Angel's Miniature Painting Service & Wargaming Blog

Painting Service Launched

2010-07-07T04:08:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

The blog has finally been re-named and re-designed (well slightly). I am happy to annouce that I will also now be accepting painting commisions.

If you are interested in getting someone to paint those miniatures for you please contact me, I will paint and ship internationally. I specialise in 6-15mm To give you a bit of a background. I have been wargaming and painting since 1993. It was in the last few years that I really started to develop my painting techniques.

I have won a couple of best painted awards and had a few highly commended. To name a couple I claimed best painted:

1st Official Battlefront GT - NZ - 15mm German Grenadiers
2008 - Best Painted Napoleonic Army - NZ - 15/18mm Peninsular British

Highly Commended:

Panzerscheck (Previous year before 1st Offical BF GT) - 15mm German Grenadiers
2009 - Second place - 6mm Napoleonic French (Up against 28mm Napoleonics, Napoleonic Ships)

I do not attend too many events, but each event I attended into a competition the above awards we given.

If you have any questions please contact me, painting rates are on a request.

Cheers

Russell Woodland (Angel's Miniature Painting Service)

Off the Grid....

2010-07-07T01:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I seem to have fallen off the update grid for quite some time. As with all wargamers I have had a bit of break, and with home life taking over for a while I have now come back online.

I have managed to complete those PT boats, they actually were part of a commision and of course I forgot to take photos. Now that was my idiot moment.

I do still have some work to do on the kits, but with a quick chat with Mark I have decided to take a month off his stuff and concentrate on a bit of my stuff. He was more than happy with the work.

You see with commision work, I am not a full time painter and only paint in my spare time (and Mark is one of my mates). I like to make sure that I paint them to the standard that I would be happy with owing myself. On a professional note, I do serious commisions and my turn around is pretty quick. If I am set a deadline, or I give a deadline it is one that I won't miss.

Right back to painting

Cheers

Russell

Been a while

2010-05-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

Well I have been off the blog for a while, mainly due to other commitments ect. What have I been up to latley.

Well Painted the first of the PT boats, which consists of 6 German S-38's, 1 German S-30, 2 Raumboote and a Rescue boat. They came up better than I thought they would. Will try and snap some photos soon.

I am currently working on the British fleet, starting today I hope to have them painted by the end of the week.

Then I will move onto the Japs, USA & Merchants.

I recently parted with my 6mm Napoleonic French and in place I purchased:

1 x War of Spanish Succession Starter Box
1 x British/Saxon Foot Booster
1 x Standard Foot Booster
1 x Bavarian Army Pack
1 x Dutch Army Pack
1 x Pack of Battalion Guns
1 x Pack of Horse
1 x Pack of Short Mitre

The War of Spanish Succession is an interesting period that I have been reading about for the last few weeks, and certainly a colorful period.

The rules I will be using is Might & Reason by Sam Mustafa, with the addition of Sun King by Greg Savvinos

This should give me for each side about:

13 Infantry Brigades
6-8 Horse Regiments
4 Dragoon Regiments
2 Bases of Artillery
8 Stands of Generals

Each Brigade/Regiment is 2 stands strong. Infantry will be based on a 60*30 base with 24 figs per base at the moment, I may increase to 32/36 figs possibly, Horse will be 9-12 figs per base, Artillery on a 60*60. CinC on a 40*40 and sub-commanders on a 30*30.

The main rule set is based on the Seven Years War & War of Austrian Succession, but the supplement from Greg allows you to play the battles of the Spanish Succession.

This make's it easy to build an army fast, as you can either build to the points list or write a scenario.

So this will be interesting to get into once I have finished the PT boats. But between finishing the boats, I will be once again going off to Nicon (North Island Con) here in NZ over Queen's B'day weekend (5th June) to play some 1st Volley 15mm Napoleonic rules.

Should be a good weekend.

Well thats what I have been up to of late, will try to get back on track with the blog

PT Boats

2010-04-19T02:22:00.000-07:00

Well recently purchased some PT boats of PT Dockyards. So I started to assemble/clean them today. 45 Boats, I must admidt I was sceptical about 1/600 PT boats. But after recieving fantastic service of Dave at PT, not to mention speedy postal work my worries faded away.

A warning though about cleaning the guns. Make sure you use a sharp knife, steady hand and have a bit of patience as I found that the guns are well cast but a small slip will see a barrel disappear.

So with all of the boats now cleaned up, will start to assemble them tomorrow. The boats probably wont make it onto the blog, well at least for some time.

With a lot of projects on the run, we will see what comes up next.

Offline for a bit

2010-04-08T23:57:00.000-07:00

Well I do appologise for my absence, I took a 5 day break over the Easter Weekend and have been busy with work.

All that I have managed to do is pick up a copy of Pathfinder RPG & Beastiary.

Now as there is bound to be some people that will take a dig at Pathfinder, and I would like to ask all visitors to leave the AD&D4th ED is better than Pathfinder ect at the Door.

To give you a little bit of background, the last time I played D&D / AD&D would be about 15 years ago. So when looking into it now that I have "grown" up a little I read the pro's and con's of both systems.

