A new blog, a new start, yadda yadda

Right, now that the whole "new blog" thing is out of the way: yes, this will be my new (hopefully permanent) blog to post ideas about painting, modelling, wargaming, and miscellaneous other stuff that keeps me entertained for hours on end.

Just a bit about the blog, and what you may see here.

Painting. Right, there's that. I paint mostly historicals now, and I'm currently venturing forth into the great world of 1/72 scale, or 20mm, WWII. That's the main project you will see on this blog. I've also done 15mm and 28mm as well, from Lord of the Rings, to Flames of War, to American Civil War, and even some 40k. I will also be working on some 15mm sci-fi, inspired by the great Dropship Horizon blog, and the many avid 15mm sci-fi gamers out there doing great things for the hobby. And perhaps some Zombie-apoc stuff. And of course the awesome Reaper Bones Kickstarter models will turn up eventually.

But for now, and the immediate future, count on mostly 20mm WWII. Eastern front for starters. Because we have to jump down the rabbit hole from some point, right? And that rabbit hole is deep. We're talking movies, TV shows, wacky internet stuff, possibly some crazy ideas that I'll come up with and never follow up on, random real-world encounters, and who knows what else.

Main goal, however, is to frequently try and update this site with something relevant that would make you want to come back and visit. Because I'd like that. It'd mean I have something of value to contribute to the internet, which is saying something. So, kick back, relax, and let me show you the Workbench.

20mm WWII

Right, so, jumping straight into it, I recently caught the fever of 20mm WWII after drooling over blogs and sites such as, but not necessarily limited to (and in no particular order, though the closer you are to the top, the better off you fared in a double-blind study conducted by no-one in particular):

• The Guild
• World War 20mm
• Move To Contact
• Jacksarge's Blog
• Will's Wargames Blog
• Ad Machina Wargaming
• Yekke's Photobucket
• Panzerfaust200's work over on The Guild
• Neil Burt's Site

And many more, whom I will eventually get around to following via the blog here.

So, knowing full well what I was getting into (a lie - I didn't) I took the plunge and ordered some Plastic Soldier Company kits and some Warmodelling metals this past summer to get me started. I've recently had time to break out the paints again after a hectic few months of moving and getting a new job and new apartment, that I was able to sit down and get painting again.

Using Battlegroup Kursk (BGK) as the framework for what I'm collecting/building/eventually painting, I now have several squads ready to go should I want to try simple infantry skirmishes.

Warmodelling's German Heer (left) and Waffen SS (right)

Plastic Soldier Company Russian Summer Infantry

I have an order that just came in from Tom over at Milicast with some AB Figures, including some American GI's for Normandy (soon...), and some Germans for the Eastern Front. I've yet to decide how I'll split up the packs I received, but several of the models would work great as recce foot patrols, or forward HQ staff, and any number of other cool things. The sculpting is top notch, and apart from one miscast GI who had a bad case of mold-slip syndrome (he's undergone surgery #1 to remove the metal off his face, with another removal scheduled soon, followed by a possible greenstuff graft, but I'm by no means a sculptor. Or a doctor), every model came out pretty much well-casted. I had a fear some of the molds may be wearing down in their old age, but the clean up was minor, all things considered. A few guys are getting new rifle barrels, and one guy needed his pants cleaned up with some greenstuff, but all in all, not bad. They are metal minis after all, and we know how those are.

I'm going to try and get some pictures of painted models for each pack up on this site as soon as they're finished, because for some reason, there's little documentation for the pack contents outside of AB's site, and  even there it isn't thorough.

So, not a bad first post. I'll definitely have more to come in the future, including the dreaded back log of stuff to do, what the future looks like, and more.

Cheers.

~iPaint