A busy August....

(NOTE: Picture intensive. Please wait for all to download.  Click on photos for larger versions).

The month of August turned out to be busier than I thought it would be. It didn't get as hot here as I was expecting it to be, and I didn't know what was going to get done.

But a lot more got done than I was truly expecting, so let's hit it shall we and let me show you my August shenanigans...

But first....I need you all to sing with me!

"It's the most wonderful tiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmeeee of the yeaaaaarrrrrr...."

That's right. The preseason is upon us and lo and behold, it seems as though my team might get a ring this year, (if the injury list doesn't fill up).

(LET'S GO!!!!)

One of the benefits of listening to my wonderful wife, (Gawd bless her!) and her "suggestions" is that when she is right, she is dead on and as an extra added bonus; due to her idea of moving the TV and rearranging the gaming room, I can now sit on the toilet and watch FOOTBALL while emptying my innards!

GOOOOOOO TEEEAAAAMMM!!!

*flush*

(It's a "Room with a view!"...)

And then with my bag o' chips and salsa, and my iced tea, I can watch the game.

Hm...chips and salsa. Maybe that is why I spent time watching the game from the porcelain throne...

But onward we go....

When it came time to painting figures and scenics, etc., I got active.

FIGURES

This month’s completed count. (“Completed” meaning “painted, based, flocked, and sealed”).

# of figure stands completed: 126

# of pieces of terrain/scenics completed: 17

# of figures completed: 98

# of animal figures: 35

Not bad if I do say so myself…

I noted "completed" this time as well as figures painted because some of the stands have more than one figure on them, (the cattle and pigs for instance).

So lets take a look at some shall we?

(This months completed stuff. Not a bad haul...)

Of course I am very proud of two of the scenics: the cabbage patch, and the pig pen.

Both of these are scratch built although the pigs do come from an O scale animal farm set.

The cabbage patch was an easy build.

Some small paper flowers dyed a dull green color.

A piece of basswood.

Some groundwork material and flocking.

(This is how it started.)

Once the groundwork was laid in, I painted it with Craft Paints Burnt Umber. This has become my basic "go to" color for dark stuff, (groundwork, base coloring for wooden items, etc.). It works quite well.

I then drilled a series of holes into it to allow the wiring to slip through.

I then added flocking, a dab of E6000 on the holes to help hold them cabbages in place, and added the paper flowers.

After they were dry, I clipped off the extra protruding wires, spray sealed and done.

(Cabbages fit for a king...or some such...)

And then the pig pen.

I actually built this because I couldn't find one online for sale that I liked the look of.

The shelter building is removable to allow it to also be a fenced in garden, etc.

Materials:

1 scrap square piece of foam-board.

1 some scrap basswood.

A lot of small scrap pieces of coffee stir sticks.

Apple barrel and folk art craft paints.

Dirt is flocking from woodland scenics.

(That's a lot of ham and bacon there!)

And I got a few more scenics done...

First up are some barrels of "something"...

Cargo or loot? 

You decide.

Next up was this little baby here. It gave me a good chance to play around with shading and washes.

Then there was the need for treasure, (aka: "Filthy Lucre")...

And some needed (scratch built) gold and silver bullion bars....

And I finished up some fantasy weapons racks....

(Weapons racks from Wizkids. "Just the thing to hold all those sharp edged point, sticky, stabby, slicey, choppy, beaty, things that are used upon people that deserve it and many who don't...")

And I also scratch built a desk for the governor.

The OG kit "Governor with assistants" comes with a table, but I felt that it didn't look like what an island governor would have so I used the top of the table, and built up a desk around it with scrap wood.

(Just the thing that a governor needs to sign all those documents and execution warrants for pirates and Irishmen for...)

And then I moved onto the figures...

FIGURES

So a lot of the figures that I "completed" were actually painted during June and July. I just never got around to flocking and sealing them. However when I did get it done, it turned out quite well.

Here's a pic of the whole sum of completed figures (and some scenic pieces also).

(That's a lot of stuff!) 

Some close ups: 

(British marines and civilians...)

(Farm animals and scenics...)

(And of course, "Scumbag pirates"...)

Due to the large amounts of photos and figures, I won't be putting each on (or their backstories), onto this blog entry, but they will make their way here.

Backstory: 

"Lord Governor Whitehall sighs as he signs another document. 

"No matter what I sign and finish..." He grumbled to himself, "...there is ALWAYS ANOTHER cursed stack of papers needing my inked scrawling at the bottom."

He paused and remembered for a moment that later on that evening he would have a pressing engagement with Lord Mitchell over dinner and a fine claret and discussing their latest revenues from some.... *ahem* "business transactions"...."

Speaking of The Guv'nor...

OG "Fat Governor and Creepy Assistants" pack.

I made him up to be the seated version of Lord Governor Whitehall.

He has his quill pen in hand ready to sign yet another stack of documents.

So now I have a seated and standing version of the same character.

And then The Governor's wife, Lady Whitehall, quite a few years youngers than his Lordship, but still not too young that tongues constantly wag over it, and the subject is brought up as a passing word in the weekly sermons at church!

