It's been a while... (Part 1)

Haven't felt like blogging for a while. Over the last few months blogging as well as the hobby in general was put on a back burner. Well, to be honest I almost completely stopped anything hobby related as I felt I had to reconsider my whole approach to blogging, painting and gaming.

For several years now playing (or to be more precise painting) with little toy soldiers has become a integral part of my life and in consequence it also began to eat up more and more of my spare time.
I felt like I've somehow lost the balance between an enjoyable pastime and something akin more to an obsession.

To adress this matter I've put everything on hold, including painting, reading blogs and (for the most part) fora, in order to get my focus back. Since than I've spent most of my time cycling, reading and doing all those small things I've enjoyed in the past but had all but forgotten about.

Beeing back on track again (hopefully), I've some pics for you from our latest trip to Lido di Jesolo, Italy. We used to go there on an annual basis for about a decade now, but it was only this year that I've discovered there's actually a little more to the place than beach, vino and excellent pizza.
So I thought I might share a few impressions which are at least vaguely hobby related.

First I discovered what is a small, but nonetheless interesting and amiable, private military museum. Called "Museo Storico Militaire Vidotto" or "Case del Bersagliere" it's situated right at the main street leading from Jesolo to Lido di Jesolo near Venice. It's mostly about the history of Italian forces from 1914 to the present day. As such small private museums tend to be, it's rather crowded with stuff, due to both the collecting passion of the owner, as well as the restricted availability of display space.

Nonetheless it's definitely well worth the visit and someone looking for inspiration to finally get that Italian WW2 project started, will most certainly walk out with a head full of ideas. In fact I haven't had any inclination to do Italians in WW2 but since then I find myself coming back to that particulart theme time and again.

Parked in front of the museum there are several vehicles, a helicopter and two anti-tank guns. Truth be told I was a little overwhelmed to find such a little gem in a place I thought to know well enough, so I forgot to take any suitable pictures except for the two below.

Inside you'll first find a motley collection of memorabilia mostly dating to the German occupation of Italy after the fall of the fascist regime in 1943.

Than it was down into the basement where a large collection of (demilitarised) war gear awaits the visitor.

Hidden in a corner I also found something which proved to be an american flamethrower, complete with canvas cover for the tube.

Back at ground level there's a huge collection of uniforms from before WW2 to today. Due to the sheer number I only took a few shots of those most likely to feature in a potential upcoming project...

At the very end of the official part of the museum there was of course a little shop in which I spent a few minutes looking through the shelves. Unfortunately most of it was in Italian (of course), of which I only have a rudimentary grasp (enough to order foot and beverage and ask for the way but not much more regrettably), but I found this little book about the Italian front during World War 1. Beeing on a discount from 24,-€ to 18,-€ I of course had to get my grubby hands on it.

There the official tour was at an end but the owner Mr. Vidotto (who spoke reasonably German) kindly asked me if I still had a few minutes time. So he led me into the garden of his private house where there was quite some heavy ordnance on diplay. Two big Italian pieces of ship artilllery (90mm if I remember correctly), a Bofors 40mm anti aircraft gun, a M113 APC as well as an American made M60 MBT were on display. Beeing impressed without end (after all who actually has that much firepower in his backyard) I completely forgot to take any pictures of the assembled awesomeness.
But here's a Google Streetview screenshot which shows the M60 as well as the helicopter which is now situated in front of the museum.

So this was that part of the holiday but Mr. Vidotto told me about two other places I might want to visit, so stay tuned.

US Winter Infantry Colour Guide

When I painted the US Winter Infantry from Warlord Games for Pat (of Wargamingwithsilverwhistle.blogspot.de fame) he asked me to do a colour guide so he might match the rest of the infantry to those I painted.

Step 1: As with most of my miniatures the figures were given a thorough undercoat using Vallejo Black Surface Primer applied by airbrush.

