Meanwhile in Rohan 8

This post will be much less interesting than the last one, as there are 100% no scantily dressed figures.   I got a bit of flack for posting the elf maiden photos on the Wargaming in Middle Earth Facebook page and rapidly deleted the post.  I never thought I was creepy, but apparently some did, so lesson learned.

So to today’s duller content.   Here are 12 Walkers of Rohan, bog-standard Rohirrim foot fighters, fresh off the Games Workshop sprue.

No mods of any sort.  The only concession to originality was to give a few of them grey cloaks vice the usual green cloaks.  I also made some attempt to change up the colours on the shields by using some blues and reds for variety.

Archers.  Can’t have enough of these chaps, especially for a siege game.  I have plans.

Fellow in the foreground is a bit of an oldster.  My white hair is almost as long as his in these lockdown days.

The most creative thing in this post is this Gripping Beast lead figure, of Alfred the Great, repurposed as a Lord of Rohan.  The shield transfer is from Little Big Men Studios.  

 

 Blessings to you brushes!

MP+

Meanwhile - In the Elven Woodland Realms 4

Good morning from my part of Canada, where the spring has finally come in the latter part of May and we actually turning on the air conditioning yesterday!

Not sure these figures are dressed for AC.  Come to think of it, they’re not really dressed at all!   I’m a little embarrassed, being a vicar and all, about these figures, but I loved the aesthetic of the old War-games Foundry Realms of Faerie line and some years ago I jumped at the chance to buy the figures.    I’ve been intimidated about painting them, because flesh tones are hard to do right, but I’m reasonably happy with the way they’ve turned out.

These fierce young ladies join an existing cohort of finished figures to make a fairly distinctive war band for Dragon Rampant.  I’ve always enjoyed the comments of other gamers when their comrades appear on the table, so I expect these figures will raise some eyebrows.

 I modified the banner bearer to add a Games Workshop Uruk Hai head as a Middle Earth tie in.  Perhaps these figures are part of Galadriel’s secret service commando unit.  Professor Tolkien would doubtless frown in disapproval, but there you go.

 She’s a strong lass to hold all that up.

 Blessings to your brushes!

MP+

Renegade 28mm Confederate Infantry

Good day:

 

I hope his finds you and yours well, healthy, and weathering the pandemic.   I’m pleased to say that I’ve used the lockdown time to be fairly productive.  Last night I finished this regiment of Confederate infanry, 28mm figs from Renegade in skirmish/firing poses.  Sadly I believe that Renegade is out of business.   I bough a box of these figures at HotLead many years ago, started painting them, life got messy, and put the on hold.  The minis got knocked around badly during several moves, and I lost the nerve to get them finished until recently.

The flag is a Mississipi state flag from GMB Designs.   I chose Mississippi as a homage to my late wife Kay, aka Madame Padre, who was a born and raised there.  I already have two MS regiments, so this this regiment gives me a third, enough to form a brigade, which is important if I want to play more Pickett’s Charge.

See if you can spot the one Old Glory figure in this group.

The figures are definitely on the large side, perhaps the largest range of ACW figures I’ve ever seen, and there solidity reminds me of Dixon figures.   I always find that Confederate figures are a bit of a slog to mix, as I try for a convincing mix of greys, tans and browns in my uniform palette.

Thanks for looking and blessings to your brushes!    Stay well and safe.

MP+

Wings Over the Rockies: A Skiplane for the Pulp Project

 

Hey friends!

There has been spasmodic activity in the Mad Padre’s Chapel since we entered this strange limbo of lockdown.  With more time on my hands, I’ve completed some projects, including this addition to my 1930s pulp project, the Rockies Ablaze.   Last summer I went into Wheels and Wings, a massive model store on Toronto’s Danforth Avenue, and told one of the staff that I wanted a “skiplane with a 1930s vibe in 1/48 scale.    Almost a year later, here’s what I ended up with.

The model is a kit made in the Ukraine by ICM, a Soviet U-2 Polikarpov biplane with the undecarriage options for skis or wheels, and these crazy sidecars for evacuating wounded.  With some leftover decals from a 1/48 scale Airfix Spitfire kit, I thought it would do for an interwar plane in Canadian service.

It was a very excited crowd that came out to Sarcee Field near Calgary to see the RCAF’s latest addition, the DH 32 Junco.

Representatives from the Alberta government, the Western Militia District, and the RCMP are on hand to see this new marvel, which its pilot says can land on any flat piece of ground the size of a hockey rink, all damned winter long.

“Yessirree, she’s a treat to fly, and not so cold, if you know how to dress for it.”  Inspector McAllister has his own thoughts about spotting the many illegal trap lines in his district.

“Aerial reconnaissance!   That’s the thing we learned the hard way.  Invaluable at Vimy Ridge, let me tell you!”  General Millman’s driver smiles diplomatic and thinks to herself, “Not another bloody Vimy story."

No one invited Fitz, Jacques and Leo to the airfield, but it’s not like there’s a fence around it or anything.  “I tell youse boys, dis plane dere will be the trouble” says Jacques.  The others spit tobacco on the snow in agreement.

 

Blessings to your brushes!

Be well and safe.

M

Perry Brothers ACW Dismounted Union Cavalry

Good day and happy Sunday from Ontario, Canada, where March has come in like a lamb after dumping a LOT of snow on us.   The path to my front door looks suspiciously like a Great War communications trench!   

