More Grenadiers!!

Not a massive leap forward, but another unit of 6 late war grenadiers have made it off the desk and into the display cabinet:

The front view

The rear view

Not overly happy with these, I think I rushed them abit. On the plus side, unlike the earlier unit I feel they have some more character with the bare head and soft cap mixed in there. Again they are kitted out with assault rifles and will act in concert with my other unit as my spearhead. I have my first game of Bolt Action next week for quite a while so will give them a try out then.

Overall, this takes me not too far short of 50 infantry. I have also nearly finished the other two halftracks and I am going through a building phase with various things and seriously considering a few other projects, so I am hoping for quite a few updates for you all over the next couple of weeks. I might even get an army shot or two done next week when the little one starts at school and it's safe to take them out and display them.

As always, please drop by my facebook page, The Cardboard Fortress and give me a like for more regular and random updates.

Projects, Projects, Projects.

I often consider it to be the curse of wargaming as a hobby - it's sheer variety. Of course, with most hobbies there are always more things you want, more kit, the latest gadget etc. But think about it. You don't have a totally different set of kitting needles for doing blue clothes to red clothes, for doing scarves over gloves etc. Nor does a golfer have a set of golf clubs for a sunny day, and another full set of clubs for when its a cloudy or a set for when he feels sad and a fourth set for his happy days.

Wargaming is different. What mood are you in today? Ancient greece today sir? How about a bit of English Civil War this evening? Micro scale tank armour anyone? Giant space ship battles? You get the idea.

We in this hobby are totally spoiled. Not only do you have different periods, you have the fantasy/sci-fi element (hereby lumped into made-up-stuff), the different theatres of war, do you recreate specific battles or do your own? Then throw in scale and the number of companies and you have a near enough infinite number of options. And of course, being greedy human beings, we want it all.

And that's why the other day I turned to one of my many projectgs and painted these:

Do I play Warhammer Fantasy Battle/Age of Sigmar? Nope. Would I like a couple of armies for it? Yep, sure why not. I have the beginnings of a couple of forces from a half formed idea some time ago to get into the game but life defeated me, as it is often does. My main problem is that the scale of my amibitions does not often match the time I have to realise it. A good illustration of this is if I list all the armies I have at least one model for and that I would like, one day, to have as an army:

Bolt Action Late War Germans
Bolt Action Late War Brits
40k Imperial Guard
40k Renegades
40k Tau
40k Space Marines
40k Orks
Warhammer High Elves
Warhammer Skaven
Epic Imperial Guard
Epic Orks
Epic Space Marines
Napoleonic 28mm Penninsular British
Napoleonic 28mm French
Battle Fleet Gothic Imperial Navy


Some of these are literally one model and an idea, some are hundreds of painted minis. I never say complete becuase I don't believe an army is ever complete.

On top of the above, here is a list of projects I will probably start reasonably soon:

Hail Ceaser Dacians
Hail Ceaser Late Romans
Bolt Action Early Germans
6mm Napoleonic Brits
6mm Napoloenic French
Modern Brits in Afghan/Iraq
Taliban/Insurgants
20mm Germans, World War 2
20mm Brits, World War 2

Why will I buy more when I am already surronded by half finished projects? I don't honestly know, I just realise that it is inevitable that I will.

So there we have it, the eternal curse of the wargamer - to have way too much to paint, but not able to stop yourself buying more. How do you guys cope? Do you always complete a project before moving on or are you in the same bracket as me and just keep buying?

As always, pop along to my facebook page The cardboard fortress,and give me a like for more updates. 

Heaven is a Halftrack, Part 2

I have to first explain my nearly month long absence - real life can be a pain sometimes. Work, children and holidays have all got in the way. I also always notice that isn't it worst when all you have to do is those few little bits? I can often find all the time in the world to get a model to the 90% stage, but sometimes getting that base done or that final highlight on eludes me. And I don't like posting half done stuff.

However, I have finally finished one of my three half tracks - my first Bolt Action armour. Here are some general shots:

Above you see the finished article. I am quite please with how this has come out overall, especially since it is the first real time I have airbrushed a tank.

Front and back shots. I did neglect the inside a little bit. I meant to heavily weather the inside foot area to represent all the ware and tear but forgot until quite late in the game and decided not to risk making a mistake. Finally, a close up of the weathering:

Essentially the techniques I have used after the base layers was sponge chipping, some oil washes then streaked before adding mud around the tracks and wheels. I then splattered some fresh mud up the side of the tank.

It's all been a good learning experience, and I feel ready to tackle the next one and maybe vary the weathering a little bit.

In the pipeline is another blog post within a week and some more grenadiers. Progress is being made!

As always, more regular updates on my facebook page, A Cardboard Fortress. Feel free to give me a like.