Happy Christmas from the Leadpile

Well, where has this year gone? It seems like five minutes ago I was last wishing you all a Merry Christmas. This will be my thirteenth post this year, so once again I just about keep up the average of at least one post a month. I do always endeavour to post more, but I am too busy painting! This month I have been spending all my time building and priming ready for the Analogue Hobby Challenge, which as you read this has now already started. So, nothing new to show here, but things are afoot. 

I think in the new year I am going to have to do a hobby audit. It's always good to periodically have a check and see what you actually have, sometimes I get inspired to do a project with something I had forgotten I owned, like my Epic Chaos army or my Warhammer Goblins (although, yes I did buy extra bits for both of those projects too.) Sometimes old miniatures can be given a new lease of life and be used in a new project. My old Gorkamorka Digganobs got a repaint this year to be added to an Ork and Grot army I am planning on using in Xenos Rampant. (teenage me originally did a terrible rush paint job on them just to get them on the table.) I'm also considering stripping some of my old Space Marines and giving them a repaint, other wise they will just sit in the box for another year.

We have been quite organised here at Chez Lead, so all presents are wrapped, just a few food prep things to do today and then Christmas pjs and hot chocolates are in order later. This morning I joined the live stream from Bad Squiddo as per a normal Sunday. All the painting gubbins are packed away for a few days, (yes, dining tables do get used for something other than painting/playing wargames, apparently people sit round them and eat dinner.) so a little light Osprey reading might be in order later too. The Illustrious Opponent is organising a "Tale of Four Gamers" type WW2 campaign and I have elected to paint up Australians. I am very thinly read on what I need to start painting, so some research is required. I am a little concerned by the lack of tanks available, but I am sure it will be fine. (In true historical style I can just steal everyone else's.)

All it remains for me to say is may you and yours have a lovely festival period. Whether you spend it with family, found family, friends or happily by yourself, I hope you get to spend it well. 

Happy Hogswatch, Yulemas, Christmas, whichever you choose (maybe one of these?)

Stay safe, 

Peter

I'm dreaming of a Corax White Christmas...

The goblin finally got added to a bauble and hung on the tree this year.

It's been a strange old year, only one wargame show (No Salute this year), extreme weather for Britain (hot and now cold), an unnaturally high number of Prime Ministers in Downing Street and on a personal note I started a new job after being in the same role for over a decade I really didn't see coming. (I won't bore you with the details of my day job, you are here to hear about toy soldiers after all). It has meant though that hobbying has slowed down a little bit of late. Some evenings I have just wanted to veg in front of the tv after learning lots of new things. Therefore I think I am due a recharge and what better than signing up for a second year to the Analogue Hobby Challenge again. Yep, I'm going to be trying to finish something at least once a week again and post on the challenge. I'm not sure I shall be as prolific as last year, but we shall see. I find it can be a little like an addiction once I get going, so who know. You can see my posts under the label PeterB. (Although any posts before last year aren't me, there was obviously another PeterB doing the challenge before me, I'm not sure how confusion will be avoided if he decides to come back again.)

Therefore I have been busy building and undercoating everything I can lay my mits on in the leadpile. If it needs painting, it has been prepped ready to go. On multiple internet recommendations I tried undercoating using Halfords white primer spray and I have to say, despite the subzero temperatures outside when spraying under the cover of the garage door, it still gives good coverage. A great cheaper alternative to wargaming branded sprays and a larger can too. (I do tend to undercoat spray in massive batches and always use a whole can in one go.) I shall definitely be using it again.

 

I have recently finished off one more model before the challenge begins. I have continued to purchase the new sets from Archon Studio for Masters of the Universe. One of which is the evil Scare Glow.  The original toy of which glowed in the dark. (I suspect they came up with the idea befor the character.) Well, I couldn't not have a go at making mine glow could I? A quick bit of online research and I purchased some glow in the dark paint pigment, a few experiments with some sacrificial GW Grots and I don't think it turned out too bad. The pigment did make the paint a little thick and I have lost some small amount of detail on the model but I think it looks okay. I can use the excuse that it is hard to photograph things that glow in the dark, but you get the idea.

In the light.

In the dark.

So for now, time to temporarily pack away the paints, wrap some presents for the kids and maybe have a sneaky mince pie and hot chocolate. I hope the holiday season treats you well.

