Tuesday 3 January 2012

The Scale of the Problem (2012 edition)

Carrying on the tradition I thought start the year with a look at what still remains in the lead pile.

28mm Scale Projects

Orcs and Goblins
System: Warhammer and KoW
Status: Several hundred figures painted, some more in the lead pile
Comments: Thousands of points painted. Loads painted in 2011.

Bretonnians
System: Warhammer
Status: 18 knights started, about 100 more models unpainted. No progress in 2011.

Dwarfs
System: Warhammer and KoW
Status: 85% unpainted, about 100-150 models in total.
Comments: At least they're assembled. Should be 2500-3000 points easily when done. No progress in 2011 ... bought 20 dwarf berserkers and a steel behemoth.

High Elves
System: Warhammer and KoW
Status: Almost all painted (if you don't count the 60 miniatures still shrink wrapped)
Comments: Refurbished, magnetised and slightly expanded in 2011, if only I hadn't bought that load of stuff in the sale this would be all good news.

Blood Angels
System: Warhammer 40K
Status: Mostly finished.
Comments: Over 2500 points + options available for use. Not a bean painted this year and to add insult to injury I bought some more assault marines, gah!

Space Hulk
System: Space Hulk
Status: About 2/3 finished. All of the Genestealers are completed, just the marines to go.
Comments: No progress in 2011.

SWAT teams and Criminals
System: Officer Down, about 40 models in total.
Status: 80% painted
Comments: The problem with this project is that it needs more scenery. No progress in 2011.

10/15mm Scale Projects

Aliens and Marines
System: Xenomorph
Status: In the post
Comment: A late 2007 purchase. About 40-60 models in total. No progress in 2010.

High Elves
System: HOTT
Status: Unpainted (48 points + options). No progress in 2011.

Undead
System: HOTT
Status: Unpainted. No progress in 2011.

Dark Elves
System: HOTT
Status: Unpainted (48 points + options). Bought January 2010 expanded December 2010 none of it painted.

Mongols
System: DBA
Status: Unpainted. No progress in 2011.

Later Muslim Indian
System: DBA
Status: Unpainted. No progress in 2011.

Later Achmeneid Persian
System: DBA
Status: 30% Painted. No progress in 2011.

Monday 2 January 2012

And the new year is off to a flying start!

5 miniatures painted and none bought so far. 4 more Hasslefree children bought in December and a GW LOTR Golum which I bough a long time ago.

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Well okay all of those were started last year and would probably have made it on to the 2011 painted pile if I hadn't taken a detour and magnetised the elves.

Sunday 1 January 2012

A practical guide to defying gravity.

That final batch of painted miniatures for 2011 would have been a little larger but I decided it was time to get round to a task I had been putting off for a while - magnetising the bases for my Mantic elf army.

The method I chose, using magnetic tape and steel paper works well for Mantic miniatures as the Mantic bases are solid and have flat bottoms.

To save on materials and therefore money I chose not to cover the whole of the bases and for this reason I chose to put the steel paper on the bottom of the bases rather than the magnetic tape which is the more usual way round. The steel paper is so thin that it doesn't affect the stability of the model when you only cover part of the base.

Anyway, enough prattling.

What you'll need is some steel paper and some 15mm magnetic tape (both bought from Magnetic Displays). The steel paper is self adhesive (as is the tape) and behaves just like thin card so can be cut with normal scissors and you don't get any nasty sharp edges.

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Cut the steel paper into 15mm squares and stick to the bottom of the Mantic bases.

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Cut 15mm sections from the roll of tape and place one square on the tray for each miniature.

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For plastic miniatures the grip is strong enough to allow you to turn your miniatures upside-down. This doesn't work quite as well for heavier metal miniatures (but then I'm only using part of the surface area of the base) although its still adequate for the kind of handling the unit is likely to get on the tabletop and the degree of tilt you are likely to experience when fighting up or down hills.

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For my cavalry I've used wider tape (20mm) which seems to work well. Hopefully I won't lose by a time out next time I use this army in a tournament.

Cue female singer of above average body weight.

And that was 2011. Time for one last picture of some painted miniatures and it's all over bar the shouting.

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Here we have the last three miniatures of 2011 - an ancient GW plastic chaos warrior, and a couple of Hasslefree minis. The first HF mini is painted to look like my eldest daughter and I have used her school uniform as the colour scheme. The second is "Amy", daughter number two's wizard character for when we play RPGs.

Sadly 2011 was another pledge fail for me - despite painting vast numbers of goblins I still managed to buy more miniatures than I painted - that sale on Mantic elves in January cost me dearly ... and the assault marines, dwarf berserkers etc etc.

Still ... looking on the bright side I have plenty to paint in 2012.