State of my Hobby Time - May 2018

I thought I would write a quick ramble post of where things are at as of 31 May 2018.

On the right (web version) of the blog you will see a table for Miniatures received and Miniatures painted for this calendar year.  I have now received well over 1200 figures this year which contrasts extremely with only painting nearly 200 miniatures this year.  Saying that I have the finishing touches to go on 16 more miniatures.  My aim is to get to 500 painted miniatures by the end of this year.

Lets review my goals set out in January this year.

• Project Waterloo
• 28mm Napoloenics in other Campaigns
• Expanding on all my current WW2 Armies in 28mm
• Expanding my neglected WW2 Project in 20mm
• Painting more boardgame minis
• Reduce my horde of figures
• Terrain terrain terrain! Something I need more of
• paint more minis, paint lots of minis, paint more minis

Now lets break this down...

Project Waterloo

Breaks have been put on this one like most of my projects however it is far from neglected.  I am actually assembling some British Line Infantry.  I am also putting some finishing touches on the sand pit from the Warlord Games La Haye Sainte Box Set.  

28mm Napoleonics in other Campaigns

Most keen to get some more Austrians done and I also want to do up some British Sailors so I can have some troops for the Peninsula Campaign.

Expanding on all my current WW2 Armies in 28mm

I have painted a few Poles and Winter Germans.  I plan on painting more of these and also returning to my DAK project as they make their tabletop debut this weekend!  I also want to paint up some more Fallschirmjager.

Expanding my neglected WW2 Project in 20mm

This is happening... proof...

Painting more boardgame miniatures

I have painted a boatload of Zombicide figures.  I want to paint more and more as I have this horrible OCD that I can not play with unpainted figures!

Reduce My Horde of Figures

OK lets address the elephant in the room... now the reason why I am well over 1200 miniatures acquired for this year is 2 things... First things first Kickstarters.  Zombicide Green Horde had a lot of figures for it! It was a brilliant kickstarter and tremendous value for money.  I also have a Song of Ice and Fire kickstarter arriving in August and no more for the year (very proud of myself).  Also dont forget I got a boatload of Napoleonic Figures from Warlord Games at an incredible deal back in February!

Secondly I have a couple of secret projects on the go that I have already painted some figures for yet I haven't published any pictures of them yet on any social media platform.  I want to commit to the project and show case some stuff to generate more interest and show a return on my investment. Stay tuned.

Terrain terrain terrain! Something I need more of and paint more minis, paint lots of minis, paint more minis

I merged these two goals together.

I am currently 3D printing terrain nearly everyday for my projects.  July is going to be a huge month for me. I will have my first bit of leave from work for the year and a much deserved rest.  Usually I go to the UK at this time of year however only the Mrs is going this time so that gives me the whole house to myself!  This is going to be great as I am going to have a horrible and busy June at work and I just want it over and wish to reward myself with hobby!

In July I am going to turn the house into a hobby workshop and try and smash out lots of terrain and painted figures.  My 3D printer will be running nearly 24/7!

A new Short Term Goal

I really want to get playing Frostgrave and I know some people that are keen too.  I am currently 3D printing and painting up some terrain for it and just need to paint a few more figures for it.  I want to get some terrain finished so I can fill a 3 x 3 table.  Lets hope I get this done!

So thanks for tuning in and as always, big big big plans are ahead and I am glad I am actually getting things done.

Dave.

Zombicide Wulfsburg Zombie Wolfz and Wolfbomination

I have just finished painting up the Zombie Wolfz and Wolfbomination from the Zombicide Black Plague Expansion Wulfsburg.

This was a pretty quick and rushed paint job.  Basically I base coated, drybrushed, quick shaded then picked out a few details and finished.

I figured this paint job is worthy of models that most likely get taken off the table as quickly as they are placed on the table.

I need to paint the 4 survivors for this expansion and will do them soon and then the expansion is 100% painted.

Thanks for looking... stay tuned.

Zombie Wolfz and the Wolfbomination 

Wolfbomination

The Zombie Wolfz

Haus Balkenkreuz ready for Action

I finally got around to finishing Haus Balkenkreuz for 15mm Fantasy.  These miniatures are from Ral Partha and are part of their Demonworld Range.

I used tiny Balkenkreuz Decals for their shields. 

These guys will be used in a variety of games from Dungeon Crawls to something secret I am working on muhaha.

I plan on doing a few more 15mm Fantasy Warbands

Haus Balkenkreuz.  15mm Empire Miniatures by Ral Partha Demonworld Range

You must point to things if you are in Command.  The Command team.

Spears or Pikeman

Ranged Support

Ranked up they look great

Their Shields with their Balkenkreuz displayed.