Trousers on the left were done using:
A VMC Chocolate Brown
B VMC Flat Earth
C VMC Flat Earth + VMC Iraqui Sand (~1/1)

Trousers on the right:
A VMC German Uniform + VMC German Grey (~1/1)
B VMC German Uniform
C VMC German Uniform + VMC Iraqui Sand (~2/1)

alternatively you can also use:
A Foundry Storm Green Shade 27A
B Foundry Storm Green 27B
C Foundry Storm Green Light 27C

Step 2: For the winter jacket I went for the earlier more olive green colour.
A VMC German Camo Extra Dark Green + VMC Russian Uniform (~1/1)
B VMC Russian Uniform
C VMC Russian Uniform + VMC German Camo Beige (~2/1)

Step 3: The M-1 steel helmet.
A VMC USA Olive Drab
B VMC USA Olive Drab + VMC Brown Violet (~1/2)
C VMC Brown Violet + VMC Iraqui Sand (~4/1)

Step 4: The woolen long coat took me quite a while as I was never really satisfied with its look. Unfortunately the colour recipe I used for my 15mm US Airborne didn't work.
A VMC Chocolate Brown
B Army Painter Strong Tone Wash
C VMC Chocolate Brown
D VMC Flat Earth
E Army Painter Soft Tone Wash
Buttons:
A VMC Flat Earth

Trousers & Scarf (pullover or whatever)

A Foundry Storm Green Shade 27A

B Foundry Storm Green 27B

C Foundry Strorm Green Light 27C

Step 5: Helmet cover and the thing he wears around his head
Helmet Cover:
A Foundry Arctic Grey Shade 33A
B Foundry Arctic Grey 33B
C White
The thing he wears around his head:
A Foundry Rawhide Shade 11A
B Foundry Rawhide 11B
C Foundry Rawhide Light 11C

Step 5: The webbing.
A VMC US Field Drab
B VMC US Field Drab + VMC Khaki (~2/1)
C VMC Khaki

Step 6:Boots and gloves. For the gloves you can almost take any (reasonably drab) colour you fancy. I deliberately painted the gloves to look like fingerless gloves (is there any specific term in english?)
Boots/ Chin strap:
A VMC German Camo Black Brown +  VMC Flat Brown (~3/1)
B VMC Flat Brown
C VMC Flat Brown + VMC German Camo Pale Brown (~3/1)

Step 7: Skin, rifle stock and metal parts. These were painted using the same colours detailed in my 'Late War German Colour Guide'.

 As always I hope this was of help for some of you and if there are any questions left feel free to ask in the comments.

9th and final AHPC VI submission: 15mm Cold War Gone Hot

This sunday the 6th instalment of the (in)famous Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is coming to a close. For me it was the third challenge I took part in and again it was great fun to be one of several dozen lunatics who joined this good hearted contest.
I didn't have as much time this year as I had hoped but still I'm quite pleased with what I achieved.
Thus here's my latest and last entry for this years challenge:

Not being someone known for his resilience when it comes to new shiny toys, the moment I saw the new Team Yankee stuff on the web, I knew I'd to get my hands on it at some point. Surprisingly, I managed to hold on until Tactica, but by then my resolve finally crumbled and I virtually threw my  cash at the fine people selling my newest object of desire.

As Bundeswehr will only be released later this year I first went for a soviet mechanised platoon. As addiction dictates and getting a bit carried away by my excitement, I forgot to buy their means of transport but instead acquired a whole company worth of T-72's. I'll probably never actually be able to field these in a single game. Only later was I to realise my 'little' mistake but at that time all available BMP's and other means of dapper transport for these fellows were already gone. No big deal though, as I need another squad to round out the platoon anyway. Looking at the platoon commander below I don't think it hurts these guys too much to be degraded to footsloggers for the time being. Seems like catering with the red army wasn't that bad after all.

Not being a big fan of the Flames of War rules I instead decided to go with the 'Cold War Gone Hot' supplement for Force on Force. Having enjoyed some games pitching regular versus irregular troops I'm rather curious to see how the game system copes with regular forces fighting it out against each other.

Both platoons comprise of a NCO with Ak-74, one guy with the infamous RPG 7, two with RPK light machine gun and three other fellows sporting AK 74's of whom one is also carrying a RPG-18 disposable anti-tank rocket launcher.

