Rifle Section Ready

I have mentioned before how I had found inspiration in the painting guide found on 'Moiterei's bunte Welt'.  Unfortunately this only dealt with the 'summer' uniform and although I was able to adapt it my needs, I had a sudden panic when dealing with the Telogreika padded jackets worn by some of my troops.  Fortunately, Nick very kindly came to my rescue and suggested a couple of colours and techniques to incorporate into what I was already doing.

After using a suitable 'earth' colour for the base everything was given a wash, something I always worry about.  I have used washes and glazes and understand the technique, but I always shudder at covering over a nicely painting miniature in this way.  In this case the purpose is simply to accentuate the depth between the padded sections, which then allows me to highlight the raised sections to sell the illusion.

All relatively straightforward stuff, but it helped tremendously having someone just guide me through those initial steps and choices for a colour palette.  The idea is to have recognisably Soviet troops for the tabletop as opposed to historically accurate ones and so my simplified style is working as well as I could have hoped. 

So with the addition of these four, I have my first completed Rifle section with Light Machine Gun support.  There is another of these to come, along with two Veteran Sub Machine Gun sections, but first I need to finish of the other half of the 'Green' Rifle section.  

Da Comrade!

 I have managed to safely negotiate the record breaking temperatures here in the United Kingdom by simply not doing very much!  I did try to keep the hobby momentum going with a few hours of painting first thing in the morning and last thing at night and, as a result, can share my latest efforts.  

These are my first test troops using the 'summer' uniform sprues from the 'Warlord Games' Siberian Veterans box.  As I mentioned before, I was initially a little disappointed with the contents of box, but by using these as my 'free' Green Rifle Section, I feel that I have justified the purchase. 

Painted using the guide from the wonderful, 'Moiterei's bunte Welt' although, I did simplify it somewhat as I knew I wouldn't be able to match Nick's exquisite brushwork.  Speaking of Nick, he was kind enough to share his thoughts on what colours would work for the Telogreika padded uniform so keen to give this a go next.  

So that's another ticked off my list, although still not varnished on final base work done yet. 

Wrap up warm!

 Progress this week hasn't been too bad, not a huge amount of miniatures painted but some important decisions made.  As always my biggest hurdle is deciding on a colour palette.  I have picked up a few reference books and the infoweb is awash with examples of 28mm Soviet Infantry, but it is if I need my hand holding and someone sayong, "put this colour on that part."  I am fine once I get started and happy to take a free and easy approach to historical accuracy, but those tentative first steps can be quite daunting.

The goal has been to achieve a level of competence that doesn't jar the eye too much, but is relatively quick to get the troops done.  I have drawn on the experiences of several gentlemen and fellow Bloggers, namely Dai (The Lost and the Damned and the Stunted), Sander (Modus Reg Magni Momenti) and Moitnerei (Moiterei's bunte Welt).  All have experience of putting together a similar force and so I was able to glean a few great ideas from them all and particularly this little gem, a 'Soviet Colour Guide!'

A few liberties have been taken, particularly with the colour of the ushanka fur hat, but ultimately I am pleased with the first half of my first section.  At this point they have not been varnished as I am not sure about insignia of uniforms, collar flashes for example?  If anyone has any thoughts then do please share.  As for the bases, I am thinking that they will ultimately have a snowy feel to them, but will be leaving that until I have more of the force assembled. 

These were from the 'Warlord Games' Soviet Infantry (Winter) box and I absolutely loved painting them.  Great fun to build and just the right amount of detail to keep me interested without becoming too difficult; being plastic they are also more forgiving when I drop them too!  There is a slight conversion using one of the arms from the Siberian Veterans box, but I ultimately I was a little disappointed with this purchase.  It is essentially a mix of winter and summer uniform sprues with a few metal heads.  That said, I am going to use the summer uniform sprues for the 'green' free section, progress for which is underway, see below, so not all is lost. 

Not quite sure what record breaking temperatures means for 'Awdry Towers', but I am hopeful to make a bit more progress next week, spurred on by my visual troop tracker! 

An East wind blows

Another academic year has drawn to a close in its usual frenatic way.  With so much crammed into a truncated second half of term, I failed to meet my June posting target.  I haven't the time nor the inclination to speak of it here apart from one small matter that has directly influenced this post.  In the closing weeks of the year, the school welcomes pupils from sur le continent to attend, what is in effect, a summer school.  They bring a certain exuberance and joie de vie that I tend to actively avoid as I proofread reports and lament on another year passed.  However this year, one young gentlemen turned out to be a wargamer with a particular penchant for 'Bolt Action'. I happened to mention my meagre efforts with the 'Castle', the boards, miniatures and vehicles still stashed around the school, and once unearthed, the young chap looked wide eyed upon the collection and uttered, 'we should play a game'.

One section of the castle board was duly wrestled from its hiding place and witnessed a brief encounter between the German and Soviet armies.  Fast, furious and hugely enjoyable, much credit has to go to the young monsieur for that not only did he show great patience at my constant questioning, but also explained the rules in a second language!* 

*I like to think I was instrumental in the broadening of his language skills.

It has been a lean year on the hobby front, but I have always enjoyed a summer project and the prospect of catching up with friends to roll some dice in anger.  I had 'loosely' planned to host a return to the 'Congo', but given my all too brief initiation into 'Bolt Action' have decided to embrace a whole new adventure, cue audible groans from regular readers!  Having already amassed some WWII German forces, I thought I would look to find some suitable opponents and so, without any further ado, my new summer project will be...

...a 1000 point Soviet Army for Bolt Action!

