Soudanistanico Buildings (WIP)

After last week's post my overall well-being has not been as good as I would have liked and progress, though bountiful (by my standards) hasn't been as plentiful as I would have liked nor as I had expected. Nevertheless, I have been a chap, be it in fits and starts.
Herewith then is the photographic record of this week's efforts on my adobe-style buildings suitable, of course, for many different geographical areas - Africa, Afghanistan and Mexico - anywhere where there are desert-like environs it seems.
The photograph on the right shows my first "experimental" effort, just after the initial 'gungeing' phase.

The two buildings above in their cur out stage - note the rabbets.

First off, two simple four walled building (3" x 4" footprint) that differed only slightly in height; two walls of each were rabbeted at either end for a neat join.

Close up of rabbets

Initial fitting

Staircase added and buildings linked (to make a more interesting building (imho)

 A four-sided 'box' of a building is pretty boring, so adding bits to a simple house makes it a far more interesting model imo (as well as some extra detailing of course).

Base and a few walls added - note new cut-out in wall for roof access

Reverse view, with another wall (height difference very apparent)

Gunge cleaned up a bit and some detailing added (top centre corner)

Reverse view

The very flat, smooth, roofs still have to be finished off and doors have to be added too. and hten they will have to be painted, of course.
The second model I've been working on is my idea of a Souk (Arba Market) using discarded peices from my third building (its layout is still being planned).
This is a rather large building, more for a city or large town.

Base in foamcards too, the three wall are rabbetd to one another and the base !

Corner stairs, showing make-shift, haphazard construction.

Overall view of internal walls

Plan view, footrpint is about 12" x 8" - a bit big !

View showing internal walls and doors

Rear view after some cleaning-up and a few details addded

Side entrances added as an afterthought

Opposite side entrance - needing a little repair !

Internal door lintels and clean-up.

There's a not long way to go before this building is gunged, sanded and painted and I'm pretty pleased with its progress.
I'll be making a couple more simple buildings, probably 'L' shaped and tackling the largest planned building once its layout has been finalised in my mind.  - Do I really need/want a balcony?)
I'll also be putting a hold on painting any of the buildings until I've made a few more and until B&Q match my paint, now that they've ceased to stock "Harvest Field" !

Other than the first photograph, all the others are in date order showing progress.

That's it then for this week and hopefully my new, additional, medication (with known side-effects) won't be too much of an obstacle to further progress.

So that's it then for this week, this style of building is very easy to make, even for novice scratch-builders, it just takes thought, careful measurements and straight cuts!

Thanks for taking the time to visit, I hope that you've found something of interest and of course, as ever, your comments, criticisms, queries, bouquets and brickbats are always welcomed and truly appreciated.

Highlanders (and more!)

Having had a week with no Hospital, Clinic or Doctor's appointments and the complete absence of any new family crises,  managed to get a lot of painting and modelling in this last week (at least it's a lot by my standards)

Reverse View (bit obvious)

I spent three sessions of a few hours each, picking out missing details, Chinstraps (- who the heck needs chinstraps on a figure !); hair that I'd missed (including moustaches ffs) and various straps (easy to miss in the multitude of straps the British soldier seemed to be engulfed in).

Officer, Piper and test subject !

In "The Sword and the Flame" rule-set, each Imperial unit of twenty figures  has an Officer and Sergeant, the latter I have represented by the piper- having no suitable sergeant highland figures.
Each two Units have another officer and Sergeant (four units would have yet another officer - probably mounted).
On the right is the CO of these two units (A redoubt figure), a piper  (Old Glory) and a figure I used as test piece (Irregular).

Rear view, for those that like this sort of thing

The Moray and Alba Highlanders

OK, so I'm not that good at painting, so obviously doing anything more than just suggesting Tartan is about the limits of my capability and the figures don't help either - with all that kilt swirling going on and the Irregular minis not having any rear pleats i their kilts !

Rear View, Irregular Minis in the front rank OG in the rear

The irregular minis came to be because I ran out of OG Scots (thirty to a packet!) and could supplement their ranks with single figures from Irregular)

The Cairngorm Highlanders (all Old Glory)

Rear view - you can just about make out the splash of yellow in their kilts

base of the largest building showing wall positions etc.

Having finished the Highlanders, as far as I was concerned (other than varnishing), I used the rest of the week and weekend, turning my hand at some building work, all in foamboard.
 Here's some photographs that have been heavily photoshopped to show pencil marks on the very shiny foamboard surface.