Completed.

Lady from Aristocrats range of Wargames Foundry.

Painted with Reaper and Vallejos.

Shades by Citadel.

Mounted on a flat washer.

Backstory:

"Lady Whitehall peered with suspicion at the new arrivals to the island. She made sure to travel by carriage, with her guards to watch as each ship carrying passengers docked and disembarked their European human cargo. 

"Hmmm...Mostly English. A few of those useless, lay about, worthless Irish. A Scotsman, I can smell him from here." She said as she wrinkled her nose. "Two sneaky Spaniards, and yet another French Fop. WHY must we get so many dregs of continental society here and so few people of culture, station, and class?"  

At that moment a tall, handsome, well dressed gentleman stepped off the gangplank and onto the wharf. His dark eyes flashing and searching his surroundings. Lady Whitehall found her breath in a short gasp and her heart starting to beat quickly. 

"Well helloooooooo....." She said softly to herself, her interest in the stranger now piqued."

And yet another Aristocratic snob...although this time a youth....

Backstory:

"Phineas Ignatius Pembroke Ludlington, (he’s been nicknamed “Pip” for short); is one of the many nephews of Lord Mitchell's Wife's child bearing sister Agatha); held his hoop steady and worked himself up to getting it going. 

His mind though, was revolving around other things. His uncle, the ever sour Lord Mitchell, was overheard asking his Aunt "Why her sister, (his mother), Agatha had saddled the lad with such a "Gawd-awful pittance of a name" ???"

"Any boy with a name like that is either going to become an actor on the stage, or a scoundrel bringing shame and dishonor as well as financial debt and ruin to the family name, or perhaps even find himself in love with a French woman, or a Spanish woman, or Gawd forbid, an Irish girl! And we ALL know just HOW lowbrow and what kind of low class scheming and plotting those Irish girls get to in finding a well to do young man of high station!"

He tried to push his uncle's words out of his head and concentrate on his hoop.

Just as he was about to launch it, his attention was broken by the sight of red haired Lucy O'Boyle, with the sparkling green eyes, and just a few years older than him walking across the way with a basket of wildflowers and the breeze blowing through her fiery red hair.

He felt himself gulp, and at that moment, she turned her head towards him and smiled. 

He gulped again and felt himself all tingly inside...."

And another tavern girl....

Completed.

Tavern Girl by Reaper.

Painted with Reaper and Vallejo Colors.

Shaded with Citadel shades.

Based on a flat washer.

(Don't tell her you love her. She doesn't believe it. Just pay for your drink and leave her alone...)

Backstory:

"Larinda sighed and shook her head. Here it was barely sunset at "The Red Lion Tavern", and she had already had two attempted short-changers, one cutpurse, and 4 marriage proposals, (2 of them actually being serious).

"It's shaping up to be one of those nights." She said to herself as she headed back to the bar to take another tray loaded with ale filled mugs to thirsty, loud, men with too much coin and not enough brains. "At least with more ale in them, I'll get more coin, than they think about when they pay me."

TROOPS TO THE FIELD!

After building my fort, I realized early on that the current unit of British troops that I have there are woefully understrength, and thus the fort is undermanned. To rectify this the garrison commander has request additional reinforcements (translated means; "I need to paint up more British troops"). So I went ahead and started working on a large batch of additional British troops to augment the company of infantry there already. 

My first completed batch, soon to be dispatched to support the island garrison contingent, is a unit of British Marines.

(A contingent of Her Majesty's Marines soon to arrive...)

I tossed in a couple of angular views of them also.

I'll be posting more on these guys soon.

SCUMBAG PIRATES!

I was also able to increase my rank and file of "Pirate scum", with some figures completed.

(NOTE: The figures are not glossy, as the photos show. This is a result not having a glare filter, an OTT light close up as the main lighting source and thus the light reflecting off the finish, not having a photo booth or lighting, and using an iPhone to take pics.)

(A group of scum up to no good...)

This assembled crew of miscreants and ne'er do wells are a collection of Eureka, OG, Foundry, and Dixon figures. With a lot of the Dixons, I had numerous figures of the same pose, so a little variation in painting schemes gave A LOT of variation to the figures.

Dixon pirates with pistols:

(Piratey scum ready to do piratey scum things...)

THE POOR UNFORTUNATES

Among my latest acquisitions of figures were quite a few of the Old Glory Captives and Prisoners.

So I painted these up also. Same thing with the Dixons. A little change in painting schemes and the variety increases!

(Arrr...these lasses should bring us a pretty penny on the open slave markets or to be sold to those ... ahem...."houses of ill repute"...)

(Upper crust gentleman, robbed of their valued baubles and awaiting either their ransom or their fate...)

(Not all prisoners accept what has happened with silent, brave, stoicism. Some beg and please, such as these three; one of them being a sneaky Spaniard who knows his jig is up!)

(Well to do ladies awaiting....whatever happens to them....)