I do not know what drew me more to Pathfinder, guess it was the price difference of Pathfinder with the Beastiary book compaired with the AD&D 4th ED stuff, at the end of the day they will probably cost me just as much.

So after not playing for well over 15 years, I start my adventure fresh. Well when the books arrive.

I will be adding the adventures, purchases to the blog as I get into it. Always wanted to be a DM. Now I just need to find some other keen players.

At present just myself and Craig, so three other players and were away.

Will even throw Dark Heresy in there at some point as well.

Well bit busy this weekend, so will plan on an update on Monday

So where to from here

2010-03-20T18:02:00.000-07:00

Well I finally finished those fences off, it took a while but I got there in the end. So with them done where to from here....

Well to go with the fences, I need some troops. I have been researching a lot lately on the American Civil War, and with that in mind I purchased some Baccus 6mm figs.

At a 1:10 ratio I have sorted out The "Stonewall" Brigade, these are going to be based on two game systems.

The first is Guns at Gettysburg by Dave Brown, a very similar system to General de Brigade (Well it's pretty much the same)

The second rule set, Piquet and using the supplement Hallow Ground.

Now a question that is asked on a regular basis is what shade of grey, or what paint should I use for the grey. Now the short answer that I have found is well, there was that much variance it doesn't matter.

From a lot of reading that I have done, the Confederate uniform started off as shades of blue, and faded to grey, now please feel free to correct me on this as I am still learning.

Over the coming few weeks, I will be starting to paint the Confederates and I will be bringing you along on the journey, in the hope that you can learn from what I have done and be able to apply to your own miniatures.

An old classic

2010-03-20T17:52:00.000-07:00

I recently acquired an old classic board game of trade me. 1974 copy of Avalon Hill's Panzer Leader.

Now to say the least, it is definitely a used copy but for only $12.50 NZD including shipping it was a bargain.

After looking at the counters and the maps, I decided something needed to be done about the state of them, as most had water damage and definetly had that musky smell to them.

I recently stumbled upon a website which has re-done the counters and are available for free.

So with a craft knife, ruler, artists mounting card, spray glue and the tokens printed off in colour I have set to making a new set of counters, I will in time be replacing the maps with the updated maps.

This will be a longer term project and the counters and maps will be done when cost and time permits.

I have already printed off the German ones and mounted them. I am in the process of cutting them up today. Will post some photos of the old ones, and the replacements.

The final stages completed

2010-03-16T00:40:00.000-07:00

Well, it took a while to make these but I am very happy with the final result on them. Here are a few more progress shots on the static grass effect:

PVA applied, with the PVA I have found it is better to apply thinner and lighter rather than in big blobs, something that I used to do:

Not sparing any expense, I heavily applied or sprinkled in this case static grass over the PVA:

Now this next step took me a while to get it right, but using the handle of the brush I lightly tapped the grass into the PVA, going over it a couple of times to make sure that the grass would stick:

Now I managed to work on a section at a time, so applyed the PVA, then the grass, pressed it down. I then turned the base over and flicked the bottom of the base from left to right then right to left.

Turning the base back over again I found that just the one application wasn't quite enough for my liking.

So below you see me loosely sprinkling the grass over once again and repeating with the brush.

And the final result from the grass:

(This base was one of the few where there wasn't quite enough grass, so went over and re-applied after the photo)

After the grass was applied, they should look a little something like this:

Now ignore the colour in this shot, as you can see it lightens the wood more that it actually is.

I will get to posting a few more photos in the next couple of days outside when the weather improves.

So all in all I managed to make 12' worth of fencing, plus 4 corners which measure 50mm x 50mm in an L shape.

Just below are the corners:

One final note, which will help if you feel the height is still a little high, I did this little extra step.

Where each rail crosses over at the start point and the next cross join with one finger on each join (Not in the middle of the rail or it will snap) apply a medium 5 second count then move onto the next.

I went through each section (When I refer to a section I mean each 15cm section) twice. It has dropped the height just enough.

Take your time with this as I found I am a little heavy and heard a couple of snaps. But because the wood is reasonably soft it only broke the top rail - not in two to just split it, however has not affected the visuals at all.

Hope that you have enjoyed watching me go through this, don't think I will be making anymore for a little while now.

A tad on the sick side

2010-03-13T23:58:00.000-08:00

Well with the Wife being sick the last three weeks, I seem to have caught something finally and it knocked me off my feet for a few days. Only just starting to feel a little better now and I have finally knocked on the third row.

As well as that layed out the 1st of 4 corners.

Just a few photos, I have now clipped them down a little as well so all that is left is to add the static grass.

Update on the Fences

2010-03-10T10:34:00.001-08:00

Well just a small update here. Managed to get the second row down on the fences. It took me about 5 minutes per 23 rails.

So just over an hour to get that second row on, should have the third row done late tonight and if dry I will be trimming the rails.

The first shot shows the height of the second row:

And a few shots of the completed second row:

More photos to follow once the 3rd row is done.