Central bit - with the fourth attempt at a back wall !

The four outer walls for the above (since this photo was taken they have been cut out)

The mess that will be four buildings !

Newly arrived window (frames really)

This week will be one wherein I'll probably be devoting all available hobby time to foamcard building. I've already used up three A2 sheets, but luckily I've got about another dozen A2 sheets, so shouldn't be running out anytime soon (best Xmas pressy ever for scratch builders).
As luck would have it, whilst typing out this blog an Ebay delivery of model 'windows' arrived, which means I'll be concentrating a lot of effort into the large building shown above and if you look closely you may even make out where the windows will go !
 
In response to a request in last week's comments I'll hopefully be showing a little more detail in how I tackle making foamboard (foamcard ?)  structures and maybe some finished models -prior to painting, gungeing etc. The best bit of quick advice I can give is to plan as much as possible and remember walls have thicknesses ! I use a notepad and isometric paper for sketching out ideas and plan a lot before cutting anything !

That's it then for this week, I do hope something has been of interest.
As always thanks for taking the time to visit and your comments, queries, criticisms etc. are truly welcomed and appreciated.

Soudan Stuff

I've been working on my Sudan collection as much as possible during the last week,  whilst attending hospital (regular check-up) and various other hobby-hindering real-life stuff.
Nevertheless I have managed to complete some things, that I can post about!
Firstly I have finished all my artillery, or at least all that I could find (there's definitely one missing !).  I believe all of these fine models are "Old Glory" and like much of this collection were purchased fifteen years or so ago.

British Artillery

Egyptian artillery (Krupps)

Anglo-Egyptian Gardners, two different multi-barrels types

Maxims

The artillery bases are made from defunct plastic credit cards etc., they're thin, easy to cut and cheap !
The crews for these guns are on the painting tray, but I'm short of Egyptian gunners - oh well.

I have managed to finish a half unit of sailors , they're form Redoubt and came with the Redoubt paddle steamer I bought many years ago, compared to OG and Perry, they're large, but still usable.

Sailors, in "Sennet" (straw) hats.

Starboard view

Stern view (for those who like this sort of thing)

Along with the sailors I had enough Marines that came with the steamer to make another half-unit:

Marines (Sergeant on the front right (probably shouting "Ahoy")

Sorry, but no rear Marines piccy, even by my standards it was too blurry to post, but at least you've experienced almost my entire repertoire of nautical terms, missing out on only "the pointy end" and "the blunt end" !
I have made a start on my cameleers, purchased at "Border Reiver ", they're nowhere near finished, but they are coming up to the stage of the rest of their unfinished unit. As an aside, I now hate painting camels more than I hate painting horses.

Three more camels  (that I wouldn't walk a mile for)

The rest of the paint tray looks like this:

It may look a mess, but it's my mess!

A mere 120+ figures in various stages of completion; gunners, highlanders, officers, NCOs and three camels (plus the sailors and marines!)

Save for my "Jimland" native huts, which are possibly suitable for Southern Sudan, I haven't got any buildings for gaming in the Sudan, so I've started to plan some archetypical wargame style adobe buildings.
Theses should be fairly quick to churn out, once I get it in mind how they're going to be realised (based in groups, lift off roofs, free standing etc.) or whether I'll just buy a few cheap mdf ones to gunge up.

Cutting board with initial building started  (- large sheet is the building's base)

The first building is for an idea I have for a mini-game, but more on that later when my ideas are thought through.

That's it then from me for another week, one in which I've been un-characteristically enthusiastic abut painting, even though I thought I'd finished two more units only to find I'd missed various details (Looking at you "Helmet straps") and mistakenly painted the wrong colours (bayonet sheaths are black not white - only the frogs are white). It's things that Fantasy gamers don't have to worry about, that historical gamers seem to obsess over!

Next week I'll post whatever I've finished painting and may even have made my mind up whether to have new terrain boards (foam or mdf), a cloth or a felt sheet for the desert terrain I'll need for this project and I also have another "Jimland" adventure to write-up!

Here's hoping there was something here of interest and of course, as always, your comments, criticisms and queries are always welcomed and appreciated.

