finished the 1812-15 Infantry, the French in Greatcoats and the other three 1812-15 guns and will be showing these off as well as the completed farm tile. It's a bit ironic then that I am working on the first two points of my SAGA Vikings which should be finished off this week if all goes to plan.

Project Waterloo The French are Coming (along)

Project Quatre Bras (image curtsey and copyright Leven Miniatures)
Project Waterloo will be four times larger

I knew I was doing OK with the French, but was not really paying that much attention to them so when I loaded up the spreadsheet to update with the progress I was mighty happy to see exactly where I stood. So much so that after adding the almost finished to the list I just wanted to share.

Huss	1	0
Chassers	3	0
Lancers	4	2	On The Table
Dragoons	0	0
Curris	6	1	two on the table
Guns	28	4
Limbers	8	0
Line	52	4
Light	20	7

So as you can see they are close to being finished. I have cleaned up and primed the last of the French Cavalry and will get them painted up once I have finished the basing of the six battalions of French infantry. This will complete all the cavalry I need for Waterloo, though I still have plenty of cavalry figures in stock and will continue in the future.

The guns will also be finished at the same time as the infantry so that needs updating further. As for the infantry I will do these to follow the cavalry. I still have nine battalions of the new 1812-15 French so will paint these up after the cavalry. This will mean I will literally have just two battalions of line to do and since I have around 12 more Baccus pre 1812 battalions I can get these finished without buying any more for the time being. In fact I have about 40 battalions of French infantry that will now go onto the back burner until I have the Prussians finished. Also about 20 regiments of cavalry and a few more guns so expect the odd one done every now and then. Especially when I get the urge to do more Peninsular French and allies.

The Prussians though have rather more cavalry and guns to paint up but seven cavalry regiments, eighteen infantry battalions and ten guns and a few limbers to do. If I can get the French done quickly and I think I can then I should have the two orbats for my commitment to the project all wrapped up for Christmas which would be great. That may still leave me a few command bases yet to do but if so I am not worried as these will be quick enough and a fun diversion.

I will still have a lot of buildings to paint up but given the new batch I have received I should be also looking at the end of the year as a reasonable target. The boards are being worked on by Lea though not at the moment as he is away with work most of the time but he will get back to them once back on normal footing.

I have to say I am really happy where we are at. Lee has his half of the figures well in hand and I know he is just filling in the gaps in his orbat.

Winter War Kickstarter Wave 2 News and Arena Rex

I have had two lots of Kickstarter news this week but lets start with Winter War from Baker Company here is the bones of the email.

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note to say I have just packed up the last of the second wave parcels to be posted and couriered on Monday :)

So you should all have received them by the end of the week (or beginning of the following week for those further afield).

Please note, if you received a second wave early on with fewer items than recently advertised, don't worry, you will be first on the list to get the third wave where these will be included.

Third Wave and Bulk delivery

As mentioned in the comments a few days ago, the third wave and Bulk deliveries will be starting to go out in a weeks time once I have made a few more moulds and caught up a bit with casting. This will take a month or so at least to complete, but I will keep you all informed of the progress. Photos soon once I have recovered from completing the 2nd wave...

Lee received his last Friday so again has had his before me even though he ordered his a month after me. This does bother me a little, the sense of fairness seems to be the main reason. When it was the first lot and Lee had had his well over a month and I was still waiting I had notified Gavin. Actually I notified Gavin two or three times but to no avail, seems me agreeing to have mine taken to a show to save him postage was a big mistake, not least because most of us failed to get them due to a hitch at Baker Company. So yes I am disappointed that I again have been left to the last batch when I was further up the chain but it's really irrational as I have not touched wave one yet! 

I also know that other than a look at them and a quick post these will also be assigned to the wait for another day pile. Indeed they will only heap shame on my mountain in a section I have little expectation to get down the huge pile in the near future. Maybe keeping track is a bad idea LOL.

The other kickstarter is my Arena Rex from Red Republic Games. Famously late and until recently without a shipping date. Well the date is yet to be cast in stone but they are looking at September to October for the majority of the figures along with rules, tokens and dice. Just a couple of the more difficult and larger figures will be sent on at a later date. Looks like the whole of my set will be sent together and so I am expecting these in the October to November period and wincing at the customs hit I may take.