Merry Christmas to one and all

 

 

 

 As another year passes by, I reflect on the hobby from a personal point of view. It started out that I played games and painted toy soldiers so they looked better on the table when we did so. I rushed my paint jobs to get them on the table sometimes, a "that'll do" attitude sometimes kicking in at midnight the night before a big game. This year I have not played a single game (unless you count the occasions the youngest has made us fill the table with models and make the rules up as we go along), last year I squeezed in one game with the Brother in Law. Part of that may be due to the dreaded "C" as we call it in our house, but also life changes. People are busier with life, the weeks fly by. Regular wargames seem to be the reserve of the young or the retirees of the hobby, us in the middle roll dice when we can. I take more time with my painting these days and paint models that I have no idea what I would use them for in any kind of wargame. Painting is my stress release now, I take the decision that if I am not enjoying painting something, it gets put to one side for the time being and I move on to something else. Maybe in the new year I will make an effort to get some more games in.

I don't have anything new to show you right now as I have been furiously building and undercoating ready for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. This will certainly encourage me to increase my output for the next couple of months, there are 101 contributors this year, so although I will be posting there, I will still be posting summary updates here if I remember as well.

Christmas will be a quiet affair with family as I am sure it probably is for most people this year. My buddies and I normally get together for some beers but we sensibly just had some beers over Zoom to keep our families that we will be seeing safe. I did have a mooch around Games Workshop (I still don't call their shops Warhammer, force of habit) and wondered whether to get something for the youngest for Christmas as he is showing an interest and is actually rather talented for his age at painting. In the end though I decided that part of the fun is choosing the models yourself, so maybe a trip in the new year with some Christmas money is in order.

So, as I have nothing to new to show, below is a photo dump from my camera reel of some favourites. I hope you have a lovely peaceful Christmas with friends or loved ones and Santa brings you the plastic or lead you deserve. Stay safe and remember to look out for one another.

 

 

A Merry Christmas to All and to all a Good night.

It's Christmas Eve and the paints and models have been tidily packed up away out of sight so the dining table can be bedecked with Christmas cheer. My beautiful supportive wife allows me to normally leave out a permanent painting tray of current projects on the go in the corner of the room that I can just grab and put on the table ready to go. There's nothing more off-putting to any hobby than it being packed away out of sight. The hurdle of unpacking your paints each time can really be enough to slow you down.

This means I haven't really got anything to show and tell I'm afraid, but I'm sure you all don't mind. I made a couple of last minute Pre Christmas orders not expecting them to arrive by now but they already have. So I have January's Wargames Illustrated to read over the festive period which includes a sprue of 13.5mm (I know, the conversations I have seen online about the scale have gone on and on.) American Civil War soldiers from Warlord Games. I predict a lot of drybrushing happening.

I was super excited when I heard about this little Kitty from Bad Squiddo games was coming out, but I really didn't expect to get hold of him before Christmas.

He doesn't fit in with anything else in my collection at all but I really don't care. Annie has promised to do more similar models if he is successful so fingers crossed I can end up with a small warband of animal warriors. I'm sure I can fit them into a skirmish game somewhere or come up with something.

We're in tier 4 here at Chez Lead so small family Christmas tomorrow, (For non UK readers that means we pretty much aren't allowed visitors), but our spirits aren't dampened. Our annual Christmas get together to the pub with my wargaming friends couldn't happen this year so a drunken Zoom quiz was in order instead. I have concluded that they may know an awful lot about military history, but ask them to name top ten Broadway musicals and they will look at you blankly.

It was good to catch up with the chaps, some of whom I realised over the last decade I haven't really not seen in person for longer than a week or so, now it's been over six months. It's been a tough year but others have had it tougher. Christmas is a time for giving, so if you can, maybe go make a donation to Shelter over here.

Before this blog, I didn't spend a lot of time chatting to strangers online. This year it has kept me sane reading blogs, watching live YouTube videos and just general joining in with the hobby chat online. In a year when people haven't been able to get together I feel like our community have become closer in some sense.

Special mention and seasons greetings to Carole from Hippolytas tiny footsteps for her blog, Annie from Bad Squiddo Games for the fun Sunday morning coffee chats, Soren from Bloodbeard Garage for his excellent blog and encouragement, Neal from Wee gamers and Karl from Crooked Dice for their Saturday morning talking nonsense on Youtube.

Finally, a special Happy Christmas to the Brother in Law and the Illustrious Opponent who have both been sources of inspiration for this blog, possibly against their will and to my wife, for having to make suitable impressed faces at everything I paint for the last year.

