What's on my Workbench, September 2020

So I haven't gotten around to taking nice pictures of completed figures, partly because Ninja Babushka really outshines everyone so best wait lest everyone appear inadequate in comparison.

A concept, a prototype and a production vehicle walk into a bar....

The E-75, a paper tiger in the literal sense.

The E series tanks were an attempt by Nazi Germany to rationalise and simplify their tank production and types. Basically they came to the realisation that having many overly complicated and unreliable designs with many different variants of each, may have been contributing to them losing the war. Of these the largest was the E-100, a 100+ tonne monster, for which a hull was built (which the British got their hands on, assessed and then promptly scrapped).

The E-75 was to be the standard heavy tank, a replacement for and derived partially from the Tiger 2 tank. It would weigh somewhere between 75 and 100 tonnes (which is still quite ridiculous even today). None were built as the Nazis were too busy losing the war (and the RAF was bombing the industrial tank building capacity into the dust.)

An interesting looking design nonetheless, with a ridiculously long gun (I am not sure if this is meant to be an 88 L71 or a larger calibre?). This tank will probably get roped into the forces of Orotinia as a post war production based on German plans.

Iosif Stalin-7, now with excessive machine guns!

The seventh instalment into the line of tanks named after Soviet leader Iosif Stalin (these were named to please Stalin and there's a bunch of nonsense around this tank series as a result) this machine actually made it to prototype stage and can be seen at the Kubinka Tank Museum outside of Moscow (which I long to one day visit).

The tank is all around impressive in terms of firepower and protection. However, it was also highly complex and expensive and to an extent needlessly excessive (those rear facing machine guns on the turret are next to useless). It was not accepted into production but some of it's features were incorporated into the IS-8/9/10/T-10 (there's some nonsense going on there).

But hey it looks cool and if nothing else it would certainly intimidate any foe who didn't expect to see it. I will probably put this one towards the service of the Pan Andean People's Republic and/or Ororussia (Oronegro's odd colony).

M1117 Guardian, boring but also the only useful one here.

The M117 Guardian is the odd one out in this line up. Not only is it not a tank, it is also the only vehicle here that was actually mass produced and put into service. A replacement for some of the ageing armoured cars in US service, this vehicle is used by the US Military Police as well as a few other nations.

It is armed with a machine gun and an automatic grenade launcher. It provides relatively good protection from mines and small arms fire but that's about all. It will probably be put towards the service of Gran Bolivia or someone else. it is quite generic.

Regarding the model itself I was somewhat disappointed to find that once you put the feed for the grenade launcher in place the gun barrels can no longer elevate which totally defeats the purpose of having them moulded as a separate piece.

Anyway that's all for today. I hope to get a bit more work on these done next week maybe ready to show off the following weekend. We shall have to see. I hope you have enjoyed this post and I will catch you all next time. Take care everyone. :-D

German UAV Operator in Multitarn

So this is something of a preview, something of a first look. I have a bunch of modern and cold war Germans that I will slowly get around to painting. Now for the modern Germans I wanted to go as modern as I could, but also as interesting as I could. As such I have decided to paint these miniatures using the Multitarn pattern of camouflage that has not (yet) been adopted as standard.

Given this is a sneaky look at something we'll encounter later what could be more appropriate than a UAV operator?

This pattern is basically the classic Flecktarn pattern but using the, very popular, Multi-Cam pattern colour scheme. I want to take this moment to say a big thank you to Youtuber SIC, whose Flecktarn pattern video tutorial was invaluable for me when painting this miniature. Now why use this specific pattern? Well the joy of these Multi-Cam inspired patterns is that they are supposedly usable in multiple terrains (hence the multi in the name). Which means that these figures can also be used in a variety of terrains. Now obviously there's a flaw in my thinking: If the Bundeswehr does not adopt this pattern these figures will not be usable at all! Not to worry, these figures will still be useful to represent Orotinia, the neighbour of Oronegro and the brainchild of Archduke Piccolo. I highly recommend his blog as well.

This photo was taken the same day as the previous zombies, expect more content soon from this photo shoot. ;-)

Now something I was not too happy with was the wash I used, I decided to add one, which I usually do not do for camouflage patterns, instead using painted shading in tight places. I think the wash reduces the contrast a little too much.

Another slightly different thing I did was add a painted camouflage pattern on the gun, again the wash has reduced the contrast of the pattern that I am not too happy with.

