Gentlemen From Japan And Other Diversions

It's been a quiet weekend thus far at the Mad Padre's Painting Chapel on the edge of the frozen Canadian prairie. I've spent quite a lot it thus far painting terrain. The terrain is 1-1 scale and might be suitable for FIBUA gaming. Quite realistic, isn't it?

While I'm quite happy about being posted this summer, the down side of it is getting the house ready to sell. There are pros and cons to owning one's home while in the military. The upside is that military housing can be a little gruesome, and is not always well or promptly maintained, whereas I am free to buy the house I want, build up equity, and, hopefully, sell it for a modest profit. But getting it ready to sell requires work, and ironically it is work that I could have done early in my time here and enjoyed the results, as Mrs. Padre has observed. But darling, i wasn't idle in all that time, I go a LOT of miniatures painted.

\

Signs you've been a miniatures wargamer for two long. While painting today, using a Flat Khaki eggshell that Mrs. Padre is quite fond of, I was watching it go on and thinking "that looks rather like dunkelgelb. I wonder if I could paint some panzers with it?" I would use a smaller brush than this one were I to do that.

I did find time to goof off from the housepainting:

In other news, I was very pleased to find a package from The Assault Group in my mailbox on Friday. The contents are not to be painted lightly. Besides a complete unit of Ottoman Spahis of the Porte (more on that in a subsequent post on my resurrected armies project for April), there were these four TAG samurais with katana, who will make up my samurai offering to Curt for the Analogue Hobbies painting challenge.

TAG stayed in character with the awesomeness they have shown me to date, and included this bonus samurai figure in my order.

He's as smart as a chap with two heads!

I don't really have the foggiest idea how to paint samurai. I've been consulting some top-notch panting guides, including this one:

Fortunately for me, a recent post on Alfons Canovas' amazing blog has some sumptuous samurai colour plates. Right, think sumptuous when I start painting them, and all will be well.

Now, the only think that worries me is what these samurai are going to do while they are waiting to be painted. I can already hear them downstairs, shouting for more sake and geisha girls. I don't have any geisha girls on hand, but this winsome young lass jumped out of the lead mountain and promised me she would keep them in hand. She is the Reaper Miniatures Oktoberfest Fraulein, and my plan for her is to use her as an Allied spy in my Weird War project, so it looks like she'll get primed and painted along with the Gentlemen From Japan. I am enthralled to her charms.

Warm wishes to you all from the edge of the frozen Canadian prairie. I am delighted that there are five new followers to Mad Padre Wargames, and I'll greet you personally in an upcoming post. In the meantime, may God prosper your brushes and bless your die rolls!