Major Ballsup's Hobby Shed

Well darn it, we're a third of the way through 2026 already.  April has been a bit less stressful month than March real world wise, just steadily working through my stuff. April always means Salute for me and you can read my thoughts on the show here .  The end of April is also where I take stock of my progress in the year to date.  You can see how I've been doing with my projects here and with gaming here . Completed Here's what I completed during the month: 20mm Platoon 20 French Indo-China War Vietnamese.  I completed four pairs of porters, a mule team and the artillery crew this month.  Porters and mules were a vital part of the Vietnamese war effort.  They add something a little different to the table and they've come out rather well.  I based the recoilless rifle and all the crew on small magnetised bases then made a base out of magnetic receptive sheet as I'd done for my Ancient Germans and Imperial Romans.  This gives me the flexibility of...

I didn't manage to reach the hobby heights  of January this month.  Strangely enough feeling better has impacted hobby time as I've felt well enough to do other things but it's all swings and roundabouts. Completed Here's what I completed during the month: 20mm Platoon 20 Vietnamese civilians.  The majority of the painting for these was done last month, with just some highlights, varnishing and basing to be completed.  They're nice "classic" wargames miniatures, not over fussy or detailed and for those newbies only used to plastic or 3D print figures probably appear basic, to which I’d say bollocks. 15mm 16th Century arquebusiers.  I finished off the rebasing of 22 Essex Miniatures figures onto single 15mm round magnetised bases.  This gives the flexibility for keeping them as singles for  skirmish and forming units for larger games. I need to work out how to base the pike and musketeers, in a way that captures the era but is also practical for gaming,...

January 2026 has been a curious month.  On the downside I've had what seems like a perpetual cough and cold for almost the entirety of the month.  The weather has also been dismal.  However, where this has stopped me getting out and exercising, I have done a lot of hobby stuff, swings and roundabouts and all that.  Consequently this is quite a long update.  Here's what I completed this month: 48 Baccus Franco-Prussian War Infantry finished as French Foreign Legion for my 19th Century French Armée d'Afrique collection.  I started these early in December and they had sat on the table since.  However, once I got back to them I knocked these out quite quickly.  Lovely sturdy Baccus figures, this gives me another unit and a bit to make a total of three FFL units for The Men Who Would Be Kings.   Verrotwood Cultist.  After the bloodletting of the last game ( here ) the Wisentii cult needed a new cultist, so I bashed one together using Northsta...