The figures are quite nice and painted up rather well, but the casting quality is a bit of a disappointment. Some miniatures suffered from huge amounts of flash and mould lines while others were disfigured by misaligned moulds. For the price Battlefront are asking for I'd expect a better quality control. For the next figures I'd maybe give Khurasan a try, if only shipping and customs weren't that disproportionate from the states.

I'm no expert on soviet armour but the plastic T-72 clearly is an improvement on the Shermans that came with the first FoW Open Fire starter set. Not quite happy with the colour (it's too green if you get my meaning) but our very own GregB already sent me his recipe for painting soviet armour. Thanks mate!

The box comes complete with decals and a set of plastic tank commanders which are quite nice.

16 foot figures, one tank and a half figure in 15mm should net me another 39 points. That's 574 points for the challenge and 499 points for the side duel.

As I pointed out in a previous post I'm away with work for the week ahead and probably won't get any more painting done in the meantime. So all that's left for me to do is to admit defeat to my good friend ChrisS. Well done Chris. I tip my hat to you Sir! Just let me know what figure you want me to paint for you.

As this will be my last post for this years challenge I've included the, by now, obligatory group shot. Even considering the missing Winter GI's and Halftrack, which are by now safe in g'old Great Britain, I'm definitely not disappointed by what I achieved during the last few weeks. Especially considering the limited time during the first month.

Now I feel it's time for a few last parting words. First of all I want to thank our beloved Mr. Snowman Snowlord for organising the challenge once again. As always it was a pleasure to be part of this hobby spectacle par excellence. My admiration also goes to Mrs. Sarah for enduring all this year after year on end. Of course we won't forget our trusty minions who, despite me being under direct administration of THE man himself, I dare to say made a fantastic job. I always enjoyed your good humoured comments. And last but not least my heart felt thanks to all my fellow participants for some excellent weeks. It was a pleasure!

8th AHPC VI submission: Schaeffer's last Chancers and a lonely Cross of Iron Steiner

During the challenge is probably the most inappropriate time to try out new techniques and recipes. Nonetheless I had to give it a go and here's what I came up with:

Schaeffer's last Chancers

So far I was quite happy with my take on caucasian skin tones but figured it to be about time to try some different approaches on painting skin. So what better way to do so than to paint up some Sci-Fi miniatures? After all who knows what different complexions people have in the 41st Millennium?

I only got six of the originally twelve figures done, so the rest might appear in an upcoming challenge. If I should then feel the need for some 40k, that is.
These figures were among my very first figures I bought as a teenager and I have fond memories of the day they were released in Germany. I was saving my pocket money for some month to get my hand on these on the very first day.
This latest paint job is probably the fourth or fifth coating they recieved during the intervening years. Still they're some of my favourite models ever. Would have made for a fitting entry for the 'Nostalgia' round I guess.

Also new for me was blending and OSL. Due to its form Schaeffer's power sword might not have been the best choice to try this but Shiv's power dagger came out better than expected. I'm not totally pleased with the OSL on Schaeffer's plasma pistol too. First the colour doesn't fit with the rest of the miniature and second I should have extended the lightning to shine on his glove too. But for some reason I feared it to look too over the top.

A good friend of mine gave me the 'Cross of Iron' figure wich comes with the Ostfront supplement for Bolt Action. As Schaeffer's last Chancers are called 'Steiners Galgenvögel' (Colonel Steiners Rogues) in Germany I thought it only fitting to include him  here.

I tried to paint the metal parts using the so called Non Metalic Metal technique. It's far from perfect perfect but I'm quite chuffed with how it turned out, if I might say so myself. Maybe something I should try more often in the future.
Now I only need a Hauptmann Stransky to accompany him. I'll probably go for the one I already painted as Curtgeld in the 2013 challenge. Man how time flies!

Another grand total of 35 points for this submission I'd say. So that's 535 points in the main challenge and 460 in the side duel with ChrisS. Not nearly enough...