Major Ballsup's Hobby Shed

There wasn't a weekly update last week as I was away.  I returned on Saturday and got straight back into things. Painting/modelling   I finished the Newline Designs Sepoy regiment.  This is the last of three regiments of the first Anglo-Indian brigade.  For more on these click  here . I've been sorting out my Burrows  & Badgers collection and working on warband rosters.  I'm ashamed to say I started collecting these lovely figures in 2016 and they've never had an outing.  Cruelty to animals is what it is, keeping them in a box all this time.  I shall atone for this soon if all goes to plan. Research & Reading While on holiday I spent a very pleasant 1/2 day at the  Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum at Flixton .  A quite amazing place with a bewildering array of exhibits.  It's one of those incredible places built up and run by the dedication of volunteers and well worth a visit.  I'll try to do a report on i...

This week I finished off another regiment of East India Company Sepoys for the First Anglo-Sikh War. As usual all figures are 20mm Newline Designs.  This is the third regiment (two EIC Sepoy, one Sikh) that I've completed this year.  I've noticed a pattern: when I start slapping the paint on a unit I'm enthused; then about half way in I get a bit overawed by the effort involved and the repetitive painting; and then by the time I'm doing the last details I get a second wind and go back and do a fair few refinements.  This was the last large unit left out of the lead pile and I'm quite relieved by that.   As with all the Newline figures I've done they paint up very well.  When I placed the order I asked Sean for an extra standard bearer which he duly sent.  The first Sepoy regiment only has the one.  I'm not sure whether I'll bother buying a command pack just to get the one figure.  As it is I still need to sort out the standards, those shown ...

Here's the latest thinking for the second third of 2022: Existing projects Continue with Sikh Wars project (20mm) Complete the EIC Sepoy regiment currently in progress Chip away at the lead pile adding more units 16th Century Western European Wars (15mm) Make scenery to go with English church model Purchase/make specific terrain Purchase more figures to extend my collection back to the 1540s and also for the Irish Wars Algerian War (20mm) Finish making terrain Paint up last few ALN figures Repaint helicopter models WW2 Italy 43-45 (15mm)  Work on MDF buildings Make specific terrain/scenic pieces Rework all figure bases Zona Alfa/Last Days Zombie apocalypse (20mm) Work on MDF buildings Make specific terrain/scenic pieces Purchase more zombie figures Burrows & Badgers (28mm) Work out warbands for existing collection  Make specific terrain/scenic pieces  Purchase more figures Decide what to do with unused 28mm figures Continue blogging New projects Continuing lookin...

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...