2010-03-05T02:07:00.001-08:00

Just plodding away with the rails at the moment, just placed the next 3 rails onto each base.

I will have a chance to work on them properly on Monday as this is my next day off.

On another note, got thinking about starting some 3mm Pico Armour. Using the rules of BKC, and the theatre would be Afrika around 42-43.

But first things first got to get these fences finished.

Let the fun begin

2010-03-03T01:35:00.000-08:00

Well a bit of a busy weekend saw the fences put aside for a couple of days, but the good news I am now back on track with the construction

First the stack of strips ready to be cut:

3000+ cuts later I now have a container full of 22-24mm rails:

So, after much thought about the angles, I made sure that the first rail is exactly 22mm. Set half way up the base, and angled to the maximum length here is how the first rail is placed:

Next I had to place the next two angled pieces, this set up that angles for the rest of the rail:

Followed by the next rail (Also you will see the full base section laid down)

This does take a little bit more time than I expect the rest of the rails to go down. This is because I am taking care setting up the base angles.

Once this has been done it will be a case of just placing the new rail ontop.

Well back to placing those rails down, oh and if you wondering how I am attaching the rails to each other and the base, its a nice helping of PVA wood glue. I am taking care to only place a small drop onto the rails.

Photos

2010-02-25T02:04:00.000-08:00

Well getting there, just been working on painting the edges of the bases. Once this is done I will be going through and applying the highlights to the sand ect.

Then on with the assembly. As promised here are a few photos of me getting there:

With the cutter set to 15mm (This is just about how wide it can go)

Start slicing the wood

After a few cuts I ended up with this:

Measuring along I made several light slices at 150mm

And the resulting pile of bases:

Then applying the PVA, this is where I had to be careful as too much and I would have a bannana on my hand.

Once the sand was applied the one thing that I hoped would not happen did, the wood started to warp. A bit of quick thinking and I grabbed a couple of pots and stacked them ontop. This saved the project from going down the drain:

After leaving them for a couple of hours to be sure, I went about putting an ink through the bases. Here is what was used:

And the end result:

Well thats this round of updates for photos, stay tuned for more once more progress is made.

1 Cut down 2999 to go

2010-02-24T02:00:00.001-08:00

Well that was last night, and I have now managed to cut all of the stained rails up. It gave me approx 3000 rails at approx 22mm (update, decided to go 2mm longer)

So onto the next part, which is painting the bases. Once they have had the colours into them and edged, then the fun will begin of assembly.

Will update in the next day or so with photos ect.

Once the fences are done then I will be working on the 6mm troops.

Fence Progress #2

2010-02-22T01:08:00.000-08:00

Managed to get the rails stained today, this took me about an hour and a half. Also bases have been cut and sanded as well as inked.

I have started with 12' of bases, plus 4 corners.

To be on the safe side I decided to leave the rails to dry for the rest of the day and over night.

A couple of things to note though, Balsa, sand and PVA = small warping. As soon as I saw this i grabed a couple of heavy pots (Hand cream and bacterial cream) and placed them on top until the PVA had a chance to cure.

Sorted that almost disaster out.

Also leaving the bases to dry overnight.

So where does that put the project:

Rails all stained but still need cutting down to 20mm lengths
Bases cut, sanded and inked ready for paint

Next to do will be cutting all of those rails, will probably take the better part of tomorrow night. Once they have been done will work on painting the bases.

Then comes the most time consuming bit, assembling them.

Will update with some photos tomorrow night.

Total time spent on project to date: 9 Hours

Fence Progress

2010-02-21T01:35:00.000-08:00

Before I start I would like put a small warning, this can be a little bit fiddly but patience does pay off.

So as a teaser (Apologies for the quality on the photo, shot at night and away from workstation)

The following is the prototype (don't worry the fence is straight and level)

It did take a bit of playing around with the cut sizes but after a couple attempts, I have settled on 1mm.

The sheet of balsa wood that was used:

930mm (L) x 100mm (W) x 1.5mm

Setting the cutter to 1mm and placing it at the start of the sheet. Hold the sheet gentle but firmly (If you did what I did I snapped a section of the sheet with too much pressure and it hanging on my cutting board)

Anyway using your free hand holding the cutter, run this down the length of the board.

Paying special attention to when you start the cut and when you finish the cut. The reason for this is because I found the cutter to deviate and can take a small nic out of those points. This will affect how your strips turn out.

This will take a bit of time, the most important thing is to take your time and not rush. Here is the cut.

One thing you will notice is that after you have cut all of the pieces, you are left with a rectangle piece. I wanted square pieces for the fence rails.

This part need a lot of care and patience, as if you rush it you will end up snapping heaps of the pieces. Now I did snap a few pieces and some did not slice properly.

So turning the newly cut pieces on the opposite edge I set up the cutter at the end of the board, make sure the blade is set deep enough or you won't cut right through. This is important and you wont be able to remove this fine strip afterwards.

I slowly slid the cutter along until the rail poked out the other side of the cutter, then gently grabbing the end while holding the cutter in place and with my thumb holding the rail square against the fore edge pulled it through:

After a bit of effort the pile looked a little like this:

And the mess:

You will probably notice that not all of my pieces turned out into one length. I managed to get 64 complete length's of balsa with a pile of smaller pieces. Some of these will be used for posts and spare rails.

