Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Salute and two new periods

Yes! it's that time of the year again. Next friday we drive off to London for our yearly visit to Salute. I think it's the13th time I go. Always with the same two good friends Jacco and Rob, always the same simple schedule. Friday we get lost in a bar in London, Saturday we get lost at the traders stands at Salute and have few drinks at the Fox after. At that stage we are starting to realize what we bought and forgot to buy and things settle in. Time to recover and go for good food. Sunday morning we drive back and have breakfast at the same old road restaurant which name I alway forget. It's terrible but..it's tradition...
The only thing that is subject to change over these years is the Hotel. We can't get any closer than we are this year so that saves me some footsteps carrying stuff back to the Hotel during the day.

I will also be attending (if I'm not buying myself in another period at the time) and say hello to the rejects and fellow bloggers at around one o' clock. Details are here. I'm not sure if the Dutch chapter looks that smart though.

On to the new beginnings...

First on the list is a skirmish Mexican army. I've had an eye on these great miniatures from Boot Hill Miniatures for a while but with the group now moving to Mexico finally an opportunity to buy and paint them. I will collect a bunch of them @Salute but in the meantime I could paint the figures I already owned. I figured you can't get enough Mexican commanders. Not based yet as I'm not sure if I will use them in Vignettes or add some other characters to the base. I look forward to paint more of these. These are great, great sculpts.






Second one is an Early French army. I wanted to do this for ages but finally had the courage to buy the minis and make the master plan. I will start with 4 to 5 generic battalions (Marc, you do 2 as well:) who will serve as a base covering the late revolutionary period until 1806. I only need to make sure I can change the flags on the unit. Artillery is covered and I only need to find some suitable cavalry figures. With the base done I will expand to Egypt and other specific theatres. This will keep me busy for years to come presumably but the good news is I'm not in a hurry..

Last week I did some test figures and figured out the paints and tried every shortcut I could think of. I settled for this look (only need some more dirt) which I can do pretty quick for my doings. Now I need hundreds. Wish me luck.
Figures by Eureka, fantastic range and unmatched quality.







27 comments:

  1. Both the Mexicans and the French look fabulous! (Quite like the pig as well...)

    See you in a few days!

    -Curt

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  2. wonderful paint job, Mike. And that's one brave porker...when there are so many bayonets in the immediate area.

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  3. Great looking figures Mike, its a very nice period, are you getting the American too?? See you an Saturday!!!!

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    1. For now, two others are doing the Americans but I'm tempted to do a few units once the Mexicans are done..

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    2. Those look great and I see a BBQ comin to.

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  4. Thats a great start, and to your usual quality of painting. Great work!

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  5. Very good looking minis Mike !

    I´ll try to meet you up at the Rejects happening to say hi at saturday.

    best regards Dalauppror

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  6. Salute will be full of bloggers!!! Enjoy yourself. Figures look excellenct in pose and paintjob. Is the Pig from Orwell?

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    1. The man himself... Only needs a small conversion: http://tinyurl.com/bpyo2o3

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  7. Mexicans, French and pig all look great, enjoy Salute.

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  8. I can always sort you out a shirt!

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  9. Excellent painting there Mike. I really like bacon! Hope you enjoy Salute.

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  10. Mike, I love the Mexicans and the French. I keep being tempted by the Mexican-American stuff myself. Love the pig too. Hope to see you on Saturday with the other Rejects. Enjoy London on Friday night - it's a lot of fun!

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  11. My word Michael you really set the bar high! These are really superb, looking forward to seeing the new projects develop. With a bit of luck I might be able to swing by and say hello on Saturday too!

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  12. Wonderful work!! Why am I not surprised your doing early French? That's a project I'll being doing although the focus for me will be exclusively Eqypt. It's scary how we mirror each other so often! Needless to say I'll follow this project very closely!
    Once again real wonderful painting!

    Christopher

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  13. Great looking figs and pig! I like the rebel flag peeking through!

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  14. Cool figures Michael,
    Have a great time at Salute, Maybe make it down 1 of these days.

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  15. wonderful work very fine painting lovely work

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  16. Great painting Michael. The pig is awesome. Have a great time at Salute.

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  17. Hi Mike - nice to meet you at Salute! :)

    Great pig!

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  18. Hello Mike,

    Just to say sorry for the delay in getting your wild west models painted, but will have them plashed with paint and posted out next week.

    All the best to you sir.

    Paul

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  19. The painting is very much after my liking. So is the pig.

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  20. Your painting style is amazing! Very nice units!

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