I have to confess that this came as a complete surprise to me, but I happened to be reading 'Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad' by William Craig and had enjoyed the spirit in which the Soviets had played in our little encounter that it seemed destined to be.  I am approaching this project with some trepidation as a mass of troops, all wearing the same colour uniforms, sounds so far out of my comfort zone to be ridiculous, but I have enjoyed writing lists and amassing the requisite troops already having first broken my piggy bank.  

My hope is to spend the summer sharing a series of 'Work in Progress' posts as I try and put the army together whilst taking the time to reconnect with the neglected community in our cozy corner of the 'Blogosphere'.

I have even created a new WWII sidebar button, using the artwork of Gordon C. Livingstone originally created for Ian Clark's, Commando issue 2751, 'Grant's Grudge', 1994.

Fleet Troopers Star Wars Legion

From the beleaguered troops of Echo Base featured in the previous post, to the similarly ill fated Fleet Troopers of the opening scene of a New Hope, I offer up more plastic loveliness from Star Wars: Legion.  Painted some time ago, these hard pressed troops have already seen active service on the tabletop and prove to be a resilient bunch, able to hold up an Imperial advance just long enough for a heroic character to save the day.  

A relative quick paint job, the hardest decision was how to base them?  I have spoken about my dislike of the 'tall' Legion bases, but it also seemed somewhat incongruous to base these chaps on a scenic base with a carefully placed flower tuft or two.  Instead I opted for clear plastic so that they could go anywhere in the service of the Rebellion, confident of not fouling the immaculately polished decks of a CR90 Corvette!

I was an avid collector of the Star Wars action figures as a small boy, not an easy thing to be in a sleepy town in rural mid Wales, but every so often the shelves of the only toy shop would be restocked.  I always hoped to find a Fleet Trooper amidst the other shelfwarmers, such was their impact from that opening scene, but sadly it was not to be.  I understand that one is available now, and in a variety of scales, but back then it seemed such an injustice for their sacrifice.  All the more reason that I am happy to see them swelling the ranks of my collection today.

 

Rebel Veterans

Another month has flashed past and although I managed to get quite a bit of painting done during the Easter holiday the return to work has seen me struggle with time management again.  That said, I am determined to try to keep up with the 'post a month' schedule and so have dusted off this draft from October 2019.

I haven't played much 'Star Wars: Legion' of late, to be honest, I haven't played much of anything, but we did enjoy it when we had an outing and anything remotely connected to the Star Wars franchise is normally an easy win for me.  It's not surprising then, that I picked up this upgrade for my Rebel Troopers.  

Painted to represent the hard pressed veterans of Echo Base these were great fun to work on.  Keeping the colour pallete suitably subdued the unit came together quite quickly, although they could do with some snow on the bases.

The weapons were painted in a deep blue colour as a nod to the plastic blasters of the beloved action figures from my childhood.  I have a couple more Star Wars themed posts in the pipeline, so hoping to show a little more next month. 

The cost of neglect

 It would be fair to say that things are not going as I had hoped.  All is well, relatively speaking, although Uncle Covid has visited both myself and the 'Saintly Mrs. Awdry' for a second time.  We seem to escape his visits unscathed, but it throws our respective day jobs into turmoil as we navigate the public health advice and that of our own respective institutions.  It is the day job, good reader, that is putting paid to my hobby time.  I suspect age and failing eyesight play their part, but I just don't seem to find the quality time to indulge in a spot of painting or model making as easily as I used to.

So it was that I found myself contemplating a photograph of an empty desk in a bid to make some sort of progress with my meagre task of a post a month.  As I was sitting there, gently dusting the surfaces of this forgotten refuge, I spied my latest eBay win, still securely packaged in its bubblewrap and decided to share this with you instead.

By way of context, I need to share something of a backstory with you, which goes as follows.  A cruel reminder of just how long it has been since I last painted anything, I noticed that the water in my trusty plastic water pot had completed evaporated.  As I marvelled at this phenomena, the bone dry receptacle in hand, I gave it a gentle squeeze, thinking that this might dislodge the dried film of what was once dirty water from its sides.  To my dismay there was a loud crack and the grim realisation dawned that I had done for my old friend.  We had been together since art school, this was a genuine tragedy, what was I to do?

Setting aside my grief for a moment, I gazed teary eyed around the table, the pitiful sight of long abandoned projects did little to lift my moral, but then my eyes fell on my couple of Denby Stoneware pieces, a small milk jug that I use for storing my brushes and a storage pot, resplendent with guardsmen transfers that holds my smaller tools.  I wonder, thought I as I stroked my bristled chin, could there be something in this range to replace my poor lost friend?  

As luck would have it, with a mere couple of minutes of web based research, a likely contender in the shape of a jam pot without lid, was unearthed.*   Enthusiastically placing my bid, the minimum required, I sat back and waited.  A couple of days later I was notified that I had won and gladly paid the monies required, although it irked somewhat that the postage and packing was going to be greater than the object itself!  My long serving water pot was replaced. 

*Made from the exact same clay too!

There is nothing hugely remarkable about Denby Stoneware.  These particular pieces are Denby Manor Green, which is perhaps one of the oldest ranges and one that is instantly recognisable as a classic Denby design. First issued in 1938, from a design by Donald Gilbert, the pieces were finished in a rich sage green glaze with a cream interior.  Production continued until the late 1970s and as such they have a certain charm that we now refer to as 'retro'.  For me they just feel familiar, items that despite their age just do their job, perhaps an allegory for this tired schoolmaster?  Regardless, I am determined to christen my new acquisition during the Easter holidays, although as to what gets painted is anyone's guess!