May Update and Switching Tracks....

Or...taking a break from building a Western Town to do some much needed figure painting....

Howdy once again dear readers!

Well the month of May is here and oddly enough, it was very cold today, (the high was supposed to be 50 but it only reached 46), and we have a "frost warning" tonight.

So I took the day to do some much needed painting.

However I realized this morning that I had NOT working on any figures (other than spray priming), since December 2015. 

So to recharge on my continuing project of a Western Town, I decided to switch tracks and painting figures instead.

But first....some other things...

1: FINDING STUFF....

Okay so last weekend I stayed completely away from the gaming stuff and instead did a massive clean up of the clutters drawers and bookshelves of my home office. I have a bad habit of collecting paper, (I used to keep copies of everything), and while I have cut down on that tremendously, I am still in the process of "de-junking". 

It was during this endeavor that I discovered a box of Ral Partha Fantasy D&D Monster Figures.

I vaguely remember buying these in Houston around 2004-2005.

A box of figures, (mostly plastic)...

The Templar Knight figure I mostly remembering purchasing around 2004 from the old Midnight Comics and Games in Houston Texas. Love that 2004 price also....

 So, after collecting a few other odds and ends packs, (A pack of Bones Lions, a Grenadier "Black Sorceress", etc..), I added them to the pile in my 28mm drawer...aka "The Tomb"...
And then I had a moment of shocking realization, (once again!), of just how many packs I have patiently waiting to be painted...

The Left Box...Including Eureka, Grenadier, Harlequin, Bolt Action, (old), Rafm, Hawgleg, West End Games, Crusader, and Foundry...

A side center view, showing packs of Blue Moon, Westwind, Shadowforge peeking out, Dixon, Reaper, Foundry, and others...

"Dem Bones.....a good collection of "Bones"...(along with some Reaper Dark Heaven Legends, and Warlord.)

And finally the right side....Yet more Foundry, Bones, Dixon, RAFM, Grenadier, Eureka, Pulp Figures, and I think I see a box of Copplestone figures peeking out... 

So yeah...to say I have "a lot of figures desperately needing painting is a bit of an "understatement".

But before I get to painting, I need to take care of something first.

Lunch!

2: ON EATING: 

Yes...Leftover pizza heated up and brought to me by my ever loving and wonderful wife (Gawd bless her!).  And in case you are wondering that is a Pizza Hut, Deep Dish, Pepperonis (w/extra), Cheese (w/extra), Beef (w/extra), and Pineapple (you guessed it...w/extra), with the savory blend crust....

3:  ON TO THE PAINTING STUFF!

And now that I had taken care of the more immediate needs, I sat down to painting.

My current "queue" of figures to be painted (as in primed and based and ready to have paint put on them), is approx 195.  So in fashion to help "git 'er done", I'm going back to the process of doing batches of 10-30 at a time. I'm also mixing it up a little with the genres as shown below.

This will not only get some of my poor figures painted, (many of whom have been waiting patiently for paint for years), but will also fill out some thin genres that I have.

A quick look at my first 30 is below:

A quick look at the first batch, among them are figures by Foundry, Pulp Figures, and Knuckleduster; and contain A set of Can-Can Dancers, an Arab pirate, some pulpy tramp steamer sailors with guns, some Russians, a group of 19th Century Colonial/Victorian Explorers/Hunters, and "The Boys"...

While the pic above does show much, you can see that I broke it down some.

Remember that most of these are in their initial phases of getting the base coats on, so more will be coming.

First up, The Sailors from The "SS Goodheart"

She's a rundown old tramp steamer with a seedy past, manned by men with the same.

Tramp Steamer Sailors with guns...always skulking around looking for an extra payout...

And then I decided upon some 19th Century Colonial/Victorian Explorers/Hunters.

Just the right flavor and type of people to get eaten by my Lions that I picked up recently.

"Even when traipsing about in the dark and dangerous confines of the jungles, and desperately trying to avoid a hideous fate, proper English ladies will ALWAYS remember to be properly dressed as manners dictate...."