And to everyone who has commented on the blog or clicked the like button on Facebook, or just read the blog. Take care and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Additional. I love Die Hard as much as the next person, but Christmas Eve is all about Muppet Christmas Carol. If you start the film at 10:47:04pm, you can start Christmas day as Scrooge pushes Gonzo and Rizzo off the window sill on Christmas morning and then shares the joy of Christmas.

Make your own paper hat

My son came home from school today with a handmade Christmas hat on his head he had made at school to wear for his school Christmas dinner. I had a sudden memory flashback to childhood when we used to do the very same thing back in school for our celebration. I particularly remember being very competitive about making mine. Especially as one child was announced as having made the "best hat" each year. I remember considering myself to be particularly crafty even back then and very serious each year with more and more elaborate constructions.

Obviously the teachers made a massive fuss of us all, rightly so, so I can imagine my memory of how amazing these hats were far outweighs any actual achievements we made in papercraft haberdashery. My point is, we were encouraged in our craft. No-one was told they shouldn't have done their hat that way, or why bother making a hat at all, its not going to be as good as the other kids. Everyone joined in. 

My little corner of the internet is tiny and I just scrape the surface of the hobby world, so I mostly see hobbyists like this. We all admire each others paint jobs, praise others work, give useful tips and answer multitudes of questions mostly in the spirit of sharing knowledge without belittling others. 

This is how it should be. There's no limit to how many people are allowed to take part. There's no right or wrong way to do your own hobby. Even if you are painting up historical miniatures and someone points out you've painted the buttons on the tunics the wrong colour, hell, you're doing an alternate history. 

I do however every now and then see the other side, people are told they shouldn't be allowed to join in, or they are doing it wrong. To those people I say, shush. We are all just making our own paper hats.

A Seasonal Post

It may seem like things have been quiet here at Lead HQ. Well, far from it. With Christmas looming I have had to up sticks and relocate to a new home. With a tale that was almost Dickensian, involving forced house moving at Christmas I have done it. A wargamers worst fear, transporting their leadpile.

So, apologies for the lack of posts, but I'll be honest, I've been busy. I don't need to explain in detail, everyone knows moving house is a pain. Moving house with a wargamers collection even more so. So, now we are mostly settled, (the Christmas tree is up and I can find a shirt for work) I thought I would talk to you about the exciting world of storage.

We all spend a small fortune on our toy soldier collections, yet how much care do we take of them? I have seen collections thrown in cardboard boxes with little more than a carrier bag to vaguely try and stop the Armee du Nord from chipping their paint. I have seen players sweep whole regiments off the table at the end of a game like them are gathering loose change into a bucket at a jumble sale. Taking them home in a shoe box tucked under an arm like a subuteo team.

When we discovered we had to move house one of the saving graces was that my extremely intelligent and organised wife has always insisted that apart from the few pieces on display in a couple of glass cabinets, all our hobby items were already organised and stored correctly. Only a couple of days after we had agreed on our new home, I was moving the lead pile in. A combination of old GW cases, KR multicases and boxes from The Works ensured most of my armies travelled in comfort. Yes, I have discovered that The Works sell a collapsible box that can hold five GW or KR trays with space at the side for a rulebook or two. They have lots of designs, comic characters, cute characters, I even got a  couple in classic Great War propaganda posters.

If you are buying multiple, they will cost you a fiver a box, then just buy some foam trays separately from your favourite supplier. I'll still use my official cases for taking models to play elsewhere, but for home storage they do an excellent job.

So, the home move went well, minimal casualties, there was the odd model that was in the glass cabinet that yes, I did just put in a very small foam filled box and carry on my lap in the car, some models are just too delicate. Yes, a tiny model of a boat with paper sails and rigging looks good, but how do you transport them without completely trashing all your hard work?

How this resin guy made it unscathed I will never know, he normally breaks from just being looked at.

Some models didn't fare so we'll.

How?

Looks okay at first...

my dodgy pinning job is going to need re-doing though.

The rest of the move? Well, luckily my wife's hobby is knitting. Wool is a lot lighter than lead and doesn't need packing in bubble wrap or foam. I'm a little jealous of a hobby that is light and soft. Well, apart from the needles of course, but my wife has nowhere near as many needles as I have brushes, so let's leave that there shall we.

The Illustrious Opponent was one of many that selflessly gave up some of their free time to help me move, for which I am forever grateful. When he saw our new living room with space for a new larger dining table the gaming ideas were already being discussed. The new year will definitely have to have some tabletop skirmishes taking place at the new Chez Lead. I have however promised myself not a dice will roll or a brush stroke until the boxes are fully unpacked. (Let's see if that promise is kept.)