(More lady prisoners. Lower class workers who shall probably be sent to the auction blocks yet another island in the Caribbean...)

BRATS...

All town settings have kids in them. Usually they are noisy and underfoot, and in this case it is no different...

These are Dixon figures, although they are more suited for the 19th Century Old West where they are listed, they can still be used in this setting. 

(Running kids...those noisy, bothersome, little urchins that spatter mud, cause dogs to bark, assault ones ears with noise, and cause good pies and cakes to collapse in the ovens...)

And of course some of them are constantly up to no good.

Take example "Wee Will E. Winkle", the pig thief here...

Backstory:

"Young Will E. Winkle scurried quickly away with his latest prize, a small piglet that would be his for either a sale or a meal later that night. Growing up on the streets and in the alleys, Will had learned the hard way that "things didn't come easy for him", and that no one trusted him. It wasn't that he was bad per se, it was just that he often needed and wanted things that he couldn't buy, or belonged to other people. 

This mindset of "what he needed and wanted" would be his undoing and would lead to his imprisonment, and eventual hanging before he was 24 years of age."

WE HAVE COWS!!!!

A while back I went to a farm toy show and picked up some farm animals. This past July and August, I went ahead and based them. They make good objectives for games and add some of the background flavor in settings.

(Moo....)

So with that portion done, I decided to set up a little scene....

Mixed figures and furnishings in my generic room setting, showing how things can be arranged. In this case, it is Lord Governor Whitehall's Office.

Backstory:

"Lord Whitehall oversees various people in his office, while Lady Whitehall stands next to her husband, who is dutifully sitting at his desk in his chambers. Behind him are various servants and staff members watching the goings on with interest, as well as servants and staff who try to look as if they are disinterested, but are hearing all the goings on, and mentally taking notes.

Near the governor is Lord Mitchell, with his wife, and his niece Amelia, (one of his wife's sister's daughters. She's a silly girl that reads books and loves poetry), as well as the recent arrival upon the island who has presented himself to Lord Whitehall as Gaspard-François LeCroissant, recently arrived from Paris. 

"Harrumph!" Lord Mitchell frowned at the finely attired French Dandy. "Another one of you Parisian French Fops here! Of course, you'll complain about the food, the wine, the music, the weather, and then go to tell us all about "How much better it is in your beloved France!"

Gaspard waved a scented handkerchief across his nose. 

"Oui!" He said with an effeminate tone in his voice. "But of course France is better! But I have much important business here and we are at peace for the moment are we not? No Monsieur stuffy Englishman?" He sniffed and wiggled his nose at the end of his response.

Governor Whitehall could see Lord Mitchell bristling. There would be much grumbling about "French, Spaniards, and THE IRISH!" tonight at his manor as they both emptied bottles of Lord Mitchell's mostly good claret and discussed profits and business ventures destined to bring wealth to their pockets."

And with that my current completed projects are well..."complete". 

But what else am I working on?

Funny you should ask that.

This is what I have currently going. 

(An OG ship, a B&P sloop, fencing from Renedra, a Sarissa building, some of the buildings from the vendors from Little Wars, and the Coaching Inn from Tabletop World. Not pictured is the English Manor home....)

I also went ahead with a TMP suggestion and picked up the Renedra American Church.

This is a simple kit and while it will work, I am not too happy with the complete lack of detail for the interior so I will be fixing that....

(Ready to be built and modified...)

And of course the box from the Firelock Games Blood and Plunder 18th Century Sloop, (currently in a state of assembly, more on this later...)

But eventually even with all of the work I have done, there comes a time when I am told, "It's time to go upstairs and to bed now dad..."

(Juju (aka "Puss in Boots"), and Gemma (aka "Star Girl"), make their feelings known that I need to go upstairs and off to bed so they can then go do "cat things"....)

On another note, I have lost four more pounds of weight and continue to lose.

Many of my meals have been simpler fares also, but I still enjoy my food.

And you didn't think you were going to get through a post without FOOD now did ya????

FOOD

(A late night dinner of chicken sausage gumbo soup, crackers, bread, and washed down with ice tea. Sometimes the simple fares are the best...)

But that doesn't mean that my wonderful wife doesn't stop making good things for me to eat.

In this case she made a dark chocolate chip/strawberry cookie/cake thing.

(This is so delicious and I am so blessed...)

(Wishing my readers could taste this...)

And since Fall is around the corner, I feel the need to once again share this important PSA to everyone because "I care about you...." *harrumph!*

  

"Always use your blinker and always keep it topped off with fresh Blinker Fluid..."

Remember: Amber for the front! Red for the rear!

If you don't know how to do this, check with your local auto mechanic/shop. They'll be happy to assist you in this easy safety fix.

You'll be glad you did this....👍😉

And on that note dear friends....I shall close out this month.

Juju and Gemma (as well as myself wish to thank you for reading all of this, and the rest of my posts, as well as commenting on them, (the posts AND the cats). 

May the coming month of September be a good one for all of you.

More to come!

Let me know what you think and would like to see!

Thanks for reading!

   

They thank you also dear readers....