And then for entertainment, I have started a nice set of Can-Can Dancers from Knuckleduster...

Very initial basic work of "Belles Follies de Murphy"

And what is entertainment without music?

Yes...these guys are almost done...a little touch up, and sealing and they're ready to take the stage...

"Sharp Dressed Men....A lil' old band from Texas...."

Then again, when it comes to character, I needed to do a few, so here is one...Prince Azeem, of the Crown Capital Jewel City of Bodologa, (as well as it being the only city, other than a few very small backwater town/villages), of the Herebea Kingdom on The Island Of Cachee.....

Prince Azeem, the very epitome of young royalty; spoiled, sarcastic, impatient, and completely un-comprehending of how the real world works...

A quick shot showing Prince Azeem, some of the dancers, two Russians in the background, (watch those guys), and some assorted figures in various stages of painting...

Another pic of the Can-Can-Dancers and Victorians as well as others...

And of course a little eye candy...This is "Delilah", and she, (or some female types of her caliber), can be found in better biker-bars, road-houses, and truck stops across the nation.
Oh, and pay no attention to the big Arab pirate behind her....

And then of course....what would it be without a little um..."character"...

And "The Boys", (We know who they are...), are just waiting patiently for the next musical set...

So all in all I am pretty happy with what I have going...

And in a moment of idiocy, I said to myself...."Self...with the 195 odd figures in my queue, if I painted 10 per weekend that would be 40 per month, and only take FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS to get the queue emptied out!

And a part of me said "Yeah! This sounds great! No biggie at all...You can DO this!"

And the realistic part of my brain just burst out laughing....

Sigh..sometimes it's no fun being me....

More to come....

Building Crabtree: Some exterior details and updates....

Greetings once again fellow readers and followers!

April is now behind us as is Little Wars and May is on us, and the work progresses!

Soooooo....Little Wars is behind us....

Sigh. Yeps I missed it due to work, or "planned work" be that as it may.
From what I have read and seen, The Little Wars Convention this year looked pretty good. A lot of "Team Yankee/Cold War Gone Hot" stuff, and the site looks really nice. The food prices were a little nuts, but that is to be expected, and there were a lot of alternative choices nearby.
So next year I am already preparing.....

And in that case, back to Crabtree....

Building and Painting....

So not as much has been done with the town as I have wanted. However I have started the second coatings on the buildings as well as the trim colors, etc.

First up; The Bank....

A second coat of dark Fok Art Craft "Hauser Green" with a Apple Barrel "Yellow" trim starts to give this building a life of it's own.

Yes I am thinking Imperial Russia for some reason, lol....

I need to touch up the yellow some, and then start to work on the inside....

(Below are two shots, one without flash and one with flash)....

And Shop #1: "Small Shoppe with Stepped Front"....

Now that the initial assembly line process has been completed (aka "The Easy Part") , I am now at the point where I am having to work each building individually.

This includes for buildings, 

1: Interior paint and weathering on walls, ceiling, and floors.

2: Period Wallpaper on some.

3: Wainscoting on some.

4: Adding "glass" to the windows.

5: Adding/building interior window frames for the glass.

6: Adding any interior furnishings.

Yeesh!

So the first shop I am going with is the one I will name after my wonderful wife (Gawd bless her!), aka "Miss Melodie's Ladies Emporium"

The front of the shop. Brown coloring has been added courtesy of a extreme fine point Sharpie and final outside weathering added...

Men with guns, outside of The Ladies Shop. You can be sure that they ain't looking for fine silks and pretty dresses!

A side shot of the shot showing some weathering and the slant roof...

Side shot and test fitting #2. The "Split/Crack" you see is the fact that the buildings are not glued together yet and still loosely pieced together. This will go away once they are glued.

A looking down shot of the shop, showing he slant roof and weathered walk...

Overall as said before, I am very pleased with how these building come out. If there was one suggestion I could add, it would be for more length/width variety....

More to come!