Haus Balkenkreuz Takes on a Giant 28mm Skeleton

First Six 95th Rifles

Finally a post for some historical stuff!

I have been slowly chipping away at my Waterloo Project and have just recently finished the first six 95th Riflemen from Brigade Games.  These are excellent sculpts by the talented Paul Hicks and have recently been released from Brigade Games.

I have used some variations in the green uniforms using Vallejo Black Green, Gunship Green, a combination of both and adding some black into the mix.  I highly doubt early 19th Century Soldiers had the chance to replace their uniforms, let alone wash them.

They are based on my own designed 3D printed bases and are magnatised. 

28mm Miniatures - 95th Rifles by Brigade Games

Riflemen Take Aim

I wanted some variation in their uniforms

Different shades of green

Sharpe Approved!

Frostgrave Witch and Apprentice

I have finished painting my Witch and Apprentice for Frostgrave.  These would have to be my two favorite models in the Frostgrave Range.  I can't wait to try these guys out with their unique set of spells.

The models are based on metal washes and I use a variety of basing products including, Wilder Snow Effects, Games Workshop Valhallan Blizzard and Woodland Scenics Soft Flake Snow.

I decided just to copy the paint scheme that is used officially by Frostgrave as it looks awesome, especially the face paint.  I really enjoyed painting these two miniatures.

Painted Frostgrave Witch and Apprentice

The Apprentice 

The Witch

Two Year Anniversary

Two years and still going strong!

Lets look at my one year anniversary post here

Now lets compare those stats:

First Year

Miniatures Painted: About 200 (Doesn't include board game minis)

Vehicles Painted: About 20

Terrain Made: Tonnes! Will start adding this to the blog soon!

Page Views: Over 6100+

Followers: 8

Posts: 26

Comments: 59

Most Popular Post: Mission Complete: Poland Was Made Great Again!

Most Popular Traffic Source: Facebook

Most Interesting Traffic Source: A porn site about cuckolding! WTF!

Country Viewing the most: Australia

Most Popular OS: Windows followed by Android (Yay!)

Most Popular Google Search for the page: bolt action polish army (double yay!)

Historical Evidence Found Supporting Left handed Panzerfaust Operators: 0

OK now lets look at the last 12 months:

Second Year

Miniatures Painted: Maybe around 500+

Vehicles Painted: About 15ish

Terrain Made: Too much to count - especially the 3D Printed Stuff

Page Views: Over 26000+ (20000 additional views)

Followers: 30 (24 followers have joined)

Posts: 97 (thats 61 additional posts!)

Comments: 222 (4 times what I had in the first 12 months)

Most Popular Post:  Sd. Kfz. 13 Adler and Blitzkrieg German Pak 36 (Featured in the Warlord Games Newsletter)

Most Popular Traffic Source: Google 

Most Interesting Traffic Source: Google Spain and France

Country Viewing the most: USA then Ireland most interestingly 

Most Popular OS: Windows followed by Mac (Boo Mac!)

Most Popular Google Search for the page: 3D Printed Terrain (Pretty Cool)

Historical Evidence Found Supporting Left handed Panzerfaust Operators: 0

So its been a massive year for me!  One thing I would really like to improve on is my Followers.  I have peeked at 30 for quite some time now.  I think blogging has died off a little especially with twitter and facebook.  My twitter is actually growing very fast and I am over 200 followers now and no doubt it will continue to grow.

I am glad my blog pops up in Google Searches, that is something I have worked hard on.  For example type "28mm Polish Miniatures" into google and click images, lots of my stuff features so I am proud of that.

I am also smashing my 2018 hobby goals that I posted here .  One thing I would like to do is more WW2 content.

Finally...

I have some massive projects on the go that are secret at the moment.  I want to do a big reveal on them when I put a decent dent into them... not even my twitter followers know about them!

Thanks to all for following my Blog.

Dave.

Zombicide Black Plague Core Box Set Complete

I have finally finished painting the Zombicide Black Plague Core set from the CMON Kickstarter.  I'm rather pleased with how this turned out and I have used the painted figures now twice in group games and I have received a lot of praise from the people that I have played the game with.  I am rather chuffed about this positive feedback.

In total there is 71 painted figures.  I think everyone will agree that playing with painted figures is a much more pleasant and creates a more atmospheric experience!

Zombicide Black Plague Core Survivors Painted

Zombicide Black Plague Core Survivors Painted Rear View

The whole box set painted up!

Excuse the Poor lighting but there was a storm on and real life lightning helped
create the mood

I think you will agree that painted miniatures look far better than hordes of grey plastic

Now that this is complete... I must get started on all the Kickstarter bonuses!