So two kickstarters both late but both looking to deliver, how have my views changed since first looking at kickstarter in general and these in particular? 

Arena Rex was the first I backed and I backed it as I went back to work when really I should not have as funds were still stretched. I admit that this did put the whole project under strain for me but I really liked the figures and wanted in. Unlike many kickstarters the stretch goals were not actually that good in comparison to others, indeed rather tight but that did not stop it achieving it's goal and beyond. It was disappointing that delays have made it now more than a year late and the updates stopped almost altogether at one point and I was ready to write it off as a bad experience. However whilst late it looks great, will the rules work well, I am not sure but if they don't work fully or suffer unbalanced gladiators then tweaking may sort this. I have high hopes on this and the figures look fantastic so if only for the joy of painting it will still be great. 

Winter War, Gavin has had far better coms and better reasons for his delay. Also the task was far greater than that or Red Republic's who gave reasons of moving house, new job and baby for the three guys making delays whilst Gavin had a long running problem with his casting machine.

Other than having delays the two could not be more different, Baker Company gave huge additions as stretch goals and I think he just got carried away with the giving. It was hugely successful raising many times more than the original goal and became a victim of it's own success. The time frame became impossible simply down to the amount of figures that needed sculpting due to the additional figures added to the pledges. Unfortunately sculpting was rushed and standards slipped so far below what is acceptable. Whilst Gavin has many supporters who will be positive about the project the truth is that too many of the figures are so badly sculptured as to be a real negative to the project. The vehicles are fantastic and some of the figures of wave two are much better but plenty are not. The net result will be that I will paint up some of these and offload all of them possibly keeping some of the vehicles. I plan to make back my money and walk away meaning we will not be wargaming the Winter War. Instead we will probably go with WWII in 28mm as the Winter War project has at least caught our attention.

So where am I with Kickstarters now? Actually this could be seen as a good record, backed two and receiving two. Both late as is very often the case, one will deliver what it promised the other less than was expected but still massive in quantity. 

Timing though is the key, if you want to see results soon it's going to disappoint. Mantic have a Dungeon Crawl up at the moment which I was tempted to back but have decided to walk away from. That would have a good chance to arrive when expected but I don't see that as a true kickstarter as most of the work is done. It's a glorified pre-order system and as such works very well.

Lack of immediacy kills that excitement from the projects first showing and whilst I look forward to the Gladiators I know it's now a back burner project. Since committing to buy these I have since started six new periods or scales some of which are small such as WWI Planes. Others are much larger such as the Saga and Cowboys as these will take a life of their own. Delivery will tell if this will jump back up the painting queue or be like the Winter War and still be in it's box months after delivery.

The more the items are conceptual the more likely you won't get what you expect. Gavin did show us some of the finished figures both painted and as castings, these were not great and I amongst others chose not to see them for what they were. I was blinded by what I wanted to see and many a kickstarter backer falls into that home made trap.

Yes I may well back other kickstarters but not now and not soon. I need to get done some of what I already have in the wings done first and really I don't need to look further ahead than where I am right now. I will be a little wiser in future (I hope) but don't feel I have had a bad experience from either project but would now be happy to have not backed either and actually if offered my money back on both would do so without a backward glance. That's not meaning they were bad choices but I could have made better ones.

Blasts From The Past Part Three

Books are not the only source of inspiration, the most obvious other diversion made of paper has to be the wargames magazine. My first experience of this was whilst in sixth form bought from the newsagents in the local town and being.....

Yes issue ten, and whilst I still have this issue it's not in the best of shape with the cover being detached and dog eared. Looking at it these days and you have to think it's not that polished but back in the day it was EXACTLY what a new gamer needed. I do wonder if the modern editors could do well to revisit such early publications and try to emulate some of the feel that these old mags produced at the time. I subbed to this magazine well into the 100+ though by this time I was also getting Illustrated Wargames. Anyone remember the days of MW for the articles and WI for the eye candy?