Border Reiver 2019

Another

trip to my nearest show, which thanks to the offer of a lift took about 10 minutes rather than more than forty minutes by public transport, which I doubt I could have managed this year.
The figure on the right was a 'freebie' given to every punter at the door. OK, it's probably not a figure I'll find a use for, but nor will I sell or give it away ! The reason for retaining it is that on three separate occasions, friends that I met in the sports hall all said it bore a remarkable likeness to me ! (cheeky so-and-so's - even if it's true !)'
The show his year  was blighted by the change of date for Colours' wargame show from Sunday to Saturday, for whatever reason (the stars were probably not "right"). The effects were immediately apparent in the vast swathes of space left, that would normally be filled with the familiar faces of well-known traders, Colonel Bill's and Dave Thomas to name the ones that stood out in my mind.
There was however the appearance of  "Irregular Miniatures", probably my  most frequently visited trader over the years and the reason I'm not a millionaire.
I also thought that footfall was down on previous years, but at least one could get the full attention of the traders without queueing !
So, here's the obligatory pics:

My mate Stu's vast pirate game

A new (Imho better) fort

The set-up is largely based on "Pirates - an Adventure with Scientists"

Half the display ! (pic 2 above mainly shows the other half)

Display of Zulu wars' items by the Westerhope lads (Martini Henrys are heavy)

Their Isandlwana game in full swing

Close-up of the British Camp

British right flank gun postion

The Barbarossa game was put on by Tyneside Wargames club, looking more like a large boardgame than the traditional wargame, but none-the-worse for it ! In the picture below that's St. Petersburg in the top centre with Moscow off to the right, whilst just behind the centre-front lines is Kiev (probably).

The bases all have figures on them, I didn't ask why.

Derlon's attack by "The Comptemptible Little Wargames Club"

The (almost obligatory) Napoleonic game of Derlon's attack at Waterloo featured a 'huge' La Haye Saint and lot of well-painted 28mms. Even though it did look very good, it did look a bit wrong to me and I haven't a clue why !

One of two air games, simply done, but very effective

The other air game (play spot the aircraft) - this time WW" iirc

The inimitable Mr Riley was there with, unusually for him, a horror game

Whitby wargamers fictional Battle of Tolouse 1814, "Black Powder" rules.

As usual apologies for the quality of the photographs and their dearth, but you just can;t get the staff these days !
I think I've covered all the games (yep, there that few!) and I'm pretty sure Blyth Wargamers put on one of the Air war games, but I'm not sure which one !
Here's a couple of pics of the hall at approximately 11.30 am.:

Lot's of available space for traders and a large game !

Lots of space in the centre of the hall - but still a lot of folk where there are traders and games 

For all its apparent shortfalls, the show was still a good day out, the games were generally very good, the traders were happier than ever to take our money and I met with many old pals (one I played games with in the early 70's and haven't seen at  show for about 20 years).
Mistaking Ian Kay Junior (Irregular minis), for the man himself was amusing and embarrassing in equal measure (I'm old, leave me alone).
Oh, I also spent all my saved pocket money for this year (and a lot of next year's too !)

THE LOOT:

Most of my loot

 Thanks to my friend (and chauffeur for the day) reading and finding various packs of figures I came away with : 3 Packs of North Star animals (Warthogs, Wildebeests and a Cape Buffalo); a pack of Perry Amazonian Adventures,  and 3 camels and riders. The latter finished a unit of 12 Irregular Camels; I'd bought the first lot about 2003 and they only had 9 then !
There was only a single trader selling anything like a range of paint (thank you Warlord) and I bought two Vallejo bottles of White - not, snow, off, mummy, bone, ghost or any other type , just white  !

Not for me, but as a birthday present for #1 son I got the following:

He's got an on-going WW" project  (Russians) and needed some opposition !

 I reasoned they'll need some support weapons too so got three packs - a FOO, a medium mortar (81mm) and an HMG 34/42.

As he's got everything imaginable for Russian support, Jerry will need these

On reflection I'm probably lucky that more traders were not there as Perry miniatures are becoming more and more attractive to my needs and wants.

In other News

Over the last week, I've continued to be busy with this painting malarkey (can't see it catching on though), finished some models, and based up more ready to underfcoat (including three camels).
I'll probably post the finished stuff next week, providing I have sufficient time this week as RL once more interupts with an unexpected clinic visit and a regular hospital visit to take in , along wiht my renewed Granddad duties of school collections! (the latter is a joy rather than a chore btw).  

That's it then for another week and of course if anything has been of interest then it's been worth while and as always your comments are both welcomed and appreciated.