Conquistador and Mantis

Well hello everyone today I have something rather different for you. A preview of sorts today I will show you the first of my new figures. If you saw this post on my projects and crazy ideas blog you'll know that I recently bought quite a few figures recently and now all but one of the sets have arrived. But last night I had a rather interesting guest in my room who I didn't quite expect to be there. So on with the pictures.

The conquistadors play two roles in the story of Oronegro, first and most predictably they play the role of the early soldiers and knights that made up the first forces of Oronegro. But they also play a role in it's later history. Oronegro because of wars with natives and the tendency for battles to dissolve in melee combat armoured units were retained for use in situations where the protection they offered was of value. (I know it's silly but I like these guys)

A fine warrior, well armed and armoured, fine addition to my forces

He's painted up in Oronegrean colours of yellow and blue with red instead of pink.

a few of his amigos are also on my workbench right now but it's a bit of a mess with plenty being worked on.

And here is the guest in my room last night. Praying Mantis' are quite common at this time of year and we used to getting smaller ones inside but last night a rather bigger one came in much to my surprise.

Well that's all folks hope you enjoy this post and I'll try and get some more figures out before I go back to university although this time I'll be taking my paint and prepared figures with me. Maybe I can get a boat or two done before that point. Anyway good day/night to you all :-D

Oronegrean Artillery, and more

Oh my do I have a treat for you today. Not one but three things to display. The main focus of this post will be on the Oronegrean artillery but today was a better painting day than expected and I have managed to complete not only the artillery guys but my Bullfighter conversion and one of my militia men. I' also tried taking photos in the kitchen in hope of finding a good background, I'll let you be the judge (I can't find the black items I used before to good effect). I hope you like them. And please leave comments ;-D

All together now!

Let's start with the Artillery. These guys are re-purposed Airfix's Waterloo British Artillery. They are painted in the colours of Oronegro's armed forces, namely: Dark blue, white, yellow and pink (other colours are less common). There is a limber and others to paint but for now these guys will do for being a functional unit on the field.

The crew prepare to fire as the enemy closes in!

Ready, aim, FIRE!!!!!!

The detailing on the chests was one of the most annoying things to paint in quite some time

The guy needs something for that ramrod perhaps a pill of some kind.

The guy with the spear is meant to help protect the guns from cavalry charges they had no fixed numbers but were quite common.

I used a different way of doing the crests. Instead of 1001 coats of warm yellow a few coats of cool yellow followed by warm yellow has produced a nice and consistent crest colour

This guy is my mounted officer and the first cavalry fig since I did a modern cavalryman years ago.

I'm still working on getting the colours for horses right. Thankfully I downloaded a colour chart which should help.

And the gun itself. This gun is an Oronegrean 9 pounder. Although designs varied.

 Next up is my little bull fighter. A rather colourful character. The front of his tunic (worn for effect) has a large red stripe down the centre with blue dots either side while his back has three stripes of blue and red. Bullfighting is common in Oronegro, but it follows the style played in other parts of Latin America where the bull is not harmed in the fight rather the bull fighter tries to get the bull to charge it dodging at the last moment in hopefully spectacular fashion. I'll do a post about Bull Fighting in Oronegro on the Oronegro Blog at some point in the future

Toro! Toro! The figure is a converted Airfix Robin Hood figure. while the cape is made of paper, tinfoil and wire for the handle.

Bull fighting takes a lot of skill, nerves and quick relfexes.

Finally we come to yet another Oronegrean militia figure. This guys wearing a stylish black coat with a nice brimmed hat to keep cool. Nothing special but a nice addition to my irregular forces and a potential pirate or bandit also.

Black isn't the best choice when the sun is shinning out on the Oronegrean pampas. But when it rains a coat like this is much appreciated.

And this picture concludes this post.

 Well that's all folks. I've got a few militia on the way and some assorted figures and I've just primed up some uniformed Oronegrean militia and some foes for them to face. And of course there are boats under-way so expect more to come in the next few weeks. :-D

Hope you all have a good day/night!

A bit of fun - Cat Attack!!!!!!

"Captain large ginger cat on the port side" calls the lookout.

The captain sees the beast and makes a hard turn to starboard. To their horror the crew realise that they have no cannon and the beast has taken an interest in these little people.  The Pirates grab their weapons and anything close to hand. Some grab muskets but the bullets don't seem to bother the huge animal.

One giant fierce beasty that is. Can the pirates scare it off or will they be cat food?

 Realising their peril the Crew grab spears and harpoons to fend of the monster. But fortunately for them the cat is easily distracted and is soon consumed by the fluttering of the sails. The crew organise and prepare to defend the ship...

