Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Still limping along...

Well, it's February, and I'm still at it!  Not making as much progress as I'd like. Work is draining, and the meds too, it's no secret I've got type 2 diabetes, and metformin is no lady, probably why I'm always feeling drained, tired.  Nevertheless, I'm still painting, I have not given up.

Since the last post, I've finished eight more Airfix French infantrymen, loading their muskets, and have tackled one of the tougher details on these figures, the shako plates, on the remaining twenty figures.  That, and the chin scales on twelve of them.

Here are the seven stands all painted except for flocking.
 


















Old Airfix figures in yellow plastic.  They might be as old as I am, I am over 50.  They bring lovely childhood memories of Robin Hood figures in green plastic, American Civil War figures in blue and grey plastic, artillery in brown, Foreign Legionnaires in blue plastic. Romans in grey, Britons in brown, and others.

And my favorite old and long, long defunct hobby shop in Chicago, I grew up in Rogers Park, and there was a lovely place called "T & H Hobby" run by the Sakura family.  They had a beautiful USS Constitution in 1/96 scale in the window, fully built, painted and rigged, a true masterpiece, among many other modelling art pieces. I'm sure they've since passed away, the shop closed long, long ago, back in the '80's, the last I'd heard was their son had gone on to West Point.  Anyway...

After these 32 are done, there are another 32 in this pose, then six each in blue and grey plastic, HaT reissues.  Before long, however, I am going to have to start thinking about some eagle bearers and foot officers, unless I can score some of the HaT Napoleonic line command that I've heard are in production.  I could go ahead and order the lovely Zvezda Art Of Tactic French command but at around $7.00 USD per stand, it might be cheaper to buy AB figures in metal.

Here are the remaining unfinished figures.


















The figures above have their shako plates painted, but need their chin scales painted


















 These figures have their shako plates and chin scales done.

So that's the update on the project.

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Moving right along, my Christmas present arrived, a gift from my brother, who is also a modelling and collecting enthusiast.  A Late Roman Starter Set from Pendraken Miniatures!

















Here's the packet it came in, the address covered for security, of course

















And a plastic pouch stuffed with 10mm metal goodness inside!!  These are absolutely lovely figures!!

They did arrive late, being delayed by US customs, and when my brother emailed Pendraken, the folks there put together another set and sent them over straight away!  That was very kind of them!!

So not long afterward, my prezzie arrived, and not long after that, the second set arrived as well!  Tom says he's keeping that one, after he sent along payment for the second set, it certainly wasn't Pendraken's fault this was delayed, and it certainly wasn't lost. After some back and forth, the folks at Pendraken refused to keep the entire payment though, and refunded half for the second set, which they certainly didn't have to do!

We can't possibly recommend Pendraken enough for their generosity, polite and courteous service, and their absolutely marvellous product!!  We'll be ordering more in the future.

And, I'm prepared for that next project too... a book that I didn't think was very useful at the time, as I was interested in the Eastern Roman Empire, but which will come in very handy now...






















So probably next year, if not sooner, I'll be enjoying listening to Hans Zimmer's King Arthur soundtrack, and painting these little gentlemen and organizing them into an army, while my brother does the same with his.

Until next time... good night, and good luck!!

2 comments:

  1. Nicely done...and so many things to do!

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  2. Hi! I've just discovered your blog, I will add a link on mine to keep an eye on your production. Nice to see all these old Airfix still in service :)

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