Eventually I found that I was reading less and less till I was often doing little more than flick through them. Finally I cancelled both and have never had a full time professional mag since, unless you count Arquebus or English Civil War Notes and Queries in the same category as wargame mags. Still these magazines introduced me to many more periods scales and ideas. I was like a sponge in those early years and I think a lot of my preferences remain fixed due to those mags and it seemed that anything was possible though I think all the images of those beautiful 28mm Napoleonic's actually put me off trying Napoleonic's in that scale. Indeed it was quite a while before I actually tried Napoleonic's at all.

Of course the other big influence has to be ones mates. Andy who was my first wargame opponent and the one to get me into the hobby in the first place also had the Avalon Hill WWI boardgame The Guns of August and the idea that this type of game actually existed was a revelation to me and we played it a few times and whilst it's not the best game in the world (yes it replicated WWI fairly well) it was the game that got me into war boardgames and for a time I had quite a collection though one game was to take the centre stage and it's grown up brother is still with me to this day.

Squad Leader and Advanced Squad Leader deserve a post all to themselves which will be the following Blast but it's a fitting place to end tonight's post. If on discovering this game I had found an opponent who was as into it as I was I am fairly sure I would have dropped out of figure gaming many years before I did. I sure am glad this did not happen as I would not have developed my painting to a point I would have come back to the hobby and when all is said and done ASL is one hell of a jealous girl when it comes to sharing you with the rest of the hobby.

Building of the Week Spanish Style

Yes it's back and back with a vengeance. I painted these up over Sunday afternoon and a little bit of this evening. I would say 3-4 hours between them all. I actually undercoated them all in grey as during the Napoleonic period only the richer residents could afford to paint them white and even then it was not automatic.

All buildings are Leven Miniatures and except the Tavern are all available now. ITSP07 Mediterranean Tavern is on the preview page. All the other buildings are priced at £2.50 so I expect this to be up to another £1 or so but you get a nice bit more for your money.

I wanted this building to look like a nice reputable establishment so it got the white treatment, I have plans to base this building but before I can do that I need to paint up a few extras to go with it. All the buildings have a nice render finish, not least because Mike has managed to give the required texture but the surface is not rough meaning you don't kill the brush but still can get the desired effect. This is more noticeable on a few other buildings.

The roofs I painted grey black and then a mix of bright orange and scarlet adding a little more scarlet over two more applications of drybrush then added rose pink to the mix before a final rose pink layer. Seems a reasonable aged Terracotta look I have been after.

ITSP01 is actually my favourite of this bunch as the steps really make this one stand out. Of course I reward it with the most run down look of the lot what can I say, tough love.

Nuln Oil from GW was added to a very thin white wash that has managed to almost penetrate the the under coat and make this look suitably grubby. This one of all really shows off the texture Mike has managed to tease out of these buildings.

Again I am really happy with the look of this building and I guess it will finally get out on the table sometime when. Originally both Lee and myself were working towards armies for the war in Spain funny how this is project shunted to a siding but we will get there someday.

ITSP02 is a three story building but only has windows on the upper two levels (and on just two sides). Ideal for placing a few of these close together on a street with the extra height making them dominate the other buildings.

Whilst this got the better white finish it has seen better days as the nice white painted render has fallen off revealing the plain render behind. Still they do their best to keep the building looking nice having painted the shutters and arch a nice blue.

Another building (ITSP03) with a balcony and again the nice bright paint has had an outing (I tend to paint buildings fairly drab) I have to admit when I first saw the models on the Leven website I was not that impressed with the balcony buildings and whilst they remain my least favourite I actually find the balcony works (see the last image or stand a few feet from your computer).

Again this building has windows on just two sides but in this case only the one door, health and safety!!

This is actually more accurate than having all the buildings with windows plastered all the way round and plenty of nice and safe doors.

ITSP04 has a nice arched set of entrances, this makes me think of it as more of a tavern or stable type building and will be based as such when I base these buildings. 

I have left the arches as undressed stone and added the lightest touch of the Nuln Oil wash and left the texture to do the rest. Another building I like a great deal.

Back to a more normal building with ITSP05 and back to the windows on multiple sides to give me a nice mix of dwellings to make up a nice sized village/town for my French to fight over.