On the bright side I got to try out this Multi-Cam painting set from MIG. Have to say I am very happy with the paints.

This figure was quite the joy to paint and I look forward to painting more of these Caesar figures.

Well that's all for today. I hope that you like this miniature, if you have any tips please let me know as I can use those in the future miniatures. I do have quite a lot on the workbench and in the "production line" so there'll be some I need to clear off before I can get stuck into the rest of the Germans.

But until next time I hope that you all are safe and healthy. I wish you all a good day/night.

A preview. Unclear images

Usually when the lighting is so bad that I get images like these I just discard the photos. However, in this case I want to keep you guessing as to what it is I am doing. So here's some very grainy photos of what I am currently working on. These should be done in the next couple weeks (I am not setting myself an even more ambitious target, too busy atm). So I will move straight onto the photos.

This one here is the only one so far completed. Behind you can see the others, in various stages of completion.

Any guesses on what this is? I think this view gives it away more so.

Now, there will be points! I will be granting points for the following:

• Correct guesses of the troop type.
• Correct guesses of the manufacturer.
• Double points for guessing the correct set this is from.
• Creative ideas for the purpose of these troops!

So get your submissions in and earn yourself some points. What are the points for? I have no idea. Surely the point of points is just to earn them. Why would you want anything for points? I might think of a reward but otherwise just enjoy having the most points. I hope you have enjoyed this post and I look forward to adding more in the near future...... May have been a few hits in this post itself.

Some militia, a copper wielding warrior and some shiny new toys

Hello all, I had hoped to do another post before I went away with work for the Splore Music festival. Sadly it is only now that I have returned (with abandoned tents, sunglasses and other found goodies in toe) that I can show you the minis I finished just before I left. But even if this post is five days delayed good things come to those who wait and indeed upon my return I found that some shiny new toys had arrived before me. All will be revealed below.

Quite the mix, let me break it down for you.

So first up we have some Imex Pioneers. These have been in the works for donkey's years. They wear the old style of sculpted tricorne. Nowhere near as nice as the newer ones but naturally the new ones build off the experience of the past. These figures are very useful from stand ins of early Oronegrean settlers to militia, to bandits and more. Yes the hats may be a little innapropriate for certain time periods but they are also far too large so perhaps it was a particular fashion trend unique to Oronegro.

A trend you can see here which will apply to most of the figs. I have used lots of dark washes to bring out the folds in cloth and the smaller details. I am quite happy with the results.

Same figures from behind. As you can see muted colours for the most part. Quite a change from the bright and colourful uniforms I am working on elsewhere.

Probably not a sight you'd want to see.

 The next couple of figs are from other sets. The one on the left is from the Imex Alamo Defenders set and the one on the right from the Airfix Wagon Train set. Again both useful for Militia, bandits or other armed civilians. 

I was particularly happy with the man on the left. Yellow coat and white shirt really do highlight the dark skin tone I used for this figure. Plus what is there not to love about someone armed with a blunderbuss (except one aimed at you of course).

Same figures from behind. Not much to say here.

Now here comes a very interesting figure. I have painted native troops for Oronegro in the past. But this is the first time I have done so for my 18th century project (well perhaps calling it the pre-20th century project would be more accurate). This is a Hät Thracian warrior from my very first 1/72 scale project relating to Alexander the Great. Now those old figures will get a new lease on life as natives of Oronegro. Armed with copper weaponary (the tribes of Oronegro will have a variety of tools and weapons, some stone, others copper and bronze and perhaps rare primitive iron work) this particular fellow is the first of hopefully many.

To emphasise how special this guy is I decided to hold him while I took the photos.

Many people think that all native americans used stone weaponary which is far from true. The Inca for instance had many quite deadly bronze weapons. So this copper weaponary is very reasonable. Even for a setting such as Oronegro where many strange and wonderful things are possible.

I added two feathers to his head. Unfortunately the red tips is too close to the copper so it appears to blend ruining the effect. may change the tips to black or another colour.

Finally here are my new goodies. Bought from Hägen Miniatures  I am very excited to have some more metal figs. Here we see some fantast 18th century female infantry (Perhaps used as an Oronegrean equivalent to Bodstonia's Purple Roses). Next are a couple Dragones de Cuera who were the frontier troops of New Spain, an elite unite, very interesting troops for which I can't find much good information in English (I myself am reading about them from sources in Spanish). A very appropriate addition to the forces of Oronegro as well. Finally we have a British Napoleonic 9 pdr gun... which also came with another barrel I assume a 3 pdr? Anyway useful for my minis as it fits in with my existing Oronegrean artillery.

