Afghan Askari ?

My painting output this last week started well, but quickly deteriorated into nothingness by Wednesday, the last time that I touched a paintbrush !.I did however spend several hours finishing the yellow piping/trim on my Zouaves !
Amongst my older paints I found another three yellows to add to the other four I'd tried, but amongst these older finds was a yellow that had a much better coverage than any of the others I'd used (GW "Yriel" yellow if you're interested), so no need for an under-layer of white.

The inevitable rear view

After the yellow I painted the musket barrel straps and by that stage decided I'd had enough of these. I had however assembled and based four more 'Atlantic' Afghans and by using the 'fez' heads from the Zouaves sets (after minor surgery) created these four makeshift Askari!


Some minor cutting off of sword scabbards, knives  etc. was necessary, but east enough and I'm pretty happy with the final outcome.

My hybrid Askari along with four OG askari in the rear.

Rear view of the above (obviously)

With new medications, my latest hospital consultations and results of same, my energy levels are low and it's all quite depressing. Daubing paint onto figures etc. is currently not at the top of my list of things to do, but I've been here before and no doubt will recover enough to have something ready for next week's post !

That's it then for yet another week, thanks for taking the time to visit and as always your comments are both welcomed and appreciated.

 I will be trying to catch up on a week's worth of commenting on the blogs of others as my situation allows.

Still Stalling

In yet another week where I haven't had the will or motivation to finish my Zouaves off, once more I completed another couple of pieces in my paint area. I have managed some painting on the Zouaves  (about six hourly sessions), but I'm really bored with them ! I have finished off two stalls though for a break from figure painting , which means I have just another two (maybe three) stalls to finish off. I've also been painting up a lot of the stall 'extras', that will eventually be added to the bases.
First up is a fruit and veg stall from "Frontline", though it's only a table  when bought.
I've added the canopy and its supports built from scrap and a handkerchief.

Very tal canopy to allow easy access to figures

Three-quarter view...

...and another view from the other side

Fairly boring repetitive view

Finally evrear view (bored yet?)

"Get yer snake and pygmy pies here !"

The second stall is again from "Frontline" and would probably look more at home in a mediaeval setting, rather than the Sudan. I think it's meant to be a pie store, or at the very least something selling pastry-based products.

Really boring rear view (or front view ?)

Aerial view, just because...

Finally, here's a pic of wip on some of the goods I'll be adding to the stalls.






I may have finished the Zouaves by next week, but as they hate me, and I them, it may take a while longer before they're finished and put into storage ! I do have a fall-back plan of finishing four figures, destined for Jimland, which are more likely to appear.

So that's it then for another week, thanks for visiting, hopefully there was something here to interest you and  as always   your comments are both welcomed and appreciated.

Jimland - the Movie

You've read the rules, played the game , now see the movie....
All of this is merely to show my efforts completing my Pulp Figures' film crew.
I've mostly been painting my Zouaves over the last week in an effort to get them finished, but most of you will know how it goes: "All I got left to do is the hands a bit of shading and of course the yellow on white trim"
"Oh wait, the hands, a water canteen, a bit of shading and of course...."
"Oh yes, the hands, a water canteen, some straps, a bit of shading and of course...."
"Oh bother, forgot the rifle slings to add to the list..."\
"And their belt buckles need to be done too..."
"Not forgetting bayonet sheaths...."
So by Sunday I'd given up any idea of finishing them and dug out my film crew that was in various stages of  completion and decided I'd finish them instead, hence this post!
Here's the rest of the crew:

The cameraman.

The camera still needs filing down to fit better

The Director

The Director - rear view (obviously)

View showing Director's big talky thing

The gopher, with clapperboard

Being a ginger in the heat of Jimland won't be fun

The Director's floozy assistant 

Director's cut

Group shot (duh)

This group will be classed as 'baggage' for Jimland, in that they're not much use to any expedition, but will score high rewards for their survival and filming exploits. They will also pay something to the expedition before the mission starts - it's four more mouths to feed !







That's all I've got for this week, the Zouave painting fiasco will continue for another; thankfully this week I don't have a disconcerting hospital visit to make (and the consequent loss in hobby- time) .
Hopefully though there was something here of interest, so thanks for taking the time to visit and as always your comments are both welcomed and appreciated.







Giant Rat thing

The "Giant Rat thing" in the subject matter is my take on the 'Diprotodon' from "Steve Barber's" 28mm prehistoric range of figures, bought for use with the rules "Paleo Diet". The photograph on th right is shown alongside one of the 'Hollywood' cavemen figures from "Copplestone".
The model s a solid chunk of resin with good detailing, but is contiguous with the base (no gap under its tummy!"
Here's the rest of the photographs:

Other side view

Strange front view

Rear view (for those that lie this sort of thing)

Like all my prehistoric models it still requires a matt varnish spray, but is otherwise good enough for me to say it's finished and to add to the collection.

The reason for posting this is that my current Sudan Zouaves project is still in progress (and well underway), but is hitting a hurdle trying to get a decent yellow coverage, for trims, over a light blue jacket. The trim isn't  turning out a solid yellow, more a yellowy-green snot colour, despite using three different manufacturers yellow. I intend to paint the trim white initially then re-paint with yellow (Sunburst yellow from WF) but tis will probably take quite a few sessions - probably all this week, which means I'll be hard pressed to finish the froty or so Zouaves over the next week. I haven't been slacking over this last week either, managing six sessions of painting varying in length between two and four hours !

That's it then for this week , thanks for taking the time to visit an I'll be getting around to all the other blogs I visit and comment on as soon as possible.

And, as always, your comments are always welcomed and truly appreciated.  

(I note there's still no sign of the impending change to Blogger yet - now changed to "sometime in July")