I decided to base most of the fence, I will start out with straights and the work cross sections and corner pieces into the mix.

I went with balsa as the base.

Onto the size, each piece will be 150mm long x 15mm wide x 2.5mm thick.

Each full length rail should make a section. So with 64 pieces that works out into about 32'. More than enough for my needs.

When I build some cornfields ect I will attach these to the base.

Well that's it for tonight, tomorrow will see me stain all of those rails and cut them. Each section of rail with be cut to 20mm.

I will also start preparing the bases for the rail sections. A sheet of balsa (930x75x2.5) should give me approximately 30 bases

Stay tuned for the next update

Time for a little change

2010-02-18T00:03:00.000-08:00

Well painting has stalled a little on the Finns, this is for a couple of reasons. First painting all that white does your head in, starting to see white..

The other is related to another project, well been talking to one of my fellow wargamers and sparked my interest back into my 6mm ACW. One thing that was really common in the ACW period was all of those snake rail fences, and one of the most disappointing things is trying to find some nice ones in 6mm

Don't get me wrong, there are fences out there but I am a fussy bugger when it comes to models and now I have started to look at buying terrain. I have looked at two Snake fences and they just don't scream buy me.

So I figure I would give it a crack to make some of my own, now a few things that spring to mind is the railings. Every material that I have looked at is just too large for the application. After chatting to my hobby supplier he showed me:

For those who are not sure what this is. It's a Master Airscrew MA4000 Balsa Stripper

Interesting I thought, and well I bought it. After understanding how it worked I went to testing it on some balsa wood. Setting the width of the cut to 1mm, I sliced a strip off a 1.5mm thick sheet. Looking at it I then sliced it on the opposite side (flipped it on its side) and repeated.

This has been the best buy for a long time, took me 20 minutes to cut the base, cut the strips to 25mm and then assembled. (Will post some photos tomorrow) Really impressed with this tool.

I have decided to reduce the size of the pieces to 20mm and sharpen the angles to get a better zigzag look to the fence.

The plan is to cut up all of the bases and apply a light coat of sand, paint them all up including grass ect then build the fence on top. The reason for this is that the fence is 3 rails high and applying sand once the wood was attached covered the first rail. Also I will be painting all of the strips before cutting them into the 20mm section and touching up the ends.

So prep time will be a bit, but once all of the prep has been done, assembly should be fast. I will be logging the progress on the blog.

So how much fence, well this I am not sure on. Enough to cover a 6'x4' table.

As with all wargamers, got more than one project on the run and its always nice to take a break from one when you are finding the task tedious.

Well onto the prep work

Little longer than expected

2010-02-15T01:06:00.000-08:00

Well back off leave, its been a mad first week back at work. Just managed to get a chance to sit down tonight.

So what did I get done, well managed to paint up two squads of Finns, and currently working on a third squad at the moment this also includes a HMG and Mortar team in support.

Just finished the skin on them, so moving onto the next part, rifles ect. Should have these done by the end of the week, well that's the plan at least. I have purposely left the white for last.

The reason for this is I have to make sure that the wash is done right, which will lead to minimal re-highlighting of the coat. I want the look to be consistant and done in one go. After the above, that leaves me with a 4th squad, two sniper teams and a Stug.

I will be taking photos of the 4th squad as I paint them up. The reason for no photos till now I am trying to the core done before next month. '

Well that's all I had time for while I was away on leave, kept busy most of the time. Still a lot to do including:

Finishing the 3&4th Squads
2 HMG teams
1 Mortar Team
2 Sniper Teams
1 Stug

Rebase Russians to suit the Finns
Repaint a few of the Russians to suit more of a spring look
Base the Finns

So still a long journey on the WWII to go.

Time for a break...well sort of

2010-01-28T10:26:00.000-08:00

Taking a week off work, and won't have access to the net. So no updates to the blog until I get back.

It doesn't mean I won't be working on something though. As were only going back to Kim's parents for a week I decided to take my hobby with me.

So what will I be looking at:

* Helping out Craig with his 6mm Austrians for Lasalle
* Winter War Finns - Got the StuG done, but will be concentrating on the troops first
* 28mm Moderns - Just got some touchups to do, and final details to add to them
* Aeronef - My Xmas pressie arrived from Brigade so will be taking this with me as well (Will post more on this upon the return)

So thats me signing off for a week, see you when I get back

Russell

It's a field of white

2010-01-25T21:42:00.000-08:00

Well managed to get all of the Finns undercoated on Monday, the army consists of the following:

Platoon HQ (4 figs)
4 Rifle Squads (9 figs per squad)
2 HMG Teams (With extra crew) (6 figs per gun)
1 Mortar Team (with extra crew) (7 figs)
2 Sniper Teams (2 figs per team)

So thats a total of 63 figs ready to go, will look at assembling the Stug IIIG to support them (FAA Model)

Time to start a test figure, will be sure to get some photos on the blog once the fig is done.

Winter War Finns

2010-01-22T21:58:00.000-08:00

Well I got side tracked from the Napoleonics, and decided to start the prep work on the Finns. As one of the members at the club is keen to have a game of Rules of Engagement.

So I now have two squads and the HQ undercoated, with 2 more squads ready for an undercoat (If if would just stop raining)

So with two days off, should be able to get the remaining Finns undercoated ready for painting.

Will also do the last few bases with sand for Lasalle.

So the plans for the Finns, one thing that struck me was when I bought them it didn't click that the whole uniform is practically white. A stupid moment there. White is one of those colours I am sure a lot of gamers have problems with.

So I figure that since a lot of gamers struggle I would track my progress here on the blog, and I hope that this helps you.

Also I will be rebasing the Russians, and changing some of the uniform colours as well to match more of a late winter, early spring.

One I have made some progress on the Finns, I will post some photos on the blog.

Projects

2010-01-18T23:45:00.001-08:00

So the re-base for Lasalle is going well, managed to get the first 6 battalions based up, artillery battery and skirmishers. I have been looking at the Generals to base next and I will follow up with some cavalry.

Left to do:

Generals
8 bases of Cavalry

Still to paint though is another

8 bases of Cavalry

Once this is done I will be putting the paint to the bases, this way they are consistant. The 8 bases of Cavalry to paint will come later.

On the sideline I have been working on removing the basing material from my 20mm Russians for Rules of Engagement.

I plan to re-work the bases once I have another project underway, speaking of which.

Work has begun on the Winter War Finns I picked up from Eureka Minis last year. They got sidelined until I was happy with painting white.......still working on it...

Got the first two squads and HQ on bases ready for some undercoat. Got a few more to put to bases, as I will be painting all of these at the same time. Once painted then I will base the Russians up with the Finns.

This will also make way for some terrain to suit.

Well that's what I have been up to for the last few days, back to the Generals and Cavalry.

Changes are coming........................

2010-01-14T22:46:00.000-08:00

Well I don't know where last year went, and I must confess I have not put the proper effort into keeping the blog going.

This was for many reasons, one was commision and the other well we won't go into that.

So its a new year and changes are at hand. So what to expect.

* A new name - I have pondered on this, and I will be renaming the blog the name doesn't feel right.

* A new template - Well I have already changed this, and a lot of other features will be added over time.

*New projects - Just to name a couple - WWII Finns (20mm), Lasalle re-base (6mm), WWII Russian re-base (20mm), Aeronef, ACW (6mm)

* More updates - I Will be making a New Years resolutuon to update at least twice a week, if not more.

* Terrain projects - These will include fencing for both 6mm & 20mm, 6mm Tree's (This time with a tutorial), Hills, Rivers, Roads both in 6mm and 20mm. And hedges as well. Its about time I start to build a collection of terrain.

Well thats it for now, so here is to a new year full of changes.

Well time flies (Has it been that long)

2009-11-12T01:27:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys,

Well been very busy with home life and a painting contract, which seems to have taken me the better part of 4 weeks, hence the poor updates. This I appologise for.

Just adding the final touches to the 28mm Perry Naps, will be sure to take a couple of snaps and put them up on the blog.

Well where to frome here. This blog started as a napoleonic blog, and it will slowly progress into other periods.

What do I have in my collection you ask:

28mm Modern 1980's Cold War Era Soviets & Germans.
Spaceships
Aeronef
20mm WWII
6mm ACW

and recently just added some 1/3000 WWI to my collection.

So plenty of troops to paint, and keep you guys happy.

Once this last fig is out of the way, will look at what to start next, but I think that It will be between the ACW and Naval.

Well better go and finish this last model for the commision

NAPCON 2009 - Photos continued

2009-10-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

Well its time to add some more photos of the other guys models that were there over the weekend. First up we have some Napoleonic Ships:

A nice set of terrain used in the ships game:

A few more of the excellent Napoleonic Ships:

And just a couple more:

Well thats it for todays uploads, stay tuned for more.

Photo's Round Two

2009-09-30T01:16:00.000-07:00

Well just been working through my photos, here is the next lot of the 6mm:

These are one of the building sets from Timecast of the Baccus website, excellent models easy to paint.

The Church:

A Side on Shot:

Next we have some homemade trees:

Finally can't leave out the whitecoats:

First Photos

2009-09-28T02:35:00.000-07:00

I will have to break this down over a few nights, but here is the first lot of photos. Better start with the 6mm i guess:

What force could that be I wonder:

Closer up shot of the painted French:

Cavalry:

And finally some Artillery:

So thats the start of many photos to come.

Cheers for looking

NAPCON 2009

2009-09-28T01:54:00.000-07:00

Well this year saw the Taupo Grenadiers host the Annual Napoleonics Event in Taupo NZ on the 11th-13th September.I decided to put my hand up to organise this event, and I enjoyed every bit of it. So what did we have on show:

6mm Napoleonics
15mm Napoleonics
28mm Napoleonics
Napoleonic Naval (1:1200)

The rules we used were for the 15mm were an addaptation of In the Grand Manner as well as General de Brigade.I floated between running the 15mm guys, and the 6mm.

We ran a semi-fictional campaign (Just ran out of time to write up the fluff). Points were awarded for:

Battalions in Retreat (As soon as it recieves a retreat order)
Battalions in Rout
Brigades Broken
Generals Lost
Secondary Objectives

Players were also awarded points individually for Victory / Loss in a game, votes for painted army, votes for best oponent, and most napoleonic.

Before I start to post the photos, just a couple of thanks:

Nic and the team @ Eureka Miniatures for there ongoing support from year to year
Craig @ littlmenbigbattles for supporting the event
Steve @ Taupo Hobbies also supporting the event
Ken & Richard @ Battlezone also for supporting the event.

But the event could not have gone ahead without the support of the gamers.It will take me a while to upload the photos, so I will do this over a series of posts

Thanks for looking

Busy Busy Busy

2009-09-04T03:14:00.000-07:00

Well its been a couple of busy weeks, not only at home but at work hence the lack of updates.

Well it's almost NAPCON 2009, and still a lot to do. Organised all of the guys (well hopefully) still a little bit of planning to go into the 15mm Naps games.

As for the tree's I have had a lot of fun doing these, and have turned out well. I produced around 30 to start with and Craig is busy basing these up ready for the weekend.

Terrain on the 6mm Table is going to be a little limited, but as time progresses this will grow.

The main thing is we need to start gaming with the figures now. Should be looking at running the game on a 4ft x 4ft table to start with, and should have around 12-14 French Infantry, 4 Cavalry, 6-8 guns vs 12-14 Austrian Infantry, 2 Cavalry and 4-8 guns.

Got my hands on the new Companion book from Baccus, very nice book. Also managed to pick up a cheap copy of Sam Mustafa's OOP Grande Armee.

I will be posting photos from NAPCON after the event, will break it over several days. These should be online around the 15th September. I will make sure that I get some decent lit photos of the French and Austrians as well.

Here's what we have at the event this year

15mm Napoleonics (Main group)
28mm Napoleonics (2 groups)
Napoleonic Ships
6mm Napoleonics (wait thats us)

Also will have to post a photo tuturial for the tree's at some point.

Well best get back to working out the finer points of the weekend

Tree's

2009-08-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

Well now that I have most of the 6mm painted (for now) its time for some terrain, so what better place to start than with tree's.

After watching a u-tube video and reading Sven's tutorial on how to make tree's I thought that I would give it a crack.

1st results are not bad, and reasonably happy with the result. So in the coming week (as time permits) I will be placing photos of my progress on the blog.

The goal before NAPCON is to knock out a hundred trees before then and have them based up.

Just stared to prep for the construction phase. So first thing is to cut a lot of florist wire into random lengths, and follow up by folding them in half.

Well watch out for some photos in the coming days of the prep, and construction.

I'm Back

2009-08-18T02:11:00.000-07:00

Well its been a funny ol couple of weeks. I have been painting, but not my own troops. Got stuck into some Austrians to help a mate out. 9 Battalions of Infantry (188 figs) and a unit of Hussars later just about ready to get back into it.

18 Austrian Hussars to go, and back onto the task.

So where does that put me, well I now have a fighting force to be able to put onto the table top. I have the following:

19 Infantry Stands
6 Cavalry Stands
8 Artillery Stands
5 Generals
1 CinC

I have decided to break the Infantry down into 3 groups with 2 Cavalry attached to each, and split the Artilery between each group.

The plan is to put this force onto a 4ft x 4ft board at the moment. Speaking of which I went out and got some 9mm MDF boards cut into the following:

2x 3ft x 2 ft boards
2x 1ft x 2ft boards

I am in the process of making a portable gaming board, just have to think about how to do this. So keep an eye on this one.

To add to the above I will get another 2 boards and when all four are put together will give me a 6ft x 4ft table which can be taken anywhere (well just about)

Well thats it for now, busy planning for NAPCON in September so painting may take a hit, I will get some more photos posted of the force at some point soon

Hussars, Chasseurs & Artillery

2009-08-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

Well starting to get there now. Below are a few photos of the Cavalry recently finished as well as the re-based guns.

The Generals are on the painting table at the moment. At least when I get some Generals done I can start gaming with the force.

So what have I painted so far:

850+ Infantry
104 Cavalry
8 Artillery pieces and Limbers
24 Generals

This project started back in late May.

After the Generals are done I have:

2 Stands of Cuirassiers
2 Stands of Hussars
2 Stands of Chasseurs
4 Stands of Imperial Guard
2 Stands of Guard Cavarly
4 Stands of Guard Artillery

So without any more waiting here are the Dragoons:

Next Chasseurs:

Hussars:

And Finally some Artillery & Limbers:

Moving along

2009-07-24T01:43:00.000-07:00

Managed to finish 36 Dragoons. Moving onto painting some Horses and Limbers, plus the other 16 crew and 4 guns.

I have decided to base up those along with the 4 stands of Cavalry next.

So once i have that done it will put me on:

19 bases of infantry
4 bases of Cavalry
8 Guns and Limbers

Then onto some Generals.

More Photos

2009-07-20T02:40:00.000-07:00

Well, how time has passed by. I promised photo's so here is some more.

First all of the Infantry and artillery painted so far. Photo taken at the local Hobby Expo:

Now for the close ups and other shots taken tonight:

Close ups of some Artillery:

Now for the latest addition, first some Chassuers a Cheval (Sorry not based up yet)

Next some Hussars:

Well thats what I have been painting for the last 8 or so weeks. Still plenty more to paint so expect more photos to follow later on

Progress

2009-07-19T02:26:00.001-07:00

Well the weekend went fast, but I did manage to get a stand of Chassuers done. Next on the table are two stands of Dragoons.

So two stands of Cavalry done, just need basing but going to leave this until I have all of the Cavalry painted (4 stands to go)

Well getting closer to playing a game, just need to get some terrain painted up oh and actually build a table as well.

So all in all progressing along well. Will attempt to get more photos up tomorrow.

Back in Action

2009-07-17T03:53:00.000-07:00

Well its been a busy couple of weeks and painting was pushed aside while I caught up. So where am I at now

As before I am now on 19 French Infantry bases, and over the last two nights saw me paint a stand of Cavalry. The 9th Hussars to be precise.

These I must say are an absolute joy to paint, once i worked out the locations for the colours it took me a matter of a couple of hours to work through the first 18 Hussars.

Will look at getting some pics posted on Monday (here's hoping for a sunny day)

Next on the table is some Chassuers from the II Corps. Also been reading some Osprey campaign books. The battle of Dresden is looking interesting.

I need an excuse (well I don't actually) to buy some more 6mm. Less than 3 years to build towards that project.

At the speed that the Cavalry is taking should have the first 6 bases of Cavalry (1 Hussar, 1 Chassuers, 2 Dragoons, 2 Cuirassiers) done by the end of next week.

So where is the project actually at:

Painted:

II & III Corps Infantry
II Corps Hussars

Still to paint:

II Corps Chassuers
III Corps Portuguese, Hussars and Chassuers
Attached to III Corps - Dragoons
Imperial Guard Corps
IV Corps
Limbers
Generals

Well that's a lot to do in less than 2 months. What can I say I am a sucker for Punishment.

Watch this space, could be a close finish.

And for September have been thinking about the battle of Aspern-Essling. As this is smaller should be able to complete this in time.

6 More down....

2009-07-06T02:50:00.000-07:00

Well managed to finish another 6 bases of Infantry. Just have to base them up during the week.

Next on the painting table will be some Cavalry. Time to go get a second lamp

Getting there

2009-07-02T03:57:00.000-07:00

Well managed to catchup a little this week. Just about finished the 6 stands of Infantry. (about 232 figs)

Just got to paint the Pom Poms, metalics, mount the flags and base them. To finish off the bases will be painting another 24 Skirmishers before applying the sand and grass.

Aiming to have these bases finished by the local Hobby Expo next weekend, and will be pushing to have some Cavalry and Generals done.

As soon as I have the chance will get some more photos up

Where Am I

2009-06-28T02:52:00.000-07:00

Well the work trip went well but painting took a hit. last week got nothing painted.

Plans for September are coming along well. I started on another 6 bases of Infantry. This will be the last push on the Infantry for now.

This will put me on 19 bases of Ligne / Legere.

So here is what I am aiming for at the moment, this is at the ratio of 1 stand = Brigade, Cavalry is bases on groupings so a base for the Hussars seperate to the Chassuers a Cheval:

IMPERIAL GUARD

1st Guard Infantry Division: GdD Curial
Infantry Brigade: Rouget (Young Guard)
Infantry Brigade: Rouget (Young Guard)

2nd Guard Infantry Division: GdD Dorsenne
Infantry Brigade: Dorsenne (Old Guard) - 2 Stands

Guard Cavalry Division: GdD Walther
Guard Light Cavalry Brigade
Polish Guard Chevauxlegeres
Guard Chasseurs-a-Cheval

Guard Heavy Cavalry Brigade
Empress Dragoons
Guard Grenadiers-a-Cheval
Gendarmes d'Elite

Guard Artillery: GdD Lauriston
Guard Horse Artillery: Col. d'Aboville
6pdr Horse Battery (Old Guard)
6pdr Horse Battery (Young Guard)

Guard Foot Artillery
8pdr Foot Battery (Young Guard)

II ARMY CORPS Commander: GdD Oudinot

Light Cavalry Brigade: GdB Colbert
9th Hussars

7th Chasseurs-a-Cheval
20th Chasseurs-a-Cheval

1st Infantry Division: GdD Tharreau
Infantry Brigade: GdB Conroux
Infantry Brigade: GdB Albert
Infantry Brigade: GdB Jarry

Artillery
8pdr Foot Battery

2nd Infantry Division: GdD Claparede
Infantry Brigade: GdB Coehorn
Infantry Brigade: GdB Razout
Infantry Brigade: GdB Ficatier