So very shiny! Oh the potential right here.

Well I hope you enjoyed my post for this fine day. No news on the figures I am sculpting I am afraid. Have been sculpting a little bit replacing some of the old style hats I made with newer ones. Also in be on the look out for more posts by me relating to new models. I am on a bit of a new years spree as it were snapping up what I can to paint at a future date. But that will all come later along with other painted minis to share with you all. So until then I wish you all a good day/night ::)

Some sculpting... a work in progress post

Yes yes I know I do have a work in progress blog, well whoops I guess. I just wanted to show that I am indeed still working on some stuff. Indeed I am working on quite a bit of stuff. However, these are rather special so I thought why not make a post about them? I have some Oronegrean Cazadores as well as the two other figures I am currently sculpting. I hope you will enjoy them

Here they all are with an Airfix AWI American to compare for the Tricorns. I have used a variety of different styles to keep up the variety

Two of the figures have brimmed hats with one side turned up. I felt that the Cazadores (hunters) would have a little more variation than the standard Oronegrean infantry

Also with these shots you get a bit of a sense of where I live given the view from the balcony.

Another couple of figures have these tassled caps. I thought would be an interesting thing to have. Quite happy with how these turned out.

Sadly hat to switch to using a towel for the background as the camera was not cooperating.

Finally an update on the two figures I am sculptung. Not too much progress to report but I am getting the clothing done on one and I have got the base for the head on the other.

Still a lot of work to do but going well do far.

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Well that is all for today. All going well I will have a post with some nice completed figs done by the end of the week. Can't make any guarentees though. However, where there is a will and all that. I hope you are all having a good day/night. ::)

More Conquistadors and some sculpting

Hello everyone turns out I do have one last post for this month. It appears that a couple of conquistadors were somehow able to slip through my grasp and escape the photoshoot that happened last week. Well now I have found them they too have been told to scrub up and prepare for the photos. Much whining was had but finally they were compelled to pose nicely for the camera. In addition I have been trying my hand at scultping recently using a couple of techniques. One was one used by the manugacturer AB figures. For this I substituted the NZ made hobby putty Du Kit for Fimo, it didn't work so well and one leg broke so I decided to use a more traditional method for the remainder of the figure. Perhaps I need to experiment with the Du Kit a little moe. The other was based on an armature I had bought from Green Stuff World. I decided to sulpt a woman in this case mostly because I have so few woman figures plus it does give me a chance to practice sculpting flesh a bit which will be a useful skill to have once I transition to using wire based armatures which I hope to do if my efforts here prove successful. I hope you enjoy and please remember these are WIP those massive eye sockets will get filled. None of my usual commentary on these figures as I am someone rushed for time. Still I hope you enjoy this wee post of mine.

Well that is all for today I hope you like it. I am now off for a twelve hour shift at work. Wish me luck. And to you all I hope you have a good day/night.

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.

18th Century Oronegrean infantry

Hello one and all. Today I present to you a substantive post. A really substantive one. The first in quite some time. Here we have a completed Oronegrean unit. 20 men, one officer, one flag bearer, and two musicians. There is also an additional soldier who is a guard for the regular infantry commander.

I seem to have misplaced what I usually use for a background so this will have to do for now.

Oh and later today I'll do a post on the Oronegro blog for these two

The whole lot of them. I am very glad I chose this colour scheme. The dark blue goes well with the yellow and white

close up on the command group. A high ratio of men compared to the unit as a whole but standard for Oronegrean units of the type.

the left flank

the right flank

 Well a bit more on the troops themselves. This is a unit of 20 regular Oronegrean soldiers with a command group of 4. This unit of 20 is one of two that make up a combined Oronegrean Century which also includes one unit of 20 Cazadores and one unit of 16 Grenadiers . This calls for each of the units to be self contained with their own complement of officers.. A combined Century such as the one these men belong to is the smallest strategic unit of the Oronegrean Army able to fight by itself in a number of situations.

Anyway that is all for this post. Hopefully these guys will get their own post on the Oronegro blog soon.

And as always have a good day/night everyone.