As I find some more time for my blog, which is more and more just a hobby diary with photos (and bless those of you who do sop by and comment), I have some photos of a project I finished over the Christmas holidays, which are rather a distance in the rear view mirror now.

I’ve become a fanboy for Perry Brothers miniatures, which though pricey and perhaps smaller than the heroic 28mm scales in vogue these days, are full of detail.  Here is a unit of 28mm ACW dismounted Union cavalry, to give me a second such unit for the tabletop.  The flag I believe is from GMB Designs.  Sorry, the lighting on these photos is not of the best.

Sergeant Davis is not having a good day.  He reminds me of a character in Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage:  “The lieutenant, retiring from a tour after a bandage, produced from a hidden receptacle of his mind new and portentous oaths suited to the emergency.  Strings of expletives he swung lash like over the backs of his men, and it was evident that his previous efforts had in nowise impaired his resources.

One of the curious things about these sculpts is that one set are cast in the classic cavalry piped shell jacket and piped riding breaches, while another pack look like mounted infantrymen: they have Sharps carbines but are wearing the classic four button sack coat, with infantry trousers and brogans (shoes) instead of riding boots.   I painted all of the collars with yellow piping to give a uniform impression. 

Ready to see off Johnny Reb while waiting for the infantry to come up.

 

In some decent lighting.

 

The finished regiment on the tabletop, awaiting they first fight.  They did well enough.   More on that in another post.

I have a box of Perry plastic mounted cavalry and two sets of householders to do next, and then, with my previously painted figures,  should have the makings of a tidy little Union cavalry brigade.

Blessings to your brushes!

MP+

Two More Crazy Canucks

Hello friends!

In the time since my last post here, I’ve been busy with work and also had the chance to travel to Africa and back to some church-related work in Ethiopia.   It was an amazing experience, and I hope to write about it on my “God blog”, www.madpadre.blogspot.com, in due course.

There has been some painting time here and there, including these two dangerous fellows for my Rockies Ablaze pulp project.

These two are figures are Bob Murch sculpts, figures from his Mad Trappers set from his Pulp Figures line.  

The fellow on the left is Ratko Gligic, Canada’s Most Dangerous Immigrant.   Rumours had it that he personally killed an Austrian general in a cafe in Belgrade, made him into goulash, and then served him to his troops.   He escaped from a Bolshevik prison camp, fought with the Whites, the Czechs, the Poles and basically anyone who had gold and booze, before escaping on the last ship out of Archangel.  He steals, curses, drinks, and only comes into town to trade furs for supplies and whiskey.

On the right, Old Jock Montrose has never paid the Crown for a trapping license, or for anything else.  Some say he won the Victoria Cross at Second Ypres, others say he shot his RSM, and some say both.   He once killed a bear with his fists and a broken bottle, and has threatened that any Mountie or excise man who comes near him will lose a foot in one of his innumerable rusty traps.

As always, they were tremendous fun to paint.

I hope to keep puttering away at this project, but the next few months ahead are busy.   I have a few interesting things to do before I retire from the Canadian Armed Forces in June, and then some planned travel this summer with my lovely bride Joy, though she has come to realize that the odd hour of hobby time is good for my mental health, so we shall see.

In the meantime, be well and blessings to your brushes.

MP+

 

Limbering Up: Perry Brothers 28mm ACW Union Limber Team

Hello friends:

I've been limbering up at the gym as well, but that gets harder as I get older and painting this delightful kit from Perry Bros over Christmas was much more fun than exercising.

Even though I am amazed at how much space my 6mm! Napoleonic limbers take up on a 6' by 4' table, there's something about having a limber team that denotes a certain seriousness in how one approaches the game, even if one only has one such model (for now).  So I splashed out on this set, having already assembled and painted the limber and gun shown here, which are from the Perry's plastic ACW artillery set.

The figures are beautifully sculpted and didn't require much cleaning.     They are also in dynamic poses, given the impression of a gun rushing into battle at a desperate moment.

The three limber riders are cast in one piece and fit perfectly on the seat of the plastic limber model.   I like how it looks like they are holding on for dear life.   Bouncing along on an unpadded chest full of gunpowder, that's not at all stressful!

I've based the horses separately in pairs so the team is more manageable to handle on the tabletop.

A quick story before I go, from my re-enacting career, such as it was.   In October 2000 I attended an event in Loudon County, VA, that was organized by a guy called Rob Hodge, who was one of the gurus of the authentic re-enacting community.   Hodge makes an appearance in the late Tony Horowitz's Confederates in the Attic, a book which is both amusing and insightful.

Anyway, I was part of a Union infantry "battalion", perhaps 75 in all, in line at one side of a long valley, perhaps 2 kms across.   I found a photo that I took from my place in the second rank that afternoon, showing a little infantry skirmish in the middle of the valley.   

Shortly after this photo was taken, from the spot in the treeline which I've marked in yellow, a Confederate limber team and gun appeared    I recall vividly how quickly they moved into position, well out of rifle range, unlimbered, and fired a few "rounds" at us.   The horses were a joy to watch as the wheeled to bring the gun into position, and the whole process seemed to happen in just a few minutes.    It was distinctly eerie to think that had it been real, round shot would be buzzing at my general direction and me powerless to return the favour.   I wish I had taken a photo of that gun and team.

There are however some excellent photos of a re-enactment group that knows something about guns and horses, and from what I can see, they are pretty convincing.

That's all for now.   Rabbitman is coming over this weekend for a dirty wargames weekend so more to say about that soon I hope.
Blessings to your brushes!
MP