I think this type of house would have a reasonably comfortable family, the lack of shutters could mark this as possibly a more modern building or even have glazing, I may go back to this one and add reflections intentionally left off all the others due to the lack of glass.

The last one on offer is ITSP06 and another more modern building? this one moves away from the traditional box like look of the others with the single story extension.

Thus ends the selection of dwellings for Spain, Portugal and Italy I have two churches that have yet to be painted up and will feature in a later Building of the Week.

Here is the lot with a Baccus French gun for scale. Overall impressions is good, very good. I have both Timecast and Total Battle Miniatures buildings for this area and whilst I have yet to bring them all together to check them for scale I know these are the most ordinary of the lot and before anyone takes that the wrong way I mean this as a positive point. The others tend to have a lot more bits such as courtyards and or shaped add on sections but you should also have the more box like structures. I guess the Leven ones are better for villages whilst the others tend to suit towns and cities better. At some point in the near future I will do a comparison review. 

Fokker E.111 by Heroics and Ros

I caved in and painted up the first of the 1/300 (6mm) WWI planes I bought at Joy of Six. The WWI H&R planes have a special place in my heart from way back and this plane more than most as I often had this single wing plane out when playing WWI air combat.

I think this is an improved version of the original ones I had as I remember the undercarriage being built into the model whilst this had it made from four pieces and whilst I did originally add them to the plane I decided to remove them for a more realistic point to attach the base to.

A fairly basic paint job with the base colour Iraqi Sand with a little darker brown added for the effects of the canvas on the wings tail and to a lesser extent on the fuselage.

All told I was at this one less than an hour and I have a finished model, I need to work on my freehand, or get some transfers as my crosses are a bit weak.

So now I need to get the DH2 I have assembled (and since stood on!) all painted up. Then maybe try a little one on one to see if I can get either rule set into my head. As far as diversions go this is not to expensive in money or time and it keeps the interest of my son firmly in place.

A Month of Shame

Well I do have a bunch of stuff on the painting table that will help me out next month but it's fair to say that July has not seen me at my best what with two games and all the weather bringing the painting total down a few pegs whilst the buying did not totally get brought under control. The numbers are....

Lets start with the 6mm as that is the worst offenders.

6mm Infantry PLUS 15 as I finished nine battalions this month but then I did buy twenty four of the new Baccus French. At least I have six Battalions on the table at the moment. Actually the big gain does not bother me as over the next few months I will get that into the minus figures and I actually needed twelve of them anyway.

6mm Cavalry, none got painted this month so I am still on PLUS 11, lets see what I get done over the next five weeks, I think I see more Prussians done.

6mm Command, got 10 of these guys painted so a MINUS 10 for the pile.

6mm Guns and Crews PLUS 8 but four of these are on the table part done the rest next month?

6mm Buildings (Gulp) I did paint ONE this month so that makes a mere PLUS 35 then! I guess building of the week will be back next week or else!

6mm Planes as this is a new diversion yet to be started I am on PLUS 10 but I think once I get going these will come along well.

28mm Infantry, MINUS 6 as I got the cowboys done. My next lot of the Winter War are due any day so I can expect the figure to go the wrong way probably next month, ow well I do plan to get the Vikings finished in the next couple of weeks as I am off work for a week and want to get a game of SAGA in with the son so need to get cracking.

28mm Wagons, still on PLUS 2 as I have yet to paint the ones picked up at Partizan, must get on them.

28mm Horses PLUS 2 see wagons for the same answer.

The good news I guess is that I do not see any actual purchases for the whole month but with The Worlds at the beginning of October I can see a little bit of buying going off. I could also get the Arena Rex Kickstarter arrive in October adding yet more Resin to the mountain.

So I hope that August will be a month of shrinking down on the gains whilst October may get a few figures bought (I am thinking SAGA and Cowboys) and a few buildings but nothing beyond that. If THAT actually works out then the run towards the end of the year could be good for slimming down the mountain and if I get the best part of the Project Waterloo figures finished this year you should see other parts of the mountain slim down. OK lets here your views LOL