The Final Instalment of the Mighty Masai!

I hope you all had a splendid Christmas. Ours was busy as usual, visiting various family members. On Boxing Day my wife collected her brand new puppy - not a Christmas present, but more timed to coincide with her summer break so she can do puppy school etc. The pup is a Maltese-Shitzu female- my wife has named her Pippin.

I enjoy finishing a project, it's great to see that box of pewter emptied at last - don't worry, there are plenty of others to be done :-) Some of the projects I have on the go at the moment include Huron & Iroquois, WW1 French, Knights, Anglo-Saxons, with Modern reinforcements arriving by post from the US, and the possibility of Pirates in the future! A real mix of periods that's for sure :-)

I hope you enjoy the last of the mighty Masai!

As with previous batches all shield designs are freehand, I tried to vary the designs to make them more individual.

A Couple of Dead Man's Hand Rogues!

Here's a couple of characterful figures I finished recently- both from Great Escape Games "Dead Man's Hand" 28mm range. These are from the "Rogues Gallery" - Roy Magnum & Jonathan Pain.
Lots of fun to paint :)

Arab General & Standard Bearer 28mm Footsore Miniatures

This is the last of the Arabs for Barrie. They are excellent 28mm Footsore Miniatures with a standard from Little Big Men Studios. I had fun putting some extra decoration on the generals shield and giving the horse a free-hand quilted sort of pattern. I hope you like them.
I took pictures of some more miniatures today, so hopefully you will see some more posts from me soon - perhaps before Christmas.
One day I will get around to taking some pictures of my 28mm Anglo-Saxon collection that I have been slowly working on over the last year. It includes figures from Gripping Beast, Eureka, and some mystery figures of uncertain origins - one with a bit of conversion done.

Backed my first Kickstarter! - Miniature Wargaming : The Movie

After listening to an interview on Wargaming Recon with movie maker Joseph Piddington I decided to back this excellent project for a hard copy of the DVD. You can back for less if you prefer a digital download. I'm excited to watch this for the interviews with folks like the Perry brothers, Henry Hyde, & Rick Priestly. For more information check out the interview, Kickstarter, and the project's website: http://miniaturewargamingthemovie.com/

Arab Heavy Cavalry Command

I have finished three Arab Heavy Cavalry Command figures from Footsore Miniatures - 28mm. I have their Arab Cavalry General set on my painting desk at the moment. They gave me the chance to use some bright colours again, & I'm pleased with the overall look of them. I just wish I'd remembered to take a group shot.
Banner is from LBMS.

Masai - Part 4

I seem to doing a few of these posts in instalments :-)
This time it's the Masai again. These warriors are slightly different from previous posts in terms of their headdress. As before, all shields are hand-painted designs.
The miniatures are 28mm from Wargames Foundry.

WW1 French - The Fourth Installment

Some more of the characterful 28mm Scarab Miniatures French I've finished recently:

Chauchat team on the move

Trench Mortar crew & re-supply

Pigeon Messenger service & feline friend

Just keep that cat away from the pigeon!

More officers & NCO's

Great Podcasts to Listen to whilst painting

I'm sure we all have favourite things to listen to while painting. Some people prefer listening to music, but I tend to favour podcasts & audio books. Recently I've been listening to some old BBC radio comedy again - Dad's Army & The Goon Show- but I also listen to particular podcasts.
Here's some of my favourites:

The Anglo-Saxon Podcast (one of my favourite periods)

History of English Language (heaps of really great history content)

History of England (great general history, fun presenter)

The History Network (a plethora of periods, covering predominantly military themes. Including Ancient Warfare Magazine podcast - wish they did a Medieval one too.)

RPG Gamer Dad (a fun podcast for current or former RPGers - very cool if you want to get your youngsters into games)

Meeples & Miniatures (Very well known, plenty of interesting topics covered)

Wargaming Recon (Jonathan is very enthusiastic about his subject - I especially enjoy it when he has Henry Hyde on the show)


So there's some that I enjoy, what about you guys? Feel free to leave some links in the comments to podcasts that you think other wargamers might enjoy.

Third instalment of First World War French

I have posted twice before about the Scarab Miniatures WW1 French that I have been painting, today is another update on my progress. There is still much to do, so expect to see more in the future, including artillery.
I have painted eyes on these most recent efforts as I can now see fine detail a whole lot better using my new headband magnifier. I wear glasses for reading & painting normally, but was finding that for especially detailed sections they were just not enough - and yes I have a well lit painting area too - so I have invested in magnification. I only use the magnifiers when I have to do really fine stuff, my glasses are fine for blocking in & stuff like that.

I hope you enjoy this latest batch of French: