Major Ballsup's Hobby Shed

We're a third of the way through the year so it's time to look at how I've done against the initial plan set out in January. Aspirations for existing projects Continue with 20mm Sikh Wars project  Complete EIC infantry regiment (remaining 24 outstanding figures) - completed January👍  Add more units - I bought a load of new figures in March and have since completed another Sikh regiment , some British skirmishers and started an EIC Sepoy regiment👍👍 Focus on the following periods with special attention to terrain: WW2 Eastern Front 44-45 (1/76th) - nothing done👎  WW2 Yugoslavia 43-45 (1/76th) - nothing done👎  WW2 Italy 43-45 (15mm) - nothing done👎  First/French Indo-China War (20mm) - made a base and surround for an Indo-China village  and added some indigenous tribes fighters 👍👍 16th Century Western European Wars (15mm) -  some research but no painting Zona Alfa/Last Days Zombie apocalypse (20mm) - nothing done 👎  Decide what to do with ...

I managed to get in a reasonable amount of hobby time over the Easter Weekend.  I'm off work next week and will be out and about so there probably won't be a hobby update for the last week of April. Painting/modelling   I finished prepping the Newline Designs Sepoy regiment and managed to make some good progress with the painting.  These won't take too long to finish now. Research & Reading I finished "The Commotion Time".  This was a very interesting read.  In my opinion the background information about the key personnel, logistics, the causes and such like is stronger than the actual descriptions of the battles.  This is no criticism of the author, but probably more to do with there's more records of this than the actual fighting!  If you are interested in the 16th Century and the Tudors I highly recommend it.   For a wargamer there's definitely enough information to game the Western Rebellions if you want to try something differen...

A very quiet week hobby wise.  I've not had any solid blocks of time to do much, just grabbing the odd 10 minutes here and there.   Painting/modelling   I've started cleaning up the next unit for the First Anglo-Sikh War project.  This is a regiment of 24 Sepoys which will join the Anglo-Indian forces.  I don't like cleaning up figures much, so doing this in the short bursts of time I've had for hobbying has worked quite well. Research & Reading I'm pressing on with "The Commotion Time" which tells the military history of rebellion in the West Country in 1549.  A really good read about something I previously knew nothing about. I wrote a post about the rising costs of the hobby which sparked a bit of debate on TMP.  You can read it here .  After writing this I'm even more convinced that any new projects will be in the smaller scales.  Although I love  skirmish games I hanker after something that looks like a real battle, bu...

 A news item on TMP prompted me to check the Empress Miniatures website and there I found that a pack of 4 figures now cost £8.00, meaning a single metal 28mm historical miniature has now broken the £2.00 mark.  I can remember when 28mm metals first went above £1.00 each and there was a lot of grumbling.  But now £2.00 - Ye Gads! Looking at the cost of the "best" 28mm metals (Perry's, Empress, Foundry as a sample) they currently average out at £1.69 for a metal figure.  Perry's are the cheapest at £1.33 each, Foundry next at £1.75 and as mentioned Empress at £2.00.  Whether a Paul Hicks sculpt is "better" and "worth more" than one of the Perry twins is a matter of personal taste.  I have some of all three and many more sculptors' work besides in my Old West collection and they are all lovely figures and have their own merits.   The cost of everything is going up so it was inevitable that miniatures did.  It would seem a lot of hobby companies...

I'm very pleased and relieved that things have settled down in the real world.  Consequently I've had a bit more hobby time and here's what I've been doing:  Painting/modelling   I painted and finished off the Newline Designs 20mm Sikh infantry regiment for the First Anglo-Sikh War that I'd cleaned up and primed last week.  Click here to see some pics. Research & Reading I've been reading "The Commotion Time" by E.T.Fox.  This is one of Helion's From Retinue to Regiment titles covering warfare from 1453-1618.  It details what's often called "The Prayer book Rebellion" which took place in the West Country 1549.  I got it as a Christmas present and it's a fascinating read. I've been looking at Lion Rampant and The Pikeman's Lament and seeing which is going to be best for Tudor and Elizabethan 16th C warfare.  I'm determined to get the 16th Century project back on track for the next part of the year. Incoming! No spen...

I'm very pleased to have got some proper hobby time in and completed this Sikh regiment of Newline Designs 20mm figures.   These were mostly painted in the same way as the first regiment I did (see  here  and  here ).  However, I chose to paint this batch with dark trousers and with different facings and turbans.  These colours were based on what I found on Internet searches.  I have no idea how accurate these are and I didn't base them on any particular historical regiment.  I've had too many real things to think about to care too much, but I enjoyed painting them and I like them!   I have a whole load of Afghans that I'm going to use for a Sikh irregular regiment, so this and the first regiment will form a brigade.  The scope of the first stage of the project was brigade size so this is a  significant milestone achieved.  I've enthused about the Newline Designs Sikh Wars range enough in my previous posts.  I bo...

With the real world seriously impacting hobby time this week I can say it's been the most unproductive week for years.  Here's what little I managed to do:  Painting/modelling   I finished off the Newline Designs 20mm Sikh Wars British infantry that I'd started last week.  Click here to see some pics. Cleaned up, based and textured the bases for a regiment of Sikh infantry, also Newline Designs 20mm.  They've now been primed at least so I hope to get on with these next week. Ready for priming Research and reading I started the week still looking at Ancients and the impending release of Strength and Honour.  I listened to a few podcasts with the author and I'm not sure how well they'll work for solo play so will put this to one side for now. I've started thinking about my 16th Century project again and really must prioritise this.  Looking back at the blog it was supposed to be my Autumn/Winter project and then a priority for the first part of this...