The Giant cat suddenly focuses on something else

... But just then a giant fish leaps from the sea on the starboard side and the cat leaps clean over the ship and dives after it. The captain and the crew of the Abigail sail away as fast as they can to escape. Once they reach port they go around telling their tail of the great ginger beast. Although many think it is nonsense a few hardened sea farers talk in dark tones about the cat of the feline sea.

just a bit of fun hope you enjoy it. I'm working away at some boats and some Oronegrean artillery crew. so there is more to look forwards to in the coming days.

Fishing Vessel 2 - Miguel

The second boat is now done. This one is slightly more generic. This vessel is Bermuda rigged aft and has a jib sail in front. I'm slightly less happy with the colour scheme for this one. Also included in this post are some Fig pics. With the final members of my Oronegrean family and an artillery officer on display. On with the pics :-D

El Miguel, (or Michael) is slightly wider than Carlos providing a more stable platform from which to fish from and a larger storage area for the catch.

As with Carlos vessels such as the Miguel are a common sight in Oronegrean waters, especially along the northern coastline where the many rivers create a nutrient rich environment that supports a large stock of fish.

Once again a whittled down toothpick becomes the tiller for the boat.

Now we get to the pictures of the latest batch of figures. Oddly there are more pictures of them than the boat but that is due to poor planning on my part.

Here they all are in the little supply building

Here is an Oronegrean artillery officer, I felt the choice of using Airfix British artillery was a good one. The uniform suits the Oronegrean colours (dark blue, yellow, white and pink for small details). And they don't look wrong next to Oronegrean troops

Oh crap he's seen me!

Finally the last two family members for my Oronegrean family. Sophia and Alberto.

 

 

Anyway that's all for today. I hope you enjoy the latest addition to my little fleet and the figures. I'll try and take better ones before I put their Bio's up on the Oronegro blog.

Oh and I better not forget my latest follower ScannableGoose from quite a few places by the looks of things. Welcome to the blog my friend. And to you all have a good day/night. :-D

Fishing Vessel - Carlos

Well the first of the hulls made during the Boat Building Bonanza has been finished. Introducing the Carlos. A small fishing vessel based on the Italian Paranza boat which used to be a common sight in the Adriatic sea. My model is not a direct replication given the purpose of the vessel for wargaming. But I am glad that I chose that teal colour in the end as that works quite well. Anyway on with the pictures.

Carlos with the rest of the model fleet.

on the left there you can see the boats that are yet to be done.

Sail is standard A4 folded over with tin foil inside.

Bow view with the name displayed proudly.

Stern view

 Here you can see my father whose nickname is Carlos (amongst other things) with his boat.

Nice view of the sail from this angle

And below as a bonus are a couple or recently completed figures. One is a militia fighter, hunter or perhaps a pirate, very generic and useful. The other is a member of the Oronegrean elite. Dressed in the Oronegrean military colours and a wig this man could be an officer in the Oronegrean armed forces.

Perhaps these men are protecting themselves from pirates?

Or are these men pirates who have taken the Carlos and it's crew hostage?

Well that's it for the Carlos. Hope you're all well and enjoying the start to 2016. And on that positive note let me introduce my latest follower Ace Jagger, welcome to the blog my friend.

And to you all a good day/night. :-D

Boat Building Bonanza

Usually I do not post Work in Progress items on this blog as they have a dedicated spot on my Projects and Crazy Ideas blog. But today I was a bit mad and got into a hull making frenzy. So in addition to El San Francisco (the big one) I am making a few smaller boats. Unlike my ships these are made from two layers thin foamcore (the thickness difference can be seen in El San Francisco compared to the rest). All are in various stages of construction.

Ruler and figure are there to help with scale but all (except San Francisco) are less than 30cm (1 foot) long.

In this little flotilla is a Dhow, a Cutter and an Italian Paranza. El San Francisco is a smaller warship although I am not quite sure of the type as the hull was prepared two years ago so what it was meant to be has been lost to history.

A variety of hull shapes, some sterns are very square. An Additional level of foam will be added to the stern of the Dhow (top left) and cutter (top right).

 These are the more common vessels to grace Oronegro's waters. Small and useful they are the fishing vessels, small trade ships and transports that can be seen at dock in nearly all coastal towns and fishing villages dotted along the coastline. These will be useful in many scenarios giving Oronegro's navy something to protect or maybe even fight should pirates be on the prowl.

A fleet on the move. I have high hopes for these. Now where to store them once complete? oops didn't think about that.

El San Francisco is still undergoing planking with cardboard, structure of the poop deck also needs doing before planking can take place. This is a long and tedious process which is why doing some boats is a nice break from making large ships. It also means that instead of increasing my fleet by 4 ships this year I am easily going to increase it by 9 vessels.

Well that is all for today. Hopefully by the next blog post I may have got one or two of these complete. Maybe also find a place to put all these boats but that is the eternal problem any person involved in this hobby faces :-D

Thanks for reading. And to you all a good day/night.