Artillery
8pdr Foot Battery

3rd Infantry Division: GdD Grandjean
Infantry Brigade: GdB Marion
Infantry Brigade: GdB Lorencez
Infantry Brigade: GdB Brun

Artillery
8pdr Foot Battery

Portuguese Legion: GdB Logo
Portuguese Infantry
Portuguese Cavalry

III ARMY CORPS Commander: MdE Davout

Light Cavalry Brigade: GdB Pajol
5th Hussars

11th Chasseurs-a-Cheval
12th Chasseurs-a-Cheval

1st Infantry Division: GdD Morand
Infantry Brigade: GdB Lacour
Infantry Brigade: GdB l'Hullier

Artillery
8pdr Foot Battery

2nd Infantry Division: GdD Friant
Infantry Brigade: GdB Gilly
Infantry Brigade: GdB Barbanegre
Infantry Brigade: GdB Grandeau

Artillery
8pdr Foot Battery

3rd Infantry Division: GdD Gudin
Infantry Brigade: GdB Leclerc
Infantry Brigade: GdB Boyer
Infantry Brigade: GdB Dupellin

Artillery 8pdr Foot Battery

4th Infantry Division: GdD Puthod
Infantry Brigade: GdB Girard
Infantry Brigade: GdB Desailly

Artillery: Hanicque
4pdr Foot Battery
4pdr Horse Battery

So thats the plan for the list, I probably will add Massena's IV corps at some point before then.

Right well thats the list, I better get cracking..............

5 more down

2009-06-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

Well finished another 5 bases of troops over the weekend, so this now puts me on:

3 Bases of Legere
10 Bases of Ligne
4 Bases of Guns

Made a decision not to rebase the 4 guns I have, and paint up and base the Limbers seperate and mount on a 30 x 60.

On the table next is another 2 units of Legere, but away on a work trip so won't be back until Thursday. Should be looking at more photos at the end of the week.

Progress

2009-06-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

Last night I applied the wash to the 5 bases last night and the basecoat colour onto the bases before heading to work. Should have these finished tonight.

Next task will look at placing the stands into Divisions. Still need some more Legere painted, so that will be next.

Then will look at following up with some Cavalry, generals and Artillery to round out the two Corps.

First Photos of the troops

2009-06-19T03:26:00.001-07:00

Firstly my appologies for the quality of these photos as at the moment I am not setup properly to take decent photos as I only have a single light source and I know I should have two, the joys of a limited budget.

Anyway the before photo:

Now thats only a portion of what I have undercoated, now some of the bases that are finished:

Missing in the photo is 1 base of artillery (To be rebased later)
Some close ups:

Well thats all the photos for now, on the workbench at the moment I have 3 bases of Legere and two of Ligne. All painted and just working on the bases at the moment.

This will put me on 13 painted bases, plus 4 artillery. Plans are to move onto some cavalry, rebase and paint the limbers, and some generals.

Updates and plans

2009-06-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

Iv'e been painting for around 4 weeks before I started the blog, so I do have some models all painted and based up, just spent this morning applying a second layer of sand on the next 5 bases.

Once I have these based up I will be sitting on 3 Legere and 10 Ligne. I do have to get some more Legere done next though.

Will look at photos later on today and get them posted tonight

After painting 4 guns and crew and basing them, realised I should have put them on a 30 x 60 base with limber (on a 30 x 30). So they will be rebased when I have painted the Limbers

So here what I am aiming for:

21 Bases of Ligne / Legere combined
2 Bases of Young Guard
2 Bases of Old Guard
3 Bases of Bavarians
3 Bases of Chassuers a Cheval
2 Bases of Curassiers
2 Bases of Dragoons
2 Bases of Bavarian Cavalry
1 Base of Hussars
1 Base of Grenadier a Cheval
8 Guns with Limbers
2 Bavarian Guns with Limbers

So thats the list around 39 60 x 60 bases, 10 30 x 60 bases and 8 30 x 30 bases (generals)

A big target by September this year, but will be painting hard to get it done

6mm Napoleonic - The Beginnings

2009-06-17T20:27:00.000-07:00

Well when I first looked at Napoleonics I started bigger. I painted a British 15mm Napoleonic Army. While this looked great it just didnt feel like an army. About a month ago one of my friends decided to start a business. He introduced me to 6mm Napoleonics and Baccus miniatures. Since then I have been converted.

So with that here is the start of what looks like to be a huge project for me. We purchased the big box set of Peter from Baccus, and I placed another order just after.

I will be updating the blog on a regular basis with pictures of the miniatures (French) as i get them done. The goal is to produce a fairly large game for a Napoleonics Convention which we hold on the North Island of NZ each year. I am happy to annouce that Taupo will be hosting it.

So a little about what the project is and what were trying to achieve.

The period is 1809 campaign, French & Austria. I took on the French and Craig took on the Austrians.

The rules that we are using are Polmos rules by Chris Grice. We decided to go for the larger scale and use Marechal d'Empire as this suits the larger battles. Bases are 60mm x 60mm (more about this as I post photos)

Well thats it for now, will be posting photos over the next couple of nights