A little break

The time has finally come for me to move back to Italy.

I am currently packing all my stuff and getting ready to fly back in august. For this reason I'm not going to be painting any more of my stuff, it is much easier to move unpainted models than painted ones, so I'll still be painting for my friends, but not for myself.

If IlVJ finishes something I will surely post it, but on my end there will probably be nothing until September.

I hopepeople won't loose interest and still come to visit the Owl Bear's Lair when I get back to posting.

Cheers everyone, see you soon

Esci British infantry Indian war "Kiber pass"

 This is another 80s Esci set that I was given by my friend Felè that I finally got around to paint and base for use with One hour Wargames rules.

I had previously painted the Muslim warriors set from Esci and now I can finally play games using these figures.

They will be small affairs, but it is all about the nostalgia e having a game that we could only dream of when we were kids in the 80s.

Box art

A unit of explorers. 1/72, Esci, painted by Ginzio

Infantry fighting in close quarters.  1/72, Esci, painted by Ginzio

Infantry shooting.  1/72, Esci, painted by Ginzio

Indian infantry shooting.  1/72, Esci, painted by Ginzio

The contingent deployed

First part of long announced new project

 These are the first actual figures I completed for my long announced 1/35 scale skirmish project.

It took me quite a while to paint these guys and then I realized that the style I use for smaller scale gives a very cartoony result on a bigger scale.

But I don't think that's a bad thing, after all I want to use these models for gaming, not for display, so it does not really bother me.

I'll see if with future models I'll decide to go another direction or stick to this style.

To give a better idea of what I envision for this project here is a little bit of explanation.

My main WW2 scale will remain 1/72, to play bigger scale games, such as Blitzkrieg Commander or Rapid Fire Reload.

For smaller action games IlVJ and I both have small forces of 28mm figures (which will slowly be expanded) for games such Bolt Action.

The final piece of the puzzle, to play squad level games, is the 1/35 scale that I started with these figures.

My idea is to use "One hour skirmish wargames" and have games to represent actions more "behind the enemy lines", imagine a raid to steal supplies, or free some prisoners, etc

In my mind these games won't involve tanks or other big front line units, but transports, gun emplacements or even livestock or rear guard encampments for more narrative games.

Having figures in three different scales for the same historical period might seem redundant, but I'll try to have different style of games with the different sizes.

I'm also more of a painter than a gamer, so having the opportunity to try my hand at different things is always good.

Anyway, the models I'm posting today are some 1/35 scale very old Esci models, they are really big for the scale, looking almost like 1/32 scale, but they have a huge nostalgic element for me, me and my brother grew up with Esci and even if the quality is not up to more modern stuff, I'd still chose this kind of models and have fun with the process of building and painting them.

German assault engineer with barbed wire shears. This model might be a bit hard to use in games, but it is an interesting pose and might be good as decoration on the table. 1/35, Esci, painted by Ginzio

Wounded soldier with attending comrade. For these two guys I decided to make a little vignette, I might use them as a mission objective or decoration for the rear areas of the battlefield. 1/35, Esci, painted by Ginzio

Stormtrooper with assault rifle and cluster grenade. This guy is a very good example of the cartoony look I was talking about. 1/35, Esci, painted by Ginzio

Assault engineer with flame thrower. A very fearsome piece of kit, this guy will probably only see occasional use on the battlefield. 1/35, Esci, painted by Ginzio

 

Stormtroopers NCO. This is another example of "cartoonyness", his face, with those eyes, is quite ridiculous. 1/35, Esci, painted by Ginzio

The whole set, 1/35 figures are really more suited for dioramas or display than wargame, but it was fun to paint something outside my comfort zone and it will be great to find a way to use these models in games.

WWII British anti aircraft battery

 These are the last two 1/72 WWII kits I had built and ready to paint, there are not going to be more before I move back to Italy.

It has been quite a while since I did anything for my European theater British, I have some infantry (para) in the works, but it will be a while before they are ready.

Bofors 40mm Anti aircraft guns with tractors. 1/76, Airfix, painted by Ginzio

Few more Epic Imperial Guard units

 These are the last Epic Imperial Guard units I completed, I now have no more Epic miniatures in Canada, so this never ending slow project will continue once I've moved back to Italy.

Imperial guard support company command section. Epic Scale, Citadel, painted by Ginzio

Imperial guard support company 1st platoon with command section. Epic Scale, Citadel, painted by Ginzio

Imperial guard bike company. Epic Scale, Citadel, painted by Ginzio

Few RPG models from IlVJ

 This is the last post with figures painted by my brother. He is still working on stuff, but had less time recently to dedicate to painting.

More stuff will surely come in the future.

The Flash. 32mm, Knight Models. painted by IlVJ

Frost giant. 25mm, Ral Partha, painted by IlVJ

Giant snake. This is a toy snake IlVJ got to use in his Pulp/Cthulhu/rpg/skirmish games set in Africa. If makes for a convincing giant snake. Unknown scale or manufacturer, painted by IlVJ

Few very Oldhammer models donated to IlVJ by our good friend Tino

This week we have a quartet of models that IlVJ finished recently in his new found Oldhammer phase.

He is starting a Realm of Chaos warbands campaign with 3 of his friends tomorrow, let's hope that it goes well and that he finds more motivation to keep painting.

Chaos warrior of Khorne. This model belonged to our friend Tino who got out of gaming many years ago. He found a handful of figures lying around his place recently and donated them to my brother. They were all somewhat broken, but IlVJ repaired and painted some of the, the rest will, hopefully be fixed and painted later. 28mm, Citadel, painted by IlVJ

Chaos spawn of Khorne. This model has also been put together with some of Tino's old miniatures, the Bloodletter body was left over from a conversion Tino did years ago (the piece is now in our possession, you will likely see it in the future), so my brother decided to make a spawn by adding a spider as the head of the monster. 28mm, Citadel, painted by IlVJ

This is another of Tino's rescues. It actually belonged to me over 30 years ago, I traded it with Tino for something else because he wanted to use the (now missing) wings on its helmet for some conversion. IlVJ filed the helmet smooth and fixed the sword to make the model worth some paint, I think the result ir pretty great. 28mm, Citadel, painted by IlVJ

This is the last of the repairs IlVJ performed on one of Tino's figures, this poor skeleton champioh nad lost its sword and needed some minor repairs. Now he can go back to slaying the living with impunity. 28mm, Citadel, painted by IlVJ

A miniature from a friend

 This week I have a special miniature, it is the general of my brother's elf army. 

I probably mentioned this previously, but IlVJ stripped his entire elf army (which he had painted as a teenager) and is now (very)slowly repainting it.

As it happens, our friend Dave Perry (former 90s GW heavy metal painter) has, at the same time, gotten back into painting after years of hiatus. So he kindly painted this figure for my brother (Thanks mate!).

Needless to say that it looks fantastic.

You can see more of Dave's current and former work at his website Lost Decade Miniatures.

High elf general on barded war steed. 28mm, Citadel, painted by Dave Perry.