The Painting Table - July 2022

This month's favourite brush work

Let's start with the good news. I have reduced the size of the lead pile. Partly this is because I haven't been anywhere to be able to add to it's contents for a while. The bad news is that after taking inventory of the unpainted/unbased figures the lead pile is bigger than I thought. Partly that is due to my counting figures larger than 6mm for the first time; of which there are more than a few lurking in the hidden depths of the pile (as detailed in my last post)! In total it turns out that as of the start of July I had 1,899 castings in the pile of shame. It isn't as bad as it sounds as some of the count are 3mm vehicles and Heroics and Ros 1/300 World War Two infantry which are not much bigger than the 3mm infantry. It's not as high a figure as I first estimated as I expected to hit 2,000! Although I just realised I haven't included 2mm buildings as I squeeze these into gaps in my painting as light relief and that I have a handful of 2mm ECW castings needing painting. Blimey this lead pile is a tricky beast, just as you think you have it tamed it springs a surprise on you. If a wargamer can't die while they still own unpainted lead, I think I'm good for a while.

July's output (minus three 3mm Scout cars)

The painting table itself is as crowded as ever. As soon as I finish something I seem to add something else!  Disciplined I'm not.  Movement out from the table has been a single 28mm Cowboy (see below), some 3mm 1980's cold war vehicles, some 6mm Hunnic Horse archers, Dacian horse and Justinian Byzantine light infantry and some 3mm buildings.  Joining the conveyor belt at the other end are 20 more 6mm Hunnic horse archers, 24 6mm Byzantine foot, around 20 3mm 1980's cold war vehicles and (gulp) a further two dozen 28mm wild west shootists. Still I'm ahead by 65 castings so far.  Not a huge dent in the pile but it's a start.

The paint desk chaos continues

My favourite completed painting job this month is actually a 28mm Wargames Foundry figure of Buffalo Bill Cody, as shown at the top of the page.  I know its a betrayal of the 6mm ethos but it is a lovely casting sculpted by Mark Copplestone and it looks a lot like my friend Lance (who coincidentally was working for WF around the time it was sculpted).  I have all my unpainted 28mm western figures in the painting queue now,  so I promise not to stray from the path of small scale righteousness again...until next time!  Those 28mm's are mostly Dixon figures but there are a couple of Wargames Foundry castings in the queue plus at least one I can't identify.  Things are moving forwards although I do seem to have resurrected an old project.  I will be using an old favourite set of rules if I do play some games.  Anyone for some good old fashioned, late1860's, Texas mayhem using ...

Vintage 1977 shoot out rules 

Apparently the rules have been updated and can be found as a Kindle edition as part of John Curry's 'History of Wargaming' project.  Or you can buy a second hand copy of the above version for a mere £42.32!